“I’m just not following this, Sir.”
“In a nutshell, I believe James’s old friends at the Company want us to find and take Agent Bronsky out of this investigation because she’s getting too close to something they want to solve. The same old rivalry. But I think, if I’m reading this right, that James wants Bronsky to succeed, and the only way to let that happen is to get us off her back.”
“He’s selling out the Company to let Kat make the collar?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“And if you’re wrong?”
The director shrugged. “Then we’ve lost nothing, as I see it.”
“How about Kat herself?”
“As I say, Jake. Find her, offer help, and let her decide what she needs. Frankly, I don’t give a rat’s ass whether the Company solves this one or we do. The stakes are too high for internal gamesmanship. But… it would still be nice to see a Bureau win on this.”
CHAPTER 42
With carry-on bags flying and a loud “oomph,” a businessman in his late forties tumbled over another passenger as he strained to keep his eyes on the miniskirted blond he’d just passed at the terminal entrance.
Robert rolled his eyes, and Kat suppressed a laugh. Both of them were approaching security after she waited on the sidelines for Robert to check her bag and buy the tickets at the front counter. The 9mm pistol, unloaded and declared, was inside her checked bag, which left her feeling more exposed than the costume she was wearing.
The two of them moved through the inspection portal and walked to the head of the long, carpeted ramp to the Horizon departure lounge, where Kat came to a halt.
“I can’t do this, Robert,” she said. She was amused by the confused look on his face.
“What? Take the flight?”
“NO,” she said, lifting her right foot to remove one of the high platform shoes. “These are too much.”
“You wanted trash-flash.”
“Oh, you got the right stuff, but… I can wear the micro-mini and the attitude, but these are just over the top. That’s why,” she said, struggling to take off the other one and plop them in a cloth carry-on bag, “I brought some standbys.”
Robert shook his head disapprovingly as she slipped on the other pair of shoes.
“Sensible. Far too sensible.”
“Yeah, but somewhere in this getup I’ve got to have a little dignity, not to mention the ability to move. I’ve almost fallen a dozen times.”
“Well, I like the rest of the outfit.”
“Yeah. I could learn to like this,” she whispered. “Watching you boys fall all over yourselves is perverse fun.”
He was shaking his head as she resumed walking and he kept pace with her, keeping his voice low enough for her ears only. “Bimbos rule!”
“I heard that. I are not a bimbo.”
“Could fool me,” he chuckled.
“Cad.”
“Cad? Cad?” Robert turned slightly toward her, keeping his voice low. “Kat, no one’s used that term in thirty years.”
“Would you prefer ‘male chauvinist piglet’?”
“No.”
They emerged in the departure lounge, and Robert pulled the tickets out of his inside jacket pocket. “Who does the honors?” he asked.
“It’s a male agent. Me,” she said, taking the tickets and inclining her head toward a seat. “I shall return. We want to minimize your facial exposure.”
“Okay. I’ll wait here,” Robert said, “but would you pick up a copy of my paper or The New York Times if you can find it?” He indicated a newsstand in the distance and she nodded.
“After I check us in,” she said.
The gate agent was a well-groomed male in his thirties whose eyes brightened the second he saw Kat approaching. Predictably, his focus fell about twelve inches below her eyes, then quickly returned as he made a supreme effort to keep from looking at her considerable superbra cleavage.
Good! He’s straight. He’s putty, Kat thought.
Manipulating him into a cursory check of her driver’s license was simple; Robert’s ID check had been easily handled at the front ticket counter. She rewarded the agent with a wink and a bright smile and moved quickly toward the newsstand, carefully scanning the crowd and acutely aware of the stares of interested males and irritated women alike as she sashayed her way across the terrazzo, letting her hips swing a bit more than normal.
Under different circumstances, this could be fun, Kat thought, as she returned to Robert and handed him the tickets and boarding passes before heading for the newsstand. She looked through the newspapers and selected a Washington Post containing a banner headline about the airport shutdowns. There would be at least one picture of her inside, she figured, but she was beginning to feel truly invisible, hiding Kat Bronsky beneath the flashy façade.
“Excuse me!” a well-dressed man to her right said, withdrawing his hand from in front of her where he’d been reaching for the same paper.
“No problem,” Kat said, smiling at him. She noticed his left arm was in a sling, and his face was bandaged on one side.
“Which way are you heading today?” he asked. His eyes traveled the length of her profile.
“Oh, several places,” she replied.
His eyebrows climbed a notch. “Ah, a woman of mystery!”
“No,” she countered. “A woman of caution.” Interesting accent, she thought. Somewhat Germanic, but not quite.
Kat tried to turn away, but the man was not ready to abandon his pickup attempt. “Excuse me for being forward, but may I introduce myself to you, so you won’t be concerned about talking to a stranger?”
Kat turned back to him, convinced the odds of simply walking away were low. I’m a heat source in the sights of an infrared tracker and he’s not going to break lock easily. “You may introduce yourself,” she said, “but it won’t get you anywhere. I’m quite taken.”
“As I am with you, dear lady. My name is—”
“Excuse me.” Another passenger pushed between them to grab a newspaper as Kat shrugged and waved, turning to the counter to pay for the paper.
The man with his left arm in a sling materialized beside her within seconds, waiting until she had received her change. “I never finished my introduction,” he said.
She took his right hand and shook it in perfunctory fashion. “Hello, so glad to meet you. My husband, the angry and jealous mafia don, will not be so happy to meet you, so please go away and have a nice life while you can. Okay? Okay. Bye!”
Kat could see Robert in her peripheral vision, approaching rapidly from the opposite direction, unseen by the man who was now smiling and shrugging.
“As you wish,” he said, turning to go as Robert closed to within ten feet.
Kat’s attention was on Robert, not the would-be suitor, but she sensed a sudden change as the man froze in place with his back to Kat, his head turned toward the oncoming reporter, his entire demeanor bristling.
Robert came to a sudden stop five feet away with a look of surprise as he recognized one of the goons who’d tried to kidnap him in Hong Kong. Kat followed Robert’s startled gaze just as the assailant dropped his newspaper and thrust his right hand inside his coat.
Robert yelled an unidentifiable word and pivoted, shooting off up the ramp toward the main terminal with the man in chase.
Kat pushed through startled passengers to race up the main ramp through security, noting the startled look on the face of a police officer who had made no effort to follow.