"She'll tell them to bring it up."
"There'll be a reason why they can't. Money buys anything here. It shouldn't take much to get the clerk to do what we want."
"When do we move?"
"Now."
They were headed for the door when Katerina's phone vibrated in her pocket. She looked at the ID.
"Volkov." She made the connection. "Yes, General."
"What is your status? I am waiting for your report."
"We are about to engage with the woman. I expect to have more later today."
"You are usually more efficient, Major. Make sure that you do."
Volkov hung up.
Zhopa, Katerina thought.
"What did he want?"
"To be a pain in the ass, as usual. Let's go."
The hotel where the Americans were staying was only a few blocks away. Outside the entrance, Katerina turned to Dimitri.
"You go in before me. Meet me at the elevators in back, away from the desk."
Dimitri went in. Katerina followed him in a minute later. She went up to the desk, where a clerk waited behind the counter.
"Can you help me?" Katerina said in Arabic.
The clerk looked at her. She couldn't hide her foreignness but she'd covered her hair with a plain scarf. It seemed to show respect for Islamic custom but it was only camouflage. Katerina had no respect for Islam or any other religion.
"How may I be of assistance?" the clerk said.
"A friend of mine is staying here. I want to leave a message for her."
"There is a house phone over there." He pointed. "You can use it to call her or leave a message."
"She may be with the people she's traveling with. I don't want them to know I'm here. I want to leave her a note. Could you call up to her room and tell her there's a message waiting down here?"
Katerina had an American twenty dollar bill barely visible under her fingers. She slid it across the counter toward the clerk.
With a casual movement the clerk made the bill disappear.
"What is her name, your friend?"
"Connor. Or she may have registered under her married name as Carter. She is a blonde foreigner. I don't know her room number."
"She's in 514. I know who she is. Where is your note?"
"Do you have a piece of paper I can write on?"
The clerk reached under the counter and brought out a piece of paper and an envelope with the hotel logo.
"Compliments of the hotel."
"Shukran."
Katerina wrote. She folded the paper and sealed it in the envelope. She wrote Selena's name on the outside and handed it to the clerk.
"Shukran," Katerina said again. Thank you.
The clerk watched her walk away.
Her skirt is too short, he thought. At least she put on a scarf. Her Arabic wasn't bad.
He picked up the house phone and dialed Selena's room.
CHAPTER 25
Elizabeth was heading back to her desk with her first morning cup of coffee when Stephanie came into the office holding a newspaper under her arm. She looked grim.
"I think you'd better see this."
"What's the matter, Steph?"
Stephanie handed her the folded paper.
"Take a look."
Elizabeth opened the paper, a Washington tabloid that thrived on Beltway scandal. On the front page was a picture of Elizabeth and Hood locked in what looked like a passionate embrace.
CIA DIRECTOR IN LOVE TRYST
CIA director Clarence Hood was caught last night fondling an unknown female companion outside an expensive Washington restaurant. Seems that Hood has been spending his taxpayer dollars on wine, women and song. That's okay, Director. We won't tell anyone. Let's hope the lady isn't a Russian spy.
"Jesus," Harker said. "Fondling."
She sat down, her coffee forgotten. A headache began, quick and sharp.
"What were you thinking?" Stephanie said.
"What do you mean, what was I thinking? We came out of the restaurant and he kissed me."
"Don't go defensive on me, Elizabeth. We're going to have to do some damage control."
"What control? There isn't a damn thing we can do that won't make it worse for Clarence."
"What about you?"
"What about me? You saw what it said. I'm the 'unknown female companion.' It's Clarence who has the bigger problem."
"It's only a question of time until they figure out who you are," Stephanie said. "There are plenty of people who would love to see you knocked down."
"I wonder if he's seen it yet. I'd better call."
She got her phone out of her purse and dialed Hood's number. He picked up on the second ring.
"Good morning, Elizabeth."
"Have you seen the morning papers?"
"I have. I was about to call you."
"How do you think we should respond? They may not know who I am yet, but your enemies are going to come after you with their knives out. This is the kind of thing those idiots on the Hill love to get their hands on."
"There isn't much we can do. Any action we take will make things worse. We'll have to ride it out."
"And if the politicians come after you?"
"I'll deal with that as I have to. Even the Director of the CIA is allowed to have a personal life."
"All they have to do is insinuate suspicious activity and start one of their endless investigations."
"There's one thing they need to take into account," Hood said.
"What's that?"
His voice took on a dark edge Elizabeth had never heard before. It reminded her that Hood headed up one of the most powerful government agencies in the world.
"Their personal lives won't hold up to public scrutiny. By going after me, they're going after the Agency. It's not a good idea to take on the CIA. If they try to bring either one of us down over a kiss, they'll find they've opened Pandora's box. I won't let them involve you."
"I always wanted a knight in armor."
Hood chuckled. "If they come after us, they'll be the ones that need armor."
"What do you think the president will do?"
"I haven't heard from him yet, but the day is young. Rice will back us up. He doesn't like Congress any more than we do. He won't be happy about it though."
"No, I don't expect he will."
"I'm sorry you've been dragged before the public eye. From time to time these vultures follow me around, hoping for an opportunity like this."
"It goes with the territory," Elizabeth said. "It hasn't happened to me before but I'm not high profile like you."
"After this you may be."
He paused. Elizabeth heard someone talking in the background.
"I have to go," Hood said.
"Let me know what the president says. For what it's worth, Clarence, that was a pretty good kiss."
"Likewise, Elizabeth. I'll call you later."
He disconnected. Elizabeth turned to Stephanie.
"Let's get back to work. This is a distraction, but I'm not going to let it interfere. At least not much."
"Unless you have something you want me to do, I'm working on the latest ISIS encryption scheme."
"That's fine. I have to go through the morning brief for the White House. Until we hear from Nick, it's back to normal."
"Normal?"
"Whatever that is."
Stephanie looked at the row of clocks on the wall.
"He should check in soon."
CHAPTER 26
Selena answered the phone.
"Yes."
"This is the front desk. There is an envelope here for you, a message."
"A message? Who is it from?"
"I don't know. There is only an envelope, addressed to you."
"Send it up, please."
"We're busy at the moment," the clerk said. "There's no one to bring it up."
"How long will it be?"