“That’s right.”
“Well, we played ping pong in Sweden too. When I was young we had a world champion.”
“I do remember that anyone who played table tennis at a high enough level would never call it ping pong.” Drake smiled.
Dahl couldn’t stop his eyes widening in surprise. Drake had gotten to him and, even now, there was a friendly rivalry between the two men. When Dahl showed him to the table Drake picked up the closest bat.
“Loser has to wear an ‘I love Kanye West’ T-shirt for a whole day?”
“Bollocks, I could never sink that low.”
“How about an ‘I love Alicia Myles’ T-shirt?”
Dahl cocked his head. “Did she finally get some made?”
“Yep, for her new team, but in her rush she flew off without them.”
“I can live with that.”
The two men faced off. Drake held up a small yellowish ball. Throwing it high into the air he readied his feet and prepared to serve… just as Dahl’s cellphone rang.
“Wait!”
Then Drake’s own phone let out a chirp. The Who’s Pinball Wizard sang out. He let the ball fall to the floor as he plucked the device from the right-side pocket of his Levis.
“Matt Drake.”
Hayden’s voice, stressed, filled the room as both men hit speakerphone. “Hi guys. We need you to come in. We have a crisis down here.”
Drake placed his bat on the table. “Must be Wednesday.”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. What’s going on?”
“Our friend Ramses has popped up big time. The myth, it seems, is actually a reality.”
“I’ve heard that before.” Dahl groaned.
“Ramses is nothing like the Blood King. Born as royalty and brainwashed whilst young. Indoctrinated into terrorism at the same time as being beyond privileged. What little we do know of him beggars belief.”
“And now?”
“Well it looks like we have an early heads-up as to the staging of a giant arms bazaar, billed as the last and biggest of its kind. We’re talking the kind where terrorist royalty roll up in their armor-plated Bentley Continentals, step out, order a brace of nuclear missiles, then skip off and inspect a flock of stolen fighter planes. It’s happening, guys.”
“When?” Drake and Dahl were already in the elevator.
“Within a month. We don’t know.”
Drake almost dropped the phone. “A month? Wow, I can’t remember having the luxury of time since…” He paused for thought. “Since… well, ever.”
“Ya got that right. And I said within a month. Could be next week, so hurry. We’ll see you in ten.”
Drake thought about the security they had to pass through in order to gain access to their new offices inside the Pentagon.
“Better make that thirty, love.”
CHAPTER TWO
Drake entered the small room they called an office, amazed at how compact it seemed inside such an enormous building and at the same time stunned by the dazzling array of technology it offered. Hayden sat in a corner, at the head of a rectangular desk that seated eight. Before this day, Drake remembered people having to pull up extra chairs. Today, there were enough spaces around the table.
Barbs of regret stabbed at his chest. Dahl walked past, probably thinking the same thing but purposely moving forward.
He stood unmoving for a moment, then caught Karin’s eye, surprised to see her. “You don’t have to be here.”
She nodded, her short blonde hair lying flat today. “I shouldn’t be here, but this is where I want to be. I’m no good on my own.”
Drake nodded. He could relate to that. A quick overview revealed the additional faces of Lauren and Smyth. He was about to question Hayden over Kinimaka when the big Hawaiian crashed through the door.
Nobody turned, nobody dove to the floor. It was Mano. It was expected. “Mahalo,” he growled, trying to untangle his feet.
Hayden stared at him. “How did it go?”
Kinimaka let out a long, pent-up breath. “Kono is my sister,” he said as if that explained everything. “And has been stuck in DC for too long now. It doesn’t occur to her that if the Disavowed guys hadn’t saved her back in LA then she would be dead. It doesn’t occur to her that we’re out here every day, fighting to preserve her taken-for-granted freedoms. It doesn’t occur to her that DC shouldn’t be compared to Hawaii.” He shook his head.
Smyth grunted irritably. “A good brother-sister relationship then.”
“As good as can be expected.” Kinimaka carefully withdrew a chair and then fitted his bulk to it. Drake waited for something to go wrong but he and everyone else in the room was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t. Even Kinimaka glanced around in shock.
Smyth wasn’t done, his growl filling the space. “My sister, I wanted to choke her every day. Even looked forward to her turning sixteen, because she was a year older and said she would leave the house on her birthday. Booyah, I thought. An entire year to myself. Such joy.”
Lauren looked at him. “I never heard you mention a sister before.”
“She died when I was twelve.” His voice dropped. “Cancer took her down very quickly. Funny how you never know how lucky you are until—”
He stopped abruptly, remembering Karin’s presence in the room. “Ah, sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Karin barely whispered. “I knew what I had.”
Hayden quickly took charge of the room. “All right, guys. We have a number of things to get through this morning. First, can I ask about the stalking? Has anyone encountered anything new?”
A clever way of putting it, Drake thought. Stalking wasn’t merely the imagined “art” of following a person, it was far more complex than that. Many planes of intimidation existed within that single expression — anything from moving objects around to physical confrontation. A man like Drake had never contended with a stalker, but he could well imagine the kind of hell it might put a person through.
Kinimaka spoke up. “Kono, despite her petulance, actually believes she is being stalked. I’m her big brother,” he pulled a face, “and I know the kind of stunts she can pull and any other time I’d laugh and pull her hair or something, but now—”
Hayden shook her head, trying to hide a flash of amusement. “I can assign a couple of patrols to her. But I want to do it quietly. As good as Tyler Webb thinks he is, and as intimidating as he can be, I actually believe these escalating stalkings are our best way of catching him.”
Dahl nodded. “He will lose control. I personally have seen no signs over at my place and neither has Johanna.”
“Our place,” she nodded at Mano, “has been a stalker’s heaven lately. I guess we’ve now solved that problem. We’re watching the watchers, surveilling the hidden cameras. Just hoping the asshole does it again.”
“You’re more self-assured than me,” Smyth said. “I’d be afraid my bare ass would pop up on the Internet or something.”
Hayden waved a hand matter-of-factly. “It’s not like that for Webb. I’m convinced it’s more about control and dominance. He is a power-hungry megalomaniac after all. He gets off on feeling he has the means and supremacy to invade any life at any time.”
“Well let’s hope he doesn’t get off on you,” Smyth grunted.
Hayden screwed her face up. “Shit, man, that’s a horrible thing to put out there. Keep those thoughts to yourself.”
Drake spoke up before Smyth dug in any further. “I have to say I’m so glad to see both Karin and Lauren here. Are you completely recovered?” he asked the New Yorker.