"What do you intend to do?"
"That's something I want to talk to you about. I'm concerned about leaks. Someone here has been talking to the media when they shouldn't. The last thing we need is the press thinking we have anything to do with that train wreck. I have an idea that might bypass that particular problem."
"Yes?"
"I'd like to use Harker's group, instead of our people. Until I can find and plug the leak, I want to keep this under wraps."
Hood raised an eyebrow. "I can see how it might be an advantage to take it out of house but you're engaged to Harker's deputy. You don't think it's a conflict of interest?"
"Stephanie's clearance is as high as mine. She understands the game. It's not like I'm going to be telling her or Harker what to do. That wouldn't work out well."
Hood laughed. "No, I don't think it would. Harker doesn't like people telling her what to do."
"Neither does Stephanie. We'll need the president's authorization to do it that way. You're on good terms with him. I thought I'd talk to Harker and perhaps you could handle the White House."
"Now I see why you're the right choice for the job," Hood said.
CHAPTER 10
Diego Ramirez was lying down reading a magazine. Nick came to his open door.
"You like Chinese, Diego?"
"I don't know any Chinese."
"I meant food, not people. Come on, Sergeant, we're all going out to eat and you're invited."
"I never turn down food," Diego said. "What's the occasion?"
"Stephanie is engaged. This is a kind of late celebration. There's a great Chinese restaurant in Alexandria we like to go to once in a while. You'll get to meet her fiancée, Lucas Munroe. He's CIA."
"CIA?"
Nick heard unspoken judgment in Diego's voice.
"He's good people. Five minutes," Nick said. He turned and went back upstairs.
Ramirez shook his head. CIA. It figures.
Ronnie was waiting for them outside with his black Hummer.
"The women went ahead in Harker's car," Ronnie said. "Hop in."
Diego climbed in back. "Nice wheels."
Ronnie pulled away. "I've modified it some," he said. "It's not exactly stock anymore. Armor and more horsepower. See that lid on the floor in back of you?"
Ramirez turned and looked. "Yeah?"
A numbered keypad was set into the lid.
"Punch in 1-7-7-6. Lift up that handle and take a look."
Ramirez leaned over the seat, entered the code and lifted the lid. Four MP-5s, a dozen loaded magazines, flash bangs and a Remington 870 12 gauge lay inside the compartment.
"Holy shit," he said. "You've got a whole arsenal in here."
"I like to be prepared."
"What, you were in the Boy Scouts?"
"I figured you ought to know about it. It's come in handy before."
Ramirez let the lid down and turned back to face the front.
"This is Virginia. You need that stuff here?"
"Purely defensive," Ronnie said.
Nick laughed. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, Diego, the bad guys don't like us much. They don't care if we're in Virginia."
Nobody had anything to say the rest of the way into town. Ronnie parked half a block from the restaurant.
The Happy Family restaurant was set back from the street at the end of a short sidewalk flanked by two dragons cast in bronze. The three men walked toward an elaborate pagoda-style entrance painted green and red. Odors of Chinese cooking filled the evening air.
"Smells good," Nick said.
Across the street, a dog began yelping in pain. They looked over. A large man was beating a beagle with a stick. The dog cowered against the pavement and began howling.
"Hey!" Ramirez shouted. "Cut that shit out."
The man turned and looked at him.
"Mind your own business," he said. He raised the stick and hit the dog again.
Ramirez ran across the street and grabbed the man's arm before he could bring the stick down another time. He twisted the arm and sent the stick flying. The dog whimpered and shivered on the sidewalk.
"Want to try picking on someone who can hit back?" Diego said.
The man smelled of beer and cigarettes. He was a large man. Diego looked small beside him.
"You just made a big mistake, buddy."
The dog beater launched a roundhouse right with a ham-sized fist. Diego blocked it with ease and snapped a quick, hard right into the man's face with the flattened palm of his hand. He felt the nose break. Blood poured out. The man howled in pain and grabbed Diego in a bear hug. Ramirez leaned back and head butted him, hard.
They could hear the impact across the street.
Nick winced. "Oooh."
"That had to hurt," Ronnie said. "Our boy has a temper."
The dog beater went to his knees, holding his hands to his face. Farther down the sidewalk, an elderly couple stopped and stared at the scene.
"Game over," Nick said.
Diego reached down and fished out the man's wallet. He looked at the driver's license. Then he tossed the wallet on the ground.
"Now I know who you are and where you live," he said. "I'm going to check up on you. I'm going to watch and see how your dog is doing. If you touch him again, I'm going to give you a beating that will make today look like an invitation to the junior prom. Comprende, pendejo? Understand?"
"Yes, yes. Don't hit me again."
The dog looked up at Diego. His tail thumped twice against the sidewalk.
"Good boy. It's okay, he won't do that again. Will you, asshole?"
"No."
"Then we're done."
He walked back across the street to where the others waited.
"Asshole," he muttered under his breath.
"We better go inside," Ronnie said.
"I hate people who abuse animals. I see it, I have to do something about it. It's been that way ever since I was a kid. Got me in trouble sometimes."
"How's your head?" Nick asked.
"Better than his. I got a head like a rock."
Stephanie, Selena and Elizabeth were seated at a large round table set apart from the others in the restaurant. Lucas Munroe sat next to Stephanie.
"Lucas, this is Diego Ramirez. He might take Lamont's spot on the team."
The two men shook hands. Nick, Diego and Ronnie sat down.
"Congratulations on your promotion, Lucas," Elizabeth said.
"Thank you."
"Way to go," Nick said. "You deserve it."
"Diego, you've got blood on your shirt," Selena said.
"It's nothing. It's not mine."
"What happened, Nick?" Elizabeth asked. "We heard a dog howling."
"Sergeant Ramirez had to give a little lesson in animal ethics to a man who thought his dog needed beating."
"Oh, one of them," Stephanie said. "Some people should never be allowed to have an animal."
"I think he learned his lesson," Ronnie said.
A waiter took their orders.
"The drunken chicken is good here," Lucas said.
"I always wondered why they call it that," Selena said. "I get this picture in my mind of a bunch of chickens staggering around the barnyard."
"Probably had more to do with the cook who invented it," Nick said.
There was a brief pause.
"I hear you're looking into what happened in France," Lucas said.
Elizabeth looked at Stephanie.
"It wasn't me," she said. "Lucas brought it up. I didn't tell him anything."
"We have some interest, yes," Elizabeth said.
"So do we." He looked at Diego. "I assume he's fully vetted?"
Elizabeth nodded. "You can speak freely."
Lucas picked up a set of chopsticks in a paper wrapper, took them out and broke them apart. He set them down again on the table.