Knock on the door.
Now.
Toni entered wearing black slacks and a black sweater that highlighted her still-perfect body. Her long curly black hair flowed sensuously over her shoulders with each step she took in her high-heeled boots. He certainly understood Jake’s attraction. God, almost forty and she was still beautiful. But Toni was now untouchable. Married to a wealthy businessman from New York, whom she didn’t get to see much thanks to Kurt sending her all over the world on special projects. Helluva way to run a marriage.
She took a seat on a leather chair to the side of the large desk, her hand sweeping hair away from her dark eyes. She crossed her legs and slowly tapped her fingernails on the arm of the chair.
“You get your morning coffee?” Kurt asked her.
Toni’s eye’s glanced at the wall, where numerous clocks ran from zulu in the center to locations around the world. It was zero six thirty local east coast. “An hour ago. What’s up?”
“We have a situation in Europe with one of our assets,” Kurt started. “Former assets.” He searched for his words. “Let me bring you up to date.” He explained to Toni what had happened to Jake over two months ago in Austria, just days after Jake had worked a private case in Bulgaria. When he was done he waited for a response, knowing it could be anything from subdued indifference to pulling a gun and shooting him between the eyes.
She looked stunned. “Jake almost died two months ago and I’m first hearing about it now? We’ve been friends for years.”
“I know. I shouldn’t have kept it from you, but we weren’t sure if the hit was directed toward him or his wife.”
“Girlfriend” she corrected.
“Right. Besides, we had a local asset watching him while he was in the hospital for two months. If nobody tried to finish the job, we thought the hit must have been on Anna.”
Toni’s expression changed from concern to alarm. “Really.”
Kurt nodded.
Expelling a deep breath, Toni said, “He could have used a friend, Kurt. I should have been there for him. He probably thinks I’m a complete ass.”
“I thought you moved on. You’re married.”
“We’re still friends.”
Looking at the briefing again, Kurt thought how he had directed the conversation and realized he couldn’t have done it any better than he had. Now to close the deal.
“That’s not everything,” Kurt said. “There was another hit attempt on Jake yesterday at his apartment in Innsbruck.”
“Is he all right?”
“Yeah. Jake killed one man, a Turkish Kurd, but the other man got away.”
“Innsbruck? He was living in Vienna.”
“He still owns the apartment in Innsbruck. Anna’s parents dissolved her apartment and sent Jake’s stuff back to his old place. Also, a man died setting a bomb to Jake’s car a few days before Jake got out of the hospital.”
“Jesus,” she muttered. “What has he gotten into this time?”
The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Kurt fiddled with the paper and Toni squeezed down on the arms of the chair.
“What do you plan on doing?” Toni asked.
“What do you suggest? He’s not officially our asset. He’s an independent contractor. A private security consultant.”
She pushed forward in her chair. “After all he’s done for this Agency? And this country. We sure as hell better help him. Besides, this could be related to a mission from his Agency days.”
“Settle down. He’s my friend too. I was asking for your opinion. I guess I have that now.”
Her body relaxing somewhat, she slumped back into the leather. “Well, send me to help him. Sounds like he could use a second set of eyes.”
A speaker on Kurt’s desk beeped and a woman’s face came onto his screen. “Sir, Johnson is here to brief you.”
“Have him wait,” Kurt said.
“He says he must see you immediately. About your friend.”
“Fine. Send him in.” Kurt clicked off his assistant’s image.
Seconds later Johnson came in, stood across the desk from his boss, and handed him a briefing. Johnson was a former Navy communications specialist, but Kurt Jenkins had started to use him as a general analysts in the past month. He trusted the man. And that was everything to any CIA director.
“Are we sure it was Jake Adams?” Kurt asked Johnson.
“Yes, sir. He used his personal Visa at the gasthaus. And the bike he left behind was his. Purchased recently in Innsbruck.”
Kurt Jenkins handed the paper to Toni, who had moved forward in her chair again anxiously.
“That’ll be all Johnson. Thanks.”
Johnson lifted his chin and started to leave.
“Just a minute,” Toni said.
The analyst stopped and turned to Toni.
“Are you sure the Austrian Polizei are looking for Jake?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Because of this recent attempt at the gasthaus?” she inquired.
“No, ma’am. Because of the man he killed at his apartment in Innsbruck. But I’m sure they’ll intensify their search after this recent attack.”
Toni looked at the briefing and said, “It says here there were two attackers at the St. Anton gasthaus. What happened to the second man?”
Johnson hunched his shoulders.
“Speculate,” Kurt said.
“My guess,” Johnson said, “is that Jake took the man. The car they rented at the Innsbruck airport is also missing.”
“Thanks. That’s all.” Kurt smiled and the analyst left.
Toni slid the briefing back onto the desk.
“What do you think?” Kurt asked Toni.
She rubbed her temples in deep thought. Finally, she said, “You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
“Well, since Jake knew he was under attack at his place, he must have left town on his bike. His car had been blown up. So he goes to St. Anton and uses his own Visa to pay for the place. If Jake didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be found. He’d be back home in Montana fly fishing. He expected another attempt. He looked forward to another try. He could have easily killed both of the men at the gasthaus, but instead he keeps one man alive. Why? To acquire information. To find out who was after him. And he will find out.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Kurt said. “So how will you find him? He’s incommunicado now, I’m sure.”
Kurt could see that something wasn’t working for Toni. She looked confused. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Do you find it strange that the first man Jake killed at his apartment was a Kurd and now two Serbs try to take him out? What’s up with that?”
“Not to mention those who tried to kill Jake a couple months ago. One was a Bulgarian and the other a Hungarian. Because he was attacked just after taking down a terror group in Bulgaria, we checked into it carefully. But found no connection whatsoever.”