Knowing he was alive was the only thing holding her together. The bug and vital signs monitor in the waistband of his underwear had been activated and had transmitted data. Desh had been rendered unconscious, and the bug had transmitted numerous military voices before he had been stripped. At least the last vital signs reading she had received had been strong.
And she needed to be strong. As strong as she had ever been.
She checked her watch. It was noon. Connelly was driving back with the Rosenblatts and would arrive in an hour or so. He would deposit the RV and the family in a nearby trailer park and come immediately back to headquarters.
She picked up her cell phone and dialed a number Griffin had given her. It was answered after the fourth ring.
“Hello?” said a deep voice questioningly, clearly confused as to why his phone had failed to identify the caller.
“Admiral Hansen, this is very important. Don’t hang up.”
“Who is this?” he demanded. “How did you get this number?”
It was one thing for a stranger to dial the closely guarded private cell phone number of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by mistake. It was another for a stranger to call it and know who was at the other end. He would attempt to trace the call, but it would be a waste of time.
Kira ignored his questions. “I need you to deliver a message to a Colonel Morris Jacobson. It’s a national security matter of extreme importance.” Jake’s first and last name had never been spoken while their bug was in range, but since the bug had revealed he was working with a major named John Kolke, Griffin was able to use his amplified intellect to learn the colonel’s true identity almost immediately.
“I’m not a messenger and I’ve never heard of this colonel. Contact him yourself. If you can find my number, you can find his.”
“You’d think so, but no,” said Kira. “He’s in charge of a group that carries out black operations. You’re the high profile Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Your information may be heavily protected, but at least you’re a public figure. He isn’t.”
“Black-Ops are performed independently. I don’t know this colonel of yours, this . . .” The admiral paused, obviously having forgotten the name Kira had given him already.
“Morris Jacobson.”
“Right. Morris Jacobson. I have no idea who he is.”
“Maybe so, but if you expect me to believe you can’t find out, you must think I’m a fool. How many people have managed to hack your private number, Admiral? Don’t you think you should be taking me a little more seriously?”
“If I wasn’t taking you seriously, we wouldn’t still be talking.”
“It’s a matter of national security, Admiral. And it’s a simple message.”
There was a long pause. “What’s the message?”
“Tell him to call Kira Miller. That’s a code name,” she lied. “But he’ll know who it is.”
“That’s the entire message?”
“Yes, and he has to make a computer to computer connection. The call has to be video as well as audio. I’ll text you with the exact time and instructions for making contact.” She paused. “I can’t possibly overstate the importance of this. Even you can’t be in the loop on everything, Admiral, but trust me, this is big.”
“Okay,” said the admiral. “Send your text.”
“Thank you, sir,” said Kira. “It should be there any second.”
***
Colonel “Jake” Jacobson appeared on Kira’s large computer monitor precisely at the time she specified. She had expected nothing less. She studied his lean face, black hair, and dark five o’clock shadow that looked as though it was perpetual, burning details of his appearance into her memory.
He looked a little wary, but mostly intrigued.
“Thanks for calling, Colonel,” she began.
He nodded slowly. “Well, you did extend an invitation I couldn’t refuse. The great Kira Miller. Since I consider you to be the most remarkable woman who ever lived, having the chance to speak with you in person is impossible to pass up under any circumstances.”
“Remarkable for my accomplishments? Or remarkable for what you think is the blackness in my soul?”
“Both,” admitted Jake without hesitation. “By the way, how did you discover my name?”
“Lucky guess,” said Kira.
The corners of Jake’s mouth turned up into the hint of a smile, which quickly vanished. “Look,” he said, knowing that pressing this question further wouldn’t get him anywhere, “I’m on camera like you asked. How about letting me see who I’m talking to? It seems only fair.”
Kira shook her head. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you that life isn’t always fair?”
Jake frowned, but she could tell he wasn’t surprised by her response. “Nice trick getting Admiral Hansen to contact me,” he said. “But for someone of your capabilities, far less surprising to me than it was to him.”
“Did you tell him what this is about?”
“Of course,” replied Jake immediately.
On the bottom of Kira’s screen two words appeared. He’s lying.
She glanced at Jim Connelly inside the enhancement room, who was watching Jake and monitoring the conversation on his own screen, and nodded her thanks. They had timed things so Connelly would be enhanced throughout the call, diverting a tiny portion of his amplified focus to act as a human lie detector.
Those who were enhanced learned immediately that they could read the combination of facial expressions, body language cues, and vocal intonation in normals so well they could predict what they would say next with an accuracy that bordered on mind reading. And as far as determining the truth or falsehood of anything a normal actually vocalized, their accuracy was absolute.
Kira welcomed learning Jake’s statement was a lie. The last thing she wanted was for the Admiral to be brought up to speed and enter the game.
“So let’s cut to the chase,” said Jake. “What can I do for you?”
“I believe you’re holding a few friends of mine.”
“Friends? Plural? My understanding from the one friend I’m holding is that the other one is more than just a friend. Word is you’re in love with him.”
Kira’s heart ached just thinking about David Desh, but she couldn’t afford the slightest sentimentality. “Really?” she said. “Can a person with a soul as black as you think mine is fall in love?”
“In their own fashion, maybe. I understand that even Adolf Hitler had a girlfriend.”
Kira sighed in frustration. “I trust both Seth and David are in good health?”
“Desh is still unconscious and hasn’t been touched. Rosenblatt couldn’t be healthier.”
A message scrolled onto her screen faster than she could read, put there by someone with superhuman typing skills.
He’s hedging. Rosenblatt is fine physically, but Jake is worried about his psychological state after the stunt with this daughter. He continues to feel quite guilty about that, and regrets the damage he felt forced to inflict on someone he believes is an innocent man.
How fucking pathetic, added Connelly coldly, an editorial sentiment that his normal self would never have shared.
Jake’s eyes narrowed and he checked his connection, no doubt wondering why Kira was taking so long to respond.