Atticus rapped on the glass before she fully faced him, making it seem as if he'd just walked up and signaled immediately for her attention.
Interesting to note, her first reaction was to go for her pistol. As she registered his presence, she slipped her right hand into her trench coat, stopping only when she recognized him. More surprisingly, she actually blushed.
"I have to go," she murmured. "Call me later."
She hung up and stepped out of the pavilion. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
He wanted to grill her on the phone call and Murray's presence, but the longer they stood outside in view of the cafe, the more likely Sumpter would come looking. "My superior is sitting in on this. He's not in the loop."
"What does he know?"
"We're after a drug that the cult is manufacturing. That's it. I'm not even sure how he'd handle the whole alien invasion thing. I suspect he'd laugh in your face and yank us back to D.C."
"What does he know about your brother?"
Atticus felt a prick of guilt. Why did he continue to protect his jerk of a brother? "Nothing."
"This him?" Zheng indicated the cafe door with her glance.
Sumpter stood in the doorway, about to come out, kept inside only by the bitter cold.
"Yeah." Atticus motioned that they should join the others in the cafe, even though somehow it felt like walking into a lion's den.
Zheng introduced herself to Sumpter with the calm authority of someone expecting to be taken as an equal. The only thing feminine about her handshake was the pearl gleam of her carefully manicured fingernails.
"Randolph Sumpter." Sumpter did his impersonation of an undercover agent, Mr. Joe Cool. "It's good of you to meet with us and combine efforts on this."
"Thank you." The slightly rattled woman on the phone had vanished behind calm professionalism; whatever Zheng thought of Sumpter didn't show on her face or leak into her voice.
"You've met Agent Steele. His partners, Hikaru Takahashi and Kyle Johnston."
Sumpter had commandeered a large corner booth. Kyle had his laptop out and was immersing himself in calming data. Ru was finessing superior service out of the waitress.
On their introduction, Ru gave a smile without getting up, clearing the path for Kyle's bid.
Kyle stood and offered a handshake. "Kyle Johnston. I'm their hole man." He realized the possible sexual implications of the phrase. "I mean, backup man."
"Good to meet you." Was that a warmer greeting than the one she gave Sumpter?
Ru coughed slightly and indicated the steaming cup of coffee at the place setting beside Kyle.
"I got you coffee," Kyle said. "Hope you don't mind."
"Thank you." Her Mona Lisa smile appeared and vanished, proving that she did appreciate the kindness. She slid off her trench coat and folded it over the back of a chair. Under it she wore the same pantsuit and strand of pearls but with a different white silk blouse. Thanks to Kyle's research, Atticus recognized the "Angels" lace camisole under the sheer fabric and wondered if she wore the matching panties.
Ru noticed his gaze, and—judging by the slight frown—guessed his thoughts.
It was Atticus's turn to blush.
Ru had the waitress hovering, so they glanced over the menus. Sumpter waived his turn to see what Zheng ordered. Atticus ordered two eggs scrambled, bacon, and French toast. Ru went with coffee and a bagel with cream cheese on the side. Kyle kept to his standard of hot oatmeal, raisins, brown sugar, and milk.
"A poached egg, plain wheat toast, orange juice." Zheng glanced down over the menu. "And the fresh fruit."
"Ah, a woman with a healthy appetite," Sumpter murmured. "Steak and eggs for me, double order of white toast. Very rare on that steak; just let it shake hands with the fire." Obviously Sumpter missed the fact that Zheng's breakfast was low-fat and well-rounded. He did catch the hard look she leveled at him. "Most women would just get coffee and a bagel and talk about watching their weight."
Atticus winced, as that described Ru's order and reasoning.
"I run five miles every morning," Zheng said. "Weight-train three times a week, and study Muay Thai kickboxing."
"I thought," Kyle said slowly, "that you studied judo."
Atticus tried hard not to wince at Kyle's slip.
"I studied judo in high school." Zheng switched her cold look to Atticus. "I wanted something that offered more attack moves, so I switched to kickboxing."
Sumpter often talked about liking aggressive women. It was amusing to see him quail in the face of a real one. "What does your boyfriend think of the kickboxing?"
Zheng's gaze flicked down to Sumpter's left ring finger and noted it was bare. "Subtlety, I see, is not your forte."
Touchй.
Fortunately, the hotel proved its four-star rating by having the food arrive quickly. The presence of the waitress as she handed out plates, refilled water glasses, and topped off various coffee mugs curtailed conversation down to a game of "who do you know," as they compared people they'd worked with in each other's agencies. Zheng proved it was possible to eat elegantly and talk at the same time.
They had just rid themselves of the waitress when Sumpter's phone rang. He answered with a voice half an octave lower than normal. "Speak to me."
Atticus caught a puzzled "Who is this?" from the caller and recognized the department's administrative assistant, Darcy.
"Sumpter here."
"Randy?" Darcy said with an equal mix of surprise and accusation.
The cool composure cracked and Sumpter stood up. "Excuse me; I need to take this call."
Laughter danced in Ru's eyes as Sumpter hurried away, which confirmed Atticus's suspicion that his partner engineered the call.
"I couldn't help but overhear part of your conversation," Atticus confessed to Zheng. There was no telling how long Sumpter would be gone, so he had to cut straight to the point. "The disadvantage of having sharp ears is that you often hear things you weren't meant to," he covered with a partial lie. "What happened in Butler? Who did you run into?"
Irritation flashed across Agent Zheng's face and was quickly smoothed away. "The Ontongard had the Ae stored in shipping crates at an underground storage facility north of Butler. The Temple of New Reason stole the Ae several years ago; they booby-trapped the crates with high explosives and left them behind—so the cult would know when the theft was noticed."
Kyle had said something about an explosion at a storage facility on Tuesday night while Atticus was trying to get drunk.
"Iron Mountain?" Atticus earned a nod. "And there was a second explosion at the cult's mansion."
Zheng nodded again. "Rennie Shaw and Ukiah accidentally triggered the booby trap, and the explosion made live coverage for several hours. We know that the cult had memory mice in the mansion's basement. What we think happened is that the Ontongard, on their way through Butler to check on the Ae's condition, sensed the mice."
"What was the cult doing with mice?" Kyle asked.
"According to Socket, they had trapped several Gets and rendered them down to mice to perform experiments. They tested poisons, narcotics, stun weapons, tear gas, suffocation, and drowning on the mice."
"Eeewww." Ru wrinkled his nose in distaste.
Atticus thought of the cremation sites and felt sick. "So you're saying the cult didn't blow up the mansion? The Ontongard did?"