"So, kid, what do you know about Lt. Budd?" she asked, barely breaking stride with the aria.
For some reason, he had failed to realize the significance of that question. He had completed a sketchy background investigation of Lt. Budd, considering his resources, but just now realized that Lt. Budd also knew who he was-or at least who he was pretending to be. The lieutenant didn't really know him personally, but he knew that he was in his squadron and could become suspicious if he saw Kurt.
"He's from Florida," Kurt said. "Pretty standard Navy pilot…cocky, arrogant, flies hard and parties hard. Even though they call him the Bingo King, I think he only diverts to transfer information. His records show he won the bombing competition last time."
"So, we should be able to find him in the Officers' Club tonight?" Toni asked.
"You can find him at the O'Club. He knows me, remember?"
"That's right," Toni agreed. "And you take a look at the airplane."
"Aircraft," Kurt corrected. "The Air Force has airplanes, the Navy has aircraft."
Toni shifted her eyes toward Kurt. Her beauty had probably allowed her to be right most of the time, Kurt thought. Most men would grant her that indiscretion in an attempt to seduce her mind if not her body.
The signs to the Army Post guided Toni's Alfa Romeo to a gate occupied by Italian and U.S. Army soldiers. Toni pulled out an ID card that looked somewhat strange to Kurt. The design was similar to his Navy IDs, but it was a color he had never seen before.
"What kind of ID is that?" he asked, after they were waved on post.
She shifted into second gear and then handed him her ID. It indicated she was a Public Health Nurse.
"You, a nurse? Give me a break," Kurt said.
"Why do you find that so hard to believe?"
He had to think fast now. "I mean you could be a nurse, but ah…it's a brilliant cover," he finally said smiling. "I mean who would suspect that a nurse is CIA?"
"Quit now before you dig yourself a deeper hole."
She drove to a small park on the East side of the post and stopped. She had made her way through the ambiguous streets as though she had been there before. The park was fairly large with huge evenly-spaced pine trees the only vegetation. The grills, picnic tables, and electrical outlets gave the place away as a summer campsite. With a glance to the opposite side of the site, it was clear why Toni had parked where she did. The sign in front of a building prompted: Visiting Officer Quarters.
Toni cranked her seat down to a reclined position, took off her seat belt, and closed her eyes. "I'm gonna catch a few Zs," she said. "I have a feeling I may be up late tonight getting a sailor drunk and taking advantage of him."
The sun still had nearly an hour before sinking out of sight to the West. Kurt needed to look at the A-7 before darkness so he wouldn't concern Army security. He figured as long as he stayed away from their Blackhawks they wouldn't care what he did to the A-7.
Kurt unzipped the small backpack he had brought with him from the ship, and pulled out a green flight suit. He unfolded it and laid it next to him. Then he pulled off his black boots and began pulling the oversize suit over his clothes. When the car began to rock, Toni opened her eyes and looked at Kurt with disbelief.
"What in the hell are you doing?" she asked.
"Well, you don't expect me to waltz out onto the flight line in civvies do you? The flight suit is all I could fit in my bag."
She shook her head as she closed her eyes and rested her shiny black hair against the head rest.
Kurt set a time to meet her later that evening. He thought she acknowledged him with a nod, but wasn't totally sure. He left her in her world of Verdi, nonetheless, as he closed the door and walked toward the flight line.
Walking out to the flight line with confidence, Kurt stayed well clear of the Army Blackhawks. When he got to the A-7J, he popped open the port access panel and gently lowered it on its hinges. Immediately he noticed something was wrong. The pre-set circuit breakers were not aligned properly. The pilot should have accessed the panel after flight to see if he had set them properly-if he truly had an in-flight emergency. If he had, then he would have reset them all to the standard in position. But instead, they were all out in their normal flight configuration. Normally, the technicians reset the circuit breakers, but it's a standard policy for the pilot to do it if they divert. He may have forgotten, but he might have left them this way to show that the landing gear circuit breaker wasn't actuated.
He couldn't apply power to the A-7 to check it over further, so he had to rely on his intuition and make the assumption that Lt. Budd had passed some information. Kurt knew some of what was transferred and who transferred it, but he still didn't know why and to whom. Hopefully, Toni could help fill in the blanks.
Darkness had started to make it dangerous for Kurt to remain any longer. He closed the panel and walked back toward the car.
Toni found the Wiseguy in the O'Club. He wasn't hard to find. Lt. Budd had arrived in his flight suit. Since he couldn't leave the post dressed like that, he would have had to either buy a full set of clothes or remain on post. He obviously chose to remain.
Toni had replaced the basketball shoes with Italian black leather pumps. She knew her black denim jeans accentuated her buttocks when she tucked her white silk shirt in.
She walked through the bar with great aplomb-ensuring that all could see what she had to offer. Her hair shifted softly side to side over her shoulders with each step she took. She sat at the bar, two stools down from her target, the only person in the bar with a U.S. Navy flight suit, and ordered a glass of Chianti. When her wine came, Lt. Budd put his money on the bar and paid for it. The bait was presented, the hook set, and all that remained was to reel him in. Toni could tell that he had a tremendous head start on his drinking. She would be more cautious.
"Grazie," Toni said, hoping he'd still wonder if she was Italian.
"Hi! I'm Stephen Budd," he said with a slur as he moved one chair closer to Toni. "What's your name?"
This guy is really a piece of work, she thought. "Toni."
"Do you work on post?"
"No! I'm just visiting from Vicenza," she lied.
Lt. Budd looked at Toni, unsure what to think. His eyes were undressing her, but his words weren't coming. "Do you work there?" he asked.
"Yes. I'm a nurse at the Army post," she lied again.
"You're a nurse?" he asked with disbelief.
"Yes," she said, turning toward the bar to take a sip of wine.
"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't believe you. It's just that you're so…so beautiful," he apologized.
"Forget it," Toni said. "I hear that a lot. I mostly help deliver babies. Those soldiers don't seem to understand the correlation between sex and children," she added. She laid on the Italian accent to sound even more sexy.
"Have you been in Italy long?" Lt. Budd asked.
"About two years."
"Will you be at Darby long? I mean, maybe you could show me around," he said, still slurring.
She sipped while he gulped. Shortly, they left together. Toni was sure she could handle him drunk or sober, but drunk was easier. His memory of her would also be blurred in the morning.
When they got to his room, he opened the door with great difficulty. Toni scanned the room for anything interesting. It was pretty empty. He wasn't planning on getting lucky-empty beer bottles and a half-empty bag of pretzels cluttered a small table by the window. The bed wasn't made. She noticed a small brown refrigerator in the corner of the room.
Lt. Budd sat down on the edge of the bed.
Toni strutted slowly to the refrigerator, every movement of her hips exactly as planned, every swish of hair perfectly choreographed. She bent over at the waist as she opened the small brown refrigerator door, and lingered there with her buttocks pointing directly at Lt. Budd. She pulled out two beers, opened both of them, and placed two small pills in his bottle. She looked over her shoulder. He hadn't missed a move. She turned slowly, pulled up a small chair, sat down on the edge, and slowly spread her legs invitingly.