The phone rang, and McCracken answered it. “Such a dear man,” said Virginia Maxwell, “making me wait for only two rings.”
“I had an enlightening meeting with Reston Ainsley, Maxie.”
“So he told me…. after you failed to. Oh, well, now that you’re working for us again, I suppose I can forgive a few such lapses.”
“With, Maxie, not for.”
“Either way, my dear, your best interests would be served by getting yourself to Gap headquarters on the double.”
“We going to have torrid sex, Ms. Maxwell?”
“Better. The report from my team in the Amazon just came in.”
Takahashi gazed closer at the face displayed on the computer monitor. It looked fierce and hard even through the graininess of the reproduction, the beard a dark splotch the same black color as the eyes.
“This man’s name again?” he asked Tiguro Nagami, who stood just to his right.
“Blaine McCracken.”
“I have read about him, haven’t I? When we were selecting our team, his name surfaced.”
“Rejected immediately, Kami-san. He does not do this kind of work.”
Takahashi scrolled through the classified file. “Apparently, he does.”
“Only by his own choosing. He could be a dangerous foe.”
Takahashi stopped scrolling and read in detail the selection on the screen. “I see he spent a year in our country.”
“He studied under Hiroshi.”
The albino’s skin seemed to pale even more. “That explains much.”
“McCracken is many things, Kami-san, but mostly he is a warrior. Those who failed to recognize that have paid dearly.”
“You’re telling me this is the man who rescued the Hunsecker woman?”
“An associate of his did. Our sources indicate that the associate has now delivered her to his protection. Our report indicates he owes the woman from the past. He is a man who pays his debts.”
Takahashi’s pink stare turned distant. “Aren’t we all? She has told him everything, I presume.”
“And he will probably pay attention. I have also learned that McCracken met with Virginia Maxwell. Therefore, he is probably aware of our six killers. That places their missions in great peril.”
“We can send word out. They can be warned.”
Nagami took a deep breath. “May I speak frankly, Kami-san?”
“You may, Tiguro.”
“Kami-san, there is too much going on here beyond our control. Blaine McCracken is onto the pattern of our killings.”
“There is no pattern!”
“There is…enough.”
“What would you have me do, Nagami? What would you have me do?”
“Recall the killers. Suspend their work until we are able to deal with McCracken.”
Takahashi gazed again at the face wavering on his computer monitor. “Do you truly think we can?”
“I think we must try.”
Takahashi rose from behind his desk and walked methodically to the centrally placed portal in the yacht’s large study. Beyond him, there was only the sea.
“I do not have the right to do as you suggest, Nagami. This is not just my battle; it is the battle of our people. Since the war…I should not belabor the details. You know what suspending our work would mean.”
“I know what continuing it now can mean.”
“There is only one certainty, Nagami, and that certainty gave birth to something forty-six years ago. Are we to ignore that fact? Are we to forget the truth?”
“Recent events have changed that truth.”
“No,” Takahashi said staunchly as he swung from the portal. “They have only redefined it. We are all that is left, my friend. We are alone in a battle we must see completed.”
“There is still McCracken, Kami-san.”
Takahashi’s pink eyes flamed red. “Our work will go forth until I have punched all ninety-six of the names into my computer. Not a single one can be spared. Do you hear me? Not a single one!”
Chapter 15
As head of the gap, Virginia Maxwell had moved its headquarters from downtown Washington to the Oyster Point district of Newport News, Virginia. The Gap’s secret, unchartered existence had made its Washington location an impediment. Too much scrutiny threatened to make politics a concern where it was never supposed to be.
The Oyster Point office was situated amid banks and business and professional offices in the center of the Newport News peninsula. Most of the buildings were modest, modern structures, two to four stories high. The Gap, on the other hand, was located in a spanking new office high rise on Thimbal Shoals. Two nearly completed smaller high rises flanked it on either side.
At twenty-four stories, the Gap building was the tallest in the city. Floors fourteen to eighteen, where the Gap actually had its offices, were serviced by a different elevator bank from the rest of the building. They also had an internal elevator system and stairways that linked the floors together, totally isolating them from the rest of the building.
McCracken drove to Newport News through the last of the early evening traffic. He had left Belamo to arrange a computer for Patty; Johnny Wareagle pursued his own agenda. Blaine followed Virginia Maxwell’s instructions for gaining access and found her waiting at the elevator when he stepped out on the eighteenth floor.
“Right this way, my dear.”
She led him down the sparsely traveled hall, high heels clip-cloping softly on the imitation marble flooring. Somewhere in the maze of Gap budgeting, Maxie had found the funds to gradually transform her headquarters into an Italian art deco showplace. Desks curved and sloped. Everything was thin and shiny, ageless, like Virginia Maxwell herself. Even though night had fallen, workers remained at computer terminals sorting through information. They sat on soft leather chairs.
Maxie was dressed in brown tweed tonight, and her bracelets clanged lightly together as if in rhythm with her heels. She said nothing until they had entered a screening room where they took chairs in the front row. Each chair had a remote control device built into its arm. Video had become a prime component of the kind of work the Gap was often called on to do. Much better for reconnaissance than stills and computer-enhanced satellite overviews. Sign of a whole new age in the intelligence business.
“The base was wiped clean, just as you suspected,” Virginia Maxwell reported as she closed the door behind them.
“I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t found something, Maxie.”
She nodded. “They should have torched the place. Don’t ask me why they didn’t. Anyway, your description of the physical layout was accurate as always, except this time you missed something: two additional floors to be exact.”
“Didn’t see an entrance.”
“With good reason. The elevator compartment was built into the wall. My people almost missed it, too. Let’s make ourselves comfortable.”
They settled into seats that felt airline stiff. Blaine found himself fingering the controls on his armrest, but he left it to Maxie to punch in the proper commands.
“I’ve fastforwarded ahead of the floors you’ve already seen. I’d like to hear what you make of this.” Virginia Maxwell touched a button on her armrest that gave the screen a black sort of life. The next button filled it with the jittery motions of the cameraman proceeding down the corridor of the second underlevel, past the dormitorylike cubicles. At the very end of the corridor, where a segment of the wall had been, the team members had managed to locate the elevator the Gap head had spoken of. The camera jiggled once more during the descent, but steadied again as the doors slid open. Its lens became Blaine’s eyes as it surveyed what was revealed.