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Jean says, “Before I start, Director, do we know the status of Noa Himel and Liam Grey?”
The sandwich suddenly tastes like it’s made of compressed sawdust. Hannah swallows one more piece, then drops it on the plate.
“Noa is on her way to see thePostreporter, Kay Darcy,” Hannah says. “I’m hoping she has helpful information that she’ll be willing to trade. Liam is probably on the ground now in South Africa, looking to meet up with the Chinese intelligence agent. And it also looks like Bruce is going to recover.”
“It’s going to be a hell of a thing, keeping that shooting quiet.”
“It’s what we do,” Hannah says. “What do you have?”
“Got him,” she says, her smile wider.
“Who?”
“Benjamin Lucas.”
“You mean, we got him out of Chinese custody?”
“No, no, I’m sorry,” she says. “I got his record, but the further afield we went from the official paperwork, there were some questions we got answered.”
Good for us,Hannah thinks, as she takes a sip from her now cold coffee.But couldn’t it have waited?
“Lucas grew up in San Francisco, graduated from Stanford, and then got his master’s degree in Asian Studies at Boston University, where an asset of ours recruited him. Went through training without difficulty, went to various specialty schools and did some fieldwork with Army and Navy units. He was in the Directorate of Operations before he was recruited into President Barrett’s arms. But one thing bothered me.”
“Go,” Hannah says.
“His accomplishments and advancements all came off without a hitch, a setback. He got everything he asked for, every school, every transfer.”
“Somebody here was clearing a path for him.”
Jean nods, eyes still bright. “That was the most recent question. Who was that wizard clearing things for him? Then I had a couple of my people really dig into his upbringing, and I mean, dig.”
Hannah recalls what she knows about Benjamin’s upbringing.
“An orphan, wasn’t he?”
Quick nod. “That’s right. Two months old, given up for adoption to Catholic Charities of California, and later adopted by the Lucas family of Los Gatos. The records were sealed, of course, but … through various means, we’ve gotten access.”
“Jean, please tell me nothing illegal happened.”
“Director, at this moment in time, nothing illegal happened.”
“Jesus … go on.”
“His birth mother was Roberta Tyler. She was a civilian contractworker for the Department of Defense. Father listed as unknown, but my folks went further, even did some out-of-the-box thinking involving DNA analysis … Director, you will not believe who Benjamin Lucas’s father is.”
“Tell me,” Hannah says.
CHAPTER 94
THE MEETING NOA Himel is having with Kay Darcy,Washington Postreporter and ex-wife of Liam Grey, is not going well. It took one long and cryptic phone call before Kay grudgingly gave up her address, and now Noa is sitting in her tiny kitchen, cluttered with unwashed dishes in the sink, piles of newspapers on the floor, and an overflowing trash can. Noa pushed to have this meeting somewhere else, someplace public, but Kay would have nothing to do with that.
“You think it’ll do me any good to be seen in public with a CIA officer?” she said. “Bad enough I was married to one. Forget it.”
So here Noa is, in Kay’s apartment. No water, no juice, no coffee or tea offered.
Kay says, “This is a first, having a CIA officer reach out to me that I’ve not been married to. I better mark this day on my calendar. Why me, then?”
“I’ve been working with Liam,” Noa says. “He’s told me what he revealed to you, about President Barrett’s illegal actions. I’m here to confirm that and pass along additional information about the program.”