Protocol One Read online

  “That wine . . .”

  “Yeah, I know,” Jeffrey said. “An incredible thing, isn’t it?”

  “And what about you?” Jana said, nodding to Jeffrey’s wine glass.

  He tilted it to his mouth until it was empty. He then stood and took both glasses to the kitchen and placed them in front of the bottle and began to fish in his pant pocket.

  ***

  “Six? This is mobile one. He’s refilling their glasses. Hold on, he’s got something in his hand. He just dumped something in her drink!”

  “Now’s when I get really nervous,” Stone said to himself. “Roger that, mobile one. If she was able to make the switch, that’s part of the plan too.”

  Fry said into his mic. “And if she wasn’t able to make the switch?”

  “She will test the wine before she drinks it to make sure. I was adamant about that with her.”

  ***

  Jana pulled out another tiny sliver of thin, white paper from its hiding place underneath her wrist watch and palmed it. When Jeffrey handed the freshly refilled wine glass to her, she dropped it in and watched to ensure it did not turn bright pink in color, a telltale detection of Rohypnol. When the paper did not turn, she took a full gulp of wine, being sure to swallow the square of paper in the process. The taste was much sweeter than the last glass and Jana knew, he had tried to drug her.

  “You are thirsty, aren’t you?” Jeffrey laughed as he flopped onto the couch. Jana could not help but notice his eyes had already started to become glassy. “Drink up,” he said.

  She complied and smiled at him. “I like hanging out with you,” she said as she put her hand on his leg.

  He looked at the hand and glanced at her with bedroom eyes, then slid closer.

  ***

  “He’s making his move,” mobile one said across the radio. “Yeah, he’s kissing her neck. But he looks drunk or something.”

  “Thank God,” Stone said. “She got the drugs into him. He better not put an unwanted hand on her—”

  “This was all her plan? To make out with the guy?” Agent Fry said. “She thought this whole thing up? You’re right, she’s got guts.”

  “What’s happening now?” Stone said into the mic.

  “Well, he kind of leaned his weight onto her, but more like he’s drunk than anything else. And, he’s ah . . . uh oh. He’s unbuttoning her blouse.”

  “He’s what?” Stone blurted into the radio. “Is she okay? Does she look panicked?”

  “Negative, sir. She doesn’t look scared at all.”

  “I can’t believe she’s letting him do this,” Fry said.

  “Don’t get me started,” Stone replied. “Keep up the description of what’s happening, mobile one.”

  “She’s finished with her wine, and he’s still working the blouse. Having a little trouble with the buttons.”

  “The drugs are working on him,” Stone said. “Serves the prick right, trying to drug a woman like that.”

  Mobile one continued. “Wait a second, she just stood up. She’s unbuttoning her blouse. Oh, yeah, it’s dropped to the floor now, sir. She’s down to her bra. Is it okay for us to be watching this?”

  Stone buried his face in his hands. “Oh my God. I can’t believe I talked her into being a material witness. I’m going to burn in hell for this.”

  Agent Fry said, “You didn’t tell her to take her damn clothes off!” Fry said into the radio. “Just keep watching and relaying information, mobile one.”

  “He looks like he’s out,” mobile one said. “He just slumped over on the couch. Now she’s running toward the back rooms. She left her blouse on the floor.”

  ***

  Jana could think of nothing other than searching the apartment to find whatever evidence there might be. It would be a laptop, she thought. Whatever we find, it’s got to be on a laptop, if I could only find the thing. She ran into the bedroom and opened one drawer after another. “A laptop, a laptop. Where would he put his laptop?” But it wasn’t until she looked under the bed that she spotted it. She ran it back into the living area, looked over at Jeffrey, and sat at the dining table in full view of the massive span of windows. “Just making sure you don’t wake up, you prick,” she said out loud, then jumped up to grab her purse. She pulled her phone from it and dialed Agent Stone.

  He answered and Jana could hear the rapidity of his breathing.

  “Jana? You all right?”

  “Fine. I assume you’re watching. I’ve got his laptop. It’s booting up now.”

  “Yes, we’re watching. Do you want to explain to me where your blouse is right now?”

  Jana glanced down at her bra. “Oh, shit. Well, Dad, kind of had to improvise there. He wasn’t passing out fast enough. Had to make it look authentic.”

  “Authentic? My surveillance team in the office across the street are males. They thought they were watching a peep show.”

  “Can we stay on point here?” Jana said with a steeliness in her voice.

  “Man, who’s the federal agent?” Stone laughed. “All right, what’s the laptop doing?”

  “Crap, it’s looking for a password. I’ll never find his password. Stone, can you hack it?”

  “Not in the thirty minutes we have before he wakes up, no.”

  “Wait a minute,” she said. “The laptop has a fingerprint scanner on it.” She glanced over at Jeffrey. “I know exactly what to do.”

  ***

  “Six, this is mobile one. She’s walked over to the subject with the laptop and she’s kneeling down. What’s she doing? Wait, looks like she’s swiping his finger across the face of the laptop. I’ll be damned.”

  ***

  “Good thinking, Jana,” Stone said. His voice mottled with pride.

  “Okay, I’m in. I have no idea what I’m looking for though, so I’m going to copy the entire hard disk onto the thumb drive you gave me. “

  “Exactly. Then get the hell out of there, Jana. We’ve got NSA on standby to examine and, if needed, decrypt the files.”

  “All right,” Jana said.

  To Stone, Jana’s voice sounded like cold granite.

  She continued. “It’s copying now. Are we sure this flash drive is big enough to hold an entire hard drive?”

  “Plenty,” Stone replied. “And Jana, while it copies, you might want to put your clothes back on.”

  “Right,” she said through a slight grin.

  “Once it finishes copying, put the laptop back where you found it. I want you out of that apartment and down in the lobby with the data as fast as possible. When Jeffrey wakes up, he won’t even know what happened, much less that we copied all the contents of his computer.”

  But then she heard the sound of a key being pushed into the lock on the front door and she froze. Her eyes widened as the door handle turned.

  26

  Enter the Demon

  “Oh, Christ,” came a whispered transmission across the radio, but then mobile one’s volume escalated, “Six, we’ve got a problem! Someone just entered through the front door! Male, dark complected . . . he’s got a weapon!”

  ***

  Jana’s mouth dropped open as Rune Dima walked into the apartment, a Glock in his hand. The look of surprise on his face was paralleled by her own.

  “What are you doing here?” Rune barked, the look of shock still painted on him.

  “I’m, I’m, ah, well . . .” Jana picked up the laptop and held it over her bra. “I just had some more work to do and thought—”

  “You had some work to do?” Rune said as he walked toward Jana, his gun pointed forward. “And you thought you’d come over to Jeffrey’s penthouse and what? Collaborate with him?” His eyes wandered down Jana’s body. “And I suppose his air conditioning was out and you got hot? Figured you’d be more comfortable if you worked with your top off? Is that it?”

  Go ahead, she thought, talk your way out of that one. Jana looked down at her bra and continued backpedaling toward the couch and sliding glass door
that led onto the balcony. She glanced at the laptop screen where the files were still being copied. The open window on the monitor read 65% complete.

  “Mr. Dima—”

  “Rune,” he smiled, still walking toward her. “I told you to call me Rune.”

  Oh my God, he’s going to kill me. “My blouse . . . Jeffrey and I—”

  “Yes, you and Jeffrey have obviously become involved with one another. A liability I’m sad to say I cannot afford. Where is Jeffrey, anyway?” He spat the name like sour vinegar. But then Rune walked close enough to the couch to see that Jeffrey was slumped over on it, unconscious.

  Jana’s hand shook harder now. Her first thought was to lunge for her purse to pull out her handgun, but she knew she’d never get to it before being shot to death. She scrambled to come up with a story to stall him until the files had finished copying.

  “Mr. Dima . . . Rune, Jeffrey and I were on a date. Yes, I admit that. And, and, we had some wine and I guess he had too much because he passed out.” She was almost speed-talking as she continued to backpedal past the couch. “And you’ve been so good to me.” She glanced at the laptop, 85% complete. “I am just so sorry.” She reached down and picked her blouse off the arm of the couch then used it to cover the USB flash drive which protruded from the side of the laptop. “I know I shouldn’t have gotten involved with him.”

  Rune interrupted, “No, you should not have. But as it turns out, Miss Baker, your usefulness to this company has come to an end. I’m afraid you know too much.”

  “Oh, Mr. Dim . . . Rune, I don’t know anything. I mean, what’s there to know?” She backed into the sliding glass door of the balcony with a thud, then fumbled behind herself until she found the door handle. She slid the door open and her eyes cast a furtive glance to the laptop, 99% complete. Her mind raced. Keep him talking.

  ***

  “She’s backed out onto the balcony!” mobile one yelled into the radio. “Jesus Christ! Why don’t we have a sniper up here? He’s going to kill her!”

  ***

  “Do you think backing out onto this balcony is going to save you?” Rune said as he screwed a silencer onto the barrel of the Glock. “I’m afraid I must erase my tracks, Miss Baker.” He glanced back at Jeffrey’s unconscious body. “Both you and Jeffrey.”

  The instant Rune looked away, Jana yanked the thumb drive out, dropped the laptop onto a padded patio chair, then wrapped the thumb drive inside the blouse, and threw the bundle over the balcony.

  ***

  Mobile one yelled into the radio, “She just threw her blouse over the balcony. It’s drifting to the street. Why would she . . . wait a minute,” he said as he squinted through binoculars at the side of the laptop in Jana’s hands, “the thumb drive isn’t in the laptop anymore. I think she just threw it over the side, wrapped in her blouse!”

  ***

  Rune snapped his head at her. “What was that? Why did you just throw your blouse over the balcony?”

  Jana knew the moment Rune Dima had entered the apartment the FBI operation to secretly steal the data was blown. She had the data but had been caught in the act. There was no point hiding that fact now.

  “It’s over, Rune,” Jana said with a soft, feminine quality to her voice. It’s all over now. They know everything. You don’t need to continue.”

  He stammered as his mind raced to comprehend why Jana had thrown her blouse over the balcony. “What’s over?” But then his eyes landed on the laptop and he lunged for it. “This is Jeffrey’s laptop, isn’t it?” He was almost yelling. “What are you doing with Jeffrey’s laptop?”

  He jammed his hand onto her throat and crunched down. She flailed her hands until they landed on his forearm, an effort to stop him from choking her. He then pushed her against the balcony railing. Jana's body leaned backward, as her fingernails dug into the flesh of his forearm.

  ***

  “He’s about to throw her off the balcony!” mobile one screamed.

  ***

  “Rune, no!” she gasped through his choking grip. But it was too late. He leaned his full weight forward and pushed her over the rounded metal railing.

  She flopped over the side but did not abate her hold on his arm. Her body dangled forty-one stories above Fifth Avenue.

  A gunshot from Agent Stone’s .40 caliber Glock ruptured the air and he leapt onto the balcony. The bullet struck Rune in the rib cage and Stone lunged over the edge to grab Jana. Rune recoiled from the impact but raised his gun and shot Stone at point-blank range just as Jana’s flailing right leg found the ledge. Stone fell back, clutching his chest, and collapsed. With her leg, Jana pushed against the balcony to raise herself, then wrapped her arms around Rune’s neck and leapt onto him.

  “No!” she screamed as she pushed into Rune to prevent him from shooting Stone again. Rune struggled but wrenched a forearm around her neck and yanked it tight, again choking her. He pointed the gun at Stone but Jana raised a knee into the air and slammed her heel into the dorsal lateral cutaneous nerve in his foot and Rune buckled to the ground. Jana fell back with him and began smashing the back of her head into Rune’s nose. The forearm crushing her neck lost power and she pulled herself free and up onto her feet. She then jammed her heel into Rune’s wrist in repeated succession until the Glock spun out of his grip. She grabbed the gun and pointed it at him, towering over the man. Her adrenaline was pulsing.

  The front door of the apartment burst open and eight heavily armed and Kevlar-laden SWAT team members burst in.

  “FBI! Everybody on the ground!” they yelled with weapons forward.

  Jana heard the commotion but did not move. She could not pull her gaze off Rune Dima who lay beneath her. Blood spurted from the bullet hole in his chest and she pointed the gun at him.

  “What are you going to do?” Rune said as he coughed out bright red blood. “Kill me? You’re a woman. You don’t have the guts. Besides, you can’t stop the operation from going forward now. It’s too late. Our plan is already in full swing.”

  Jana’s clenched her teeth and the grip on the Glock tightened. “Don’t test me, you son of a bitch.” She applied tension to the trigger.

  “Jana, no,” Stone said from the ground as he pressed against his wound.

  She glanced back at him with a strange look. To Stone, the look appeared to be a concoction of anger and death, mottled into the beauty of her eyes.

  “Not like this, Jana. You don’t want to do this.”

  But she turned her glare back to Rune.

  Stone continued speaking through fits and gasps. “I’ve been there, Jana. I’ve stood where you’re standing. He almost killed you. Adrenaline and fury raging through you. You don’t want to live with this.”

  SWAT members registered the scene and eased onto the balcony, but Stone held up his hand to stop them.

  “Look at me, Jana,” Stone said, his voice that of a calm father. “You mean too much to me. I don’t want to see you do anything you’re going to regret for the rest of your life.”

  Jana eased off the trigger and looked at him. My God, she thought. What am I doing?

  “My grandpa used to say that to me.” A tear eased its way into her vision as the adrenaline rush began to take its toll. “He used to tell me that all the time. Never do anything you’re going to regret for the rest of your life.”

  One of the SWAT team members rushed forward and took the gun from her, then searched Rune for other weapons. One of the men began applying pressure to Rune’s chest in an effort to stop the bleeding. Jana knelt down to Agent Stone and did the same.

  ***

  On the street below, the second minivan, this one driven by Uncle Bill Tarleton, raced forward and screeched its tires next to the blouse. Bill jumped out of the van and grabbed it, then unfolded it until the thumb drive fell out. “Damn that kid’s good,” he said as he jumped in the back of the van and placed the drive into a USB port on the side of his laptop. “Now, let’s take a look at this thumb drive and see what these asshole
s have been hiding.”

  ***

  Jana applied pressure to Stone’s chest but blood continued to ease out around her fingers.

  “Medic!” she yelled. “We need two medics up here!”

  “Way ahead of you, ma’am,” one of the SWAT members said as he checked Stone’s pulse. “We’ve got a helicopter evac en route. ETA one minute.”

  “You hear that, Stone?” Jana said through a false smile. “Help’s on the way.”

  “Listen, Jana,” Stone said. “I don’t want you to worry about me.” His eyes closed but he continued talking. “You did good, kid. You did really, really good. I’m so proud of you.” He seemed to drift off.

  “Hey,” she said, “stay with me, okay? Keep looking me in the eyes.” A tear rolled off her cheek and plopped on the back of her hand. It mixed with Stone’s fresh blood into a murky swirl.

  “We’re losing him!” the SWAT member said into the mic. “Where’s my chopper?”

  Jana shook Stone and his eyes flickered.

  “Whatever happens,” he whispered. “You’re going to be fine. Your life is going to be just fine.” His eyes closed again.

  “Stone? Stone?” she said as she shook him. “Don’t you leave me!”

  27

  The Funeral

  The cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, was strangely beautiful in Jana’s eyes. It was bordered by three other cemeteries, all blending together into one, the combined greenery stretching across hundreds of tree-lined acres. It had been two months since the series of events that led her here. Jana stood far back from the small group of mourners as they gathered around the grave site. She felt like an outsider, a person whose presence might not be wanted in the midst of grieving friends and relatives. Standing beneath a large oak tree, she glanced up at brilliant yellow-green light glowing through the leaves, then to the slivers of blue sky intermixed between them.