Page 19 of Undefeated Love
“I’d love to see the psychological evaluation on that woman.” Tori glanced at her watch. “Are we about done for the day?” She raised her gaze to Katlin.
“Yeah. I’m not sure we have a place to start looking yet.” Katlin put all the papers back into her package and dumped it in the bottom of the conference room safe. The other women did the same before she closed the door and spun the dial. “We’ll pick this up again at eight o’clock tomorrow morning. Enjoy your evening. We need a plan tomorrow. We’ve been ordered to be wheels up no later than midnight tomorrow night.”
“That means everybody needs to get multiple orgasms tonight because it’s going to be a long time before we’re back with our men.” Nita stopped halfway to the door then spun around with a contrite look on her face. “Katli—”
Katlin threw both hands up in the air in the stop position. “No need to apologize. What you said is true. Have wonderful night, Ladies.”
Nita met her in the hall. “Would you like to come over and have supper tonight? I’m sure the kids would love to see you.”
“Thank you, but I can’t. I have several things to take care of before we leave.” She forced a smile. “Give the kids a hug and kiss goodbye from their Aunt Katlin. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Katlin hopped on the Metro and changed trains at Gallery Place to the green line. She got off again at L’Enfant Plaza and jumped on the blue line, riding it all the way to King Street in old town Alexandria. She exited the subway and walked several blocks on street level before dropping back down to the subway at Braddock Road, where she took the yellow line back to the Pentagon. Grabbing a cup of coffee at one of the underground eateries, she walked to street level. Once she was sure she wasn’t being followed, Katlin tossed the untouched coffee into a trashcan and returned underground, taking the green line to the Archives exit.
She walked up the steps next to a young man in a hoodie. “Can you tell me where the castle is? I was supposed to meet my girlfriend there seven minutes ago.”
Perfect. That was the introductory code to meet him in seven minutes. “Sure. At the top of the stairs turn right. You can’t miss it. It’s the only castle on the mall.” Those were the actual instructions to the Smithsonian Castle.
Seven minutes later, the man had lost the hoodie and was now wearing a black blazer as he approached her near one of the large trees on the mall. After handing him a small package, she instructed, “I’m not sure when, it could be days, it could be weeks, but I will text you the address and the time. It could be anywhere in the United States. Do not open it, or examine it, under any circumstances. You’re not to give this package to anyone except the recipient. You are to hand it directly to him. Do not answer any questions. Simply turn and disappear. Do you understand my instructions?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Excellent. Do exactly as I say, and I’ll report to your class leader at Langley that you’ve completed your first outside test.” Katlin stared at him for a long minute. “You came highly recommended. Don’t disappoint the deputy director.”
“Thank you, ma’am. You can depend on me.”
Katlin turned and disappeared into the shadows. She still had a lot to do before she led her team to hunt down Jack Ashworth.
The next morning, the Ladies of Black Swan sifted through even more data the researchers had uncovered during the night before.
“Okay, his parents own a house on Charlotte Amalie,” Tori said to no one in particular.
“Where the fuck is that?” Nita grumbled and got up to pour more coffee.
“It’s about forty miles east of Puerto Rico or a hard ten-mile swim from the British Virgin Islands.” Lei Lu never looked up from her computer. “We know it better as St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you just say that?” Nita sat back down and drained her coffee cup.
Grace reached over and patted Nita’s hand. “Is Bella still teething?”
“Fuck, yes.” Their friend looked longingly at the bottom of her empty cup. “She didn’t want anything to do with Daniel last night. The only way she’d sleep was in my arms and drooling all over my shoulders. Tylenol isn’t even touching the pain in my biceps.” Nita fought a yawn and failed.
“You are absolutely not flying tonight,” Katlin announced. “Where the fuck we’re going, I haven’t a clue. I can guarantee you, though, we’ll be in the air by midnight. Nita, go take a power nap. You’ll be more help to us after you sleep.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Nita said sarcastically as she rose and dragged her ass out of the room.
“According to airline records, verified by TSA cameras, Jack flew first class, nonstop from D.C. to San Juan, Puerto Rico on the day he submitted his resignation.” Tori looked up from her computer. “That’s the normal way that you would go to St. Thomas, but I don’t have any indication of him leaving Puerto Rico.”
“He could have caught a small private plane from there,” Grace offered.
“No one by his name flew out commercially…” Lei Lu then added, “or charted a private plane to St. Thomas anytime within the next week.”
“Well, fuck.” Tori shook her head then leaned in closer to her screen. “Wait one. His parents sold the house in St. Thomas to a corporation three years ago and bought an even bigger mansion on the more exclusive island of St. John. Almost the entire island is a national park.”
“There’s not even a small private airport on St. John.” Lei Lu sat back in her chair and stared at her three screens. “He’d still have to fly into St. Thomas and take a boat over.” She leaned forward and began typing feverishly. “I’ll bet most residents on St. John have at least one boat permanently docked on St. Thomas. And we have a winner.” She threw her arms in the air and wiggled her fingers. “Since the docks are covered, I can’t look for it with a satellite.”
“If he’s been there the whole time, check boat refueling records.” Katlin felt as though this was their first real lead. “Lei Lu, grocery store video. Grace, see if we have an asset in the area. Tori, does he have a satellite phone? Find out who his cell carrier is.”
While waiting for answers, Katlin brought up the most recent satellite photograph of St. John. “Where’s their house on this island?”
