Maria is a great, great lady.'
'That she is,' McCaskey said.
Aideen had worked closely with Maria and McCaskey averting a new, wide-ranging Spanish civil war.
McCaskey asked Aideen if he could get anything for her. She asked if he would mind getting a regular decaf and a croissant. He took one of his espressos with him and went back to the counter.
Rodgers regarded Aideen. 'Decaf?' he remarked.
'I had three cups of coffee before I left home and another on the way,' she said as she slid onto a stool. She put her shoulder bag on the floor, between her feet. 'I get up and do most of my work when it's still dark out. Better for the concentration. I research and write my Moore-Cook Journal articles when my brain is still fresh, then cram for the day's meetings.'
The Moore-Cook Journal was a quarterly about the impact of international affairs on domestic policy. It was published by a small, conservative isolationist think tank and was widely read in the intelligence industry.
'How's the consulting work going?' Rodgers asked.
'It's long hours, okay money, and crappy health coverage,' she said. 'But I like seeing new faces each day, and I love the learning curve. The trick is knowing things other people don't, then scaring them into hiring you.'
'Information insurance,' Rodgers said.
'Something like that,' Aideen replied. 'It would be nice to have a steady gig again, but I got out of line when I left OpCenter. I don't want to start over somewhere else.'
There was a hint of bitterness in her voice. After the assassination of her mentor, Martha Mackall, Aideen needed time
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off-more than Op-Center could afford to give her.
Aideen went on quickly. 'I was thinking on the way over, we haven't seen each other in over a year. How are you?'
'Okay,' he said. 'I assume you heard about the trouble in Kashmir.'
The woman nodded once. 'I was sorry to hear about that. How's Colonel August?'
'He's fine,' Rodgers said. 'That mission was my call, my black mark. Besides, he's always been able to look ahead.'
'While you look back,' she said.
'What can I say? I'm a history buff,' he said.
'You can say that you apply what you learn to the future,' Aideen answered. 'Otherwise, what's the point of learning it?'
'I agree.'
'What about Paul and Bob?' Aideen asked.
She is good at this, Rodgers thought. Aideen did not let a sore subject sit. She got in, made her point, and kept things moving.
'Paul and Bob are the same,' Rodgers told her. 'I suppose you heard that Ann Farris is no longer at Op- Center.'
'Yes. I'm hoping she left due to natural causes,' Aideen said. That was a euphemism for attrition or a change to a better job. What she was really saying was that she hoped Ann had left for professional reasons and not because of her relationship with Paul.
'It was not exactly that,' Rodgers told her. 'There were budget cuts. That's how I lost Striker, too.'
'Not just the personnel? You mean the group?' she asked.
Rodgers nodded.
That surprised the woman. Obviously, there had not been time for that one to hit the Washington grapevine.
'Mike, I'm so sorry,' she said.
'It's okay. It was a kick in the pants,' he admitted, 'but we move on. Which is one of the reasons I asked you to come down here today.'
McCaskey returned with Aideen'.> decaf. She thanked him without taking her eyes off Rodgers
'I'm putting together a new group,' he said quietly. 'Very
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low profile, doing the same kind of work you did with Maria. I was wondering if you'd consider being part of it.'
She looked from Rodgers to McCaskey. 'Will Maria be working with us?' she asked.
'We don't know yet,' Rodgers said.
'I do,' McCaskey replied. 'When Mike asks that question, Maria won't hesitate. Not like she did when I popped
