Hidden Agendas

The web covered the world, even a backwater like this one, and it was but the work of a few minutes with a portable flatscreen to uplink via shielded modem pipe to a passing telecom sat. Another minute, a coded password, and 160 million electronic dollars flew from Bali to Bissau, into the government-owned Banco Primero de Bissau, where it was now as safe from the U.S. authorities' grasp as was the surface of Saturn.

In his room, seated cross-legged on his bed, Hughes took a deep breath and let it slowly escape. He smiled. It hadn't even been that difficult to do, to steal more money than most people could ever hope to see in their lifetimes. To most people, 160 million dollars was a fantasy — the only chance they'd ever have at such a sum was winning the lottery. For him, the money was but an intermediate step. A tool, nothing more. He was home free. He had the money, and they didn't have any idea who had taken it. He could go back to the States with White, wrap up a few loose ends, make a few calls, and he was on his way. Even if all of this somehow blew up in his face, he still would have forty million, after he paid El Presidente. Not a bad little nest egg. That was including, of course, the twenty million Platt was supposed to get — but wouldn't need where he was going.

So easy. Amazing.

The room's phone rang.

'Yes?'

It was the President's secretary. 'Good afternoon, Mr. Hughes. President Domingos sends his regards and wonders if it might be convenient for you to join him for a drink in the Blue Room in perhaps half an hour?'

'That would be fine,' Hughes said. 'Half an hour.'

Hughes smiled again. His Excellency wasn't wasting any time.

Time for a shower and fresh clothes before he went.

Sunday, January 16th, 10 a.m. Quantico. Virginia

'Guinea-Bissau?' Alex said. 'I hope you don't think any less of me for not knowing, but where the hell is that?'

'West Africa,' Toni said, 'between Senegal and Guinea.'

'Oh, that helps.'

They were in his office, alone, and she had just presented him with the intelligence on Thomas Hughes's whereabouts.

Toni said, 'On the North Atlantic coast. Trust me, it's there.'

'Okay, so how do we know Hughes is there?'

'I have a contact at the CIA who checked it out for me. They actually have an operative in the country, and she filed a report.'

'Why would the CIA have an op there? I don't even see any of the Company's maps in here. How important a place can it be if they didn't bother to map it?'

Toni shrugged. 'Who knows why the spooks do anything?'

He glanced at the material. 'Doesn't look like a real hot vacation spot either. Why is he there?'

'The spooks aren't being real forthcoming. My source says there is some kind of deal cooking between the country's President and Hughes, but that's all they know. Or more likely, all they are willing to say.'

Alex leaned back in his chair and fiddled with a light pen.

There came a knock at the door. Joanna stood there.

'Good news, I hope?' Alex said.

'Well, good that we found out the bad news,' she said.

'Swell. Go ahead.'

'The federal hounds paid the entry fee — that's a bribe to you and me — to bank officials in Bali and got into the account where the money was.'

Alex blew out a sigh. 'Was. I take it that word is key here?'

'Correct. The account was emptied less than an hour ago. Went to something called the Banco Primero de Bissau. That's in—'

'Guinea-Bissau,' Alex finished.

'I'm impressed, sir. I'd never heard of the place before.'

'Commanders see all and know all, Jo,' he said. He gave her a rueful smile. 'So, our white-collar thief and his stolen millions are in a country with whom we probably don't have an extradition treaty, no crooks from here ever having figured out how to flee there before now, right? Or if we do have a treaty, whatever deal Hughes and the local head honcho are cooking up will no doubt stall any such proceedings we might attempt? Anybody want to jump in here and reassure me how wrong I am?'

Both Joanna and Toni shook their heads.

Alex stood, put the light pen down, and paced back and forth behind his desk. After a few seconds he said, 'All right. Is there any point in me calling State and telling them we want this guy back here?'

Toni shook her head again. 'If Hughes thinks he is going to be arrested as soon as he steps off a plane, probably not. State can't make him come home if he's got the country's President in his pocket.'

Toni continued. 'Of course, he is the COS for a United States senator. He can likely throw some heavy artillery at us. Political types will owe him favors. Maybe he comes back and White steps up to bat for him.'

'Maybe,' Alex said. 'But national-class politicos don't get to the top of the heap without knowing which bugs to step on and which ones to step around. This isn't a political gaffe, it's grand theft. Not an ant, but a stink beetle. Hughes will play hell trying to blame this on the opposition party trying to make him look bad. I'd bet White will drop Hughes like he's a lit bomb.'

'All of which means what, Commander?' Joanna asked.

'I think it means if we want him, we are going to have to go and get him,' Alex said.

'Hold up a second,' Toni said. 'He doesn't know we know he's the thief. White is due to return to the country next week. Wouldn't Hughes just come back with the senator? I mean, maybe not, but he's got a seat on White's charter. Why wouldn't he return? As far as he is concerned, he's gotten away with it. That would make things a lot easier. We wait until he lands right at Dulles and collect him, no fuss.'

Alex looked at her and smiled. 'You're right. Of course. He doesn't know we are looking at him. And now that the theft is a done deal, I would suspect there won't be any more attacks on the net by his pet thug. No emergency. We can wait a few days. That would keep me from having to explain to the Director why I invaded a third-world country and kidnapped somebody. Brilliant, Toni.'

Toni smiled. Any time she could get that kind of response from him, she was happy.

'Of course, it might be a good idea if the CIA gave us a little help keeping an eye on this character, just in case he decides to go elsewhere.'

'They'd be happy to,' Toni said. 'They lost people when that spy list hit the web. They want this guy. I'd guess if we don't get him pretty soon, he might have a fatal accident.'

'That would be bad,' Alex said. 'We need him alive at least until Jay and Joanna have tracked down and defused his little time bombs.'

'I know,' she said. 'I mentioned that we want him alive.'

Sunday, January 16th, 10 a.m. Chicago, Illinois

Platt had booked a commercial flight from O'Hare to Heathrow, where he'd switch airlines for the hop to North Africa, before transferring to a local crop-duster flight to Oogaboogah. Starting out on a nice big Mil, then going to a DC-9, and finally a DeHavilland prop plane. Since he was flying tourist class all the way, the seats weren't gonna be that comfortable, but pretty soon he wouldn't have to be fooling with this crap anymore, and he could fly first class if he felt like it.

The plane didn't leave until the afternoon, though, and he had more than six hours to kill. He thought about checking into a room and getting a few hours sleep, but he could sleep on planes, if he could get them to give him two or three pillows, and he didn't want to take any chance he'd miss his flight, so he decided to wait at the airport. He could dick around, pick up copies of this month's Flex, Muscular Development, and MuscleMag, eat a good lunch, all like that. He only had the one carry-on bag, and he could rent a locker for that. What the hell.

Since he was so early, he wasn't in any hurry to check in. He got some breakfast, hit the magazine racks, went to the John, then found a place to sit and read near where his gate was.

He spotted the two feds when they came in. They were looking for somebody, and he didn't think that much about it, other than the usual wolf-aware-of-the-hunter kind of thing. But then he saw them see him, saw them