“With all due respect, Trigger: f*ck you,” Wohl said. That, Brad thought, was the real Chris Wohl he knew. “You didn’t notice it with your friend Yvette, did you? You’ve been lax in your countersurveillance tactics, haven’t you?”
“What in hell are you talking about, Sergeant Major?”
“Did you see the reaction from your friend Yvette when she saw me?” Wohl asked.
“Yes. She was . . . surprised. A little.” But Brad was thinking back and reevaluating his response. “And nice.”
“You think so, Trigger?” Wohl asked.
“I . . .” Brad paused. Boy, he thought, I completely missed something that has the big ex-Marine concerned, maybe even . . . scared? He thought hard, then said, “She was actually very collected. True, she didn’t react in shock or surprise to you, like I’ve seen even grown men do. But she was polite.”
“Polite, yes,” Wohl said. “What else? What was she really going for, being nice to the ugly weird-looking stranger that had suddenly appeared right behind her that she didn’t expect? What else was she computing, Trigger?”
“She . . .” Brad’s mind was racing, trying to catch up with the things that Chris Wohl obviously had already divined way earlier, the things he himself should have discerned if he hadn’t been distracted by outside—meaning sexual—factors. “She . . . she was trying to decide how she was going to . . . to deal with you,” Brad said finally.
“?‘Deal’ with me?”
Brad hesitated again, but the answer was painfully obvious: “Eliminate you,” he corrected himself. Holy f*cking shit, Brad thought, his eyes bugged out, shaking his head in disbelief. “She was after my ass, but you came along and surprised her, and she didn’t know what to do,” he said. “She had to make a last-second decision about whether to attack or withdraw, and she decided to withdraw. Oh, shit . . . !”
“Finally, you’re thinking tactically,” Wohl said. “You think that you if spend a few months with nothing happening that you are safe? You couldn’t be more wrong. Time always favors the patient hunter. It gives the enemy more time to do surveillance, plan, replan, and execute. You think that since the bad guys haven’t attacked in six months they’ve given up? Wrong. Moreover, you can’t afford to be more wrong.” Wohl frowned, deepening the lines in his face even more. “Tell me, Trigger: Will you ever see your friend again?”
“Sure—when she’s done stalking me and closes in for the kill,” Brad said. “But as a reporter? No way. She’s going to dive deep underground.”
“Exactly,” Wohl said. “She’s not done hunting, but you won’t see her interviewing anyone ever again, at least not in North America.” He looked around at the gathering darkness. “She had several opportunities to take you down out here at the airport from a distance, without being seen by security guards or cameras, and she didn’t take them. What does that tell you, Trigger?”
“That she doesn’t want to do it from a distance,” Brad said. “She prefers to do it up close.”
“What else?”
Brad thought for a moment; then: “She’s not afraid of being photographed. She believes she can escape, or she has a network behind her that she’s confident can get her out.”
“Or both,” Wohl said. He looked at the business card. “Sv?rd. Swedish for ‘sword.’ She picked that cover name for a reason, I’ll bet.” Brad swallowed hard at that. “She’s pretty brazen, that’s for sure: she picked a cover that puts her in rooms with lots of cameras and microphones, and she’s not afraid to dress in a way that calls attention to herself—exactly the opposite of what is taught. She’s either really stupid, or a very talented assassin. She’s definitely a cool cucumber. I’ll bet there are lots of pictures of her. I’ll have the team start tracking her down.” He thought for a moment. “Huggins is already in Battle Mountain, yes?”
“Casey had to go early so they could fit a space suit for her,” Brad said.
“How’s the weather between here and Battle Mountain for tonight?”
“Clouds over the Sierra, maybe a little turbulence over the summit, but okay otherwise.”
“You had something planned for tonight back on campus, yes?”
“The college of engineering was going to throw a little party for the Starfire team.”
“Something came up, and you had to report early to Battle Mountain to prepare for the flight to the space station,” Wohl said. “Make your apologies later. Your new friend Yvette was invited to that party, yes?” Brad said nothing, but the realization was clear on his face. “If I was brazen enough to try again on the same day, that’s where I’d lie in wait. You’re not going back to that campus.” He got no argument from Brad—who knew how close he had come to being the woman’s next victim, if she was indeed who they thought she was. “Do your preflight, then get going as soon as you can. I’ll wait here until you’re airborne.”