Black Wolf

“Maybe it was Caroline, my niece. She’s traveling with him to watch Teri.”

“Bree, we think the Wolves may be in Prague.”

“I’ll get back to you.”

Brea

“Caroline, this is Bree. Please call me right away.” She hit the End call button. The minister and general were looking at her. “I—there may be a problem at the castle,” she told them. “We’re having trouble contacting my husband there. And my niece.”

She hit the redial and called Caroline again. This time she picked up.

“Aunt Bree, what time is it there?”

“Caroline, is Uncle Jeff there?”

“He’s in the next room,” said Caroline.

“Could you go get him?”

“I think he’s sleeping.”

“He’s always up by now, hon. Could you knock on the door?”

“Hang on.”

“Wait—is Teri there?”

“Yes. She’s sleeping.”

“No I’m not,” said a voice in the background.

“Let me talk to her while you check for Jeff. Hurry, please.”

“OK.”

“Hi, Teri. How are you sweetheart?”

“Mama! How are you?”

“I’m fine, honey. How did you sleep?”

“Very good.”

The car, meanwhile, had arrived at the gate. The general leaned forward and, using English, asked the guard if there had been any trouble.

The guard told him there hadn’t.

They drove through the gate, heading around the main part of the castle toward the hospitality area.

“He’s not answering the door, Aunt Bree,” said Caroline.

“Is the Do Not Disturb sign on his doorknob?”

“No.”

“Which room are you in?”

“Four B.”

“I want you to stay there with Teri, OK?”

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t think so,” said Brea

She hung up the phone and turned to the minister. By now she was sure he and the general were wondering if she was crazy and paranoid, or just the latter.

“The person you’re supposed to meet—could you call them?” Brea

“Is there a problem?”

“My husband’s not in his room, and someone strange answered his phone,” she said. “There have been threats against NATO ministers.”

“I’m not a NATO minister,” said Dr. Gustov, with the slightest hint of regret.

“I’m sorry, but could you please check?” asked Brea

He took out his phone and dialed. The contractor answered on the second ring. They spoke for a moment in English, then he hung up.

“He’s waiting downstairs,” said the minister. “He says there’s nothing wrong.”

“I see,” said Brea

76

Old State Castle

The Black Wolf thumbed the End call button.

“They’re entering the courtyard now,” he said over the radio. “Be prepared.”

“Black Wolf, one of the prisoners says you know him,” Blue told him. “He says his name is Zen Stockard. Major Zen Stockard.”

Zen.

“I don’t know a Zen Stockard,” said the Black Wolf.

As the words left his mouth, a piece of a memory came back, a sharp shard striking the soft flesh of his brain.

He was in the sea… wet… someone was talking to him over a radio.

Zen.

Zen?

Zen heard footsteps coming toward the door.

“What’d he say?” he demanded.

“That he doesn’t know you. And that if you shout once more, I am to shoot you. And maybe I will shoot you now just for the pleasure.”

“There’s no answer in the restaurant kitchen,” Brea

“Maybe they’re seeing to other guests,” said the general.

Major Krufts, General Josef, and Dr. Gustov got out of the car. Brea

“I wonder if I could attend the sales presentation along with you,” she said, leaning back into the car. “Maybe we might be interested.”

“In Russian upgrades?” asked General Josef.

“We’re always trying to keep on track with what’s going on,” said Brea

The general frowned, but the minister remained polite. “I don’t see why not,” he said. “If they will sell to us, they would sell to you. Money is money these days.”

“My husband should come, too,” said Brea

It was a white lie—Zen had nothing to do with appropriations, at least not directly.

“Of course,” said Minister Gustov.

“Could you wait a minute while I go up and get him?”

“We can go as well,” said Gustov.

“Why not?” said the general. “I would like to meet your husband. I have many questions for him.”

“I would like to meet him as well,” said the minister.

“Good. Then we’ll all go,” said Brea

“They’re moving inside. A woman is with them,” said Green, who was watching from the back of the keep. He was dressed as one of the security guards. “One other officer is with the minister and the general—there are four in all.”

“Do you have a shot on the minister?” the Black Wolf asked.

“Negative—not clean enough to guarantee.”

“Stay back.”

There were always wrinkles. One needed to be patient.

“In the lobby,” said White. “Four: three men, one woman. Going to the elevator.”

It would be over soon.

Brea

“Please close the door right away,” she told the elevator operator.

“What floor?” he asked.

Brea

“Could be,” said the elevator operator. “I didn’t see him.”

“Have you been here all morning?”

“Since four o’clock,” said the man, a lot more cheerfully than she would have expected.

“Did a man in a wheelchair use the elevator?”

“Oh, yes. I took him down for coffee about an hour ago.”

Brea

Someone picked up on the third ring but said nothing.

“Jeff?” she said. “Zen? Zen? It’s Bree. Honey?”

She could hear breathing on the other end, but not Zen.

It wasn’t him. Was it?

“Zipper me if it’s you,” she said.

It was an expression pilots used, or at least they had back when she flew combat. It meant to click the mike button or hit a key a few times to acknowledge, rather than talking.

The line clicked off.

“Mama!” shouted Teri, opening the door. “How did you get here?”

“Everybody inside the room,” said Brea

“They took the elevator upstairs, not down,” White told the Black Wolf. “Fourth floor.”

Zen.

Zen.

“You want me to go up and see where they are?” asked White.

“Have they seen you already?” the Black Wolf asked.

“The woman made eye contact in the lobby.”