The Lance

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

They skirted the Capitol and crossed the Arlington Memorial Bridge. Elizabeth turned right onto Memorial Parkway. In a short time they came to the Marine Corps War Memorial. The thirty foot high bronze figures were frozen in time as they struggled to raise the flag on Iwo Jima. The flag flew overhead in a brisk autumn breeze. In the distance the Washington Monument thrust white and shining into the blue sky.

America.

Ronnie and Selena came across the grass. The four stood facing each other next to the polished granite base of the memorial. Ronnie set his black box down on the ground between them.

"Hell of a thing," said Ronnie. "Someone bugged my Hummer, high end stuff, government issue."

"My car, too, Ronnie. We have to assume Selena's car is tagged also."

"What's going on, Director?" Selena brushed a wisp of hair away from her forehead. It was a habit Elizabeth had noted.

"Nick is blown. He found our contact in Jerusalem dead. Someone was waiting and tried to kill him, too. NSA has a new boss, General Dysart. I've got a bad feeling about him."

Selena's voice was strained. "Is Nick all right?"

"Yes."

"Dysart is bad news." Ronnie looked up at the flag. "He's one of those Pentagon desk jockeys who thinks paper work is more important than body armor. Why is Hood gone?"

"He's in Walter Reed, supposedly with a stroke."

"Supposedly?"

"Maybe Hood's stroke wasn't an accident. Hood goes down. Then Dysart calls me up and tells me I should terminate a mission he's not supposed to know about. He's blocked my classified access to NSA. We're being surveilled. Someone tries to take Nick out of the picture. I think we've stumbled into something."

Ronnie looked down and scuffed his shoe against the grass. "You think someone's going after Rice? You sound like you think there's a conspiracy to take over the NSA. Who could set that up?"

"Dysart said he'd been talking to Lodge, so CIA may be in on this, too."

"What's our next move?"

"I think we'd better be damn careful. Whoever's behind this may try to take us out of circulation. If Dysart or Lodge are involved, we're in trouble."

Elizabeth looked around. The only people in sight were an older couple some distance away. The man was taking pictures of the Memorial.

"I think we go to ground," Elizabeth said.

Stephanie said, "The safe house?"

"Yes. We've got everything we need there. No one at NSA or Langley knows about it."

The safe house was in the rural Virginia countryside, an hour and a half from Alexandria. Elizabeth had set it up two years ago. Not even the President knew about it.

"We'll leave now for the house. Then we decide our next moves. If I'm right, it won't be long before people will be looking for us."

Elizabeth looked up at the flag, then back at the others. "Agreed?"

The four got back in their vehicles. In a short time it was as if they had disappeared from the face of the earth.