“I get that, and I have no issues with it. I still appreciate your coming to our rescue, not them,” Ben replied.
David nodded then frowned once more. “It’s another group that’s causing us grief and these guys have long memories. They’ve reported that several long-term operations have been terminated and your visit is being cited as the cause. They’re out for blood.”
Ben looked at him nervously. “Who are they?”
“The CIA,” David said with a grim tone.
“Shit.”
“They indicated that Yuri Gruzinsky had gone radio silent since you visited him. He’s avoiding the contacts they spent years building. Worse, Colonel Vasiliev, who works with Yuri and whose trail is difficult to track, hasn’t been seen for at least a week- what’s wrong?”
Ben wasn’t sure what he could say. Anything he said could be potentially incriminating. But he couldn’t leave it as it was as the CIA didn’t seem to be the type of organization to forgive and forget. “Ummm, Yuri’s dead. So’s the Colonel.”
The two stared at Ben in shock until he frowned. “Hey, I didn’t kill them! I just… happened to be there when it happened… to both of them.”
David opened and closed his mouth a few times. “You know who killed them? Was it your neighbor?”
Ben shook his head. “No! Geezus! It wasn’t Trish either.” He frowned and realized he couldn’t speak about Yuri’s death. He couldn’t incriminate Nikolai. The Colonel, however, his death could be addressed. “The Colonel ran Black Ops projects for his government. He confessed to this after telling me he intended to kidnap me to design weapons for him. One of his projects was a team of elite assassins. Not sure how many there are, but according to the Colonel they were highly successful.” He took a deep breath as they waited attentively. “One of those assassins, Liliya Sokolov, was trying to escape the control of Gruzinsky and Vasiliev. She was there when I visited. When Yuri was killed, she took the opportunity to kill the Colonel. She told me she had to hunt down and kill the other members of her team to ensure her safety. She killed one of them, named Maksim, but I haven’t heard from her since.”
“You expect to see her again?” He could see the wheels turning in David’s mind. “The Sokolov child you registered as a visitor when you arrived. She’s the daughter of this assassin. She’s how they controlled her mother- They were the woman and child you were going to try to free!” David reasoned out, and Ben just nodded sadly.
David put that aside for now. “Vasiliev was a long time target for the CIA. They wanted something from him, but they wouldn’t tell me what it was, just that they needed him to get it. They couldn’t get close to him and now that he’s dead? They’re going to be pissed.”
Ben thought about that. Something the Colonel had that they wanted and couldn’t get. A light went on in his mind. He stood. “Come with me,” he said.
He left the media room and walked over to punch in the code for his workshop door. It unlocked, and he went inside with David and Evelyn at his heels. When the lights came on and the display cases illuminated, the Sergeant gasped and rushed over to peer inside. David saw Ben’s surprised expression as they heard her excited chatter as she read all the tiny detail cards beside each prototype.
Ben turned to David as the woman made her way down the wall of cases. “I was going to let you know I had this when I called, but you called me first. This belongs to the Colonel.” He lifted the briefcase onto his drafting table which he’d tilted down to its flattened position.
David’s eyes were wide with surprise. When Ben opened the case, David saw a tall stack of dockets jammed inside. He pulled one out and flipped it open to see design specs for an automated weapons platform for satellite deployment.
“Holy shit, Ben!” he gasped. He flipped up a few other dockets and examined the contents. “The CIA is going to have kittens when they see this!”
Ben chuckled. “That’s good, right?”
David grinned. “Yes, I’m sure it’ll be an ‘all forgiven’ kind of good! I’ll make sure of that, after I make copies!”
“Great!” Ben sighed in relief.
“Did you remove any of the dockets? Are they all here?” the Captain asked.
“I didn’t remove any, but I saw Liliya take one. I think it might have been for the Assassin Project. She’d need it if she is going after them.”
David nodded. “Makes sense. This is brilliant, Ben! Thank you! You’ve made my job that much easier and you did something even the spooks couldn’t!”
Ben chuckled.
“There is just one more detail I need to speak to you about. It’s the condition for being able to continue our working relationship,” David explained, and the Sergeant’s head swiveled back in their direction. She gave the cases one last fond glance then moved over to stand next to Kendricks with a smile on her lips. Ben glanced at her questioningly. David continued. “My bosses are insisting that you’ve become too vital an asset to leave unprotected. You, yourself, just admitted that a Russian Colonel planned to kidnap you-”
“He thought I did weapons design for you guys and didn’t believe me when I tried to set him straight!” Ben growled, then realized that he was arguing David’s case for him. He saw the small smirk on David’s lips and scowled. “There’s always the option of ending our working relationship. If the Russians know I’m no longer working for the US Military, then they’ll lose interest.”
David nodded. “They might. Or they may try to grab you again. They believe you did work on weapons. You’re a brilliant engineer. The Sergeant can vouch for that. You think in directions that don’t exist on the map.” Ben looked to the woman who was nodding emphatically. “I believe we have a solution that allows us to continue to work together and alleviates the Brass’ security concerns.”
Ben looked at him skeptically but held his tongue. David took that as a positive sign.
“I was able to convince them to scale down their requirements, and I presented them with an option that they have accepted. I need you to consider the idea.” He held Ben’s eyes, and the man nodded.
“When you submit your work, we have to review the documentation and digital files and crunch the numbers before we can pass it along to our testers. That work has been managed by the Sergeant for the past six months. She will continue to be dedicated to those duties.” Ben smiled at the woman, and she grinned in return. “When you reported that your neighborhood was going to be invaded by a group of commandos for Gruzinsky, we sent two squads of soldiers to defend the perimeter and Sergeant Killcade to deal with the terrorists directly.” Ben looked at the woman once more in surprise. “She neutralized eight soldiers for hire and took the leader prisoner. I told you she’s one hell of a soldier.”
The Sergeant blinked at her commanding officer in surprise as she wasn’t aware of his opinion of that side of her duties. She knew he appreciated her analysis work, but most men found her proficiency with her other skills more than a little unnerving.
Ben looked at the woman. He knew full well what the euphemism neutralized actually meant. So, she was a highly proficient killer. He’d taken lives himself so he wouldn’t be her judge. “I appreciate how she protected the neighborhood, but I’m not following how this solves my personal secur-” Ben’s eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. “You want her to be my security detail?” His mind was leaping ahead. “A live-in assistant and bodyguard, 24/7?”
“It’s the least intrusive solution that protects you and increases efficiency. As I won’t need to make as many trips from Washington, it reduces the attention focused on you. Having a Captain frequently visit a civilian contractor obviously set off some major flags. That will have to stop. I’ll miss the regular trips out here, but I’ll still be able to do special occasions with the engineering squad.”
Ben smiled as he recalled the barbeque on the rooftop deck. The smile slipped away as logistics surfaced. “Where is the Sergeant supposed to live?”
“I just need a cot. You could put it in the corner of your workshop. I can eat rations,” she blurted.
Ben looked at her in dismay. “That’s-” He looked to David and was shocked to see the man thought this was a viable plan. For Ben, the idea of sticking the woman in the corner of his workshop like an afterthought was distressing. “I- I can’t do that! You’d need a room of your own!”
“I don’t have that now. I sleep in the barracks. I have a bunk, a locker, and a footlocker. I can make do with less,” she asserted reasonably.
Ben’s brows dropped in a scowl. “No. I can’t- That’s not- you’d have to have a room, and this house is full!” He looked to David. “Does this condition require the security detail to live in the same house?”
The Captain considered that. “Not necessarily, but she’d have to be nearby. If she weren’t within the premises, she’d need a way to be connected to your home’s security system to be aware of intrusion attempts so she could address them immediately, externally.”
Ben was nodding as his mind tumbled these requirements to examine them from all sides. An idea was forming.
Evelyn was tingling madly with excitement. Ben hadn’t immediately dismissed the idea of her working with him, and he seemed to be seriously considering the concept of her living conditions. She was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t be allowed to sleep on a cot in the workshop. To be that close to his genius… It wasn’t going to happen. Still, she’d take what she could get.