His eyes snapped to hers. Had his thoughts really shown that clearly?
“If you play it cool, everything will work as we need it to,” she said, batting her eyelashes at him.
Ben snorted and forced a smile on his lips. “The positive thinking gambit, then?”
Her grin widened. “Exactly!”
Ben sighed. “Fine.”
They did their best to keep their conversation light and smiles on their faces.
Their food finally arrived, and Ben was suitably impressed as he enjoyed his first meal in a day.
As they finished, Steph dropped a leaf onto her lap, and the dressing looked like it would stain her dress. “Shit!” she cursed silently under her breath. She dabbed the spot, but it was no use. “I need to fix this. Stay here! I’ll be right back. Order dessert.”
She got up and walked from the restaurant.
Ben finished his steak, and the waiter was at his elbow immediately.
“Can I see the dessert menu?” Ben asked.
“Certainly, sir.” The waiter hustled away with the plates.
Ben settled back in his chair, looked around at the lovely décor in the restaurant, and found himself looking into the excited eyes of an older man waving wildly at Ben. The face looked… familiar.
Ben waved back, which was all it took to get the man to heave his bulk to his feet. He had a dramatically round gut. He also pulled his wife to her feet and made a beeline for Ben’s table with her in tow. Ban stood to greet them.
“I knew it! When I looked over here, I knew it had to be you!” the man’s Texan drawl immediately triggered a memory of a restaurant outside of Cannes, France.
“Renny and Dotty from Texas?” Ben said slowly in his amazement.
As they stuttered at the miracle of his remembering them, Ben took them in and compared their looks from then to now. Renny had put on a little more weight and lost a little hair, but Dotty was slimmer and had changed her hairstyle. Gone was a huge gravity-defying bell-shaped hairdo. “Your new look is very flattering, Dotty.”
She burst into giggles and preened a little.
“It’s not your anniversary, August twentieth, so what brings you to Morocco?” Ben asked, showing off just a little.
Dotty’s eyes were becoming glassy, so her husband did the speaking for them. “For Dotty’s birthday, we traveled to Casablanca as it’s her favorite movie. We got a deal on a couple of nights in this hotel too!”
Ben smiled, and they grinned back at him. “Happy birthday, Dotty! I love that movie too. Obviously, Renny is a true romantic to bring you here to celebrate your special day.”
She nodded as her face lit up.
“Would you like to get a new photo?” Ben asked, and they nodded excitedly.
Ben flagged down a waiter and turned to Dotty. “Camera?”
She handed him a cell phone.
“Ah, you’ve upgraded this too!” he said with a smile, and she giggled.
He handed it off to the waiter and then stood between them with his arms around them as they grinned at the waiter, who took several pictures. As he handed the phone back to Ben, an idea flashed into Ben’s mind. He looked to the entrance, but there was no sign of Russo. He looked at the couple. “Could I ask a favor? I need to send a text, but I… forgot to bring my phone on this trip.”
“Oh, of course!” Dotty gushed.
“Thanks! You are literally a lifesaver!” Ben gushed and quickly hammered out a long text and sent it off. He watched it successfully send and breathed a sigh of relief.
“You guys are the best! Thanks, and enjoy your visit.”
“Will you be visiting the casino?” Renny gushed.
Ben smiled at the man. “It seems fate is leading me there tonight.”
The heavy man nodded. “We may see you there.”
He nodded to the couple, who walked back to their table with a few happy glances back.
The waiter returned, and Ben passed on the dessert as his stomach began filling with butterflies.
He prayed the message would get to the right people.
-=-
Ed finished up his lunch as he sat in his truck in the parking lot next to the building site for a hospital the Klein Group was building. He’d done the inspections this morning and decided to eat his lunch before returning to the office.
Once more, Rachel had outdone herself with his packed lunch. Delicious and nutritious!
His cell chirped with an incoming text as it rested on the dash.
Ed cleaned his mouth and hands, then packed away his lunch bag.
He smiled as he went into his text app, expecting to see something gushy from Grace.
He didn’t recognize the sender, and typically he deleted text messages from unknowns as they were always spam, but the name caught his attention. Dotty Dashing? Cute!
He opened the message, and his smile faded as he read it. There was no question of this being a genuine message as it had to be Ben writing it. The instructions were clear enough.
Ed called the office and asked to be put through to Louis. As he waited, he remembered what Ben had written about phones being bugged. Was Louis’ line monitored too?
“Ed, what’s up!”
“AH! Sorry, you surprised me,” Ed said as he tried to relax.
“Is something wrong?” Louis asked in concern.
“No! I mean, I need to take the afternoon off,” Ed said. He was really screwing this up!
“Oh! We were expecting you back for a meeting to review the plans-”
“We need to reschedule that. I’ve gotta go. Sorry!” Ed hung up and stared at the phone in shock. He’d never hung up on his boss before. He pushed that aside. He’d apologize later. This was an emergency!
He put his seatbelt on and drove from the build site toward the highway. It shouldn’t take too long to get there.
Ben was in trouble! Again!
-=-
Since Tina and Lucy got word that Ben was missing, all their neighbors had been contacted to fill them in on the situation. Gabriella set up a neighborhood meeting in her place for those who could join them, and she currently had Tina and Lucy, Liliya, Catherine and Chanel, Dominic and Sofia, Ashley, and Trish. Kids were taken to daycare or dropped off at school. Others had to get to their jobs, but promises were made to text updates to them.
Gabriella stood, and everyone looked to her. “I spoke with Evelyn, and she indicated she’s in touch with the General, and they are turning up the heat on every agency to track Ben’s movements. She found the van, his cell phone, and clothes in a hanger at an abandoned airstrip on the edge of town. They are working on the idea that the van was allowed to enter the court, so the soldier must have matched them against an approved list. Homeland Security, the DEA, FBI, and CIA are all indicating it wasn’t one of theirs. It wasn’t the local police either.”
“Would the CIA admit it was their people even if it was?” Chanel asked.
Gabriella shrugged as she didn’t have an answer to that.
-=-
As the ladies speculated behind her, Trish was doing everything she could to keep from screaming. She stared out the window and caught the motion of a pickup truck coming around the circle and pulling into Ben’s driveway. She was up and out of her seat in a second as she ran to the door. Liliya was right behind her.
“What is it?” Gabriella called out.
Trish tugged her boots on and pulled on her coat. “Not sure yet, but I think that’s Ed, the fellow Ben works with.” She glanced at Liliya, who was already opening the door.
They rushed outside and spotted Evelyn also running toward Ben’s.
Ed was on the step looking back at them in surprise. Then he relaxed as he saw Evelyn.
“I-I got a message from Ben! He said I needed to speak to you but not over the phone,” Ed gushed.
“Let me see it!” Evelyn said, holding out her hand.
Ed pulled up the message and handed it over to the Sergeant. Trish and Liliya read over her shoulder.
“EMERGENCY – PLEASE READ
This is Ben Shepherd. DO NOT CALL ANYONE IN ASHBURN COURT.
I’m in El Jadida, Morocco. Abducted by CIA agent Stephanie Russo for a mission to find missing operatives on a yacht owned by arms dealer Kaan Sadik.
CIA reports double agent in General Davis’ communication department. All comms are monitored and fed to the Russians. DO NOT CALL ANYONE AT ASHBURN COURT.
Go speak to Evelyn Killcade directly. She will know how to reach the General without alerting the double agent.
May be taken aboard Sadik’s yacht tonight, which is hidden on the ocean. He only checks in once a month in random ports.
Tell everyone there I love them.”
“Oh fuck!” Trish gasped. She looked to Evelyn. “You have people nearby to extract Ben from this shit show?”
Evelyn looked at her as she frowned. “I’ll need to speak to the General to find out.”
“May I use your cell, Ed?” the Sergeant asked the big man.
“Yes! Of course, but you’re going to call this General? Wouldn’t his number be compromised too?” Ed asked.
“Contingency plan, Ed. Not the General.”
“I need to tell the others!” Trish gasped.
Evelyn grabbed her arm. “You read what Ben said. We need to act as if all our communication channels have been compromised. Use them as usual but don’t let anyone call, text, or email anyone about what we now know until we take out this communications leak. Face-to-face communications about Ben’s abduction only!”
Trish looked her in the eye and nodded. Then she hugged Ed, pressing her chest against him, and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Ed.”
His face flushed, and he nodded with a shy smile.
Liliya remained with Evelyn and Ed as Trish rushed back to Gabriella’s. The moment she was through the door, questions were coming at her fast and furious.
“Give me a second!” She tugged off her boots and jacket, then walked into the living room. All eyes were on her.
“Ben is okay for now,” she said, and everyone let out a breath. She looked to Chanel. “You were right. The CIA would deny their own activity. Their agent Russo abducted Ben and took him to Morocco.”
“WHAT?!?” the group exclaimed in shock.