Ana

CH 24

Heidi froze. How did Naomi know that? Even if someone checked the airline records they'd show she had flown to Orlando because the CIA took care of "adjusting" flight records to show what they needed them to. Maybe her phone... but the IT guys assured her that it was untraceable. Her mind raced through all the possible ways Naomi could know where she was and came up blank. Perhaps there had been a mistake covering her trip in the airline records. She needed to check that before continuing this conversation or it could jeopardize her cover.

Very calmly she said, "I'm sorry, but all that coffee I drank is catching up with me and I need to go to the bathroom real bad. Can I call you back later?"

"Sure, I should talk to Tom anyway. I don't think he'd like it very much if I flew to Washington. It's too high profile."

They exchanged good-byes and hung up. Heidi turned off her phone and put it back into her purse. Something was wrong. Heidi prided herself on maintaining a tight cover story to hide her real profession as an agent but somehow, despite all her painstaking effort, she was one step away from having her cover blown. A nonchalant glance around the coffee house revealed the usual business types sipping assorted brews. None of them paid her any overt attention. She could be over reacting but Naomi clearly knew more than she should and what the hell was she talking about flying here for?

She went over the conversation she had with Naomi last night searching for clues of what might be wrong. Naomi had been very excited about Tom's new business and had spend most of the night talking about it without actually providing any details on what his new company did. That should have raised a flag but Naomi hadn't been taking the conversation as serious as perhaps she should.

So, what did she know about Tom? When Heidi first got involved with Naomi, she had run the normal background checks on both her and Tom as a matter of course, but nothing unusual had come up. Tom's background was particularly ordinary. He was an average engineer who spent most of his free time playing computer games online. She didn't understand why Naomi liked him so much. He was fairly attractive but nothing special. Socially, he was practically a recluse with few friends. His only distention was about a year ago when he placed in the top five of an arena style combat contest in one of the computer games he played. If she remembered right, the contest included participants from all over the world so Tom must be pretty good at games for what that was worth.

She couldn't think of anything she said last night that could have tipped Naomi off on her real destination. If she played it right, she might be able to get Naomi to disclose how she knew about Washington. It would be tricky, but it was worth a try.

She took a moment to compose herself before turning her phone on again. It rang almost immediately with Naomi showing on the caller ID.

"Hello again," Heidi said. "So, what are you and Tom up to this morning?"

"Well, I talked to Tom and he said I can't go pick you up because you're like, right next to the White House."

That set her paranoia a notch higher. How did Naomi know? "Naomi, you're talking like a crazy person. How could you pick me up anyway?"

"You'll have to wait until you get back to find out. Then, I'll show you."

Heidi detected a bit of mischievousness in her tone. "Why the mystery? Did he rent a plane for company use?"

Naomi giggled. "Not exactly. I can't wait to see your face when you get here. The only thing is... you're going to have to promise not to tell anyone about this. Not even your family."

"Tell them about what?"

"Sorry, not till you get here. Call me as soon as you land and I'll tell you where to meet me," Naomi said.