The Night Agent

13- Alliances

"I met them at Middle-Bar College," Maria said from the passenger seat.

"Middle-Bar? My aunt went to Vassar," I said confused.

"This was a summer language program at Mid. Andrea was in Russian Intensive with me, Dave was in Arabic," She replied. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"My aunt spoke Russian? Sick," I said grinning. Peters's eyes flashed at me from the rear view mirror.

"Fluent, she was a natural. Even recruited a few Russians to our side. I don't know exactly when they joined the FBI. I remember that they were recruited as a team. I went on to have a normal career, but did some side work for them. Eventually they made some introductions, and I was able to find my way into intelligence gathering," She said.

"This is crazy. I mean they acted like they were nobodies, who went to garage sales and took cruises every summer. I mean their lives were basically a lie," I said hunched over in the middle seat.

"They weren't on cruises, and I wouldn't say a lie, more like, a secret," She replied sighing.

"I don't get it. You do all this amazing work and don't get credit for it. It's all secret. What kind of life is that?" I asked.

"A fucking great one," She snapped back. Pursing my lips I nodded and sat back awkwardly.

"Does the code name Osprey mean anything to you?" Peter asked.

"No," she said firmly.

"How'd you get wrapped up in all this?" she added.

"Peter works in the White House. When I called the night action number that my uncle gave me, Peter answered," I said looking over at him. I studied his face slowly and bit my bottom lip softly.

"White Glove boy huh?" She asked. Peter gave an uneasy look.

"I'm just a guy who answers the phone," he said staring ahead.

"So they have Pete Sutherlands not answering the night action line?" She asked intrigued. He looked over at her. I could tell he was caught off guard.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"You were on the metro that night right?" She asked sternly. He adjusted anxiously in his seat. I could tell he was feeling uncomfortable.

"Yes, I was," He replied bluntly. I ran my tongue over my teeth and sat in the awkward silence. Sighing I looked out the window. Dark clouds covered the sky.

"You guys think it's going to rain?" I asked awkwardly. No one responded. Cool.

"This is where your aunt and uncle thought it was going to happen," Maria said as we walked on the sidewalk.

"No obvious targets. Any government buildings or authoritative offices?" Peter asked looking around.

"None," Maria responded. I looked around anxiously. People passed by. I sighed with an uneasy feeling.

"Hey, can we get off the street. It feels unsafe," I said looking up at Peter. He gave me a protective look.

"There's a cafe right up here. We can go over the files in there," Maria said. I nodded as we kept walking.

"I'll meet back here in 10 minutes. I'm going to take a look around, check everything out," Peter said. I looked at him worried. He's not your security blanket Haley. I gave a fake smile and nodded. Maria and I walked into the cafe and sat down. Pulling out our laptops we launched the file.

"This here, is where the possible hub is," She said pointing to an area on the map.

"Why? I mean what's significant about this area?" I asked.

"Looks like they were looking into gas lines, electrical buildings, etc. Vulnerabilities that could be targeted," She replied as I studied the map.

"What places would be here?" I asked confused.

"Got me," She said shrugging. I looked down at the map again.

"What's on the video file?" I asked clicking.

"Not mine, let me see," she said pulling the computer closer to her.

"Looks like traffic and security footage," I said confused.

"Who were they looking for?" She asked. I shook my head and shrugged.

"How long have you known him?" Maria asked quietly. Looking at her I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Peter? Only a few days," I said shrugging.

"You trust him? I mean have you heard what his father was accused of?" She asked.

"Yeah, why does it matter?" I asked defensively.

"It's just, interesting that after all that happened with his dad, he happens to be involved in this," she said looking at me unsure.

"He's not part of this," I said sternly.

"Search his name," she said motioning to the computer.

"What?" I asked.

"Search it. I don't like coincidences, and this is," she said sternly. I scoffed unsure and started typing. The doorbell rang as the door swung open. Peter walked in and over to us. I quickly shut the computer and looked up at him with a soft smile.

"Nothing but a dentist office and an accounting building, no possible targets," He said. I nodded slowly.

"Everything okay?" He asked. I nodded and looked over at Maria. She grabbed her cup and dramatically tipped it over. My face dropped as I rolled my eyes.

"Oh shoot, I'm such a klutz, do you think you could grab some towels from the bathroom?" She asked.

"Real smooth," I muttered as she motioned to the computer. Typing in Peters name I watched the screen load. No results found. I sighed in relief.

"See, nothing," I said. She gave me a sarcastic smile and rolled her eyes. Peter came back in and set the towels on the table.

"What if it was an accident?" He said unfolding a map. I looked up at him confused.

"The metro bombing happened over here. Only because I stopped it, what if it was supposed to detonate somewhere else. Somewhere here," He said pointing to another spot on the map.

"But there's no metro stops around here?" I asked.

"No, but it runs right under here. I felt it shake the hell out of the bathroom," Peter replied firmly.

"Why here though? What's the difference between here and another stop close by?" I asked.

"Closer to street level?" Peter asked. Maria shook her head.

"Bring up the neighborhood schematics again," Maria said putting on her glasses.

"There's a major gas line that runs above the metro," I said sitting back.

"That's why. If the bomb went off under that, that would take out two city blocks," She said looking between Peter and I.

"Look, if you want to try and figure out what the traitor in the White House plans to do soon, you have to figure out what they were trying to do when you stopped them that night," Maria said. Peter and I looked at each other.

"This isn't a game anymore. This is the future of our country."