The Blacklist (sequel to The Reluctant Spy)

Now You Don't....

Lucas returned to his flat long enough to change his clothes and return to the grid. He did not think it was appropriate to show up in his playboy costume that he wore to the club last night.

The first person he saw when he exited the pods was Ros. She was definitely not in the best of moods knowing that they were spending resources following Nyssa. Her body language said enough. When she approached Lucas, he already knew what she was going to say before she said it.

“Lucas, if you would….?”

She motioned for him to follow her into the conference room. The combination of her look and her request to speak in private told him that she was more than irritated. She was mad. Once they entered the conference room, Ros waited until Lucas closed the sliding doors before she laid into him.

“Am I to understand that you sent Ben and Jo on an operation to follow your girlfriend?” Ros emphasized ‘girlfriend’.

“I believe that she is meeting with an Egyptian delegate today pertaining to her case. If we can get that information, we may be one step closer to discovering this shadow faction,” Lucas explained, hoping she would see the logic in the reason and not read too much into anything else.

“And, you did not think to clear this with me? What are you playing at, Lucas? Is Nyssa still keeping secrets from you?” Ros asked with the anger very clear in her voice.

Lucas hesitated to answer that question which Ros took that as a confirmation. She pursed her lips and took a breath. Over the past few days, Ros had kept tabs on Lucas’ activities with Nyssa. From what Jo had told her, she knew that Lucas was working independently on one of Nyssa’s side projects. She was not happy about that. She feared that Lucas’ judgment was tainted because of his intimate involvement with her.

Harry thought that their relationship would give Lucas an advantage toward manipulating Nyssa into cooperating with them, but she disagreed. If anything, she thought it was the other way around. She thought it was Nyssa who was manipulating Lucas.

“She has proven every time to be untrustworthy, and I think that you have lost control.”

That last statement had Lucas seeing red. Ever since he returned from Russia he felt that Ros was second guessing his motives. He could not believe that after everything they went through, Kechimov and the marketplace bombing, she still did not trust him.

“Be careful what you say, Ros.”

The look in Lucas' blue eyes warned Ros not to go further in their conversation. She could see that Lucas was falling for Nyssa, but Nyssa's defiant attitude was compromising the safety of Ros' team. Plus, Lucas had been through so much. She did not want to see him get hurt.

Ros was about to say something when the sliding doors opened, and Connie stepped in.

“I'm sorry to interrupt, but we may have a slight problem,” she said as she led both Ros and Lucas out of the conference room toward Malcolm’s station.

“What is it, Malcolm?” asked Ros.

All three of them crowded around Malcolm and stared at the center of three computer monitors. Malcolm had a map of London with a live tracking signal of Nyssa and also Ben and Jo. Both signals were only a couple of blocks distance from each other.

“I have been tracking Nyssa’s movements all morning since Lucas made the call. It seems that Nyssa has been taking Alpha team on a tour of London, never stopping except once at a petrol station. She has never been more than two blocks away from Alpha team this entire time.”

“That can’t be right,” said Lucas with a furrowed brow. “Even if she was meeting someone else, she would have done it by now.”

Harry noticed the group conference and stepped out of his office to join the conversation.

“Malcolm was there ever a time when Nyssa strayed further away from the team for a short period?” asked Ros.

Malcolm typed a command on his keyboard to bring up a history of the tracker's route. The information popped up on his left monitor.

“Yes, Poland Street,” said Malcolm as he brought up a close-up image.

Lucas examined the area around it and saw a Q-Park. Lucas closed his eyes and took a deep breath as both he and Harry came to the same conclusion. As irritated as Harry was, he could not help but grin. This girl was very good.

“Clever girl,” said Harry.

“She knows we are following her. That’s Lucy, her sister. They changed places at the parking garage,” said Lucas. He did not find any of this amusing.

“Malcolm do we still have surveillance on Bakari Essam?” asked Ros. She worked hard to rein in her temper as she spoke.

“Yes.” Malcolm brought up the information on the monitor. “He just entered the Hilba Express. It is a Lebanese restaurant in Holborn.”

“Keep monitoring his movements. I’m going over there to find her.” Lucas moved to reach for his coat on his chair.

“Lucas, when you do find her, bring her straight here. I don’t care if you have to restrain her to do it.” Harry turned to Connie. “Contact Ben and Jo and have them intercept Lucy. Bring her in as well.”

Lucas rushed toward the pods putting on his coat as he walked. He was too angry to slow down. All he could think about was that she played him again. While he headed for his car, his mind went back to the first time he saw her. It was at the park when she used two boys to act as decoys, so she could get away on the public bus. She was very good, too good. As he started his car and pulled away from Thames House, he thought about his new problem. Would he be able to control his temper once he found Nyssa?

Nyssa changed her clothes into a flowered sun dress and red heeled shoes. She tucked her hair into a hat and wore dark glasses.

Nyssa knew the name of the restaurant, so she was able to grab a table ahead of Bakari and his group. She sat at a small table and faced the main entrance. It was 20 minutes later when she saw Bakari enter the restaurant with three other delegates. They were in good spirits when they walked past her, not recognizing her through her disguise. The host placed them at a table toward the back of the restaurant. She waited for several minutes after their drinks and appetizers were served before she made her move.

Nyssa removed her glasses and stood from her table. She turned and casually walked back toward the group of men laughing and having a good lunch.

As she approached them, she smiled as she watched each of their faces change. The other three delegates looked at her with curiosity, wondering who was this woman coming toward them. Only one person had a different look.

Bakari's smile rapidly faded from his face and was replaced with his mouth falling open and his eyes bulging. He was definitely surprised to see her and not in a good way. His reactions only made her smile grow larger.

“Bakari Essam, how nice to see you again,” she said for a pleasant opening. When she received no response, she continued.

“How wonderful to see you too, Nyssa,” she said, speaking as though she were Bakari. “I was just telling these nice men how you saved my life.”

“Nyssa, what a surprise!” Bakari said in a shaky voice. “I did not know you were in London.”

“If you gentlemen would excuse us please, we have a few things to discuss.” Nyssa addressed the other men at the table.

Her smile faded and was replaced by a stern look that told them that it was not a request but an order. The delegates did not take kindly to be ordered away by a woman, but the gesture from Bakari convinced them to give them their privacy, for now. Once the men left the table, Nyssa sat in one of the vacated seats across from Bakari.

“Nyssa, it's been a long time. I heard you were blacklisted. I'm sorry for your loss, my friend,” he said.

“I'm gonna get back in which is why I'm here. You still have contacts in both the NSA and CIA right?”

“I can’t help you with that.” Bakari feared where this conversation was going.

“We've known each other a long time, Bakari. A long time….” Nyssa emphasized that last statement for Bakari. “What if I were to go over and tell those guys how many operations you pulled inside their borders? Or, how about the bribes you took from their enemies?”

“Even you wouldn’t do that?” he looked worried.

“I'm hoping I don’t have to. If I hadn’t come along, you're story would be one of those scary urban legends that diplomats tell around a camp fire. You owe me, Bakari.”

Bakari took a deep breath and glanced at his lunch companions just as Lucas entered the restaurant. Nyssa followed his gaze but stopped short when her eyes fell on Lucas. Her eyes grew big, and her mouth fell open when she saw him. Luckily, he had not seen her yet. She took a quiet breath to control her feelings before she turned back to Bakari. She tried not to seem anxious as she spoke.

“I need you to get me the memo authorizing my blacklist, I need an answer right now, and I'm going to need your car keys.”

Bakari was a little taken back by that last request, but he knew not to question Nyssa. She had her reasons no matter how strange they seemed.

“I'll make some calls,” he said handing his keys to her. “It will take a few days.”

“Thank you, Bakari.” She smiled. “I'll be in touch.”

Bakari passed the keys to his rental car to Nyssa. She quickly exited the table and headed for the kitchen.

Lucas stood at the entrance, glancing around the restaurant until the host approached him. His eyes caught sight of Bakari at a table toward the back of the restaurant with his three companions who rejoined him. There was no sign of Nyssa.

“May I show you to a table, sir?” asked the host.

“No, I’m waiting for someone. I’ll have a vodka and take a seat outside.”

Lucas stepped outside and sat at the nearest empty table a few steps from the door. He pulled out his mobile and called Harry to report. Something did not seem right about all of this. Maybe Nyssa had already come, and he missed her? Maybe she was telling the truth, and it was just his usual paranoia? He had to admit that even though he had strong intimate feelings for her, he still did not trust her. He could tell she was up to something that morning, rushing out the door to avoid his inquires. He had to find her to get to the bottom of all this.

"Lucas, what did you find?" asked Harry.

“I’m at the restaurant, and Bakari Essam is having lunch with three other delegates. No sign of Nyssa, but I have a feeling I may have missed her. Do you want me to approach Bakari and question him?”

"No, let him be fore now. I already sent a survellance team to the restaurant to watch his movements for the rest of the conference. If the shadow faction is watching, it may alert them that we are looking into this. We cannot let anyone know that we're investigating this. We'll get our information from Nyssa."

“Copy that!” Lucas hung up just as the server placed his drink on the table. Lucas paid the server for the drink and poured it down like a shot.

He walked back to his car and decided to go back to Nyssa’s flat and wait for her. There was nothing more he could do except wait.

While Lucas headed back to Nyssa’s flat, Lucy watched as the blue Honda became more aggressive toward her as they passed through the London traffic. Ben and Jo were trying to intercept her, maybe force her off the road. She knew a ‘snatch and grab’ operation when she saw it.

Lucy pushed the Indian to the max to get as far ahead as she could before Ben and Jo called for back-up. She had to get away from their visual long enough to discard the tracker. Once she felt she was at a safe distance, she stopped the Indian, dismounted, and pulled the tracker out from under the front fender.

Lucy resumed her ride and threw the tracker into the flat bed of a parked pickup. She pulled into a parking garage until she reached the third level. She parked at a safe area and watched as the blue Honda drove down the street and stopped by the pickup. Jo exited the vehicle and walked over toward the truck. She reached in and pulled out the tracker. She made a quick glance around the area before reaching into her coat pocket for her mobile.

"Jo, what have you got?" asked Ros.

“No sign of Lucy. We found the tracker in the back of a pickup. She could be anywhere by now,” Jo said as she continued to scan the area.

"Let's hope Lucas has more luck. Return to the grid. We'll deal with Lucy later."

Lucy watched as Jo got into the Honda and drove away. She guessed that Marilyn’s house would be watched. It was time to visit one of her safe houses until she got the ‘all-clear’ message from Nyssa. She hoped that Nyssa was okay enough to give her that message.