Cloud Invasion: R-D 2 (R-D #2)(40)

"I'd like that." He walked back to the cart and climbed on. Auggie nodded to the driver and they drove away. Matt nodded to Opal and to us as he followed in their wake.

"Harriett Majors?" Rafe lifted an eyebrow while James was content to stare at me. "I had all your books. My daughter read them before she was old enough. She loved them, too."

"Huh." I turned my head away. "You have no idea how hard it was to invent everything again from scratch. I couldn't touch any of my former characters."

"You have a son," James breathed.

"Yep. He gets all my royalties, now. Last I heard, he was partying at Harvard. Still playing the my mom was a famous author and she's dead, card."

"The official report said you and your husband died in an accident in Wales."

"I know what the official report says. I have no idea whose remains they substituted for mine when the bodies were sent back to the States."

"I never wished I could tell somebody I met somebody famous so much," James breathed.

"Stop treating me like a celebrity," I said. "I'm just Corinne, now."

"Who has three pen names," Rafe reminded me.

"Yeah. Well, I have more important stuff to do, now." I turned and walked toward the elevator.

*

Ilya's arms folded around my shoulders, his chin rested atop my head and he sighed as we both stared out our window at Puget Sound, far in the distance. Surprisingly, the day was clear and sunny. Auggie, Leo and Matt chose a good day to fly out of Seattle.

"They'll set up a meeting with the President and the others," I said. "When they get back. Auggie's planning to tell them that they had to make sure we were among the dead before reporting it. The Program will officially close-at least our part of it. I'll be interested to see whether they decide to scrap it or try again."

"I hope they bury that filth where nobody will ever find it," Rafe breathed against my hair. "It is causing too much trouble in the wrong hands."

"Would you like to place a memorial-for Jeff-in Ketchikan?"

"Yes. He was a faithful soldier, who died in the line of duty. I wish to take the others, too. We will pay our respects."

"All right."

*

Nobody would have recognized us. We looked like a group of schoolchildren, dropping a wreath into the waters an hour later. Opal stood beside Nick, who hugged Maye as she wept. James gripped my left hand, Rafe my right as we watched the wreath float away.

"From these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion," Rafe quoted. He'd memorized the Gettysburg Address. His words were poetic and heartfelt.

"That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain," Opal added.

"Goodbye, Jeff," I said. "May your next life be a happy one."

*

Ilya

"James, we know that Marcus likely reached someone in Vancouver," I said once we were back at the facility.

"Stands to reason," he said. "He got that phone somewhere between Vancouver and Ketchikan."

"Then, Mary conveniently shows up not far from where we are, just as Corinne suspected she would, effectively distracting us from chasing after Marcus."

"True."

"Can you find information on when her ticket was purchased? Were we targeted all along, as Corinne believes? Was Mary waiting for us to spot her in Seattle? Did Marcus have some hidden instruction that Corinne may have missed when he joined the Program? I know she didn't like him from the first. Colonel Hunter should have been more attentive and let him go immediately."

"I'll dig into this," James promised. "I just need my laptop."

He was in our kitchen following the return from Ketchikan, waiting for us to tell him what we wanted him to do.

"Hide your tracks," I called out as he ambled toward his bedroom.

"I will." He waved a hand as he walked away.

"I hope we don't walk into another trap," Corinne murmured. "What do you want for dinner?"

*

Notes-Colonel Hunter

"We're closing the facility in Washington State," I said. Matt Michaels and I sat in the Oval Office with Madam President, Merle Askins and the Joint Chiefs.

We'd already informed her that everyone left in the Program-Maye, Jeff, Nick, Corinne and Rafe-were dead in the Ketchikan ship bombings. Madam President looked ready to cry. The others appeared stone-faced. I'm sure Corinne might have read their satisfaction at what they were hearing, however.

"We waited until we had proof," Matt slid a file folder onto her desk. "It's all there, DNA evidence, photographs of what remains we could find," he shrugged. "I lost one of mine in the bombings, too."

Matt was so efficient it was frightening. It was his idea to present proof-he figured Merle would be quite interested in that.

"We can't even mourn their deaths," the President murmured, placing her hand on the file folder.

"That happens every time we lose an agent," Merle Askins said, his voice stiff. "They all know the risks."

"You're speaking of my friends," Madam President snapped.

"Of course. If you'll excuse me, I have an agency to run." Merle Askins rose from his chair.