Code Name: Camelot (Noah Wolf #1)(52)

They got into the car, and Moose drove back up the county road to the two-lane blacktop, and then turned right. Because of the curves, the trip took almost fifteen minutes, even though it was only about five miles to the restaurant. They pulled up in front of a rustic-looking building that had a big sign over its front porch that read, “The Sagebrush Saloon.”

They got out, and Noah opened the back door for Sarah. She smiled as she looked up at the sign. “An honest-to-goodness saloon?”

“Yeah, don’t get excited,” Moose said. “They’ve got a bar, and they serve drinks, but it’s the food that makes this place famous and popular. You’ll see.”

Moose was right, as Noah concluded an hour later. The porterhouse he had eaten was probably the best he had ever tasted, and even the vegetables on the side—mashed potatoes, grilled onions, carrots and cauliflower, and corn on the cob—were incredibly good.

“Okay, we can officially add this to the list of my favorite places to eat,” he said, and Sarah nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

“I told you you’d love it,” Moose said. “I found it a couple months ago, and I’ve been here enough that most of the waitresses know me by name.”

Sarah dimpled at him. “Really? And you haven’t gotten a date with one of them yet? I see a couple of them that looked to me like they would strike your fancy.”

Moose grinned back. “The platinum blonde,” he said. “She does light my fire. I asked her out a few nights ago, and she agreed, so I’m taking her to a movie on Friday.”

Sarah looked across the restaurant at the girl he was talking about, and nodded her head. The girl’s hair was almost pure white, and while she was only about five-and-a-half feet tall, she was a round little dumpling. Sarah guessed that she probably tipped the scales at close to two hundred pounds, and wondered for the hundredth time what a guy as good-looking as Moose saw in a girl that big.

Not her business, though, she reminded herself. She smiled at him, and said, “Good for you. I hope it goes well.”

Moose shrugged. “Well, it’s like you said about us not having any real relationships,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t even have asked her out, but I happen to know that she’s aware of what we do. Her dad works in admin, with the boss lady, and she recognized me one of the first couple times I was in here. She asked me if I was part of the ‘Ed and Eddie’ group in Kirtland, and when I did a double take, she grinned and told me about her dad. She said he worked in the procurement office, making sure we have all the special equipment we need. When I looked at her funny after that, she glanced around to make sure no one was looking, then made a gun of her fingers and used her thumb to show it firing. I’m pretty sure she knows what we do.”

Noah looked at the girl. “And does it strike anyone else as odd that she’d be working out here, if she knows? You’d think they’d want to keep her in house. I mean, how high a security clearance do you have to have just to know about us?”

Moose looked at him, his face uncertain. “You think maybe there’s something fishy about this?”

Sarah barked a laugh. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “If you weren’t so smitten with this girl, you’d have been asking yourself that question before now. Come on, Moose, think.”

Noah took out his phone and got to his feet. “Hang on just a minute, I’m going to go outside and check this out. Just wait here for me.”

He turned without another word and walked toward the door, then slipped through it and outside. He found a spot away from the building, where he was fairly sure he could be alone, then dialed Allison’s number.

“It is seven thirty in the evening,” he heard her say as she answered. “If no one is dying, then you’d better have a very good reason for calling me.”

“It’s good enough to make me risk it,” Noah said. “I’m out at The Sagebrush Saloon with Moose, and it turns out there’s one of the waitresses out here that he likes. Thing that bothers me is that she seems to know an awful lot about our organization, and claims that her father works for you. Before I let him get mixed up with her, I want to be sure it’s neither a problem nor a trap.”

Allison sighed. “Let me guess,” she said, “a chunky platinum blonde?”

“Yep, that’s the one. Is there anything fishy about this?”

“There’s not anything fishy about it,” Allison said, “but I can tell you that you just scored a brownie point for checking it out. That’s Elaine Jefferson, and yes, her father works in my office. And the reason she knows so much about us is because she’s actually one of our backup intelligence agents. She doesn’t have the acting ability that would let her be on a permanent team, but she’s as good with a computer as just about anyone we’ve got. She’s okay. Anything else?”

“Nope. That covers it. Am I in trouble for bothering you?”

“Not this time,” Allison said. “I’ll never fault you for making sure your teammates stay out of trouble. On the other hand, you might want to warn him that she’s got a bit of a reputation as a heartbreaker.” The line went dead.

Noah went back inside and sat down again, then leaned over to speak softly. “The dragon lady says she’s okay, and she’s exactly what she seems to be, but she told me to warn you that you’ll get your heart broken.”