Code Name: Camelot (Noah Wolf #1)(56)

“Hello, Noah,” he said. “It seems that all those good reports I’ve been getting must be true. We’ll be getting you ready for your first mission, now, and I must say I’m looking forward to watching you work.” He turned his eyes toward Moose, who suddenly looked like he wanted to be somewhere else. “And you would be Moose Conway, am I right? My daughter has told me a lot about you, and I want to tell you how much I appreciate the fact that she says you’ve been a perfect gentleman.”

Moose looked confused for a split second, and then his face cleared and he smiled. “No problem, Sir,” he said. “She’s a wonderful girl.”

Jefferson smiled back. “Yes, she is, and I’m glad you see it that way.” He turned back to Noah. “So, it looks like you’ve already finished your breakfast?”

“Yes, Sir,” Noah said. “We’re ready whenever you are.”

“Good, good,” Jefferson said. “Let me grab a cup of coffee to go, and we can get started.”

Jefferson went to the hostess station to order his coffee, while Noah and the others went to pay their tabs at the register. They all met outside a few minutes later.

“I’m in the Chrysler,” Jefferson said, pointing at a new sedan. “Just follow me, and have your ID ready when we get to the checkpoint.” He walked over and got into the car, while the others got into their own. A moment later, they were in a convoy following Jefferson.

The trip to the area known as Hollywood took almost half an hour, weaving through back roads and passing through several different gates. Each of them looked like it had seen better days, but when Jefferson’s car approached them, they opened as if by magic. The last one, however, had a guard shack and two armed guards in what appeared to be black uniforms. Jefferson stopped, and Noah could see him showing ID to the guard.

The guard waved Jefferson through, and Noah pulled up to where he stood. He showed his own ID, while Sarah passed hers across, and the guard inspected both of them carefully, then looked closely at their faces. After a moment, he handed them back and told them to go on through, but cautioned them to stay close to Mr. Jefferson.

Neil and Moose made it through the gate a moment later, and caught up to Noah. Jefferson had pulled over and waited for them, so when he saw all of their vehicles make it through the gate, he honked his horn once and proceeded forward. Noah, Neil and Moose all fell back in behind him.

Another ten minutes brought them into what looked like a small town, but a close look at the buildings showed that most of them were simply hollow shells. There were streets laid out, but they were graveled rather than paved, and sidewalks were indicated by wooden pallets laid end to end. It was obvious that this location was used for mockups of different places around the world, and Noah was surprised to see street signs and even working stoplights.

“Somebody puts a lot of work into setting these up,” he said. “I mean, it’s a great idea, because it gives you a sense of your battlefield even before you get to it.”

“Yeah, but from my point of view,” Sarah said, “it means I’m going to be practicing my routes on gravel, but the city streets will be asphalt. That could throw me off a bit, if we have to do any precision driving.”

“If that becomes necessary, I’ll make sure we get a few extra days in Mexico so that you can get the feel of the streets.” He looked over at her. “I have confidence in you, so have it in yourself.”

Sarah grinned at him. “I haven’t had any problem with self-confidence since I was a teenager,” she said. “Trust me, I can handle whatever road I have to drive.”

Jefferson pulled over, and Noah parked behind him. They were just in front of the mockup of the bar, and when everyone had parked, they gathered in front of the building.

“Okay, boys and girls,” Jefferson said. “We’re going to go inside and just get the lay of the place. There are a few people already here, including the bartender and a few of his hookers and some customers. You can interact with anyone you want to, but remember that they’re all going to stay in character. Today, and today only, you can ask them point-blank questions about the character they are playing. Each of them has studied up on their character, although some of them are playing composites, because customers come and go, and so do hookers. The bartender has studied Eduardo Hernandez to the point that he can tell you almost anything about the man, and later, you’ll see people playing Henrique Valdes and Pablo Ortiz in here, as well. Those two know their characters inside out.”

He led them inside, and they went to a table toward the back of the room. Noah looked around, and realized that great effort had gone into making the interior look genuine. There was chipped plaster on the walls and ceiling, along with signs in Spanish all over the place, and the shelves and coolers had been stocked the way they would be in the real tavern.

A number of people were inside, and Noah heard the word “gringo” a couple of times. The actors were all speaking in Spanish, and seemed to be laughing at the obvious Americans. That would be in character, of course, since tourists didn’t frequent Eduardo’s Tavern. Just the fact that Americans had walked in would be a strong indication that they were either interested in doing some sort of business that wasn’t legal, or else they were very, very stupid.

Noah had taken Spanish in high school and could speak it fluently, but it struck him that he might want to keep that fact a secret, at least for the moment. He kept his eyes moving, watching everyone, and a moment later, the bartender came toward the table.