Rogue Commander, Leo Maloney [classic books for 11 year olds TXT] 📗

“Who showed up, Alex?” Morgan glanced over the top of her head at a passing young couple staring at him and his daughter. He smiled reassuringly, so they kept walking.

“A hit team.” She shuddered. “They were in tactical getup and looked like cops, but they weren’t...I was in the bathroom when they hit the front door. I got a couple of them but I couldn’t stop them. She fought back too, but...” She took a long breath, and then she settled. She stopped quaking, and she whispered, “They killed her, Dad.”

He pushed her away gently and gripped her shoulders again. He looked her over, head to boots. “Are you hit? Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “I’m okay.”

Morgan’s gaze went steely again. Whoever was running this operation, setting General Collins up for a fall, killing American troops and hijacking Tomahawks, they’d just taken it up a notch. They’d just murdered an American naval officer.

“What did she tell you, Alex?”

Alex saw that her father was back to business. His sympathy was fleeting, and now he was treating her like an operative again. Somehow, that made her feel good.

“Virginia isn’t a place, Dad. It’s a company, a business entity.”

He took her face in his calloused hands. “You did good. You got more out of her than I did, God rest her soul.” Then he took her elbow and walked her back over to Fastia’s front door.

She took off her gloves and wiped her face with her hands. “Where are we?”

“Friend of mine.”

“I’m surprised you still have any left.”

He smiled at that. She was all right.

They went inside, Morgan bolted the door behind them, and they headed up the stairs. As they reached the third landing Alex could hear Neika’s urgent whines and her nails clicking on the floor. Then the shepherd saw Alex, and Alex ran to her and hugged her and ruffled her all over. Neika gave her face a tongue bath, and Alex saw she was leashed to the radiator.

“At least I’m not the only one around here who gets locked up,” she muttered.

Morgan ignored that as Fastia came down the stairs from above. Alex stood up and scanned his face and his garb.

“Welcome, young lady.” He smiled. “I am Kadir Fastia.”

“Alex,” she said, but she didn’t extend her hand. Instead, she touched her fingers to her chest and dipped her head. Fastia did the same, looking impressed.

“You are culturally sensitive, Alex.”

She smirked. “That’s about all they teach us in college these days.”

Fastia laughed. “Yes, so I have heard.” He waved a hand toward a hallway. “Please, let’s go into my office.”

Morgan and Alex followed him into his study. He skirted his large desk, pulled his HiPower from his waistband, laid it carefully on the polished wood, and sat in his large leather chair. He gestured at two plush chairs on the other side. “Please.”

Morgan remained standing. Alex looked at him and followed his cue.

“Kadir, I don’t think we have much time,” Morgan said. “Alex has some fresh intel.” He looked at her. “You can say anything in front of Mr. Fastia. He already knows the issues.”

Alex looked over the friendly face framed in a trim white beard. She had no idea who this man was, but if her father trusted him then she could too. “Virginia is some sort of company,” she said.

“Ahh, so we have one more piece of the puzzle!” His brown eyes gleamed, and he opened up a silver laptop and started to peck. “I think we shall need the darker net.”

“You know how to do that?” Alex marveled.

“I have studied the ways of the young.”

“You should teach my dad. He still can’t figure out how to work Netflix.”

Morgan punched her shoulder, but he was smiling. She looked up at him and grinned back. Something different passed between them, an acceptance that was new, and it sent a flood of warmth through Alex’s heart.

“I am entering parameters,” Fastia said as he squinted at his monitor. “Assuming a radius of one hundred miles, with Richmond at the epicenter...just in the event that this clue is meant twice, should we be so lucky. And now...” He pecked some more. “We shall see if certain other qualities bear fruit, such as the ordnance details, pertinent warehouse facilities.” He tapped the Enter key with a flourish and sat back.

The door to Fastia’s office opened. And his wife peeked in. She was considerably younger than Fastia, wore a blue silk scarf over her head of glossy black hair, and had large merry eyes. Fastia smiled as if always pleased to see her.

“Yes, my dear Nadia?”

“Would you be wanting anything, husband?” she asked.

“Tea, if you please, for our guests.”

She smiled again and closed the door.

Alex looked at her watch. “Dad, they’ve been trying to call me back up to...” She stopped herself from saying Zeta. “Headquarters. I had the day off, and they canceled it and called me back in, but I ignored the messages. They’re probably freaking by now.”

“You’re gonna have to go and take care of that,” said Morgan. “Tell them you were down here visiting a friend and you shut down your cell. She’ll be pissed,” he added, meaning Diana Bloch. “But youth trumps good sense, no offense.”

“None taken.” She put her hands on her hips.

“Just don’t tell them you saw me.”

“Why don’t I just tell them you handcuffed me to the house? That they’ll believe.”

Morgan’s cheeks flushed, but Fastia interrupted before the exchange could turn sour.

“Ah yes, some results.” His finger moved down his monitor. “No, not this one...nor this. Here!” He tapped the screen with his nail. “The Virginia Cigar Company, with a substantial warehouse, approximately forty-five miles west of Richmond. Nothing else fits. I shall message the address to your cell, Morgan.”

“No, Kadir.” Morgan stopped him. “Write it down.”

“You are trusting no one, are you?”

“Only her.” Morgan touched. “And you.”

Fastia penned the location on a pad, tore the page off, and handed it to Morgan, who turned to Alex. “Stay