2 A Month of Mondays Read online

  “I’m sorry,” he said. The automatic was still there. She hadn’t released the pressure of its barrel.

  “You still don’t remember, do you?” Her eyes pleaded with him. Perspiration and spittle coated her upper lip.

  “What am I supposed to remember?”

  “I love you, Monday!” She seemed more upset now than ever. He could not tell if she had meant it as an admission or an accusation.

  “I don’t deserve this?”

  “We met four years ago in Berlin. We worked together before you came to work here.”

  “Wait. Berlin? I’ve never been to Berlin. I’ve only known you for a couple of weeks.”

  Her eyes showed pity. She shook her head slowly.

  They just passed the 55th floor. She reached back, the Browning still in place, and slammed the button for 60. She appeared to have planned this stop.

  “Les said it may take a while for you to adjust.”

  “Listen, Hallie. Maybe you have the wrong guy. I mean, I would be willing to take you out for some seafood and maybe a walk down by the Bay. I have a cottage out on Blackstone Lake, we could spend a weekend there...”

  “Shut it, Monday.”

  “Okay.”

  The elevator stopped. Hallie led him out into a corridor. It was dark here. The only light came from the elevator and an exit sign ten feet away. The elevator closed.

  “Go to the stairs. Quick.”

  He obeyed. He had never been on this floor of the building before. He went through the door and up the stairs. They climbed two floors and then Hallie stopped him. The door onto floor 62 had a small window in it. She glanced in and then moved to one side. She squatted low, her skirt tucked neatly against her knees. Jake knelt on one knee on the other side of the door.

  “Are you going to tell me what is going on or do I have to figure this out?”

  “Jake, you aren’t who you think you are.”

  “That’s a relief. So I can stop pretending to be Homer Simpson now?” She ignored him.

  “We work for the same company. But not the Galbraith Alliance. You are in deep cover here and now you are in deep for real.”

  “You are starting to worry me, Hallie. Should I be worried?”

  “Very.” She pulled a wallet out of her jacket pocket and flipped it open. It had her id inside. Beside her picture was a red and blue shield over a marshal’s star.

  “You work for the Secret Service?”

  “And so do you. You have been our eyes inside Galbraith for the last two years. You were here to make sure their targets didn’t include persons protected by us. You went dark about a year ago. We thought you were in deep. We had no idea you went rogue.” He just stared at her.

  “Until.”

  “Until last week. You showed up in Atlanta. Your target was the Chief.”

  “Not my idea. I even voted for him."

  “Yeah. When you didn’t pull it off, we knew that you were in trouble. I had infiltrated two weeks ago to keep an eye on you, but I had no idea that Galbraith had this contract.”

  “I would like to say that I made a conscious decision to spare his life. My hesitation was to save my own skin. Maybe deep down something else stopped me, I don't know.” He was thinking about Camilla again. He realized with a shock that he had remembered her name.

  “I know.” She looked sincere.

  He whistled low and looked away. He was having a hard time digesting this.

  “But how? How were they able to get me to agree to do something totally against my will?”

  “They’ve been brain washing you and drugging you for over a year, evidently. Your friend Barb has been slipping you a sedative. You probably feel groggy right about now, right?”

  “I’m fuzzy. But I am alert enough to wonder if I should trust you.”

  She stood up and glanced out the window.

  “Probably not.” She slipped the Browning back into its holster and stepped through the door. “Come on.”

  Jake hesitated. He had to be crazy to follow her. He had to be crazy to trust her. Jake Monday, the Secret Service Agent? Or, Jake Monday the high-paid assassin of the Galbraith Alliance? He could not for the life of him decide which was more plausible. It all sounded like it was out of some cheap television drama.

  He licked his lips and tasted again the espresso and lemon. I guess the answers could be enlightening, he reasoned. He followed after her.

  Hallie was ahead of him. She was following what appeared to be a janitor. He noticed her heels beside him. One was turned over on its side. They were snakeskin Bottega Venetas, worth almost a thousand dollars. Jake tried to reconcile this mystery with the woman in the conservative blazer, chewed nails and heirloom necklace. He had been so wrong about the JC Penny shoes.

  So sue me, I’m a man.

  He watched as she crept up on the unsuspecting man in the blue overalls. Hallie’s bare feet suddenly left the floor and Jake watched, stunned, as she leapt high in the air. Her feet crossed and her calves wrapped around the man’s neck. Hallie fell backwards, her hands slapping the tile of the corridor. She arched her back and used her momentum to flip the man backwards over her.

  Jake looked on as the man’s skull crashed onto the floor. He heard a sickening snap. Hallie was on her feet and grabbing a mop before Jake could move. He hadn’t appreciated just how much trouble he had been in. Hallie broke the mop handle over her knee.

  “Here. Take this. You’re going to need it.”

  She threw it at him. He caught it in the middle with one hand. He spun it clockwise and then back the other way effortlessly.

  “Not a competition, Monday. You don’t need to show off. Come on before we are both dead.”

  “What’s the plan?”

  She looked back at him, her mouth serious, her eyes worried.

  “Jump.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Just come on,” she said as she turned.

  They made their way down the corridor to another lobby. Hallie led them left and into a large bay of offices all glass and modern fixtures. Not one soul sat at a terminal. No one visited at the water cooler by the coffee maker. The entire place was deserted.

  “Can you explain something?”

  “If we have time.”

  “Where is everyone?”

  “No one works here. This entire building is a front for the Galbraith Alliance. They are assassins for hire by the highest bidder. They maintain legitimate businesses, but to hide all their transactions, they have to dump more money into ventures like this than they have people to man it.”

  “How long have you known about this?”

  “Not as long as you.”

  The view from the expansive office was amazing. New York in all its glory stretched out before them, the sun shining in the east across the river.

  “Quick. It has to be this side.” She led them through a maze of desks, fake plants and piles of office supplies and equipment still in boxes. She reached into her pocket and drew out a small device with a button. She depressed it and put it into her pocket.

  “What was that?”

  “My signal to Les. Don’t back out on me now, Monday. We have to get you to the lab and get that implant out before it is too late. They will know we were here. They can get to anyone anytime as you know.”

  “Yeah, but evidently so can you.”

  Hallie stopped. She panted heavily from racing through the building. But her intense gaze softened and she smirked.

  “Well, Jake. Maybe it’s because I’m more determined. I have our family at stake.”

  “Family?”

  Suddenly, a roar erupted outside the building. The tower shook, the glass in the office rattled. In the distance he could hear an explosion. Ceiling tiles fell out and electrical wires dropped from above. Jake ducked and then dove for the cover of a desk.

  Jake could feel the bullets pass by before he heard them. Instincts kicked in. He picked up his mop handle and ran back the way they had come. He vau
lted a desk and landed on top of two men in flak jackets wielding MP5s. He caught one in the throat with the end of the handle. He heard the wet gurgle and the man dropped his weapon, his hand grabbing his torn throat.

  Jake stepped in on the bigger man and put his foot down on the mercenary’s instep. He yelled and lurched forward. As he did, Jake grabbed the submachine gun and swung it over the man’s head. He brought the butt down on the back of the man’s skull.

  “Stop playing around and get over here! We have to leave now, Jake!”

  Pumped with adrenaline and grateful that the excitement of the moment was lifting the fogginess he had felt earlier, Jake retreated back toward Hallie. He fired off short bursts of fire. He had no extra ammunition, but he wanted the men in pursuit to keep their heads down until he got back to Hallie. He turned again to see where she was headed and was astounded to see her aiming her Browning at the window in front of her.

  She fired off three shots, the Browning thundering in the confines of the empty office. He could still hear pursuit behind him, could feel the heat of trained assassins aiming their weapons at the back of his head. He went into a sudden roll. His tie flew out beside his ear, his jacket flapped crazily around him. A shower of wood fragments in front of him told him he had reacted just in time.

  When he looked back at Hallie, she was motioning him and yelling something. He realized he could not hear anything. Everything seemed to slow. He tried to stand again, but the effort seemed impossible. He dared not look back again.

  He had lost the MP5 in the roll but he didn’t care. He ran as fast as he could. He could not tell if he was on a carpet or in sand. Hallie was frantic. She fired two shots over his shoulder. He dimly was aware of a shout behind him. Then, Hallie was grabbing his arm and shouting.

  “JUMP Jake!”

  He looked at her dumbly, the wind whipping his jacket as he stood on the broken glass from the shattered window, Hallie grabbing his elbow so hard that he could almost feel himself wake from this dream.

  “JUMP Monday! Now! Trust me!”

  That was the problem. Maybe he didn’t trust himself. Too much had happened too fast. But as crazy as it sounded, there was something about her eyes. There was something about the taste of lemon and espresso on his lips.

  And he jumped. He felt as if he had jumped up instead of out. It was an absolutely beautiful feeling. He was free. His tie slapped his right cheek as he descended. He felt his jacket rip. He had jumped out of a south-facing window. He looked down at an improbable large expanse of grass about two hundred yards across the bay. Directly below him was concrete and vehicles, small but getting bigger every second.

  The ground came so fast. Faster than he expected. Faster than he wanted. He felt Hallie grip him from behind and something prod his back. Something slipped around his waist, a thin, strong cord.

  Then he was climbing. He felt a pressure around his waist, an arm hooked about him. He felt Hallie squeeze him. She yelled in his ear. He could hear the strain in her voice.

  “Believe me when I say ‘jump!’”

  They spun slowly, the river coming closer. Bullets sought them out, gray trails of smoke signaling their deadly path. The nylon cloth of the ram-air chute fluttered gently as they began their descent. He wondered if it would hold both of them.

  Hallie struggled to steer and hold him at the same time. From the pull at his back, he could tell Hallie had hooked them together at the waist, but she was still staining to maintain her grip around his waist. He could feel her shake as her muscles reached their breaking point.

  Jake turned enough to grab a cross-brace. He felt Hallie panic as they steered quickly in that direction, the Hudson a green-brown gulf below them. He reached around to his right side and grabbed the other cross-brace, his arms outstretched behind him, Hallie’s weight against his back to take the stress off her arm.

  Hallie corrected their path and they picked up pace as they sailed back out toward Ellis Island. Boats dotted the river. Then Jake saw a green light signal from a large white yacht ahead of them.

  “We’re almost home, Monday. Just hold on, tuck and roll.” He didn’t argue.

  Hallie aimed left of the yacht and swung wide, coming up behind it slowly. Jake could see a contingent of men and women along the fore deck, dark glasses and Kevlar vests even in the sweltering sun. Before they touched down, Hallie reached around him and released the tether at his waist. The deck came up to meet him quickly, then, and two men dove for them, releasing a padded tarp ahead of their landing.

  Despite the padding, Jake smashed his forearm as he landed. He ripped his jacket even more. He had released the cross braces before landing and he could see Hallie float above him, her bare feet slapping the deck and the chute gathering about her. Several agents hustled to her side, grabbing the fabric before a wind whipped across the river and ripped her back across the bow.

  Jake stood. His arm was bruised and lacerated, but otherwise he was completely healthy. He was surprised to see three agents with their firearms trained at his chest.

  “Nice to meet you, gents.” He tried his most disarming smile.

  “He’s with us. Put your weapons down!” Hallie limped over to his side.

  “You alright?”

  “I chipped a nail, but yeah.” She was flushed, her hair wind-blown, her cheeks red from exertion. The pits of her red silk blouse were stained with sweat, her heirloom necklace was flipped backwards on her neck and a playful smile played across her face.

  “Here I thought you chewed your nails.”

  “Only since I met you.”

  Jake took it all in. He was alive and even through the haze of the last half hour he had a clarity he hadn’t felt in a long time.

  “A family, huh?”

  “Yep. You. Me. Macy,” she smiled, but her eyes were sad. She was disappointed. He wanted to hold her. He needed to remember where he came from.

  “It’s all coming back to me now,” he said.

  Chapter 5

  Vertigo

  The whine of the jet engine was muffled. The cabin pressure was perfect. The temperature was perfect. Yet, Eilif was uncomfortable. He had never felt fear in his life.

  He wished Giselle had stayed behind. She was braver than he was. She was fearless. Instead, she sat across from him filling her own fluted champagne glass. The cabin was quiet. Too quiet. It was just the two of them and a pilot. They needed as much secrecy as possible.

  “It bothers me that we don’t know his name,” Giselle confessed.

  “His name is inconsequential. It is the power he wields that matters.”

  “Names hold power, Father.”

  He thought about that for moment. What she said was certainly true. The Rockefellers, Kennedys, Fords, and Gettys were great examples of names holding power.

  “We have committed. We are in this now and we cannot turn back. Our positions are secured. It will be good to return home,” Eilif said. The simple confession made him feel better. Focusing on the future was the best way for him to get by the fear he felt for failure.

  Giselle shook her head. He could tell she was disappointed and remained unconvinced.

  “His bold plan has holes in it. Too much of it depends on people who do not understand their own role.”

  “That is the part that I have the most confidence in working. It has been my experience that many of my best allies were enemies who acted predictably,” Eilif said. He badly wanted to smoke a cigar. They had failed to provide any on the flight. He had some waiting on him when he landed. He glanced at his watch again. He caught himself, knowing it was Giselle’s pet peeve.

  “I have your completely undivided attention for five more hours, Father. Hang in there for little longer.”

  He looked at her. He could understand why she was so good at her job. She was ruthless, brilliant, and exquisite. It was a deadly combination.

  “So you have reservations about our arrangement?”

  “Only concerns that we are biting off more
than we can chew. If we have influence over two political parties in America, have agents within several European governments, and are constantly controlling Third World countries, why do we need to form our own government? Besides, we are close to taking over Galbraith from within. With the largest terrorist service provider on our payroll and our various forms of control over large and small countries globally, why do we need to have a revolution? Don’t we already own them?”

  Eilif shrugged.

  “Your assessment assumes much. Influence is not direct power. We are thwarted all the time. We are betrayed. Money does not solve every problem.”

  “This is why we have Galbraith and our terrorist organizations in France, Ireland, and Pakistan.”

  Eilif waved her off.

  “A small army. Arm twisting. Improvised explosives. In baseball jargon, they call that ‘small ball.’ I hate small ball. I want results. Lasting results. Our friend in France has the key to those results.”

  Giselle looked out the window of the luxury jet at the bright sky. The sun glowed on her porcelain face. Eilif was reminded again how much she resembled her mother.

  “Does it bother you that Clarence arranged our meeting with ‘our friend’?”

  He grunted and ate a grape from the plate beside him.

  “I am always surprised at the connections Clarence has.”

  “Surprised? The man is dangerous,” she said. She turned and watched him. He could understand her anger. She imagined that they shared the same feeling that control was slowly being pulled from their grasp. Clarence would be an apt target for her resentment.

  “Clarence is our ally. My employee. Put yourself at ease, Giselle.” He put another grape in his mouth, squishing the skin between the roof of his mouth and his tongue, feeling the flesh slide down his throat.

  Giselle laughed quietly.

  “Clarence is as much your employee as I am, Father. He works for you, that is true. For how long, though? When will it be convenient to change sides? Or has he really been on our side all along? We know most of the players in this drama. We only truly know our own agenda.”