It was Felicity.
“I just got back,” he said as he got into his Mercedes. He had to cancel their date five weeks ago when he was suddenly called away to England. “Yes, I’ve been in Europe all this time. That’s right.” She wanted to know where in Europe had he been and what situation could possibly take five weeks to resolve. But she knew he wasn’t going to answer any of those questions.
“Let me call you back,” he said as Max began driving them away from the airfield. “Tonight?” He looked at his wristwatch. It was just past two pm. And he was horny as hell. “Late willwork,” he ultimately said. “But very late. I still have some work to do at the office.”
Sloane wanted to turn around and look at him. She knew that phone call wasn’t job-related. She knew a woman had to be on the other end of that call. But which woman? Her goal was to be the woman he turned to, not some random female, but she needed to know her competition. But he was so private about his private life!
“I said tonight. Yes, I’ll be there. Why would I tell you to come if I don’t plan to be there? If nothing comes up, as it did before, then yes, I’ll be there.” She was beginning to irritate him. But then she apparently said something that made him chuckle. “Okay. See you then.” And he ended the call.
“How did it go?” Bobby asked once his conversation ended.
“Not as I would have hoped.”
“So no resolution?”
“None.”
“We at least put a lid on it?”
“For now, yes.”
“But it’s not over?”
“Not by a long shot. The Foreign Secretary wants me back over there in a day or two, depending on how the media behaves, but we’re just putting out fires at this point. But if that story leaks, it’s going to be hell to pay over there.”
“Nobody’s printed any stories or even hinted about it that I could find.”
“We have them sufficiently paid off. At least the mainstream media. It’s the rogue actors I’m concerned about. We don’t know who they are or how to contact them. They’re the problem. I told the Foreign Secretary that very thing from day one.”
“Refresh my memory, sir,” Sloane said. “Their Foreign Secretary is equivalent to the USA’s Press Secretary?”
“Their Foreign Secretary is equivalent to our Secretary of State.”
“Oh my,” said Sloane. “That high up?”
“That high up, yes.”
“And he’s not the target?” Bobby asked, and Sloane and Max were all ears. They wanted to know the answer too.
But William wasn’t going there. “He’s not the target, no. He’s the wingman for our target. Which tells you how important the target is. The target will remain number 5 until further notice.”
Bobby exhaled. If their clients kept a number, then that meant top secret, for William’s eyes only. “But you said you’re going to release the name of number 46.”
“That’s right.”
“We’re dying to know the client behind that number we’ve been working on for months,” Bobby said.
“I’m sure you are,” said William.
“I’ll bet it’s a major motion picture star,” said Sloane.
“I say it’s a sports legend.”
William looked over at Bobby. He was always impressed with his reasoning superiority. “Why a sports legend?”
“Because if he doesn’t settle this case before the league finds out that there was a case at all, his entire lifelong legendary status will be tarnished forever. That’s why he’s still a number this late in the game. That’s why we still don’t know his name.”
“If it is a he,” said Sloane.
