He shoved his phone in his pocket and put his hand on the door handle of the rental when he caught a vehicle slowly driving through the lot behind him. He saw it was a Metropolitan Police cruiser, and sank down in his seat. It passed by without stopping, continuing to the lots farther south at the same slow, methodical pace.
He waited until it was out of sight before he opened the door and began speedwalking to the entrance of the Washington, DC, National Zoo.
Years before he was the commander, when Unit 840 was trying to recruit criminals to assassinate the ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Sardar had been tasked with developing multiple secure meeting locations in Washington, DC, for the assessment of potential candidates. Each one had to be free to enter and easily accessible, with enough of a public presence to provide security for both parties. As each site could only be used once, he’d developed them all over DC, using everything from botanical gardens to the National Mall. The zoo was one such site, and it had never been serviced with a meet, so it was still secure.
He reached the entrance, looking for the ticket counter he’d used years ago when he’d developed the site. While the zoo was free, it still required a ticket for crowd control, allowing them to halt entrances when it was full.
The ticket booth was gone. In its place was a sign with a QR code and instructions for retrieving a pass, which was an annoyance. It became alarming after he scanned the code, because he was required to input his name, address, and email to receive his ticket. He could give a false name and address, but he needed a real email to obtain the voucher.
He spent an additional five minutes creating a throwaway Gmail address, then scanned the QR code again. He completed the form and retrieved his ticket from the new email address, then walked to the admissions gate.
He hoped the men he was meeting wouldn’t be stymied by the entrance requirements. His instructions, while precise on finding the meeting site,had included the old entrance requirements. He wondered if the elephant enclosure he’d chosen as the meeting spot had changed as well.
He presented his phone to a man with a scanner, had his ticket recorded, and walked through the gate, making a mental note to delete the electronic ticket and swap out his SIM card yet again to break the history of his phone having entered.
He walked up to a map at the education center, seeing that multiple exhibits were under renovation, which caused him a bit of concern that his chosen rendezvous would be closed as well.
The zoo had a main promenade running down its length, with multiple side paths leading to various animal enclosures, the most famous being the Chinese panda exhibit. When he selected his meeting site, he wanted a large enclosure with multiple different viewing platforms. Something inside, but bigger than a hallway with aquariums. The panda exhibit provided the necessary atmospherics but was also the most crowded.
He’d eventually settled on the elephant exhibit, as it was just as large, if not larger, but not nearly as popular. In studying the map, he was relieved to see it was open. He looked at his watch and saw the meeting time was within five minutes. He began walking down the primary promenade, ignoring the exhibits and trails branching out left and right. He bypassed the panda exhibit, wanting to be within thirty seconds of what was known as the elephant community center. He reached an overlook allowing outdoor viewing of giraffes and elephants and paused, pretending to be interested in the sights.
One minute later, he left, walking to the entrance of the community center, a large structure made of stone with glass double doors. He entered an atrium with a family of four, then followed them into the enclosure itself.
It was populated with tourists, but not unduly so, with several open-air enclosures on the right showcasing Asian elephants wandering about, a walkway to his front and exhibits on the wall to the left describing various aspects of the breed.
He paused, looking down the wide hall, searching for a specific exhibit.He found it halfway down—a plexiglass tube the diameter of a fifty-five-gallon drum rising to the ceiling and full of elephant dung. He’d chosen it precisely because it was distasteful and usually the least frequented exhibit. That, and because he thought it was humorous.
Standing next to the tube of dung was a bald man with a craggy face and cauliflower ears and a shorter, pudgy man with black hair and a three- or four-day growth of beard as if he couldn’t decide whether to shave or grow a full spate of facial hair.
It was Flynn and the man he knew as Tusk. He walked to them, causing Flynn to turn towards him. He saw recognition on his face, and then a scowl.
He reached them and Flynn said, “I don’t see a backpack. I hope you aren’t planning on paying with crypto.”
Chapter 71
Knuckles had the Uber drop them off about a block away from the entrance to Blaisdell Consulting, not wanting any record of him being associated with the address.
Brett said, “I’m getting a little sick of this sneaky-Pete BS. One of these days I’m filling out an application for Blaisdell Consulting and signing on as a permanent employee.”
Knuckles laughed and said, “You do that and you’ll be off the employment rolls for GRS. You’ll be working behind a desk the rest of your Taskforce time.”
“Yeah, but I wouldn’t have to be slinking through the garage like I’m hiding an affair. It’s hot as balls out here and we’re walking to a desk anyway.”
“True, true.”
“Pike’s down there slaying and we’re up here about to play patty-cake with Creed. It’s insulting.”
Knuckles turned into the garage, taking the ramp down into the darkness and leaving the scorching heat behind. Brett said, “You got any ideas on how to crack this nut, or are we just spinning our wheels?”
Knuckles said, “Yeah, I have a couple of ideas, but honestly, it’s nothing that couldn’t have been done over the phone.”
They saw the back entrance of the Taskforce, a glass door with Creed behind it waiting. He opened it and let them in, then passed through the second door to the elevator lobby, pushing the up button.
The elevator arrived, and they entered. Knuckles said, “So what’s the latest? Did I just waste my time flying back here?”
Creed said, “The latest is everybody’s freaking out about the hostage situation in Argentina. Nobody’s really focused on the threat here anymore.”
Brett said, “Nobody?”
