Out of Sight (Project Athena) Read online

  “We can’t afford mistakes.”

  “You think I want to get caught?”

  Neither man answered.

  She got to her wobbly feet and headed for the door.

  “Where are you going?” the unseen man asked.

  “To get some sleep, unless you want me conking out in the Oval Office tomorrow. Or I should say today. It’s 2:30 in the morning, and I can’t think straight.”

  “We haven’t finished.”

  “Yes, we have. Cripes, are you people even human? Do you not require sleep?”

  “Not when more important things are considered.”

  “Look, I already know more than any janitorial staffer in the city. If I need to know anything further, tell me once I’m remotely awake again. If you want this job done right, you’ll let me get some rest and provide me with one hell of a cup of coffee in the morning.”

  “Very well,” the man said in a clipped tone. “Once you leave, you won’t return to this building unless we transport you here. Your daily contact will be with Mr. Webster. Don’t initiate contact. He will be in touch at the safest times.”

  Once she and Daniel were inside the elevator, she leaned her head against the side and closed her eyes. “Wake me up when we return to the Earth’s surface.”

  “The preparation was necessary.”

  “I’m intelligent enough to know that. And smart enough to know that costly mistakes are made when people don’t get enough sleep.” Plus she just had to get out of that dungeon before she went stark raving mad.

  The elevator didn’t ding when it stopped. She guessed that would ruin the whole hidden behind the door aspect.

  Daniel didn’t speak as they walked to the parking garage and then drove through the empty streets of the capital. Despite the time of night, the city was still much brighter than her place. She hoped Frank had fed her animals. Even being in a different city didn’t put her out of sorts as much as being away from her brood of furry friends. She hadn’t realized how much they comforted her after a hard day.

  “So, how did you end up with so many animals?”

  Jenna turned toward Daniel. “Are you a mind reader or something?”

  “Hardly. Not difficult to figure out you’re probably thinking about home and your pets.”

  “Oh. Just hope they all got fed.”

  “I’m sure Frank took care of them.”

  “See, you did it again. I didn’t tell you Frank was taking care of the animals.”

  “Think about it. I’m in a career where knowledge is a matter of life and death. It pays to know everything possible about the people you associate with.”

  “And yet you don’t know why I have so many animals?”

  “I’m guessing you’re an animal lover, don’t like to see them mistreated. But I don’t know the deeper why.”

  “Well then, I guess I’m finally one up on you.” She turned away, staring at the passing lights in front of imposing stone structures.

  Daniel crossed a bridge over the Potomac into Virginia, then followed the George Washington Parkway south. He pulled into a complex of condos and town homes.

  “Where are we going?”

  He pointed toward the building closest to the river. “I live there, but it’s too risky for us to stay too close together. You’ve got a unit at the far side of the complex.”

  “Do I have a view of the river, too?”

  “No.”

  “Is that part of the incentive plan at the Big Bad Secret Agency? Catch a would-be assassin, get a view of the Potomac?” Fatigue and fear combined to put her smartass defense on full display.

  “Not exactly.”

  Daniel pulled up in front of an end unit, then led the way in through the front door, turning off an alarm as he entered.

  “I doubt someone is crouching in the shadows waiting for me.”

  He finished his scan of the main room, then stared at her. “You don’t take this seriously enough.”

  She shook her head. “You’re wrong. I know this mission is deadly serious, but who besides your agency would even know I’m here? And if they did, why would they worry about a street cop from Nashville?”

  “Have you considered we might not be the only ones who know about your ability?”

  The thought chilled her, but she did her best to conceal it.

  Daniel wasn’t fooled. He walked toward her, stopping an arm’s length away. “I am fully aware of your competence as a cop, but you’re not batting in the same league now. People who can infiltrate the White House to get at the president can bypass an alarm in a town house. They can lie in wait for however long it takes for you to appear.” He moved so fast, she didn’t have time to react before he had a knife pointed at the hollow in her neck. “And they can slit your throat before you have time to even think about protecting yourself.”

  Jenna stared at him, not daring to breathe. As friendly as he seemed at times, he could still do her harm. She wouldn’t forget it again.

  He moved closer, until she could feel his breath against her face. “And have you ever considered that if you can make yourself invisible, others might have the same ability?”

  “I’m a professional. I consider all the alternatives and possibilities in every situation.” She needn’t reveal she’d grown up wishing with all her heart that there was someone else out there like her, someone to make her feel less like the freak her mother accused her of being.

  “Did you see the knife coming?”

  She didn’t flinch or look away from his unyielding gaze. “It won’t happen again.”

  He had the audacity to grin at her, and when he shifted the knife from her throat, she nearly slugged him. Let him deal with not seeing that coming.

  He strode toward the door. “There will be a vehicle out front in the morning. The keys will be inside the newspaper.”

  When Daniel closed the door behind him, Jenna’s stomach clenched. Dear God, she was actually going to do this, eavesdrop on conversations and risk her life by sneaking around the White House while invisible. She reached out a hand to steady herself against the wall. What if her invisibility faltered again as it had during the bank robbery? No, she couldn’t let it. The stakes were too high, least of all her life.

  She ground her fist against the wall. How she hated the agency for putting her in this position. And how she hated that she might be their only choice.

  ****

  She’d tackled bank robbers, wrestled with drunks, and faced down kidnappers, but none of those things produced the gut-tying anxiety that gripped Jenna as she fought the thick traffic and made her way to the White House the next morning. The White House, for crying out loud. She’d gone on a tour there when she was a little girl, but nothing in her life since had prepared her for going back as an undercover agent trying to prevent the assassination of the most powerful man in the world.

  She hoped she didn’t forget how to speak if she should meet the president. Or were janitorial staffers even supposed to speak to him? Heck, she was likely worrying for no reason. He’d probably be holed up in the Situation Room deciding the fate of some little country she’d never heard of.

  The thought darkened her mood. What if her father was being held in one of those countries? If he was alive. She still wasn’t certain the photo wasn’t a fake, but she couldn’t risk it being authentic and not follow the possible lead.

  Jenna jerked when a horn blasted, informing her she’d cut off a cab driver who wasn’t too happy about it. She maneuvered into the right lane and resisted the urge to return the bird the cabbie shot her as he sped past.

  She refocused on the street, and let her thoughts return to her father. She’d dreamed about him the night before. She saw him holding that newspaper, but the background kept changing as if he were in front of a slide show screen. He’d been in a jungle, then a desert, in Red Square, then sitting atop the Great Wall of China. Knowing — hoping — he was still alive created more anxiety than accepting he was dead. Now, he wa
s possibly out there somewhere being held against his will, and she hadn’t any idea where to begin looking.

  Today began the quest for clues — both for her father’s whereabouts and who had managed to cover his tracks so carefully in the White House that a government agency had to turn to someone like her to ferret out the threat.

  As Jenna pulled into the parking area for employees, a jittery mixture of excitement and fear swelled inside her.

  When she stepped from the lima bean green Pinto Daniel had left for her, the guard in charge of the lot smiled at her. “Nice car.”

  “If we knew each other, I’d stick my tongue out at you.”

  The fortyish black man in an impeccably pressed uniform sauntered over. He extended his hand. “Calvin Franklin. You must be the new girl on Patti’s staff.”

  Daniel had told her in the wee hours of the morning that her boss’s name was Patti Kenton.

  Jenna returned his handshake. “Yeah. Jenna Walker.”

  “Nice to meet you. Where’d you get the hot wheels?”

  “Let’s just say it’s a friend’s idea of a joke.” Daniel was far from a friend, but she couldn’t exactly say, “It’s my undercover car.”

  Undercover. She was here to find an assassin, not make friends. Might as well jump right into it.

  “So, Calvin, got any good advice for the new kid on the block?”

  “Don’t be late, and don’t wander where you’re not supposed to be. Unless of course you want to be quickly surrounded by the suits.”

  “Where am I not supposed to be?”

  “Anywhere the president is and some sensitive areas. Patti will tell you.”

  More cars gathered at the gate, their drivers waiting for Calvin to check their passes. “Duty calls. Have a good first day.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jenna watched him as he walked away, his gait casual but efficient. He didn’t strike her as an assassin, but she wasn’t ruling out anyone yet.

  When she stepped inside the building, she stopped before passing through the metal detector and stared down the long hallway. Shiny marble floors, gilt-framed paintings lining the walls, an aura of history and power. Surreal, just like her first trip to the Statue of Liberty. Like she was dreaming about being somewhere that existed only on television and in photographs.

  “Is something wrong, ma’am?” asked one of the two men staffing the metal detector. They wore identical expressions of seriousness with not a hint of Calvin’s friendly demeanor.

  “No. It’s just my first day, and I can’t believe I’m really here.”

  The guy on the right, the younger of the two sentinels, softened his tight expression a fraction. “It’ll be like that for a few days, but you’ll get used to it and then it’ll just become your job.”

  Jenna assessed him. Was there a tone of resentment in his response, or was she stretching? She doubted she’d have even noticed were it not for her assignment.

  She showed her ID, passed through the metal detector, then followed the guards’ directions to a small alcove of an office, a satellite of Patti Kenton’s main office in the Old Executive Office Building next door. A woman’s strained voice stopped Jenna outside the office.

  “I know what I’m doing.”

  Pause.

  “I told you I’d get rid of him, and I will. I’m waiting for the right opportunity.”

  Jenna moved closer to the corridor wall next to the office door. Her ears strained to hear every detail, to detect the tone and inflection. Had she lucked into finding the would-be assassin without even emptying a trash can or mopping a floor — or risking herself by engaging her invisibility?

  She mustn’t jump to conclusions. She could hear only one side of the conversation.

  “You take care of your own problems, and I’ll take care of mine.”

  The woman inside slammed the phone into its cradle.

  Surprise being the best method of attack, Jenna stepped into the doorway and rapped her knuckles against the door.

  The woman started, then looked up at Jenna with eyes a little too wide to proclaim innocence. She’d been caught and she knew it.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Old habits might die at some point, but it wasn’t today. Instead of apologizing for eavesdropping, Jenna stared at the woman, banking the silence would make her speak first and explain the outburst.

  “Are you the new girl?” the woman asked.

  “Yes. I’m supposed to meet Patti Kenton.”

  “Well, you’ve found me. Come on in and we’ll get all the paperwork done.”

  Avoidance seemed to be the route Patti Kenton intended to take. Jenna changed course. “I’m sorry if I interrupted you.”

  Patti made a dismissive gesture toward the phone. “Just personnel stuff.”

  Jenna itched to corner Patti in a sparse interrogation room and grill the truth out of her, but she had to remember her role. She’d been a street cop since graduating from the academy with little resembling undercover work. To be thrust into it in such a big and unexpected way shocked a person’s system, to say the least.

  Patti shoved a clipboard full of tax, insurance and several other employee forms at Jenna. She took it and focused her attention on the questions, making sure she didn’t slip and put her real Social Security number or actual last name. As she wrote, Jenna Walker became a three-dimensional person instead of the creation of an agency she still couldn’t identify.

  “Most of the janitorial staff works at night, but we have a smaller crew here during the day to do quick clean-ups and clear rooms after meetings,” Patti said. “You’ll find a confidentiality agreement in there. You are not to discuss anything you might accidentally overhear.”

  Little did Patti know her own suspicious comments would be a part of Jenna’s first report.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t end up being a personnel problem.”

  Patti’s gaze shot to Jenna. Her eyes narrowed like a teacher’s trying to figure out if a student was being genuine or mocking her. Jenna did her best to look innocent and trustworthy. Maybe she could craft a close relationship with Patti by being something she herself hated — a brownnoser. Whatever got her closer to nabbing the plotter in the White House, the information she needed about her father, and a ticket back to her normal life free of spooks looking to capitalize on her supernatural ability.

  After Jenna completed the forms and changed into her new uniform, Patti led the way down the main corridor of the East Wing. Jenna noted the location of each office, every meeting room, scanned the faces of the White House staffers they passed. Most wore stylish suits and looked about as much like an assassin as her appearance-conscious mother.

  The thought of Ava McCay soured Jenna’s mood. She imagined the disapproval marring her mother’s face if she knew Jenna still “hocus pocused” herself into invisibility. Ava wouldn’t care the reasoning. It wouldn’t matter one iota that Jenna had possibly saved lives by using her ability. Her mother would only see the unnatural creature she’d borne and hiss a nasty, dire warning.

  Patti opened a thick wooden door, then stepped inside a room dominated by a large conference table. “They just finished a breakfast in here, so the room needs to be cleaned before the First Lady’s meeting with the Ladies Library Foundation at nine-thirty.”

  The pager on Patti’s belt chirped. She glanced at the display, then faced Jenna. “When you’re finished here, come back to the office.”

  Curiosity ate at Jenna. Who had paged Patti? The person with whom she’d been arguing? Or just someone informing her of a spill on the carpet in the Oval Office?

  Jenna wiped down the table and chairs, emptied the trash and vacuumed, all the while wishing she could eavesdrop on Patti. But she needed to do her cover job first. She couldn’t risk getting fired. She needed it so she could stay in the building for extended periods.

  She wondered if her presence was a waste of time. If there was a single plotter inside, how likely would it be that he or she would admit as
much where Jenna could hear, whether she was invisible or not? Daniel and Mr. No Name seemed to believe she provided a necessary key to nabbing the man — or woman. She needed to meet co-workers and carefully work the president’s name into their conversations, then judge their reactions.

  Jenna left the conference room, listening and scanning as she went. Why couldn’t she be a mind reader instead? That would definitely be more useful in the current situation.

  An out-of-place metallic sound drew her attention. White-clad painters assembled scaffolding outside the East Room. She stopped and watched them. And it struck her just how many people came in and out of the White House every day. She had to work fast if she hoped to pinpoint the assassin before he made his move.

  Adrenaline pumping, she hurried the rest of the way to Patti’s office, but unfortunately her boss wasn’t on the phone spilling details. Instead, she was completing paperwork. Who knew there was so much paperwork involved in keeping the White House mopped and trash-free?

  “Finished,” Jenna said as she paused in the doorway.

  Patti looked annoyed by Jenna’s false brightness. Was she having a bad day or frustrated by interruptions of her master plan?

  “Are you sure you cleaned the room thoroughly?”

  “Yes. I’m very thorough.”

  “Fine.” Patti stood, closed the folder in front of her and stepped into a small closet.