Sam called Carla Day into his office.
“Come in Carla, please take a seat.
“I have some great news for you about Max. He is in hospital in Guadeloupe, but the CIA are waiting to question him about his medical condition. They suspect him of being a terrorist and of handling nuclear material. He is suffering from radiation poisoning and is in a serious condition.”
“Will he recover, will he be all right?”
“We don’t know yet. Our contact in the hospital is monitoring his condition and keeping us informed.
“Our greatest concern is the CIA, and whether Max can be made to tell them anything about The Organization or his last mission. I will be frank with you, either Max dies there, or we get him out.”
Carla’s guts churned over and a chill of fear drained down through her body like iced water; she knew the score and realized just how pathetic and futile it would be to shout and scream, and let forth floods of tears.
Max Fortune was everything to her; he was her best friend, her lover. They had met one year ago, when she was twenty-six, he was forty-five. They hit it off almost immediately; he was her soul mate, kind, amusing, and easy-going. Ultimately, they had both chosen this life of excitement, admitting they were adrenaline junkies, and it had to end sometime!
“There is hope, Carla. We will do all that is humanly possible to get Max safely back with us.”
Carla knew Sam was being sincere, but she really needed to be involved; hanging around waiting was just not her style.
Sam made it quite clear he would try to get Max back, but the easier option would be to destroy the body and modify the CIA records, so that any evidence they had gained so far would lead nowhere. The Organization had connections worldwide, so altering the data was not a problem, but keeping the alteration undiscovered was much harder. Any evidence of hacking, for example, would close off essential openings into the systems, following the strengthening of security.
“According to the team in Guadeloupe, the hospital is heavily guarded. Max is still in a coma rather than deteriorating, so we will see how things play out.” Sam added “If he dies or is extensively brain damaged, that resolves one option; the trail will go cold at that point. If Max recovers and is well enough to be questioned, we must either get him out before the CIA move him, or terminate him there.”
Carla spoke determinedly. “I wish to volunteer to help get Max out.”
Sam replied in soothing tones, “I doubt there is anyone more determined to get him back than you, or more able, but the CIA will be looking out for any new faces in the area.
“They suspect Max is part of a terrorist cell, and it would be reasonable to expect that the cell would terminate any links to them, which is why you cannot go.
“The team in Guadeloupe already live and work there, so they will be unlikely to cause any suspicion.
“Don’t forget, you and Max are not the only members we have working for us; we are the world’s biggest employer in a collective sense. As you know, we have key people in so many businesses all over the world; they in turn know of, are friends with or are related to everyone else on the planet.”
Carla already knew this, Sam was re-focusing her mind. Her emotions were affecting her judgement and she knew perfectly well that were she to become involved with Max’s rescue, she would be a liability.
***
Sam continued, “To take your mind off the situation, and to ensure you cannot interfere; I would like you to help one of our team get back to safety.
“Her name is Anita Harooni, she is in Jowzjan province, Afghanistan. She has valuable commercial information for us, of a technical nature, and we need her brought out at once. It will not be easy, but she is not in any trouble or under suspicion by the authorities; it is just difficult to leave there.
“I believe you speak some Dari?” suggested Sam.
“Yes, just very basic social stuff, I will need to take a phrase book for anything more than that.”
“Interesting,” murmured Sam, as he wondered why she might speak that language.
Sam continued, “Anita is a scientist and as you might expect, lacks your considerable skills to come and go at will. That is where you come in. We have set up an exit route. You are required to get her from her current position, to the location from which we can extract her.
“Can I leave that in your capable hands, Carla?”
“Yes, of course, but please keep me fully informed about Max.”
“Yes I will, certainly.”
Sam gave her the full briefing and she departed for Jowzjan province.