Chapter Fifteen

Snap

Word called out when identical cards are turned up simultaneously.

*

Arlington, Virginia
Early August 2002

"That's the house," Agent M said as he and Jerry, the man chosen as the Major's double, jogged along the quiet street.

Jerry threw a quick glance at the house, his eyes rapidly assessing its vulnerabilities. "When would the Major like this to start?" he asked, taking a quick glance at his watch.

"As soon as possible. He wants Dr. Andy seriously spooked by the time he actually arrives."

A small smile curled the edges of Jerry's mouth. If the man knows anything about Iron Klaus, that shouldn't be too hard. The Major had a reputation for appearing out of thin air and vanishing just as quickly. Jerry found himself looking forward to this. "How about this evening? When he goes for his evening constitutional?" he suggested with a grin.

* * *

Once Ensign Cartwright verified the credentials supplied by Bonham, he was ready to beat a hasty retreat, only to have "Agent Marshall" ask if the Coast Guard could give him an escort into port in order to avoid any further troubles. Then the CIA man went on to explain that the sub was experiencing engine trouble, and that he did not want to be stranded in the middle of the Atlantic when he was expected to report at CIA headquarters within the next twenty-four hours.

Several hours later, a horrified Gregory Tomlinson watched as the local news channels showed a live feed of a private submarine being towed into the Norfolk Naval Shipyards in Portsmouth, Virginia escorted by a Coast Guard cutter. The sub's crew was on deck, happily waving at the cameras. In dark glasses and standing at the top of the conning tower was the Earl of Gloria. He was wearing a rather conservative suit and tie over which was a less than conservative, full-length tan duster. He had a hand shielding his eyes from the glare and was watching the news helicopters that were buzzing overhead in what seemed to be mild amusement.

"God damn that asshole!" Tomlinson growled, slamming a fist on the desk.

His mood was no better when the "Earl" called to report he had arrived in the U.S. and asked to arrange a meeting.

* * *

Langley, Virginia
Early August 2002

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Tomlinson growled between clenched teeth when he was finally face-to-face with the outrageous blond.

Klaus had to fight not to laugh at the man. As it was, he found it difficult to keep the smirk off his face. Not that it mattered. He felt sure that even the real Marshall would find the absurdity of it all outrageously funny and would do nothing to hide it. "My job. What do you think I was doing?"

"Mugging for the camera like some Goddamn Supermodel! You're supposed to be undercover! Not all over the news. I thought you didn't want Iron Klaus to know you were coming."

"I didn't. I wanted him to know that I was here."

"Everybody knows you're here." Tomlinson looked around the park in which they sat. Everyone seemed to be ignoring them, but he knew better, as did Klaus. They were being watched.

The disguised Klaus leaned back and glanced upward, allowing the blond curls of the wig to fall back off his shoulders. "James is convinced the Major is hiding in Indonesia. That's why he really stayed behind," he said casually.

Tomlinson raised his eyebrows. He tried to keep his face neutral, but was unsuccessful at hiding his surprise. "What?"

"He's convinced he's trying to contact the local terrorist group. The ones allegedly with ties to al-Qaida."

"You disagree?"

Klaus allowed a smile to curl the edges of his mouth before he explained that it was more likely that Iron Klaus had simply used the contacts in Indonesia, his intentions being to get into the terrorist network via North Korea, a country known to trade arms with Iraq and Iran.

"Wait..." Tomlinson said, sitting up, "I thought you said he was here."

The disguised Klaus turned to look at the man. If only you could appreciate the irony of what you just said.

"He is."

* * *

While Klaus made contact with Tomlinson, the others were setting up Operation: Doppelgänger. In the back of an enclosed van, John Paul sat with an impressive amount of surveillance equipment that M's team had managed to put together before the arrival of the Aqua Zep.

The plan was for him to tap into Dr. Andy's phone lines but he was unable to do so because of the presence of the real telephone company. He hoped the directional microphone was powerful enough to pick up what was being said until he was able to set up the actual wire tap.

Outside the house, Jerry had taken up his position. He leaned up against a tree, lit a cigarette, and casually looked over from the van to the house. He looked so much like the Major that it was chilling, and everyone gave a collective shudder.

"If this doesn't give that bugger the willies, nothing will," someone observed.

John Paul nodded. He looked over at Agent M, who was dialing the phone. He turned back to the equipment, slipping on the headphones.

Show time.

* * *

"Well?" Tomlinson was saying. "What makes you think that German is here and not halfway to Iran by now?"

Before Klaus could reply, Tomlinson's cell phone rang. The man pulled it out, looked at the display, and made a surprised noise. "Excuse me," he said tersely as he got to his feet, moving away so as to be out of earshot.

Klaus leaned back on the bench, stretched out his arms, and threw a knowing look over at Bonham, who had been hovering some distance away during the course of the meeting. Behind him, he heard Tomlinson's placating voice. "Calm down, calm down. Tell me again, slowly..."

Klaus turned back, a small smile coming to his face. Perfect timing.

After a few minutes, Tomlinson was sitting beside him. "The Major's just been sighted," he stated without preamble.

The disguised Major sat up, apparently all ears. "Where?"

"Arlington."

Klaus made as though this were a surprise. "How credible is the source?"

"Very. Do you remember Dr. Schreckengost?" Tomlinson asked cautiously.

"How could I forget?"

"Andy said he thought he saw him last night..."

"Oh?"

"And apparently, he was outside his house just now. Had one of his men call so Andy'd know he was there."

Klaus waited before replying, making it appear as though giving this careful thought. "There's no way he could've learned about the paperwork on the project, is there?" he asked mildly.

Tomlinson gave him a horrified look. If that's what the man was after, it would be disastrous.

"Look, I know it's probably irregular," Klaus was saying, "but shall I have a look at the security system over there?"

Tomlinson scowled but did not reply.

Klaus pulled off his sunglasses and gave the man a steady look. "That is what you trained me for. Who better to see that a thief doesn't break in than another thief?"

Tomlinson couldn't argue with this. "I'll have to make a few calls." The man he thought to be Agent Marshall held out a card.

"That's the number of the cell phone I'm using."

"Disposable?"

"Naturally."

Tomlinson nodded approvingly, pocketing the card before he got to his feet. "Gimme about an hour."

* * *

"That went surprisingly well," Klaus remarked as Bonham drove them from Langley to Arlington. He had even managed to get Tomlinson to arrange for clearance for the Aqua Zep to pass through the Panama Canal. He had said that the advanced clearance would keep him from being slowed down in his mission, as he was certain that, as soon as Iron Klaus realized that his pursuer knew where he was, he would disappear again. James could take care of the wiring of funds to pay the toll.

While waiting for the call from Tomlinson, Klaus checked in with those keeping the house under surveillance. John Paul informed him that he had been unable to tap the phone lines because of the activity of the real telephone company.

"Shit, I knew things were going too well," Klaus grumbled.

John Paul gave him an amused half smile. "Turns out, I didn't need to," he said, reaching for the controls. "He was so rattled, he used a wireless phone to call Tomlinson."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "What an idiot."

The other man nodded before playing back the conversation. After a panicked moment, where Tomlinson told the man to calm down, the story tumbled forth. Iron Klaus, large as life, outside his house.

~

"I want a bodyguard," Dr. Andy demanded. "I'm not having Iron Klaus on my doorstep without protection."

"My God, Andy, how did you ever get into the CIA?" Tomlinson moaned as he hung up the phone.

~

Klaus shook his head. He had been wondering the same thing. The man was an even worse basket case than Eroica's journal made him out to be. Was it a guilty conscience? Or the fact that all the documentation on an illegal Black Ops were housed literally in his backyard? Perhaps both.

"He used the same phone when Tomlinson called back as well," John Paul informed.

Klaus's eyes narrowed. There was something in the other man's tone that set off an alarm in his head. Something in this conversation had rattled him. Then the tape of the call from Tomlinson informing him that "Eroica" would be coming to check the security system in the bunker played out.

~

"I don't want the idiot here!" Schreckengost exclaimed. "Jesus Christ, he's supposed to be dead already."

"If the Major doesn't kill him, and I have no doubts that he will," came Tomlinson's calm voice, "it's not a problem. Neither one of them will ever see the inside of a courtroom."

"Why did I ever let you talk me into going along with this?"

"For God, Country--"

"Dammit, Greg, don't start with that bullshit! We should've ended this in '88 when we were supposed to."

"Just stay calm. Either those two will kill each other, or we'll do it for them. Either way, no one will ever know."

"Jesus," the doctor moaned. "What's the status on that bodyguard?"

There was a chuckle in response before Tomlinson said, "You'll be happy to know I've got someone all lined up for you."

"Who?"

"D'you know Dick Grant?"

A pause. "Not ‘Steamroller' Dick Grant?" came the disbelieving reply.

"That's him."

"He'll never agree to this. He's a senior agent--"

"Who has no love for Iron Klaus. Believe me, he'll jump at the chance to take down that asshole German."

"Oh hell."

~

Klaus had listened to the recording, his eyes focused in the distance. While the others seemed genuinely shocked, for him, it was just concrete proof of what he, and Eroica himself, had suspected all along.

Within the hour, he received the call from Tomlinson giving him the go ahead to check the bunker. Before going to meet with Dr. Andy, Klaus was given a pair of sunglasses that had a tiny camera hidden inside. Wherever he looked, the camera would track and record. In this way, he would be able to record the interior of the bunker, allowing the Eroica gang to analyze how best to plunder its contents.

It took only a few minutes talking before the disguised Major was led to the backyard. Despite everything, Schreckengost could not dispute the fact that Eroica was the best thief in the world and therefore the best one to check things over.

Outside in the van, the Eroica gang was impressed at the Major's ability to get all relevant data on camera. At first, he moved aimlessly around while chatting away. Then he removed the sunglasses and directed the camera separately. In only a few minutes, the thieves had more than enough information to start planning the theft of everything connected with Project: Eroica.

After the taping, everyone regrouped at the hotel where Agent M and the others had been staying. John Paul played back the recording of the phone calls for everyone, much to their mutual shock. If anyone had any doubts as to the Major's sincerity, they were erased by these recordings.

* * *