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“Fair enough. Now let’s dig in before it gets cold.”
The huge breakfast so early in the morning made Lydia feel like she should go back to bed, but she and the Team Guys cleaned up the kitchen while Harper made some calls to D.C.. She tried not to listen but thought she heard a promise that he’d take her back in a couple of days. She wasn’t looking forward to that.
The kitchen was clean. Danny took Venom out into the garden on the leash. Back inside, more coffee was brewed, and they took places in the living room.
“I’ve talked to the admiral this morning. He’s getting permission to conduct a Silver Team mission since our current circumstance is directly related to the last mission we went on. So here’s the deal. I need to take Lydia back to D.C. to have a conversation with Lipori. They want him on tape admitting to the things he told me. He’s demanding an audience with her, so they think, and I agree, it will look like we’re trying to comply with him and that he’s in control.”
“But you’re in control, right?” said Greg.
“Sort of.” Harper took another gulp of his coffee. “He’s willing to give up the couple who have been hounding our property here. Told us they were paid to get Lydia, bring her back for a price, to Africa, to Benin, in particular. We have no intention of letting that happen, and Lipori knows that. We’ve told him no deal, but he’s insisting he talk to Lydia himself.”
“What’s he expecting, then? What do you have to deal with?”
“I don’t think he cares much whether the couple lives or dies. He’s already turned on several of his friends. He wants out of prison. He thinks maybe we’ll give him that.”
“Holy cow, Harper. We can’t do that!” Lydia blurted out. “You know he’ll just jump back into something else.”
“We do. In fact, we’re counting on it. But we have to set it up so it works in our favor. I don’t doubt he has other teams, ready to do things either here or in Europe. Maybe you can get that out of him, Lydia. But don’t believe anything he tells you. He’s a narcissist, only really cares about himself.”
“You’re going to go in there with her, right?” asked Danny.
“If he’ll let me. Something tells me, though, he won’t. We’ll have it on tape.”
“So how does this work, then?”
“He has the interview with Lydia, and then he gives up the couple. If they can work out a deal, he’ll reveal more. What he’s doing is trying to obtain his freedom. We want to encourage him that it might happen, if we get enough of a prize worth letting him out.”
“Harper, aren’t you playing with fire, though?” Greg asked. “He’s outsmarted everyone up until now. He had to have had this couple lined up before he got arrested, his fail-safe option.”
“Could be. Could be he has many. We’re not sure how he’s getting messages out. He’s not allowed to have a cell, have access to the internet. Somehow, he is.”
“Hate to say it, but I’d suspect one of those max prison guards. Money talks, you know,” added Greg.
“We’ll find the source. He may even give that person or persons up himself. But this is the course of action the president and the admiral want us to take. Our mission is to capture all his accomplices—or nearly all of them, at least the ones who are threatening us here—and then catch Lipori doing something he shouldn’t, giving us the option to put him away for good.”
“You mean, as in prison, not—”
“Exactly,” Harper said too quickly. Lydia noticed the ruse. He was actually considering doing something more lethal. That worried her.
“So where do we come in?” asked Danny.
“I want you on the Silver Team. I’ve been okayed to invite you. They’re sending me the contracts. You’ll be pleased with the details.”
Danny looked pleased. Greg held his approval back a bit.
“You guys are to remain here, along with two others I’m bringing up from Coronado. You don’t know them, but they’ve been on three ops with the Silver Team already. You’ll be using this home as your headquarters. You’ll guard the place, and when we’re ready, you’ll engage the couple and take them out. No law enforcement. My understanding is the FBI will be told, but unofficially.”
“Harper, are these Americans we’re talking about?” Greg asked.
“Not sure.”
“Doesn’t that complicate things if they aren’t American citizens?”
“Technically, it complicates their stay here if they’re not. Do you suppose we could enforce the law by chance?”
Lydia agreed it was a valid point.
“I have a question. I don’t have to pretend to be kidnapped, do I? That wasn’t part of the plan, was it?”
