Page 141 of False Flag

Premature FO ruling.

Premature is how you roll. Ruling stands.

Ouch.

Teague

So what’s the ETA on the signal blockers going down for good?

Vicki

That’s need-to-know. You don’t.

After all I’ve done to help?

Unfortunately for you, I’m big on grudges. Should have put the toilet seat down.

Next time.

There won’t be a next time. Your photo is posted in the lobby of my building. Anyone who lets you in will have to deal with me. And they know what I can do to their online presence.

C’mon, babe. Just give me a window. Midnight tonight? Tomorrow AM?

Sorry. Gotta run. Your XO needs a report on your contribution to my work.

That’s easy. 5/5 best consult ever.

Uh. No. C- at best.

Give me a B+ and I’ll take you to dinner when I get back. I know of a great place in Alexandria.

Nah. I skimmed your credit card when you were here. I’ve got a date tonight, and you’re buying. We’re going to a French place in Georgetown. Thanks in advance.

She didn’t really have a date, did she? Not that it mattered.

But maybe…it kind of did?

He stared at the phone and tried to figure out how to reply. More flirting? Another question about the signal jammers?

But his mind just filled with images of Vicki at a table in a French restaurant, sitting across from another man.

She was a distraction he didn’t need. He was too close to his goal to lose his focus now.

Teague

Ping me when the jammers are down.

He tucked his phone away without waiting for her reply.

Chapter Fifty-One

Staci hit Send on a text to Vicki asking about Fezzik, but once again, it failed to deliver. She wasn’t surprised, but she was disappointed. She’d really hoped the blockers would be disabled this morning. Now that she’d had a taste of communication, it was hard to go back to being isolated again.

She shoved the bureau back into its original place and wondered how many more nights she’d need to barricade herself in to feel safe enough to sleep. Moving the heavy antique was a workout. Even though she knew it was futile, she locked her door after stepping into the hallway. She now carried her most important belongings with her wherever she went. Passport, computer, phones, gun, spy gadgets. Plus a water bottle because it was important to stay hydrated when fighting disinformation.

Well, that and she wouldn’t drink anything she didn’t pour from the tap herself, just in case she was wrong about the asthma inhalers.

The night had been incident-free, but sleep had been fitful.