Kate Educates Jacob #59
Cloak And Dagger
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Jacob’s Point Of View.
I felt numb but not panicked when I met Kate at Lizzie’s Bar. The man at our front security outpost surprised me. My fiancee stood up and held my hand, staring deep into my eyes with stoic determination.
“Nobody will separate us from Alicia unless she wills it, Jacob.”
“I know, but I called Henry all the same, and I’m glad Karl is here just in case.”
“Which side of Alicia’s family does the man claim to come from?”
“Paternal.”
Kate looked thoughtful and turned to Karl.
“Can you ask Henry to pull Alicia’s file and see if there is any mention of relatives? I’m sure there won’t be, but it’s worth checking. If someone missed that detail, I’ll be shocked.”
“Okay. Shall I come with you?”
“It’s probably best that you don’t, Karl. This man hasn’t brought legal representation, and if we approach him with you primed, it might seem aggressive later if we end up in court.”
I had our temporary guardianship documents to hand, slipping those into a portfolio in case they were needed. The man arrived alone and seemed pleasant, almost deliberately disarming, so there was no need to lawyer up or prepare to fight for Alicia just yet.
“Should we speak with Alicia first, Kate?”
“No. Let’s meet the man at security and hear what he has to say. Worrying our daughter is unnecessary until he explains himself.”
This was one of those occasions where Kate excelled, and I was both proud and pleased to play a supporting role. I was surprised about how possessive I felt about Alicia, almost like she had become my real daughter in a few short weeks.
Kate drew me aside for a quick powwow before we headed for the front door with Greg.
“Don’t worry, Jacob. I promise you nothing bad will happen to our daughter.”
“What if he is her uncle? He may have rights we are unaware of.”
“If that’s the case, where the fuck has he been, Jacob?”
“I don’t know, but we should probably entertain the notion that he might be genuine.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
When we stepped out of the front door, the man saw us heading over. He studied us carefully, almost like a psychologist or detective might. The man beamed like the cat that had got the cream. I felt uneasy like we might be missing something. He seemed wholly confident of a successful outcome, never averting his gaze from one or the other of us.
Claude was on hand discretely, observing everything, ready to pounce. Meters before we arrived, he stepped forward with an outstretched hand.
“Hi, I’m Craig. Are you Kate Granger?”
“I am.”
“Look, I know this is unannounced and probably a huge surprise for you both, but I hoped to see my niece, Alicia.”
“Really?”
“Yes, is that okay?”
“Craig, why don’t you tell me what is going through your mind now?”
He was thoughtful for a moment, reading Kate, then me. I saw a measured, determined man, contemplating his next move, and I hoped it wasn’t as shockingly bad as his first.
“Hmm. I didn’t imagine this meeting would be quite so difficult.”
“Then you mustn’t have much imagination or didn’t consider this strategy well.”
“I don’t understand what you mean, Kate.”
“Okay, let me unpack it for you.”
“Yes, please.”
He had an excellent facade, but the occasional ripple through his cheeks told me all was not well with Craig. He had a dangerous streak but hid that well. I moved into an oblique position where I could distract his attention while Kate interrogated him, creating an advantage for her.
He tracked me the same way I would in his position, never taking his eyes off his negotiating target. Kate moved closer, weaponizing beauty, charm, and her cutting edge expressed in razor-sharp words.
“You woke up one morning and thought, I know, I’ll visit my niece who lives with a billionaire couple who adopted her from an orphanage.”
“You’re quite acerbic, Kate. I’m not nearly that cynical and have no wish to upset Alicia.”
“I’m waiting for an answer.”
“It’s something like that, but I’m not seeking to remove Alicia from your guardianship.”
He seemed genuine, but Kate was better at judging body signals than I was. She wasn’t giving any quarter, so I knew my fiancee wouldn’t stop drilling down yet.
“When was the last time you saw Alicia?”
“At my brother’s funeral, but she was too upset to know anything about my attendance. I arrived, paid my respects, and left.”
“Leaving your niece with foster carers.”
“She was better off with them than me.”
“And you never visited her since?”
“I’m here now.”
He showed some irritation at Kate’s constant probing, but I knew she wouldn’t and shouldn’t let up on him.
“Does Alicia know you at all, Craig?”
“Probably not.”
“Would she have any photographs of you in her scrapbook?”
“I didn’t know Alicia had a scrapbook. There may be something in there. I haven’t changed much over the years. I kept nothing.”
“How flattering of you.”
“You’ve judged me enough, Kate. Can we please move past the tigress with claws unleashed, protecting her cub?”
He was on the back foot, almost playing his final cards. The man didn’t seem like a scammer, but they never did when you first met them. Claude shook his head secretly, a sign to me that he wasn’t happy.
“Death follows you, my friend.”
“You’re French Legion D’etrangers?”
“My name is Claude. I help protect this family.
“Do you think Alicia should be protected from me?”
“I recognize your darkness, and I’m sure Jacob also does. We’ve done terrible things.”
“That’s not why I’m here, Claude.”
“Do you have identity documents to prove who you are?”
“None that I’m prepared to show you.”
Kate eyeballed him, and I was surprised by how cool and calm he was. If Craig was a scammer, then he was convincing. I got the same sense Claude did that our visitor had a military background.
“You’ve got no proof of who you are, and you’d like us to introduce you to our daughter.”
“I’m not here to cause trouble, Kate.”
“What are you here for?”
“To reconnect with my family. Alicia and I are all that is left.”
“With no identity documents or any proof of who you are?”
“This visit didn’t play out that way in my head, Kate.”
“If our roles were reversed, would you allow me access to your daughter?”
“No.”
We had a standoff with no prospect of violence, but neither side was about to cede ground to the other. Henry drove up the trail at speed, stopping at the barrier nearby. When he hopped out of a truck, smiling nervously, holding a file, I knew the news was coming.
He handed the file to Kate and stepped back. Craig didn’t flinch while my fiancee leafed through several documents, fingering across the page, reading every detail.
“Uncle Craig, deceased.”
“Not so much these days.”
“Would you care to explain your resurrection?”
“Not really.”
“Then I can’t help you. Luckily, we have your photograph from our security cameras. I’ll pass that to the Sheriff’s office and Child Protection Services with a full statement about our meeting. Perhaps you can take it up with them.”
“There is no need to be like this.”
“Why not? Alicia is under Jacob’s and my protection, to say nothing of what Claude might do to anyone intending harm. There is every need for us to be protective of our daughter.”
“What better protection could she have than a Victoria Cross medal winner, Kate.”
“You’ve done your homework, Craig.”
“You have my niece. Of course, I did research on you. I may have been absent from Alicia’s life, but I was never uncaring as to what happened to her. I knew when they moved her to the orphanage, then when you and Jacob took guardianship.”
Kate was getting testy, which surprised me because her calm under fire had become my anchor. Something didn’t sit right with me, so I nodded and coughed, drawing everyone’s attention.
“Are you military, Craig?”
“Yes.”
“Where have you been?”
Our eyes met in a cold, dark place we both knew well. Claude sensed it, too; his face rippled with anticipation of a fight. Craig was a killer, as I was, but only under certain circumstances. His demeanor was as any soldier, standing upright with his chest out and shoulders pinned slightly back, always making eye contact.
“I can’t say what I’ve done or where I’ve been, Jacob. You and Claude should understand that.”
“Buddy, you have to put yourself in our shoes. Kate and I will gladly die to protect our daughter.”
“I’m glad she found a home, and I’m not here to spoil that.”
“But you must give us more information. Surely you can see that.”
I saw his eyes cave in, and a gentle sorrow glinted back at me. His poker-faced expression remained intact, but I’d struck a nerve.
“I work for the U.S. State Department.”
“In covert operations?”
“Yes, of a sort. It was better that Alicia didn’t know about me.”
“And now you’re retiring?”
“From the field, yes. I’m marrying and then riding a desk in DC.”
“And you want to check in on Alicia?”
“Yes. I have no intention of interfering with your adoption of my niece. I checked you both out and would probably be arrested for my background searches, but I had to know she was okay and reconnect if possible.”
Kate’s expression softened. Craig was suddenly believable and no longer seemed like a threat. I felt he was being truthful and could understand why the covert ops man hadn’t exposed himself before.
“Did you ever meet Alicia?”
“Yes, Kate. I took leave and visited my brother several times a year. I didn’t want to disrupt her routine at the orphanage, so I stayed away.”
“Until now?”
He sighed, revealing sadness in a furrowed brow and a slight head dip. Craig looked tired and frustrated.
“If you feel I should leave Alicia alone, I will go now and never bother you again. I just wanted to reconnect and hadn’t thought it through very well. I’m sorry.”
“Do you mind if Jacob and I talk this through? Would you take a room in a local hotel for a few days and leave us your contact number?”
“Yep. That seems reasonable.”
He scribbled down a phone number on a moleskin notepad, tore out the page, and handed it to Kate. Craig nodded to each of us and leaped into his hire car, turning it around and making tracks.
Kate looked at me, confused.
“That’s all very odd, Jacob.”
“And yet, very plausible.”
“What do you know about the CIA?”
“He isn’t CIA. State Department are the guys who paid a former British SAS officer to recruit Peshmurga in the Afghan badlands. They used helicopters tracking Taliban kidnap gangs, rescuing American hostages.”
“Fuck, he’s a spook.”
“Don’t ever try to understand the nature of covert operations, Kate. It’s a crossweave of deceit going back hundreds of years. Those are murky waters.”
“Do we want to expose our daughter to that?”
“No, but can we deny her the opportunity to meet an uncle and future cousins?”
“I don’t know Jacob.”
“Me neither, sweetheart.”
Claude returned to the house with us, grabbing my arm before entering. Kate also stopped, wanting to hear what our friend wanted to say.
“It’s your choice what to do, but I know this man is bad. He may be Alicia’s uncle, but he is a total bastard.”
“How do you know, Claude?”
“Kate… the things these people do, only a sociopath could.”
I knew Claude was right, but the fact remained that he and Alicia might be family, and that deserved further consideration. We went inside, ordered coffee, and sat in a row, contemplating our encounter.
I drifted away, needing time to think, leaving Kate and Claude to their discussion. When I slid my gear lever, hit the gas, and left our home compound, I was on a mission. The town was a short drive away, and Alicia’s school was in its center. I parked a few hundred meters away, moving closer through the trees lined both sides of the street.
I saw Craig watching the school and moved to within twenty meters of him, staying in cover of a driveway to someone’s home.
He looked like any other parent waiting for their kid to finish school. A bell sounded, and the kids rushed out a minute later, climbing into their respective buses. I spotted Alicia and was sure Craig had, but he didn’t move, just stared in her direction.
She climbed onto her bus safely, and still Craig didn’t move. When the driver locked his door and set off, it was clear that Alicia’s bus would pass nearby.
He’s standing there hoping she’ll recognize her.
I stepped behind a bush, making sure Alicia didn’t spot me. Craig was less than five meters away from my daughter when her bus passed slowly by our visitor. No recognition was evident in her face when she stared at him.
Craig made no attempt to wave or attract her attention. When he turned, I saw a sad face.
“She didn’t recognize me, Jacob.”
“You knew I was here?”
“Only from the reflection in the bus window, before that, I was oblivious. It seems you haven’t lost your tradecraft.”
“What now, Craig?”
“I won’t hang about here, Jacob. You and Kate have my number, and I hope you’ll call and let me meet Alicia one day.”
“They’ll never let you retire, Craig. There will always be an emergency that they say only you can deal with. You’ve got a target on your back.”
“Maybe, Jacob. All I can say is thank you for looking after my niece. If you ever need my help, please reach out; otherwise, good luck with the adoption. She deserves you and Kate.”
“She’ll be well cared for.”
“I know.”
He left, jumped in his rental car, and waved goodbye, but I thought that wasn’t the last we’d see of him.
Kate waited for me at the front door, having already received Alicia from the school bus. I smiled; she looked pleased.
“You went to the school without me.”
“How do you know?”
“I know you, Jacob. I’m guessing you hid in the bushes rather than disrupt Alicia by collecting her.”
“Yes. I had a feeling Craig might try to see her.”
“And did he?”
“Not really. He ensured Alicia saw him, hoping she might recognize her uncle, which she didn’t.”
“Did he book a hotel room?”
“No, he’s gone and hopeful of a return once we decide that is on the cards.”
“How do you know he’s gone?”
“I asked Tiffany to track his GPS. Craig rented one of your cars from the airport. The car is heading in that direction.”
“Oh, Jacob, you never cease to amaze me.”
“I serve at my lady’s pleasure.”
“Speaking of which, I have an hour. Are you free now?”
“Does this involve me kneeling and praying?”
“Only if you want to, Jacob.”
“I need a break, and prayer is so meditative.”
“I can promise your tongue will be well employed, sweetheart.”
Next Chapter:
Although his part was brief in this chapter Claude showed the power. Couldn't agree morenwith Maria, whatever nasty stuff this guy brings, none of this trio is buying it. I liked Jacob's follow up at the school. Not letting their little girl out of his sight. Smart move on Craig's part to leave when suggest with all body parts attached and working. Claude and Jacob are no to be prattled with beyond a point. Good chapter, I need another cup of coffee after that chapter!
More intrigue, more fun. Well conceived. I've just read two very long chapters of two very different types of stories. I'm impressed. I still think turning some of your stories into novellas might help you financially but it would also take time away from your present writing. Thanks again for the entertainment.