When Alex Smith woke up the next morning, she felt more alive than she had since she woke up from her coma. She could feel her heart pumping, her shoulder and side felt like she had never been shot, and the adrenaline rush from last night at Jennings’s place was still coursing through her veins. She turned the water off from the shower, wrapped a towel around her, and walked back out into the room. She lay down in the bed and looked at Farid, who was still asleep.
Just looking at him this morning was causing her heart to race faster. He had saved her, again. She reached out and touched his hand and felt the electricity course through her veins. She had never felt anything like this for anyone. Farid stirred and opened his eyes.
“Hey,” she said softly.
“Good morning, Alex,” he said as he yawned and arched his back to stretch. When he was done, he looked at her curiously. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m thinking that I’d be dead at least three times by now if it weren’t for you.”
“So maybe you should keep me around, then.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Maybe.”
He laughed and pulled the sheet back and got out of bed. “I’m going to go take a shower. What time is it?”
“Ten thirty. We’re supposed to meet Pemberton in about an hour, so hurry up. I need to stop and pick up a couple things.”
She watched him as he shut the door to the bathroom. Yeah. I think I’ll keep you around for a while.
She felt her heart flutter, and her palms began to sweat. She leaned back against the headboard.
Alexandra Sokolov, I think you’re in love.
She smiled. She liked the way that sounded.
An hour later, she and Farid sat at a small corner table in the back of a coffee shop in Dupont Circle, watching as Pemberton came in. He stepped up to the counter and ordered. When he got to the other end of the counter, the clerk handed him a cup encased in a brown cardboard sleeve. He took the cup and made a face as if he were disgusted. He walked to the back of the room where she and Farid were sitting.
“Who’s this?” he asked, pointing to Farid.
“That’s none of your concern. He’s with me.”
Pemberton sat down and put the paper cup on the table. “I swear, ever since those hippies in Seattle got famous, you can’t find just a regular cup of coffee. Everyone wants to put chocolate, or caramel, or whipped cream in it. Tell them you just want a plain black cup of joe and they look at you like you’re some kind of freak.”
“So what can I do for you, Mr. Pemberton?”
“You see Walker’s interview on CNN last night?”
“I was…preoccupied.”
“Oh, yeah.”
“But I saw the highlights on the news.”
“Good, then you know that this guy calling himself the Prophet is going to be giving some little speech day after tomorrow.”
“I do.”
Pemberton sipped his coffee. “I would like it if he never got the chance to finish that speech.”
“Do you know where he is?”
Pemberton shook his head. “No one knows where he is. That guy stays disappeared better than me.” He laughed at his own joke. “But we both know where he’s going to be.”
Alex thought about it for a minute. The Capitol was a large building. She had already successfully pulled off one hit there. So she knew the lay of the building. But the fact that she had been successful there already made her think that it would be next to impossible to do it again. Security would be tighter than it had ever been. “I’m not sure that it can be arranged on such short notice.”
“I’ll triple your fee.”
That made her really consider it. With that kind of money she could take two, maybe three years off.
“Well?” Pemberton pressed her.
“All right. But you’ll need to wire the money first. Same account. If it’s there by midnight tonight, I’ll take care of it.”
Pemberton stood up and drained the last of his coffee and put the cup back down on the table. He leaned down and looked her in the eyes. “And Walker, too.”
“I thought you said you wanted to wait.”
“I changed my mind.”
Pemberton turned and left. When he was gone, Farid looked at her. “This thing that he wants you to do—can you do it?”
“Can I do it?” She laughed playfully. “What kind of question is that? Have you not been paying attention?”
“That’s not what I meant,” Farid said. “I mean, how are you going to get inside?”
She looked at him for a few seconds. “Well, I’m going to need a little help. But like I said before, that’s completely up to you.”
Farid didn’t hesitate. “I’m in.”