Leroux-White Residence, Fairfax Towers
Falls Church, Virginia
“Hey, buddy, you okay?”
Chris Leroux groaned, then grunted when someone smacked his face, too firmly for his liking.
“You good?”
He opened his eyes, blinking them rapidly, then raised a hand to block the next friendly smack. “Yeah. What happened?”
“Not sure, you were out cold when we got here.”
He pushed up on his elbows and moaned, his head throbbing. He grabbed his temples with one hand and massaged them as he closed his eyes. “What the hell was in that?”
“In what?”
“They sprayed me with something. They sprayed both of—” He sat up, spinning his head back and forth, searching for Sherrie, his head pounding in protest. “Where is she?”
“Who?”
“My girlfriend. They sprayed her, too!”
“There’s no one else in the apartment.” The cop stood and extended a hand. Leroux took it and he was hauled to his feet, the world spinning. He reached out for a wall, finding empty space instead. The cop grabbed him and held him steady. “Woah, buddy, let’s get you onto that couch.”
Leroux nodded, regretting the movement, and carefully made his way to the couch, helped by two officers. He sat, and someone brought him a bottle of water from his fridge.
“Drink this.”
Leroux took the bottle and downed almost half of it, his mouth parched. “How long was I out?”
“We’ve been here about five minutes. Dispatch says they received the call five minutes before that, so I guess ten minutes?”
Leroux’s eyes widened. “Shit! That’s an eternity. We’ve gotta start tracking her. Any leads?”
The cop chuckled. “I think you’ve been watching too many cop shows. Why don’t you leave the investigation to us?”
Leroux pushed to his feet. “I’m CIA.” He looked about. “Where’s my phone?”
Another cop held up a plastic bag. “Is this it?”
“Yeah. I need that.”
“It’s evidence.”
“It’s mine, not theirs.”
“Are you sure? It was connected to a call when we got here. The woman refused to identify herself, only demanded to talk to Chris Leroux. Is that you?”
“Yes.”
“Who’s she?”
“One of my staff. I was talking to her when we were attacked.”
The cop’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve got staff at the CIA? Aren’t you a little young?”
Leroux stepped forward, grabbing the plastic bag with his phone. “Apparently not.” He pulled it out and redialed.
“Tong.”
“Sonya, it’s me. They took Sherrie!”
“Oh, thank God you’re okay! I was so worried about you! When I didn’t—”
“No time for that, Sonya. What’s the status?”
“A Rapid Response Team took down the SUV that had Sherrie, but it was empty—driven by some sort of autonomous set-up. We’ve got a tech-team heading there. We found where they did the switch and are analyzing footage now.”
“Do we know who’s behind it?”
“You didn’t hear what he said?”
“No, they sprayed us with something and I passed out.” His eyes narrowed. “What did he say?”
“Just before I guess you passed out, we heard a voice say, ‘The Assembly is eternal.’”
Leroux closed his eyes as his heart pounded. If the Assembly was back, and were indeed behind the kidnapping of Sherrie, and possibly the too coincidental kidnapping of Lee Fang, then they were up to something, and it had to be big. “What’s the status on Lee Fang?”
“Still missing. They’re converging on the last known location now.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in twenty.” He turned to the officer who appeared in charge. “I have to get to Langley, now. Am I free to go?”
The cop shrugged. “You’re the victim, so I guess so. I’ll need to take a statement, though, otherwise this investigation is going nowhere, fast.”
Leroux strode toward the door. “Trust me, with the people they pissed off today, they’re not getting away with this.”
“Who’s they?”
Leroux chuckled. “If I told you, I’d have to have you killed.”