"Save the elevator speech for Parker. I have a long afternoon ahead of me. My slate is clean."
"Clean," General Sanderson said.
"I'm curious, how long have you known about her?"
"Do you remember one of the first things I told your training class? There's no such thing as a coincidence," Sanderson said and disconnected the call.
Petrovich set the phone down on the target dossier and glanced up at Parker. The former special operations soldier looked tense and ready to make a bad decision.
"Parker, chill out and drink your coffee. You're making me nervous. I need a contact number in case I run into unforeseen circumstances," he said.
"You'll find instructions for that in the file. I'll need to collect the dossier and the gun when you're finished," he replied.
"I'll leave it all at the scene for you," Daniel said and slipped the file into the briefcase alongside the table. He collected his cell phone and picked up his coffee. "Don't bother getting up. Thanks for the coffee, by the way."
"My pleasure," Parker said.
Daniel left the Designer Grinds with the briefcase, checking over his shoulder once to make sure Parker stayed seated. As soon as he walked out the door, he was hit in the face by a cloud of cigarette smoke from a homeless man sitting at one of the coffee house's outdoor wrought iron tables. The tobacco smoke reminded him of a past he apparently couldn't escape.
He walked back to his car, sipping coffee and firmly clutching the briefcase. Sanderson was a careful and thorough operator, so he felt considerably secure that he would not have to play the counter-surveillance game this afternoon. If he suspected any possibility that his plot had been detected, he would have given Daniel some warning. Not for Daniel's safety or wellbeing, but to give Daniel the best possible shot at accomplishing the mission. The outcome had always been the general's only true concern. He could be unfailingly loyal, as long as your usefulness outweighed your burden. Daniel had learned this early and leveraged it throughout his "stay" overseas. Unmarked graves scattered across the continents covered the remains of "graduates" that never quite grasped this concept.
Daniel reached his car and deactivated the alarm system, which emitted two sharp chirps. Three low chirps would have indicated that someone or something had made contact with the car in his absence. The vibrational sensitivity of the system could detect someone leaning against the car, or even the slightest bump of an opening door. The alarm would only sound if someone tried to open one of the doors, or forcefully hit the car.
He started the car and moved it to an empty row in the back of the parking lot, where he opened the case and pulled out the file. He quickly thumbed through the documents, taking in all of the salient points. The general's operational files hadn't changed in years. Functional and easy to navigate, Daniel had a solid assessment of the job within minutes. A rough plan developed before he could shift gears and speed out of the parking lot. He had a lot to accomplish before soccer practice tonight.
Purchase Black Flagged
Go to Features Index
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
About The Jakarta Pandemic
Dedication
Map of Durham Road Neighborhood
Prologue
Arrival
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Quarantine
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Survival
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Excerpt from The Perseid Collapse (unedited)
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
A Brief History of the Avian Flu Pandemic of 2008
ISPAC and WHO Controversy following the 2008 Avian Flu Pandemic
Field Resources Available in 2008
Background Material Cut from first draft of The Jakarta Pandemic
Media Excerpts cut from the first draft of The Jakarta Pandemic
Excerpt from Black Flagged
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Chapter One