The Exchange: After The Firm

“No, more than likely they will not. We want to see who’s watching. It’s doubtful Noura is working alone. It would take a team to follow Abby and the boys yesterday, take the photos, follow her across the park, and arrive at the coffee shop at about the same time. Somebody gave her the Jakl, a rather exotic gadget. She has a boss somewhere. These cells are not run by women.”

“And what if by chance you notice someone following Abby today?”

“We’ll do our best to track them.”

“How many people do you have on the ground right now?”

“I’m not allowed to say, Mitch. Sorry.”

“Okay, okay. Continue.”

“You leave at the normal time, take the subway to work, nothing unusual. At ten I’ll have a car nearby and I’ll call with directions.” He picked up his green phone, smiled, and said, “We’ll use these. Hope they work.”

“Can’t wait.”

“You’ll return here, enter this building through the basement exit, get the bags, hustle back to the car. At eleven you’ll enter the school through a side door off Sixty-Seventh, get the boys, and get out of there. I’ll meet you at the Westchester airport. We’ll hop on a cute little jet and thirty-five minutes later land in Rockland, Maine. Any questions so far?”

Mitch said, “You look exhausted, Cory. Are you sleeping?’

“Are you kidding? A Scully lawyer has been held hostage somewhere in North Africa for a month now. How can I sleep? My phone starts ringing at one A.M. when the sun comes up over there. I’m running on fumes.”

Mitch and Abby looked at each other. “Thanks for all this, Cory,” she said.

“You’re under a lot of pressure,” Mitch said.

“I am. We are. And we’ll get through it. You’re the key, Abby. They chose you and you have to make it work.”

“I’ve never felt so lucky.”

“And I’ll be hunting moose,” Mitch said with a laugh, one that was not shared by the others.

The walk took seventeen minutes and went off without incident. Abby managed to chat with the twins and watch the traffic without glancing around. At one point she was amused by the thought that the boys had no idea how many people were watching them as they walked to school. Nor would they ever.

Cory and his team were almost certain Abby and the boys were not followed. He was not surprised. The threat had already been delivered the day before. Why take more photos? Five were plenty. But top security, as well as good spy-craft, dictated the surveillance. They probably would not get the chance to do it again.

Mitch arrived at the office and immediately called Luca in Rome. He sounded tired and weak and reminded Mitch that his daughter had been gone for a month. Mitch said he was in constant contact with their security advisers. The conversation lasted less than five minutes, and when it was over Mitch again felt it would be a mistake to tell Luca about Noura. Maybe tomorrow.

At 9:15, Cory called, on the green phone, and told Mitch that the surveillance had noticed no one trailing Abby and the boys. Mitch went to Jack’s to debrief. At 10:00, he hopped in the rear of an SUV at the corner of Pine and Nassau. Cory was waiting. As they sped away, he couldn’t help but nod off. Mitch smiled at the guy and felt sorry for him. He was also happy with the silence. He closed his eyes, took deep breaths, and tried to walk slowly through the events of the past twenty-four hours. Before coffee with Abby yesterday morning, no one in his world had ever heard of Noura.

At 11:10, Mitch emerged from the school with Clark and Carter. A gray sedan was waiting, with another driver. Forty minutes later, they stopped at the gate of the general aviation terminal at Westchester County Airport. A guard waved them through and they drove across the tarmac to a waiting Lear 55. The boys were wide-eyed and couldn’t wait to take it up for a spin. Clark said, “Wow, Dad, is that our plane?”

“No, we’re just borrowing it,” Mitch said.

Cory was waiting outside the Lear, glancing at his watch. He welcomed the boys with a big smile and helped them aboard. He introduced them to the two pilots and strapped them into the thick, leather seats. Mitch and Cory sat facing the boys in club-style seating. A fifth passenger, Alvin, sat in the back. As they began to taxi, Cory fetched coffee for Mitch and cookies for the boys, but they were too busy gawking out the windows to take a bite. At 20,000 feet, Cory unlatched Carter from his seatbelt and led him to the cockpit for a quick visit with the pilots. The colorful display of switches, buttons, screens, and instruments was overwhelming. Carter had at least a hundred questions but the pilots were adjusting dials and talking on the radio and couldn’t say much. After a few minutes, it was Clark’s turn.