Outside In

Chapter 2-2

The alarm clock rang at six A.M. and shocked Cam out of deep sleep. She’d been dreaming of running, chasing a person she couldn’t quite see but knew she had to catch. She knew that her life depended on catching up with the runner who was always just rounding the next corner. It took her a minute to realize why the clock was blasting when it was still dark out.

“Damn,” she said to herself sitting up. “Hit the shower, lady, this day has just begun.” She glanced out her bedroom window to the quiet yards that stretched behind the abutting apartment buildings. At least it wasn’t snowing. That was a plus. But the traffic around the Beltway would be heavy with rush-hour commuters and it took over an hour to get from Baltimore to the Virginia border even on the lightest days. She’d best leave by seven forty-five to make sure she had enough time. Didn’t want to be late for this one.

The tepid shower water took longer to wake her than it usually did. She stood there and let it course down her back, trying to decide if she had the courage to flip the faucet over to the cold setting. Just as she thought she might be able to take the freezing water that came directly out of the pipes in March, she decided she was awake enough to forego it and turned the knob to off instead.

She knew the way to the Langley, Virginia facility, even though the signs directing traffic to the Agency’s headquarters had long ago been removed, by executive order.

It was just 9:30 when she pulled into the driveway. Stopping at the guard station, she showed her driver’s license and, after checking her name against the list on his clipboard, he pressed a button and the gate swung back. Cam guided her car down the long drive that ended in front of a large grey concrete and glass building. She almost turned into the employees’ parking lot out of habit, but edged her car neatly into a visitor’s space a few feet from the front door.

Entering this building again after almost six years astonished her. Nothing had changed, the tile floors were still the same color, the paintings on the walls the same, still clean, not dingier. It was as if time stood still here. She was shocked that the face behind the glassed-in reception area was unfamiliar. She had almost expected to see Beth Williams still sitting there.

She gave her name and the reason for her visit to the new face. This person had probably worked here longer than Cam ever had, but Cam still thought of her as new. She stood and waited while the receptionist typed her name into the computer to verify the appointment. Cam knew that there’d also be an on-screen identification photo of her as a security check.

“Thank you, Ms. Andrews,” the receptionist said, pushing a visitor’s badge under the glass panel, “You may go right up to the sixth floor. Please take that second elevator.”

Cam clipped the ID badge to her lapel. It was strange to see it there, to see it say “Visitor” and not have her name and photo printed on it. She walked into the elevator and pressed the “6.”

When the door opened, she was directly across a glass door that read “Craig Roberson, Regional Director.” Craig was Director now? When had that happened? The card he’d handed her in October had said “Deputy Director.” Her stomach started to roll and she hesitated. Finally, taking a deep breath, she nodded to the guard at the desk in the corridor and opened the door and entered a small waiting room. This one had been redecorated recently. The chair arms showed no signs of wear and the beige and rust colors were still bright and clean. A pretty, young woman in a beige suit sat behind a desk, peering into a computer terminal.

“Ms. Andrews, welcome.” She stood and extended her hand. “I’m Martita Sanchez, Mr. Roberson’s Assistant. We spoke yesterday. We’re very glad you could come today. May I take your coat?”

“Thank you.” Cam slipped out of her trench coat and handed it to Martita. “This office is quite different from when Robert Page was here.”

“Yes, Mr. Roberson insisted that it be redone when he took over. He said the old office was too impersonal.”

“It’s a nice change.”

Martita smiled. “Have a seat. He’ll be with you in just a moment.”

Almost on cue, before Cam could sit, the door to Roberson’s office opened and Craig stepped out.

“Cameron! I’m glad you called. We must be on the same wavelength. I was just talking about you a few days ago. I almost called you myself.”

Cam almost replied ‘why didn’t you? It would have saved me a lot of agonizing hours.’

But his hearty handshake drew her toward his office, his other hand on her shoulder. “Come in, come in,” he continued, shutting the door behind them. He offered her a chair in front of his desk, then strode around and sat down facing her. He watched as she perused the office. Every piece of furniture here was new, purchased three months ago when he’d taken over this division. It was all very smooth and sleek. No rounded edges, just angles and sharp creases. A dark, heavy wood, which, like the man who occupied this office, was meant for use, for business.

“I must apologize,” Cam started, “I wasn’t aware that you’d received this promotion. I still had the card you gave me last October.”

“No big deal. I’m still me. I just got a bigger office and more headaches, that’s all.” He smiled. “There have been quite a few changes around here in the past few months. A lot of our people have been transferred to the Middle East to deal with this Iranian situation. It caught everyone off guard. It’s a real embarrassment for the Administration, especially seeing that this is a presidential election year. There’ll probably be a lot more changes before fall. Even more, if the Republicans get back into office.” He spread his arm out to indicate the room. “I guess this office is just to impress those it’s supposed to impress.”

Cam liked his smile. They had been friendly when she’d worked here. He’d come down to the ciphering room late nights and bring her coffee as she worked on translations for him. They’d struck up a good friendship then, nothing very personal, but warm and comfortable. She realized now how little she knew about him.

“Shall I guess why you’re here and show off my magnificent deducing skills?” he asked.

“It probably takes very little deducing to figure why I’m here.” Cam grinned. “I was going to ask you if you had any pull in getting me back into the Department. I guess that’s a stupid question.”

“I was hoping that’s why you’re here,” He leaned forward onto his elbows. “Let’s cut the bullshit. I told you last fall that I’ve been following your career. I have. I caught your name in the papers when you got that medal of honor a couple of years ago and I’ve been keeping my eye on you ever since. I have to be honest. At first it was just curiosity, you know, because we’d worked together but you’ve impressed the hell out of me. You’ve turned into one tough cop. I really liked the way you handled yourself on the Harbor Boat case. I’m glad you were assigned to it. If I’d been smarter, I probably would have recruited you then. Now I’m glad I didn’t.”

“Why?” Cam was puzzled by his last statement.

Craig hesitated, a fraction of a second. “You really serious about coming back to work here?”

“It’s a long drive down the Beltway in eight o’clock rush-hour traffic after getting off a midnight shift. I think if I were going on pure whim here, I’d have stayed in bed.” She straightened her grey skirt and carefully smoothed the silk scarf she’d added to the ensemble this morning.

“Why do you want to come back?”

Cam took a breath. “Well…” she began. “Cutting the bullshit, as you said, I want to do more. I don’t want another family to have to lose anyone.” She knew he would have read through her file. Even if he didn’t remember that she’d mentioned Ben or her parents, her whole family history was part of her old personnel file. “I’m not sure I’m doing any good where I am. Besides, I may be coming to the end of my effectiveness there. Too many people know my face now. It sort of blows the ‘undercover’ stuff. The next step would probably be a promotion upstairs into administration.” She smiled. “And we both know how effective I am behind a desk.” Yes, put her in front of a computer or a mixed-cipher coded message and she’d have it sorted out in no time, but ask her to write a letter, and she’d stare at the blank page for hours on end. She just didn’t have the patience for it. It was the one part of her college career she didn’t miss.

Craig studied her carefully. She looked steadily back into his eyes. “You want a cup of coffee or something?”

“Yes, coffee would be great.” What I probably need is a neat scotch, she thought. What am I getting myself into?

“How do you take it?”

Cam looked up, she’d almost forgotten he’d asked about the coffee. “Oh, uh, black, one sugar.”

Craig went to the door and stuck his head out to ask Martita for two cups of coffee. “I don’t usually ask Martita to get coffee for me, but, I don’t want to break our train of thought here. Now tell me. What do you want me to do?”

Cam took a breath. “I’m not sure. I just know I want to do more than I’m doing. I’m not unhappy in my job, but it’s getting stale. I’d probably be happier if this led to some action.”

“What kind of action?” Craig smiled.

“Getting some arrests made, shutting the border to drug traffic. You know that a lot of stuff comes in that way.” Their eyes locked for a few seconds.

At that point, Martita knocked softly on the door and entered with two mugs of coffee, both black, one with a spoon sticking out. That one she placed on the desk in front of Cam. The other, she handed to Craig then turned and left.

Craig watched as Cam took a sip of the black liquid, assessing her. Finally, he sat back in his chair. “Cameron, I waste very little time these days. We just don’t have it.” He stood and began pacing. “Have you told anyone about this meeting today? Does anyone know you came here? It’s very important.”

“No. No one. I didn’t know if I had anything to tell them. Why? Is this important?” She was now suspicious and a bit apprehensive.

“Not even your partner?”

“No, not even Russ. Why?”

“If you come back to the Department, the way I’d like you to come back, it has to be under deep cover. Not even your grandmother’s cat can know about it. It can mean life or death.” He watched as she took it all in. “That scare you?”

“Should it?”

“I’d tell you to get out now if it didn’t.” He sat in the chair next to hers. “Look, we have several cases pending right now that we can’t nail. We’ve got some ideas on how to work this but we can’t quite fit the right person to it. But I’ll tell you, every one of them has your name tacked to it. We need someone like you here.” He took a deep breath. “Because of all the changes going on, I’m under orders not to recruit anyone right now. That’s why I didn’t call you. But you called me, so my hands are untied.” He rose and started pacing again. “Look, I want to scare the s**t out of you.”

“You’re doing a good job.” Cam smiled. “This is not exactly the way I had pictured this meeting.”

He sat back down beside her. “If all goes the way I’d like it to, this will mean a big change in your life. I can’t say any more about the cases or the plans. But I can tell you that if you pass all the tests, and I see no reason why you wouldn’t, you may be asked to take some very difficult, very dangerous assignments.”

“Why me? Why not someone already in the Department?”

“I can’t explain fully. It has to be someone with no apparent connection to the Agency. From now on, we’ll do all your testing elsewhere. You and I will meet somewhere else. I don’t even want to see your car in the Commonwealth of Virginia. I’m talking total secrecy, total disassociation. I also must ask that you adhere to a full oath of secrecy about this conversation. It never happened.” He hesitated for a moment. “Do you realize that our interview is being taped?”

This last question took Cam by surprise. She hadn’t even thought of the possibility. She kept her composure, though.

“No, I wasn’t,” she admitted, “but it doesn’t really astound me. Craig, you still haven’t answered my question. Why me? Why not someone else.”

“Let’s just say it’s the right person in the right place at the right time. Look Cam, as a person, I like you a lot, I always have. As a cop, I respect you a great deal. You know that I’ve always marveled at the way you crawled through those stupid codes and made sense out of sheer gibberish. I’ll still never understand how it’s done.

“This is not a job I’d want to offer to a friend and I do think of you as a friend, but I’m offering it anyway, because I think you’re the perfect person to do it. Think this over hard. Take a few days to live with it. If you want to come back, there’s a place for you, but it won’t be a cushy desk job, you can count on that.” He stood and walked around his desk, then hesitated slightly. “Do you have any vacation time coming to you?”

“A couple weeks, maybe up to three.”

“Good. The beginning of May would be a good time to take it.” He turned back from the window and flipped a switch inside his top desk drawer. Then he handed her a business card with just a telephone number printed on it. “Let me walk you out.”

Cam set the empty coffee cup on the desk and stood, trying not to show how wobbly her knees felt. “That’s it?” she asked. “That was a short job interview.” Then in an attempt to break the tension, “Don’t you want to see how fast I can type?”

Craig let out a big laugh and his body relaxed. “Don’t worry, the interviews will get longer…and harder.”

He put his arm around her shoulder. Cam wasn’t sure whether it was to show physical or moral support.

Martita handed Cam her coat and Craig walked her to the elevators. They rode to the first floor and walked out of the building in silence.

“This is a lot to think about.” Cam admitted as she put the key into the lock of her car door.

“Good, I’ll expect a call from you in four or five days. Don’t forget to use my private line.” He tapped the card she still held in her hand. “Oh, and Cam. One other thing. Uh, about your s****l lifestyle…Don’t even make it look like you’re trying to hide it.” He winked at her, then turned and strode back into the building.

Now what in hell did he mean by that?