Incursion: The Rift - Episode Nineteen

After completing a taping of Lockyer's Angle and holding a brief meeting with his production staff, Vincent Lockyer hurried from the studios of CNN's Washington Bureau, grabbed a cab, and drove south around the Capitol to the Senator's Bill.

The Senator's Bill sat nestled between a convenience store and a dry-cleaner, a few blocks from the White House. While the neighborhood had changed in the past century and a half, the historic pub had remained much as it had been when Virginia Senator James Murray Mason first built it. The dry-cleaner had started out as a blacksmith before becoming a stable, a printer, a bookstore, then a video store. The convenience store had started out as an apothecary and of course the products on its shelves and its appearance had changed drastically over the years. Only the Senator's Bill seemed immune to the passing of time.

Today, as it had since the Civil War, the pub catered to an elite clientele of politicians, industry leaders, and journalists, the latter respecting the sanctity of the bar and the unwritten law that anything said within its walls was strictly off the record. Lockyer had many times mined this resource for information. It was while sitting at the thirty-foot oak bar running the length of the Senator's Bill that he had first heard the whispered rumors of the drug and sex parties that led to his story on Elizabeth Elmwood and her subsequent departure from Washington.

This evening, though, he was there for an entirely different reason. Nothing whispered tonight would be repeated on Lockyer's Angle.

Lockyer greeted the doorman by name and was ushered inside. He was pleased to see that the evening rush had not yet begun and the long narrow room was sparsely populated. He headed for the booths at the far end of the room, shaking hands with a few regulars at the bar as he passed, and approached a dark booth that appeared empty; it wasn't.

"Well?" Lockyer asked as he slid into the booth.

Read Mycroft's Trial By Fear

The figure across the table remained shrouded in shadows that the lights of the bar couldn't dispel. "Good evening," the figure spoke in a barely audible whisper.

Lockyer folded his hands on the table. His jaw tightened and he closed his eyes for a moment before responding. "Good evening," he said, feigning amiability. Then, slowly, "Well?"

"Strand escaped."

Lockyer closed his eyes again. "I told you exactly where he'd be. All you had to do was pick him up. What happened?"

"We don't know. We believe his followers got to him first."

"Trask was supposed to be able to handle them."

"Trask is dead," the figure stated without apology.

Lockyer shook his head. "Do you know where Strand is now?"

"Presumably at one of his safe houses."

"Which we've never found," Lockyer said, scowling.

Offering a ray of hope, the figure in the shadows told him, "We have learned of an Interpol agent in France who's been investigating the Anomalies for some time. It's likely she has considerable information we can turn to our advantage. We've used the Carter McCalister notice from the newspapers to lure her to the United States."

"The notice you still haven't been able to decipher," Lockyer said tightly, "and that you still don't even know who posted."

The figure gave a slight nod. "It's only a matter of time."

"Time is running short. Who's handling this Interpol agent?"

"Trask."

"Make sure he doesn't screw it up this time."

At that moment a young woman approached the table. "Can I get you something, Mister Lockyer?" she asked. Lockyer was fairly regular at the bar, but undoubtedly the waitress also recognized him from his show. He was used to -- and comfortable with -- being a celebrity.

"Gin and tonic," Lockyer told her, smiling politely.

"Sure thing," the waitress responded.

She left Lockyer sitting alone in the booth.

Jonathan Mycroft is a freelance writer and author. His latest novel, Trial by Fear, is now available as a pocket book and as a downloadable e-book from Lulu.com. Visit his website at www.jonathanmycroft.com

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