We returned the racing sloop without incident and met the others on the dock. Joan had called for backup and an ambulance for Abdullah in that order. We were free to go and remain anonymous. Although there would be an interesting story in the French press speculating about a gang of mysterious female pirates. We also learned later that from that day forward as a result of the vengeance she meted out to Abdullah, Joan LeBlanc was referred to as Joan Le Noir by her colleagues in law enforcement.

We went back to the hotel and called it an evening. Rogue stayed in my room. Fortunately, I still had her luggage she had packed for the Paris trip. She spent over an hour in the shower and then straight to bed. It was hardly the romantic evening I had planned for our first night together in France. She was active all night and not in a good way. She spent the night tossing, turning, and whimpering in her sleep.

The next morning, we had breakfast together at the hotel. We parted ways with the Avengers. They already had another assignment. I thanked them profusely.

"Are you kidding?" Steve said. "I've never had so much fun.

"You just like dressing in drag," Bruce suggested.

"You were pretty hot looking yourself," Steve returned his quip with a punch in the arm. He turned back to me. "Seriously Chuck, if you ever need help on another mission, I won't forgive you if you don't include us."

"I don't even know your real names. How would I contact you?"

"Rick can always reach us. Just ask for the Avengers." He shook my hand and gave me a friendly pat on my shoulder.

Janet and Bruce also shook our hands and said goodbye. Janet gave Rogue a hug and I overheard her say, "You've got a really good guy there."

Rick had gotten the rest of us tickets back to Paris that afternoon. He told us we could all take a couple of days of R and R in Paris on the CIA's tab.

#

After breakfast, we headed for Lola's to return her things. We took great pleasure in telling Moe and Curly of the retribution inflicted on their benefactor Abdullah by Joan LeBlanc. Rick told Lola she could do whatever she wanted with the two miscreants or turn them over to the police and ask for Joan LeBlanc. At this, Moe and Curly visibly cringed.

Rick asked Rogue if she had anything she wanted to say or do for the thugs to remember her by. She declined saying they had not mistreated her the way Abdullah had. Then she went over and gave each one a swift kick in the ribs and said, "but that is for turning me over to Abdullah."

Rick tried to recruit Lola to be an operative for him. Lola being extremely French and patriotic turned him down. She did offer her help in the future as a friend as long as it didn't require her to turn her back on her beloved France. By the time she finished explaining her position to Rick, I full well expected her to start singing Le Marseillaise.

We thanked her for all she had done for us and assured her if there was ever anything we could do for her to let us know and we would be there for her. After all, if Lola had not elicited the whereabouts of Abdullah's ship so quickly from Moe, we might not have gotten there in time.

#

I think Percy and Sara really enjoyed their two days in Paris. For Rogue and I it was less enjoyable. It was still more about recovery for Rogue than Romance.

On our final day in Paris, we met Rick for lunch at the outdoor café near our hotel. He said it was for a strategy session for just Rogue and myself. Rick wasn't prepared to read Sara or Percy in on the program. He felt like he owed it to Rogue to include her.

"I think it is time I gave you more of a big picture explanation of what has been going on. You have certainly earned it." He took a sip from his glass of wine before beginning his explanation.

"I am in charge of an anti-terrorism taskforce. One of the ways we combat terrorism is by cutting off all their sources of funding. This can be a lot more complicated than it sounds. We freeze bank accounts where we can. We discourage anyone from doing business with them. We identify the source of funding and then we bring whatever political pressure we can to stop it. Public condemnation can be very effective."

"I would think most of the people who fund terrorists would not care who knew it."

"You'd be wrong. Some of our closest allies and many not so close have hidden agendas with respect to the operations of various terrorist organizations. The terrorists receive much of their funding surreptitiously.

"Can't people just funnel the money under the table so to speak without anyone knowing and avoid public scrutiny?"

"Moving large amounts of cash without being detected is much harder than you might think. If we find out about it, we make sure it becomes public. We just have to prove it and be sure of our proof.

The problem I'm having is that the particular terrorist organization I'm investigating, doesn't appear to be receiving direct contributions from anyone. They appear to be making their money off large stock transactions in the European markets. Their trades look too good to be true. We suspect they are getting inside information somehow. We have tracked several large payments they have made to a Ukrainian money laundering outfit. We have not been able to figure out what the Ukrainians are doing in return for these payments. We suspect it has something to do with making these incredibly profitable trades possible."

"You suspect front running?"

"That is one possibility. Or it could be as simple as someone leaking insider information. If that is the case, we simply identify who and plug the leak. Right now, the front running is looking highly likely, especially since you all discovered the tampering with the routing of the communication links used for the trades.

When I discovered that one of the banks handling the terrorists' trades hired your agency to look into that possibility. I decided to contact you directly and see if we could accomplish more working together. I knew Aunt Janet had you to dinner every Sunday so I intentionally crashed your evening that night to get to know you."

"What about when you called me anonymously the following Monday and told me to contact Mark Gregory?"

"We had reason to believe he had information related to the Ukrainians. Since he was killed, now I'm certain he must have. I followed him to that motel where he was killed. I thought it suspicious he rented a room there since he already had a hotel where he was staying. I wanted you to check it out, because I didn't want him to know I was following him."

"And you were behind the NSA hiring me?"

"Yes, but you have the full story behind that. With the NSA's help, we had located one of the Ukrainian money laundering sites and were planning a raid. The Ukrainians were tipped off and the NSA were the only ones outside of my task force who knew about it. I pushed for them to hire an outsider to investigate and I pushed for it to be you."

"So, you've been following me and pulling the strings all along?"

"Chuck, I'm sorry I couldn't be more open with you, but manipulation and secrecy is the nature of my job. I have been keeping a close eye on you the entire time. The terrorists deciding to kidnap Miss Warner was completely unexpected. I am so sorry about that," he said looking at Rogue apologetically.

Rogue did not respond. She was not in a very forgiving mood.

"Where do we go from here?" I asked meaning both figuratively and literally. "Am I still working at the NSA or should I focus on finding out more about the Ukrainians, maybe go back to California and investigate Gregory's murder?"

"You should definitely focus your investigation on the East coast. There is still a leak we need to find and that could be the key to unraveling the rest of this. Perhaps Rogue should join you. I know you've contracted a P.I. named Kirby Jackson, she could help him cover more territory. It would no doubt benefit everyone." I suspect he was really implying that getting Rogue back to work would be good therapy for her. I thought so too.

#

We left out of Paris that afternoon. Our flight back across the Atlantic was uneventful. Rogue was still very withdrawn, and very self-conscious of her bruises. Her captivity had really taken something out of her. She was no longer the outgoing adventurous Rogue I met a little over a year ago. I missed her quips and disparaging remarks keeping me grounded. I know these things take time, but I was beginning to worry she might never get her confidence back. I was looking forward to introducing her to Kirby. His eccentric affinity for film noir detective movies might be just crazy enough to re-spark her joie de vivre.

We landed at Dulles and I rented a car to replace the one I'd been using on the East coast before I left. We drove to the apartment in Maryland. On the way, I showed her where the mall in Columbia was and told her tomorrow she should take the car and shop for a new wardrobe and anything else she needed and charge it to the company. I figured she needed the time to be on her own to help her gain her confidence back.

Some people, fragile people, have to be babied and handled with kid gloves after the type of trauma Rogue had experienced. Other people, people whose essence is at its core based on strength need to experience the normal harsh reality of life. It rebuilds the calluses. On Rogue, calluses are part of her attraction.

#

The next morning, Rogue dropped me off at the Fort before she headed to the mall. I went up to Mystie's office. I had called before I left the apartment so she was expecting me.

"Hail the conquering hero," she said as she let me in. "I hear you've had quite the adventure."

"Yeah, I'm not really up to talking about all that yet. I just wanted to check in with you and update you on the status of my investigation."

"So, what is the status? Do you have any suspects?"

"No suspects, but I do have a better understanding of what the leak was about. Now, I'm convinced that whoever the leak is, they are talking directly to a Ukrainian named Anatoli. And whoever it is, Anatoli refers to as Sasha."

"Those are both rather common Russian names," Mystie pointed out.

"But not so common in this country," I said.

"But the anglicized version of Anatoli is Anthony and of Sasha it is Alex. Those are both more common. That does not narrow down things very much."

"Still, I would like to keep poking around and see what else I can turn up."

"Go for it. I've been told to give you free rein. So, do whatever you think you need to. Just keep me posted."

I left Mystie's office and went outside to use my cellphone. I called Kirby and set up a meeting with him for just after lunch. I called Rogue to see how she was doing and asked her to pick me up for an early lunch.

#

Rogue picked me up a little before noon outside the entry to the ops two B building and we found a McDonald's for lunch. I drove us to Kirby's office in the district. I didn't tell Rogue about Kirby's idiosyncrasies. I wanted her to be as surprised by them as I had at our first meeting. I was not disappointed.

As he opened the door Kirby began one of his film noir narratives. "Just another day in the nation's capital until the knock at my door cut short the drink I had poured myself as a reward for finishing a long and crazy week. I knew, the couple behind the door was only going to make the week longer and crazier. The man I recognized as my afternoon appointment. His companion in her no-nonsense pantsuit was a mystery in more ways than one. She was clearly a headstrong dame not to be messed with and yet someone had played the drum solo from 'In-a-gadda-da-vida' on her. I knew it wasn't her companion so there was clearly some other villain involved. Anticipating the story to come, I wished I had finished my drink. I waited for the introductions."

I took Kirby's cue and made the introductions, "Rogue this is Kirby Jackson. Kirby, this is my partner, Marianne Warner. We call her Rogue."

"Young lady, didn't your parents ever tell you it is dangerous to fall asleep in a laundromat dryer?" Kirby said examining her bruised face as he shook her hand.

Rogue was not ready to talk about the origin of her bruises. She just shrugged.

"I was expecting a little less timid reaction from someone named Rogue."

"And I was expecting a little more creativity from someone whose name is a jumble version of Jack Kirby cocreator of Spider-Man. Instead, we get a poor man's Raymond Chandler."

"Bam!" Kirby said as he feigned receiving a punch. "Her first blow pokes fun at my name. Pow!" he feigned a punch to his chin. "She uppercuts with a critique of my repartee. This Rogue is a real fighter," he said simultaneously mimicking comic book dialogue and a prize fight commentator. He did manage to elicit a smile from Rogue. "Could I introduce you two to my friend Glen Fiddich." He took us in and seated us around his desk. He brought out three glasses and his bottle of Scotch.

"It's a little early don't you think?" Rogue questioned.

"Are you kidding? Glen here has been waiting over fourteen years to meet you. Do you really think you should make him wait any longer? Anyway, I'm sure it is happy hour in Scotland."

"It is even an hour past that in France," Rogue said acquiescing. "We just came from that time zone."

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as he poured our drinks.

"I am adding Rogue to the investigation and I wanted her to work with you so we didn't duplicate your efforts. If that is okay with you."

"Of course. I can use the help. Keeping track of two people has been difficult."

"So what do you have so far?"

Kirby got up and rolled over a portable chalkboard. He turned it around to reveal a spider web of names connected by lines.

"I decided to take a tip from the NSA's playbook. They create trees of the interconnections between people by tracking with whom and how often they communicate. From trees like this they can often identify members of terrorists' networks. I don't have access to telephone records, but by following the subject's I can identify face to face meetings. I follow that up with interviews of their associates and anything else I can find to get a better understanding of which connections are casual and which might actually be significant.

"This is what I have so far," he indicated the maze on the chalk board. The two names at the top were Mystie Dey's and Tim Holiday's. I spotted Anatoli Alexandroff's name on the board.

"The problem with this technique is that eventually, everyone connects. It's like that game six degrees of Kevin Bacon. It assumes everyone in Hollywood can be linked through their film roles to Kevin Bacon within six steps. Your friend Miss Dey is the Kevin Bacon of the intelligence community. She connects to everyone through numerous paths. Even if you limit the connection to people who've slept together, it is still a large universe!"

"That is no surprise!" Rogue smirked. "Most of this room would end up in that universe."

Kirby cocked his head questioningly then decided wisely not to pursue it. "She connects to the other suspect, Tim Holiday, in several different ways," he continued. "Most are what you might expect between people who work for the same organization. But one of the connections is very unusual." He traced the line on the board as he went through the connection. "Miss Dey connects to her boyfriend Alex. Alex Nabokov connects to a co-worker named Pavel Alexandroff. I think they are close friends. I've seen them together outside of work several times. Pavel has a cousin Anatoli who according to the contact list the police recovered was a customer of Mark Gregory, Tim Holiday's former officemate."

"How did you discover all this?"

"When I found out Holiday's officemate had been murdered, I asked Jay Lee to find out what the police had so far. He got me a copy of Gregory's contact list. I saw the name Alexandroff and connected it to the Alexandroff I had seen Nabokov meet with. It's a weak connection, but it is less than six steps. In the six degrees of Kevin Bacon game that would be a win."

"Where do Nabokov and Alexandroff work?" I asked.

"Coincidentally, they do international marketing for Bezopasnost LLP. They are based in the Ukraine. They sell software security products. They have even sold software to the NSA, which is probably how he met Miss Dey."

"Maybe not so coincidental?"

"Exactly, I'd like to start tracking all of Nabokov's moves. I can do that now if Rogue takes over tracking Miss Dey and you take over Holiday. I also think we should try to get a bug into Miss Dey's bedroom if we get a chance. It might give us a better idea of how much information gets exchanged between her and her boyfriend."

"I've never tailed anyone before, any tips?" Rogue asked Kirby.

"It's like the song says, all you got to do is act naturally." Was Kirby's only reply.

"Song, that's your cue Chuck." Rogue prompted.

"I hope you'll come to see me in the movies and I know that you will plainly see. The biggest fool that's ever hit the big time and all I gotta do is act naturally," I sang on cue the old Buck Owens' song later covered by the Beatles.

"You encourage this?" Kirby asked Rogue doubtfully.

"Tell you what, next time a film noir dialogue is called for, I'll cue you." she replied with a smile.

Rogue was already acting more naturally herself. Having her work with Kirby was a really good idea.

#End Chapter Fifteen