“You ready for this, Alfred?” Harold asked the dog as they neared their destination, a dog park in Washington D.C. where his intel suggested a certain senator walked his dog every day.
“Yep,” Alfred answered. Harold had practiced walking him on a leash for a few days before this mission, making sure Alfred still remembered how. He had been concerned with the dog's increased freedom that it was a skill that had potentially faded, and while that worry had proven true, it didn’t take long for Alfred to relearn how to, at least, act as though he was under Harold’s control. Harold was impressed at how quickly the dog had taken to subterfuge.
He carefully parked the car and looked over to the eager dog. Time to see just how well of a pair they made. He exited the car and walked to the other side, opened the door, and latched the leash onto Alfred’s collar. It all had to look as authentic as possible.
Alfred hopped out of the car, following behind Harold. Harold felt the dog tug at the least leash every so often as they walked through the park, maneuvering their way through the crowd, closer and closer to their target. It didn’t take long until Harold thought they were close enough to engage without the senator being able to easily slip away.
“Senator Elsin, it’s been a long time. How’s the family doing?” Harold gave the man a beaming smile as he asked the question.
“I’m sorry. Do I know you?” The senator asked in return. He was trying to hide his annoyance with Harold, but he saw straight through it.
“Now senator, we go way back, that time in Paris, and before that Tokyo. Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten,” Harold dropped the tone of voice from friendly threatening with the final statement.
“Go away, Harold; I can’t be seen with you in public. You should know that,” Elsin replied.
“Oh, and I do, very much so, which is exactly why I’m here. I have a very big problem, and you’re the biggest asset I can control to help solve the problem. So walk with me, or I promise I will make your life more miserable than mine has become. Am I clear?” Harold let the contempt he felt for anyone connected to Agency into his voice, hoping to hammer home just how far he was willing to go if the Senator considered not listening.
“Fine, let’s walk, but can we make this quick? I have appointments,” the senator answered, moving closer to Harold as he started moving further away from the crowds.
“Good, I’m glad there’s at least a little sense left in you. And how quickly this will be entirely depends on you. So, before I start asking my questions, I want you to remember two things as you consider what to do next. You are aware of only some of the things I’ve done in the past. Consider how much you don’t know and how far I’m willing to go. For the second thing, what’s left of my family has been taken hostage and is likely being actively tortured. Consider just how much that adds to my motivation at the moment,” Harold said angrily.
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“Understood, but I hardly see how this involves me,” the man replied.
“It’s the Agency, Glenn. That’s how it involves you. You may not be directly involved with them, but I know for a fact you are on the committee that oversees them. Here, take this,” Harold passed over a small folder. “That is a list of everything I want and an address I want it all sent to, and yes, I know right now you are weighing just telling the Agency I approached you, but why don’t you pull your phone out and see what’s happening at their site in Colorado right now.”
“You’ve gone insane, man, if you think you can do anything to them,” Glenn laughed as he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. “But, fine, I’ll humor you. Hey Jim, everything going okay over there?” There was a brief before he continued. “Oh, damn, that does match the intelligence I just received. Alright, just look into what happened and I’ll be back to the office shortly.”
“Have I made my point?” Harold asked.
“How? How can you possibly have a strike force strong enough to be raiding Agency sites, or for that matter remotely think you can win this long term?” The senator shook his head as he asked this.
“I’m going to give you exactly one name to look into, and I think that might just be enough for you to understand what level of war is going on behind your back, and just maybe you will choose the right side. Cal. Now, good day, senator,” Harold said as he walked away from the man, Alfred, in tow.
Once they were safely back on the road, Harold looked over to Alfred and asked, “So what did you see?”
“Elsin himself didn’t seem to suspect anything about me, but there were at least two men who were paying an unusual amount of attention to all of us, especially after our walk started. I’m not sure if the senator will survive long enough to get us any useful intel,” Alfred answered sadly.
“Yes, I was worried about that, guess we will have to keep the old fool alive then. Can you summon Bart, please?” Harold asked as he turned the car around.
“What do you need boss man?” Bart asked the moment he appeared in the back seat.
“Change of plans, we need to go keep the senator alive. Have Cal move on to raid site two; I have a feeling Alfred and I are about to be a giant distraction and get your ass back here once you’ve told them. We are going to need to help,” Harold explained the new game plan to Bart.
“You sure we can handle this ourselves?” Alfred asked after Bart had vanished.
“Not even remotely, but we’re going to try anyway,” Harold responded.