Lone Wolf by David Archer

appeared. “Seems the NSA keeps a close watch on this boy, monitoring all of his movements. Want to guess where he was the day Selah disappeared?”
    “Right here in Nouakchott?” Noah asked.
    “ Ding, ding, ding, ” Neil said. “We have a winner! He flew in two days before that and stayed in this very hotel, then flew out two hours after that call was made. He is, or was a half hour ago, in his apartment in London, where he lives alone. Look at the screen, that's a photo of him.” The image on the screen showed a stocky man with sandy hair and brown eyes.
    Noah and Decker looked at the photo, then at one another. “Sounds like he must be our man,” Decker said. “Still seems way too easy, though.”
    Noah nodded. “Yeah, we're being led on a wild goose chase. The trouble is, we can't afford not to chase the goose. Whether he's a decoy or not, this Pendergrast is somehow involved in all this, and I plan to find out how.” He took a phone out of his pocket and dialed a number, and waited for it to connect. Almost a minute later, he got an answer.
    “This is Allison,” his boss said as she answered.
    “It's Camelot,” Noah said. “We have a lead, and need to go to London.”
    “Hang on a moment,” Allison said, and the line went silent as she placed him on hold. Noah waited for about three minutes, listening to Neil tapping on his keyboard and cursing under his breath, but he didn't want to ask questions while he was still on the phone.
    “Okay, I'm back,” Allison said. “I'm sending a charter jet after you, but it won't get there until almost nine o'clock tonight, your time. I would suggest you get as much rest as you can, after the flight you just had.”
    “That's what we'll do. Have we got a team in London at the moment? I'd like to keep tabs on someone until we get there.”
    “We don't have a team there, but we do have an asset. Who do you want her to watch? I'll put her on it right away.”
    “The guy's name is Jeremy Pendergrast,” Noah said, “and the address is...” Noah picked up a pencil that was lying on the nightstand beside his bed and threw it at Neil.
    “Ow! I'm getting it, I'm getting it—okay, it's Number Fifteen Aberdare Gardens, Apartment 7B.”
    “Number Fifteen Aberdare Gardens, Apartment 7B. Apparently the NSA is keeping an eye on him, too, but I'd be more comfortable if I had one of our own watching him.”
    “I'll get her on it. It's almost noon in London, and you won't get there until nearly three AM. I'll have a car waiting for you with a driver, and reservations in your name in the Cavendish Hotel. Good work, Camelot, and good luck.”
    The phone went dead, and Noah shoved it back into his pocket. “We get to rest up for a while, but we're flying out of here at nine o'clock tonight. Neil, go tell Moose and Sarah. I don't think any of us got any sleep on the plane coming here, and we're all worn out. Let's meet downstairs in the hotel restaurant for dinner at seven, and that should leave us plenty of time to get to the airport after we eat.”
    Neil nodded, picked up his computer and walked out of the room. Decker stayed behind for a moment, and once the door had closed he looked up at Noah.
    “You really think this is a wild goose chase?”
    “I think there's a good chance of it,” Noah said. “I still feel like this was a little too easy, so I can't help but wonder if Mister Pendergrast wasn't hired just to be a decoy.”
    Decker shrugged. “Neil says the NSA believes he's done this sort of thing before. Maybe he just got sloppy, this time.”
    “People like him get sloppy only when it's to their advantage. I need to know what he knows, no matter how little it is.”
    “True, and at least it's something to start with. I'll let you get some rest, while I go do the same.” He got up and walked out the door without another word.
    Noah began stripping immediately, and headed for the shower. He stayed there for nearly 20 minutes, just letting the seemingly