The squeal of tires was audible when Agent Woodrow Cade wheeled his M40i into the parking lot, while still gunning the engine. After pulling into a designated area and screeching to a halt, Cade rolled out of his car with his necktie in hand. He hurried aboard a waiting double-decked ferry as the departure horn was sounding.
He draped the neck piece over his shoulders and grabbed hold of the guardrail as the vessel powered away from the dock into open waters. The agent could see his destination in the distance, a small non-descript island inhabited by few and visited by almost no one.
Once the ship had steadied, he casually threaded his tie into a Windsor knot and snugged it into place. He surveyed the deck of the boat observing its array of passengers. Some on business, others enjoying a pleasure cruise, and those serving the customers onboard – nothing unusual.
The breeze that gently passed over whitecaps felt good blowing against his freshly shaven face. The rising sun warmed the air steadily, as an occasional dolphin leaped from the water keeping pace with the ship.
It was not long before the ferry slowed to allow a powerboat coming from the island to pull alongside. It was skippered by a lone helmsman that kept pace with the ship while Cade descended the deck ladder and dropped into the waiting craft.
He glanced at the passengers onboard to see if anyone was taking a particular interest in his unusual method of departure. He noted some glances of curiosity but nothing telling as he fell back into an open seat on the boarded vessel. The helmsman thrust the throttle forward and sped away from the passenger ferry.
Within a minute, the boat had reached the island and continued inland along a gently flowing river. After several large turns, the craft powered down as it approached a small dock. The vessel bumped up against a padded rail and Cade stepped onto the wooden platform. The agent made his way toward a helicopter waiting a short distance from the dock with its rotor blades already in motion. He climbed on board and in moments found himself airborne.
In a matter of minutes, the chopper was descending onto a helipad behind a large mansion. Cade made his exit and heard the engine power down as he cleared the blades. The agent skirted a large swimming pool and approached a bath house where a gentleman sat wearing a straw hat pulled down over his eyes and holding a beach towel. As Cade neared, the man handed him the towel. The agent entered the bathhouse and slipped into a small dressing room. Inside, he threw down the towel and waited.
There was a small click and the slight hum of a motor as the dressing room began to descend. After a short descent, Cade opened the dressing room door and faced two metal doors that quickly parted.
“They’re waiting for you,” said the young receptionist, as the agent whisked by. Cade turned and winked in response and proceeded toward another elevator. He pressed his thumb to the electronic eye and stared into a scanning beam. The elevator doors sprang open, Cade stepped inside, and the doors quickly closed. The agent felt his knees flex as the cabin made its rapid hydraulic rise. Within seconds, the doors instantly divided, and Cade walked out into a spacious and exquisitely decorated room.
He approached double doors and waited while a body beam of light passed up and down his frame. The probe extinguished and the double doors swung open, allowing the agent to enter.
“So good of you to come,” said an impeccably dressed man in his late 50s sporting a salt-and-pepper, pencil-thin moustache. He was sitting at the far end of a long conference table.
“Couldn’t you come up with a better way to get here, Atoz?” Cade said. “I make fewer transfers when traveling to Moscow.”
“You are aware that there are several different means of approaching the Manor, and you know them,” Atoz remarked. “It is necessary to follow protocol each time, for obvious reasons. Now, please have a seat and I’ll introduce you.” _To be continued