Alien vs. Alien

happened?”
    “We had unimportant things missing. Food, mostly. Rooms not under surveillance were in disarray, but it was slight.” She shrugged. “It was strange, and a bit unsettling, but not necessarily criminal.”
    “So, why blame the Israelis?” I got “duh” looks from everyone. “Oh, come on. Seriously, you guys can’t blame everything strange or bad that happens on Israel.”
    “True,” Mona said with a laugh. “It was thought to be Mossad because of how cleverly it was done.”
    “Only Mossad doesn’t break into other Embassies in order to steal food and make beds untidy,” Jakob said.
    “A-Cs moving at hyperspeed don’t show up on human cameras. So Clarence was hanging out at your Embassy. When did it start, the weirdness?”
    “Last week. It went on for several days before we brought it to the press. In an effort to get the intruder to leave.”
    “So, that’s when he came back to Earth. Which, I suppose, makes some kind of sense for how the invading armada is traveling. Presumably he was either on a scout ship or they can move one individual even faster than they can the armada.” The A-Cs used the Dome for the big transfers, after all, and they definitely took longer than sending one guy through a gate.
    “But the first set of pictures arrived a month ago,” Armstrong reminded me.
    “Meaning they definitely have people in place who were advised to roll their part of the plan. Yuri, Eddy, take a look at any transmissions that may have filtered across your desks, or anyone else’s, from a month ago.”
    “What are we looking for?” Omega Red asked.
    “Something innocuous that still seems out of place.” A random moment from earlier flashed through my mind—the way Olga had advised her husband that she and Adriana wouldn’t be around for a while. “You know, as if someone werehaving a normal conversation and then said one line with a different kind of emphasis. Too casual, too well enunciated, things like that. Or one simple line that comes out of the blue, with no response. Sort of thing.”
    “Kitty, that’ll take us hours, if not days or even weeks,” Stryker said.
    “Dude, I didn’t mean every conversation on Earth. I meant every transmission from space.”
    “Oh, that’s
so
much better.”
    “Cry me a river. I know you can come up with this faster than you want anyone to believe, Eddy.”
    Eddy grumbled about demanding females who only dropped by when they wanted something while I went back to trying to make sense of what the hell was going on. “So, why create unrest between Bahrain and Israel? Clarence could have ensured you had no idea he was using your Embassy as his base of operations, and yet he did things specifically to let you know he was there.”
    “Tensions are always high between Israel and the rest of the Middle East,” Franklin said.
    “I can’t buy that this incident would cause a war.”
    “They’ve been started for less,” Oliver said. “Though I do agree the break-in seems like a slim reason to break even an uneasy peace. However, the kidnap and/or murder of the Bahraini Ambassadress? That would start a war almost instantly.”

    Yi

CHAPTER 72

    I CONSIDERED OLIVER’S STATEMENT. It made sense, but lacked something. “But why choose Bahrain? Over any other country? What is it about that country that would make it a target at all?”
    Naomi cocked her head. “Their secret.”
    “Daddy’s secrets!” Bellie shared.
    “Yes, Bellie. Hush.”
    “Naomi is right,” Oliver said to the Middle Eastern Contingent. “The four of you share a secret you don’t want exposed. If a spy was hiding out in the Embassy, he would have found evidence of what you’re covering up, wouldn’t he?”
    “But Clarence wasn’t really trying to kill them. They were being used as a lure for all of us, so he could grab Naomi and Abigail.”
    “Your enemies know you.” Buchanan’s eyes were narrowed. “It’s a safe bet that you wouldn’t leave the four of them at the Mall.”
    White nodded. “Missus Martini is our Head of Recruitment for a reason, after all.”
    Henry spun in his chair, got up, raced to a different terminal, and typed like a madman. “Kitty, you’re not going to like this. I just checked the news feeds. More than one news outlet is reporting that the Bahraini Ambassadress has disappeared, along with her bodyguard. Foul play is presumed, and since the Israeli Embassy is missing two of their staff, too, it’s presumed said