Alias Read online

  Table of Contents

  About Alias

  Praise for Mark Posey’s Thrillers

  Credible Threat, Episode Two: Alias

  About the Author

  Other books by Mark Posey

  Copyright Information

  About Alias

  One family’s life is changed beyond anything they could ever imagine.

  A major foreign power has been funneling key intelligence personnel into the United States for nearly a year, hiding them as embassy and consulate staffers, students, and plain immigrants. In response, the FBI activates its Domestic Sleeper program.

  Scattered across the country as architects, cab drivers, and other innocuous roles, failsafe agents in the Domestic Sleeper program are unaware of their status as dormant FBI agents until they’re triggered by a post-hypnotic codeword. Their programming drives them to a pre-arranged checkpoint to receive the instructions necessary to combat a Credible Threat.

  In this episode: After a harrowing trip to the hospital, Marie discovers Aaron’s secret but has no idea what the implications will be until she is faced with an ominous revelation.

  Credible Threat: Alias is the next episode in the Credible Threat thriller serial from Mark Posey.

  Other episodes in the Credible Threat series:

  Episode One: Brush Contact

  Episode Two: Alias

  Episode Three: Compromised

  Episode Four: Sleeper

  Episode Five: Safehouse Alpha

  Episode Six: Dissemination

  Episode Seven: Tradecraft

  Episode Eight: Burned

  Episode Nine: Safehouse Beta

  Episode Ten: Blowback

  Episode Eleven: Naked

  Episode Twelve: Blown

  Episode Thirteen: Exfiltration

  A Thriller Serial Episode

  Praise for Mark Posey’s Thrillers

  What a fun roller-coaster of a story!

  It continues to amaze me how this writer can give us so much in a short story

  Oh, you want THIS short story!

  Credible Threat, Episode Two:

  Alias

  MARIE TENSED UP IN THE passenger seat of the Astro-van as it sped through rush hour, headed toward the hospital. She glanced at Aaron, his jaw set and his hands clenched around the steering wheel, then at the mysterious, appeared-out-of-nowhere backpack.

  It rested on the floor behind the driver’s seat where Aaron had stuffed it, after getting Marie into the passenger seat. It would have to remain a mystery while they sprinted to the hospital.

  Aaron was driving like a maniac—a very skilled maniac. Marie had never seen him act like this. Yes, he was frantic like any husband would be when his wife was in labor, but it wasn’t like they hadn’t been here before. There’d been a moment in the bus depot when it almost looked like he was...disappointed.

  Probably at the timing. Whatever this “new assignment from work” was, it was clearly time-sensitive. Like it had to be done now. So, of course, her water had broken.

  Thankfully, she hadn’t had any contractions. Yet. Those would come but, for the moment it seemed like everything had returned to normal. Aaron was focused solely on getting her to the hospital.

  Weaving in and out of traffic, just like on the way to the bus depot, he swore at every driver of every vehicle that got in their way or slowed them down. The hospital was only a twenty-minute drive from the bus depot and Marie felt like they made it in ten.

  Aaron pulled the van to a stop in the emergency lane and shoved it into Park. He looked at her for a moment. “Well, here we go.” He jumped out and charged around to her door.

  Marie could have sworn he was on the verge of dropping her off. Good thing for him he didn’t. Hospitals and homicides don’t mix.

  She took his offered hand and slid out of the seat to the ground. She grabbed her purse and then her gaze fell on the passenger seat. “We’re probably going to have to replace the seat. I leaked all over it.”

  Aaron shrugged when she turned back to him. “It’s just a seat.”

  She took a step forward, enough so he could shut the door and take her hand to walk her inside. After he shut the passenger door and she held out her hand, he paused.

  “Hang on a sec.” He slid open the side door, leaned in and snatched up the backpack. After he slung it over his shoulder, he smiled and held out his hand. “Let’s go have a baby.”

  Marie scowled and looked pointedly at the backpack. “Does that thing have to come with us?”

  He took her hand and shepherded her toward the Emergency Room entrance. “We better get in there. Third birth. It could be quick.”

  The triage nurse in the ER directed them to the Maternity Ward. A nurse there led them into Birth Room Two, spread an absorbent pad on the bed and hurried from the room.

  Aaron and Marie stood at the foot of the bed, looking around. Beside the bed was a standard hospital chair. The bathroom was to their right and a sitz bath station was beside the bathroom. Pretty typical, nothing fancy.

  Aaron slung the backpack onto the chair. “Okay, let’s get you into bed, shall we?”

  They both smiled. Still no labor pains.

  Aaron helped her onto the bed and swung her legs up. Then he gave her the control for adjusting the bed. There was a stool by the sitz bath, which he wheeled over.

  “And now, we wait.” He blew out a breath, puffing out his cheeks.

  He grabbed the remote for the TV, thumbed it on and flipped through channels. “Lemme know if I come to something you wanna watch.”

  Her gaze snapped from the TV to the backpack in the chair. “News works,” she said when he reached CNN.

  They watched the news for a few minutes. Then the door burst open and the same nurse who had led them to the room bustled in. Her nametag read Gloria.

  “We’ve confirmed your preadmittance,” Gloria said, while tearing the backing off a wristband and wrapping it around Marie’s left wrist. She paused and caught Marie’s gaze. “How we doing in here?” She used the motherly, almost condescending, tone many nurses adopted.

  “We’re fine.” Marie smiled at her.

  “Doctor McIntyre is on his way.” The nurse turned to Aaron. “Security needs you to move your van from the ER entrance. They’d prefer not to tow it.”

  Aaron held up his hands and stood. “Yeah, I’ll look after that right now, while I have a second.” He stepped around Gloria and kissed Marie on the forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

  He ducked past Gloria and out the door.

  Gloria caught Marie’s gaze again. “Anything I can get you?”

  Marie shook her head. “I’m good for now, thanks.”

  Gloria whirled around and headed for the door. “If you need anything, just hit the call button and I’ll be right in.”

  Alone in the room, Marie watched the TV for a moment, basking in the quiet and the calm before the storm.

  Not quite what I planned to be doing this morning.

  Her gaze fell on the backpack in the chair. She studied it for a long moment.

  Her gaze jumped to the window which looked into the hallway, then returned to the backpack. “Might never have this chance, again,” she murmured to herself.

  She heaved herself around so her feet hung toward the floor. Just like getting out of the van, she allowed herself to slide until her feet touched the floor. She braced herself against the bed, eyes glued to the window. Aaron wouldn’t like her snooping through the backpack.

  She shrugged. What he doesn’t know....

  Her stomach clenched as she reached out and grasped the handle of the backpack. As she was about to unzip it, an orderly dashed by the window. Marie’s heart leapt into her throat, until she registered it wasn’t Aaron.

  She puffed a breath out. He’s gone to move the van. I’ve got plenty of time.

  She pulled the backpack to her. It looked brand new. No fraying on the edges or anywhere else. The baby blue nylon was in pristine condition. She could tell the moment she picked it up that it wasn’t full. But from the way it had hung from Aaron’s shoulder, she figured something heavy was in it.

  She glanced out the window again. All clear.

  She tugged the zipper open, while listening for noise from the hallway that might tell her she was about to be discovered.

  She plunged her hand inside.

  The door to the room surged open.

  Marie yelped and crushed the bag to her, glancing up frantically.

  Gloria stood there. “Everything okay in here?”

  Marie smiled self-consciously. “It’s fine. Just getting...something to read,” she stuttered, sure she looked like a deer in the headlights.

  Gloria frowned. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

  She turned away from Gloria and then realized how that must look. “I’m fine,” she said, in a calm voice. “Just trying to find a magazine in here.”

  Gloria held her hands up. “Okay, okay. If you need anything, I’m right outside.” She did an about-face and strode from the room.

  Marie let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding as she watched the self-closing door ease quietly shut. Alone again, she glanced out the hallway window. It occurred to her to close the blinds, but then she wouldn’t see Aaron returning.

  She settled the bottom of the backpack on the seat of the chair, pulled it open and peered into the dark interior. She slid her hand inside, right to the bottom.

  She swallowed thickly as her hand closed around a solid object that felt like metal. Her gaze flicked to the window. r />
  Coast is clear. She withdrew the object from the backpack.

  Her jaw dropped as her hand emerged holding a gun. Her mouth was suddenly dry as she stared at it. All she could tell for sure was that it was an automatic, like she’d seen in the movies. It clearly was not a revolver.

  She slipped it back inside the pack and glanced at the window. A couple of interns strolled by.

  She blew out a breath and dug around inside the pack again. She felt around until her hand closed on something that was clearly not the gun and withdrew it.

  It was a leather wallet. Inside, on one side was a badge with an eagle at the top of a shield. On the shield was “Federal Bureau of Investigation” and below that was “Department of Justice”. On the other side of the wallet was an ID card with Aaron’s picture that identified him as “Special Agent Aaron Pratchett”, complete with his signature. A signature she had seen many, many times.

  She stared at the picture and eased herself down onto the edge of the bed, jaw slack. “What the fuck?” she muttered.

  Then, her first contraction hit. It was relatively mild compared to what was coming but she lowered the wallet to the mattress, rested her other hand on her belly and noted the time.

  She knew she should call Gloria and let her know the details but, with the badge wallet in her hand and her unfinished business with the backpack, she decided she’d wait for the next one.

  The contraction over, she stood and dropped the wallet back inside the pack and rummaged around inside one more time. There didn’t seem to be anything else in there.

  She felt around in the pockets on the outside. The big one on the front crinkled as though it had paper or a file folder inside it. She took another surreptitious look out the window.

  Aaron stepped off the elevator at the far end of the hall. He was walking fast.

  “Crap!” Hurry up, Marie!

  She yanked the front pocket’s zipper open, plunged her hand in and withdrew an eight-by-ten photograph. The man’s face smiled back at her. He seemed familiar but she couldn’t put a name to the face.

  She glanced up to see how close Aaron was.

  He was nowhere in sight.

  She stuffed the photo back into the pocket, zipped it shut and flung the backpack onto the chair. She turned in time to see Aaron stride into the room.

  The backpack was still rocking on the chair from its rough landing.

  They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. She was sure she had guilt written all over her face. She swallowed thickly, nervously.

  Did he see me?

  Aaron broke into a wide smile. “Let’s have a baby.” He wrapped her in his arms.

  As Marie returned the hug, she couldn’t help but glance at the backpack, now resting motionless.

  What the hell is going on?

  •

  EMMA ELIZABETH PRATCHETT WAS BORN at 4:27 PM. Like all babies, she looked like something out of the Alien movie. Then she pinked up, and when Marie heard her first cry, her heart melted.

  Emma was perfect. She was healthy and normal. Ten fingers and ten toes and, based on that first cry, one hell of a set of lungs.

  She quieted almost immediately when the nurse put her into Marie’s arms, and she’d found Marie’s left nipple. She started to nurse right away. A good sign to be sure, along with her curious, attentive, deep blue eyes.

  Bathed in sweat, spent, Marie lay in the bed and let Emma nurse as long as she wanted. Marie’s gaze caught Aaron’s and their eyes crinkled with joy.

  They had a second daughter and a third child.

  Tyler and Alexis would be thrilled. Well, probably Alexis would be more thrilled than Tyler to have another girl around the house. When you added in late night and early morning feedings, diapers to be changed, and a crying baby disrupting everything, Marie could imagine just how thrilled everyone was going to be. She got more exhausted just thinking about it.

  She could feel the fatigue settling in. Dragging at her. Pulling her down.

  She remembered hearing Aaron say, “Come here, little girl.” as the room began to grow dark around the edges.

  And then, she slept.

  •

  TWO VOICES...

  Man...woman...

  Can’t make out what they’re saying.

  Tugging on arm. Squeezing.

  Dark. Lights low.

  Man’s voice...tele...television.

  The room blurred around her. Marie tried to focus. She was groggy. Weak.

  Where...am I?

  Movement beside her drew her ephemeral attention.

  She couldn’t fathom what the woman was doing with her arm.

  The woman, dressed in a nurse’s uniform, held up a syringe and tapped at it with her fingernail. She grabbed a tube and pushed the needle into it. Then she looked down and noticed Marie watching her and smiled. “Shhh...go back to sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Hospital. Baby. Emma.

  Marie smiled at the thought of Emma as the nurse backed up a couple of steps then turned and padded softly out of the room.

  Marie’s gaze drifted from her arm to where the nurse had been standing, to the chair where Aaron would be softly snoring.

  An empty chair greeted her.

  As sleep claimed her, probably from whatever the nurse had dosed her with, the only thought that coalesced in her thick-with-sleep brain was that Aaron was gone.

  So was the backpack.

  •

  “RISE AND SHINE, SLEEPYHEAD!”

  Marie jerked awake, heart pounding, hands braced against the mattress as the tray carried by a rotund man in scrubs clattered onto the rolling table beside the bed.

  He watched her for a second, a wide smile plastered across his face. “You need to eat a good breakfast. The nurse will bring your baby in to feed any minute now.”

  Half-awake, Marie blinked at him.

  He rapped his knuckles on the top of the rolling table. “Come on. It’s another beautiful morning in the neighborhood. You eat it all up and I’ll be back to get the empty tray in a little while.”

  He whirled and rambled out the door.

  Marie sagged back and closed her eyes. What the hell was that?

  A hand on her shoulder shook her awake. She opened her eyes and a nurse—

  What was her name? Gloria...

  --stood beside the bed with Emma in a bassinette on top of a cart.

  “Mrs. Pratchett? Emma’s here and she’s hungry. Now, come on, let’s get you sat up so your little girl can have her breakfast.” Gloria reached for the remote control for the bed and depressed a button. The head of the bed moved upward until Marie was in a proper sitting position.

  Emma fussed in the bassinette as Gloria scooped her up awkwardly and passed her over to Marie. Then Gloria took a step back. “You let Miss Emma have her breakfast and then you eat yours.” She placed a hand on the table beside the meal tray. “It’s probably cold by now but eat it anyway. You need your strength.”

  Marie furrowed her brow as Emma latched on to her nipple and started to nurse. “Cold? He only just set it down.”

  Gloria chuckled. “Honey, that was half-an-hour ago. Now, the two of you make all-gone. I’ll be back.” Gloria smiled and backed out of the room, leaving Marie slack-jawed.

  With Emma nursing contentedly, Marie reached for the rolling table with her free hand and tugged it closer. She peered at the tray. Now-cold oatmeal, old toast and jam, with room-temperature orange wedges, milk, and apple juice. She couldn’t imagine a less appetizing breakfast.

  Marie glanced down at Emma. Eyes closed, mouth pursed and suckling, her satisfied grunts the only sound in the room. Marie sighed. At the moment, she couldn’t imagine a better sound.

  Aaron would love it, too.

  Aaron. For the first time since she’d woken up to nurse Emma, Marie wondered where he was.

  As she glanced around the room, the muted television up on the wall caught her eye.

  She stiffened.

  “Where’s the remote?” She looked around frantically. “Where’s the damn remote?”

  She yanked open the drawer on the little table. Empty but for her watch, necklace and wedding rings.

  She stared at the rings for a moment.

  Then she remembered. The compartment in the rolling table!

  She shoved the tray of food aside, almost spilling it. Emma’s mouth detached from her nipple as she surged forward to catch the tray. The bottle of apple juice toppled over and rolled across the tray, coming to rest against her bowl of cold oatmeal.