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  CASTLE IN THE DESERT

  Mission 3 of the Castle of Spies Series.

  TD COCHRAN

  Castle in the Desert

  by TD Cochran

  © 2019

  All rights reserved.

  This paperback/e-book is an original work solely by the author.

  References to other works of fiction, TV shows and movies are respectfully used to create the mood of this story and are covered under Fair Use Copyright Laws.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying form without written permission of the author, TD Cochran.

  E-Book AISN: B07R6XQCRC

  Paperback ISBN: 9781098622817

  For more information: www.fstopespresso.com

  CASTLE IN THE DESERT

  is

  MISSION THREE

  of The Castle of Spies Series

  ~ ~ ~

  MISSION ONE:

  is

  CASTLE ON THE ISLAND

  ~ ~ ~

  MISSION TWO:

  is

  CASTLE IN THE MOUNTAINS

  ~ ~ ~

  all are available on:

  amazon.com

  ~ ~ ~

  For …

  My Mom, My Dad & My Sister

  My Spy Story, Spy Flight & Best Friends

  With Admiration and Gratitude to the Authors & Producers who came before …

  Ian Fleming, John LaCarré, Len Deighton,

  Harry Saltzman, The Broccoli Family and Bruce Geller

  … also …

  The Amazing Musicians who help create the mood.

  ~ ~ ~

  And with Respect to…

  The real world spies and analysts who work day after day, but don't get to have as much fun as Léa & Tara.

  T.D. Cochran

  2019

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  PROLOGUE: BEST FRIENDS

  PART 1: FINDING LÉA

  1 FLIGHTS OF IMAGINATION

  2 PROBLEM PATIENT

  3 IT JUST NEVER STOPS

  4 BREAKTHROUGH

  5 WE NEED ANOTHER RABBIT

  6 MOVIE NIGHT

  7 SAFE PLACE

  PART 2: HELENA WELLS

  8 ATHENS

  9 NOT THAT KIND OF SPIES

  10 A LESSON LEARNED

  11 SUBURBAN SAFARI

  12 COLD FLIGHT, COLDER SUNRISE

  13 PROMISE ME

  PART 3: RESCUE

  14 SPY GENERATIONS

  15 THE CASTLE’S ATTIC

  16 IT WON’T BE LONG NOW

  17 FINAL APPROVAL

  18 OUTBOUND

  19 ON STATION

  20 SHE’S ALIVE

  21 HOMEBOUND

  22 CHICKEN SOUP

  PART 4: PICKING UP THE PIECES

  23 HOME FROM THE HOSPITAL

  24 BRICK WALL

  25 LATE NIGHT TROUBLE SPOTS

  26 FRIENDS HELPING FRIENDS

  27 INTERROGATION

  28 WORKOUTS, MEETINGS AND INSTAGRAM

  29 TROMSø

  30 TAKING OUT THE TRASH

  31 AN EMPTY HOUSE

  32 A LAST CHANCE TO LIVE

  33 A DUSTY OLD FILE

  34 NO WINNERS, JUST SURVIVORS

  35 A NEW PORTRAIT

  36 GHOSTS

  37 FREE RUNNER

  TARA’S PLAYLIST

  LÉA’S LINKS

  EPILOGUE: SUNSHINE & THUNDERSTORMS

  PROLOGUE: BEST FRIENDS

  Castle of Spies, North of Stromness, Orkney, U.K.

  (Ten Years After Our Story Begins)

  “Finally,” sighed Léa Taylor.

  “Finally,” echoed her best friend Tara Wells.

  A long trail of backpacks, a gun in a black ankle holster and other assorted items of clothing was Léa and Tara’s very clear path from the locker room doorway to The Castle’s larger than average hot tub. Tara made only a brief detour on her route to the water. She punched the big, red hot tub start button, turned and jumped into the water as the bubbles erupted from the jets.

  As she emerged from the steaming hot water, Tara’s shoulder length black hair stuck to her neck and back. The hair almost covered a freshly healed hole in her shoulder. Sitting on the edge of the hot tub with her knees tucked under her chin, Léa found herself staring at the two-inch scar on her best friend’s left shoulder. It was only a few weeks ago when the doctors told Tara she didn’t need to keep it bandaged anymore.

  “Your shoulder looks much better,” said Léa. “Does it still hurt much?”

  “Not bad. Only when it’s really cold,” said Tara.

  “How many times have you been shot now? Is it three or four?” asked Léa.

  “Five,” said Tara drily. “Four creeps, five bullets.”

  “You should have kept those bullets. You’d have quite the collection by now,” smiled Léa.

  “There are better things to collect,” said Tara.

  “True that,” said Léa.

  She looked down at the well healed scars that ringed her wrists and ankles. Unlike Tara’s fresh shoulder wound, Léa’s scars were almost ten years old. Instinctively, she rubbed each of her wrists as she slowly began inching her toes into the swirling, hot water. Tara gently rotated her wounded shoulder, then turned to face Léa as her childhood best friend continued inching into the hot water.

  As her legs disappeared into the water, Léa pushed her body away from the side of the hot tub. Arching her back to clear the tub’s edge, Léa’s hip bones and ribs looked as if they might punch through her pale skin. To an outsider, it appeared as if Léa had a long-running eating disorder. But her shocking appearance had nothing to do with a desire to be thin.

  Watching her best friend lower herself into the water, Tara couldn’t help but notice the ribs poking out on either side of Léa’s abdomen. But along with Léa’s well-developed arm and shoulder muscles, Tara noticed a well-defined six-pack of ab muscles. It had taken years of physical and mental therapy, but the attempt by the two miserable traitors to slowly drain the life from her best friend had failed. While some damage would be permanent, Léa’s recovery was so close to one-hundred percent, the difference wasn’t even worth mentioning.

  “Your arms and shoulders are really looking good,” said Tara.

  “I’m still bench pressing just over twice my body weight,” said Léa.

  Sitting side by side, Léa and Tara both thought back over the last ten years. Tara’s brushes with death had all come from the end of a gun. But Léa’s one and only serious brush with death came from two evil men’s twisted desire for revenge.

  And now, here they were.

  Ten years later.

  Léa and Tara’s careers in espionage were still going strong. They had uncovered and stopped several plots that would have resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people. They were directly responsible for saving the life of the British Prime Minister along with several other heads of state. They also saved the lives of 170 passengers on a doomed trans Atlantic flight.

  It was an impressive resume for the two young spies. But Léa and Tara weren’t all that surprised. Neither were the people in charge of the international intelligence and action organization known around the world as simply, The Castle. No one was surprised because Léa and Tara had been in training for their jobs since the day they were adopted as orphan babies and brought to the stormy U.K. island of Orkney.

  But Léa and Tara’s success had come with a cost. Their lives were regularly in danger. Both had come close to death on more than one occasion. Their bodies were a roadmap of scars and broken bones. But here they were. Ten years after their careers as spies began at Th
e Castle.

  As Léa sank into the hot tub, she sighed loudly as the powerful jets of water pounded the soreness and pain from her body. Tara rotated her sore arm again. She turned sideways to move her leg into the stream of one of the water jets. It was the leg that had been shattered by two bullets. Sitting sideways, Tara leaned back against Léa’s shoulder. After a few minutes Tara sighed as loudly as Léa.

  “We’ve barely passed our 35th birthdays and seem to be rapidly approaching total wreck status,” sighed Léa.

  “What was it that Indiana Jones said in last week’s movie?” asked Tara.

  “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage,” said Léa.

  “We have definitely got the miles,” sighed Tara.

  Half an hour later, Léa and Tara were still letting the powerful jets of the hot tub pound the soreness from their bodies. Leaning up against each other, they both even dozed a bit. But suddenly, their eyes popped open as they heard someone walk through the locker room door. Once they saw who it was, they both closed their eyes again.

  “Thought I’d find you two down here,” said Janet Austin.

  Walking toward the hot tub, Janet slid Léa and Tara’s discarded clothes, backpacks and weapons to the side of the walkway. Halfway to the side of the tub, she began peeling off her own clothing. Less than a minute later, she eased into the water and closed her eyes. After a few moments, Tara broke the silence.

  “Is our guy going to be okay?” she asked.

  “He’ll be fine,” began Janet. “Just got off the phone with the head of Six and they’re very grateful.”

  Léa and Tara didn’t say anything, but looked at each other and nodded in satisfaction. The mission they returned from resulted in the rescue of one of M.I.6’s agents from a terrorist prison in North Africa. Helping out one of the official intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom was a task agents at The Castle were perfectly suited for.

  The sound of the hot tub’s jets continued to drone on as soreness and pain was washed away. The steady noise from the hot tub was soon punctured by the buzz and a chirp from the iPhone resting on Janet’s neatly folded jeans. She sighed and looked at Tara.

  “I could really use one of your unique fuck me comments about now,” said Janet.

  Half of Tara’s mouth turned up in a slightly smirky, slightly sarcastic smile. Except on rare occasions, this was about as much of a smile as Tara could ever manage.

  “I’m guessing that you mastered the art of the fuck me long before I ever did,” said Tara.

  Janet’s phone buzzed a few more times as the friends sat in silence. The hot tub’s bubbles and jets continued to pound the soreness out of their bodies. A few moments later, Janet’s phone speaker erupted with the sound of Captain Kirk’s Star Trek communicator. She looked up at Léa and Tara and smiled.

  “It’s Tommy’s custom ringtone,” explained Janet. “It’s how I know it’s him and not someone I really don't care to hear from.”

  As Janet turned and slowly crawled out of the hot tub, Léa and Tara saw a long scar running from her left shoulder, all the way down to her left hip and thigh. There were scars left by bullets, scars left by knives and a few scars left by fire. As she turned and sank back into the hot tub, Janet saw Léa and Tara were looking at each other. Clearly, some non-verbal communication, only possible between the very best of friends was happening. After a few moments, Léa and Tara looked back at Janet.

  “What?” smiled Janet.

  “Before you got here we were just counting our scars,” said Léa.

  “We thought we had a growing collection,” said Tara.

  “But you have more than the both of us,” observed Léa.

  “It’s not the years, it’s the mileage,” sighed Janet.

  Tara’s half smile re-appeared as Léa laughed out loud.

  “That’s just what we were saying,” said Léa.

  “If you don't mind me asking, what was that long one down your back?” asked Léa.

  “That was from Berlin,” said Janet.

  “Berlin?” said Léa.

  “It was an off-the-books favor I did for Alan a long time ago,” said Janet.

  “Off-the-books?” asked Tara.

  “Personal,” said Janet.

  “Sounds like one of the many things we can’t talk about,” said Léa.

  “We do seem to collect a lot of secrets and scars,” observed Tara.

  “Just another part of life in the shadows,” said Janet

  She looked down at her phone. It was a short message.

  STBY. We’re all gonna die!

  Janet leaned her head back against the side of the hot tub and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she shook her head, and blew a single, short laugh through her nose. Janet looked over at Léa and Tara and held out her phone. It only took a few seconds for the two best friends to float close enough to to read the phone.

  “STBY?” said Tara.

  “We’re all gonna die?” said Léa.

  “It’s Tommy’s short hand,” began Janet. “STBY is sorry to bug you. We’re all gonna die is his nice way of saying some major crisis is blowing up.”

  She tapped out a quick message, then leaned back against the side of the hot tub. Janet closed her eyes as she waited for the reply. Her long, grey-black hair swirled around her shoulders as she held her iPhone just above the bubbling water.

  But the reply didn’t arrive any time soon. Five minutes later, Janet’s husband appeared in the door and began slowly walking toward the hot tub. Rolling her head to one side, Janet looked at her husband and sighed.

  “This isn’t going to be good,” said Janet.

  “But he’s smiling,” observed Léa.

  “That’s his smile before really-bad-news look,” said Janet.

  As Thomas Austin walked up to the hot tub, he knelt down and gave his wife a quick, but affectionate kiss on her wet cheek. They both looked at each other and smiled. Never looking away from Janet’s eyes, Thomas reached out and took the iPhone from Janet’s hand.

  “How many times have I told you that texting and hot tubbing usually results in a soaking wet, broken phone,” he smiled.

  “Don't tempt me,” said Janet.

  As soon as the phone was out of her hands, Janet took a deep breath and let her whole body sink into the hot water. Only her long, grey-black hair remained above water. Thomas looked up at Léa and Tara.

  “Looks like you two got back okay,” he said.

  “Not a scratch,” said Léa.

  “We’re just super sore,” said Tara.

  They all continued to look at the spot where Janet submerged. As the seconds ticked by, it became apparent what was going on. Janet was hoping the problem would just go away.

  “How long can she hold her breath?” smirked Tara.

  “Not long enough this time,” said Thomas.

  A few seconds later, Janet’s whole body shot out of the water. As she stood, Janet walked to the side of the hot tub, reached behind her and pushed herself out of the water. Sitting on the side of the tub, Janet shook the hair out of her eyes and looked at her husband.

  “Unless it’s a nuclear bomb, I really don't care today,” said Janet.

  Her husband didn’t say a word. Thomas looked from his wife, over to Léa and Tara, then down to the swirling water.

  “Funny you should mention a nuclear bomb,” said Thomas.

  PART 1: FINDING LÉA

  1 FLIGHTS OF IMAGINATION

  Unknown Location - Present Day

  ~ ~ ~

  PLAYLIST:

  “Eternal Sorrow” - Classics Vol. 1 - Two Steps From Hell

  ~ ~ ~

  The Castle atrium was just the way Léa remembered it. Buried deep below the ruins of a medieval castle on the small island of Orkney, Léa was always amazed at how bright the light was, how fresh the air was and how friendly the people were. Except today, all of the friendly people were gone

  Léa walked over to the steel I-beam barrier that circled each
level of The Castle’s atrium. She was on the third level and looked over the edge. Five levels below, the dark grey water of The Castle’s underwater lake lapped up against the side of the light grey hull of the vintage World War II U-Boat. No one was on the dock.

  Looking up, Léa heard the now familiar sound of The Castle’s old Paternoster lift’s cars squeaking and creaking as they made their way up and down the eight levels of the vast, underground complex. The old lift’s cars were all empty. No one was on the dock. No one was on the stairs.

  “Guess no one’s home today,” said Léa out loud.

  No one answered her.

  Léa wasn’t worried. Some days people were there. Some days, like today, she had the whole complex to herself. Léa had hoped she would run into a few people. She wanted to spend a little time with her best friend Tara. She had been hoping it was movie night with Tara, Janet Austin and her husband Thomas. But today was what Léa called an alone day.

  Looking over the heavy duty I-beam, Léa looked down at the dock the old U-Boat was tied up to. At the end of the dock, a stainless steel swim ladder disappeared into the grey water. On the level just above the dock, Léa noticed part of the railing bulged out over the water. It was the perfect height for a high dive. Looking to her left and right to make sure it was really an alone day, a slightly playful, slightly wicked smile appeared on one corner of Léa’s mouth.

  She looked left and right again. The only decision Léa had to make was to take the stairs or take a ride on the old lift. Left to the lift, right to the stairs. Left and lift both started with the letter “l”. Right and stairs started with different letters. One of Léa’s eyebrows twitched up as her half playful, half wicked smile appeared again. She turned to the left and began walking to the lift. She had been playing lots of little word games with herself these past few days.