For disclaimer and notes, see part one.
Previously, on the West Wing: Crystal meets the West Wing crew. Josh
refuses to drop the case, leaving Crystal to prep him for the
upcoming second meeting with Shadid.
Crystal was nervously walking along the Vietnam Wall just
before eleven o'clock on Wednesday night. She had a baseball cap
pulled low over her eyes as she started to work on a rubbing from the
wall. In her jacket sleeve was a microphone. "Status," she said
quietly.
"Team one in position," reported an agent, stationed with
three others on the far side of the reflecting pool.
"Team two en route," said another as he and another walked
towards the Korean Monument.
"Three in position."
"Four, check." Three and four were stationed in the National
Park posts.
"Five?" Crystal asked. Team five was made up of Webster and
James, two who she had worked with extensively over her tenure with
the CIA. They were following Josh slowly.
"En route. Law," he said, referring to Josh, "is on the
way."
"And six?" Crystal asked.
"Gun is already in position inside," said an agent, referring
to Shadid.
"Good," Crystal said. "Let's hope this goes smoothly."
Josh walked towards the Lincoln Memorial, though his gait was
not nearly as cocky as normal. In all his years in Washington, he
had never bothered to visit any of the monuments. He had always
believed they were there for the sole purpose of drawing tourists.
His mind, however, was focused on the meeting with Shadid. He and
Crystal had spent hours going over possible situations. His main
concern was whether Shadid would behave how Crystal believed him to
be. If he was exactly as Crystal had portrayed him, Josh knew things
would be fine and dandy. If he was not, and Crystal's take on him
had been skewed, Josh was not sure what to think.
With every step closer to the monument, his nervousness grew;
though somehow, the situation was invigorating as well. The grand
scale of the building seemed to taunt him about the hugeness of the
CIA operation he had joined. He glanced back towards the Vietnam
Wall, and saw Crystal looking at him. She was counting on him, he
knew. He looked back up at the huge marble building and charged up
the rest of the stairs with new determination. `I serve at the
pleasure of the President of the United States', thought Josh. `In
my service, I'm going to kick some serious international criminal
ass.'
Josh wandered reverently into the monument, looking up at the
huge Abraham Lincoln. Josh was still overwhelmed by the immensity of
it all. He sighed then heard the familiar sound of Shadid's voice
behind him.
"Abraham Lincoln."
"Honest Abe," Josh said.
"And yet someone still had the gall to kill him."
"Oh, well." Shadid nodded.
"Politics is such a strange business."
"You're telling me," Josh said with a laugh.
"Especially with this American president now, Bartlet,"
Shadid said. Crystal, listening via her earpiece thanks to a wire
Josh was wearing, held her breath. She hoped he had not found out
Josh's actual identity.
"What about him?" Josh asked casually, glancing at Shadid.
"He's a liberal, right?" Josh nodded. "He's been so middle-
of-the-road and then, it seems like overnight, he's ultra liberal."
"It's politics," Josh said. "Nobody really understands it."
"Even Americans?"
"Especially Americans," Josh said. "How else do you explain
the governor of Minnesota?"
"Who is he?" Shadid asked. Josh cleared his throat.
"Never mind."
"The idea of a merger is something interesting, no?"
"Sure," Josh said.
"This Wiggins is trying for a monopoly, I think."
"Worse than Bill Gates." A smile slowly rolled across
Shadid's lips, reminding Josh of the Seuss character the Grinch.
"To bad we can't bring him to court, too," Shadid said. Josh
nodded, looking back up at Honest Abe who was staring down at
him. "This merger," Shadid said. "I don't like the idea of
it."
Josh turned to Shadid.
"It's a dog-eat-dog world, Shadid," Josh said. "Sink or
swim. Kill or be killed. There's nothing much else we can do."
Shadid nodded.
"I'm not keen on partners."
"I'm not either," Josh said. "But I'll do what I have to
just to maintain my current lifestyle. If that means I have to have
a partner, so be it."
"Eager, are you?" Shadid asked.
"I know you're losing customers `cause I am, too. With every
passing week, I lose potential buyers to Wiggins. If we don't start
this little business deal of ours soon, I'd hate to think we missed
out on profits because we dragged our heels."
"You have a point," Shadid said.
"But?"
"Walk with me, won't you?" Shadid asked as he started to
leave the monument. Josh followed him, careful not to look at the
CIA agents in the immediate area. The two started down the stairs.
"In transit," Webster radioed. Crystal trekked slowly up the
walk, back towards the Lincoln.
"I've had another thought," Shadid said.
"Oh?"
"I have reason to believe Wiggins is flying into D.C., having
gotten wind of our possible merger."
"Really?" Josh asked. Shadid nodded.
"I'm sure it would be to try to buy the both of us out."
Josh was silent as he remembered that Crystal had told him Wiggins
was totally fictional. "I will be getting confirmation on his
movements tomorrow."
"Okay," Josh said.
"I'll contact you as soon as I learn anything."
"Great," Josh said. "Can't wait to hear from you."
"Until then," Shadid said, walking out of the monument area,
followed nonchalantly by team six. Josh wandered down to the edge of
the reflecting pool. Crystal headed straight for him once she was
certain Shadid was no longer in the immediate area.
"Hey," Crystal said.
"Hey. You catch all that?"
"Yeah."
"What's this about Wiggins?"
"I'll have to look into it."
"That's great."
"He doesn't exist," Crystal said. "My guess is that one of
the guys in Shadid's organization got spooked."
"How is Shadid going to contact me?"
"He won't," Crystal said. "He'll contact me via e-mail."
"Why not telephone?"
"Yeah. He'll talk to your assistant Donna after she answers
the phone `White House deputy chief of staff's office,'" Crystal
said. "He thinks he's some great computer hacker who can cover his
Internet tracks." Josh nodded.
"What's next?"
"You wait."
"What'll you do?"
"Find out what's causing Shadid's delusions of Wiggins as
well as see how the investigation goes for Benedict."
"Who's Benedict?" Crystal sobered and looked in Josh's eyes.
"The agent I lost. Go home. Get some sleep. I'll call you
tomorrow, okay? Maybe I'll set up an appointment," she said, smiling
faintly.
"Okay," Josh said with a heavy sigh.
"Hey, Josh," Crystal said as he started to walk away.
"Yeah?" he asked, turning back to her.
"You did good," she said with a nod. "I appreciate it." He
smiled. "See you later."
"Good night."
~~~
Crystal tapped her foot as she stood in Josh's office. Josh
had been called into a meeting with Sam and Toby and Donna said there
was no telling how long it would last. Every time she tried to sit
down, she would spring back to her feet, too nervous to remain
still. She was beginning to hate the whole Shadid operation.
Josh started for his office, leaving the Roosevelt Room, with
Sam a few steps behind him. "Hey, Josh?"
"Yeah?"
"I have a question." Josh stopped and waited for Sam to
catch up. "You've been meeting an awful lot with Crystal."
"So?"
"Is there some reason?"
"It's this international intelligence thing," Josh
said. "Nothing big."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
"'Cause nobody else has heard of this thing."
"That's weird because I've been talking about this thing for
a while now," lied Josh.
"Oh?"
"Yeah," Josh said. "In fact, I'm going to be meeting with
the UN ambassador here in about two weeks."
"Okay."
"Josh," Donna said as he passed her desk.
"Yeah?"
"Crystal's in your office." Josh looked at Sam.
"Thanks, Donna," said Josh. "I've gotta go," he said to Sam,
jerking his thumb over his shoulder towards his office door. Sam
nodded.
"I've got a speech to write."
"Have fun," Josh said as he walked into his office, closing
his door behind him. "Hey."
"Hey," she said.
"What's up?"
"I received an e-mail from Shadid this morning."
"And?"
"And he wants to meet you at his hotel room."
"Okay."
"There's a problem with that."
"Being?"
"It's not a public place. I've got agents trying to get
hotel rooms in the Best Western as we speak. There's some conference
of police commissioners or something that's clogging the hotels. If
you go in, all you'll be armed with is a wire and your wits. The
best we can do is go in as maintenance. Even then, it might take a
while for us to get in should a problem arise."
"When?" Josh asked.
"It's not until tomorrow night." Josh nodded.
"What about Wiggins?"
"I got a call from an agent last night who said there's a
rumor floating around in Italy that Wiggins is coming here to quash
any ideas Shadid has on a merger."
"So he'll be running scared?"
"Yes."
"Which means there's no telling what he'll do." Crystal
nodded. Josh leaned against his desk, looking at her. "Okay."
"Okay what?"
"Okay. We'll deal with it."
"You can still back out," Crystal said.
"Forget it." Crystal sighed and looked at her watch.
"Fine," she said, obviously upset. "I've got a meeting with
Rycher," she said. "What time will you be getting off tonight?"
"Probably late," Josh said. "There's a vote on child labor
in the House tonight. Everybody's sticking around to watch the vote."
"I'll talk to you tomorrow, then," Crystal said, leaving
quickly. Josh watched her go, wondering what was bothering her. He
shrugged as Donna poked her head in his door.
"Leo wants to see you."
"Thanks, Donna," Josh said.
Chance Meetings - 9
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