Read Online Smooth Operator (Teddy Fay) by Stuart Woods, Parnell Hall - Free Book Online

you’re not responsible to Lance. He can’t give you orders or make you tell him anything, not that he’d know what to ask. But you’re privy to whatever information his investigation turns up. Stone and I need you to coordinate with us and try to figure out what’s going on, because there’s no way it could be as simple as it seems.
    “We have to rescue the girl and take the pressure off the congressman. We’re ill equipped to do it. The minute we start looking into her disappearance, the kidnappers will become suspicious and they’ll kill the girl. Of course they’d lose their leverage, but I hate to tout that as the upside.”
    “So?”
    “So we have to investigate the kidnapping without making any waves. I can’t show up on a college campus and chat up the girls in the dorm without raising a bunch of red flags. I need a young female agent who can pose as a friend of the girl, who hasn’t heard from her in a few days and is concerned. She’s got to be smart, clever, intuitive, personable, and able to blend in. Do you have anyone like that?”
    Holly smiled. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

20
    T eddy Fay took one look at the young woman who walked into Holly Barker’s office in a sheath dress with high heels, studded earrings, hair fastened in a bun, and said, “She won’t do.”
    Millie Martindale blinked. “I beg your pardon?”
    “I need someone who can blend in on campus. She looks like she’s going to a cocktail party.”
    “Do you have any casual clothes in your office?” Holly said.
    “Yes.”
    “Go make yourself look like a college student.”
    The girl who came back five minutes later looked nothing like the one who’d just left. In a sweater and blue jeans with herhair down and her makeup off, Millie could have passed for a college coed.
    “What do you think?” Holly asked.
    “Not bad. I’d say the pencil behind the ear is pushing it, but she’ll do.” Teddy turned to Millie. “Are you CIA?”
    “I’m Holly’s personal assistant.”
    “That’s not what I asked. Do you report to Lance Cabot?”
    “No.”
    “Do you know Lance?”
    “I’ve met him.”
    “Does he know you?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then don’t let him see you like that. Can I count on your discretion?”
    “Absolutely,” Holly said.
    “I’m asking her.”
    “I’ll do anything
she
tells me,” Millie said.
    “What if she tells you to listen to me?”
    “I’ll do it.”
    “You have any friends in the CIA?”
    “I know a few agents.”
    “Are you close friends with any of them?”
    “No.”
    “She has a friend in the FBI,” Holly volunteered.
    “Boyfriend?”
    “They have a relationship.”
    “Who’s the guy?”
    “Quentin Phillips. He worked with us on a joint CIA-FBI operation recently. Good man.”
    “I’m sure he is.” Teddy turned to Millie. “Can you freeze him out?”
    “Sir?”
    “This whole operation is on a need-to-know basis, and he doesn’t need to know. In fact, it could be fatal. I’m not saying you can’t see him, I’m saying you can’t tell him. Can you do that?”
    “Yes.”
    “All right,” he said to Holly. “I’ll take her on your say-so because time is tight.” He turned to the girl. “What’s your name?”
    “Millie Martindale.”
    “I’m pleased to meet you, Millie,” Teddy said. “I’m Fred Walker. But you didn’t meet me. In fact, this conversation never took place.”
    “Is this about the assassination?”
    “No. This is about the kidnapping of an undergraduate student from Georgetown University last Sunday. Without raising any alarms, mingle with her classmates, find out who saw her last, who she was with, and whether she had any intention of going somewhere.”
    “Why is she important?”
    “She’s the daughter of the Speaker of the House.”
    Teddy reached in his jacket pocket and took out a piece of paper. “Here’s a printout about the girl. Read it and shred it. Google her and check her out on Facebook, that’s where I gotthis. But