worm in the bottle

Boyette was donning his uniform when his vox went off. He picked it up with a terse "Speak to me!"

The voice on the other end said quietly. "Bingo on Devereaux's suite."

The man clicked off without waiting for a reply. He knew Boyette would be there as soon as humanly possible.

It took four minutes, and Boyette looked thoroughly spent when he arrived at the tiny room. "What have we got?"

The red-haired man held up a small black data card. "Power, money and political leverage."

Boyette pulled out his vox to slip the small card in. He looked at the two men manning the surveillance desk as he donned his earpiece.

"He's Air Force, right?" He looked at Danny Lovasso.

The red-haired man smiled at him. "Highest clearance, plus Sprague here is one of my most trusted aides."

Boyette nodded. "Good." He began to listen to the card, baffled at first, then his facial expression morphed into wide-eyed wonder. "Holy Mary, Mother Of God!"

The red-haired man held up two more cards when Boyette was done. "I made you two copies. I figured you'd need them."

Boyette smiled grimly. "Yeah, good thinking. I'll get these to Chief Melf and the President."

The red-haired man smiled at him. "I think that's a great idea."

He even patted Boyette on the back as he turned to leave.

Boyette was half a dozen steps away from the door on his way to Melf's office when he heard the two soft pops behind him.

He didn't recognize Danny Lovasso, the Air Force had a lot of personnel. He'd miss Sprague, though. Sprague had been a good man.