Balance of Power (Noah Wolf Book 7) Read online

  Jenny jumped to her feet, squealing and clapping her hands like a little girl. “Yes! Oh, yes!” She hurried across the room and grabbed Sarah by the hand, pulling her to her own feet. “Come on, girl, we’ve got to get you all set up for your big day. First we’ll go pick a dress, then we’ll get your hair and makeup—I’m thinking extensions, give you back that long, beautiful hair. That work for you?”

  Sarah put a hand to her head and rubbed it through the short stubble on her scalp, all that was left of her blonde locks after her ordeal. “Can they put extensions in hair this short?”

  “Of course they can—it’s called superglue. Then it’s off to get you some really racy stuff for your honeymoon. We’ll make you so hot even Noah is gonna melt!”

  Sarah’s face turned red, but she was smiling as Jenny led her out the door.

  Allison got up and walked over to a table at the side of the room, picked up a pen and paper, and scribbled something down. She turned and handed the note to Noah.

  “This is the number of the pastor at my church,” she said. “Don’t worry, he knows exactly who we are and what we do, but he’s genuinely a man of God. Tell him I said he’s performing a wedding tomorrow afternoon, and all he’s gonna want to know is what time.”

  “Thank you,” Noah said.

  “No problem. Now, you go get the marriage license and make whatever preparations you need, while Donald and I take care of the guest list.”

  “Guest list?” Noah’s eyes actually got wider. “What have you got in mind?”

  “Noah, Noah,” Allison said. “Almost everyone in the organization knows who you are. If you’re getting married, most of them are gonna want to be there. Deal with it.”

  Noah shrugged. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. He got to his feet, followed by Neil and Marco, and headed out the door.

  He called the pastor, Reverend Walton, and related Allison’s message. As she had predicted, his only response was to suggest that they hold the service at 4:00 p.m., followed by a reception in the church’s dining hall immediately after.

  “Reception? Should I arrange catering?” Noah asked.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Reverend Walton said. “I’ve got a dozen ladies in the congregation who think cooking and baking is their calling from God. They’ll be more than happy to make sure there’s a feast ready.”

  “But I don’t even know how many people are coming,” Noah said. “Maybe you should give Allison a call. I think she’s taking care of all that.”

  “Don’t worry, I shall. You just go on and get ready for the biggest day of your life. And by the way, it wouldn’t hurt anything to see you and your new bride in our pews now and then.” The line suddenly went dead, and Noah stared at his phone for a moment before putting it back in his pocket.

  Noah and Sarah had ridden to the debriefing in the Corvette, but Neil and Marco grabbed him when they got to the garage and stuffed him into the shotgun seat of the Hummer. “Dude,” Marco said, “you’re getting married tomorrow. It is therefore an absolute necessity that your friends kidnap your butt and drag you off for a bachelor party. Since the list of your friends is topped by me and Neil, we get the honors.”

  Noah turned in the seat so that he could look at both of them. “The last thing I need in the world is a bachelor party,” he said. “Just take me down to the courthouse. I have to get the marriage license before anything else.”

  “We’re going, we’re going,” Neil said. “But if you think you’re getting out of a bachelor party, you’re crazy. I mean, come on, how often are we going to get the chance?”

  Noah stared at him for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay, I guess. As long as it involves a steak and no dancing girls.”

  “What? No dancing girls?” Marco almost shrieked. “Dude, the dancing girls aren’t for you, they’re for us.”

  Noah turned around and looked him in the eye. “No dancing girls,” he said.

  Marco sputtered a couple of times but then finally gave in. “Fine, no dancing girls. Can we at least have a keg?”

  “As long as we do it at the house,” Noah said. “I can barely deal with Neil’s driving when he’s sober; there’s no way he’s driving after a keg.”

  Neil drove out of the garage and down the street to where the courthouse sat, and he and Marco waited in the Hummer while Noah went inside. They had been waiting for about twenty minutes, with Marco texting furiously on his phone, when Jenny and Sarah suddenly pulled in and parked beside them. Sarah got out of the car and headed inside while Jenny rolled down her window and leaned out. “Seems both applicants have to sign for the marriage license,” she said. “We were just about to start looking at wedding dresses when Noah called, so we had to run back to the car and fly down here. Why is it you guys can never figure out what’s got to be done before you start?”

  “Because then we’d be girls,” Neil said. “Real men don’t read directions, don’t ask for directions, and never let a lack of understanding stop them from at least trying to accomplish their goals.”

  Jenny’s jaw dropped as she stared at him. “Oh my goodness,” she said, “an honest man. Neil, I may have to just marry you.”

  Neil’s eyes went wide, and his mouth opened three times, but no sound came out. Marco leaned forward and clapped him on the back.

  “Dude,” he said, “you’re really turning into a ladies’ man, aren’t you? What would Lacey say?”

  Jenny burst out laughing. “Relax, Neil, I’m only kidding. You’re sweet, but you’re way too tall.”

  Marco scrambled across the back seat and leaned out the window. “Hey, I’m not that tall,” he said.

  Jenny rolled her eyes at him. “You’re also way too old for me,” she said. “I like my men a little younger.” She winked at Neil once and smiled. “You’re just about the right age, though, Neil. Maybe I should reconsider.”

  Neil rolled up his window and turned on the stereo. Jenny and Marco both burst out laughing.

  It was only about five minutes later that Noah and Sarah came out of the building. Sarah held up the marriage license and waved it in triumph. “We actually got it,” she said. “Can you believe it?”

  “If I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t have driven like a maniac to get you here in time,” Jenny said. “Now, get your butt in the car—we have shopping to do.”

  Sarah turned quickly and grabbed Noah, kissing him lightly before getting back into Jenny’s car. The two girls drove away, each of them holding up a hand and waving goodbye.

  Noah shook his head and got back into the Hummer. “Hey,” he said, “what kind of things am I supposed to be doing to get ready for a wedding?”

  “You got a tux?” Marco asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Then you’re good. Now, we go eat and drink and make merry, for tomorrow you get wed. You can buy her flowers on the way to the church tomorrow afternoon.” He slapped the back of Neil’s seat, and the skinny kid threw the Hummer into gear and they were off.

  Their next stop was at Kirtland Liquors, where Marco arranged for a tapper and two kegs of beer. It took him only a few minutes to get them, and then Neil helped him load them into the back of the Hummer. Marco got back in, and Neil drove them to Walmart.

  “Guys, we can’t eat that much,” Noah said, as Marco tossed T-bones and strip steaks into the shopping cart. Neil had another one that was already half-full of fresh corn, baking potatoes, pull-apart rolls, and red Solo cups.

  “We can with enough help,” Marco said. “I might have sent out a few invitations to the party.”

  Noah looked at the stack of steaks. “Forty-seven of them?”

  “Probably not that many,” Marco said. “But Willie and Ross can probably eat two or three apiece, and Mr. Jackson loves to eat. We don’t want to run out, right?” He tossed in a couple more and pushed the cart toward the front of the store.

  Once everything was paid for and loaded into the Hummer, they headed for Noah’s house. The drive from Walmart took almost half an h
our, and Noah was surprised to see a couple dozen vehicles parked in his yard. Someone had decided not to wait for the kegs, and there was a cooler full of beer on Noah’s picnic table.

  “And there he is, gentlemen,” shouted Wally. “Camelot, we all want to offer our congratulations.” Someone shoved a can of beer into Noah’s hand, and he raised it along with everyone else.

  “Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate all of you coming. Let me get the grill fired up and we’ll start the corn and potatoes.”

  “Oh, no,” Marco said, “you’re the guest of honor. Neil, help me get the grill set up.”

  Someone had the foresight to bring folding chairs—Noah figured it had to have been Wally, and he was right—so he sat down in one as Neil started the grill, and Marco recruited a couple of men to help them set up the beer tapper. They had to open the garage and run an extension cord out to plug it in, and then a young man named Gary, who had once given Noah some competition in the PT course, opened the back of his Chevy Trailblazer to expose the giant speakers and cranked up the stereo.

  The party was on.

  * * * * *

  Out at the Supply Depot, Sarah felt like she had won the lottery or maybe like she was actually Cinderella. Martha did indeed have a number of wedding dresses, along with just about any other kind of clothing you could imagine. More than one mission had been carried out by someone pretending to be part of a wedding party, and Jenny herself had once used such a disguise.

  “I’ve got to say this is a first,” Martha said. “We never used one of these for an actual wedding before.” She had been showing Sarah different dresses, but suddenly she got a gleam in her eye. “Wait just a minute,” she said. “I think I know just the one for you.”

  Fifteen minutes later, Sarah stood in front of a bank of mirrors and stared at herself. The beautiful white dress she was wearing fit like it had been specially tailored for her, and the lace and embroidery on it was some of the most exquisite she had ever seen. She almost had tears in her eyes as Martha and Jenny showed her the veil and tiara that went with it, and instantly agreed that it was the perfect dress.

  Martha carefully packed it into a box and handed it to Jenny, who insisted on carrying it out to the car. “Now we’ve got the dress, it’s time for all the other goodies. I already called my hairdresser and told her the situation, so let’s go there first.”

  Sarah got into the car and looked at Jenny as she slid behind the wheel. “I can’t believe you’re doing all this for me,” she said. “I mean, you barely even know me.”

  Jenny looked her in the eye and reached over to squeeze her shoulder. “Let me tell you something,” she said. “The thing that got me into this life was when my little sister was murdered. When that happened, all my dreams and plans of how I was going to help her with her wedding went up in smoke. Now, I just spent the better part of a week with your guy, taking on some of the most dangerous people in the world because he wasn’t going to let you get away. He may get away with telling everyone else he’s an emotionless robot, but that sucker don’t fool me at all. Any girl who can get through that iron curtain he’s got wrapped around his emotions is a girl who is worth knowing. Maybe I don’t have my own little sister, but you’ll do.”

  They each pretended not to see the tears that were barely holding back, as Jenny started the car and headed toward the hair salon.

  Hair extensions are nothing new; they’ve been around since the time of the Egyptians. Unfortunately, there hadn’t been a lot of advancement in the technology since then, either. Sarah had to sit for almost three hours while two hairstylists worked to give her back her long blonde hair. The result, on the other hand, was outstanding, because once the hair was in place, it was so beautifully styled that Sarah had trouble believing she was looking at her own reflection in the mirror.

  Jenny dragged her out of the salon, and they headed for the mall, where major name stores awaited. Sarah’s new shoes came from JCPenney, a new purse came from Dillard’s, and an assortment of negligees were chosen at Victoria’s Secret. By the time they left the mall, most of the day had passed.

  “Okay, I’m starving,” Jenny said. “You have a choice: we can go to Applebee’s or Ruby Tuesday. Which will it be?”

  “It doesn’t really matter,” Sarah said, “but this time you’re going to let me pay.”

  “Woo-hoo,” Jenny said. “If you’re buying, there’s a steak and a margarita in my future. Let’s go.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Sarah said. “Where are we going?”

  Jenny laughed. “Someplace I don’t think you ever even heard of,” she replied. “There is a club set up especially for those of us who work on the teams. It’s called the Assassin’s Club, and just being on Team Camelot makes you a member automatically. It’s where I go when I want to get drunk, because you don’t have to worry about being careful not to say too much.”

  The Assassin’s Club was located in the Restricted Area, which most of the local residents thought was part of a military base. Both girls had to show their IDs to the guards at the gate, but instead of following the road toward R&D like usual, Jenny turned off onto a winding side road that went up into a heavily forested area. The Club came into view a couple of minutes later, a big, square nondescript building with dozens of cars in its parking lot.

  “Everybody inside has a security clearance high enough that you don’t have to pretend you’re just some normal girl. Even the bands that play here are made up of people from within E & E, and most of them are pretty good. Ready to go have some fun, let your hair down?”

  Sarah grinned nervously, but she nodded. “Just don’t let me get so drunk I do something stupid,” she said.

  “Now, where’s the fun in that? Don’t worry, all we’re going to do is drink and dance and have a good time. And don’t worry about any of the guys in here giving you a problem; they all know exactly who I am.”

  Sarah followed Jenny through the door and was almost instantly surrounded by people she knew. Elaine Jefferson, Moose’s former girlfriend, was there, along with Lacey Jackson, who was dating Neil, Noah’s old friend Molly, and several other women she recognized from R&D, Supply, and other parts of the organization. They had just accepted seats at a big table with some of these ladies when a pair of hands landed on her shoulders.

  “Well, it’s about time you girls got here,” Allison said from right behind her. “Let’s get this party started!”

  Sarah was never certain how they got back to Jenny’s place and barely even remembered the argument about why she couldn’t go home to Noah’s house that night, but the hangover she had the next morning explained both. Apparently, Jenny had kept the margaritas coming until the bartender cut them off, and then somebody—neither of them remembered who—had given them a ride, while someone else drove Jenny’s car home.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Noah’s bachelor party ran on until well past midnight, despite the fact that it had started in the early afternoon. He woke at just after ten the next morning with a mild hangover of his own, and when he staggered out toward the kitchen for coffee, he found someone sleeping on every conceivable piece of furniture and many spaces on the floor.

  He stepped carefully over those and found a relatively clear path to the kitchen. Neil, who Noah vaguely recalled had passed out fairly early, was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of him.

  “It’s pretty fresh,” he said. “Grab a cup and sit down.”

  Noah did exactly that and then looked at the tall, skinny kid. “Just how stupid did we act last night?”

  “I’m not too sure,” Neil said. “The last thing I remember was you telling the story of how your parents died for about the fifth time.” He looked at Noah through bleary eyes and pointed a finger in his face. “Did you know that when you’re drunk, you’re just as emotional as anybody else? You were crying the whole time you were talking about it.”

  Noah blinked. “I remember that,” he said. “I just don’t remember what
I was feeling at the time.”

  “That’s because you keep it all suppressed. Someday, boss, all those emotions you keep buried are going to erupt like a volcano. I just hope it doesn’t happen at the wrong minute, because it’ll either get you killed or make you kill everyone else around you.”

  Noah shrugged. “I’ll cross that bridge if I ever find it,” he said. He took a big swig of his coffee and smacked his lips. “This is good, thanks.”

  “No problem, I needed it myself. How did I end up in the bathtub upstairs, anyway? Somehow, I bet that was Marco.”

  “It was. He took you in there so you wouldn’t be in the way. People were stepping on you.”

  The two of them sat and drank a couple of cups apiece, as various people slowly began to regain consciousness. The coffee maker was refreshed several times to accommodate them all, but most of the men offered congratulations to Noah once again and then headed for their own homes to sleep it off for a while. By noon, it was only Noah, Neil, and Marco, and the three of them decided it was time to eat something, so they headed for the Sagebrush Saloon. For once, Neil didn’t object to accepting a ride from Marco, even though it meant climbing into the narrow back seat of his late-model Mustang.

  The hostess led them to a table, and it was only a minute before Elaine, her eyes bloodshot, smiled down at them. “What’ll it be, guys? And before you make any smart-ass comments, you don’t look a whole lot better than I do. I take it you all partied pretty hard last night?”

  “We’re not talking about it,” Neil said. “What happened to you?”

  “I toasted the bride one time too many. Jenny and Allison cooked up a scheme to get a bunch of us out to the Club, and we danced way too long and hard.” She grinned at Noah. “I think Sarah had the time of her life, but we kept her out of trouble.”