Free Without Options by Trevor Scott

silence for a moment. Kurt fiddled with the paper and Toni squeezed down on the arms of the chair.
    “What do you plan on doing?” Toni asked.
    “What do you suggest? He’s not officially our asset. He’s an independent contractor. A private security consultant.”
    She pushed forward in her chair. “After all he’s done for this Agency? And this country. We sure as hell better help him. Besides, this could be related to a mission from his Agency days.”
    “Settle down. He’s my friend too. I was asking for your opinion. I guess I have that now.”
    Her body relaxing somewhat, she slumped back into the leather. “Well, send me to help him. Sounds like he could use a second set of eyes.”
    A speaker on Kurt’s desk beeped and a woman’s face came onto his screen. “Sir, Johnson is here to brief you.”
    “Have him wait,” Kurt said.
    “He says he must see you immediately. About your friend.”
    “Fine. Send him in.” Kurt clicked off his assistant’s image.
    Seconds later Johnson came in, stood across the desk from his boss, and handed him a briefing. Johnson was a former Navy communications specialist, but Kurt Jenkins had started to use him as a general analysts in the past month. He trusted the man. And that was everything to any CIA director.
    “Are we sure it was Jake Adams?” Kurt asked Johnson.
    “Yes, sir. He used his personal Visa at the gasthaus. And the bike he left behind was his. Purchased recently in Innsbruck.”
    Kurt Jenkins handed the paper to Toni, who had moved forward in her chair again anxiously.
    “That’ll be all Johnson. Thanks.”
    Johnson lifted his chin and started to leave.
    “Just a minute,” Toni said.
    The analyst stopped and turned to Toni.
    “Are you sure the Austrian Polizei are looking for Jake?” she asked.
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    “Because of this recent attempt at the gasthaus?” she inquired.
    “No, ma’am. Because of the man he killed at his apartment in Innsbruck. But I’m sure they’ll intensify their search after this recent attack.”
    Toni looked at the briefing and said, “It says here there were two attackers at the St. Anton gasthaus. What happened to the second man?”
    Johnson hunched his shoulders.
    “Speculate,” Kurt said.
    “My guess,” Johnson said, “is that Jake took the man. The car they rented at the Innsbruck airport is also missing.”
    “Thanks. That’s all.” Kurt smiled and the analyst left.
    Toni slid the briefing back onto the desk.
    “What do you think?” Kurt asked Toni.
    She rubbed her temples in deep thought. Finally, she said, “You really want to know?”
    “Yes.”
    “Well, since Jake knew he was under attack at his place, he must have left town on his bike. His car had been blown up. So he goes to St. Anton and uses his own Visa to pay for the place. If Jake didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be found. He’d be back home in Montana fly fishing. He expected another attempt. He looked forward to another try. He could have easily killed both of the men at the gasthaus, but instead he keeps one man alive. Why? To acquire information. To find out who was after him. And he will find out.”
    “My thoughts exactly,” Kurt said. “So how will you find him? He’s incommunicado now, I’m sure.”
    Kurt could see that something wasn’t working for Toni. She looked confused. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    “Do you find it strange that the first man Jake killed at his apartment was a Kurd and now two Serbs try to take him out? What’s up with that?”
    “Not to mention those who tried to kill Jake a couple months ago. One was a Bulgarian and the other a Hungarian. Because he was attacked just after taking down a terror group in Bulgaria, we checked into it carefully. But found no connection whatsoever.”
    “That makes no sense, Kurt.”
    “Get over there. Having been the station chief in Vienna, you have many contacts in Austria.”
    Toni rose and hesitated.
    “Take someone with you,” he