"What do you mean you lost him?"

"We followed him to the passenger lounge. He went in but he never came out."

"Obviously he did. How do you miss a six foot public figure?" He scowled at the man who supposedly was one of the best mercenaries money could buy. "You were following his entourage, weren't you?"

Reluctantly the man nodded. It hadn't been himself who had personally lost track of their target; one of his team had made the stupid rookie mistake, but ultimately he was responsible for his men's actions.

"Well," he drawled, "flitter off and find him."

The former NID agent turned mercenary gave a curt nod. "My men are scouting out now. He has a five minute head start."

His boss, who had also been his superior when the NID had been a clandestine organization to be reckoned with, gave another scowl. Five minutes. May as well be five hours. They were in a friggin' international airport. The sneaky son of a bitch could have hopped a flight to over a hundred different destinations, domestic or international, and that wasn't counting a private flight that could land any friggin' where.

"We'll find him, sir."

"You damn well better." He pulled his cap lower over his face with one hand and reached into his pocket for one of two disposable cell phones he had on his person. Thoughtfully he scrolled down the screen of contacts, which were only identified by initials and code names. Which one of his associates could get him access to the airport security cameras and how many favors would he have to use to get it?

The choice was down to two names. He selected the second for strictly personal reasons; her fee was much more fun to deliver. It was picked up after the second ring. "You know who this is?" he asked without preamble.

The woman on the line wasn't entirely successful in masking her shock. "A dead man as I recall." At least that had been the official and unofficial report.

"Just call me Jesus Christ, sweetheart."

"Well, JC, what do you need?"

"Immediate access to the security footage of Dulles airport from five minutes ago, starting with the business class lounge."

"Tell me you're not at the airport now."

"If I am I can assure you not one camera would know it. Your usual fee or credit?"

She considered the option. By her count, she had two favors owed to her, which she'd thought she'd never get to call in because he'd been supposedly dead. "Fee. Something pink this time. And hand delivered."

"Could be a while before I'm down your way," he warned.

"I'm patient. I can wait. Plan to stay the night."

His lips turned up into a smile. And that was why I chose 'Sweetheart' over VB. "I'll even throw in dinner."

"That was taken as given. You want it sent to your laptop?"

"Same details as before my resurrection."

"You really should consider an upgrade." While she'd been negotiating, she'd already been hacking into the airport's system. It was easy to find the backdoor when the company she worked for had helped design the program.

"Would I be pushing the friendship to also get the manifests and passenger lists of flights that have left in the last twenty minutes up to the ones leaving in the next hour?"

"Depends."

"Your bauble will be extra sparkly," he promised.

"You know just what to say to a girl." It took only a few more seconds for her to pull the manifests. "File should be uploading now."

"Thanks, sweetheart. Talk to you soon." He disconnected the call. His hand absently put the phone back into his pocket as he flipped open his laptop and began reviewing the footage. When his fingers brushed against the second phone he considered calling the one number programmed into the phone's speed dial, labeled 'Starsky'.

Jack would not be happy to learn Kinsey had slipped into the shadows again, and this time he didn't have the 'consolation prize' of being able to confirm anything new. A week ago when he had made contact with the newly promoted general he'd at least been able to confirm that the 'person' Kinsey was busy playing interrogator with was a Goa'uld. He'd managed to hack into the senator's computer. Couldn't tell who the snake was or where Kinsey had gotten his hands on it, however, he had managed to get a glimpse of the prisoner. There was no mistaking those glowing eyes. The degree of sophistication of the firewalls and safety protocols had admittedly impressed the former NID agent. He'd only been able to get a few seconds of footage before he'd been shut out and had to hot foot it from the internet cafe. He'd barely stepped out the door when an unmarked van with nefarious passengers had screeched around the corner to storm the student hangout.

As much as they were in the dark, there were a couple of things they did know. The host was one of Kinsey's staff who had apparently been on vacation for the last month. At least that was the official story. They also knew Kinsey couldn't possibly be working alone. The senator may be the 'boss' but he didn't have the know-how to organize such 'dirty details' as off the books, round the clock security and untraceable locations and transport. Maybourne had a very strong suspicion of who was the 'go to' guy for Kinsey's little operation, though he'd yet to find any hard evidence.

However the most vital thing they didn't know was where the snake was being stashed. The fact that Kinsey had put in the successful effort today to lose the tail, told Maybourne that the senator was definitely on his way to the Goa'uld. Despite the recent evidence to the contrary, the men Maybourne had hired to shadow the senator were the best and he'd worked with them all during the good old days of the NID. It wasn't easy to slip by one of them, let alone the team of four.

Maybourne decided to wait to update Jack until he had reacquired Kinsey. No point in giving the general something to bitch about...although that little redhead of Jackson's could prove useful right now. Pretty much instantly dismissed the idea. By the time the sassy Mrs Jackson could get here, he was confident he would have found the sneaky senator himself the old fashioned way. He gave his full attention to the security footage. "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby, where are you, you rat-assed bastard?"