“The shell casings were there, sir. You can’t get around that.”
Tucker put his fingers together and stared at the ceiling. “Reel murdered two of my people. Robie has gone underground. For all we know he’s teamed up with the woman somehow. That means he’s joined a killer.”
“They’re both killers, sir. They’ve been deployed in the field for years eliminating people.”
“Killing our enemies, Roger.”
“Maybe they’re still killing our enemies.”
“You will never get me to believe that Jim Gelder had been turned. It would have been impossible. He wasn’t even in the field, for Godsakes. No one could have approached him.”
“I don’t think anything is impossible. We’ve certainly seen that. Men in high office who ruined careers and jeopardized legacies because of an affair.”
“I’m very happily married, thank you very much.”
“I’m sure, sir.”
“And we’re not talking about a romp in the bed here. How could Jacobs and Gelder have been turned? Do you have an ounce of proof?”
Blue Man shrugged. “The only proof I have is that I know Will Robie. And I would trust him with my life. I have trusted him with my life. He has sacrificed everything for his country.”
“Do you know what you’re saying?” Tucker’s voice became strident. “If they could turn the number two man in our agency?”
“I clearly understand the ramifications, sir. And any such conspiracy may have spread farther than here. In fact, it may have its origins elsewhere.”
“Robie conveyed to me some of what DiCarlo told him.”
“I would be glad to hear it.”
“Missing personnel. Missing equipment. And money. Missions that never should have been. I have people looking into it. But it’s troubling, Roger. Very troubling.”
“It would be nice to hear it from DiCarlo’s lips,” said Blue Man.
Tucker fiddled with a pen on his desk and made no response.
“Sir?” said Blue Man. “Did you hear what I said?”
“It would be nice to hear it from DiCarlo’s lips,” Tucker said. “The problem is she took a turn for the worse, is currently in an induced coma, and is not expected to live.” He glanced up. “I pushed hard at DHS and finally got them to listen to me. We’re now providing her protection along with the FBI. Had to go all the way to the APNSA.”
“Gus Whitcomb?”
Tucker nodded. “Whitcomb sided with me. Which meant the president sided with me. Which means I saw Janet.” He paused. “It really doesn’t look good for her, Roger.”
Blue Man looked down. “I’m very sorry to hear that. She’s been a great asset to the agency.”
“We seem to be running out of those.”
“A few bad apples, nothing more.”
“I do care about my people, you know.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tucker doodled on a piece of paper. “Where do you think Robie is?”
“He’s certainly gone off the grid.” Blue Man paused, seeming to choose his next words with great care. “In fact, I was the one who encouraged him to do so.”
Tucker looked stunned. “You advised him to go off the grid?”
“I also advised him to find Jessica Reel.”
“His initial task was to do that,” snapped Tucker.
“I didn’t mean to find and kill her. I meant to find her and thank her for saving his life. And then to team up.”
Tucker’s face turned red and a vein near his temple swelled. “Team up to do what exactly?” he barked.
“To do what needs to be done. There is something going on, sir. I realized it even before Jacobs and Gelder were killed. We’ve had infiltrations at the agency. Robie knew this too. Trusted people who it turned out were working against us.”
“We believed that to be isolated. And resolved, Roger,” Tucker said in a calmer tone.
“Maybe we believed wrong.”
“So you’re saying it’s something more than a few bad apples, then?”
“Conspiracies are supposed to be relegated to popular fiction. However, it’s surprising and a little distressing how often they show up in real life.”
Tucker suddenly looked tired. “We are ill-equipped to handle broad-based conspiracies, Roger. Particularly from inside our own tent.”
“Which is why perhaps Robie and Reel have a shot at this. By working from the outside in.”
“If they do that, we have no way of deploying assets on their behalf. They’re on their own.”
“With all due respect, sir, that’s exactly how they’ve been operating their whole careers here. On their own with no cover, no backup.”
“So maybe they’re ideally suited to crack this thing,” Tucker said slowly.
“I wouldn’t bet against them,” said Blue Man with confidence.
“So you really think Gelder and Jacobs were traitors to their country?”
“I can’t say they’re not.”
“And there are others?”
Blue Man shrugged. “Things are still happening and Gelder and Jacobs are dead. They could have had nothing to do with the attack on DiCarlo.”
“What about the attack on Roy West in Arkansas? What was that about?”
“I don’t know, sir. But from the carnage I wouldn’t discount the possibility that both Reel and Robie were there.”
“What could possibly be the connection? I’ve looked at West’s record. He was a nothing. Hardly left a mark here. And then he was canned for what amounted to being stupid and lax with security measures. Do you think Reel and Robie know of some connection?”
“If they don’t I think they can find out.”
Tucker sat back, looking doubtful. “I hope you’re right.”
“Me too,” said Blue Man under his breath. “Me too.”
CHAPTER
65
“HELLO, CONGRESSMAN,” said the woman as she walked past, her small dog straining on a leash in front of her. “I saw you on TV the other night.”
Howard Decker stood on a path at the park near his home. He was dressed casually in jeans and a button-down shirt, loafers and no socks. He had donned a light windbreaker because the evening skies promised rain. He held a leash with his big Labrador Bruin tethered to the other end.
He nodded and smiled at the pretty woman as she walked past. “Thanks. Have a good evening,” he said. He liked being recognized. It was a nice taste of celebrity that fed his ego.
He watched her go, appreciating her tall, slender figure, tight skirt, and the way her blonde hair swirled around her shoulders. He was very comfortable with his wife, but he had never been able to cure himself of his roving eye. And his exalted position in Washington made him a plum target for a variety of sophisticated, accomplished, and attractive women.
He sighed contentedly. Not a bad life. He was wealthy from his past business successes, in relatively good health, with many years in politics ahead of him. His wife was suitably supportive but not eager to grab the limelight from him. She didn’t often travel with him, which allowed him the latitude for the occasional dalliance in his hotel room with a young staffer.
His children were young and well behaved. They would have good lives. They looked up to their father. He was popular with his constituency and his district had been redrawn to make him election-proof. That allowed him to spend less time fund-raising and more time plotting his political aspirations. Yes, all in all, he led quite a satisfactory life.
There was only one major problem, but it overshadowed all of the positives. He had long since regretted becoming a part of a plan that was spiraling out of control. But his position as chairman of the Intelligence Committee had made him a pivotal player in a scheme so grand it had taken Decker’s breath away the first time he was approached about it.
He was an old-school believer in national security. Nothing trumped that. He had been in New York during 9/11 and had seen the towers collapse. He had run along the streets with thousands of oth
er terrified people as the dust and debris and bodies rained down. He had told himself never again would something like that happen to his country. Not if he had anything to say about it. And he did, more than most people.
And that was why he’d agreed to be part of this colossal plan that, if successful, would right the power balance in the world, bringing it back to where it needed to be to create global peace. He’d thought it a huge, perhaps career-ending risk, but a goal well worth that risk. He had worked behind the scenes to secretly authorize the movement of personnel, equipment, and funds to enable this to happen. Just about everything the Intelligence Committee did was secret, from the funds deployed to the operations on which the members were briefed. Thus he had been in a unique place to assist the plan. He had felt honored to be part of it. He had felt immensely patriotic, particularly as he watched brave young Americans die every week in foreign lands, many of them killed by the very people they were fighting to protect and training to defend themselves. It was a horrendous situation that couldn’t be allowed to continue.
But things hadn’t gone smoothly or cleanly. Problems had cropped up almost immediately. His partners in this venture, principally Sam Kent, had handled these far better than he had. They were used to mistakes resulting in the loss of human life. But Decker was not accustomed to such things. They scared him. And the more they occurred, the more scared he became.
He had come to the park tonight to walk his dog simply to get away from these thoughts, if only for a few minutes. But he couldn’t escape them, not even with big, happy-faced Bruin licking his hand and wanting to play.
Decker was especially afraid of Kent. When the man had said he’d killed a potential assassin, Decker knew that the man was not exaggerating. He had killed the man. And it had been a clear warning to Decker not to step out of line.
He had no intention of crossing such men. He’d seen what they were capable of doing. As the chair of the Intelligence Committee he was far more privy to clandestine operations than the average congressperson.
He knew about the Special Activities Division within CIA that utilized the resources provided by people like Jessica Reel and Will Robie. He knew how skilled they were at their work. He’d been briefed on their missions. He’d seen photos of the bodies that resulted from those missions.
His phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen and groaned. It was him.
He hesitated, thinking he wouldn’t answer, but he did. He was afraid not to.
But then his courage bucked up.
He was the chairman of one of the most powerful committees in Washington. He had leverage. He had strength. He could play hardball with these folks.
He clicked the button.
“Hello?”
Sam Kent said, “We need to meet.”
“Why?”
“You’ve seen the story about the train?”
“What about it?”
“It was Reel and Robie.”
“How?”
“That’s not important. They’ve teamed up. Without a doubt.”
Decker swallowed nervously and held tightly to the leash as Bruin started to go after a squirrel. “The last time we spoke you didn’t think that was a real possibility. You said they might have been at the center of what happened in Arkansas, but you weren’t convinced they were in this together.”
“Well, the simple answer to that is, I was apparently wrong.”
“That is not a good enough answer, Sam. I’ve risked everything for this. Everything.”
“And you don’t think I have?”
“You as good as threatened me the last time we met.”
“I know. I apologize for that. I’m under unbelievable pressure.”
“And you don’t think I am?”
“We have to stick together on this. I’ve been given an ultimatum. I have to find Reel and Robie and eliminate them.”
“Okay. But how?”
“I’ll need your help.”
“Me? What can I do?”
“You’re the chairman, Howard. There’s a lot you can do.”
“Okay, okay, just calm down.” He thought for a minute. “I certainly can get information about the agency’s reaction to this recent development. They may have a line on the two.”
“That’s exactly what we need, Howard. We have to piggyback on the agency’s pursuit of Reel and Robie. If you’re not read in over there on it, get read in on it. Push for answers. Push for the ultimate solution. Tell them you want to be kept apprised of every step. If they’re located and a strike team is sent in you want to know ahead of time.”
“So you can send in your team?”
“Exactly.”
“But why not just let the agency personnel do it? It’s cleaner that way.”
“Because they might just take them alive. And then they can talk, Howard.”
“You . . . you think they know things that might lead—”
“That might lead right back to us. Yes, I do. We’re on Reel’s list. At least I am. And I would be stunned if you weren’t. We’ve talked about this before. Neither of them can be allowed to come in alive. You have to get the agency to lead us to them. That way we can end it quick and relatively clean.”
“But if I tip you off they might suspect my involvement.”
“Think, Howard, think! They want this put to bed as much as we do. This is a black eye for them. They will cover this over with so much dirt no one will ever get to the truth of it. Now, can I report back that you’re in?’
Decker didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Absolutely. I’ll do whatever it takes.”
“Thanks, Howard. You won’t regret this. Let’s meet at my office tomorrow morning around seven. We can discuss further details. Time is really of the essence.”
Kent clicked off and Decker slowly put the phone back in his pocket.
He was shaking. He was actually shaking with fear and doubt.
But I will get through this. I will survive this.
The little dog was running toward him, its leash trailing behind it. Decker saw the same young woman racing to catch it. He shot out a hand and snagged the leash.
Breathless, the woman ran up and stopped next to him.
He held up the leash. “That’s your exercise for tonight,” he said.
“Thank you so much.”
“What’s your name?” He ran his eye over her figure. He couldn’t help himself.
“Stacy. The little guy there is Darby.”
“Hello, Darby,” said Decker, bending down to pet him. “Do you live around here?” he asked, rising back up.
A gun was pointed at his face.
“No,” said Stacy. “And neither do you anymore.”
She fired and the suppressed round slammed into Decker’s face. He dropped where he stood, dead before he hit the dirt.
The woman walked off with her dog.
CHAPTER
66
ROBIE STOOD ON THE CROWDED Metro train holding on to an overhead handrail. He wore sunglasses, a ball cap pulled low over his forehead, and a hoodie for extra concealment.
The train pulled into the next station and stopped. Robie didn’t react when the woman boarded. He kept his gaze partially downcast, but his peripheral vision was firmly on her.
For her part, Nicole Vance didn’t react when she saw Robie. The only reason she recognized him was because he had told her what he would be wearing, which train car he would be on, and where he would be standing in that car.
She took her time working her way over to him. Most people around them were reading e-books, surfing on their electronic devices, listening to music through earbuds, or simply dozing in their seats.
She stopped next to him and grabbed a handrail. In a low voice she said, “How are you?”
“A little stressed.”
“I can understand that. The stuff that happened on that train?”
He nodded.
“How did you get away?” she whispered.
“
Jumped.”
She flinched. “Alone?”
He shook his head.
“Who?”
He shook his head again.
She looked at him stubbornly. “I’m trying to help you.”
“And I’m trying to keep you safe. Do you have it?”
She gazed at him sternly for another moment and then took the newspaper out of her bag. She pretended to read the front page. As the train picked up speed she unfolded the paper. Taped to it was a USB stick. The way it was positioned, only Robie could see it. With a swipe of his hand he slipped the stick into his pocket.
He turned to leave, but Vance gripped his elbow. Robie looked at her cautiously. He was afraid she was about to blow everything.
She mouthed two words:
Kick ass.
He nodded curtly, turned, and weaved his way through the passengers. As the train entered the next station he drew close to the door. As he was exiting he looked over at Vance. She was staring off. But Robie could read her mind.
She doesn’t believe I’m going to survive this.
And if I’m honest with myself, neither do I.
Robie rejoined Reel in her rental car. As she drove through the streets, he used a laptop to scroll through the files Vance had given him.
“Anything?” she asked.
“Vance got me all she could find on suspicious movements overseas, heightened threat alerts. Upgraded military preparedness. Unusual chatter in the usual places.”
“And?”
“There’s some strange sub activity in the Atlantic. We’re sending a few more ships to the Persian Gulf, probably to do with Iran. And there was a surprise naval exercise in the Pacific. But that’s all on our side. I’m not finding anything that might be what we’re looking for, meaning unusual movement by our enemies.”
“Nothing?”
“Wait a minute,” Robie said sharply.
He scanned down a page. “I remember seeing this on TV a while back, but that was before I knew about any of this so I didn’t make the connection.”
“What is it?”
“The president is going to Ireland for a conference on terrorism.”
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