by Rachel Dylan
Jay shook his head. “Nah. Let’s just wait here.”
Her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest, but she remained silent and unmoving. At least she didn’t have to wait long before a man and woman walked toward them. She didn’t know either of them, and she felt a tiny twinge of relief.
The woman spoke first. “I’m Detective Perez, and this is Detective Sloan. You were looking for us?”
“I’m NCIS Agent Cole and this is Army CID Agent Graves. Are you two working the Rogers case?”
“Ah,” Detective Perez said. “That’s why you’re here.”
Izzy straightened. “Yes. My boss wants to know why you went around NCIS. And the FBI, for that matter. You all knew we were working the Rogers case in conjunction with others.”
“It actually wasn’t our call,” Detective Sloan said. His gray eyes met hers. “We were getting pressure from our boss, given the hair evidence belonging to the suspect. We were told to make the arrest.”
Jay cleared his throat. “Not even a courtesy call? That’s not playing nice in the sandbox. We’ve got a major case going on here, with two special-ops members killed. I would think our joint investigation would’ve gotten a little more deference.”
Detective Perez lifted her hands. “Don’t shoot the messenger. We were just following orders, and we’re sorry about the lack of contact. I can take the blame for that. Honestly, once we had Kappen in custody and had dealt with his very incensed JAG attorney, we got pulled onto another hot case that was time sensitive. I blew making the call to NCIS. That’s all on me.”
Izzy studied Detective Perez. She seemed to be telling the truth, but that meant someone higher up the chain of command was pushing the case against Kappen. They needed to find out who that was.
“Has Kappen spoken to you?” Jay asked them.
“No. He’s lawyered up and hasn’t said a word. His counsel was insistent on that. She’s on a warpath.”
Izzy respected that the JAG lawyer was pushing so hard to protect her client. “What’s next, then?”
Perez crossed her arms. “Arraignment and turning it over to the DA’s office. They’ll continue their investigation, and I’m sure they’ll be in contact with NCIS and the other agencies involved.”
Jay nodded. “Well, if Arlington PD does unearth anything further, I would hope that you’d share it with us ASAP.”
“Will do,” Sloan said. “We’re on the same team here.”
They had a funny way of showing it, but Izzy held her tongue.
“Thanks,” Jay said.
A hand on Izzy’s shoulder caused her to jump.
“Cole, what’re you doing here?”
As the words hit her, she knew who the speaker was. She turned and felt like she was staring into the blue eyes of the devil himself.
“They’re working a case we’re also on,” Perez answered.
Izzy took a step back, putting more distance between the two of them, but she refused to look away. She wouldn’t give the monster the satisfaction. She’d played this horrific moment over and over in her mind, knowing that at some point in her career after she left the department, she’d face this man. But this wasn’t like it was in her mind. It was much worse. She had to fight the real urge to pull out her gun.
“I’m Sergeant Tybee.” He stretched out his hand to Jay.
“Agent Graves, Army CID.”
“Sounds like you have your hands full. I hope Cole here is pulling her weight.”
“Yes, and then some,” Jay said.
Jay’s words of affirmation made her stand a little taller. Knowing Jay was there right beside her gave her a boost of confidence, but she had no desire to stick around. “We should be getting back. There’s a lot of work to do.”
“Good to see you, Cole,” Tybee said. “And let us know how we can help.” He winked at her.
The nerve. She didn’t respond to the snake but instead focused on Perez. “Remember, call us if you get anything new.”
Izzy turned and briskly walked toward the exit, waving goodbye to Andrew but not looking back.
She steeled herself for the third degree from Jay, but it never came. And that almost made it worse. She feared she wouldn’t be getting any sleep tonight.
CHAPTER
TWELVE
The next day, the team continued to conduct their visits to defense contractors. They had looked into BF Solutions but come up empty, so they had turned the investigation over to another set of agents so they could focus on their main case.
Bailey was exhausted, as they had spent the morning conducting interviews under the auspices of being auditors from the DoD. So far they’d come up with nothing, and Bailey could tell Marco was getting impatient. But this was the hard investigative work, and they had no choice but to do it.
“Here’s our next stop.” Marco put the car in park in a garage in Arlington.
Bailey looked down at the paper in her hands. “Whitfield Security International—otherwise known as WSI, according to my notes.”
“You ready to do this?” he asked.
“Yes. Maybe we’re one step closer. Everything we rule out helps move us closer to our goal.” That was her trying to be positive, but she understood all too well that they were running out of time. She dreaded thinking there could be another phone call at any minute. They couldn’t afford to lose someone else. If that meant going through the entire list of security contractors, then they’d do it.
They walked through the garage and up to the front walk. The building had large glass windows and Whitfield Security International plastered in block letters on the sign. It was game time, and Bailey straightened her shoulders. She thought they’d been convincing so far playing their role as DoD auditors, and they were getting better with each one.
“I got this,” she told Marco.
He gave her a nod before opening the door for her. They walked into the lobby and up to the large white receptionist desk. The building’s style was very modern.
“May I help you?” A thin, older blond woman sat at the desk with a smile that wasn’t all that friendly.
“Yes, ma’am.” Bailey flashed her credentials. “We’re here from the DoD. We need to speak to someone in charge.”
A flicker of concern washed over the receptionist’s face. “Is everything all right?”
Marco stepped in. “Yes, ma’am, there’s no cause for alarm.” Bailey noticed that he gave the woman a million-dollar smile.
“But we do need to find someone in charge,” Bailey added with a confident tone.
“Of course,” the woman said. Her perfectly polished red nails tapped on the phone, and she started talking in hushed tones. Bailey was able to pick up that she’d told whoever she dialed that there was a situation with people from the DoD.
Good. Let them think there was a situation. Bailey exchanged a glance with Marco that let her know he too had heard those words.
“Please have a seat,” the receptionist said. “Someone will be down very soon to assist you. In the meantime, is there anything you need? Coffee or water?”
“No, thank you,” Bailey said. She followed Marco to the bright white couch in the center of the room.
Marco leaned down. “Why do I get the feeling that it’s going to be more than just a minute before anyone comes down?”
His words were slow to register because his warm breath in her ear sent shivers throughout her body—not of fear, but of recognition of how close he was to her.
“You cold?” he asked her.
“No. I’m fine.” She couldn’t believe he’d noticed her visceral reaction to him. She needed to get her head back in the game. Ever since the attack, she’d been in a vulnerable state that made her uncomfortable. She hadn’t let down her guard in so long. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had.
“You’d tell me if you were still in pain, right?” His dark eyes showed such kindness.
“Yes. I’m fine. It’s not the pain, I promise.”
She couldn’t tell him that he was the cause of her reaction.
Thankfully, Marco’s prediction proved to be untrue, and after another minute, a short and stocky man who was probably in his fifties walked toward them. He wore a nicely tailored navy suit and a lavender tie.
“Hello, I’m Cullen Mink. I’m the VP of WSI. How can I help you two today?” His icy blue eyes said he wasn’t excited to have them there, even though he was smiling.
But to get the VP of the company was a much different reaction from the other companies. The highest person they’d gotten at the other places was a senior manager. Maybe they were getting somewhere.
Marco cleared his throat. “We’re auditors with the DoD. We’re here to do a compliance check.”
Bailey naturally inserted herself. “Given your DoD contracts, as I’m sure you’re well aware, we have the right to audit unannounced.”
“Of course, of course. I’m sorry, I didn’t get your names.”
They had decided to use aliases. “I’m Tom Weatherby, and this is Jen Franklin.” The names matched their fabricated DoD identification.
Mink adjusted his gold cuff links. “Mr. Weatherby, Ms. Franklin, I can assure you that WSI will fully cooperate with the DoD. But for an audit to be efficient, it might help for us to have some time to prepare the records you want to see.”
Bailey lifted her chin. “Actually, first we’d like to ask your employees some questions.”
Mink raised an eyebrow. “About what?”
“To ensure the integrity of the audit, we need to talk to them without your input. I’m sure you understand the need to make sure we cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s.”
Mink nodded. “Yes. Whatever you need. WSI highly values our relationship with the DoD, and we have robust compliance procedures in place. You tell me who you’d like to talk to, and I’ll make it happen.”
This might be promising. “Thank you,” she said.
“Come up to the executive floor. We have conference room space there, and I can send employees in to meet you.” Mink paused. “I have to say, though, I think we were just audited last year. Is it common to be audited again this quickly?”
“We do spot audits for a variety of reasons,” Marco responded. “That’s what this is. And as we told the receptionist, there’s no need for alarm. The sooner we can get started, the sooner we will be out of your hair.”
“Perfect. Follow me, then.”
They were escorted by Mink up to the tenth floor of the building and led into a large conference room. “Who can I bring in for you first?”
“We’d like to see someone in your HR department,” Bailey said.
“What level?” Mink asked.
“Let’s start with a senior manager,” Marco responded.
“Okay, sit tight. I’ll have my assistant come in and take care of refreshments for you two, as I imagine you might be here for a while today.” He left the room.
“What’s your read of him?” Bailey asked.
Marco leaned back in his chair. “Seemed a bit shifty, but I imagine auditors would make people feel that way. Kind of like lawyers.” He smiled.
“Yeah, I hear you. This is the first place we’ve been to where we got the upper echelon.”
“Maybe they heard the word audit and had a knee-jerk reaction. Remember, they could be clean for our case but dirty on something else. That’s exactly what I think we’re going to find about BF Solutions once the other investigative team digs their teeth into their business activities.”
Bailey pulled her notepad out of her bag, trying to be every bit the good auditor.
When a few minutes had passed, the door opened, revealing Cullen Mink and another man. Bailey and Marco stood.
Mink stepped forward. “I want to introduce you to Rex Barnett. He’s the CEO of WSI.”
Well, wasn’t this a nice turn of events for them? Getting to meet the top executive of the company. Bailey offered her hand, as did Marco as they made introductions.
Barnett was taller and older than Mink but just as impeccably dressed, down to the gold cuff links. He still had a full head of gray hair, and his dark brown eyes looked intently at her.
“We want to offer the DoD our full cooperation in these matters,” Barnett said. “We take great pride in our relationship. So anything we can do to assist, please let us know.”
“We appreciate that, sir,” Marco said.
“I must say that, given our long and valued relationship with the DoD, I’m surprised I didn’t get a courtesy phone call telling me that you were coming.”
Bailey moved a step closer. “Mr. Barnett, auditors in all agencies have been encouraged to buckle down on our unannounced visits, even with our best and most trusted business partners. It’s all about audits being a separate and independent function of the organization. So please don’t take any offense to our unannounced visit.” She smiled at him, hoping to get on his good side.
Barnett nodded. “Thank you for that explanation. I stand behind everything we do here, and if there is anything amiss with our record keeping, I’d like to know about it ASAP. So please keep me informed of any issues you come across.”
Bailey nodded. “We will definitely do that.”
“Well, then I’ll be on my way,” Barnett said. “Cullen can help coordinate anything you need during your visit.”
A few hours later, they were starting to feel like they were hitting dead ends. They told each other they would do one more interview and call it a day.
“What do you do here at WSI?” Marco asked.
A thin man named Sam who wore wire-framed glasses looked at Marco. “I’m one of the IT specialists.”
“Do you ever have to set up employees with special technology needs?” Bailey asked.
“Like what?”
Bailey wanted to be somewhat direct without coming out and saying it. “I’m most interested in things that might be outside the normal channels.”
“You mean off-the-grid type stuff?” Sam asked.
He had quickly picked up on her point. “Yes.”
Sam cracked his knuckles. “Yeah. We do a lot of classified work, which I’m sure you’re well aware of, since you’re from the Pentagon. Sometimes that requires setting up tech on an ad hoc basis.”
“Is all of that still documented, even if it is ad hoc?” Bailey asked.
Sam nodded. “Yeah. I mean, I have to keep track of things on my end, or it would be a total disaster around here. We have to track our technology assets, for one. But there are other things we care about too. We’re very discreet, but there is still a paper trail, if that’s what you’re trying to get at. I have to make sure my boss and his boss are happy. Sometimes the executives have requests, and if we aren’t organized, we’d be fired because they expect answers in real time. That’s the nature of the work.”
Bailey glanced at Marco. “In regard to the more sensitive work you mentioned, do you know the names of the individuals you do this work for? Would you have that documented?”
“Yes. In a file on my computer.”
“Can we get those files now?” Marco asked.
“Yeah. If you give me a minute.” Sam pulled out his phone. “As long as someone gives me clearance to do it.”
“We’re giving you clearance,” Marco said in an authoritative voice.
Sam shrugged. “I think Mr. Mink will have to approve it also.”
“We were told that WSI would fully cooperate with us.” Bailey decided it was time to up the pressure here. “We’ll go with you to your office, just to make sure this all goes smoothly. How does that sound?”
“Sure,” Sam said. “You’ll handle Mr. Mink?”
Marco stood. “Absolutely.”
They walked out of WSI an hour later with a USB drive full of data. Bailey couldn’t wait to search it and hopefully find some answers.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Earlier in the day, Lexi had watched from her car as Marco and Bailey entered
Whitfield Security International. At least the two of them appeared to be acting on the information Tobias had provided. That was a positive thing for her client. But she still had Derek breathing down her neck—and not in a good way. She feared that if the case actually went forward, the two of them wouldn’t have a real chance at a future because of the damage this case would do to their relationship.
At first Derek had seemed willing to take a back seat to NCIS, but she worried that he’d soon be under political pressure in his department to push for answers, now that Tobias had been arrested. That was why she had to take on not only the role of lawyer, but also private investigator as she dug into these contractors.
Lexi looked down at her watch as she waited to be escorted in to meet her client in the holding room at the prison.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said once she was finally in the same room as Tobias.
“Not a problem. It’s not like I can go anywhere.” He laughed.
At least he seemed to have perked up some. All they needed was this thin thread of hope to give them both a much-needed boost.
“And I’m sorry about how the arraignment went. The judge wasn’t taking any chances with this case. That’s why he denied bail.”
Tobias nodded. “You warned me that was likely, given the severity of the crime. I’m trying to look on the bright side. If I’m in here, they can’t pin anything new on me.”
“I’m glad you’re keeping your head up. We need you to stay that way. I saw Marco and Bailey go into WSI earlier today.”
“Good. Because WSI is on my short list. I used the phone call they gave me to call in a favor, and I learned some really interesting stuff.”
“Go on.” She couldn’t wait to hear what he’d unearthed.
“A couple of people thought Battle might be working off book. I floated a few names of contractors past my guy and found out that WSI is one of the companies most likely to hire SEALs or any special-ops types.”
“Were you able to get the inside scoop on WSI?” Lexi asked.
Tobias nodded. “Known as a top-of-the-line contractor. They’re one of the leaders in security services abroad. For example, if you need to get a VIP in and out of Kandahar, they’re who you’d call. And since they’re private, nonmilitary, they can play outside the lines when they need to. People who work for them make big money but also take big risks.”