With that, he got to his feet. As he moved around the room, he placed small datapads in front of each of them. Even though they sat far enough apart that they could not see what was displayed on their neighbor’s units, Sorkowski knew it was the same thing. It was enough to turn his insides to liquid. Their so-called friends were tying up loose ends and making it clear they were just as expendable.
“You will note the authorities are writing off the first death as an accident and the other as murder by an as yet unknown whore. They aren’t wasting time or resources in investigating what happened.”
The implication was clear. No one would waste time investigating any accidents that might happen to them either.
“I will also remind you that while Lieutenant Liu made an offer, you have seen nothing in writing. So my recommendation to each of you is to think long and hard before you even consider making a deal. I promise you it will come back to haunt you, in more ways than one.” With that, Sorensen collected the datapads and then signaled he was ready to leave.
“What the hell are we supposed to do?” O’Brien asked softly as the door slid shut behind Sorensen.
“Keep our mouths shut unless you want to end up like the others.”
Maybe that would be enough to keep their mouths shut until after he had a chance to get word to Liu that he was ready to talk.
* * *
A knock sounded at the office door. Sighing heavily, the redhead looked up from the trial brief she had been studying. As she did, she frowned. She had left orders not to disturb her for anything short of an all-out invasion. Despite that, Lieutenant Liu stood in the doorway waiting for her to acknowledge his presence.
Leaning back, Major Alexandra Quintana motioned the young man into the office. He nodded in response and did as she instructed. When he shut the door behind him, she looked at him in surprise. Then, before she could ask for an explanation, he extended a data disk, a slight smile of triumph playing at the corners of his mouth.
“Talk to me, Jianyu,” she said as she motioned for him to take one of the two chairs before her desk.
“Major, you really need to have a look at what’s on that disk.” He grinned like a kid who had just been given the best present ever. “I guarantee you’ll find it very interesting.”
“Care to tell me what’s on it?”
“Just a little case you assigned me and in which you have a passing interest in, Ma’am.”
“Jianyu,” she all but growled. One of the reasons she liked the young man was his somewhat perverted sense of humor, something he didn’t let most people see. But it was also one of the reasons he often drove her to distraction when she was in the middle of trial prep. Like now. “You know I’m under the gun here on the Horne case. Just tell me what you’ve got and why it required interrupting me.”
“Major, I had an interesting meeting this morning with Kurt Sorensen.”
That was enough to have Quintana sitting up. She reached for her datapad and quickly called up everything she had on Liu’s caseload. Not that she needed to. The fact he mentioned Sorensen could mean only one thing. There might finally be some movement on the case against Alec Sorkowski and his co-defendants.
“And?” she prompted.
“Let me backtrack a moment first.”
She ground her teeth together, wishing he would get to the point, before nodding.
“I have been working closely with not only Colonel Shaw but with other members of the Devil Dogs, past and present. I’ve also looked into her counsel for her court martial. I’ve included that information on the disc. It will make for interesting reading and, in my opinion, it will warrant new charges being filed. This time against the former Lieutenant Benton Cross.”
Quintana pursed her lips and nodded. While his news wasn’t exactly welcome, neither was it unexpected. But the thought that a member of her beloved JAG could have betrayed a client was something she had never hoped to see. Unfortunately, it made sense, especially when considered with everything else she knew about the case.
“All right.” She fingered the disk thoughtfully. As much as she wanted to view its contents right then, she couldn’t. She had to finish preparing for the Horne case. “I’ll look at this later. In the meantime, tell me what has you so excited. I know it isn’t the news about Cross.”
“As I said, I had an interesting meeting with Sorensen this morning, a meeting he requested.”
Quintana listened closely as Liu described listening in growing disbelief to Sorensen as the attorney said he had been asked by the other defense attorneys in the Shaw case to speak on their clients’ behalf. Yes, he had confirmed with each of the attorneys before agreeing to the meet. Yes, he had those confirmations on record.
“Jianyu, everything you’ve said so far raises red flags. What did Sorensen want?”
“He wanted to know what sort of deal I’d be willing to offer for a guilty plea.”
For a moment, she couldn’t say anything. After months – no, years – of trying to make sense out of what happened with Ashlyn Shaw and finding those responsible for framing her and the others, could it be that simple?
“I’m sensing there is a but in there somewhere.”
“There is, ma’am.”
She waited, wondering what Sorensen had up his sleeve.
“He told me the attorneys wanted the deal to be for only one of the accused. They would leave it up to the accused themselves to decide which one.”
“What. What?” It didn’t make sense.
“I know. I felt the same way and told him I would need to consider if we would offer any of them a plea bargain. Then I verified again that he was speaking for each of the other attorneys. It didn’t make sense and it still doesn’t. But it does get better.”
“Do I want to know?”
“You do.” Another grin, this one a bit more reassuring. “I met with him and the defendants. The deal was simple. The first one to give a complete and honest statement about what happened, to answer all our questions, etc., would have the death penalty removed from the table and I would recommend confinement on-planet.”
“And?”
“I left him to discuss it with the defendants.”
She counted to ten, very slowly, before speaking. “Jianyu, please tell me you didn’t interrupt me just for this.”
“No, ma’am. While we did not listen in on their discussion, we did have the cameras going. Security, you know.” He grinned and something close to glee lit his eyes. “Their discussion was short and sweet. He handed out datapads to each of them and then spoke for a few minutes. Then he left. They clearly did not like what he had to say. Some of them were all but pissing themselves. You could read the fear on their expressions. Considering the accidents several of them have suffered, I figured he was telling them to keep their mouths shut.”
She nodded. Those accidents had caused her to order increased security around each of the defendants, no matter how removed they might have been from the initial charges leveled against Sorkowski and O’Brien.
“The defendants were returned to their cells. By the time I returned to my office, I had a message waiting from Corporal Sikes. It seems the moment they were away from the others, Sorkowski started demanding to speak with me.”
“Interesting.”
“What is more interesting is the fact he is the only one who has made the request so far. The others, from what their escorts reported were in varying stages of denial and fear.”
“Make sure the guards keep a very close watch on them then. No more accidents or anything else.”
“Already done.”
“And Sorkowski?”
“He is being brought to my office in a few minutes. I wanted to let you know what was going on and see if you had any instructions.”
“Exactly what you’d expect. Get it all. I want to know everything about what led up to the charges being filed against Shaw, the reasons behind it all and who that bastard has been working with.” She leaned back
and thought for a moment. If they played this right, they might be able to avoid airing their dirty laundry in public. It might not be as satisfying for Shaw but it would be best for both the Navy and the Corps, especially now that they were back to war. “I want that bastard to talk about the accidents that have befallen him and the others and who is behind them. Most of all, find out if there is any possibility his compatriots on the outside might make a try for Shaw or anyone else associated with the courts martial.”
“Understood.” Liu stood and then paused.
“Something else on your mind, LT?”
“If, as I suspect, Sorkowski is about to open up, I recommend we move him into isolation until he can be relocated.”
“Agreed. I’ll make sure that is in the works. Depending on what he tells us and what we are able to verify, he will be moved to another facility and his new location will not be disclosed until everyone responsible for what happened have been arrested and prosecuted.”
“Thank you, Ma’am.”
“Report back to me as soon as you finish with Sorkowski.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Quintana watched as he left her office. Once alone, she shook her head. Lieutenant Liu was one of the best JAG offices she had ever worked with. That was why she had initially put him in charge of looking into the case against Shaw. When it became evident she and her people had been victims of a conspiracy, Liu had continued the investigation. The fact Shaw had been willing to work with him had weighed heavily in the decision to let him continue building the cases against the conspirators. Now it appeared Quintana’s faith in the man was about to pay off.
But that was for later. Even as she turned her attention back to the case prep when had been working on when Liu arrived, her right hand reached for the data disk. It was going to be very difficult to ignore it until she finished the task at hand.
* * *
“Has something happened?” Evan Moreau asked simply, sounding for all the world as if she was merely asking about the weather. Beneath the surface of calm, however, her emotions stormed. How could things have gone so badly so quickly?
This mission had been a nightmare from the very beginning. She should have known better than to take on something that forced her to stay in place for so long. She worked better when it was an in and out job. Locate the target, learn their habits and then take them out. No muss and no fuss. Not this time. This time she had let greed and the desire for personal vengeance overrule common sense. Because of that, she had been in place for years, not weeks or months. Had she gotten sloppy? Possibly, not that she would admit it. No, the fault lay with those she had been forced to work with. Now, as she had begun to fear, it was all crumbling around her.
“Sit.”
Kael Paulus sat – no, sprawled – in the chair opposite the one he indicated she take. He looked relaxed, almost casual. But Moreau wasn’t so sure. For one thing, he had taken the position at the table she normally took: back to the wall, chair positioned so he could see all entrances without appearing to be on guard. Then there had been the flash of anger in his eyes and the way his right hand fisted once where it rested on the tabletop before relaxing. Something was wrong. But what?
God, she hated not having all the data. Too much could go wrong.
Tempting as it was to simply get up and walk out, she wouldn’t. Not until she knew why he had insisted they meet without delay.
“So?” She leaned forward, forearms resting on the table. Years of working covert operations helped school her features into nothing but mild interest. She had to keep him from realizing how worried she was, at least until she knew what was going on.
“You have a friend arriving soon.” Paulus reached for his glass and sipped.
Moreau’s mouth went dry. She had no doubt what Paulus meant, but she had to be sure.
“Really?” She forced herself to look interested. Paulus was not one of those she had recruited during the mission. He had been her intermediary with her real employers. The fact he was warning her could mean he understood the handicaps she had been operating under and was giving her the chance to clean up the mess before she was taken out of the picture or it could be a ruse. So she had to go carefully.
“Really.” He sat up and leaned in, his expression earnest. “You have been careless lately. There are too many bodies stacking up and people are starting to ask questions. I might have been able to keep the attention off of you but for two things. Those two actions may have signed both our death warrants.”
He spoke softly, almost casually and that, she knew, proved just how angry and worried he was. Damn, her worst fears appeared to be coming true. But she wasn’t done for yet. Not by a long shot.
“I don’t follow.” Maybe if she knew exactly what actions he referred to, she would be able to alleviate at least part of the damage.
“Don’t play me for the fool, Moreau.” He all but hissed out the words. “I told you at the time that our mutual friends would not approve of an attack on the capital just because you needed to clean up the mess with Shaw. Your personal feelings where she is concerned have clouded your judgment from the beginning. You relied on those not loyal to our cause to deal with her and they failed. Instead of making examples out of them, you dug a deeper hole by bringing more people into the conspiracy just so Shaw would not see another day of freedom. Then, when you learned she had been brought back here, you hired mercs – and incompetent ones at that – to attack the security complex. You didn’t think how that might impact our friends’ plans, did you? All you saw was a chance to clean up a mess you caused because you let your emotions get in the way of the job.”
He shook his head, his eyes flashing with anger when she started to interrupt. Instead of saying anything, she inclined her head, signaling him to continue. Even as she did, she seethed. He might think he knew everything about her and why she had acted as she had. Well, she would soon enough disabuse him of that idea. But it could wait until he’d had his say.
“Then there was that so-called terrorist attack on the Rising Star Hotel.”
“There is no way our mutual friends could have found out about that and then dispatched someone here who would arrive soon.”
If he was trying to scare her, he would soon learn how foolish that could be.
“Think!” he snapped. “Your actions with the mercs focused the idiots here on system security. That does not fit our friends’ plans.” He ticked the point off on one finger before moving to the next. “Then there is the fact that several of your, shall we say, business partners, have met with untimely accidents. Next is what happened at the hotel. Finally, and much more important, is the very disturbing news I received this morning. It seems that despite your best efforts, Sorkowski has made a deal with the authorities.”
“What?”
That broke through her calm. Everything had been in place. The message had been delivered, often painfully, to not only Sorkowski but to the others charged with him as well that they were to keep their mouths shut. Failure to follow that simple order would result in not only their deaths but the deaths of those they cared for. The example her people had made of Thomas O’Brien had almost killed the former Marine officer. But it had done the trick – at least she had thought so.
Damn it, why hadn’t Sorensen warned her? If Sorkowski talked, sooner or later the idiots with JAG and Naval Intelligence would put together enough about the conspiracy surrounding what happened to Shaw and her people to start looking closer at what had been happening on Fuercon. Worse, that investigation would eventually lead them to her employers and that, without a doubt, would be the final signature on her death warrant.
Somehow she had to stop that from happening. Not only that, she had to do it before this friend Paulus mentioned arrived on-planet. She had no doubt now that whoever it was had been sent to make sure she never had the chance to tell the authorities what she knew.
“How long?”
Would it be enough time for her to either cle
an up the mess or get away?
“Any day.” He lifted his whiskey and sipped again. “The question is, what do you plan to do about it?”
For a moment, she said nothing. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at him closely. Was he asking out of concern or so he could report to whoever was coming from Midlothian?
“The first order of business is to check with Sorensen to confirm what you heard about Sorkowski. If true, I will make sure the Admiral learns just how foolish it is to even think about double-crossing us.” She leaned back and considered what to say next. Paulus was no fool. More importantly, he knew how she operated. Unless she missed her guess, he probably knew more about her than she wanted. That meant she had to proceed carefully where he was concerned. He was as much of a killer as was she. “As for the rest of it, I can make all those concerns disappear in short order. Just keep our friend off my back for a week. That’s all the time I need.”
“You will not do anything without first consulting me.” He pinned her with a firm look.
“Understood.” She didn’t like it but what choice did she have?
“Now, I suggest we both get back to work. There is a lot to do and not much time in which to do it.” He stood and waited as she did the same.
When he motioned for her to proceed him out of the room, she hesitated. Then she pointedly turned her back on him and walked away. He wouldn’t try anything here, in a room off the main dining room of one of the most popular restaurants in the capital. No, it was his none-too-subtle way of telling her to watch her back. Well, he didn’t have to remind her twice.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“GOOD AFTERNOON, MRS. LECLERC.” Elizabeth Shaw handed the housekeeper her briefcase. Then she cocked her head to one side, listening. “Is she here?”
“Yes, ma’am. She arrived home half an hour ago.” Leclerc looked past her employer to where Lieutenant Liu stood and her eyes narrowed. Seeing it, Elizabeth fought her smile. She recognized the look all too well. Marie Leclerc was ready to morph into protector mode, much as she had with Ashlyn and her siblings had been children. Since Ash’s return home, the housekeeper had once again taken up the role.
Honor from Ashes (Honor and Duty Book 3) Page 7