“Here’s how all this went down, according to the information we’ve gathered from the various interviews.
“Fact: Warren Canton, aka Abdul-Fataah, has been linked to an Afghanistan military officer—forgive me for mentally misplacing his name, but it’s a mouthful—who had access to weapons that were allegedly placed on a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter before it crashed in January 2002. Allegedly placed, but not in reality. There was an entire crate that never made it on board thanks to Abdul-Fataah and his friend.
“Fact: The chopper crashed and was submerged in a mountain lake. SEAL Team Sixteen stepped in either to salvage the weapons or to make sure they were destroyed. The area was hot, there were time pressures, so SEAL commander Paoletti opted to scuttle both the Black Hawk and the weapons, and he signed off that all was destroyed without taking a week to do an inventory of equipment. This is done all the time in front line conditions.
“Fact: Three of those weapons that were signed off as destroyed by Commander Paoletti were used in the Coronado attack.
“Theory: Canton used those weapons on purpose, as a genuine attempt to throw suspicion on a Spec Ops team that had an excellent combat record against Taliban and al-Qaeda forces.
“Fact: Mary Lou Starrett and Kelly Ashton Paoletti were both targeted by Canton one to two months before the terrorist attack in Coronado. Mary Lou knew him as Bob Schwegel, an insurance salesman, Kelly as Doug Fisk, pharmaceutical salesman.
“Theory: Canton discovered that the trunk of Mary Lou’s car was broken and that she worked at the McDonald’s that was on the Navy base. When he decided Mary Lou would be his way to smuggle in the weapons he needed, he—fact—broke off contact with Kelly.
“Fact: Mary Lou found and touched—hence her fingerprints—an automatic weapon in the trunk of her car and believed that weapon belonged to her husband, Sam Starrett, a member of SEAL Team Sixteen. Because of their marital problems, she never actually questioned him about it, and the weapon mysteriously disappeared.
“Fact: Canton met Ihbraham Rahman, an Arab American, while in Mary Lou Starrett’s company. Rahman could—and did—identify him.
“Fact: Mary Lou Starrett put two and two together incorrectly on the morning of the attack and called 911, believing that her friend Ihbraham Rahman and his brothers were involved in the assassination attempt. She didn’t identify herself to the operator when she made that phone call.
“Fact: Mary Lou Starrett filed for divorce and fled to Florida the day after the Coronado attack. She did not come forward with her information, because she feared repercussion.
“Fact: During their relationship, Mary Lou told Canton about finding the gun in the trunk of her car, blaming its presence there on her husband.
“Theory: Canton realized that Mary Lou’s fingerprints were on that weapon, and knew that sooner or later, she would be apprehended. She could—and did—identify him.
“Fact: Sam Starrett’s house was broken into two weeks after the Coronado attack. Nothing was stolen. A police report was filed.
“Theory: Canton was looking for Mary Lou’s whereabouts but didn’t find any leads because Starrett kept all of his personal files in his office on base.
“Fact: Ihbraham Rahman’s phone was altered to allow Canton to have a record of all calls he made and received. It wasn’t a tap—conversations couldn’t be overheard—but phone numbers could be traced.
“Theory: Instead of killing Ihbraham Rahman, who could identify him, too, Canton monitored his telephone calls, assuming that sooner or later, Mary Lou would get in touch with him.
“Fact: Mary Lou’s sister Janine did call Rahman, from the house they shared with Janine’s soon to be ex-husband, Clyde Wrigley. Janine spoke to Rahman, who urged Mary Lou to call him. Mary Lou, now believing Rahman wasn’t involved, was afraid to contact him, fearing such contact would be dangerous for him.
“Fact: The next day, Mary Lou, Haley, and Janine moved out of Clyde’s house, without telling Clyde where they were going.
“Theory: Canton used the information from Rahman’s phone to get Mary Lou’s phone number and address, and sent someone to Sarasota, to find her and kill her. But there was no sign of her at Clyde’s—she’d moved out. One of Canton’s men watched Clyde, following him in the hope that he’d lead them to Mary Lou, while Canton continued to monitor Ihbraham’s phone.
“Fact: Clyde bumped into a friend of Janine’s who knew where Janine was working. Clyde went to her place of employment, followed her home.
“Theory: Canton’s man was following Clyde, saw Janine, who fit the description of Mary Lou and who was also driving Mary Lou’s car—fact. After Clyde slinks off, Canton’s man goes to the back door and blows away Janine, thinking he’s wasted Mary Lou.
“Canton’s man reports in. Mary Lou is dead. Canton asks, what about the kid and the sister? The man is like, what kid, what sister? Canton comes to Sarasota to make sure his guy killed the right sister.
“Fact: Mary Lou is on her way home and sees Canton outside of her house—she keeps driving, but later goes back and finds Janine, dead.
“Theory: Canton went inside, saw Janine, and knew Mary Lou was still alive. The hunt continues—including the monitoring of Ihbraham’s telephone.
“Fact: Mary Lou’s car—the vehicle Janine was driving on the day she was killed—has turned up abandoned and stripped.
“Theory: Canton moved it out of the driveway for some reason—possibly because his fingerprints may still have been in or on the trunk, possibly to throw off friends and neighbors who might otherwise have come looking for Janine. We’re not really sure, but the car did turn up just a few days ago, in Orlando.
“Fact: Mary Lou tells her employer’s daughter, Whitney Turlington, that she had a romantic relationship with Ihbraham Rahman, and Whitney plays matchmaker, calling Ihbraham and telling him that Mary Lou needs him, that her ex-husband is trying to kill her.
“Fact: She makes that call from a pay phone, so Canton doesn’t have the Turlingtons’ address.
“Fact: Ihbraham is curious, because in past conversations, Mary Lou has told him that Sam Starrett would never hit a woman. He goes to Starrett’s house, but no one’s home. Donny DaCosta, Starrett’s neighbor, sees Rahman and also sees Canton following Rahman.
“Theory: Canton realizes that DaCosta can identify him and puts him on his list of people to remove—which includes Kelly Ashton Paoletti.
“Fact: Ihbraham Rahman drives from San Diego to Sarasota in about thirty-six hours—which is extremely impressive—with Canton’s men on his tail.
“Fact: Canton, using the alias Doug Fisk, takes an airline flight from San Diego to Sarasota, approximately one hour before a car bomb destroys half of Don DaCosta’s house, killing DaCosta and injuring Kelly Paoletti.
“Fact: Mere minutes after Rahman arrives at the Turlington estate, Canton arrives, too, with five of his men. They kill the guards and cut the phone lines and call the main house.
“Theory: Canton was attempting to walk out of the area, in full view of everyone, when you stopped him. Which was pretty fucking unbelievable, boss. Very James Bond of you—going one on one with the villain. You know, if you hadn’t done that, we probably wouldn’t have apprehended him and gotten his fingerprints and a crapload of additional information, as well as the pleasure of knowing this guy’s never going to hurt anyone again.
“This is huge,” Jules told Max, and for once he was dead serious. “If I were the President, I wouldn’t let you quit, either. It’s an honor, sir, to be on your team.”
Max didn’t know what to say. “Thank you, but …” But what the hell was he going to do about Gina?
She chose that moment to breeze into the room. “Hey, you’re awake.”
Max found it impossible not to smile back at her. When she was in the room, he was undeniably glad that she was here with him. It was the other times that he began to panic.
Jules stood up. “I’ve got to go.” He headed toward the door, but
then did a U-turn. “You understand that Canton’s connection to Afghanistan clears Tom Paoletti, right?”
Max nodded, watching Gina settle into the chair that Jules had just vacated, the book she was reading aloud to him in her hands. “Yeah. I’m glad about that.”
Jules nodded. “About that other thing we discussed … I think you can probably cut yourself a little slack.”
Max knew Jules was talking about Gina.
“See you, boss,” he said, then leaned over to kiss Gina right on the mouth. “Later, gorgeous.”
The room was significantly quieter without Jules in it.
Max looked at Gina. “You know, the nurse thinks you’re my daughter.”
She laughed. “No, she doesn’t. I told her to say that,” she said. “Your blood pressure was a little low this morning.”
“It’s not anymore.”
“Good,” she said. She opened the book and started to read, her hand warm on his leg.
It felt good there. Too good.
But the rest of him hurt, so Max closed his eyes and took Jules’s advice and cut himself some slack.
TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 2003
“The guards are gone,” Kelly said as Tom came into her hospital room.
“The charges have been dropped,” he said. “Well, I’m not sure charges were ever officially made, but you know what I mean.”
“That is such good news.” She was looking terrific this morning. She actually had a little color in her cheeks. But she had total bed-head.
He got her brush from her drawer.
“You’re not wearing your uniform,” she also noted.
“Yeah,” he said, looking down at his jeans and sneakers. He forced a smile. “Weird, huh?”
“Did you …?”
“Yeah,” he said as he started brushing her hair. “I’m out. I’m done. As of this morning, it’s official. They offered a desk job, but—”
“You don’t need to explain.”
But there was something he needed to talk about. Tom cleared his throat. “I, uh, got a call about thirty minutes ago from the CIA.”
Her eyes widened as she looked up at him. “They want you to work for them? I’m not sure I want you to—”
“Not exactly. They want to, um, hire my team.”
Kelly didn’t get it. He just braided her hair, waiting for her to understand.
She laughed when the light went on. “Really?”
“Those rumors you started have turned into something a little more solid than I’d anticipated. Apparently, Alyssa Locke is going to be my executive officer.”
And Kelly wasn’t too happy about that. “I’m not sure she’s such a good choice—”
He leaned over and kissed her. “Yeah, you’re just jealous. I love it.”
“Well, yeah, because she’s gorgeous and she adores you and—”
Tom fished in the drawer for a ponytail holder. “And she’s marrying Sam Starrett—who’s also apparently part of my team.”
“Wait a minute,” Kelly said. “Is that the rumor or …?”
“No, she’s really marrying Starrett.”
“I thought he just got a divorce.”
Tom poked her. “Some people don’t need to take years and years before they remarry.”
“Hey, be nice to me, I’m in the hospital.”
“I noticed. You want some lotion?”
“No, thanks, I’m okay,” she said. “Thanks for the braid.”
“Anytime. I’m good with hair. Mine used to be about that long in high school, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.” Kelly smiled at him.
She swore she’d always had a thing for Jean-Luc Picard. Good thing, because she was now married to a man who was on the verge of being very bald.
“So what did you tell the CIA?” she asked.
He laughed. “What do you think? I told them I don’t really have a team together.”
“Yet,” Kelly added.
“Yet,” Tom agreed.
His cell phone rang, and he glanced at the screen and laughed.
“Who is it?” Kelly asked.
“Sam Starrett,” he told her. “Probably wondering where he can put his desk.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY NINE
Alyssa sat in Noah and Claire’s den and looked through a scrapbook Walter Gaines had made several months before he’d died.
It was filled with school papers—one of them a terribly poignant and sensitive poem Sam must’ve written when he was about fourteen—and clippings from the local paper of Sam’s enlistment in the Navy, of his admittance to BUD/S training, of his acceptance first into the SEAL teams and then to Officers Training School when he made the leap from enlisted to officer.
There were photos in the book, too. Pictures of Sam when he was just a skinny little kid. There was one of him with Walter’s arms around him, where he had the traces of what looked like a terrible black eye. But both Walt and Sam—Ringo—were laughing, and the boy’s face was completely lit up.
There were photos of Ringo and Noah, and in some of them the expression on Ringo’s face was so totally Sam, Alyssa laughed aloud.
There was a picture of Sam, barely eighteen, holding Noah and Claire’s infant daughter, Dora.
And another picture had Sam in his Navy uniform, standing with his mother and Noah and Claire outside of a church. There was a caption under that one, reading: “Suellen Starrett gets her one-year chip.”
From Alcoholics Anonymous, Alyssa realized. Sam’s mother had finally dumped his father and gotten her life together.
The very last photo in the book was a picture of Sam and Noah, taken when Sam received his SEAL pin.
Wow, he’d been young when he first became a SEAL. Pride radiated from him with an intensity that was so strong it seemed to reach out in time to touch her through that photograph. He looked ready to take on the world, as one of the very best of the best.
SEAL Team Sixteen had lost a lot with Sam’s recent resignation.
But there was no way he could have stayed in, not after everything that had happened.
Still, Alyssa’s mother had been fond of saying, When someone shuts a door, a window always opens.
Tom Paoletti had called both Sam and Alyssa this morning, asking if they were interested in meeting with him to discuss potential opportunities working in the public sector.
Paoletti was legendary, and Alyssa suspected that even though Sam was no longer a Navy SEAL, his days of being the best of the best had not yet come to an end.
Beneath that final photo, in Walt’s own hand, was a message to Sam. “My two boys,” he’d written. “May they find the same joy and happiness in their lives that I found in mine, dear Lord. Guide them and let them be blessed with a life filled with love and adventure.”
“I wish you could have known him,” Sam had said to her about Walter Gaines.
Alyssa had the feeling that she did—just by knowing Sam.
As she put down the book, she realized that the house was extremely still. Claire was working up in her office, and Noah had taken Devin and Dora to the movies. The idea was to give Sam a little one-on-one time with Haley, who was spending her days with Noah and Claire until all of the endless questioning and interviews and debriefings ended.
It looked as if charges would not be filed against Mary Lou, which was a very good thing, for all their sakes.
Alyssa stood up and stretched. When she first came into this den, over two hours ago, Haley had Sam down on the living room floor, playing with a set of plastic dolls.
She went down the hall to the living room now, wondering if they’d gone outside. It was so quiet.
And then she saw why.
Sam was lying on his back on the floor. Haley was on his chest, and they were both fast asleep. He looked so at peace, so content. And Alyssa knew Roger/Ringo/Sam had finally found a name that was going to stick. Daddy.
She stood there, watching them, with so much love in her heart it nearly took her breat
h away.
Let them be blessed with a life filled with love—and adventure.
Between Alyssa and Haley, the love part was handled.
As for the adventure—well, the biggest adventure of all was only just beginning.
For the brave men and women who fought for freedom during the Second World War, and for the brave men and women in the U.S. Armed Forces who continue that fight today. My most sincere and humble thanks. Let freedom ring!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First things first. Thank you, Shauna Summers, for your faith and trust in me, right from the very start.
Thank you, Steve Axelrod and Damaris Rowland. I’m so fortunate to have you on my team.
Thanks to my trusted first-draft readers—Lee Brockmann, Deede Bergeron, and Patricia McMahon.
Thank you to Stacey Brown for some really great title ideas. (Well, I liked ’em.…)
Thanks to Pat White for providing writerly support and truest friendship, and to Ann Slaw for standing ready to help!
Thanks for research help to my experts—Kim Harkins, Michelle Gomez, Rob Bergeron, and to She-Who-Knows-All, aka Kathy Lague. (You all think I’m kidding, but Kathy’s better than an Internet search engine.)
Thanks also to Rob for his Word of the Day, and to everyone involved with the RCMP (Radford Cookie Morale Program), a project originating on my Internet bulletin board, in which more than 250 packages were sent to the servicemen and women on board the U.S.S. Radford during the 2002 holiday season. You know who you are—and your generosity inspires me!
Thanks to Eric Ruben, who called me up nearly ten years ago to tell me about an article he read on BUD/S Hell Week, because he thought that I might be interested in writing about the Navy SEALs. (Uh, maybe …)
Thanks to Melanie for loving me even when I’m grumpy, and thanks to Jason for thriving and growing taller than me on takeout for dinner. Again.
To all the reader and writer friends I’ve met on my journeys or through email—thank you so much for your continued support!
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