by Thomas Gatta
Assadullah answered quietly, “If the court sends him to jail, I think I can live with that. As long as he dies in jail. If he is set free, I don’t know. I think he should be dead and that I must act.”
Atefa shook her head, “Assadullah, remember, we are in a new country now, with new laws, new ways of dealing with problems. You cannot do what you would in Afghanistan and remain free. If you kill Haji’s murderer, the authorities will arrest you. They will send you to prison and maybe even back to Afghanistan. That won’t help Haji. Or me.”
“No, perhaps not, but, finally, I would be able to take my Badal, my vengeance. It is my right to kill Bennett to restore the honor of Haji and of my family. Now that I have found Haji’s killer, know who he is, I cannot take the coward’s path of ignoring my Badal. It is my right.”
Atefa looked at him. “No, it is not your right, not here in America. We have left the old ways behind. We must. We can have so much more here in this country. We can do and be so much more. Badal, here, is left to the courts. Let them have it.”
Assadullah leaned back in his chair and took a drink of his cooling tea. “I don’t know, Atefa. Perhaps. I like this American idea of justice. I’m just not sure it will work.”
Atefa replied, “Let the court act, Assadullah. Focus on the honor, not of your dead family, but on the one you can build here, with me. We were lucky to escape the killing at home and to come here. We should not waste God’s blessings to us.”
Assadullah nodded and got up from the table. “I think I’ll go for a walk now. Perhaps I will call the prosecutors while I am out. Kate gave me their phone numbers.”
Atefa smiled at him and began gathering up the tea things. “Good. Then I will be a good Afghan wife and clean up the kitchen without your help. This time. But I’m hearing more and more from my American friends about women’s equality in this country. I especially like what they are telling me about how they expect their husbands to help in the kitchen and around the house. I really do think this country suits me!”
- 46 -
Kate kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the soft carpet of her condo. Better. The shoes pinched, and she was tired from trying to focus on the trial and on what she should do next. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a diet soda from the refrigerator. She didn’t usually drink them—they’re bad for you—but she felt she deserved one this evening. She went into her living/dining area and checked her voicemail. Maddie had left several increasingly urgent sounding messages for her. Her sister also had called but told her everything was fine, she was just checking in, and to call her back when she had time and wanted to talk.
Given the way the trial had gone the past couple of days and this afternoon—with Bennett’s managers mostly evading the prosecutors’ questions by citing information restrictions—Kate suspected Maddie wanted to use the recordings. Kate didn’t know whether Maddie wanted her permission or to warn her. Kate knew when she provided the prosecutors the recordings that they might decide to use them, whether she gave her approval or not.
Kate was no longer undecided. She still didn’t know whether she could trust the prosecutors, but she would urge them to use the recordings—all of the ones she had made last Friday evening—and she would offer to testify about what Sean had told her in Kabul.
Kate’s conversations with Assadullah had erased her doubts. She had to disclose her information. Her job would be at risk, and she would have to dust off her Georgetown diploma and job-hunting skills. Kate also was worried about how Dark Heart would react, particularly what he might do to her. But she’d been afraid of him since Kabul. Maddie had said she wanted to help her. Kate hoped Maddie was telling the truth. Kate hadn’t been kidding when she’d told the prosecutors that using the recordings might destroy her.
Kate picked up the telephone and sat down on the edge of her sofa. She called Maddie’s number and got her voicemail. Kate left a message and then called Scott’s number. He picked up, and Kate told him she was returning Maddie’s call to her. Scott, as she’d expected, told her he and Maddie needed to use her recordings. He apologized for the late hour and said he needed to meet with her as soon as possible, preferably this evening.
Kate told Scott, “I understand. I can come back to Alexandria, but I’m in Reston now. It will take me well over an hour to get there, especially given the traffic.”
Scott replied, “Sorry, how about if I meet you halfway, somewhere closer to Reston? After the traffic has thinned out a bit?” He paused and then said, “I don’t know if you’ve eaten yet, but maybe we could grab a bite or at least some coffee somewhere in the Tyson’s area and talk at the same time?”
Kate said, “Actually, I haven’t fixed dinner yet, and that sounds good.”
“Great. How about if we meet at the Tyson’s Galleria mall around 8:15? How about the Wildfire Grill? I think it should be fairly quiet in the back during a weeknight. I’ll call for a reservation, and whoever makes it through the traffic first can get the table?”
Kate responded, “Thanks, that sounds fine. I’ll see you then” and clicked off the telephone.
She looked at her watch. It was 7:15. It would take her about half an hour to make it to the restaurant.
Kate leaned back on the sofa and punched in her sister’s number on her phone. Ah, voicemail, again. Karla must be at a church meeting. Kate waited for the beep to sound, then she said, “Hi, Karla. I’m just returning your call. I’ll try you later this evening, probably not until after 10:00, though. I’ve got a dinner meeting, and I’m not sure how long it will go. I do want to talk to you. I think I may need your help. Love you, bye.”
- 47 -
Craddock, at his colleagues’ urging, had asked for a meeting with the Chairman and ranking members on the Oversight Committee about Kate’s case. He had explained to them what he knew about the court proceedings and how his investigations team had been monitoring the progress of the trial while continuing to collect what information it could. He provided the Chairman and members an update on what he had learned from Kate. Then Craddock played Kate’s recordings.
The language from the Committee members afterward wasn’t pretty. They knew when a political mess was in the making. The Chairman, Senator Joseph Gannon from Texas, was bristling. He was a long-time supporter of the SU, and he didn’t want Bennett’s conduct to undermine its counterterrorism mission.
Gannon asked Craddock, “So, you think the prosecutors will use these recordings? Call this woman to the stand so she can blow her whistle in court?”
“Yes sir, I do. I certainly would.”
“Shit.”
“Yes sir.”
“And I suppose the SU is standing by Bennett?”
“Yes, so far. Bennett’s lawyer has been arguing a ‘self-defense’ justification for the killings, and his SU managers have been supportive of that line. They’ve also been careful to avoid saying specifically that what he did was in support of DOD. That means the prosecution will have more difficulty proving that MEJA applies to the case.”
Gannon raked back his already slicked-back hair and said, “What? Of course what he did was in support of DOD. The Pentagon is the SU’s patron. There was a war going on there. What the fuck else would Bennett have been doing?”
Craddock replied, “I think that the SU lawyers have counseled their managers to avoid saying the ‘support’ word. If they don’t say it, it must not be so. I think that’s the tack they’re taking. The managers also are claiming Bennett was there only to assist the Afghan units.”
Gannon snorted. “And is that working?”
“I don’t know, sir.”
Gannon gestured toward the machine with the recordings, “Well, they better hope so, if the prosecutors play these.”
“Yes, Senator.”
Gannon looked at Craddock, “So, now I suppose you and your team believe we should be doing something, too? Now that this Kate woman has shared her recordings with us? Why couldn’t she just have kept it in house?
Why didn’t she go to her IG?”
“Well, as our team explained to the Committee before, she didn’t feel that she could trust the DOD IG to investigate her report confidentially and fairly.”
“Oh, shit, yes. The IG again.”
Gannon shook his head and commented, “So far the trial has been covered in the press, but in a limited way. Everyone is always interested in what SU officers are up to, but the press and public sentiment seem to be favoring Bennett. He screwed up, but it was an honest mistake. If what’s in these recordings gets out, that’s not going to be good. For anyone.”
Gannon leaned forward with his arms folded on the table and continued, “The reporters will dig and dig and then dig again until they can report some monumental cover up. That’s not going to look good for the SU on top of the negative stuff that’s come out during the past several years. He looked at his minority party colleagues present and said, “You all probably would love the political theater, but do you really want it to spotlight the failings of the Presidentially-appointed IG? That is, the one your President appointed?”
Hank Ryder, the ranking minority member on the Committee, shook his head and said, “No, we don’t want to thump the IG, but I don’t think anyone has a real choice here. He didn’t just drop the ball, he refused to touch it when it was handed to him. This stuff will leak, and the press will attack. One of the first questions they’ll ask is why the IG didn’t pursue the case, whether someone counseled him not to do so. If the press doesn’t focus on the conspiracy angle, they’ll want to know whether he was simply so stupid, so clueless, so lazy, or so self-serving that he didn’t want to investigate. We will have to do something, either way.”
Ryder scanned the faces of all the members present and said, “Some elements of the public will applaud what Bennett did and say the SU should have more guys like him. But many others will say the IG oversight we put in place simply wasn’t adequate. They will expect us to enact legislation to ‘fix’ the IG and the SU, so that we don’t have any more Bennetts.”
Gannon snorted, “Yeah, but just until there’s another terrorist attack and we need those Bennetts. Why couldn’t the IG just have done his fucking job and kept this within the SU? They have rules. They could have brought this guy before an accountability board and dumped him out on his ass.”
Craddock spoke up, “The SU gave Bennett multiple awards for bravery and service. It wouldn’t have looked good if the IG went after him. And the IG probably didn’t want to take on Pentagon and SU leadership, which would have happened during the investigations process. After all, SU managers created the climate in which Bennett got those awards. If the IG went after Bennett, he might also end up going after some SU leaders.”
Craddock paused and then added, “But that said, it’s not clear whether the IG actually understood the implications of the case. Ineptitude is always a possibility.”
Gannon shook his head, “So the man’s a blithering pussy.” He looked over at the minority party Senator from Minnesota, Katlyn Smith. “Sorry, but he is.”
She replied, “Well he certainly has let a mess steep. She glared at Gannon and continued, “As my daughter always tells me, ‘girls have more guts—and a lot more brains.’ Maybe the President should have chosen a woman to run the IG.”
Ryder shook his head at his colleagues and responded, “Look, as I said before, I don’t think there’s much we can do here but acknowledge the mess. We have to get out front and let the public know we’re looking into the case. We have to let them know we will work to ensure that similar offenders are deterred and, if they aren’t, that such allegations are investigated immediately and responded to appropriately.”
Gannon growled, “So we throw your President’s IG to the wolves? Don’t you think your minority colleagues will just love that?”
Ryder smiled. “No. Nor will the President. But our President has pushed for accountability and integrity during his administration. This will be just one more example of his willingness to make tough choices.” He smiled more broadly as Gannon shook his head and rolled his eyes. Ryder then said, “Besides, when we tell him and our Congressional colleagues about your willingness to press for SU reforms—based upon previous problems as well as the excesses displayed in this case—they might just make an effort at bipartisanship.”
Smith added, “Well, maybe a limited effort.”
Gannon rolled his eyes and breathed out, “Oh shit, shit, shit. Fuck shit.”
Craddock nodded, “Yes, sir. Shall my team prepare some press releases for your review?”
Gannon leaned back in his chair, sighed, and said, “I suppose so.”
- 48 -
Maddie tried Scott’s cell phone number again as she drove toward Herndon. Still no answer, but, even though the traffic on the toll road wasn’t too bad, she didn’t want to risk texting him. She’d left a message for him on his voicemail and would get back with him later tonight after she’d met with Assadullah. He had called her about an hour before and asked to meet with the prosecutors as he had information that might be relevant to the Bennett case. When she had questioned him about the nature of the information, Assadullah had explained that he was the brother of one of the victims Bennett had killed and that he had gone to the school immediately after the raid to collect and bring home the body of his dead brother, Haji. Maddie had asked Assadullah whether she could meet with him that evening and had offered, given the lateness of the hour, to come to him rather than have him drive to Alexandria. Assadullah had agreed to Maddie’s request and provided her his address in Herndon.
- 49 -
Kate watched Scott as he jotted down notes from their dinner conversation. She had arrived right at 8:15 and met him coming into the restaurant. The hostess had seated them in the back with no other patrons close by. They’d talked trivialities until after the waiter brought their meal. Then, as they ate, Scott had explained what he and Maddie had in mind regarding Kate’s testimony and using the recordings. Kate had agreed to the prosecutors’ plan but told Scott about the second recording she had made during her Friday night dinner with Sean. Kate described what was on the recording and said she had brought it with her. She offered to let Scott listen after dinner, provided their section of the restaurant remained deserted. Otherwise, he and Maddie could listen later. Scott had looked approving and eager, and he’d asked Kate some questions, which she’d answered in detail. He’d pushed his plate of grilled pork chops to one side and grabbed his pad and pen to take down her responses. As he finished his notes, Kate forked up another bite of her stuffed salmon and took a sip of her wine. She hadn’t eaten much lately, but, having made her decision to help the prosecutors, she was hungry.
Scott put aside his notepad, recapped his pen, and looked up at Kate. “Thank you. This should help us. I know doing all this is difficult for you.”
Kate nodded. “Yes. I’ll probably lose my job, at a minimum.”
Scott studied her face. “Why did you decide to come to us? I know Maddie can be persuasive, but you seem much less hesitant, much less anxious, frankly, than when you talked with Maddie and me on Sunday. Has something changed?”
Kate looked at Scott. “Hmm. You’re not a prosecutor for nothing are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You do seem to pick up on clues, nuances.”
He gave a short laugh. “Not always. But you seem more relaxed. And you’re eating your dinner. On Sunday, you just mashed Maddie’s famous banana muffins. Which, though disgustingly healthy, are actually pretty tasty.” Scott looked down and pulled his plate back in front of him. “Speaking of tasty, I think I’ll finish my dinner. It’s good.”
Kate smiled. “My salmon is, too. Plus, I guess I am more relaxed now that I’ve made my decision to help you. Not just to testify if called, but to actually try to help you.”
Scott nodded, “So what’s changed? Besides that you made your decision.”
Kate looked at Scott closely. She saw a good looking
, nicely dressed, forty-something, successful lawyer. She also noticed dark circles under his eyes, lines around his eyes and mouth, and no wedding ring. He’d been at the office on Sunday, and he was free to meet her for dinner this evening. Plus he was eating all his dinner, not just picking at it like someone who’s got food in his refrigerator at home and someone to share it with. Kate guessed he was a workaholic and probably somewhat lonely. Scott also seemed pretty nice, especially for a prosecutor. He’d listened carefully to her on Sunday and this evening. Even now he was waiting patiently for her response. She thought she could trust him. And she’d already made her decision to give him and Maddie the second recording and to testify.
Kate took a sip of her water and answered, “What’s changed? I guess I decided to go with my conscience. To get off the moral fence. Everyone has a view of what’s right, what’s wrong. I questioned for a long time whether I was the outlier. But I guess I’ve decided to go with what I believe is the honest thing to do. And that’s to give you the recordings and testify about what I know.”
“I see. Did anything in particular cause you to jump off that fence?”
“Sheesh. You really are the prosecutor, aren’t you?”
“Sorry, but yes.”
“Okay. You’ll probably find out soon enough. A couple of days ago, in the courtroom after the trial recessed for lunch, I met the brother—his name is Assadullah—of one of the Afghan boys that Sean killed. I’ve had several conversations with Assadullah since then. He told me about his brother, Haji, what he was like. He wasn’t a terrorist. He wasn’t evil or an animal. He was just a schoolboy. He bled red. A human being, like the rest of us.” Kate paused for a few seconds then said, “For Sean, what he did—the killings—they were just sport. But they were wrong. And I think that, if I don’t help you, my heart will go as dark as Sean’s.”
Scott had stopped eating and was watching Kate closely. He had his lawyer look on again and didn’t interrupt.