by Robin Mahle
And as he stood inside the home with only a few lights burning, he considered the idea that perhaps he wasn’t alone. That they could well be watching him now. “You’re starting to sound like Merrick.” It was hard to miss Lacy’s propensity for paranoia. Maybe she was right to feel that way—probably was right. But he couldn’t let his own feelings turn. It was reckless and dangerous. No. They didn’t want Janz to talk and killed him when they thought he might reveal something important.
He knew about Ford now. That was a start. But what else was there? What was so important that they killed a former CIA officer? Not that these people, whoever these people were, hadn’t done it before. After all, Colburn was dead. He’d suspected it had been Yang’s people, and still believed that, but had no evidence to offer up. And with Turner gone too. People in the know were dropping like flies.
It occurred to him in that moment that if Hicks was right, and the place had been cleared out before they’d arrived, there could be some evidence to that effect. Axell walked upstairs and began searching the home for files, papers, anything that would help him piece this together. He’d hoped that his file and whoever authorized his cover, or backstop as Hicks called it, would be here somewhere. Sometimes, only one or two people would know of an agent’s cover, and if something happened and the agent was exposed, the file would be destroyed. The agent disowned. Happened all the time. It was part of the job. So he again wondered if Janz had kept his true identity hidden somewhere in this house. Papers that would prove Matthew Greiner wasn’t real, and in that, he hoped he might find his handler.
In the quiet of his room and in the black of night, Will’s cell phone illuminated and droned on his bedside table. He reached for it and immediately answered. “Caison here.”
“It’s Fraser. I’m outside. Can I come in?”
Will sat up, his feet flat on the floor. “What? You’re here?”
“Yeah, man. Can you let me in or what? It’s raining like hell out here.”
“I’ll be right down.” He ended the call and pulled on jogging pants and a t-shirt that were wadded up on the floor next to his bed. The first thought was that Lacy was in trouble or danger, or a combination thereof. Agent Adam Fraser worked in the Washington Field Office in D.C. And Will’s team at Headquarters was asked to assist in the Turner investigation to rule out a terror attack, or retaliation, as the case might have been. But for him to show up now, unannounced and in the middle of the night, brought to mind that she had been hurt or worse. Why this occurred to him, he couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was because she was still a federal employee and worked for the Bureau and Headquarters didn’t generally get involved in city murders. Still, his mind could wander all night with terrible thoughts. Right now, he needed to see Fraser for himself.
He buzzed to let him in through the foyer downstairs and now spotted Fraser walking quickly toward him.
“Hey, man, I’m sorry it’s so late. We need to talk.”
“Yeah, okay. Come in.” He closed the door after Fraser entered. “You want something to drink?”
“Water, thanks.”
Will padded into the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of water. “You picked a hell of a night to show up.”
“You’re telling me. It’s like friggin Armageddon out there with that rain.” Fraser opened the bottle and tossed back half of it in about ten seconds. “Listen, you know how we got that surveillance footage from the building across the street with the suspected shooter?”
“Yeah. I thought it wasn’t good enough to give us a positive ID.”
“It wasn’t. But,” he raised an index finger for emphasis, “I just reviewed additional footage from the ATM across the street. Seems our guy walked by there on his way to and from the scene.”
“And?”
“We aren’t one hundred percent certain, but markers match your recent vic, Casper Janz.”
“What? No. That can’t be. I’m sure he was in Beijing at the time. Or had come back. Shit, I can’t remember now. I’d have to ask Axell.” Will knitted his brow. “Really? I mean, are you pretty damn sure?”
“Similar build. Similar height. And to be honest with you man, who the hell else could it have been? Janz makes the most sense. Targeting Wendell Turner because he might say something about Yang. It’s plausible, right?”
“Yeah. I guess it is. The guy’s dead now. We’ll never know if it was him or not.”
“That’s not entirely true. I’ve got a team scouring the rest of the area for any additional surveillance, so I can track where he came from and when. We got cameras all over the place downtown. We’ll find him on another one. I’m sure of it.”
“So if it’s him, then what?”
“I say it gives us reason to bring in Yang, don’t you think? The guy worked for him, after all. CIA and all that. He was in Beijing. I mean, shit, how much more intel do you need to put two and two together?” Fraser studied Will. “Why don’t you look happy about this?”
“It’s good news. Something’s better than nothing.”
“That’s what I thought. And I figured, given all we been through, you’d want to be the first to know. Hell, I haven’t even told my ASAC yet. I came straight here. But I feel like an asshole now.”
“No, man. I just need to get my head around this.” Will walked back into the kitchen. “Sit down. I’ll get us a drink and we can chew on this some more. Because if what you think is true, then we need to get Axell involved. He met with the guy. Knew his real identity.”
“Okay. I’m not sure I get your point here.”
“Because. Look, I just need to be sure Axell’s not tangled up in this somehow.”
“Why the hell would you think that?”
“A little bird whispered something in my ear that I can’t seem to shake.”
Chapter 16
The secretary of state found himself inside the Oval Office more regularly in the past few months than at any time since his appointment. And today’s visit was prompted by the phone call he’d received in the early hours of the morning. With mounting worries, he waited for the president to excuse his chief of staff before beginning, “I appreciate you clearing your schedule for me, Mr. President.”
“Of course. I understand you have some growing concerns about our situation with Dalian.”
“Yes, sir. Concerns—to say the least.”
The president took his seat on the sofa across from the secretary. “Then by all means, fill me in.”
“I was briefed by the CIA and FBI directors that additional resources were requested by the task force as a result of their recent unmasking of Casper Janz, who was acquainted with Agent Axell in a previous life. And who, incidentally, was murdered yesterday in the early hours of the morning.”
“Janz was murdered?”
“He was.”
“And he knew Agent Axell?” The president didn’t wait for a reply. “Why am I only now hearing about this? Do you have any idea what this could mean?”
“I’m sorry for any delay in getting to you, however, I felt it necessary to be briefed by the directors and understand where the task force is headed with this latest development.”
“And what is your assessment now? This could expose all we’ve put in place.”
“Yes, sir. That’s why I came as soon as I had viable options to present to you.” The secretary retrieved a folder tucked inside his laptop bag. “We’ve made it possible for the discovery of additional surveillance footage in regard to the Turner investigation. That footage, as I was informed, was shown to an agent at the Washington Field Office who has direct contact with a task force operative. Now, we think it will be enough to change the course of the investigation, pointing it toward Janz and possibly derail further inquiries into him. This will buy us some time.”
“How much time?”
“I can’t say for sure. A few days, possibly.”
“Then we’ll need to be ready. Is Yang under protection at the moment?”
“Not b
y us. By his own people, yes. I believe he will be safe until we can get him back to Beijing to prepare. I can keep Agent Axell and his team occupied in the short term. He ordered a sweep of Janz’ house but found nothing. I confirmed that myself.”
“I certainly hope so. It was a careless oversight on the director’s behalf not to realize Axell had personally known Janz. If it had been discovered sooner, we would likely be having a very different discussion right now.”
“I agree with you. And I believe the diversion will be effective—in the short term.”
“Fine. Do what you need to do but keep on the schedule. And keep Yang in line. Remind him of his ultimate goal. You say jump, he’d better ask how high.” The president stood.
“Understood, sir.”
Axell was the last to arrive. He marched inside toward the others who were viewing the additional surveillance footage Fraser had discovered. “Is this it?”
Lacy turned to him. “CCTV from near the courthouse at the ATM. Yes. Here, I got you some coffee.” She handed him the cup.
“Thanks. It was a late night for all of us, by the sounds of it.” He sipped on it while watching the images on the screen. “Caison, Fraser dropped this by last night?”
“He came by my house around 1am after he viewed it himself, and handed it off to a few of his team. I got my hands on a copy of it first thing this morning. He’s pretty confident that man is Matthew Greiner, AKA Casper Janz.”
Axell leaned in for a closer look. “Any confirmation from facial recognition?”
“No. He’s running it through this morning. Still tough to see a face, but look at the build. Matches Janz. And, who else would have the motivation to take out Turner?”
“Yeah, well, Janz is dead.”
Lacy regarded Axell with some unease. “If it is Janz, wouldn’t it be a good thing to know for sure? He worked for Yang. Fingers would start to point at Yang himself.” She hopped off the corner of Aaron’s desk. “I wanted to wait for you to arrive before bringing this up, but Aaron came across something last night too that could solidify our case against Dalian and Yang.” She looked to him and nodded. “This was your find.”
“Right.” Aaron began to relay the information about SynDyn and Yang and the one variable that seemed to tie everything together, Casper Janz. “Sounds like Janz might have had his hand in a whole lot of different pies.”
“The only way that would’ve happened was if he had help from someone behind the scenes.” Axell eyed the team. “It’s time we move forward with the goals of this task force. And that is to follow the money to Dalian and Malcolm Ford. This footage doesn’t help us out with either of those things, unfortunately. I’m not saying it doesn’t matter. It does. But I think what Aaron discovered, that’s where we should be looking right now.”
Lacy held Axell’s gaze. “This all links to the one thing we’re working on, and that’s Dalian Company. One way or another. You can’t dispute that.”
“I’m not disputing it. A former CIA agent was gunned down right in front of me and I have no idea why or who did it. I don’t know if I’m being watched or if any of you are. I apologize if I seem curt, but we can’t afford to divert from our goal and I feel as though that’s all that’s been happening. Diversion after diversion and we’re losing sight of our target.” He stopped for a moment and appeared to temper his response. “Hunter, what you’ve got is good. Better than good. But, have you found Ford? Does he work for SynDyn? Who is he?”
“I was inside FinCen and discovered the form filed on SynDyn. I haven’t seen any transactions regarding money going from Ford-slash-SynDyn to Dalian. I’ll keep working on it.”
“Okay. Caison, I need you to do some recon at Yang’s house. I need to know who’s coming and going. I want you there tonight. Get a team together and get it done. You already said you have the additional resources from Mobley—use them.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Lacy, I need you to come with me.” He already began to walk away. “Now.”
She eyed her partners and set her coffee down. “Guess I’d better go.” Lacy was embarrassed and angered by the way Axell had spoken to her. He might have been her superior, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t be respected. This was not Trevor Axell. Something had him rattled.
As they made their way into the parking lot, Lacy began, “You mind telling me what that was about back there?”
He opened the car door and slipped inside, waiting for her to join him. “There are things going on here that I think are meant to distract us and I need to know why and who the order came from.”
“We’re all trying to do our jobs, Trevor. The way you were with the guys and me, particularly me—it wasn’t right.”
He pulled onto the street. “I’m sorry, Lacy. I’m just starting to feel like someone’s dangling a carrot in front of us. Janz was killed and I’m not seeing a whole hell of a lot of concern on the part of my bosses. We found nothing in his home. And now this CCTV footage magically surfaces.” He glanced at her. “This isn’t adding up for me.”
“All signs point to Janz working for the enemy—for Yang. Former front man for SynDyn, right-hand to Yang, ensuring the flow of money from this Malcolm Ford.”
“That’s what they’re making it seem like. But I’m not so sure. That’s why I wanted you to come with me this morning. We’re going to see a friend who you’ll remember. She might be able to shed light in this rabbit hole we’re in.”
“Then I’ll take this opportunity to ask a question, since it’s just us. Are you pissed I talked to Agent Delgado the other day?”
“No. Well, maybe a little. Look, I know I’ve been cagey. I know I kept pertinent information from you and the team. I did it because I thought it was in your best interest. Right or wrong, I just want to protect my team and do what we’re supposed to be doing. But now, I feel as though there are outside influences. Like someone’s working against us.”
“I went to him because I was concerned too, about something else.”
He eyed her briefly before peering back again at the road ahead. “Why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind, Lacy. I know something’s bothering you. And I don’t think for one minute you’d have gone to Delgado without knowing exactly the purpose for your visit.”
“This surveillance footage that’s suddenly appeared. Everyone seems to think the man resembles Casper Janz. But I’m not so sure.” She swallowed down the lump in her throat. “Trevor, I have to ask—because I know what losing Keith did to you. That morning, the morning Turner was killed—you were supposed to meet us ahead of time, before the trial started. And you showed up after Turner was shot. I have to know—where were you? Where was Aaron?”
“Do you think I killed him?”
“I’m just asking where you were. Cell signals were down. Aaron said he was home. I believe him. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have been backup for you. I’m sorry. I’m probably way out of line, but you get a feeling something’s not right. Well, so do I.”
“I had every reason to kill him. That’s for damn sure.”
“You still believe he had a part in the Meeks’ death. And Keith’s too?”
“Come on, Lacy. You’re not that naïve. Not after all you’ve been through.”
“You’re right. I’m not. Because I see you’re deflecting right now. Reason or not, Turner is dead.”
“I was in a meeting. It ran long. And as far as Hunter is concerned, you know him better than I do. I guess you’ll have to decide if you trust him. And me, for that matter.” He turned right into a strip plaza. “We’re meeting her in there. The coffee shop.”
It wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough. But there were other pressing matters that needed addressing. Lacy wanted to believe him and was afraid not to.
Axell pulled open the door and held it for Lacy to enter. The quiet coffee shop was outside of D.C. where there were fewer concerns of prying eyes. Axell had traversed the route well enough to shake any tails they might have
had and felt confident they were alone.
“Thank you for meeting us, Elizabeth.” Axell offered his hand. “You remember Lacy Merrick.”
“It’s very nice to see you again,” Lacy replied.
“Pleasure. Please sit down. I took the liberty of ordering you both coffees. I didn’t know how you took them, but there’s sugar and creamer over there.”
“Thank you. This is fine.” Axell took a drink. “You know why I asked you here?”
“I do.” After taking a sip, she continued. “I share your concern after Janz’s murder. I believe this creates a good many complications I don’t think the higher-ups intended on.”
“Higher-ups?” Lacy asked.
“Let me ask you something, Lacy. Since you’ve joined this covert task force, which by the way, I’m not even supposed to know about but through some mutual friends, I’ve learned of recently. How much help have you been given by those in charge?”
“You mean the directors?”
“Yes. Partly. But also the administration. It was my understanding the president wanted regular briefings.”
“That was my understanding too and I honestly have no idea how involved he’s been.”
“For a man who wishes to understand why the attack happened and how best to prevent another, he seems a little out of touch, wouldn’t you say?”
“As I said, I’m not privy to that information. I just try to do my job, which also still involves my work at the Bureau.”
She smirked. “Exactly my point. Why are you not on this task force full time? Why is it so secretive, even inside the intelligence community itself?”
“I don’t think I can answer that. Except to say I believed our safety was a top concern for the president. No one was to know what we were working on in the event China or other foreign governments attempted a similar act.”