“How do we hit Vista?”
“Tricky because some of them might have already seen us. So my usual plan of hitting them head-on is probably out.”
“We can establish an op post and see what falls out.”
“Or we can do some digging on this Grant guy. Background, business associates. What he’s done in the past. You said he was former military?”
She nodded. “Doesn’t say where or what on the bio, though.”
“The Pentagon keeps meticulous records. I can check on that discreetly.”
“So, they took the money why?”
“Well, a billion in cash has its own built-in motive, doesn’t it?”
“But what about the blogger that dropped the bombshell on the money being funneled to Muslim rebels?”
“That does make it more complicated, I grant you.”
“The White House is taking it on the chin. I don’t think this is just about stealing money, Sean.”
“Maybe we should follow up with the blogger. What was his name again?”
“George Carlton. Address in Reston. But you said he might be lying low.”
“Well, then we’ll just have to dig deep. But if he’s getting his info from a source, we need to find that source. And the most direct way to do that is to get to Carlton.”
“Do you want me to get Edgar to dig into Grant and Vista?”
“Do you think he will? He got in trouble last time.”
Michelle looked at him. “I think he will if we both ask him.”
“Both of us. Why?”
“He looks up to you, Sean.”
“He’s six foot nine. He doesn’t look up to anyone except NBA centers.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I’m surprised Bunting will let us near him after what happened.”
“Well, we saved Edgar’s life. And Edgar is a very special and good person. He will never forget that.”
Sean glanced out the window. “Okay. Call him and see if he has time to meet. Maybe we can very discreetly involve him in this. But he needs to understand he can leave no trail. I don’t want Bunting jumping down my throat again.”
“Well, we have the president behind us now. That trumps DoD and Peter Bunting, doesn’t it?”
He smiled. “Good point.”
“Let’s just make sure we’re not followed.”
He put the car in drive while Michelle made the call to Edgar.
Two hours later they were staring across at Edgar Roy, who sat opposite them at an outdoor café many miles from where he labored on behalf of the U.S. government.
“We’re sorry about what happened before, Edgar,” began Michelle.