“Then you are too. It was your mission. The Army doesn’t pick fall guys, Colonel. They just shoot everybody.”
“And you think I don’t know that, you son of a bitch? You have screwed me beyond belief.”
“Did you find Tim Simons from Nebraska?”
“The CIA never heard of him. And they knew nothing of our mission in Afghanistan. Dead end.”
“So he was a fake.”
“If he ever even existed outside your own mind. Now where the hell is the money, Wingo?”
“I told you it was taken. Hell, you know it was.”
“All I know is the team that was supposed to meet up with you was slaughtered. The truck with the money is gone. You’re AWOL. Are you really surprised by what we’re thinking about you?”
“If I had taken it, why would I keep calling you?”
“CYA.”
“If I had a billion euros why would I have to cover my ass with anything?”
“If you’re truly innocent, come in. I told you that last time you called. We can sit down and evaluate what happened.”
“You mean you’ll bury me in some remote location somewhere so the truth never comes out.”
“We’re Americans. We don’t make other Americans disappear.”
“If the facts of this mission come out, you know as well as I do what will happen. It’ll be felt not just at the Pentagon, but also across the river on Pennsylvania Avenue. I know where those euros were going and what they were going to be used for and so do you. And the last place they’ll want to see it is on the front pages of the Post or the Times.”
“Are you actually threatening me and by extension your government? What do you want, more money? Wasn’t the billion enough? Or do you blackmail for the fun of it?”
“I’m just explaining to you why me coming in doesn’t work. Even if I did nothing wrong, and I didn’t, it won’t matter. I’ll never see the light of day again.”
“Then why did you volunteer for the mission in the first place?”
“To serve my country. I didn’t focus that much on the details of it not going according to plan. But now I’ve had the time to do just that.”
“If you didn’t steal the money, who did?”
“I’m going to find out. Count on it.”
He clicked off and was about to put the phone back into his pocket when it vibrated. He read through the email that had just been deposited there.
Tyler had written him back.
CHAPTER
36
SEAN PUSHED THE MATTRESS OFF and gave a shuddering cough as the smoke engulfed them. “Are you okay?” he asked Michelle.
“Thanks to you,” she said. “But we need to get out of here before we’re not okay.” She coughed, too.
They climbed out of the tub and staggered over to where the door was, or used to be. There were gaping holes in the wall between the bathroom and the front room. As Sean stepped to the doorway he immediately drew back. Michelle crowded behind him and then drew back, too.
The front bedroom was essentially gone. The edge of the bathroom was now the front of the room. An inch in front of them was a long drop to what remained of the unit on the first floor. They were cut off from the rest of the balcony so they couldn’t escape that way. And flames were creeping up the walls of the bathroom, and the smoke was growing thicker.
Michelle peered over the edge.