“I know what they’re planning to do, Robie. I know that they killed him. He was a good, decent guy trying to do the right thing. He could have been enjoying his golden years, but he was trying to bring this scum down. He failed. I won’t.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“You had your proof on that train, didn’t you? And what Meenan told you? Don’t tell me you need more convincing.”
“It’s complicated.”
“So you’re telling me you wouldn’t have taken out these guys given the chance? You know that if our agency knew what was up we would have been sent to put a bullet in their brains. I just didn’t wait for orders.”
“We have a justice system complete with judges and jails for things like that.”
“You really think these guys would have been charged, much less convicted? There is no way a case could have been made against them. No way.”
“Which means under our system they’re presumed innocent.”
“So was everybody we’ve ever pulled the trigger on, because none of them had the benefit of a trial.”
Robie sat back. She was absolutely right about that, he thought. “Talk to me about Judge Kent. He served in Vietnam. What else?”
“I researched him. Got into databases I probably shouldn’t have.”
“And found what?”
“He used to be one of us, way back when. After he left the Army.”
Robie slowly nodded. “That makes sense, actually.”
She continued, “And now he’s a judge on FISC.”
“Who else besides Jacobs and Gelder?”
“Congressman Howard Decker was also on the list.”
“Chairman of House Intelligence?”
“Yep.”
“Is that the complete list?”
“No. There’s somebody else out there. Somebody else that even Joe couldn’t uncover. But he’s out there. I know he is. And he’s highly placed, Robie. Very highly placed.”
“At least three levels above our boy West?”
“I think far more than three. I think that was just a subterfuge.”
“Roger the Dodger.”
“Could be. I certainly don’t think it was Gelder. He’s dead but this thing is still going full torque.”
Robie looked up ahead. “So let’s see what we can do.”
Reel drove off.
CHAPTER
64
EVAN TUCKER LOOKED ACROSS THE width of his substantial desk at the man who sat there. Blue Man’s features were haggard, his clothes not nearly as impeccable as they normally were.
“It’s a total screwup,” snapped Tucker.
“Yes, it is,” agreed Blue Man.
“Robie’s gone off the grid. Reel is God knows where. This event on the train? I know it has something to do with them. I know it.”
“There’s no proof of that. No witnesses.”
“Because they killed them,” exclaimed Tucker.
“There is something else going on here,” said Blue Man.
“Care to elaborate?”
“DiCarlo?”
“Old news.”
“I disagree. Firmly.”
Tucker sat up in his chair. There was a dangerous look in his eyes. “Based on what?”
“Based on reality, sir.”
“You’re very close to insubordination, Roger.”
“That of course is not my intent. But we still don’t know about DiCarlo. Why DHS took her. Why she was attacked. We do know that Robie saved her life. That’s very telling.”
“And he believed that Jessica Reel was also there. Also saving DiCarlo’s life.”
“Correct.”
“But we only have his word for that.”
“The shell casings were there, sir. You can’t get around that.”
Tucker put his fingers together and stared at the ceiling. “Reel murdered two of my people. Robie has gone underground. For all we know he’s teamed up with the woman somehow. That means he’s joined a killer.”
“They’re both killers, sir. They’ve been deployed in the field for years eliminating people.”
“Killing our enemies, Roger.”
“Maybe they’re still killing our enemies.”
“You will never get me to believe that Jim Gelder had been turned. It would have been impossible. He wasn’t even in the field, for Godsakes. No one could have approached him.”
“I don’t think anything is impossible. We’ve certainly seen that. Men in high office who ruined careers and jeopardized legacies because of an affair.”
“I’m very happily married, thank you very much.”
“I’m sure, sir.”
“And we’re not talking about a romp in the bed here. How could Jacobs and Gelder have been turned? Do you have an ounce of proof?”
Blue Man shrugged. “The only proof I have is that I know Will Robie. And I would trust him with my life. I have trusted him with my life. He has sacrificed everything for his country.”
“Do you know what you’re saying?” Tucker’s voice became strident. “If they could turn the number two man in our agency?”
“I clearly understand the ramifications, sir. And any such conspiracy may have spread farther than here. In fact, it may have its origins elsewhere.”
“Robie conveyed to me some of what DiCarlo told him.”
“I would be glad to hear it.”
“Missing personnel. Missing equipment. And money. Missions that never should have been. I have people looking into it. But it’s troubling, Roger. Very troubling.”
“It would be nice to hear it from DiCarlo’s lips,” said Blue Man.
Tucker fiddled with a pen on his desk and made no response.
“Sir?” said Blue Man. “Did you hear what I said?”
“It would be nice to hear it from DiCarlo’s lips,” Tucker said. “The problem is she took a turn for the worse, is currently in an induced coma, and is not expected to live.” He glanced up. “I pushed hard at DHS and finally got them to listen to me. We’re now providing her protection along with the FBI. Had to go all the way to the APNSA.”
“Gus Whitcomb?”
Tucker nodded. “Whitcomb sided with me. Which meant the president sided with me. Which means I saw Janet.” He paused. “It really doesn’t look good for her, Roger.”
Blue Man looked down. “I’m very sorry to hear that. She’s been a great asset to the agency.”
“We seem to be running out of those.”
“A few bad apples, nothing more.”
“I do care about my people, you know.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tucker doodled on a piece of paper. “Where do you think Robie is?”
“He’s certainly gone off the grid.” Blue Man paused, seeming to choose his next words with great care. “In fact, I was the one who encouraged him to do so.”
Tucker looked stunned. “You advised him to go off the grid?”
“I also advised him to find Jessica Reel.”
“His initial task was to do that,” snapped Tucker.
“I didn’t mean to find and kill her. I meant to find her and thank her for saving his life. And then to team up.”
Tucker’s face turned red and a vein near his temple swelled. “Team up to do what exactly?” he barked.
“To do what needs to be done. There is something going on, sir. I realized it even before Jacobs and Gelder were killed. We’ve had infiltrations at the agency. Robie knew this too. Trusted people who it turned out were working against us.”
“We believed that to be isolated. And resolved, Roger,” Tucker said in a calmer tone.
“Maybe we believed wrong.”
“So you’re saying it’s something more than a few bad apples, then?”
“Conspiracies are supposed to be relegated to popular fiction. However, it’s surprising and a little distressing how often they show up in real life.”