Renegade (Trackers #2)

Chapter Eleven

RAVEN

Miguel lapsed into silence as we drove to Mark Evans’ house in Sherman Oaks. My stomach growled and I realized we hadn’t stopped to eat anything all day. It had been a ridiculously crazy day, starting off with our meeting with Mr. Aston to our encounter with the dark, dangerous stranger who’d scared the life out of me. If it hadn’t been important to meet with Mark Evans while he was willing, I would have insisted on going through a drive-through to pick up burgers or something equally as awful for our bodies, just to fill the void.

As it turned out, Mark Evans lived in a townhouse on a quiet street in a nicer part of the San Fernando Valley. He let us in, greeting us with a warm smile, and I couldn’t help but size him up in comparison to his son, Jarrett. He was a tall man with striking light blue eyes, and in fit shape for a man in his sixties. He wore casual well-worn jeans and a plaid flannel shirt. The inside of the roomy first floor, smelled good and was decorated in warm autumn colors with tasteful art on the walls. I was only slightly surprised to see an R.C. Gorman print hanging over the fireplace which blazed with a warm fire. He offered us a seat on the couch near it, and I was grateful. Even in Southern California, February was cold in the evening.

“Thank you for seeing us on such short notice,” Miguel said as Mark sank into a padded club chair across from us.

“I’m more than happy to meet Jarrett’s friends,” Mark replied. His face was neutral and I found it hard to believe all the things Miguel had told me about the CIA when I took in this unassuming and friendly man. He was big and had no doubt held a powerful political position in the CIA as the Associate Director of Military Affairs, but he had kind eyes, which told me a lot about him. He looked at Miguel. “He tells me you’re ex Special Forces, son. I also served in the Corps.”

Miguel nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Mark…please.” He smiled. “Neither of us are active-duty Marines anymore.”

I glanced at Miguel and watched the hint of a smile curl the corner of his mouth. “But we both know there’s no such thing as an ex-Marine, sir.”

Mark nodded. “That’s true.” He leaned back in his chair. “How can I help you? If it’s in my power to do so, I will, though Jarrett told me very little over the phone.”

“I should probably start at the beginning, sir,” Miguel replied. “I’m going to assume that you were active during the most recent engagements in the Middle East.”

I noticed he ignored Mark’s request to call him by his first name and it made me smile inside, knowing that there was a protocol when it came to these things, regardless of Mark’s insistence otherwise.

“Yes, go on,” Mark said, darting a glance at me which spoke volumes.

“As you know, the majority of our ops are still classified, so I won’t go into detail for Raven’s sake.” Miguel glanced at me, and I nodded in understanding.

“Yes,” Mark said as we looked back at him.

“If I may make the assumption that you still have access to classified ops, then you’ll be able to access some details we weren’t privy to at the time of our missions.”

“Miguel, I think there are very few things about that period of time that I don’t already know. Chances are, I was the one who provided intelligence for most of your missions.”

I could feel Miguel visibly relax beside me and it made my entire body flood with relief. Without this valuable resource, it was impossible to imagine being able to confirm any of our suspicions. I brought my attention back to Mark when he continued talking.

“Why don’t you tell me as much as you can without disclosing anything classified, Miguel.”

“Thank you, sir.” Miguel started with the disappearance of John Sutter during a sandstorm, not mentioning the location of the op or the base, even though thanks to Judy, I’d already guessed. He then backtracked and told him about our current case with the ruby, our old case with the Mulberry diamond, Sutter’s sudden reappearance at the cantina after eleven years, and our dangerous encounter with the mysterious, dark man in the stairwell of McNulty’s building. He even told him about the booby-trapped phone which had Mark’s eyes widening, the first visible sign of alarm crossing his features. Mark had been leaning forward, elbows on knees, fingers entwined as he listened with intent to every word Miguel told him. When he finally stopped talking, Mark leaned back in his chair. He was frowning, looking distressingly upset about what he’d been told about the guy in the stairwell.

“I’ll need that phone, Miguel.”

“What are you going to do with it?” I asked abruptly. When they both turned to me, I sank back into the couch, feeling stupid for blurting out the question. When Mark answered calmly, I felt kind of silly.

“Well, first, I’m going to see if it’s actually an explosive device,” he said. “That’s easy enough. Then, I’ll check to see who made it.” He glanced at Miguel. “I assume you know how I’d do that.”

Miguel shot me a look before looking back at him. Surprisingly, he smiled as he nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s easy enough to tell if it’s a common CIA method of setting a booby trap or if it’s foreign, but more difficult to decipher where it came from or who made it.”

Mark nodded. “I’ll get Mac McCallahan’s help with that. He’s very good with things that blow up.”

My eyes widened as I looked over at Miguel. “Did you know that?”

Miguel shrugged. “All Spec Ops forces are trained in explosives and bomb-making techniques. Some of us are better at it than others and specialize in it. Sutter was the explosives expert on our team, so if this guy is working with him somehow, you can bet it was Sutter who rigged it…assuming there’s really a booby trap in that phone.” He looked back at Mark. “I’m not convinced there is.”

“Neither am I, though, there very well might be,” the older man said. “But even if Sutter was recruited by the CIA over there, I doubt he’d want to hurt another man on his team.” He narrowed his eyes at Miguel. “Unless there’s a chance he somehow blames you for leaving him behind when you abandoned the search or…holds some other more… personal grudge?”

Miguel shook his head frantically. “No way would John ever endanger my life or any others on our team. Though I’m not sure he was picked up by the CIA and somehow convinced to join them back then, I am a 100 percent positive he didn’t expect to find me at the restaurant when he showed up.”

“At the Sagebrush Cantina?”

“Yes, that’s right. I saw his face. He was shocked as soon as he recognized me.” He glanced over at me before turning back to Mark. “And if he was following Raven, he definitely didn’t know I was his partner or that we were the two recovery agents hired to find the pigeon’s blood ruby which is missing from the Flores estate.”

Mark nodded thoughtfully. “Is there some reason you think he might have been picked up by the CIA operating out of that base? He might very well have been captured by insurgents, although I probably would have been informed of that if it happened as you well know.”

I thought he knew more than he was saying even though his expression was as relaxed as before. When Miguel stiffened beside me, I knew he felt it too.

“Sir, you probably were aware that a Force Recon Marine was lost out there at that time,” Miguel said flatly. “You would have been briefed by the operatives on base, assuming information traveled all the way up the line to you.” I could hear the edge of anger in Miguel’s voice as he tried not to sound snide. I was also aware that the two of them were dancing around what was really being said here. You know about John’s disappearance and how hard we hunted for him, so don’t act stupid. It was like Miguel had said it out loud.

Mark frowned deeply. “What I knew or didn’t know isn’t relevant here, son. What’s important is that I can help you, which is why you came to me. I still have friends—good friends —in the Company…and elsewhere.” The edginess in his response wasn’t lost on me either.

His words seemed to suck all the air out of Miguel as he sighed and deflated next to me. “Yes, sir,” he said as his gaze dropped to the floor. When he looked up, I recognized the worried look in his expression. “There’s something else we have to tell you and you’re not going to like it.” I knew he’d been debating whether to tell him of the results of Judy’s search, even though we’d discussed telling him everything. I prayed he would tell him because I felt it might be the only way he’d be moved to contact his friends in high places. As much as he said he wanted to help, maybe Miguel was right about all CIA operatives being complete and total assholes.

“Go on, Miguel,” Mark said.

“We suspect there were a rogue group of CIA agents working either at or around the base at the same time our team leader, John Sutter, disappeared.”

“Okay…I may be persuaded to your way of thinking but why don’t you tell me why you have these suspicions,” Mark said.

I held my breath, feeling only slightly better that he didn’t stand up and kick us out of his house at the very thought that men who worked with the agency could possibly be capable of such a thing.

“We know that at least one operative on base sent a message—presumably to another operative—stating that Sutter had been picked up,” Miguel said.

Mark instantly frowned, sitting forward in his chair. “How do you know this?”

“We read it,” Miguel said.

“What?” Mark’s confusion was obvious from his expression. “How? Operatives’ communications are encrypted.”

“Our office administrator found it after breaking through encrypted communications in Langley’s system,” I said.

“I’m…sorry?” Mark said. He stood and took two steps across the room before stopping dead in his tracks. His back was to us, but I could easily read the tenseness in his frame. He lowered his head and took a deep breath before running a hand agitatedly through his gray hair. When he turned back to us, his expression was dark, teeth clenched. He walked back over and sank into his chair. “Tell me everything. Don’t leave a single thing out.”

Miguel sat forward. He glanced at me and then back at Mark. “Judy Mendez was Raven’s assistant at the insurance company where he worked as a recovery agent before he left there to open our new venture. He brought Judy with him. She has several functions in our office including being a damned good skip tracer. She’s incredibly skilled with finding people on the dark web and wherever she has to help locate fugitives. I just—” He glanced at me again, gesturing between us before looking back at Mark. “We didn’t know how good she was at hacking until today.”

“You’re telling me that this employee of yours hacked into Langley and exposed a rogue CIA operation?”

“Yes, sir,” Miguel said, sitting back. “We didn’t ask her to do that,” he rushed to add. “I should emphasize this now. The only reason we’re telling you this here and now is because if she was able to do it, others can too and since it’s a matter of national security, we took the chance that coming to you with it, would be the best thing.”

Mark was still frowning deeply. He ran a big hand over his face before looking back at us. “You do know that she…well, fuck, all of you, can go to jail for that, right? That she’s broken a ton of laws here? That if anyone knew who did this, the Federal government would come after you with all they had?”

I nodded as Miguel replied to him. “Yes, sir. But I felt it best to be completely truthful with you.”

Mark nodded, gaping at us both. He frowned long and hard at Miguel before transferring his intensely angry glare at me. “You two…I swear to God, if it wasn’t for the fact that you came to me with this, I would have demanded that you be taken into custody right now.” He looked at me and waved his hand. “You and your friend, Judy, might find it very uncomfortable sitting in a Federal prison cell for decades, but you—” He eyed up Miguel. “You’d most likely be tried for espionage.”

I gulped. “Miguel didn’t know what Judy was doing,” I blurted. “I don’t even think Judy knew what she was doing. She said she started looking into John Sutter to see what connections he had to people in the Middle East and then she came across an easter egg planted inside Langley’s website. Once she realized that the list of coordinates she found corresponded to CIA operatives on base—”

“Oh, my God!” Mark said. He stood and held out his hand in a stop gesture. “Stop telling me this. I don’t really want to know all the details about the hack, although I really should give the woman a medal for being the dumbest person on the planet.”

“She’s not dumb!” I shouted, shooting to my feet. “Judy is brilliant and kind and would never put America’s security at risk for us or anyone. She loves our country.”

“Raven,” Miguel warned.

I rounded on him. “No! You know she’s kind and decent. She’s one of the best people out there.” I turned back to Mark. “Of course, she knew she was hacking into Langley, sir. But with her skills, she could have done some real evil over the years and she never has. It’s not in her. It took her all afternoon just to hack through your stupid encryptions, but she did it to help Miguel.”

When Mark opened his mouth to respond, I held up my hand. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t mean to insult you in your own house, but I’m not finished.” I half turned and pointed at Miguel. “ That man sacrificed everything for his country.” I looked at Mark, on a roll now that I’d built up quite a head of steam. “He has seen men he loved die in action. He has seen the aftereffects from their service, and he has bad dreams of his own. He doesn’t—can’t tell me about why he sometimes wakes up sweaty with panic in the middle of the night or has days when his thoughts are so dark he can barely function. He loves his country, sir. Judy does too.”

I was shaking when strong arms suddenly encircled me. I hadn’t even realized that Miguel had gotten off the couch behind me. He kissed the side of my head, murmuring that he loved me and that I should calm down. His whispered words helped to slow my racing heart and take away some of the blind rage and panic I’d been feeling.

“Raven…Miguel…please sit down,” Mark said, as I watched him slide back into his own chair across from us. We both returned to the couch. “No one is going to jail if I can help it.” He frowned. “I might not be able to protect you if the hack is traced however.”

“Judy made it look like Russia was at fault,” I said, still a little wary about telling him anything more.

Mark stared at me open-mouthed for a few seconds before he looked at his feet, shaking his head. When his shoulders started shaking as well, it took me a few seconds to realize he was actually laughing. He grinned at me, then Miguel. “You two.” He threw his head back and laughed some more before waving a hand at the air between us. “Okay, tell me the rest. What were the contents of the message Judy found?”

“It read “Sandstorm obtained. Headed to outpost. Will make first contact at 0930,” Miguel replied.

Mark’s eyes widened. He thought for a second before repeating the message out loud. “It sounds like Sandstorm was code for someone and the cadence of the message is definitely one an operative would use.” He cocked his head, thinking. “But we never had an operative called Sandstorm and we never had an outpost near that base.” He looked at Miguel. “Your team leader was reported as missing at 1420 hours correct?”

It was Miguel’s turn to look surprised as he nodded. “Yes, sir. We were sent out before light and pinned down by the sandstorm at about 0830. The storm lasted about twenty minutes and when it let up, John got out to check for damage to the Humvee. Unfortunately, the storm started up again before he could access the vehicle. When it finally ended, we searched for several hours. By the time we radioed into base that he was lost, it was 1420. We were ordered back and were forced to abandon the search.”

“So, you knew about Sutter’s disappearance?” I asked, frowning at Mark.

“Son, it was a very big war, but I got up to the minute updates on all Special Forces troops and all overseas operations. Of course I knew.”

“And there was never an operation you knew of where someone named Sandstorm was ‘obtained’?” Miguel asked, using air quotes.

“No, Miguel. There was no such operation and no such codename that I was made aware of.” Mark sat back and rubbed his face with both hands before looking up at the ceiling. When he sat forward again, he looked sad. “There were reports of mysterious troop losses that we couldn’t attribute to known insurgent or enemy activities around that base as I’m sure you’re aware.”

“Yes, sir,” Miguel said. “In at least one case, a forward scouting patrol consisting of three men disappeared. We were—” He glanced over at me before looking at Mark.

Mark nodded. “Go on. That mission is no longer classified.”

Miguel visibly relaxed as he glanced at me. “Our unit was sent out to find them and when we did, they were all dead.” He glanced over at Mark. “There was no evidence of a firefight which we found unusual. Instead, they were lying face down, shot execution style, in the back of the head. It was a very…Western method of execution.” When he finished, he looked like he’d eaten something distasteful. I remembered reading reports of Westerners being beheaded and I shivered in disgust.

Mark sighed. “We suspected someone on base had done it but as you know, it was a very big base. Our operatives were never able to identify who’d done it.”

“So, you’re saying that someone on the base killed our own people?” I asked. “That’s horrible.”

“Yes, it’s murder,” Miguel said gruffly. His features were dark.

“The more you tell me, the more I’m starting to believe your theory about John Sutter. If he saw something, maybe he was taken by a rogue faction,” Mark said, looking just as haunted as Miguel. “It doesn’t mean they were CIA, but we all know that operatives handled distribution of money to warlords out there. It’s been widely reported in the media that a great deal of it never made it to whom it was intended.”

“So, you’re saying the CIA stole it?” I asked. “That they had some secret outpost set up near the base where they kept what they stole.”

“Possibly,” Mark said. “But it’s just as likely that they gave it to someone with the expectation that they would turn over information, and then were disappointed when those surly individuals didn’t keep their end of the bargain.”

“Maybe they used jewels in some of their transactions?” Miguel said.

My heart began to race as I looked over at him. He nodded back at me. “Gold and jewels were often used with certain warlords,” he said. “Lots of them were uneducated tribal leaders who had no use for paper which is how they described U.S. currency.”

“That’s accurate. A lot of dealings involved jewels, mostly diamonds, but other jewels as well,” Mark said. “And gold, of course.”

“So, there might have been a rogue CIA faction operating out there that never turned over a cache of jewels to a warlord,” I said. “Maybe, they killed the warlord to shut them up and kept the jewels for themselves?” I stared back at Mark. “Maybe John somehow saw them, so they kidnapped him to cover it up. That’s a possibility, right?”

Mark pursed his lips, not answering for a long time. When he finally sat back in his chair, he shrugged. “I don’t know.”

I paused before voicing my next thought. “Miguel?”

He looked over at me. “Yes?”

I reached out and covered his hand with my own, not caring that Mark was there. “Do you think John would resist if they captured him?”

His eyes held a deep sadness. He nodded. “Yes.”

“Then…he was tortured until he became compliant.” I knew the answer before it ever left his lips.

“It’s entirely possible, Raven.”