CHAPTER ONE #2
“We can do this. We can put an end to the 93rd. Look, the dog testing thing is just the beginning. I’ve read what Chastain’s planning, and it’s bad.
It’s really, really bad. But if we reveal everything, the CIA will pull out.
They’ll abandon it. Chastain and his ideas will go away, and the CIA will wash all of this under the rug. ”
“Yeah, including my husband.”
“Not if we do this right. Not if we attach his name to the exposure. They’re not vindictive. It’s just business. Killing someone in the press for exposing bad practices is bad business.”
Faith could think of a dozen ways David could have a plausibly deniable “accident,” but this informant’s tone was beginning to crack through her fear. He sounded like he was telling the truth. He sounded earnest. Stupid but earnest.
But stupid. “Listen, I admire that both of you want to put an end to this, but whatever you’re planning, I guarantee you it’s going to fail. You are both in so far over your heads you’ve forgotten what the sun looks like.”
“I know exactly what the sun looks like,” David replied. Apparently, he had taken the phone back from his new friend. “And I know what it’s like to see its light die in an innocent creature’s eyes.”
“How wonderfully poetic. I can’t wait to hear all about it when you come home, which you’re going to do right now.”
“No. I’m seeing this through. Just like you’re seeing your investigative career through. Just like you can’t stop. You told me once that you’d understand if I had to leave because you couldn’t stop. Well… shit. I’ll… I’ll under—”
“I’m not leaving,” Faith said softly. “I just wish…”
She let her words trail off. There was nothing she could say that she hadn’t said a dozen times already, nothing that could happen to David that could frighten him more than being run off the road and nearly murdered by that CIA agent-slash-Marine acting on orders from the head of the 93rd Testing Brigade.
If he was determined to see this through, then there was nothing Faith could do to stop him.
“I love you,” she finally said. “I love you so much. I don’t agree with what you’re doing, but if you’re committed to it, then I… will just have to put up with it.”
David laughed. His voice was thick with emotion when he replied, “I love you too, Faith. Don’t worry. The good guys always win in the end.”
Faith’s heart broke at his earnestness. Her sweet, wonderful, kind, lovely husband who so truly believed in good and right that he actually believed that last sentence. She sniffed and bit her lip to keep from sobbing. “Okay. Be safe. Please.”
“I will. Tell Turk I say hi.”
Turk barked in response, then whined into the phone.
“Hey, buddy,” David said. “Daddy’s gonna be fine. I’ll see you in a little bit, okay?”
Turk whined some more and laid his head on Faith’s shoulder. Faith reached up and stroked his fur, blinking back the tears streaming down his face. “I love you, David.”
But he had already hung up.
Faith called Michael immediately. When he answered, she said, “I found him.”
“You found him? Where?”
“I don’t know exactly. He said the man who kidnapped him is our informant, the one who emailed David the list of names.”
“What?”
“I know, just listen. I talked to the informant too. They both seem sincere. Stupid, but sincere.”
“Where are they?” Michael pressed.
“They said they’re at the records center for the 93rd Testing Brigade. I think David mentioned it was in Oklahoma somewhere.”
“Yeah, the CIA had a facility out there. I’ll call my buddy in the NSA and figure out exactly where. You want me to go get him?”
She paused a moment. “Um…” What if it was Turk? She sighed. “Don’t stop him unless you have to. Just keep an eye on him, and if he needs help, or if he’s just in too much danger, then you can pull him out.”
Michael was silent for a while. Part of Faith hoped he would talk her out of this, tell her she was being foolish, that he should rescue David immediately and bring him home where he belonged.
Instead, he said, “All right. I can do that.”
She slumped, but she didn’t change her mind. “Thank you.”
“So, he’s really gonna do it, huh? He’s going to go head-to-head with the CIA.”
“Yeah. Looks that way.”
“Damn. Can’t say a part of me isn’t impressed.”
A wan smile crossed Faith’s face. “He’s nothing if he’s not brave.
“Bold, one might say.”
Faith chuckled softly. “Thank you, Michael.”
“Should I pick you up?”
She nodded. “Yes. Actually, no. I’ll meet you at headquarters. David doesn’t want me to come after him, but considering everything, I think I need to.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Michael said. “Let’s not meet at headquarters, though. It’s a zoo there. I’ll meet you at the café we like in Stafford.”
Faith nodded again. “Sounds good. I’ll drop Jessica off at her car and head there.”
“I can come with you guys,” Jessica said. “I’ll help.”
Faith shook her head. She appreciated the offer, but Jessica was a young agent with a promising career ahead of her.
Faith’s career as a field agent was likely over after this.
Michael didn’t have ambitions past SAC, and he had connections in multiple government agencies to help him get past the fallout they were about to bring down on themselves.
Most importantly, she and Michael had well over a decade of experience putting their lives in extreme danger. Jessica had very little of that experience.
She could still be of use, though. “I want you to manage things on the home front for me,” Faith said. “Run interference with Smythe and the media. Make sure the vultures descend elsewhere.”
Jessica nodded. She looked disappointed, but she didn’t argue. “All right.”
“I’ll see you soon, Faith.”
Faith put the car in gear, backed onto the road, and headed back to Quantico. Jessica placed her hand back on her shoulder and offered her an encouraging smile. “This is good news. David is all right.”
Faith nodded, but it didn’t feel like good news to her. It felt like foreshadowing, like David was about to enter a burning building, and Faith was about to watch him never come out.