Chapter 19
Crash Site
Bodrum, Turkey
Katie trudged up a hillside toward the makeshift parking area.
The sun had been intense all day, and after hours of clambering over cratered hills and rutted scrubland, she was dead-tired.
She’d been going nonstop since daybreak, the only diversion being when she and Conza had gone back to the hotel for a working lunch.
As she made the final turn on the path, the parking lot came into view.
She saw a half dozen people standing in a rough circle, an impromptu meeting of some kind.
She recognized Conza and Colonel Carter.
The rest were Turkish military personnel, the most senior of which she had been introduced to earlier—Colonel Demir was the commander of the on-scene Turkish contingent.
As she approached, Demir was engaged in an animated phone conversation, while the others looked on expectantly.
Katie sided up to Conza. “Hey, JC. Did I miss something?”
He replied in a low voice, “A small hitch in our joint investigation. The Turks are technically running this show, so Colonel Carter shared his suspicions with them about the possibility of sabotage. Demir is in a lather about it, says he wants to get proof ASAP.”
“What kind of proof?”
“Not sure. Carter tried to explain that if it was the kind of attack we suspect, spoofing, it could be pretty technical and might take time to verify. He told Demir we’ve got people working on it, but that didn’t seem to convince him.
Demir has been making phone calls and everybody’s waiting to see what comes of it. ”
“Okay.”
“What about you?” he asked. “Any fresh intel from our side?”
“Nothing of note. I talked to Bubba, and he confirmed that Kyle’s group is on the job.”
“What exactly is your brother doing over there at the DIA?”
“I don’t know specifics. All I could get out of him was that it’s some kind of experimental AI project tailored for operational intelligence use.” She regarded the other Turks in the crowd and saw that two were wearing flight suits. “Who are those guys?” she asked.
“Helicopter crew that brought the colonel in. There’s a T-70 parked on a road two hills over.”
“What’s a T-70?”
“Basically the same as our Black Hawk—the Turks build them here on license, add a few bells and whistles of their own.”
“I’ve been hearing choppers all day.”
“Yeah, people and equipment coming in, the first bits of wreckage going out.”
Colonel Demir ended his call and pocketed his phone. He announced in solid English, “Headquarters agrees with my assessment. We must do everything possible to investigate this sabotage theory.”
“By what means?” Colonel Carter inquired.
“The local police will begin a search for witnesses. It is possible someone in the area might have seen a suspicious vehicle. Footage from surveillance cameras along nearby roads will also be checked, as well as those from the harbor.”
Katie shrugged, looked at Conza, and whispered, “Not the worst idea I’ve heard today.”
“I’d agree,” he replied in a similar tone.
Switching to Turkish, Demir had a brief back-and-forth with the helicopter crew next to him, then announced, “I am going to send out the helicopter in my command to aid in the search. It will depart immediately.”
Carter asked, “What exactly will they be looking for?”
“If there were terrorists in the area, they will surely have departed. Most escapes would be to the east, so we will focus in that direction. The Ministry of the Interior monitors roads and rail stations, and we will use air and ground assets to investigate activity deemed to be suspicious.”
“We could also be looking for a ship,” Carter said.
“Yes, that will be taken into account. Other helicopters will be deployed to search the coastline, and the Coast Guard will also begin a response.” Demir then added, “If you wish, Colonel, one of your people can join my helicopter crew.”
One of the helicopter pilots said in excellent English, “An extra set of eyes is always helpful.”
Katie saw Carter weigh the idea. It was a gesture of goodwill from an allied service—the kind of gesture that wasn’t easily ignored. He shot a glance toward Katie and Conza, as if looking for help.
Like the Navy SEAL he had been, and would always be, Conza took one step forward. “Sign me up.”
Katie opened her mouth to argue, more out of reflex than protest. No words came.
She didn’t like the idea for a number of reasons.
She thought Conza would be more useful here, and anyway, the whole concept smacked of being a wild-goose chase.
But she knew Conza too well to make those arguments.
He was a born-and-bred operator, hardwired to get in the field and be proactive.
The kind of guy who didn’t drive through life in the right-hand lane.
Jumping into a helicopter to hunt down an enemy?
There would be no stopping him. And who knew, maybe they would actually get a lead.
Demir seemed pleased by Conza’s enthusiasm.
JC looked at her once, and Katie gave him a subtle nod.
He grinned a pirate’s grin, reached into his pocket, and tossed her the keys to the SUV. Moments later, he was introducing himself to the helo crew.
—
Katie watched the Turkish Black Hawk rise into the sky in a blossoming cloud of dust. With its camo paint scheme, the T-70 looked little different from any U.S.
Army Black Hawk. The aircraft lifted into the dusk, rotated eastward, and disappeared behind the hills.
She still had reservations about splitting up with JC, but there had been no practical reason for keeping him grounded. She decided to return to the hotel.
She steered the SUV slowly down the access road—it was in worse shape than ever, having been rutted by heavy equipment all day.
In the passenger seat next to her was Sergeant Thomas, a very large and amiable young man from Colonel Carter’s team.
They chatted to pass the time, mostly exchanging insights about their respective services, and arrived at the hotel as the sun was setting.
Katie went straight to her room and took a long shower. The grime of the day washed away, forming a brown counterclockwise swirl at the drain. Afterward she dressed in civvies, a pair of jeans and a loose cotton shirt. She was set to meet Carter and his staff in the lobby, dinner on the agenda.
She paused at the window and took in a chamber of commerce view.
The hotel was directly on Bodrum Harbor, and the panorama of the marina was spectacular.
There were a few fishing boats and utility scows, but the majority of the slips were occupied by magnificent sailboats.
Each seemed to be unique, handcrafted in polished hardwood, sixty- and seventy-foot yachts available for charter.
With November being on the fringe of the low season, there were hundreds of them riding the slack evening tide.
As captivating as that scene was, Katie invariably found her attention drawn to the harbor’s fringes.
Parked cars, loitering men, idling delivery trucks.
She searched for sounds and movement that didn’t fit in.
She’d felt a similar compulsion in Italy, although it had been less pronounced there, since she’d been quartered on base.
This was the box from which she could never escape.
Katie recalled the subtle nod she’d given Conza earlier, her tacit approval of his helicopter excursion.
It would probably be nothing more than a tour flight, yet they both knew the question of him heading out for a bit of reconnaissance was only half the issue.
The other part involved Katie herself.
It was the never-ending backdrop of her life. Had been for years. Try as she might to ignore it, she could not escape who she was. Or more relevantly, who her father was.
Among the responsibilities held by all service members was that they could never, when off duty, knowingly put themselves at risk.
For most soldiers that translated to not swimming near rip currents or BASE jumping off of buildings.
Reckless behavior could cause injury, potentially depriving the nation of a highly trained warrior.
Katie, however, faced a maddeningly higher bar.
One that forced her to live on an eternal high wire between vigilance and paranoia.
Being a military officer put one in an unknowable degree of jeopardy.
Many never saw combat in their entire careers.
Yet in the last year, Katie had twice found herself caught up in a shooting war.
Neither her parents nor her commander had complained—she’d only been doing her job.
She wondered now if it was happening again.
She was in a dangerous corner of the world, separated from her partner.
And not just any partner. She and Conza had never talked about it directly, but the undercurrent was too obvious to ignore.
John Conza had been tasked to accompany her to Sigonella because he was a former Navy SEAL.
However unofficial, JC was her bodyguard.
She suspected the issue was on Colonel Carter’s mind as well. The way Sergeant Thomas had asked for a ride back to the hotel. The way they all had rooms on the same floor, hers being squarely in the middle.
Coincidence?
Hardly.
Being the President’s daughter was an annoying fact of her life.
Katie, however, also got a vote in the matter. And she was determined that she would never let it hold her back.