Chapter 12
Trevor woke to the sound of his phone vibrating.
Glancing at the nightstand clock he blinked and looked at it a second time.
Yes, it was two o’clock in the morning. It was only their second night in Little Creek, but he and Marta had gone to bed at nine thirty Eastern time because they were exhausted.
That first night, their bodies had been on West Coast time, so they had leisurely made love christening the VOQ. This trip was their first time living together.
The phone buzzed again.
Grabbing it off the nightstand where it had been charging, Trevor quietly left their bedroom and took the call in the living room as far away as possible. He’d discovered that Marta was a light sleeper, and he didn’t want to disturb her.
Trevor didn’t recognize the number, but it had a D.C. area code. “Vice Admiral Maddox.”
“Sir, this is Commander Mike Gallagher. I apologize for calling you so late. I was hoping to catch you before you went to bed.”
“Commander Gallagher, it’s two o’clock in the morning and I’m still suffering from jet lag. Since you’re calling this late at night, I take it this call is of great importance.” Trevor yawned.
“Yes, sir it is. I’m thrilled that you’re here on the East Coast. You’re in Little Creek?”
“Yes. What of it?” Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear his head.
“On October thirty first, technically November first, Homeland raided the Halloween party at the pedophile club in D.C. It was almost a mirror image of the one in Los Angeles.”
“Fuck. Who did you find?” Trevor pulled his large hand down his face.
“Just like on the West Coast, several former SEALs working as security, but one has offered us Big Daddy. He swears we’ll all be shocked to find out who is running all these pedophile clubs. He hinted by saying there’s a reason Navy SEALs work security.”
Trevor glanced around the unfamiliar room still trying to orient himself. “All right. When you find out let me know.” He yawned once again, ready to hang up and crawl back in bed and snuggle with Marta.
“Vice Admiral Maddox,” Commander Gallagher pleaded. “The reason for the call is that a former SEAL won’t talk to anyone but you. He claims it’s going to take someone with your stars to take down Big Daddy, who, once again, eluded arrest.”
That piqued Trevor’s interest. “Someone with my stars? What the fuck does that mean?”
“Sir, we don’t know, but he was adamant that he only talk with you.
Kam would very much like you to come to their detention facility tomorrow and talk with this former SEAL.
Homeland has no authority over you, and she really doesn’t want the Secretary of Homeland Security to make a phone call to the CNO requesting your presence. ” That almost sounded like a threat.
“Commander Gallagher, tell your fiancée that I’ll get there sometime tomorrow. Text me the address. Is there some place to land a helicopter? I’m going to see if I can find a fast ride there.” In truth, he didn’t want to spend hours in a car getting back and forth.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll text you the information tomorrow morning.” Relief wove through every word. “Again, I apologize for calling you so late.”
“You’re obviously working this late, too.” Trevor noted.
“Yes, sir. But now I can go home and go to bed. Thank you. Good night.”
Trevor tried to be quiet as possible returning to bed.
“Is everything okay?” Marta mumbled when he moved behind her, spooning.
“I have to run to D.C. tomorrow. Homeland raided a pedophile club up there and there’s a former SEAL who insists on talking to me.
” His arm automatically fell over her middle, his hand falling naturally to her breast. She wiggled her tight little butt against his crotch.
He decided he was getting too damn old; sleep sounded better than sex.
Marta reached back and patted his hip. “Okay. You go talk to him. He used to be one of our boys so he can’t be all bad.”
The next morning, Trevor was able to get a helicopter ride directly to the Homeland detention facility which was located on the Maryland side of D.C.
“Sir, thank you so much for coming,” Commander Gallagher said when he met Trevor at the helicopter pad. “Kam asked me to interrogate the guy after her men got absolutely nowhere with him. She thought since we’d both been trained the same, he might talk to me.”
“Obviously, he did.” Trevor noted that his former Team commanding officer was in uniform. “Did you run his background?”
“Yes, sir. You ran his admirals mast, kicking him out of the Navy and throwing him into the brig for a year. He did six months and got out on good behavior. You’d given him a dishonorable discharge that somehow got changed to a bad conduct discharge.”
That information put Trevor on guard. This man undoubtedly held a grudge. Maybe all he wanted was a face-to-face with him.
“What was he charged with?” Trevor asked as they entered the building.
“A long list of UCMJ violations. Bottom line, peeping Tom. The kicker is, he caught Admiral Abrams, back when he was only a one star, fucking a deployed SEAL lieutenant’s wife. That’s why you had to handle his trial, and probably why he’d gotten the book thrown at him.”
Trevor remembered Marta’s comments about Admiral Abrams. He was such a sleaze bag she’d called him Admiral Asshat. How men like him ever got promoted, Trevor would never know.
Commander Gallagher stopped in front of an interrogation room. “His name is Joseph Rippe. I never promised him that I would get hold of you. I simply told him that I’d see what I could do. I checked on him a few minutes ago when the guards put him in this room. Would you like me to go in with you?”
It only took Trevor a second to decide. “No. I’ve got this.”
“Vice Admiral Maddox,” a female voice called from down the hall.
Director Kam Hood trotted toward him with her hand outstretched.
“Thank you very much for taking time from your busy day to come here. I wouldn’t have asked, but there’s something about this man.
He seems to know so much more than any of the other guards.
We’re hoping he’s going to turn over information that leads us to Big Daddy. ”
Trevor shook her hand then pulled her in for a half hug. “I’m so proud of you, Kam, kicking ass and taking names all across the United States. I’ll do what I can to get as much information out of him as possible.”
“Thank you, sir. We’ll take anything we can get.” She stepped back next to her fiancé in front of the glass and stared at the handsome man in his late twenties cuffed to the table. Even with a two-day old beard, he looked approachable.
Trevor strode through the door but did not sit in the provided chair across from the man he now recognized.
Instead, spread his legs shoulder length apart and crossed his arms over his still powerful chest. He knew he looked formidable.
“Mr. Rippe, I’m here and so are my stars.
Whatever the fuck you have to say to me, you’d better make it fast or I’m walking right back out the door. ”
Rippe tried to stand but was shackled. “Vice Admiral Maddox, thank you for coming. You’re probably not going to believe what I’m about to tell you, but I have proof. You’ll see why it had to be you that I told.”
“Let’s hear it.” Trevor was waiting for a line of bullshit.
Letting out a deep breath, Rippe blurted, “Rear Admiral Finger is Big Daddy.”
It took everything Trevor had, years of interrogation training, not to react.
He wasn’t sure if he believed Joseph Rippe, but something deep inside of him didn’t doubt it.
FX Finger was one of the few senior Navy officers who Trevor disliked.
He’d known him for years and was another high-ranking officer who kept getting promoted without ever really performing his job.
It certainly wasn’t his winning personality either.
More than once he’d wondered, half-jokingly, if Finger had some kind of dirt on an officer more senior than him, or perhaps the chief of Naval operations himself.
“That’s a very serious accusation, Mr. Rippe. Prove it.” This should be interesting.
“They took away my phone. I have pictures and video.” He looked at the mirrored glass.
Trevor gazed that direction, also, and nodded.
“Why would you tell me that Rear Admiral Finger was involved in the sex trade?” Trevor had to determine if it was a lie before they brought his phone.
Perhaps he was trying to get back at Rear Admiral Finger for something that happened while on active duty.
“Because it’s true. He helped me get out of the brig early.
I had to promise to go to work for him, and I did.
I’ve done terrible things, I know, and I’ll have to pay for that, but I want you to bring down his organization.
I want to help.” Rippe didn’t sound like he was lying, but the question still remained, why.
“So, you want to negotiate your punishment?” Trevor needed to get to the bottom of this reversal.
“That would be great but something else is more important.” Rippe stared at the mirrored glass. “I want to talk to the lady from Homeland Security. The one who was on TV.”
The younger man must’ve known that Trevor couldn’t negotiate. When Kam walked into the room, he decided to stay.
“I’m here. What do you want?” Dressed in black utilities and the black boots, her duty belt with a stun gun and a Smith & Wesson forty-cal, strapped to her waist, she exuded power.
Rippe’s back straightened and his gaze held hers.
“When I let you capture me, I had a little girl, blonde pigtails, big blue eyes, the sweetest little thing. Her name is Sigrid. Her English is pretty good.” He smiled just a little.
“I’ve been teaching her, and she watches a lot of Sesame Street and little kids’ programs. She’s just a kid. ” His eyes pleaded.