Chapter 40
“That was extremely unprofessional,” Kennedy said as soon as the girl had left the room.
“My team, my responsibility,” Synch responded.
“From what I just gathered in that little clusterfuck, it’s going to rain down on both our teams,” Kennedy said. “I would normally discount the words of a teen claiming to be able to reach the White House, but I did watch that press conference this morning.”
Agent Steele entered the room, his face a mask of anger. “I just spoke briefly to Cassie. This interview is postponed until the director gives us a go-ahead.”
“It’s not up to him,” Synch said with a snarl.
“At this facility, it is, but if you would like to call your boss and have him call John Brown, that’s absolutely fine.”
“You cannot interfere with a proper investigation of the IG’s office,” Synch said.
“Call your boss before mine does,” Steele said.
Synch and his two worried looking team members stormed out of the room.
“I warned him, Alice,” Steele said.
“You did. What’s the upshot of this, do you think?”
“Alice, that girl has done more for the Bureau in three weeks than most agents do in their entire careers. This morning, she moved into action before anyone else on that helicopter, and her actions likely saved all of us. That’s not her first time saving lives even this week.
And until this moment, I haven’t seen her even close to this level of anger. ”
“She can really reach the White House?”
“Stormer give her his private cell number. I was there when he did. But I don’t think she’ll pull that trigger yet. It would be out of character. She’s a thinker, a very careful thinker. She also doesn’t go off half-cocked. But if she does go off, it will be full, not half.”
“What do we do?”
“I would carry on with other aspects of your inquiry. Your people didn’t say anything, did they?”
“I did,” Irene said, stepping into the conversation. “But it was to agree with her and advise thinking things through.”
“Okay, that seems good. Agent Carmine is with her. She trusts Rose. Let’s give her time to cool down and brace for impact.”
“What does that mean?” Alice asked.
“It means she won’t knee jerk, but she will turn her lethal intellect loose on the situation, formulate a plan, and then act without hesitation. Her OODA loop is very, very fast. If I was anyone on Synch’s team, I would be creating career contingency plans. Excuse me; I need to brief the director.”
He left and Irene turned to her team lead. “He has to brief the director? Like a terrorist event just occurred?”
“Yeah. Steele is as level-headed as they come,” Alice said.
“Boss, we got an email to the team address from a Major Kai Yarl of Fort Benning,” Brian Osterman said to Kennedy.
“He’s in charge of the simulator, and he sent us Ms. Blake’s T-BOS run results and observations.
I had downloaded them onto a secure tablet so I could review them during the interview before it blew up into a dumpster fire.
Her scores are top one percent. His own note indicates that he wouldn’t hesitate to put her at the controls of an aircraft in an emergency. ”
“So she was the very best plan of action for Agent Simon,” Alice said. “Any word on either pilot’s condition?”
“Simon is stable, awake, and has given a prelim statement. The other pilot is in surgery. We could go interview Simon,” Brian said.
“You go. Take one of the others. Irene, you stay with me. If we get another shot at Ms. Blake, I want you there.”
“You don’t think I fucked it up?”
“You validated her feelings and advised thoughtfulness. From what Steele says, that’s likely the best anyone could have done. And she seems to like military sorts.”
Thirty minutes later, Cassie walked into the inquiry area, water bottle in hand, bag slung over her back. She didn’t say anything but headed right to the interview room. Rose Carmine came along behind her.
Kennedy raised both brows at the agent. “She’s ready to continue,” Carmine said, face blank.
“Excellent,” Synch said, coming from his temp office. “Your presence is not warranted here, Agent.”
“My orders are to stay with Cassie until the director tells me otherwise.”
“The director doesn’t call the shots in this space,” Synch said.
“Actually, I do,” John Brown said from the doorway. “Agent Carmine will be inside with us.”
“Sir…” Synch started to protest, but his phone rang and when he glanced at the screen, he grimaced.
“Answer your boss’s call,” Brown advised. Synch did that, stepping away, free hand gesticulating as he tried to make some point or another.
“She’s good to go?” Alice Kennedy asked Agent Carmine. Irene Roskov was right behind her.
“Yup,” Carmine said, noncommittal, pointing at the open interview room doorway. Thomas Sission and Ivan Peterman stood uncertainly nearby, spreading their attention between their team leader and the director of the FBI.
Finally, Synch hung up, looked off into space for a moment, then came over. “Okay, let’s do it.”
Director Brown was already carrying a chair inside, and when the others got inside, they found him sitting on one side of the room, halfway between Cassie and them. Rose Carmine closed the door behind her and leaned up against the wall behind the interviewers.
“Well, we’re back,” Synch said. “Before we get ready to go, I’d like to apologize for any misunderstandings and hope we can forget about this.”
“No misunderstanding, Agent Synch,” Cassie said in an even tone. “It was deliberate. I’ve replayed it in my mind a dozen times, because I literally can’t forget it. But feel free to replay the recordings. You’ll see.”
“Perhaps we can just finish this,” Synch said.
“Awesome,” Cassie agreed.
“Investigator Kennedy, do you have any input before we continue?” Synch asked.
“Yes, we spoke to Agent Simon and we reviewed Cassie’s simulator runs and spoke to the officer in charge of the simulator at Benning,” Alice said.
“Simon knew a pilot at Benning and had heard Cassie had some training. She previously spoke to the pilot and knew it was much more than just an hour or two. Cassie’s runs are exemplary and Major Yarl indicated that they intend to have you to get fully certified to pilot should you pick the military, Cassie.
He mentioned that everyone feels survivability is the goal, supported by this morning’s example.
In light of this information, and because we have an enormous amount of information that has already been mostly corroborated by both recorders, I am ready to issue a prelim report on the matter.
NTSB will be holding a press conference later this evening.
Cassie, we are done with this round of questions for you.
We may have more and would appreciate your cooperation. ”
“Of course, Ms. Kennedy,” Cassie said.
“So, Agent Synch, the ball is in your court,” Kennedy said, but neither she nor Irene made any movement to leave.
“Would you share your findings?” Synch asked, frowning.
“Simply that the aircraft sustained gunfire, damaging a coolant pump on the right engine, that both pilots were injured beyond their ability to continue to pilot, and Agent Simon made exactly the correct call to employ Ms. Blake’s skills in landing the aircraft.
Said landing was reviewed on video and appeared to be textbook. Well done, Ms. Blake.”
“Thank you,” Cassie said with a little smile.
“I see,” Synch said, frowning even more deeply. He looked at the teen girl for a moment, then sighed. “I didn’t ask before. Did you make your calls, Ms. Blake?”
“I made two calls, Agent Synch. The first one was to my godmother and lasted twenty minutes.”
“Godmother? You have a godmother?”
“I have both a godmother and a godfather. My godfather’s name is Command Sergeant Major of the 75th Ranger Regiment.
Therefore, my godmother is Mrs. Command Sergeant Major of the 75th Rangers.
It was my first call to her since my father died less than a month ago, what with operational security and all that.
She was delighted, angry, and very helpful in providing guidance.
She thinks you, Agent”—Cassie looked at Ivan directly—“are an asshole.”
“What?” Synch shook his head.
“It’s pretty clear,” Irene Roscov said. “Her godfather is the senior non-commissioned officer in the 75th Ranger Regiment. The guy who actually makes the whole thing run. And Cassie spoke to his wife, who would act as the glue to keep the families together.”
“She’s half soldier by osmosis,” Cassie said. “She was hosting some of the other NCO spouses, and so I chatted with some of them by speaker phone. Very supportive. They also think you’re an asshole,” she said to Ivan.
Synch sighed and palmed his face for a moment. “And dare I ask about your second call?”
“President Stormer. He listened and then thanked me for my insights. I think he called you next, sir,” Cassie said to John Brown.
“He did, Cassie. And he had some ideas… orders actually,” John Brown said. “We are handling them now.”
“Orders?” Synch said.
“Need-to-know only.”
Synch stared at the director, blinked furiously a few times, and looked down at his notes. Then he nodded. “Okay. This concludes today’s interview with Cassandra Blake.”