The tall dark-haired man emerged from the SUV a few hours later, a handful of other suited men behind him, and extended a hand to Stillman.
“Lieutenant Stillman,” Agent Ryan Cavanaugh said. “Good to work with you again. I’m up to speed on the report your office sent over.”
Stillman nodded. “You got here fast.”
“Guess access to a jet’s just one of those FBI perks.” Scotty said, approaching them, while casting a long look at Lilly, who was also joining them.
Cavanaugh gave the two a long, uneasy look, particularly at Lilly. “You two okay?”
“Yeah.” Scotty recoiled, but had an amused look on his face, and turned to Lilly again. “Thanks for your concern.”
Cavanaugh looked up at the wrecked motel room. “So are we thinking this Omar Khalid was behind this?”
“We don’t know that yet,” Stillman said, “but we think Ethan Moore was being blackmailed.”
“And now we think the blackmailer decided to shut him up for good?”
“He said somebody threatened his family.” Lilly said. “Somebody didn’t want him talking.”
“The CIA thought Khalid was suspicious enough to have this Jeff Royce guy watch him back in ‘93, then he goes and fakes his death.” Cavanaugh said. “Assuming Ethan was telling the truth, why’d Khalid fake his death if he was innocent?”
Before anyone could answer, they turned to see a car pulled to a stop and out emerged an older, light-haired man, accompanied by a slender forty-something woman, whom Lilly recognized as Bonnie McLaren.
“That’s Jeff old boss at Langley” Scotty said, puzzled, as the two approached them. “Speaking of people gettin’ here fast.”
“Lieutenant Stillman?” The man said with a friendly smile. “Bob Garrison, Director of Special Operations, CIA.”
“A little out of your jurisdiction, Director.” Cavanaugh said, giving Garrison a suspicious look.
Garrison pointed at the FBI agent. “Cavanaugh, isn’t it?” He said as smile looked somewhat more forced. “Anti-terrorism conference in D.C., 2006. We had a… spirited debate on interrogation techniques.”
Cavanaugh gave a condescending smile. “Still not a big fan of torturing suspects.”
Garrison dropped his forced smile. “I didn’t come all this way for an argument.”
“Why are you here?” Stillman asked.
Garrison looked at the others, then back at Stillman. “Can we speak in private?”
Lilly and Scotty rolled their eyes while Cavanaugh frowned. Bonnie simply stood there, looking uncomfortable. After a moment, Stillman nodded and stepped aside with Garrison.
“Cavanaugh was right, Director” Stillman said when they were out of earshot. “You’re a long way from your jurisdiction.”
Garrison sighed. “I want to help however I can. Ethan was one of ours.”
“So was Jeff Royce. It took over a day for my detectives to get five minutes with you to talk about him. Ethan Moore gets killed and you drop everything and get on a plane to Philly before the crime scene’s three hours old?”
Garrison stood there for a moment before responding. “Omar Khalid’s alive.”
Stillman’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know that? Why didn’t you say something to my detectives?”
“I didn’t realize at the time.” Garrison said. “After I talked to your people, I had some questions of my own. I started looking into Ethan’s history. Some of his financial records started raising flags. I started to think maybe Steve Mitchum really wasn’t the dirty agent in that raid, and maybe Ethan was doing more here than checking up on Jeff. If someone wanted to fake their death, a CIA agent could be pretty handy.”
“So you think Omar blackmailed Ethan into helping him disappear?”
Garrison nodded. “It also gives him motive for taking out Ethan once he started talking to the police.” He looked away for a moment. “And for Jeff’s murder.”
Stillman lowered his head slightly, but kept his gaze on Garrison.
“Jeff wasn’t happy about that assignment by the end, but he was enough of a professional to see it through.” Garrison shook his head. “If Jeff was getting too close, Khalid could’ve gotten Ethan to take him out.”
Stillman looked at Garrison for a moment, then nodded evenly. “Makes sense.”
“Then we need to find him.” Garrison said, nodding in agreement. “I’ll see to it everything we have on Omar Khalid is sent to your office, and I mean everything.”
“I appreciate that, Director.”
Garrison smiled and nodded in approval, then left, while Stillman walked back over to when Lilly, Scotty, and Cavanaugh were. Bonnie was already heading off in Garrison’s direction.
“Director Garrison was just telling me how he thinks Khalid blackmailed Ethan Moore into helping him fake his death, getting him to kill Jeff when he found out, and then killing Ethan when he started talking. Makes perfect sense. He did everything but tie it in a bow.” Stillman’s look darkened. “Find out what really happened.”
Lilly looked over towards Bonnie, who looked back at her for a moment, before quickly turning away and following Garrison.
***
“We haven’t been able to get a hold of your mother, Jimmy.” Detective Will Jeffries said, placing the coffee cup on the table in front of Jimmy Royce, “or Steve Mitchum since he left.”
“I don’t know where they could be.” The young man shook his head. “Listen, you have to believe me, I had no idea that Omar guy was alive. Everyone said he died in some boat accident.”
“You were following your dad around,” Jeffries said. “He ever say anything about him that seemed suspicious?”
Jimmy’s eyes narrowed. “Dad didn’t really talk about him, but something happened the last time I saw that guy. It was really weird…”
***
(“The One I Love”)
Sitting on the back porch, Jimmy frowned as the game on his Gameboy continued to chirp. It wasn’t the Super Nintendo game he wanted, but it would have to do until he’d saved up enough to get it.
He looked up as he saw his father walking around the house, and out across the street to Omar’s house. Smiling, Jimmy turned off the Gameboy and slipped around the other side of the house. He’d gotten a lot more careful since that night his dad had caught him.
After sprinting across the street and around the side of Omar’s house, Jimmy crouched down at the corner and peeked into the backyard, where Jeff was walking towards Omar. Omar was grilling a mid-sized fish on a small, circular barbecue and looked up as he saw Jeff approaching.
“Hello, my friend.” Omar said with a smile. “Those fish we caught at the lake are really cooking up nicely.”
Jeff didn’t smile back. “Well enjoy ‘em while you can.”
Omar shrugged. “Well I guess the weather is getting a bit colder.”
“Yeah.” Jeff said dryly. “Listen, Omar, we need to talk.”
“Is something wrong?”
“You could say.” Jeff frowned. “You know who I used to work for.”
Omar just looked at him, confused.
“Well it turns out they still had some work for me.” Jeff’s look darkened. “There was a reason we moved to this neighborhood. There was someone living here, someone the CIA thinks is very dangerous.”
Omar’s eyes widened at this, but he said nothing.
“I need you to come in with me. We have a lot to talk about.”
Omar recoiled slightly, but his feet remained in place. Jeff’s eyes narrowed.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Omar.”
Omar stood in place for a few moment without saying a word. Suddenly, he reached under the barbecue and flipped it over in Jeff’s direction, and bolted to the front yard. Jeff growled slightly, brushing the bits of hot coal off his front before taking off in a run after Omar.
Jimmy hurried around to the front of the house in time to see Jeff emerge from the corner at the other side. Omar was already in his car with the engine running. Jeff continued towards the car, but Omar was backing out before Jeff could get near him. He instinctively reached for something under his jacket, when he looked around and noticed a large number of bystanders on the street, and pulled his hand away.
Jeff only watched as Omar’s car sped off. He stood there for a moment, before he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open.
“Yeah, it’s me.” Jeff said with a sigh. “He panicked and drove off. You already have the plate number.” Jeff paused briefly as the person on the other end said something. “No, it’s all right. Keep everything else on schedule. Set things up with the doc, I’ll find him. We’ll still need someone to access the records though.” Another pause. “Yeah, we can trust her. I was the one who trained her, remember? Just take care of your end, I’ll take care of mine.”
Still hiding at the corner of the house, Jimmy turned away and swallowed…
***
“I never saw Omar again after that.” Jimmy said, shaking his head. “A couple of days later, people were saying he died in an accident with his boat.”
“You never told anyone about this?” Jeffries asked.
Jimmy shrugged. “I didn’t think there was a way to do that without getting in trouble. I almost forgot it ever happened.”
“Any idea who your dad was talking to on the phone?”
Jimmy smiled slightly. “No, but I’m pretty sure I know who he was talking about.”
***
Lilly rapped on the side of the car, pulling the attention of the woman in the back seat away from her laptop.
“Can I help you.” The woman asked, once the window was open.
Lilly gave a friendly smile. “Bonnie McLaren, right?”
“Yes?”
“Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier.” Lilly said, still smiling. “Detective Lilly Rush, Philly Homicide. Mind if it sit down?”
Bonnie glanced down at her laptop, then up at Lilly. “Actually, I need to send–“
“It’ll just take a minute.” Lilly said, putting up a hand.
Bonnie sighed and moved over, before Lilly sat down in the car with her.
“So I hear Jeff trained you when he was still with the CIA.”
“Yeah, he did.” Bonnie said, plainly.
“I was just thinking about everything going on in the world then. Must’ve been an interesting time to start out with CIA.”
Bonnie gave Lilly a cool look. “Not always in good way, but yeah, it was.”
Lilly leaned closer. “Bit of a boys’ club?”
Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Sometimes. Jeff was easy to work with though, good teacher.”
“Probably helped you a lot.”
“Yes.” Bonnie looked at her uneasily.
“So if he ever needed your help, you wanna be able to help him.” Lilly said, innocently.
Bonnie looked at her with something short of a scowl. “What are you getting at?”
“This isn’t the first time you followed Bob Garrison to Philly. We checked records. You were in town that week as well.”
Bonnie leaned back. “And what? You think I did something to him?
Lilly shook her head. “I’m just saying if Jeff ever needed help for a mission, you’d wanna help if you could, and he’d want someone he could trust.”
Bonnie looked away. “I’m a senior analyst now. If anyone found out what–“
“I’m not interested in ruining anyone’s career. I just want to know what Jeff was doing.”
Bonnie closed her eyes for a moment. “He didn’t tell me everything. He said it was safer for me that way…”
***
(“Radio Free Europe”)
Sitting at the booth in the diner, Bonnie sipped her coffee and smiled at Jeff on the other side of the table.
“So how’ve you been the last few months?” Jeff asked.
Bonnie nodded. “Good, really good. I’m actually trying to decide between assignments right now.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I can either stay at Langley or take a job at one of the field offices. I mean there’s some exciting stuff they’re doing in Germany, but I think I’m more likely to get noticed stateside.”
“Well you’re definitely more likely to get brass’ attention at Langley, but in the long run…” Jeff put up a hand. “You know what? I can’t tell you what to do, Bonnie. It’s your career. I’m just gonna say you’re at the point right now that defines what kind of career that’s gonna be, so find something you can live with.”
Bonnie nodded solemnly. “Okay.”
Jeff sighed for a moment.
Bonnie blushed. “Why do I feel like you called me here for more than just career advice?”
Jeff leaned closer. “Bonnie, I’m working on something here and I could really use your help.”
“Working on something? Are you saying you’re still working for–“
“Yeah. I am.”
Bonnie shook her head. “So what have you been doing here all these months?”
“Look, I can’t get into the details right now, but there’s been a bit of a complication. Now the last thing I want to do is jeopardize your career right when it’s starting, but need someone’s help. Someone who’s still in the Company. I’ll understand if–“
“Okay, I’ll do it.” Bonnie said quickly. “Whatever you need.”
Jeff smirked. “I haven’t even told you what it is.”
“I know you.” Bonnie said. “Whatever it is, I know you know what you’re doing.”
“I’m not so sure I do, but thanks.”
“So how can I help?”
Jeff chuckled. “You always were eager to please.”
Bonnie laughed…
***
“So what did he want you to do?” Lilly asked.
Bonnie looked at her for a moment, then sighed. “He had me go to the CIA’s field office here in Philly, and hack into the database for the city Medical Examiner’s office. He had me get him any reports on any males thirty to fifty who’d died in the last couple of days.”
“What did he want with those?”
Bonnie shook her head. “I don’t know. He just said he was looking for someone.”
***
“Still haven’t accounted for all the bomb parts, so some of it might’ve dropped down here.” The short dark-haired man said, leading Scotty and Kat into the first-floor motel room. Directly below Ethan’s room, it now sported a massive hole in the ceiling.
“Be enough to make an ID?” Scotty asked.
The man shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”
Kat gave him a smile. “So, Louie, how’s married life treating you?”
Louie Amante smiled back. “Really good. You know Anna’s mom doesn’t even roll her eyes at me anymore.”
Kat looked at Scotty, amused, then back at Louie. “Glad it’s working for you.”
Louie looked up towards the hole, all the way to the wall. “Let’s see, now the fragment would’ve been blown towards the wall, but didn’t penetrate.” His eyes led down to the floor of the ground-level room. “So then it would’ve fallen down somewhere around here.” He flashed a cool look towards Scotty. “You guys don’t think I did this, right?”
Scotty smirked. “You gotta let that go, man.”
“Yeah right.” Louie said unenthusiastically, as he crouched down under a fallen shelf. “So I hear Rush is taking that job with the Feds.”
“Looks that way.” Scotty said as he and Kat crouched down next to Louie.
“Homicide’s not gonna be the same without her.” Louie said before suddenly letting out a groan.
“What is it?” Kat asked.
“Uhhh… you might wanna tell Frannie I think I just found some more of your vic down here.”
Scotty and Kat both winced at this as Louie wedged himself under a small tent of debris.
“Hang on, I think I got something. Looks like a back-up detonator. I think there might be some C4 still attached to this too.”
“Can we get anything off it?” Kat asked.
“Maybe.” Louie said. “This doesn’t really add up though. All the fragments I’ve found said this was something home-made, like you could build in your garage.”
“Makes sense if the guy’s a fugitive terrorist.” Scotty said.
“Yeah, but they said this guy was a demolitions expert, right? This thing looks like it was slapped together. I’m almost amazed it went off. But there’s wiring here that look like some pro did it. It’s almost like someone trying to make it look amateur.”
“Somebody trying to make it look like someone else’s handiwork.” Kat said.
“Guys?” Louie said.
“So maybe we’re lookin’ at the wrong guy.” Scotty added, not hearing Louie..
“Guys?” Louie repeated. “We uhhh… may have a bit of problem here.”
“What kind of problem?” Kat asked, uneasily.
“There’s a lot more here than I thought.” Louie said, swallowing. “There’s a whole second bomb here, and…”
“And what?” Scotty said, not expecting a good answer.
Louie’s breathing got heavier. “I think it’s still armed.”
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