CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“We don’t take contracts for hits,” said Luke, standing from the table. “I’m sorry, but you’ve wasted your time coming here.”

“Luke, please,” said Isaac. “I need your help. I need to know who is helping Brockman, and I have a few ideas.”

“Let me guess,” said Garr. “Your wife is at the top of the list.”

The room was so quiet you could hear the waitstaff out front helping patrons in the main dining room. It nearly echoed for them, and everyone stayed perfectly still, making Isaac all the more uncomfortable.

“I. I think. I think my wife could have been feeding him information, but I can’t prove it.”

“How? The first thing every military man learns is that we don’t speak about missions, meetings, nothing with anyone, not even our wives.”

“My wife has a degree in information technology. She worked at the Pentagon, which is where we met. Her job was tracking the money used in terrorist organizations.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” growled Eric. “What happened to her? Why did she leave the Pentagon?”

“She resigned, but I learned later that her entire division was under suspicion of funneling money back to the terrorists. They suspected that there was a small group of sympathizers, and so they made the decision to turn over the entire staff. Marilu didn’t want to get caught up in the scandal, so she resigned. She was seven months pregnant at the time anyway, and we both knew she was going to stay at home after the baby was born.”

“AJ?” frowned Luke, never looking away from Isaac.

“More than twenty-seven billion dollars was unaccounted for. It was removed from the bank accounts directly related to terrorist activity, but it seems the Pentagon, NSA, and CIA lost track of it after that.”

“Twenty-seven billion,” whispered Cam. “Do you know how much damage your wife and brother-in-law could be doing with that kind of money?”

“I’m well aware,” said Isaac, slowly turning his coffee cup. “I need to use the restroom.” His aide stood to follow him, and he held up his hand. Luke watched him walk out and head in the direction of the bathroom and looked at the aide.

“What do you know?”

“I know that he wouldn’t betray his country for any amount of money or any number of weapons.”

“What’s the wife like?” The young man stared at Luke, then the other men in the room.

“I’m not sure that’s polite conversation befitting of an officer. Sir.”

“I see. So, she’s a real piece of work is what you’re telling me.”

“Admiral Harris is one of the kindest, most considerate leaders I’ve ever worked for. He’s intelligent. He’s in touch with the men and women who work for him. He knows the names of every child that any of us have. His wife came to a meet and greet a few years ago while we were stationed in Norfolk. This was right before his current appointment.”

“And?” asked Hex.

“And, she showed up in a dress that would have made a stripper blush. You could tell that he was embarrassed. She was drunk, smelled like men’s cologne, and couldn’t remember if she’d called the babysitter or not. That was strange because their kids were teenagers then, old enough to be alone. I sent a junior officer to their home, where he found the kids watching television. They’re not babies, but they shouldn’t have been left alone without anyone supervising.”

“Did she say anything?” asked Luke.

“She kept saying that she knew she was embarrassing him, but she needed to be there for him. I’ve been around a lot of drunk women, but this woman was a professional. She was hitting on the single officers, speaking disparagingly to the wives and girlfriends. It was pretty terrible to watch. I finally offered to take her home.”

“What happened?”

“She tried to get in my pants. I locked her in the back seat, where she passed out. I carried her in the house, put her in bed, and stayed to wait for the Admiral.”

“What favor does he owe the brother-in-law?” asked Cam.

“His wife, Marilu, hit on the wrong man while they were stationed in Japan. The Admiral and his brother-in-law had been out, and when they returned, the man was beating the hell out of her. Isaac, the Admiral, went crazy. Killed the man with his bare hands. Brockman told the MPs that he came home first and found the man attacking his sister and that he killed him.”

“I see. So, the brother-in-law takes the fall for a justified killing and holds it over his head.”

“That’s about it, sirs,” said the aide.

“Where is he?” asked Garr, looking around. “Shit.”

Garr, Sebastian, and AJ ran toward the restrooms, leaving the others still in the room. Cam heard the tap of his comms.

“I think we need to call the MPs. Harris has been murdered.”