Chapter 52

CHAPTER 52

T HAT NIGHT EMERSON CAMPBELL ARRIVED, alone, at the hotel where Devine was staying. Devine met him in Campbell’s room.

The burly former general hadn’t even bothered to unpack his bag. He poured out a Scotch from the minibar and offered one to Devine, who accepted.

“I don’t like this, soldier. Crap is going on here that I don’t understand. And I can’t effectively fight what I can’t see or understand.”

“Do you have any inkling as to what is going on, sir?”

Campbell collapsed into a chair. “I’m not sure it amounts to even an inkling .”

“Well, I just found out that the three witnesses against Danny Glass that were killed were low-level thugs of his. And they were each murdered via long-range sniper shots. One, in fact, shot from a distance that maybe only three people in the world could make.”

“Yes, I heard something to that effect, too.”

“They knew right where the men were and when they would be on the move. Intel and manpower like that are not cheap and even those with money will find it hard to get.”

“Agreed,” said Campbell.

“So tell me what you do know.”

Campbell took a sip of his drink and gazed at Devine with a look that was difficult to interpret.

Campbell said, “Ever wonder why they tried to kill you on that train over in Europe?”

“What?” said Devine. He had not been expecting this query.

“The girl on the train and her crew? They were hired to take you out. Why?”

“I assumed it was because I had disrupted the plans of some pretty dangerous people. That was why I was sent to Switzerland in the first place. You know that.”

“I assumed that, too, Devine.” Campbell took another sip of his drink and then sat up straight and pointed his gaze to the floor for a moment. “But assumptions are not facts. It was an elaborate hit planned on that train. A team of three. They had details as to your itinerary, the very train car you would be on. They bought out the tickets in that car so they would have you alone.”

“Because the mole in your office fed all that info to them. We thought it was Dawn Schuman, but turned out she was just being used as a red herring.”

“That was also an assumption, not a fact.”

“But Dawn Schuman disappeared. That is a fact. She’s probably dead.”

“Actually, the fact is, Dawn Schuman was found very much alive in a drunk tank in Pennsylvania, right before I was wheels up here.”

“A drunk tank?”

“I told you she had financial and marital problems. Apparently they became too much for her and she just lost it. Went on a bender. Drugs, drinks, more drugs, more drinks, until the police outside Harrisburg picked her up passed out behind a bar and called us after finding her credentials.”

“Okay, she wasn’t a red herring. But we still don’t know who the mole is.”

“I don’t think we had a mole, Devine.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The mission we were doing in Switzerland was a joint op. We worked closely with another agency. The CIA, specifically.”

“That’s right. I had a point of contact there. He helped me a lot.”

“Yeah. He did. I also think, probably under orders, that he almost helped you into an early grave.”

The two men stared at each other across the width of brown commercial carpet.

“Why would a sister agency throw me under the bus for pulling off a successful mission in which they were involved and desired the outcome that occurred?”

“We’re not in the Army anymore, Devine. Straightforward, logical thinking will get you nowhere fast. I learned that soon after taking this job. And you’re going to have to learn it, too, if you want to survive.”

“Then you’re going to need to spell it out because I’m not making the connections.”

“The worlds of espionage and geopolitics are enormously complicated. 3D chess–complicated, like the girl on the train said. Translation for lunch-pail guys like you and me? It’s screwed up beyond belief, where everyone stabs everyone else in the back and allegiances change so fast, allies can become enemies and vice versa in a single day.”

“So our allies, our sister agencies, you mean?”

“One minute they like us, the next minute parts of us are expendable if another, better opportunity comes along.”

“Are you telling me that components of our government will intentionally sacrifice one of their own to get an advantage elsewhere?”

“I will tell you what I believe happened after you wrapped up your mission in Geneva.”

“I’m listening,” said Devine, who felt his muscles knotting.

“The target was a foreign state-sponsored organization that had as one of its stated goals the hacking and destruction of some of this country’s most sensitive databases. The effect would have been calamitous, across multiple fronts. You stopped that, almost singlehandedly, with your being able to winnow your way into the confidence of two critical members of that organization, and get out to us vital information that allowed us to head off what they were planning. Then you were able to exit the situation with well-aimed bullets and a mindset to survive that is probably your chief asset.”

“Okay, what else?” said Devine tightly.

“And then, it seems that an enemy suddenly became a friend with something of value to provide this nation. Only a ‘saving face’ olive branch was needed before the deal could be consummated.”

“And I was the olive branch?” said Devine.

“Yes, apparently you were.”

“And how did they know my recent itinerary?”

“We have been hacked, Devine. Hacked by our own side.”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

Campbell seemed to have anticipated this question. “I’ve already taken this up with the highest levels of government. I laid it all out there, left nothing on the battlefield.”

“And?”

“And they have not responded, nor does it seem likely that they will.”

“So what now?”

“We will finish this mission, together . And then I am tendering my resignation. I’m done playing the bullshit games. And I’m too old and I have too much damn dignity to wrestle with pigs in the mud.”

“Yes, sir.”