Chapter 62
CHAPTER 62
C AMPBELL ANSWERED THE DOOR AND told Devine that Odom was in her room. Devine introduced Chambers and Davenport, and they all sat down in the small living space off the two bedrooms.
Devine brought Campbell up to date on his conversation with the two CIA officers. Campbell said, “I was actually wondering when someone from your agency would arrive on the scene.”
“We’re not often the cavalry charging in; that’s your usual role,” retorted Chambers.
Devine interjected, “Jackson basically told me that she had been set up while at CIA because she knew of a coverup of a murder of an agent of one of our allies. A murder committed by CIA. So they threw her to the wolves.”
Davenport and Chambers exchanged looks. Davenport said, “That may be what Pru believes, but that is not what happened. In fact, the people behind that murder are currently in prison.”
“What happened to her, then?” asked Chambers.
“She said she spent two years in a prison in whatever country it was.” He looked at them both, but they were apparently not going to tell him a specific place, even if they did know. “From things she hinted at, I believe she was tortured during those two years.”
“I see,” said Davenport, her expression pained.
Campbell said, “You mentioned you thought she was dead. How did you get on to her?”
“Her mother, Molly Jackson, died in a nursing home a short while ago,” explained Davenport. “We had a man posted there, just in case. An old friend showed up to say goodbye. She looked legit so our man did not challenge her. It was only afterward that we discovered the ‘friend’ had undergone emergency surgery and had been hospitalized during that time.” Davenport added wistfully, “Pru really was so very good at disguise.”
“How did you know to come to me?” asked Devine.
Before they could answer, Campbell said, “Let me just spell something out for you both.” Davenport and Chambers turned to him. “I have heard rumors that your agency may have done to Devine what Jackson says was done to her. I’m talking about that hit on Devine on the Milan train.”
“That was not authorized by us,” said Chambers indignantly. “We would have had no reason to do such a thing.”
Davenport looked at Devine. “Your assistance with our joint operation prevented a very dangerous situation from escalating further. You are a valuable asset to this country, as you also proved during the Silkwell matter. The organization you helped take down is no friend of ours. We would never do business with them under any circumstances.”
“I wish I could believe you,” said Devine. “About me and Jackson.”
Davenport and Chambers sat back and looked helplessly at one another.
She said, “We know that Jackson was behind the attempt on your life in Europe and believed that she had followed you out here. By your own words, we now know that is correct. We want to know more about that.”
“She could have killed me several times,” said Devine. “But she didn’t.”
“And why is that, do you think?”
“She sees bigger fish to fry. The people who betrayed her. I hope you recognize yourselves. And she was intrigued by the Danny Glass matter, since it seems clear that he’s cut a deal with the government to walk on the RICO charges, and get his niece in the bargain.”
Campbell added, “The DOJ’s case was considerably weakened by the loss of three witnesses. All killed by world-class snipers with excellent inside intelligence. So excellent, it seems to have come from within the government itself. Maybe a particular part of the government?”
Both he and Devine stared at the two CIA people, both of whom stared right back at them.
Davenport said, “I resent that you would think we had anything to do with that. We do not murder American citizens, even those who have collectively murdered dozens of people.”
“On Glass’s orders,” countered Devine.
“I am not going to waste a minute of my life defending Danny Glass,” retorted Davenport. “He is tough and opportunistic, yes, but still scum in my book. But we often have to deal with scum to catch bigger and more dangerous scum. And while Glass is dangerous, in his own way, he is not dangerous, per se, to this country, as a whole. He’s more of a nuisance.”
“So did you have the men killed?” persisted Devine.
“No,” said Chambers. “I have served my country honorably and occasionally bent the rules in so doing. But I have no interest in going to prison! Are we clear on that?”
Devine glanced at Campbell, who seemed to be appraising both of the CIA officers.
Campbell said, “Okay, we’ll accept that, for now. Keep going. How did you get into bed with Glass?”
Davenport said, “Glass became valuable to us because he did considerable business with people and companies that have close ties to an organization both we and the FBI have been tracking for close on two years now.”
“What organization?”
“They are known as 12/24/65.”
“Christmas Eve, 1965?” asked Campbell.
“Wrong century. It’s 1865 ,” replied Davenport.
“And the date’s significance?” asked Devine.
“It’s the day the Ku Klux Klan was founded by Confederate veterans in Tennessee.”
“The KKK? That’s what we’re talking about? In 2024?” said an incredulous Devine.
Davenport said, “The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or regress, in this case. And FYI, there are now more hate groups and well-organized and -funded militia groups in this country than ever before. Some want to secede from the country. Others want to take over the country and then run it in accordance with their twisted beliefs. And 12/24 is clearly in the latter camp.”
“I’ve never heard of them,” said Campbell, as Devine nodded in agreement.
“Which is part of their plan,” noted Chambers. “Stay under the radar until they’re ready to strike.”
“But Glass had dirt on them?”
“Far more than dirt, Agent Devine. Names, places, plans, account numbers, locations of weapons caches, and texts, emails, phone recordings. The list of members is shocking, truly. Titans of industry, political pundits you see on TV or read online. And there are quite a few who hold both state and federal government positions and who have taken up with these people.” He eyed Campbell. “And there are some soldiers in there as well, high-ranking ones. But we need Glass’s cooperation and testimony to back it all up.”
“Are you sure he’s not just leading you along?” asked Devine.
“Glass already provided some information. It was actually demanded by us and the FBI as a gesture of good faith on his part.” Davenport glanced at Campbell. “And by DHS as well, General Campbell. Your own agency is in on this, too.”
“Well, I’m clearly not in the loop on that,” noted Campbell angrily.
Devine now asked the question he had been waiting to throw out.
“The Odoms? They were murdered. Know anything about that?”
“No,” said Davenport decisively. “We were not involved in that.”
Campbell said, “Isn’t it illegal for CIA to have any operations within the United States?”
“It is illegal,” replied Chambers. “Which is why we don’t do it, officially . But we coordinate with those agencies that can operate domestically. But intel is intel, no matter what country it might fall in.”
Devine said, “Well, somebody murdered the Odoms. And their deaths led to Glass’s getting his shot at being Betsy Odom’s adoptive parent, which I know was on his wish list.”
“CIA had no involvement in that,” said Davenport emphatically. “If he were convicted in the RICO case, he would be looking at several lifetimes in prison. That’s plenty of leverage on our part. We didn’t need any more to make him cooperate. And that’s another reason we wouldn’t have killed those witnesses. It would have weakened the leverage we had over Glass.”
Devine said, “But it would have helped 12/24. The RICO goes away, Glass’s incentive to work with the government goes away, too. That’s good for the terrorists.”
Campbell said, “So maybe they utilized their contacts in government to get the necessary intel to take out all three witnesses at the same time.”
Devine looked at Davenport, who stared back at him. She said, “We had nothing to do with those men being killed.”
“I guess I believe that now.”
“Thank you,” she said curtly. “Now, what can you tell us?”
Devine said, “After meeting with two men, the Odoms got a house and car from an unknown source. And they met with the same two men minutes before their deaths. I think they were given money directly at that meeting. But Betsy was left alive, which makes sense if this was being done on behalf of Glass, so that he could gain custody of her.” He glanced at Davenport. “Did you provide the money?”
“Why would we give these people money?” interjected Chambers.
“As a conduit for Glass. He told me he tried to give them money and other things over the years, but Dwayne Odom hated him and wouldn’t accept any of it. Maybe he came to you for help.”
“As I told you, the quid pro quo with Glass was the dismissal of the RICO charges, Devine,” said Davenport. “Regardless of what happened to those witnesses, that was going to happen. That was the deal. His family mess has nothing to do with us. In fact, I know nothing about it.”
“So why did the FBI take custody of Betsy Odom?”
She replied tersely, “That’s the Bureau’s business. Ask them .”
“I did and got the runaround.”
“Then I would respectfully suggest that you ask again, this time more forcefully.”
Devine studied her stony features while Chambers played with a button on his suit jacket. The thing was, he believed her. And he also believed that whatever the FBI was up to with Betsy Odom, Davenport was not in agreement with. He felt perplexed and uneasy with the thought that the Bureau might be playing him, too.
“What do you want from us?” he finally asked as Campbell nodded.
“We know that you went to Ricketts, Washington,” said Davenport.
Devine perked up at this. “I guess that town is well known to CIA.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Pru Jackson told me that the government owns lots of things, people, and places. And Ricketts has lots of toys it can’t afford. Courtesy of Uncle Sam? Or CIA? And even though I’m sure you’ll deny it, some of your goons kidnapped me and probably would have tortured and then killed me if Pru Jackson hadn’t come to the rescue.”
“And why do you think it was us?” asked Davenport curiously.
“Jackson followed the truck after it picked up the two guys I turned the tables on after they snatched me. She saw them flown out in body bags in a very special helicopter that apparently only DHS and your agency use. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t DHS, so that leaves you. And SPD found a print on one of the shell casings. They ran it through the usual databases, but hit a roadblock on a special database. I’m guessing it’s restricted to members of your agency.”
Davenport shook her head. “Your guess would be wrong, Mr. Devine. We were alerted to the print search when it hit that database. But that database is restricted because it contains the prints of people known to associate with terrorist organizations, both foreign and domestic.”
“So you’re saying you deny access to forensic evidence results sought by the police when they run across really bad guys?” said Devine incredulously. “You just let them walk?”
“In no way do we let them walk . We monitor them to see if we can catch even bigger fish and learn about their ops and intentions. We also will go back to the police in certain instances and inform them discreetly of who they are dealing with. In this particular case, the print hit was on a man named Albert Russell. He is a known member of 12/24, at an enforcer level. We did not inform the Seattle Police of this because we did not want them to blow up our plan to bring the entire organization down in order to ID one dead bottom feeder’s involvement.”
“And the chopper?” said Devine.
“It was not our chopper and not our people. That sort of aircraft is also used by the other side, Devine. They are incredibly well funded. And contrary to your assertion, Ricketts is not our town. But it is owned by someone else.”
“Who?” said a startled Devine.
“We believe Ricketts, Washington, to be the unofficial headquarters for 12/24/65,” said Chambers.