“No shit,” Lavine said.
“Stop squabbling, both of you,” Tanya said. “One marine is dead. Another marine is missing. The navy wants something done about that. And they want you to do it, David. So what’s your problem?”
“They’re not marines anymore, Tanya,” I said. “They’re ex-marines. No offense to your brother, but these are guys who put their wallets before their regiments. You go outside to make money, this is the sort of thing that happens. End of story.”
“Never thought I’d agree with him, but David has a point,” Lavine said.
“Sorry, Tanya,” I said, opening the door. “This is no good. I’m going back to London. I need to sort this out with the brass, face-to-face.”
“Wait,” Tanya said, sliding out of the car behind me. “Please. Don’t go.”
“Why not? Simon’s been identified. That’s what you said you wanted.”
“It was. But now we know about James Mansell.”
“What about him? If he’s alive, he can take care of himself. If not, the FBI will find his remains and you can bring him home. Either way, you don’t need me.”
“Think about it, David. All his companions were killed. If he’s alive, he must be in danger.”
“That’s his problem.”
“Mine, too. Because I know about it. That means I can’t just ignore it. I’m obligated. I’ve got to do something. And I need your help.”
“Why you? What makes it your responsibility?”
Tanya closed the car door, took my arm and led me to the other side of a concrete pillar, fifteen feet away.
“Will you just trust me on this?” she said.
“Why?” I said. “It makes no sense.”
“I’m only asking you to hang around for a few more days. A week at the most. Until we know Mansell’s safe.”
“What if he doesn’t want us butting in? Maybe he wanted to disappear.”
“If he’s alive I just need to find him and warn him. After that, it’s up to him.”
“Why? Who is he? An ex-boyfriend?”
“No. Nothing like that. I’ve never met him in my life.”
“Then why do you care so much?”
“Because he’s in danger.”
“Everyone’s in danger, Tanya. Give me the real reason.”
She didn’t answer.
“Explain it in a way I can understand,” I said. “Or I’m on the next plane home.”
“I can’t,” she said. “I’m in an impossible situation.”
“Is this London nonsense? Is it classified?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
“If I don’t say, you won’t help. If I do say, you’ll hate me and you won’t help. What can I do?”
“I’m not going to hate you, Tanya,” I said, taking her hand. “Whatever it is, just tell me.”
Tanya pulled her hand away, closed her eyes for a moment, and started to sway slightly, like someone in a trance.
“OK,” she said, finally. “Here goes. After Morocco, did you ever hear what happened? Officially?”
“No. There was never a proper report.”
“There was. Only I made sure you never saw it.”
“You did? Why?”
“The ambush that killed Dog? I knew about it. Well, I didn’t exactly know. I’d received a tip.”
“When? Who from?”
“The day before. A local informant. Someone new. I didn’t know if he was reliable, so I wanted to verify his story before passing it on.”
“It checked out?”
“It rang true enough. But I was too late. It took too long. When the bomb went off under your truck I was actually on the phone, trying to reach you.”
“So you made sure the threat was credible, and then you sent up the flares?”
“Yes, but-”
“And the report-did it censure you?”
“No.”
“Were you disciplined?”
“No.”
“Demoted?”
“No. But that’s not the point. The report judged what I did. Not what I could have done. And looking back, I’m sure I could have been quicker. If I’d got to you five minutes sooner…”
“That’s ridiculous, Tanya. You did the right thing. Dog would have said the same. Let it go.”
She didn’t respond.
“And even if you were wrong, what’s done is done,” I said. “Life goes on.”
“Not for Dog,” she said.
“So what do you think? By warning James Mansell you can make amends, somehow?”
She didn’t answer.
“What do you think will happen?” I said. “Dog will spring back to life?”
She stayed silent.
“You can’t change the past, Tanya,” I said. “However hard you try. I’m sorry. You’ll just have to find another way to deal with it.”
A car horn sounded, to our left. I looked around and saw that Weston had rolled down his window.
“Hey,” he said. “Hurry it up. We need to get moving. Varley called. He wants us back at the office.”
Tanya turned to go and as she brushed past me I glimpsed the trace of a tear nestling in the corner of her right eye. It reminded me of the hospital, in Rabat, when I’d woken up and found her in my room. Maybe she’d come to Morocco out of guilt that day, but she’d still been there for me. And the way she blamed herself for what happened may not have been logical, but in a way I could understand it. Ultimately, you feel what you feel. You have to recognize it, deal with it, and move on. Sometimes, people need help with that. Especially in our business. The only question is, are they worth enough of your time?
I slid onto the backseat just as Tanya was about to slam the door.
“Changed my mind,” I said, cupping her hand with mine. “Too much paperwork in London. Rosser’s complaints will still be ringing in their ears. Better to let things settle. Around a week should do it.”
Mitchell Varley was back on his throne, lording it over the boardroom table. Tanya and I were on the left- hand side, in the places we’d used for the debriefing. Weston and Lavine were sitting opposite us. But that was all. There was no one else to soak up Varley’s questions. And worse than that, no one to fetch the coffee.
“OK then, gentlemen,” Varley said. “Things are moving on. Yesterday, we discounted Lesley from our railroad investigation. Which is a shame, since she’s now in custody. Today, we’ve uncovered new facts about the case. Disturbing new facts. It seems we’re not talking about a lone serial killer anymore. Or even a gun for hire. The victims weren’t random, as we’d assumed. They were part of a group. There’s some kind of connection here we don’t fully understand.”
No one responded.
“So,” he said. “How do we proceed from here? I want options. Bartman-you first. And welcome back, by the way.”
“Thank you, sir,” Lavine said. “I think we should go back to the crime scene evidence first. And start again. Whatever’s going on here, it sounds structured. Organized. We’re talking about professional hits, now, obviously. Not a whacko. Not an amateur. We need to go much deeper than we thought.”
“Just with the evidence?” Varley said. “Or should we revisit the scenes, as well?”
“Just the evidence to start with,” Lavine said. “We won’t find anything new at the scenes. It’s been too long.
