You have absolutely no leverage on this.” McMahon turned to the general. “All I
have to do is hint at your lack of cooperation to the media and every Congressman and
Senator will be over here demanding that you open your files. And not just the files I’m interested in, they’ll want to see everything.
They’ll threaten to cut every penny of funding from your budget, and then they’ll set up a series of committees to investigate any wrongdoing. They’ll be all over your case for the next two years.”
The tension built as McMahon refused to back down. General Heaney sat with his hand over his brow wishing the whole problem would go away, and Delapena fidgeted with a pen he’d pulled out of his pocket. They both knew McMahon was right, but neither had the authority to do anything about it. People above them were calling the shots. Out of frustration, Delapena said, “Mr. McMahon, you go ahead and do what you have to do, but you don’t have a shred of evidence that these murders were committed by military personnel. And don’t forget, there will be a lot of Congressman and Senators that will be offended that you would imply such a thing.” McMahon ignored Delapena and looked to the general. “Sir, have you seen the autopsy reports for Fitzgerald, Koslowski, Downs, and Basset? The general nodded his head yes. “Did you notice how Senator Fitzgerald was killed?”
“Yes.”
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“How many people do you know who are capable of breaking a man’s neck with their bare hands?”
The general looked at McMahon and said, “Not very many.”
“General, you know as well as I do that the people behind this are former U.S.
commandos. Former commandos with an awfully big ax to grind, and the answer is somewhere in your psychological profiles and fitness reports.”
The general looked to Delapena and then back at McMahon. “I agree with you, but unfortunately my hands are tied. You don’t think I realize how bad it’s going to look if the word leaks that a group of my former boys are doing this and we blocked your investigation?” The general made a tight fist and rapped his knuckles on the table. “The issue for us is not that we don’t want to help you, it’s that we have some real security concerns.
The Special Forces community is a very tight-lipped fraternity. We are not prone to sharing information with outsiders. Our success and survival is dependent on secrecy.”
The general pushed his chair back and stood, walking to the opposite end of the table.
“The full package of each commando contains information regarding every mission he took part in, the other members of the mission, a mission summary, and a whole bevy of top secret information. There are very few people that have the clearance to look at the full personnel file of one of my boys. I can’t just open those files to you. There’s too much at stake.”
“I see your point, General, but how do you expect me to conduct an investigation without that information?” Delapena addressed the question. “Mr. McMahon, I don’t envy your job, but you have to understand the innate conflict of interest confronting our two agencies.”
“I understand your concern over security, but…” McMahon opened his eyes wide and shook his head. “I think the apprehension of these killers is more important.”
“It may be more important right now, but these security issues could have far—
reaching implications.”
“Farther reaching than the murders of United States Congressman and Senators?
These guys aren’t going to just quit and go home.” Kennedy decided it was time for her to insert her gentle style into the conversation. “Skip, the general and Mr. Delapena are not just being paranoid about security. If I was in their position, I wouldn’t want to open those files to the FBI.” She turned her attention to the other two men. “On the other hand, Mr. Delapena and General Heaney, you must also understand the crisis that the FBI is faced with resolving.”
Kennedy pulled her glasses off and twirled them in her right hand.
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“What we should be trying to do is find a way to bridge both of our concerns.”
Kennedy pointed her glasses at the general and Delapena. “The FBI needs your help to run a speedy investigation. No one knows your files better than you do, and I’m sure you can offer us great insight into which of your former members are most inclined to mount a revolution against their own government. On the other hand, if word got to the press that the NSA was blocking the FBI’s investigation of former U.S. commandos, the damage to both the NSA and the Special Forces would be devastating.
“We need to work together, and I think I may have a solution. My thought is that all of the people in this room could form a review panel. In trade for the full cooperation of the NSA and the Joint Special Operations Command, Special Agent McMahon and
Special Agent Jennings should sign a national security nondisclosure document that would block them from investigating and litigating anything that is not directly related to these recent assassinations.
This way, we can abate your anxiety over having several dozen FBI agents rifling through your files, and at the same time the FBI can be guaranteed full cooperation from the people with the most insight into these young men’s minds.” Everyone thought about the new proposal, and then General Heaney pronounced, “I like the idea.”
“I’m not completely sure,” said Delapena. “I have no problem including you, Dr.
Kennedy. Your security clearance is higher than anyone’s in this room. If Special Agent
McMahon was willing to sign a national security nondisclosure document, I could probably convince my superiors to sign off, but Special Agent Jennings is out of the question.”
“Why?” asked McMahon.
“Special Agent Jennings has a long career ahead of her with the FBI, and over the next thirty years she will be
