Forced to Kill

Nathan decided to tell her the truth. “They wanted to be sure Harv and I knew that Montez is full of potentially damaging information that could smear the country if he’s killed. Sleeper measures. They want him alive.”

“So they can do their own interrogation on him?”

“That was the gist. Cantrell wants to stay in the loop with everything we do. I didn’t mention our knowledge of the Hungarian clean coal business. What would be the point? She probably wouldn’t confirm or deny it anyway. She wasn’t telling me much, that’s for sure.”

“Doesn’t this attack on us change everything?” she asked. “Montez knows you’re after him now. Do you think he knows it’s you? I mean, you personally, from your time in Nicaragua?”

“That’s a good question. I suppose if he knew it was me, he’d be quite concerned.”

“Because he’d think you’d want revenge?”

“People like Montez live their lives looking over their shoulders.”

“He must have lots of enemies.”

“He does. Lansing thinks he found me because Harv and I were blown in Bullfrog Bay. I hate to admit it, but I agree. There was a guy on the dock, fishing near Stiegler’s houseboat. He wasn’t that close, maybe twenty yards, but I think Montez left him there to keep an eye on things. If that guy got a zoomed photo of me, all bets are off. He’ll recognize me for sure. But since I never gave him my real identity down there, I’m hoping that Nathan McBride is just another name to him.”

“So what’s next?”

“Have you come up with anything new about Nichole Dalton and her contacts? Husband, boyfriends, coworkers?”

“Actually, the only thing interesting about Nichole Dalton is what we haven’t found.”

“How’s that?”

“It’s been kind of tricky looking into her background. I was worried that sooner or later, Lansing would order me to back off, like what happened to Hawthorne. So now I’m wondering why he hasn’t.”

“Three words.”

“Three words?

“Senator Stone McBride.”

“You’re thinking they had a chat on the flight out here?”

“Count on it.”

“I know your father’s an influential man, but is he that influential?”

“He’s chair of the CDT. His group oversees all matters related to domestic terrorism, and the FBI is primarily a domestic organization. He’s also a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Finance. So yeah, he’s that influential. Now what haven’t you found on Nichole Dalton?”

“A husband. Or even a father of her daughters.”

“No one?”

“There are no public records on a Mr. Dalton at all. Of course, we don’t know if that would be his last name. So we decided to go right to the source. My San Diego counterpart sent agents over to Nichole Dalton’s residence to comb the place, but they found nothing. And I mean nothing. No wedding pictures, no birth certificates for their kids, no wedding or divorce papers. No files or documents of any kind indicating a father for her children. Nothing.”

“Somebody impregnated Nichole Dalton,” said Nathan. “Twice. It sounds to me like he’s a spook. Since Ms. Dalton works for the NSA, it seems reasonable she’d cross paths with them now and then. She could’ve hit it off with one. If so, why is Montez going to all this trouble to get his hands on him, assuming the father’s the real target? If we’re right, then Montez wants the father alive to wring info out of him. He’s an interrogator, not an assassin.”

“That’s true.”

“Everything points toward this clean coal negotiation in Hungary. It’s a small piece of the world’s energy scene, but any threat to OPEC’s oil production raises red flags. Everything we do depends on oil. Everything. Wars are fought over it.”

“Sounds like a question for your father.”

“I’ve asked him to poke around and see what he can find.”

Holly took his hand. “I have some bad news. I have to leave. Lansing made it clear he doesn’t want me in close proximity to you for a while.”

“Don’t tell me he expects you to return to work.”

“I have to be debriefed first. Then I’ll need to be cleared to resume active duty by my physician and a bureau shrink. I’ll be on leave, officially, but I can’t spend it near you.”

“He’s right. It’s reasonable to assume there’ll be another attempt to kill or capture me. I’d feel a whole lot better knowing I didn’t have to worry about you.”

“It feels like I’m abandoning you.”

“You aren’t.”

“Well, I’m going to put my recovery time to good use. So far, nothing has turned up in Bullfrog Bay, evidence-wise. The dead mercenaries from last night are being processed and printed as we speak by San Diego’s ME. I’m going to glean what we can from them. We’re also printing the severed finger and doing accelerated DNA analysis on it. Same with the other three dead men.”

“Any idea how long all that will take?”

“The prints are being run through the IAFIS and Interpol databases as we speak. Turnaround time can vary. It’s usually no more than twenty-four hours. We’re checking the DNA profiles through CODIS. That’s also about a twenty-four-hour turnaround.”

“CODIS?” he asked.

“It stands for our combined DNA indexing system. There’re millions of profiles in it. Many Interpol member countries are also using the CODIS program. We can reach well beyond our own borders.”

“Sounds high-tech.”

“It is. High-speed computers have really improved turnaround time. But with all such systems, they’re only as good the people operating them. We’ve got a great team in our lab at Quantico.”

“No doubt. When are you leaving for Sacramento?”

“Within the hour. I’m flying up there with Lansing in the Lear. He wants a tour of our renovated field office. There’s a bright side to all of this,” she said.

“What’s that?”

“Grangeland. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Speaking of, where is she?”

“I gave her the day off.”

“Smart move, given who’s in town.”

“I’m not comfortable concealing her involvement, but I’m more uncomfortable not having her support you. She’ll get in touch. Or you can call her.”

“Well, I guess this is good-bye for now.”

“Nathan.…”

“I know. I promise, no unnecessary risks.”

“I hate good-byes.”

“Me too.”

“I’ll call if anything turns up on the dead mercs.”

She gave him a kiss and a gentle embrace, then left the room.

Nathan leaned back and stared at the ceiling. Why had Holly become so important to him?

The answer scared him.