Bobby swallowed the anger that rose in his throat and closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have got you involved.”
“Too late.” Jay sat on the corner of the desk and crossed his arms. “You’ve been out of the game too long, Bob. Let me and the boys do what we do.”
“I got something!” Gregg stood up from his computer and pumped the air with his fist.
“What you got?” Jay brushed past Bobby and approached Gregg’s desk. He leaned across and stared at the screen. He looked up at Bobby and his face was twisted into a grimace. “You been to Pakistan lately?”
Bobby turned and gave him a quizzical stare. “Hell no. I haven’t left Texas in forever.”
“According to this, you have.” Jay spun the computer around for Bobby to inspect. “You spent two weeks in Pakistan and just returned.”
Bobby shook his head, his mind refusing to believe what his eyes were seeing. “It must be a mistake. Maybe another Bobby Bridger?”
Gregg shook his head and punched a few select key strokes. “Not unless the other Bridger looks exactly like you.” A short video of Bobby checking in at customs and getting his passport stamped played across the screen.
“That never happened.” Bobby stood and stared at the screen, his mouth trying to form other words. “I’m being set up.”
“Of course you are. This just appeared out of nowhere.” Gregg saved a copy of the video and placed it in his Bridger folder. “The big question is, why are they manufacturing evidence against you? What did you do?”
Deric rolled his chair over by Gregg’s desk and studied the image. “Definitely doctored. And not very well, if you ask me.”
Jim MacDougall studied the image over Deric’s shoulder. “Whoever made this made it quickly.” He shook his head as he looked at Bobby. “This sort of grainy crap will work fine for the press, but under real scrutiny, it will be proven as manufactured.”
“But why?” Bobby practically stumbled back as his worst fears were verified in black and white.
“The real question isn’t why, but who.” Jay announced. “We know the why…they need you to take the blame for something. Probably something they’re doing as we speak. We need to know who. Once we know who, we can isolate one of the players and determine the exact why.”
“CIA-NSA.” Bobby practically whispered. He turned to Jay, his eyes wide. “Roger said he was dismissed because he interfered with a joint CIA-NSA operation.”
Gregg let low a whistle. “Big boys.” He chuckled as he continued to enter commands into his computer. “Sucks to be you.”
“Enough,” Jay barked. “He’s right. They are big boys. Maybe too big to isolate the players involved.”
Bobby fell into his chair and held his head in his hands. “I’m screwed.” Visions of sneaking into Mexico and living somebody else’s life flashed through his mind. He hated Mexico.
Jay rested a hand on the big man’s shoulder. “Don’t give up hope yet.” He shot him a sideways smile. “You got Baba Yaga on your side.”
Bobby shook his head slowly. “I shouldn’t have gotten you all mixed up in this. These fuckers don’t play nice.” He stood suddenly and glanced around the building. “They could be sending a wetwork team now.”
“Easy big guy. Let’s not panic just yet.” Jay stepped between him and the exit.
Viktor laughed loudly and held his hands out wide. “What wetwork team would stand a chance against us?”
Jay and Bobby both gave the crazy Russian a stern stare but he continued to laugh. “We are the people they usually hire. What? We would remove ourselves? I do not think so.”
“They have thousands of contractors, Viktor,” Jay informed him.
“Ah, but we are the best.” Viktor shook his finger at the tall bald man. “Nobody would dare a strike on us here. We are fortified.”
Jay sighed and pulled Bobby outside the circle of desks. “First, we don’t know what they’re planning. Let’s give your boy Roger a chance. Once we can go through what he finds, we’ll have an even better idea of what—”
“But wait! There’s more!” Gregg chimed. “If you act now, we’ll double your order and include this handy set of Ginsu knives.”
“What the hell are you babbling about?” Jay pushed past Bridger and marched to Gregg’s desk.
“They just finished manufacturing video of his exiting the country.” He pushed away from his computer and cracked his knuckles as he smiled at the pair. “I’ve already saved a copy.”
“So they have me coming and going, supposedly to Pakistan. For what purpose?”
“We’ll find that out soon enough.” Jay stared at the video and he was convinced that whoever he was watching on the screen with Bobby’s face wasn’t even the same two people. “Damn, it looks like they just found the biggest motherfuckers they could find and pasted your mug on them.” Jay pointed to the screen. “Look, your hands are black when you leave.”
“They’ll photoshop that later, I’m sure,” Gregg assured them. “I think I’ve stumbled upon the technician’s folder who is charged with generating this craptastic mess.”
“Which agency?” Steve asked as he began logging into his own computer.
“Looks like this one is CIA. Makes sense, wouldn’t it? They’ve been in the game longer than anybody else.” Gregg punched the keys and spun his computer around. “I don’t have a name, but I have a location–he’s in Langley. Looks like the Special Activities Division.”
“Of course he is,” Bobby muttered under his breath. “There’s no getting to somebody who works there.”
Jay gave him a smirk and shook his head. “Of course there is. If we can narrow down who this turd is, we can snatch him.” He nodded to Gregg. “I want an ID on this guy. Pronto.”
“Working on it.”
Bobby shifted closer to Jay and lowered his voice. “Aren’t we running a risk having Gregg hack into their systems? What if they realize that—”
Jay held up a hand to stop him. “We’re not hacking.” He gave Bobby a slight smile and nodded toward Steve. “Come and take a look.”
Bobby stepped
