“But why would he even think to check if I’m alive?” Ezra asked. “Unless he saw me or someone told him. I’ve been in Europe for years and not once have I thought someone was looking for me.”
“I can assure you he thought you were dead,” Kim said. “If he hadn’t, he would have moved heaven and earth to kill you. You’re a loose end, and Levi doesn’t like those. You could potentially testify against him.”
“Ezra and I talked about this.” Beck sat back, looking thoughtful. “We decided he shouldn’t try to testify. He isn’t the best witness because of what he was doing back then.”
Ezra held up a hand. “Drugs. I was doing drugs. I’m betting there aren’t many people who would listen to me. There’s also the fact that I didn’t really interact with him. I remember his face, but he talked to my CO and my CO relayed his orders.”
“That sounds like Levi.” She needed to start thinking like an operative again. “I want to do some homework on the missions you went on back then.”
“That’ll be hard,” Ian pointed out. “I’m going to assume most of them were classified.”
“Yes, but I think if Ezra can tell us where he was and what he was doing, Kim and I might be able to piece some things together,” Beck offered.
“It was a lot of running guns, especially in North Africa, but I suspect those guns found their way to the Middle East.” Ezra fiddled with the mug of coffee in front of him. “There were a couple of rebel forces the Agency wanted to support.”
She knew the play. “Yeah, they’ll arm everyone to see who comes out on top. They do it quietly because Congress almost always has a problem with us fucking around in other countries. Levi’s bosses loved to do that. The question is can we get enough proof?”
“We would need something that made everyone above him nervous.” Ian proved he knew how to play this game.
All they needed to do was get the higher-ups scared enough that they threw Levi Green to the wolves. It was a sad fact of their world.
Which was why she didn’t want to have anything to do with that world again. Even McKay-Taggart felt too close. One good thing about having those seven years away had been not being worried every day that she was doing the right thing, that she was being part of the solution instead of the problem. She’d forgotten that knot in her stomach that she’d been forced to live with.
“If there’s anything we’ve learned from history it’s that the big dogs will let someone like Levi take the fall.” Beck seemed to be thinking the same thing she was. “If we can prove he was involved with evading Congress’s oversight, they’ll either quietly ship him to prison or take care of the situation.”
“You mean they’ll kill him,” Ezra said solemnly.
Beck turned to his brother. “I’m trying to save you and make sure that asshole never comes after my…after Kim and Roman. Make no doubt. He’ll use Roman someday. He’ll find a way to put him in a bad position. Just like he did with you.”
Ezra held his hands up as though conceding the point. “I get it. Hey, I’m all for this plan. I’m a priest. Not a saint. I wish there was another way though. Are we sure I shouldn’t go to the press? I know it’ll cost me a lot, but if it helps…”
“Not a saint? You’re looking to be a martyr, Father.” Tag shook his head.
“I’m not.” Ezra took a long breath. “I don’t want to go to jail, and I definitely have no interest in being assassinated, and those are likely my two options. But I cannot sit by if I can help. I wouldn’t do it to a stranger. I’m certainly not going to do it to the most important people in my life. Kim saved me. In so many ways. Roman gave me purpose and hope. My brother was the single most influential person in my life. I cannot fail them.”
Beck stared at the conference table before reaching out and patting his brother’s arm. “I don’t think we’ve exhausted our possibilities, and even when we do we’ll need to really think about our chances that it could work. Levi is in a different place than he was back then. He’s on far more solid ground.”
“After President Hayes left office, a more Agency-friendly administration took over,” Charlotte explained.
“Helped along by Levi, who used intel he found in the documents Tucker smuggled out of Kronberg,” Ian continued. “I saw those papers. That same year we had a candidate drop out six weeks before the election citing health reasons, despite there being no rumors before or after about his health. That candidate had ties to Kronberg.”
“I’m absolutely certain Levi used the information from Kronberg against him.” She could still remember that day in the limo. “He told me he was going to do it. So he’s responsible for this president being in office, and he’s marrying the VP’s daughter. I think he’s made himself bulletproof.”
“Unless we find a specialized bullet,” Beck mused. “No one is untouchable, and Levi’s made mistakes. It’s all about finding the right mistake. Have we figured out who sent the message Kim got in Malta? I find the timing interesting.”
“I’ve tracked the package back to Berlin.” Charlotte had her cell in hand as though she was waiting for something to come through. “Now the interesting thing is Levi himself was in Berlin up until that very day. I think we’re dealing with someone inside the Agency.”
“My contacts aren’t so great there anymore,” Ian admitted. “I backed the losing side.”
The losing side being her and Beck.
“I thought you still
