What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t ask anyone for help or advice. He couldn’t tell anyone here he had basically sacrificed both rescue planes to save a single person—his wife. Commander Boli had confirmed they had killed all the rescuers—Baker’s entire party—but no one in Hawaii knew that yet. And the governor couldn’t say anything. Apparently no one from Cheyenne Mountain was aware either, or they would have reported it. They hadn’t radioed anything of the kind in. In fact, there’d been no communication from the bunker all week. That would probably change in a matter of days.
On the other hand, the Hexagon was buzzing with news of the Knight’s Peak explosion. That story had spread rapidly across the wires between Colorado Springs and Denver, and they’d intercepted numerous messages being sent to other parts of the country. Qi Jia’s commanders were concerned about an impending attack, even though none was coming that Barnes knew of. Whoever had blown up that building had awakened a sleeping giant. And General Roja’s death would turn Mexico’s focus back on Hawaii. Hawaii’s closest physical threat would be seeking some form of revenge.
As the governor climbed back into the window of his bedroom, he stopped short at the sight of two men in the corner. Twix was sitting in his reading chair, and Trigger was standing beside him.
“Governor.” Twix stood and approached him.
“Jeez… you guys scared the crap out of me.”
“Mind telling us where you’ve been?” Twix stood behind the governor who had turned his back to them. Trigger still hadn’t moved, or made a sound.
The governor didn’t want them to see his face. “I needed some alone time. I went for a walk on the beach. You guys have been on me—”
“Sir, you don’t get alone time.” Twix’s annoyance was evident in his voice. He grabbed the governor’s arm and turned him around.
“Now wait—”
Twix held up his hand, and Barnes stopped talking. “At Danny’s orders, Keena put a tracer in your watch. Nicole told us you had left, and we watched you go to the Kaneohe Bay Marine Base. We didn’t follow you because we didn’t want to jeopardize whatever it was you were there for. But we know you met someone there.”
“What? Don’t you guys know? You can’t trust Nicole. She’s the mole. I thought you knew that—”
“No, sir,” Twix replied. “We know she isn’t the mole. She has done exactly what Danny wanted her to.”
“I think you really want to be careful here.” Trigger finally spoke up.
Panic was evident on the governor’s face. “It’s not what—”
He stopped talking as Twix nodded, almost directly in his face now. “Yes, it is.”
“Guys, you don’t… I can’t.”
“Listen.” Trigger approached them now. “You’ve probably seen a lot of movies and TV shows. You’re not going to jail. We don’t report to anyone but Danny now, and we have no way of reaching him. You telling us what’s going on will not get to anyone else. The FBI—if any of them still exist—won’t trip all over themselves and piss on your plan. We’re not going to shoot you unless you keep treating us like idiots. We need to—”
“They have my wife.” Governor Barnes threw his arms up. “Okay? What do you want me to do? They have my wife.” The room was suddenly silent.
Trigger took two more strides toward the governor. “What have you done?”
Twix cut him off. “Easy.”
“No. What have you done?” Trigger was almost yelling. “Telling secrets is one thing, but—”
The governor was trembling, backing toward the window. “Guys…”
“Trig.” Twix stood between Trigger and the governor. “Give me a minute, will you.” Trigger was shaking his head. “Please, just a minute,” Twix insisted. Trigger glared at Barnes but finally nodded and stepped back.
Twix turned to speak to the governor. “They’re watching you too, aren’t they?”
“I don’t know,” Barnes replied honestly.
“I’m guessing they at least have your phone and radio monitored. We also know they’re tapped into all of the computers but one in Area 52.”
“Why didn’t you—”
“Why didn’t we tell you? Isn’t that obvious now? Danny doesn’t trust anyone. You should know that. He tells people what they need to know and that’s it. He doesn’t know who’s been compromised. He wouldn’t have suspected you, but clearly…even that would have been wrong. So what exactly did you do?”
Governor Barnes appeared dumbfounded. He turned and stared out the window. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”
“She who? Your wife?” Twix asked.
Barnes nodded his head. “They killed my daughter because I refused to believe they were capable of it. And now they’ll kill my wife.”
Trigger softened considerably at the governor’s revelation. “They killed your daughter? You’re sure?”
Tears had formed in the governor’s eyes, and he wiped them away. “Yes. They asked me to get the book from Danny and give it to them. I refused, and they took both of them. I listened to my daughter die as I tried to convince them I’d get the book. They said it was too late…that next time I should take them seriously. They shot her. I listened to her die.”
Twix put two and two together quickly. “I take it you met with the same people Nicole met with at Kaneohe Bay?”
The governor gripped the back of a chair. “I don’t know. There were four of them, all wearing masks, three dark skinned and one white. They’ve never really said anything to me. I’ve always just been led at gunpoint back to the comm room to talk to the Libyan commander in Denver—or wherever the hell he is.”
“They knew no one would ever question you.” Trigger rejoined the conversation. “You were the safe bet. Except to Danny.”
The look on the governor’s face was a combination of hurt and guilt—hurt that Danny hadn’t trusted him and guilt that Danny had been right not to.
“So you weren’t the white guy? There’s another white guy in on this?”
“What do you mean by that, Twix? The white guy at the base?”
“Never mind. What did you have to give them?” Twix asked.
Barnes turned away from them again. “I had to tell them when the planes left the carrier and where they were planning to land.”
“The rescue party?” Trigger asked in surprise.
Governor Barnes nodded. “And Danny’s.”
“Wait, you’re—” Trigger emotions were ramping up again.
“They’re all dead. I killed them all.”
“Governor—”
“No. Stop.” Barnes turned to look at Twix. “Torrey, I should be arrested right now. Maybe you should even shoot me. My wife is dead. What does it even matter? We’re all dead.”
“Governor, as much as Trigger here would like to shoot you, you know that can’t happen. As much as what you’ve done deserves the steepest punishment…we can’t even report it or punish you. You—at least—will get away with your stupidity.”
“But—”
“No. Sir, you need to listen. You have potentially sacrificed the lives of fifty-some men who dedicated their lives to protecting this country—maybe more if you’ve jeopardized the carrier too. These people gave all they had for people like you. There’s no question your decision was a terrible and costly one—and definitely an act of treason—but…” The governor had turned away, and Twix grabbed his arm, turning him back around. “But…I’m not going to tell you I don’t understand why you did it. These guys know how to use leverage. They know where you’re weak. Besides, they have Cheyenne Mountain heavily guarded. It wouldn’t be the first time someone has bluffed an enemy to get what they want. Maybe the entire rescue party isn’t dead.”