“You’re right, Robie.”
“And the guy who should’ve told her that is Evan Tucker, the number one. One trumps two, right?”
“I’m not privy to the dynamics of their relationship or what might have transpired between them.”
“So there’s nothing you can tell me that might help?”
Blue Man looked up at him, the mental battle clear in his features. “I don’t know what to tell you, Robie.”
“That actually tells me a lot.”
Robie went over with Blue Man the details of the meeting with DiCarlo. But again he didn’t tell all. He could vividly recall the anxiety in DiCarlo’s voice as she spoke to him:
Missions that never should have been. Missing personnel. Money moved from here to there and then it disappeared. Equipment sent to places it should not have been sent to and it also disappeared.
And her last comment had been even more troublesome, that something insidious is going on, Mr. Robie. I don’t know if it has anything to do with Jessica Reel. What I do know is that it’s reached a crisis point.
He didn’t tell Blue Man this because, ever the dutiful agency man, he would have reported it up his chain of command. And right now Robie didn’t want that.
“Anything else?” asked Blue Man.
“When will we know if DiCarlo will make it or not?”
“Last I heard it may take a couple of days.”
“Has she given any sort of statement?”
Blue Man shook his head. “None. She was unconscious. They’re hoping to get a statement from her in the next few days. If she survives.”
“So who’s going to be the new number two?” asked Robie.
“I’m not sure anyone would take the job right now,” replied Blue Man.
“Is Evan Tucker coming here?”
“Don’t know. He’s been briefed, of course. And I’m sure he’ll want to hear what happened directly from you.”
“Nothing more I can tell.”
“So you didn’t see anyone else out there?”
Robie didn’t hesitate. “Just the shooters. And they were at a distance. I was more concerned about getting DiCarlo out of there. I didn’t have time to observe much.”
“Of course.” Blue Man stood. “You need a ride home?”
“Yeah. The Rover is officially evidence and my car is wrecked.”
“I’m going to stay around here, but I’ll have one of my men drive you back into town.”
Before either of them could start toward the exit several men in suits appeared.
“Will Robie?”
Robie looked at them. “Who are you?”
“We’d like you to come with us.”
“Who is ‘we’?” said Blue Man.
The speaker looked at him. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“The hell it doesn’t. Robie is with me.” Blue Man showed them his creds.
The same man spoke. “Right, sir, we know who you are.” The man held out his own creds. Their magnitude made Blue Man blink in surprise and take a step back.
Robie had also seen the ID card and badge. He wasn’t surprised that Blue Man had stood down.
When the country’s national security advisor wanted you, well, you went.
Robie walked outside, climbed into the waiting SUV, and was driven off.
He didn’t expect to be home anytime soon.
CHAPTER
32
JESSICA REEL SAT IN HER CAR, which was parked at a curb on a normally busy street in D.C. However, it was late and the traffic had ebbed even on this main artery.
Her rifle was in the trunk. She had fired more than forty rounds at the shooters. She might have saved Will Robie’s life; she wasn’t sure. And while Janet DiCarlo might still die from her wounds, she would have assuredly died without Reel’s intervention. And Robie’s.
That gave a lift to Reel’s spirits, something that hadn’t happened a lot lately.
It had been stupid on DiCarlo’s part to have such limited security that far out. Reel had been to her home before, years ago. A friendly meeting to discuss Reel’s future.
She smiled grimly at this memory.
My future?
She’d had an epiphany after leaving Gioffre. She knew that DiCarlo had been appointed the number two. She still had electronic back doors into the agency. Until these were all shut down—and they would be soon—she had utilized them to the maximum. She’d figured that in DiCarlo’s position as the new number two, she and Robie would have to meet. Reel didn’t know that this meeting was actually their second face-to-face.
She and DiCarlo went way back, farther than anyone else she knew at the agency. She had always been able to count on DiCarlo to cover her back. But now that was no longer possible. Reel had not only crossed the line, she had obliterated it.
She’d followed Robie out to DiCarlo’s house. Initially she didn’t know where he was going, and as the roads became more and more rural and the traffic less and less plentiful, she was afraid Robie would spot her. But at one point she deduced where he must be going and broke off her tail, only to circle back and take up position. She had no idea that an attack was coming.
But then again, she had no reason to assume that an attack wasn’t coming.
She was certain she had hit some of the shooters. If she had, she expected that the mess would be cleaned up before anyone else arrived at the scene. There would be no leave-behinds.
Robie had exercised sound skills in using the armored SUV to make his escape. He was resourceful and worked well under pressure. She remembered this from her brief time working with him. Reel had sized up her competition early and often at the agency. The only serious competition she’d had was Will Robie. They took turns topping the grading system in all their early missions. But Robie had eventually come out ahead. She’d never thought she would ever be pitted against him.
Her thoughts turned back to DiCarlo: Why target her? What did she know?
Reel had long suspected that DiCarlo was better informed than many people inside the agency thought. They probably had believed she would make a competent if temporary number two.
No, a safe number two, she corrected herself.
They obviously didn’t know DiCarlo as Reel did.
They likely thought this because she was a woman. They failed to realize that she had worked three times as hard and had to be twice as tough as a man to reach the level she had.
The area had had a brief respite from the inclement weather, but the broad low-pressure system had anchored itself over the city, and when the clouds grew heavy with moisture the rains had commenced once more. The wind picked up and one of the gusts buffeted Reel’s rental car. She started the engine and turned the heat on but did not put the car in gear. The rain-slicked streets had driven the few pedestrians to drier locations and she had an unobstructed if rain-soaked view of the pavement. If only her thoughts could be as clear. But they were as cloudy as a mountain hollow on a cold morning.
Judge Samuel Kent and the other person on her list had not only been forewarned, but were also now on the offensive. Reel had little doubt that this group had orchestrated the attack on Janet DiCarlo. This was troubling, because they obviously knew something about DiCarlo that Reel didn’t. It was an extraordinary move and an extraordinary move had to have extraordinary justification.
She took out her phone and studied the screen. It was easy enough to text Robie. They couldn’t trace her, of that she was sure. But Reel also knew that the agency could read every text she sent him. So she had to be careful, not just for herself but for him. A funny thought, she was aware, to be concerned about the wellbeing of a man that she had very nearly turned into a burnt husk. But now certain possibilities were opening for her and she meant to take advantage of them.