“We’re officially not in the loop. DoD and Homeland Security are all over it. But unofficially, I can tell you that they haven’t yet. ‘Slow and steady’ is the rule for that. You were right about the tunnel. They broke through the wall and found it. They put additional countermeasures on top of the cement your friend poured into the pipe, to ensure that stuff will never get to the surface. They’re probably going to have to build another bunker around the original vault before they’re comfortable opening it up and seeing exactly what’s inside.”
“Anything else?” asked Decker.
“We did some digging on the All-American Energy Company. Turns out there are international layers to it, which puts it squarely in my agency’s wheelhouse.”
“International how?”
Robie said, “It’s a shell, owned by another shell incorporated in Bermuda that is, in turn, owned by another shell we ran to ground in London. After that, the trail vanished.”
“And with North Dakota fracking off-line, what would that do to this country’s energy independence?”
“It wouldn’t help it. And the price of certain types of crude and even natural gas would have spiked.”
“So that helps other energy-producing countries,” said Decker.
“The Middle East, Russia, Canada, Venezuela.”
“I don’t see the Canadians behind this. And Venezuela is imploding right now.”
“So either the sheiks or Putin then,” opined Robie.
“Or maybe both,” said Decker. “The world has produced some strange bedfellows lately, and Russia has made inroads into that part of the world, for sure. But they had to have local operatives here, to get the lay of the land, do the deal to get the property, and set up the whole thing while at the same time keeping under the radar.”
Robie took a swallow of his beer. “I think that makes a lot of sense. So how do you get to the finish line?”
“We keep digging. It’s all we can do.”
“Ben Purdy was digging and it cost him. And his mother.”
“Yes, it did,” said Decker. “But I’ve still been wondering how Purdy—” He stopped and set his beer down.
“What is it?” When Decker didn’t answer, Robie said more urgently, “Decker!”
Decker looked at him. “Shit, I’ve been looking at this thing totally bass-ackwards.”
“How so?”
“We gotta go.”
“Go where?” asked Robie.
“To Hal Parker’s place.”
Chapter 77
On the drive out in Robie’s vehicle, Decker said, “I just assumed that Purdy had been told the story of the bunker by Brad Daniels and then started doing some digging, ran into the wrong people, and that sealed his fate.”
“Well, we’ve all been thinking that.”
“But that doesn’t mean we’re right.”
“Lay out your theory for me,” said Robie.
“You said that Brad Daniels told you he divulged everything to Purdy.”
“That’s right. I don’t think he held anything back. He was about to do the same for us when we got attacked.”
Decker said, “Okay, let’s look at the situation fully and not piecemeal. Purdy’s a veteran member of the Air Force, trained and experienced.”
“Right.”
“And he’s attending a military event where he’s just been told by someone who used to work at the very same installation decades ago that there’s the possibility of a bunker full of biochemical weapons buried on land belonging to the Air Force. That is a clear and present danger to everyone in the area. A real national security risk if ever there was one. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
“Okay, if you were in Purdy’s position, with his experience, and you had learned all of that, what would you do?”
“I would report it to my superior officer and let them worry about it. It’s just common sense and also how someone like Purdy would naturally react.”
“Exactly. But also think about this. I doubt that Daniels told Irene Cramer everything he told Purdy. So with Purdy there would have been no need to dig into anything. He already knew all he needed to know. He just reports it and the Air Force looks into it. His job is done. If he’s proved right, he gets a medal and maybe a promotion. He doesn’t have to be involved anymore.”
“Well, he might have been afraid of retaliation within the Air Force if he did let all this come out.”
“Why? Brad Daniels is well into his nineties. I seriously doubt there’s anyone left in the Air Force who had anything to do with this. And even if he were afraid of retaliation there are whistleblower laws to protect someone with the sort of information Purdy possessed. He could have communicated what he knew safely through that channel.”
“So what are you saying, Decker?”
“You’ll see.”
They arrived at Hal Parker’s home, and Decker led Robie inside. He went over to the wall of pictures he had seen on his previous visit here and pointed to one.
“Recognize him?”
Robie’s jaw slackened. “That’s Ben Purdy.”
“He knew Parker. He obviously hunted with him. I remembered at the Purdy ranch in Montana that they had animal heads mounted on the wall. Beverly Purdy said her husband and son were avid hunters.”
“So you think there’s some connection with Purdy and Parker. He did find the body of Irene Cramer.”
“I do.”
“So what is your theory?”
Decker seemed startled by this query. “My theory is that Purdy didn’t report what he knew to his superiors because he saw certain personal advantages in concealing it. And he wanted to take full advantage of them.”
“What exactly do you mean by ‘taking full advantage’?”
“His service record showed that he was a really smart guy. He’d been promoted frequently and had received a lot of commendations. He went overseas frequently to attend conferences and other meetings, and was always educating himself. Among other places, he went to Qatar and Jordan.”
Robie ruminated on this before answering. “So you mean he might have met some folks there who would be very interested in destroying the fracking industry in North Dakota?”
“Yes. And they would no doubt pay him enormous sums of money and also provide all the manpower he would need.”
“And his mother?”
“Yeah, they killed his mother. Whether he was involved in that decision or not, I don’t know. But a brilliant kid stuck in the middle of nowhere who’ll top out at maybe master sergeant after another ten years of service? He might have aimed higher. He might have aimed high enough to have committed treason against his own country in return for a fortune and a change of address. Which would also explain him going AWOL.”
“And the research you found at his mother’s house? If Daniels had told him everything, why would he need to do that?”
“If I were him and I had a grand scheme that would involve dealing with some very serious and dangerous people, I would want to verify everything. I wouldn’t accept the word of a ninety-something-year-old guy living in a nursing home. He needed to make certain, not blindly accept what might be the skewed memories of an old man.”
“So he was responsible for killing Cramer and Ames, and” — he pointed to the photo — “kidnapping Parker?”
An uncertain Decker shook his head. “That’s far from clear, Robie. As I said, Purdy knew a lot more than Cramer did. She came up here to dig for information. She knew it had something to do with the oil fields around the Air Force station, and she knew whatever it was, was in the ground and dangerous. That’s why she made that comment to Judith White about not eating the food they grew there. But that was all she knew. I think she wanted to expose this whole thing to make the U.S. government look bad in retaliation for what it had done to her mother. But why would Purdy need her? What could she possibly tell him that he didn’t already know? And we’ve been able to show no connection between them.”