38
“HEY, WINGO!”
Tyler looked over as he was leaving school. The group of senior boys was watching him. Some had big duffels they carried over their shoulders. One held a football helmet and shoulder pads.
One of them shouted, “Heard your old man’s not dead. Heard he went AWOL. And he’s a crook.”
Tyler’s face flamed red and he shouted, “That’s a load a’ shit.”
The seniors came over to him, each towering over him. Tyler recognized them all as being on the varsity football team.
The largest senior said, “My old man told me. He’s in the Army. He should know.”
One of the other seniors shoved Tyler. “So you calling his dad a liar?”
“If he says my dad is a crook, I am.”
“AWOL, that’s like being a coward, right? Your old man a chickenshit, Wingo?” said a large, big-bellied eighteen-year-old named Jack. He shoved Tyler so hard he fell back on the dirt, which made all of them laugh. The other boys crowded around. One jerked Tyler up and held his arms, while Jack cocked his fist back and was about to punch Tyler in the gut.
“Don’t think so.”
A hand grabbed Jack’s fist and ripped it backward.
The boys all turned to see Michelle standing there. She let go of Jack’s hand and said, “You guys like ganging up on people?”
“What’s it to you?” snarled Jack.
“Tyler’s a friend of mine.”
Jack guffawed as he looked Michelle up and down. “You mean you’re his bodyguard? You need a chick to guard you, Wingo?”
The other boys all laughed.
“I can take care of myself,” snapped Tyler as he quickly got to his feet and glared at Michelle.
“I know you can. But six on one isn’t fair for anyone. So let’s see.” She looked at the other boys one by one, her gaze finally coming to rest on Jack. “You play football, right?”
“Starting left tackle,” bragged Jack.
“Which means you’re big and strong.” Jack’s smile grew larger. “And slow and fat and you have no stamina because you can’t run more than three yards without collapsing.”
Jack’s smile disappeared.
Michelle looked at Tyler. “Now, Tyler isn’t nearly your size, but he’s wiry and quick and he swims, which means he has great endurance. You fight him, and you don’t take him out fast, he’ll dance around, popping away until you get so tired you won’t be able to stand up, much less hit anything with force. And Tyler’s dad, the so-called coward, is Special Forces, and those guys are in another world when it comes to close-quarter combat. You think MMA guys are tough? They wouldn’t last a round with a SEAL or a Ranger. And Special Forces guys don’t just beat you up. They kill you. And I bet Tyler’s dad taught him a few things.”
She glanced at Tyler, who was staring furiously at Jack.
“And Tyler looks like he wants to take your head off,” said Michelle, turning back to Jack. “So why don’t we just let you two go at it. But just the two of you. Any of your buddies try to help you, Slick, I’ll step in, and even though I am a girl, I don’t fight like one.”
Jack eyed Tyler and Tyler stared back at Jack. Jack finally dropped his gaze and said, “Screw this. I’m not getting kicked off the football team for kicking this punk’s ass on school grounds.”
He turned and walked off with his buddies.
Michelle and Tyler stared after them and then Tyler turned to her. “Thanks for doing that,” he mumbled.
“You didn’t really need me. In fact if it were just one-on-one you could have taken him.”
“You really think so?”
“You have fire in the belly, Tyler. That jerk just has a big belly.”
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I dropped you off. Now I’m here to pick you up.”
“But I’ve got other plans.”
“Like what?”
“Just other plans.”
“We’ve had this discussion, Tyler. We stick together for now.”
“I don’t want to stick together.”
She eyed him intently. “What changed from then to now?” She eyed the phone gripped in his hand, and the truth dawned on her. “When did your dad email you back?”
“Just leave me alone.”
“No can do.”
“I’m outta here.”
He started to walk off but she grabbed his arm. “Let me clue you in to something really fast, Tyler. This morning Sean and I went to check a lead. It was a lead I picked up at your house and it led to a motel that your fake stepmom was using as a drop point.”
“A what?”
“Doesn’t matter. While we were there someone stuck a pack of probably Semtex on the front wall of the unit and detonated it. If not for Sean’s quick thinking I wouldn’t be here and those guys would have kicked your ass. As it was, most of the motor court burned down. Luckily, no one was hurt.”
“A bomb?”
“Yeah, a bomb. So when did your dad contact you?”
“I saw the message right before lunch.”
“And what did it say?”
“Nothing much.” Tyler looked down at the ground as he said this.
“You really suck at lying.”
“I’m not lying!”
“Okay, if it was nothing much why can’t you tell me?”
“Why would Jean have another place to live?”
“We told you we think she and your dad might not even be married.”
“Right. You said he might have brought her home so I’d have an adult to live with while he was gone. Did you change your mind about that?”
“No. But we’ve modified our opinion somewhat. We think she was a plant.”
“A plant?”
“We think she might be working for the people who set up your dad. That’s why she’s disappeared now. She got scared and took off with us back on the case. She had this address at the motor court where mail was sent. We checked the place out but didn’t find anything except nearly a fiery death.”
“But who was she working with then? Not the Army?”
“Don’t think so, but the Army is definitely mixed up in all this. We think there’s another factor. Maybe the factor that made your dad’s mission go wrong.”
His face brightened. “So you believe my dad is a good guy?”
“I think we’re both coming around to that, yeah.”
“Well, he is a good guy.”
“Even though he lied to you? You were pretty mad at him for that.”
“I guess he had to do that. He was serving his country.”
“Come on, let’s go see Sean. He’ll want to hear this too.”
Tyler’s face screwed up. “I don’t want to go with you. How many times do I have to say it?”
“So what will you do? Hook up with your dad?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
“And if it wasn’t your dad who sent you that email, you’ll be walking right into a trap.”
“It was in our code.”
“Which, like we told you, we broke in a few seconds. You don’t think other people can too? This is the big league, Tyler. They have resources you won’t even see in a Hollywood film because the movie guys can’t come close to imagining what some folks already have for real.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“You mean like you did with those idiots back there? The dudes you’ll be facing by yourself will put a hole in your head and not think twice about it.”
“You’re just trying to scare me.”
“No, I’m just trying to be straight with you.”
Tyler hesitated.
Michelle seized on this. “I tell you what. We go see Sean. Let him talk to you. If you still want to go, you go. We can’t keep you against your will. That would be a crime.”
“Are you being straight with me now or is this a trick?”
“Ever since we got hooked up with you we’ve almost been killed twi
ce. I don’t think we’ll survive another attack. So, yeah, I’m being straight with you. And you’re the client. You want to go it alone, there’s nothing we can do about it. Except attend your funeral later. Which would have been more than Sean and I would have had after this morning.”
“What do you mean?”
She put a hand on his shoulder and guided him toward her Land Cruiser. “Semtex doesn’t usually leave enough of you behind to bury.”
CHAPTER
39
THEY DROVE TO SEAN’S HOUSE and filled him in. Michelle was surprised by what he wanted to focus on.
“Why did those punks at school say your dad was AWOL and a crook?” he asked.
Tyler stared at him angrily. “My dad is not—”
Sean cut him off. “I didn’t say he was. That’s not my point. What I’m asking is where did they get that idea?”
Tyler now looked puzzled. “One of them said his dad told him. And his dad is in the Army. That I know for a fact. He’s a lieutenant colonel.”
Michelle said, “Or they might have made it all up just to harass you, Tyler.”
“No,” said Tyler. “Those jerks don’t have that much imagination.” He paused and added, “If he heard it from his dad and his dad’s in the Army, I guess it might have come from there.”
Sean shook his head. “I don’t think so. The Army has put the kibosh on this whole thing. They’re coming down like an Abrams tank on us and we’re not even in uniform. I don’t see them letting the rank and file flap their mouths. Actually, I don’t see the rank and file even being in the loop on this.”
Sean pulled out his laptop and started clicking keys. He looked at the results, clicked some more keys, and then nodded.
“I Googled your dad’s name. And this came up. There’s a leak,” he said. He spun the computer around so they could see.
He continued, “Not the mainstream media yet, but there are three articles dealing with this. They’re actually the same article just repeated in strings. Meaning other online media outlets are picking it up now.”
Tyler and Michelle read the pages on the screen.
Tyler said, “Shit, they know that Jean is missing too. How did they find that out?”
Sean replied, “Maybe because the source behind this story was the one who made her disappear.”
After they were finished Michelle sat back and summarized the articles. “So, missing money. Unauthorized money. And a missing soldier named Sam Wingo smack in the middle of it. The White House refuses to comment as does the Pentagon, which means everyone will assume they’re covering it up. So that’s obviously what the punk’s dad was referring to. He’d read this article.”
“Right. But who the hell was the source?” asked Sean.
Michelle eyed the byline of the first article. “If this was the original that the other outlets just copied, it was George Carlton. He has a blog devoted to military and political matters.” Michelle looked at Sean. “You know of him?”
“No. I’m not much into the blogging world, but I wonder if Mr. Carlton has received a visit from DoD?”
“He’s local. Bio says he lives and works in Reston, so maybe he has. But they surely wouldn’t have wanted him to write this.”
“Not saying they would. I meant after the fact, to find out his source.” He read over the article again. “The White House refuses comment. I wonder why they were even asked?”
“The White House?” said Tyler. “What does that place have to do with my dad?”
“That’s for someone else to know and for us to find out,” observed Michelle. She glanced at Sean. “You think we should check out this blogger?”
“After this story he might be lying low.”
“How low? Like in a grave low?” asked Michelle.
“Shit,” exclaimed Tyler. They both looked at him. “Are you guys being serious?” he asked.
“Serious about what? How dangerous this is?” said Sean sternly. “Then yeah, we are serious as shit.”
“What about Tyler’s dad contacting him?” asked Michelle.
“Next point on my to-discuss list,” said Sean. “Does he want to set up a meeting?”
Tyler shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t say.”
“Sure he did, Tyler,” said Sean.
“What do you mean?”
“I set up the Gmail account for you. And I added a back door.”
Tyler stared at him. “So you already read the email?”
“And decoded it,” added Sean.
Michelle looked at him in amazement. “Sean, I’m seeing your Steve Jobs side and liking it. Very sexy. But I am pissed you didn’t tell me before now.”
“I just saw it five minutes before you got back.” He looked at Tyler. “So he wants to meet with you. He set a time and place. He’s just waiting for your response.”
Tyler looked uncomfortable. “I’m not sure my dad would be cool with you guys coming too.”
“So you were just going to meet with him alone?” said Michelle. “And who would be covering your back?”
“I… I mean, I guess I hadn’t thought about that yet.”
She said, “Well, if your dad is the kind of guy I believe he is, he’ll think about it. And he won’t do anything to put you in danger. So why don’t you write him back and tell him we’ve got your back and we’re part of the team and he needs to meet with all of us. Face-to-face.”
“But what if my dad won’t do it?” said Tyler.
Michelle shook her head. “I’m not sure he has much choice. We can’t let you go and meet with him alone. It’s too dangerous.”
Tyler said quickly, “I guess you’re right. My dad wouldn’t want me to get hurt.”
“Glad you see our point,” said Sean. “So send him another email. Tell him you can meet him tomorrow night at the place he gave you. You can tell him we’re investigators you hired to help him. Then we’ll go and see what he has to say.”
“Okay,” agreed Tyler.
“Sean, look at this.”
Michelle was pointing at the computer screen where she had pulled up the latest on the bombing at the motor court in south Alexandria.
“The police are looking for two people seen leaving the blast site. A man and a woman.”
Sean said, “Maybe we should have stayed and told the cops our story.”
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty,” she replied. “Too late now.”
“Uh, guys,” said Tyler. He was peering out the front window of the house. “There are like some dudes in your yard.”
Sean and Michelle exchanged another look, then strode over to the window and looked out.
Michelle sucked in a breath while Sean let one out.
“Shit!” they said at the same instant.
“Is that kind of like a SWAT team?” asked Tyler, backing away.