King and Maxwell

CHAPTER 48

MICHELLE NEVER WOULD HAVE PLANNED an operation this way. It was way too fast and loose, little prep and no real evaluation of the pros and cons. And no true Plan B when something unexpected happened. Her cover spot had several weak spots, any one of which a guy like Sam Wingo would be able to exploit in his sleep.

She was twelve feet up in the crook of a tree with her sniper rifle making wide arcs over the landscape below. Sean was taking up his position near where they believed the father and son might actually meet. But they could be way off about that. And they could be really way off if the fishing hole didn’t turn out to be the right spot at all.

He was communicating with her via an earwig and power pack. She carried the same equipment. It felt like they were back in the Service. And in a way this was very much like protection detail. She wasn’t going to let anything happen to Sean or Tyler. Sam Wingo was still not a sure thing for her. He could go either way. And depending on which way he did go, she might have to put a round in him. Right in front of his son.

Michelle looked down at her trigger finger and wondered if she could do it. But she already knew the answer. She could. And would. Right now Sean was her protectee and she would take a bullet for him if it came to it.

Over her earwig she heard Sean say, “Got an eyeball on something. But I can’t make it out. Just a glimpse.”

“Where?”

He gave her the coordinates and she swung her scoped rifle in the direction. She saw something. It flitted in and out among the trees, almost like vapor.

Then she locked in on it.

“It’s Tyler,” she said. At least they had come to the right place.

“And his father?”

Michelle scanned the area. “No eyes on him yet.”

“He’s probably reconning right now.”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing,” said a voice.

Sean began to turn toward it when the voice said, “Don’t.”

Sean froze.

In his ear Michelle whispered, “Ten yards to your right, behind the oak. Can’t confirm it’s Wingo.”

Sean gave a bare nod.

“Where’s your partner?” asked the voice. “I want her down here right now.”

Sean said, “Why’s that, Sam? Want to gun us both down?” He said this in an overly loud voice.

“Who are you?” asked Wingo, who had revealed just a sliver of himself behind the oak.

“Someone trying to help your son.” He added in a very loud voice, “Isn’t that right, Tyler?”

“Shut up,” barked Wingo. “Or I’ll put a round in your leg.”

“Didn’t you come to meet Tyler? He’s right over there. Tyler, join the party.”

“I said shut up!” yelled Wingo. He edged out past the oak, his gun pointed at Sean.

Michelle said into Sean’s earwig, “I have a clean shot, Sean.”

He gave a curt shake of his head, and Michelle’s hand moved away from the trigger guard.

“We could have taken you out right now, Wingo. But that’s not what we’re here for.”

“Bullshit!”

“Then here’s proof,” said Sean.

Michelle fired a round that struck a branch two feet above where Wingo was standing. It fell to the ground a foot away from him. Wingo jumped back behind the tree.

“Now do you believe us?” asked Sean.

“Dad, Dad!”

Tyler came rushing into the clearing and then pulled up short when he saw Sean.

“What are you doing here?”

“Trying to talk your dad out of shooting me.”

Tyler looked around, “Dad? Dad, are you here?”

Sean knew why Wingo was hesitating. “If you come out I’ll have my partner come out too, Wingo. We are here to help.”

Tyler added, “They are, Dad. They’ve really been helping.”

A few moments later Michelle appeared at the edge of the clearing, her sniper rifle pointed down.

Sam Wingo saw this and slowly stepped clear of the oak. They all stared at each other.

Sean said, “Uh, you might want to hug your son, Sam, just to prove to him you’re not a ghost.”

Father and son eyed each other for what seemed an impossibly long moment. Then Wingo holstered his gun and spread his arms wide. Tyler rushed to him. The two hugged for a long time. Tears ran down both the Wingos’ faces.

Michelle drew closer to Sean and said quietly, “This whole thing just got very complicated.”

He nodded. “That’s the face of a guy who got set up and doesn’t know what the hell is going on.”

“Which means he may not know any more than we do.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But now we can at least ask him.”

Wingo finally stopped hugging his son, but kept one arm protectively around his shoulders. He wiped his face of the tears while an embarrassed Tyler did the same. Wingo walked toward Sean and Michelle.

“How did you two get involved in all this?”

“Just saw your kid running down the street one dark and stormy night after the Army told him you were dead,” said Michelle. “Total coincidence.”

Wingo slowly nodded. “I appreciate your not shooting me when I came out from cover.”

“And I appreciate your not shooting me,” said Sean.

“Dad, you look… different,” noted Tyler.

Wingo rubbed his shaved head and new beard and said, “Have to when people are looking for you.”

“What people?” asked Sean.

“Good question,” shot back Wingo.

“Your people?” asked Michelle. “The military? You’ve apparently created a huge buzz at the Pentagon and the White House.”

“Wasn’t supposed to go down like that.”

“How then?”

“Classified.”

Sean looked disappointed. “After all you’ve been through you’re going to pull the classified crap?”

“Look, I could be court-martialed for discussing any of this with you.”

“You been listening to the news?” asked Michelle.

Wingo nodded.

“Then you know a lot of it has become unclassified.”

“DHS told us about the nearly five thousand pounds of euros.”

“Over a billion dollars’ worth that you somehow managed to lose,” added Michelle.

Tyler looked at his dad. “Is that true, Dad?”

Wingo looked uneasily from Michelle to his son but said nothing.

“If we work together,” said Sean. “We might make some progress.”

“But you said DHS had looped you in. So you’re working with them.”

“No. And we’ve been to see the FBI. And the president,” said Michelle. “And we decided not to work with any of them. At least not yet.”

Wingo looked shaky. “You met with the president? Over this?”

“Apparently on his big-item to-do list, you are at the numero uno spot,” said Michelle. “Congratulations.”

“Shit!” said Wingo, putting a hand over his eyes. “I can’t believe this is all actually happening.”

“Well, it is happening,” snapped Sean. “And we have to address it.”

“How?” asked Wingo. “What can you do?”

“Dad, they’re investigators. They used to be with the Secret Service. They’re really good. They can help.”

“I’m not sure anyone can help me, son.”

“So you’re just giving up?” said Michelle. “After dragging your butt back here from Afghanistan? You’re going to let them get away with it?”

Tyler angrily looked at her. “My dad is not a quitter.”

“I’m not saying he is or he isn’t, Tyler. But the real answer is up to him.”

Sean added, “We’ll help you, if you’ll let us.”

“Why?” asked Wingo. “Why open up a can of worms that isn’t your problem?”

“I think we’ve already made it our problem,” he answered. “And we can’t put our heads in the sand and hope it goes away. So the only way it gets resolved is to pool our resources and figure it out.”

Tyler took his father’s arm. “Come on, Dad. Do it.”

An instant later Michelle said in an urgent tone, “Someone’s coming.”