Private Rogue

Chapter 39

I stepped outside and followed a path round the house. It was more a channel of shallow snow, in between the deeper drifts that covered the lawn and flowerbeds. I walked to the back garden and saw the gentle waves of the Sound lapping the beach not a hundred yards from where I stood. New York City loomed in the distance. I scrolled through my replacement phone looking for a number I was only supposed to call in an emergency.

I dialed, and as I waited for my call to connect, I watched the lights of cars zipping through Queens.

“Hello?” a voice said.

“I’m looking for Secretary Carver,” I replied.

“And you are?”

“Jack Morgan, he gave me this number—”

“Hold, please,” the voice said, and the line fell silent.

Secretary of Defense Eli Carver had given me the number after I’d saved his life from the Russian assassin Veles, at Air Station Fallon.

“Jack Morgan,” Eli Carver said when he came on the line. “I’m glad you called. Not a day passes when I don’t think about what I owe you.”

“I did what I had to, Mr. Secretary,” I replied.

“I’m pretty sure I told you to call me Eli,” he responded with a friendly laugh. “But I’m guessing you didn’t call to reminisce. What can I do for you?”

“Last week, a Special Forces bird went down in Afghanistan,” I said, and felt his mood change.

“And you know about that how?” he asked somberly. “Never mind, I forgot who I was talking to. Go on.”

“A man claiming to be the father-in-law of one of the men on that aircraft hired me to track down his daughter. It turns out he’s an imposter who might be trying to use her as leverage.”

“Local intelligence says there were no survivors, Jack.” Carver’s tone could not have been more serious. “It was a massacre.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that, Mr. Secretary, but I believe there was at least one survivor. These men wouldn’t be trying to abduct my client and her children if her husband was dead.”

I barely registered the ease with which Beth Singer had become my client. She hadn’t asked me, she wasn’t paying me, but I felt ashamed of how easily I’d been misled and I needed to put it right. This wasn’t just about getting off the bench and putting myself on the frontline anymore. This was about protecting an innocent woman and her children.

“Why don’t you come in?” Carver asked. “Show us what you’ve got. We can protect your client, take down the bad guys.”

“That’s where things get complicated, Mr. Secretary,” I replied. “One of those bad guys might be in your department. The man who hired me appears to have a Pentagon connection, which makes me think that someone at the Department of Defense might have given up the mission in Afghanistan. Someone who is now working with hostiles to capture a US serviceman and his family.”

Carver whistled. “That’s a heck of an allegation, Jack.”

“I know, Mr. Secretary. That’s why I called you and you alone.”

“I appreciate it, Jack. But now I’m not sure who’s doing who the favor.”

“I’d suggest going through everyone who was cleared for the Afghanistan mission. Run vetting, full background and comms checks,” I said.

“Why don’t you help us work this from the inside?” Carver suggested. “A Department of Defense contractor.”

“I trust my team,” I said. “I hope you won’t take this the wrong way, Mr. Secretary, but I don’t trust yours. It looks very much like you have at least one traitor at the Pentagon, and until we know if that’s true and who it is, I’d rather not take any chances.”

“Not even with me?”

“Not even with you, Mr. Secretary. With all due respect.”

“You’re a careful man, Jack,” Carver said, and I could tell from his tone that he was smiling.

“Wisdom earned from hard lessons,” I replied.

“Can I reach you on this number?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, let’s keep in touch,” Carver said. “I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Likewise, Mr. Secretary.”

“You be careful. And, Jack?”

“Yes, Mr. Secretary.”

“What do I have to do to get you to call me Eli? You saved my life, remember?”

“I remember, sir,” I said. It was my turn to smile. “Maybe if we ever share a beer it’ll feel more natural to call you by your first name, but until then I can’t seem to shake the habit, sir.”

Carver scoffed. “Good luck, Jack.”

“Thanks. And you, sir,” I replied, before hanging up.