The Escape

CHAPTER 64

When Puller opened his eyes all he saw was darkness. At first he thought he was dead, but then wondered how he could still see. Or think.

Then the darkness lightened and he was able to make out a silhouette.

Then he heard a voice.

“Sucks being blown up, doesn’t it?”

The silhouette slowly transformed into something more solid. And familiar.

Knox was smiling at him, but the concern was evident in her eyes and wrinkled brow. She dabbed his forehead with a wet cloth.

Next to her he saw his brother, looking just as anxious, with no accompanying smile.

Puller tried to sit up, but it was Knox’s turn to put a hand on him to hold him down. He was lying on a bed in a small, dimly lit room.

“You got knocked cold, Puller.” She held up three fingers. “How many?”

“I’m fine, Knox.”

“How many?”

“Three!”

“Okay, your head must be even harder than I thought.”

He looked around. “Where are we?”

“In Virginia, near Gainesville. Reynolds left her car in the garage and I still had the keys. We drove back to get my car, left her car there, and then we drove around until we found this place,” said Knox. “We’ve been sitting here waiting for you to wake up.”

Puller rubbed his head and winced at the lump on the back of it.

“Couple of times we came close to taking you to the hospital,” said Knox. “That would have required some problematic explanations. But if you started going downhill fast we would have.”

Puller glanced at the window, where he could see the dusk gathering outside. “The whole thing happened last night?”

Knox nodded.

“So what exactly happened?” he demanded.

“You remember the explosion?” asked Knox anxiously.

“I’m not suffering from memory loss, if that’s what you’re asking,” said Puller. “I saw the detonation belt around Schindler. We ran for it. We were in the stairwell. The bomb went off and then I was flying through the air. And hit something very hard.”

“That would be the wall, Junior,” said Robert.

“It felt more like an Abrams tank.” He glanced around at the space. “What is this place?”

“Motel room,” said Knox.

“So how did we get out of the building Reynolds took us to?”

“Fortunately, your brother and I had made the turn going to the second landing. You got far more of the blast than we did, although we got knocked around too. It’s a good thing your brother was there. He carried you out over his shoulder. I never would have had the strength.”

Robert said, “I haven’t had to carry you that much since you were four years old. And you weigh a hell of a lot more now.”

“Cops show up?”

“I’m sure they did. But we managed to get out first.” She rubbed his face again with the cloth. “How are you really feeling?”

“Better than I have a right to, I guess.”

She sat back and sighed. “Best-laid plans. I’ve been working undercover on this case for two months, I finally get to who I think is the bigwig, and find out Reynolds suckered me.”

“She suckered us all,” pointed out Robert. “She obviously trusts no one.”

“But I delivered you right to her. I acted my part really well. I almost deafened you to gain her confidence.” She touched Robert’s arm. “I’m sorry about that. It was an ad-lib. I had to sell that I was really a traitor.”

“I understand. And it seems that most of my hearing is back.”

Puller now sat up a bit, and she didn’t try to stop him. “Why didn’t you bring us in the loop before we went after Reynolds?” he said, scowling.

She shook her head. “Trying to get you up to speed on the fly right before the op? No way. You wouldn’t have been prepped well enough. You would have said something or done something or made the wrong look, and Reynolds is too sharp. She would have picked up on it. I had to let you act exactly how you felt: convinced that I had betrayed you.”

“Well, I bought your act,” said Puller grumpily. “But you took a risk by not telling me. I might have shot you.”

“I had to take that risk. I worked too hard on this sucker. But when I saw Schindler, I was stunned. I didn’t figure him for it at all. But there he was.” She glanced at Puller. “But it was all a façade. A trick. How did you know?”

“I could see it in his eyes. Up closer they were glassy. And he hadn’t moved a muscle.”

“He was already disabled,” added Robert. “They probably used a paralytic.”

Puller said, “Reynolds was obviously testing your loyalty. That’s why she moved to shoot Bobby. If you were really on her side, you’d let that happen. You weren’t and you didn’t.”

“So she was able to get me to blow my own cover.”

“I’m glad you did,” said Robert. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be here. I could see the look in her eye. She was going to pull the trigger.”

“But why all the shots fired through the window?” asked Knox, who immediately answered her own question: “So Reynolds could get away.”

Puller nodded. “It was slickly done, I have to admit.”

She sat back and folded the cloth into a square. “This was my only shot to get them, Puller. They’re long gone now.”

“I’m surprised you got as far as you did with them,” he replied. “It wasn’t easy. When we were tipped off about Robert, that he might be innocent, we went back over his case in detail. One thing stuck out for us: Susan Reynolds.”

“But how did you approach her?” asked Robert.

“I didn’t. I let her approach me. We had set up my cover quite convincingly. I was passed over for a promotion. There were certain irregularities in my record, the accusation of a bribe. She could have gained access to this information quite easily. One day she called me out of the blue.” She looked at Robert. “I told your brother that we had received an anonymous tip about you. It said that you were innocent and that a co-worker of yours was not the loyal person they claimed to be.”

“When did you get the tip?” asked Robert.

“About four months before all hell broke loose at DB and the attempt was made on your life.”

“So that was the catalyst,” said Robert.

Puller interjected, “I think it might have been Niles Robinson. Guilty conscience.”

“As I told Puller, unfortunately, we were probably the ones who almost got you killed. We obviously had a leak at INSCOM. Word got out we were looking into your case. We believe that prompted the assassination attempt on you.”

“Well, it also gave me the opportunity to escape.”

“So we decided to lay a trap for Reynolds. I was with INSCOM. I was possibly damaged goods. I could be helpful to them. It took two months, because she was very cautious. Then she made contact. A phone call, an email, a text. A face-to-face in an out-of-the-way place. Then things started to heat up quickly. I had no idea about the hit at DB on you, Robert. I wasn’t in the circle on that one. I already told Puller that. But when it happened and you escaped, Reynolds met with me again. She needed me to be part of the investigation.”

“Why not just pull the plug on her right then?” asked Puller.

“Because we might get her but no one else. And we still didn’t know what the endgame was. It couldn’t just be the murder of your brother. We needed to know what they were after. If we pulled the trigger too soon, we’d never find out what that was.”

“So you became part of the investigation,” said Puller.

“And from there I teamed with you, which she loved because she was convinced that your brother would seek you out. And the sooner they nailed him the better.”

“But why was I so important to them?” asked Robert.

“First, she loathes you. I think you represent for her every promotion she didn’t get. Every superior she didn’t impress. Every opportunity that went to someone else. She thinks she’s smarter than you. And she will do anything to prove it. You were the golden child wherever you went. And when your career carried you to her part of the world, you made a very dangerous enemy. When they needed to get you out of the way before you transferred to ISR, she was more than happy to do it. And that was the second point. They had Daughtrey in hand. He needed to get the job, not you. And we now know he was blackmailed.”

“Any idea what they’re up to now?” asked Puller. “Reynolds said we hadn’t seen anything yet. When she said what they were planning would be memorable, I took the woman at her word.”

“That’s the rub. Not a clue. I was hoping to learn more about it last night. But she outmaneuvered me. I underestimated the woman, and I guess I overestimated my own cleverness.”

Robert said, “Do you think they’ll go forward with whatever they’re planning?”

“We can’t assume that they won’t,” said Knox. “In fact this might accelerate their hand.”

“But Reynolds can’t operate in the open anymore, not after last night,” said Puller.

“We haven’t talked to the police,” said Knox. “They’ll eventually ID Schindler’s remains through DNA. But I have no idea whose apartment that was, or who was firing the shots through the window.”

“And I can’t talk to the police, for obvious reasons,” added Robert.

“But we can, Knox,” said Puller.

“It would be our word against hers. We don’t have proof. And if they bring Reynolds in she’ll tell them about Robert being with us. Then our choice is either to lie or tell the truth, neither of which is a good option if we don’t want to go to prison. And knowing her she’ll come up with some quite plausible tale that we orchestrated her kidnapping and had a hand in killing a prominent member of the NSC.”

“This is ridiculous,” snapped Puller. But then he drew a long, calming breath. “If that’s the case then we need to focus everything we have on finding out what they’re really planning.”

“Reynolds has to be intimately involved in whatever it is, because they’ve taken such great steps to protect her,” pointed out Robert.

“That’s true,” said Knox. “But is it in her official capacity with DTRA, or in her capacity as a spy?”

Puller and Robert looked at her blankly for a few moments. Obviously none of them had the answer to that question.

Knox said, “They only had two motel rooms available. This one and the one next door. I thought you and your brother could have this one, and I’ll take the other one.”

“I’m going to grab my duffel from the car,” said Robert.

After he left, Knox turned to Puller. “She beat me, Puller.”

“She kicked my butt too. Again. I’m starting to get a real inferiority complex.”

“She took it to one more level. I wasn’t anticipating that.”

“Then we have to take it to a level she’s not anticipating.”

“But my cover is blown, Puller. We have no way in.”

“The three of us will get this done.”

“Do you really think so?”

“Without a doubt,” said Robert, who had come back in and overheard this part of the conversation.

He put his duffel down and sat on the edge of the bed. “They gave us some real intelligence without meaning to do so, of course. They thought we’d be dead by now, so my seeing her meeting with Malcolm Aust didn’t trouble Reynolds too much.”

“Do you think you know why they were meeting?” asked Knox.

“Aust is smart, sophisticated, and rich. But I’m sure Reynolds seduced him. I saw them in the restaurant. It was sexual on his part. It was totally business on hers.”

“But what is her business interest in Aust?” asked Knox.

Robert hunched forward. “For want of a better term, Aust is the secret keeper.”

“Secret keeper? I thought he hunted WMDs?” said Puller.

“That’s part of it. But only part. He’s an investigator, an overseer, and an inspector. A confidant. Depending on the situation he will adopt a different role.”

“Why would his role vary depending on the situation?” asked Knox. “Like Puller said, his job is to ferret out illegal WMDs.”

“Oh, it’s actually far more complex than that,” said Robert matter-of-factly “Take Israel, for instance. Their official stance is they have no WMDs. But they’re our staunch ally and thus we would never call for an inspection into what they have or don’t have. But for strategic purposes we need to know privately what their capabilities are. In steps Aust. Now, Pakistan has nukes. We worry about some of them going rogue because of lax security. The same with Russia. Neither of those countries are true allies of ours, but to call for an inspection of their arsenal is very tricky politically and diplomatically. If an inspection were done with, say, Pakistan, it might turn up locations of WMDs and their security status. If that information were leaked, it could lead terrorists right to the stockpiles, the very thing such an inspection was trying to avoid. Again, Aust is sort of a trusted-by-both-sides intermediary who keeps the system honest, or at least reasonable. And look at Syria. Assad has chemical weapon stockpiles. Under an international agreement he agreed to destroy them. No one with even a grain of intelligence believes that he destroyed all of the stockpiles, for what sane dictator, pardon the seeming oxymoron, would do such a thing? But Aust was sent in to verify what was done. I’m sure he is very good at his job. I’m sure he knows how much Assad destroyed. I’m also sure he knows of other caches.”

“But wouldn’t he report that?” said Puller.

“He would make an official report, absolutely. That one would be dribbled out to the global media according to the timetable of the powers that be. But there would also be an unofficial report, with limited dissemination, that would tell a different story.”

“So the public is kept in the dark,” said Puller. “How does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense if you want future leverage with someone like Assad or Kim Jong Un or a host of leaders of that ilk. You always hold something back to play later when you need it. Proof that someone like Assad lied and did not destroy all of his WMDs can be very powerful when used later on. It’s all in the timing. We still hope for a resolution in Syria that does not involve all-out war. Such intel can pave the way for that.”

“But why would Syria allow Aust to know of other caches? They would realize that this would be used later against them.”

“That speaks to how good someone like Aust is. He knows places such as Syria like the back of his hand. He has moles everywhere. He can sniff out WMDs. That’s why he does what he does. And countries like Syria know this. It’s a game that they all play. If the chit is played later against Syria they will respond accordingly. But it buys them time. And it also buys us time to deal with countries like that in a diplomatic, measured way, instead of declaring war and sending boots on the ground. After Iraq and Afghanistan we don’t have the stomach or the money for that anymore. But we still have a significant role to play in international affairs. The world expects America to lead. And this is one way we can without committing lives and treasure in vast quantities. It’s all about what we know and when we use what we know.”

Puller shook his head. “Way above my pay grade. It’s why I’m just a grunt toting a rifle.”

“Give yourself a little more credit than that, Puller,” said Knox.

“But it does come back to Aust,” said Robert. “If they need him, then it certainly narrows our search considerably.”

Knox interjected, “But what if he’s doing so willingly? You said Reynolds seduced him. That it’s all about sex on his part and business on hers. But what if he’s in on it?”

“And his motivation?” asked Robert.

Knox turned to Puller. “Tell him what you told me before.”

“He was the loudest voice that Iraq didn’t have WMDs,” Puller said. “And we went to war anyway. What if he wants to teach the world a lesson? Particularly America?”

“By helping someone like Reynolds? By perhaps leading her to a cache of WMDs to use against us?” Robert shook his head. “I don’t think that’s plausible, John, I really don’t.”

“Well, if it’s not then the real answer must be something totally off the wall, because nothing else I can think of makes sense.”

Knox said, “We do have one tactical advantage. I’ve been listening to the news. The authorities are all over that apartment where Schindler was. It was totally destroyed. Apartments above and below were damaged as well. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be collateral casualties. They haven’t released Schindler’s name yet. They may not have identified him yet. But Reynolds probably thinks we’re dead too, our bodies blown to bits in that rubble. If she thinks she’s free and clear of us I believe she’s going to go ahead with her mission.”

“And she might relax her guard a bit,” noted Puller.

“Exactly.”

“Then we might just have a chance,” said Robert.

Puller suddenly stood, a look of intense concentration on his face.

“What is it?” asked Robert and Knox together.

“We need to go somewhere, right now.”

“Where?” asked Knox.

“Reynolds’s office at DTRA.”

“Why?”

“Because I just remembered there was something in her office that might just blow the lid off this whole thing.”