Ben swiveled around to look at his older brother. “I’m sorry, Eddie. It comes with the territory.”
“Which is what, exactly?” said Pine. “Are you in the intelligence field?”
“I used to be,” replied Ben.
“For our side?”
“It’s not that simple.”
Pine said, “It is for me. If you’re a spy for another country, we’re going to have a big problem.”
“Shit, Ben, please tell me that’s not true,” exclaimed Ed.
“I can work for interests outside this country without working against this country. But allies are allies until they become enemies. And sometimes our enemies can be allies. It’s a fluid situation.”
“So, do you work for one of our allies or one of our enemies?”
“I work for myself after working for Uncle Sam and others. And doing it well and honorably.”
“Okay, go on,” prompted Pine.
“I put out my own shingle.”
“Doing what?”
“I help arrange things.”
“Like what? The guy on the mule pretending to be you?”
“You’ve no doubt heard of money laundering?”
Pine said, “Not only have I heard of it, I’ve investigated cases dealing with it.”
“Well, money is not the only thing that can be laundered. You can launder people, too.”
“You mean switching their identities? Making them disappear?”
“Something like that,” answered Priest.
Pine could sense he was lying but decided to move on. She said, “Talk about the guy on the mule. He disappeared and left behind a dead animal with the letters j and k carved on it.”
Ben let out a long breath. “I don’t know what that means.”
Pine thought he might be telling the truth on that one. “Was it part of the plan that the guy would head out at night on a mule?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, what was the plan?”
Ben shook his head. “I can’t get into that.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
Ben shook his head again. “I haven’t heard from him.”
“Does our government know about whatever he’s doing?”
No answer.
Pine said, “The FBI’s National Security Division is very interested in all this. Did you know that?”
Ben took off his glasses and wiped at his eyes. “I’m not unaware of it.”
“Spoken in true doublespeak,” said Pine sharply. “You’ve told me basically zip, and I’m rapidly losing my patience.”
“Ben, you need to work with Agent Pine,” implored Ed. “She has my family in a safe place. We were threatened.”
“I know, Eddie. You told me, but there’s nothing I can do.”
“Bullshit! You were the one who got us into this.”
Ben snapped, “No, you got yourself into it. You should have stayed out of it. Then they never would have come after you.”
“All I did was try to contact you when you disappeared. What did you expect me to do?”
Ben pointed at Pine. “You spoke with her. You talked to the FBI. They know that.”
“Who does?” said Pine quickly.
Again, Ben would not answer.
“She called me,” said Ed. “What was I supposed to do?”
“Look, this is getting us nowhere,” said Ben. “I need to get back.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” said Pine. “You either work with me, or I’m going to arrest you.”
“On what charge?”
“Obstruction of justice and wasting police time. The search for you cost thousands of dollars and wasted the time of a lot of first responders who could have been helping other people.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it!”
“We can let a judge sort that out. But I’d prefer that you answer my questions so we can get to the bottom of this.”
“Who said I wanted to get to the bottom of it?” replied Ben coolly. “Or that I wanted you to?”
“You’ve put your brother and his family in danger. You need to help fix that.”
“No, I really don’t.”
“Ben!” exclaimed Ed. “We’re your family.”
His brother turned to look at him. “On this, my family comes second. It’s just too big. I’m sorry, Eddie, but that’s how it has to be.”
“You son of a bitch!” screamed Ed. “And everybody thinks you’re the golden boy! You’re nothing but a selfish bastard.”
Pine wasn’t paying attention to either of them. They were on a lonely stretch of road. It was completely dark, and she could see no lights behind her.
But still. Her professional antennae were going crazy.
“Hold on,” she called out.
A moment later something hit them from behind with such force that the rear wheels of the Explorer were lifted off the pavement. The truck came back down so hard that they were propelled toward the ceiling, only kept in check by their harnesses engaging. With the impact, all the air bags deployed.
The truck swerved off the road and onto the dirt shoulder. Just beyond the shoulder was a six-foot strip of grass, and then a wall of thick trees.
Pine did not fight the wheel. Peering around the air bag, she calmly steered into the direction the truck was moving so she could regain control of it.
They cleared the shoulder, and then the six feet of grass.
“Brace,” she called out.
A moment later the truck slammed into the wall of trees. But Pine had maneuvered the truck just enough to prevent it from broadsiding the trees, which would have crushed the side of the truck she was on. Instead, the truck impacted the trees at the corner of the left front fender.
With the air bags already deployed, Pine’s head hit the window.
And then the already damaged gas tank fully cracked and the leaked fuel caught a spark. A trickle of flames headed up the side of the SUV.
Inside the truck, Pine let out a groan and then lapsed into unconsciousness.
Chapter 21
A little girl. Beckoning to her.
A small hand held out to provide assistance.
A whisper of urgency.
Hurry, Lee. Come on. You’re in trouble. Come on. Quick now, Lee.
Pine came to as quickly as she had fallen unconscious. She pushed the deflated air bag and side curtains out of the way and saw in the rearview mirror flames creeping her way.
The commingled scents of burning plastic and upholstery were nauseating.
She could smell escaped fuel and knew that the impact had cracked the gas tank.
The image of her sister calling to her slowly faded.
Lee, instead of Atlee. That was what Mercy had always called her. The truncated name had stuck growing up. She was Lee Pine until she went to college.
For some reason, she had not minded the change back to Atlee. The name Lee represented her past. And right now Pine wasn’t sure she had much of a future.
She undid her harness and looked across at the passenger seat.
Ben Priest was slumped against the door, a thin trickle of blood running down his forehead.
In the backseat, Ed Priest was moaning and holding his shoulder.
Pine tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. The impact had jammed it. She slid into the backseat, reached across Ed, and opened the door. She unharnessed him and pushed the injured man out of the truck, as the flames crept closer.
She could feel the heat over every inch of her. It was fierce and made her skin tingle. Any second and the fumes in the cracked gas tank could ignite. And then in a flash of flames and vapor ignition it would all be over. They would collect her scattered remains in a trash bag.
Her boots hit the dirt and she pulled Ed away from the truck.