It was around that time that the Janitors were born. They’d achieved so much with that small, covert unit, work they were proud of. Work that had kept the nation safe. And then, after 9/11, their paths had diverged. While the country’s intelligence agencies came under fire, smaller conflicts were brewing and boiling over around the planet. Roos saw the potential to bail on the political infighting and cash in on his connections and expertise by going private. He started hiring himself out to various governments and corporate interests, and he raked in serious fees. He managed to convince Sandman leave the Agency and join him for that ride. With Sandman’s talents to draw on, no boardroom problem was insurmountable, no opposition leader untouchable. They provided discreet, effective solutions to the thorniest of problems. Needless to say, they’d thrived together.
Tomblin, on the other hand, was less of an adventurer and preferred to weather the storms and stay at the agency. He did well. In fact, he hadn’t possessed an official public job title since 2005, which was when the CIA’s National Clandestine Service was first created in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Iraq War. The NCS didn’t do “public.” It was the covert, deep-dark arm of an organization that wasn’t exactly an open book itself, and followed an even more aggressive approach to keeping the nation safe. Under its official remit, it had “the national authority for the coordination, de-confliction, and evaluation of clandestine operations across the Intelligence Community of the United States,” meaning it could pretty much do anything it wanted. As the NCS’s Deputy Director, Tomblin oversaw five of its main divisions. This included the Special Activities Division, which conducted both overt action such as paramilitary raids and assassinations in denied areas, and covert action such as PSYOP-Psychological operations.
And it was because of one aspect of PSYOP-namely, mind control, something they’d both been involved in years earlier, in CIA programs such as MK-Ultra-that they were both in this mess.
Because of a young boy’s father who just won’t let go.
Roos had brought this calamity down upon them alclass="underline" on himself, on Tomblin-who was Roos’s immensely useful, if unofficial, partner in his private global endeavors-and most of all on the man who initially put together and ran the Janitors unit, the man who now stood to lose more than either of them.
“All right,” he told Tomblin. “I’m expecting an update from Sandman within the hour. Let’s review then.”
“OK.” Tomblin paused, then said, “Reilly has several pressure points we can use, Gordo. And we know how much he treasures them. Especially the woman and the boy.”
Roos smiled inwardly. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
18
Mamaroneck, New York
Maxed out on caffeine in a vain attempt to counteract a night of maximum stress and zero sleep, Aparo arrived on the tree-lined street on which Reilly and Tess’s house stood and parked his Ford Taurus in front of the three Evidence Response Team vehicles.
He climbed out and went to talk to Max Goodman, the Special Agent in charge of the ERT, who was emerging from a GMC Yukon parked a little farther down the street.
Aparo waved as he approached. “Just give me half an hour, OK?”
He’d called Goodman and asked him to wait till he arrived at the house, making it clear that the inhabitants were a Bureau family and that, right now, his partner wasn’t guilty of anything except fleeing a crime scene.
Goodman shook his head. “You said wait till you arrive, and you’re here now. We need to go in.”
Aparo lowered his voice, trying the conciliatory approach first. “Look, Max, the lady only stepped off the red-eye an hour ago. Let me go in first and talk her through it before your guys go storming in.”
Goodman wasn’t impressed. “You shouldn’t be anywhere near this case. You’re his partner for Christ’s sake! Now get out of my way so I can do my job.”
Aparo put a hand on Goodman’s arm. “Come on, Max. She’s got her mom and two kids in there. A teenage girl and a five-year-old boy. Isn’t that the same age as your kid? How’d you feel if you were in their place? You wouldn’t want your kid going through something like that, would you?”
Goodman didn’t reply.
“They’ll be heading off to school in a few minutes,” Aparo added. “That’s all I’m asking.”
Aparo knew this was the moment it went one of two ways. Either Goodman felt a sizeable stab of sympathy when he imagined his boy looking on as armed storm troopers went through his family home from top to bottom, or the mere mention of the guy’s son in this context risked further harsh words at best, or a fist swung at his face.
Goodman went quiet for a moment then said, “OK. Go. I’ll wait till the kids are gone.”
Aparo hid his smile with an earnest expression of sincere gratitude. “Done. I owe you. And do me a favor, keep the guys out of sight until the kids are gone.”
Tess had arrived home about half an hour earlier, her stress levels off the chart. The Evidence Response Team vehicles were already parked out on the street, though Aparo had texted her to say that no one would try to enter the house before he got there himself.
Her mom was already well into the school routine, with both Kim and Alex finishing their breakfast while Eileen made their lunches. Right now, the kids were oblivious to the events of the past twelve hours. Although Tess knew this couldn’t last, she wanted to see Reilly face to face before she decided what to tell them. Her mom, on the other hand, knew something was wrong the second Tess had called her from La Guardia to say she’d landed-way earlier than expected. Eileen had lived through enough of Reilly and Tess’s misadventures to know when to ask and when to stay quiet. So far, she hadn’t asked, but Tess could read the worry simmering behind her stoic expression.
As Tess tried to help with the lunches-despite her mom trying to brush her away-the doorbell chimed.
She froze, then forced herself to snap out of it. She gave her mom a knowing look. “I’ll get it.”
She glanced at the kids as she headed out of the kitchen. Alex was oblivious, his concentration locked on the box of cereal. Kim, on the other hand, seemed fully aware that something was very wrong. Her questioning eyes followed Tess out of the room, but much to Tess’s relief, Kim seemed to grasp her mother’s unspoken desire to not discuss it just yet.
Feeling sick to her stomach, Tess went to the door and looked through the spy hole.
Aparo. Alone.
She opened the door and let out a breath of relief. “Nick.”
He stepped inside.
She spotted the ERT guys outside as she shut the door behind him. The sight rattled her and her voice went shaky. “What’s going on, Nick? What the hell is this?”
He stepped closer and took her in his arms for a big hug, patting her across the shoulder. “We’ll get through this. It’s going to be fine.”
She pulled back and nodded, wiped her face, then motioned for Aparo to follow her into the study, where she closed the door after them.
Aparo remained standing. “I need Sean’s laptop.”
“Why?”
“He wants it out of here so no one messes with it. I can’t do it, though. I didn’t walk in with anything. Can you carry it out? The ERT guys will be watching us leave, so it needs to look casual.”
Tess looked at her MacBook Air, open on the aluminum desk.
“We’ve got identical machines. Different specs, but same on the outside. I’ll just say it’s mine if anyone asks.”
She went over to a large set of drawers and pulled out another MacBook Air, which she slid into a pink slip case. Then she closed the open laptop and put it in the drawer.
As she stuffed the pink slipcase into her leather shoulder bag, she heard her mother say, “We’re off.”