‘Warner and Lopez are not behind this,’ Jarvis said. ‘They’re both patriots, always have been. They wouldn’t kilclass="underline" they’d want to apprehend, to see people brought to trial.’ Jarvis glanced at Steel. ‘Especially you.’
‘They’re liabilities,’ Steel shot back. ‘Warner is a former Marine officer who was virtually a hobo when Jarvis hired him. Lopez is a former DC detective with known loyalty issues. These people are exactly the kind of rogue agents we all fear.’
Jarvis peered at Steel with interest. ‘You’re getting quite hot under the collar there, William. Wondering if you’re next, are you?’
‘This is ridiculous,’ General Steel raged at the JCOS. ‘All of this is true but all of it’s been twisted to fit this man’s fantasies of a conspiracy. The CIA was cleared of all wrongdoing by an independent Pentagon investigation.’
‘Which was guided by the CIA,’ Jarvis growled back at him. ‘I offered my services in order to expose what had really happened but, surprise-surprise, I was removed from my post by your people. That investigation was toothless before it even began.’
The JCOS all seemed to sit back in their seats as the chief of the Marines cast a glance in Mitchell’s direction.
‘How many investigations have Warner and Lopez conducted for the DIA, in total?’
‘Four,’ Mitchell replied. ‘All have been spectacularly successful, although major questions have been raised in the past about the exposure of civilians to classified projects during the course of those investigations.’
Admiral Griffiths looked at Jarvis. ‘Warner and Lopez, can you bring them back in? We need them in custody.’
‘You need their help,’ Jarvis countered. ‘They’re not killers.’
‘It could be anybody,’ the chief of the army pointed out, ‘given that the CIA has ruffled so many feathers over the years. An escaped prisoner from one of their overseas black prisons, perhaps? But would they have a trail they could follow?’
Jarvis shook his head. ‘They’ll be in the black budget. There won’t be a paper trail, so it has to be somebody with inside knowledge.’
Jarvis knew that the United States Department of Defense concealed within its black budget almost $60 billion of funding, a tremendous sum in addition to the annual defense budget. MK-ULTRA’s various experiments and programs were a tiny drop in this vast financial ocean and that was no doubt how the CIA had kept such a perfect veil over its operations: the paper and money trail was so well hidden that finding it would have been like trying to track an animal burrowing underground by sight alone, at night, from the air.
‘Do Warner and Lopez know anything about MK-ULTRA?’ asked the chief of the Marines.
‘No,’ Jarvis replied, ‘at least they didn’t when I last heard from them.’
‘Either way,’ Steel said, ‘this isn’t something that can be resolved through the courts or ever reach the public domain.’
Admiral Griffiths rubbed his temples wearily.
‘We don’t have any other means to properly investigate and expose whoever is responsible for targeting these CIA agents without attracting too much attention.’
Jarvis smiled. ‘Yes, we do. I can task Warner and Lopez to do it.’
The JCOS eyes flew wide as one as they stared at Jarvis.
‘Are you serious?’ Steel uttered.
Jarvis gathered his thoughts. ‘There is one person who may have sufficient motivation to actively hunt down a specific set of CIA agents.’
DCIA Steel sat bolt upright in his seat and pointed a fat finger at Jarvis.
‘That’s enough,’ he growled. ‘You’re speculating.’
‘Am I?’ Jarvis challenged the director. ‘You know damned well who I’m talking about, don’t you?’
‘The CIA is perfectly capable of handling it,’ he blustered.
‘Doesn’t seem that way,’ Jarvis mused out loud. ‘Several agents down in just a few days, I’m presuming?’ he said to Mitchell. ‘I last requested a meeting with DDIA Mitchell about ten days ago, and was turned down flat in the usual manner. Now I’m sitting here. These agents must have been killed in quick succession to have got me here at all.’
The Chairman of the JCOS directed a stern gaze at DCIA Steel. ‘In total, six agents have been killed. Are you aware of who might be responsible for these slayings?’
Steel slid behind a wall of national security. ‘I am not at liberty to answer that question, sir.’
The Chairman slapped a hand down on Mitchell’s desk. ‘This is ridiculous. You’ve come here for help and now you’re refusing to supply us with information?’
DDIA Mitchell spoke softly.
‘The individual in question is an American citizen, abducted several years ago,’ he informed them. ‘It would seem likely, given Director Steel’s reticence, that the individual’s disappearance was orchestrated and that they may have suffered at the hands of MK-ULTRA operatives or assets in the field. Her name is Joanna Defoe.’
Jarvis chose his words with care as he spoke.
‘She was Ethan Warner’s fiancée, hence the assumed motive. Disappeared from the Gaza Strip four years ago,’ Jarvis confirmed. ‘The abduction was never solved, but she represented a high-profile critic of government policy overseas and of the unaccountability of the intelligence community. Silencing Joanna and preventing her from investigating the CIA could have both been achieved by abducting her.’
DCIA Steel squirmed uncomfortably as Jarvis addressed the JCOS.
‘What evidence do you have that this individual you refer to could be capable of such acts, or that they’re even on the loose?’ General Steel demanded.
‘Footage retrieved from Project Watchman,’ Jarvis explained. ‘Our satellites spotted Joanna during an Israeli incursion into Gaza City. Her abductors were killed but Joanna disappeared.’
‘I can see why the CIA disagreed with your policies on civilian exposure to military hardware,’ the chief of the army pointed out. ‘Project Watchman is one of our most prized resources and classified COSMIC.’
‘Ethan’s exposure to Watchman resulted in him being able to thwart a serious attempt to enslave our government to the machinations of a powerful corporation,’ Jarvis explained. ‘Believe me, he’s the best man for this job.’
‘Which may not be what we want,’ Mitchell rumbled. ‘Ethan Warner has a habit of leaving a trail of destruction behind him. Tenacious does not even begin to describe this guy.’
Jarvis opened his hands in defense.
‘It’s all of you that have put him in this position,’ he said reasonably. ‘If you give me the resources I need then I can set him on a course to resolve the problem. Right now, all I need is for the CIA to pull their people out and let us get started. Can you do that?’
The JCOS looked at each other in silence and then turned to look at the CIA’s director. Finally, General Steel spoke.
‘I can.’
‘Good,’ Jarvis replied. ‘All watch-teams, surveillance both human and electronic and flag references in the intelligence database must be removed. Where was the last CIA operative murdered and when?’
General Steel ground his teeth in his jaw. ‘Two days ago, in New York City. Aaron Lymes, a retired operative who was based near Gaza City at the time of Miss Defoe’s abduction. Police and FBI are on hold until our say-so.’
Jarvis looked at Mitchell. ‘I’ll need my department back up and running along with all previously revoked security clearances and a four-man field team to accompany me to New York.’ He glanced at Steel with a smile. ‘Just in case.’
Mitchell nodded slowly. ‘It will be done.’
Jarvis stood up and straightened his jacket.
‘I’ll find a way to locate Ethan and Lopez and get them assigned to this. It’s in their interests as well as our own for this situation to be resolved, and, if I know Ethan, he’ll be following the same trail we are. Now, if you’ll excuse me?’