‘That would be true,’ Mitchell added, ‘were Warner and Lopez not civilian contractors.’
Nellis levelled Mitchell with a cold gaze.
‘Warner and Lopez are only given cases that the rest of the intelligence community has already rejected as unworkable. Perhaps you should ask yourself why it is that the Pentagon has turned away from at least six major investigations that presented clear and present dangers to both American security and the lives of our citizens? And if I may, I’d like to point out that you are also a civilian, are you not?’
‘This isn’t about blame,’ Miller intervened. ‘We’re being asked to ensure that the security of our most sensitive operations cannot be blown by two people over whom we have no control. This program represents a very weak link in a long chain of security measures. I can’t go back to the Secretary of Defense and tell him, hey, everything’s just fine, chill out. If any DIA programs were exposed to the public, all of our careers would be on the line.’
Nellis remained impassive.
‘Over half of all DIA employees are civilians. Who sent you, exactly?’ Neither Miller or Mitchell replied, which pretty much was an answer in itself. ‘So, the spooks at the CIA have taken a fresh interest in what Doug’s achieving down here?’ He looked at Mitchell. ‘Let me guess: Warner and Lopez have done what you guys couldn’t so now you’re looking to take over the operation.’
‘This is about security,’ Mitchell replied, ‘nothing more.’
‘Of course it is,’ Nellis replied without losing the smile. ‘So much so that you want me to breach my own agency’s security protocols because you’re worried about breaches of security protocol. Not going to happen.’
‘We’re on the same side,’ Miller said, making a stab at keeping the mood cordial. ‘We just need to keep everybody’s borders tight, is all. If this program were such a big deal then maybe you could run it through the NRO and cut Warner and Lopez loose. That way it’s all internal and we’re not farming work out to people like that.’
Miller gestured to the images of Lopez and Warner.
‘People like what?’ Nellis rumbled.
‘A convicted felon and a gumshoe,’ Miller chuckled in response. ‘We’ve got much better people available for this kind of work who won’t set off alarm bells in DC.’
Nellis’s fists balled of their own accord on his desk.
‘If you’d bothered to look into the history of these two investigators instead of just sucking up the crap that the CIA has obviously fed you, you’d know that Ethan Warner is decorated former United States Marine, as is Doug Jarvis, and that Nicola Lopez is a former DC police detective. Neither of them are amateurs at anything.’
‘They’re both liabilities,’ Mitchell snapped. ‘Ethan Warner has a reputation for directly disobeying authority and Lopez is known to be a short fuse at the best of times. Yet they’re both wandering around the country with access to all manner of classified material. Jarvis has in the past used assets of our Navy and Air Force to achieve his aims in support of these investigations, which have often led to extreme exposure events such as exploding civilian apartment buildings, violent incidents in allied countries such as Israel and repeated firearms violations in public areas throughout the country. Our business is both covert and classified.’ Mitchell gestured at the photographs. ‘They’re a danger to national security, not an asset to it.’
Nellis leaned across the desk, his eyes glowering into Mitchell’s.
‘The Pentagon has acquired extraordinary technology as a direct result of Jarvis’s investigations and I’ll be damned if I’ll let the CIA kick the door down now.’
Mitchell leaned forward. ‘Where are Warner and Lopez, right now?’
‘Busy, somewhere.’
Mitchell seemed about to make a move when a discreet buzzing sound broke the silence. Mitchell reached down and retrieved a cell phone from his pocket, answering it and listening for a few moments. Then he stood from his seat without another word and stalked out of the office. Nellis waited until the door had closed behind him before he looked at Miller. The soldier’s expression said it all.
‘Are you really in bed with the spooks?’ Nellis asked.
‘This isn’t about the CIA,’ Miller said quietly. ‘It’s far beyond that. That call means that wherever your two intrepid agents have gone, Mitchell now knows about it.’
Nellis looked at the soldier for a long moment, and then he reached out and grabbed a post — it note and a pen as he spoke.
‘You know I want to help but all of our agencies have their respective boundaries. I can’t just start exposing my own people to potential law suits should any of this become public knowledge. I have a loyalty to my agents just as much as the CIA, the Pentagon or anybody else.’
Nellis wrote a word on the note and turned it to face Miller, who looked down at it as he replied.
MJ-12?
‘I’m just doing my job here,’ Miller said as he read the note and looked back at Nellis. He nodded slowly. ‘You understand, of course?’
‘It’s nothing personal,’ Nellis replied.
‘It never is,’ Miller agreed. ‘We’ve all got our place and we all have to fulfil our obligations, regardless of the cost. Sometimes, the powers that be are so influential that they can alter the course of history. That’s not an enemy that you want to make.’
‘Watch your back,’ Nellis warned. ‘Such people have a long history of self — preservation at the expense of their agents.’
‘Don’t worry, I’ve got myself covered,’ Miller said with an easy smile as he stood. The smile slipped as he regarded the general for a moment. ‘They’ll get what they want in the end.’
‘I know. Just going to try to hold them off for a while longer, is all.’
‘Don’t try too hard. There’s too much at stake, for all three of us now that we’re involved and for your man Jarvis,’ Miller warned him. ‘It’s better for you all if you handle their investigations directly through this office and keep us in the loop.’
‘Why’s that?’ Nellis asked.
‘Because I’m only here due to Warner’s military history,’ Miller replied. ‘Truth is, I’ve got very little control here over what CIA might try to do. I’m consulting, not controlling.’
‘Mitchell’s in charge?’ Nellis asked in surprise.
Miller nodded.
‘If Mitchell gets his claws into this alone, Ethan Warner and Nicola Lopez are likely to end up as targets themselves.’
XVI
Breathe.
Ethan sucked in a mouthful of dusty air that scratched the back of his throat and made him cough. The choked coughs reverberated through his chest like war drums, fear scraping the lining of his stomach like a convict’s nails down the walls of a cell.
He could see nothing through the coarse sack that was bound with rough cord around his neck and filling his nostrils with musty, stale air. His arms were tied behind his back with rope that tore the skin on his wrists. He knelt with his head between his knees, kept breathing and tried to remain calm.
Fear scalded like acid through his veins, and the blackness messed with his sense of balance, further amplifying his asphyxia. He had been incarcerated by Saudi militants who would kill both him and Lopez without hesitation, and their captors had wasted no time in transporting them through Riyadh’s dangerous streets to what he presumed was a safe house likely far from the reach of the authorities.
Breathe.
He was buzzing now on nervous energy, poisoned with paranoia, fear and hallucinations. The oppressive heat closed in around him and a brief burst of Arabic punctured the silence.
A door opened with a crash and rough hands grabbed him and hauled him to his feet. Ethan tried to stand but his legs would not respond and he sprawled awkwardly as the unseen hands dragged him across the rough, uneven ground.