Forced to Kill (16 page)

“Not by us. I’m well aware of your past,” Cantrell said. “You’re an unsung hero, Mr. McBride. Very few people outside of this room know what you went through.”

“If you’re here to ask me—
us
—to back off, I’m afraid the answer’s no. And please call me Nathan.”

Lansing made brief eye contact with his father. “That’s not why we’re here. And I owe you an apology over the Bridgestone business.”

“Accepted. You did what you thought best at the time. I don’t second-guess people, especially people under pressure, and I don’t hold grudges.”

“That’s quite gracious of you. I’m not sure I’d be so forgiving.”

“I’m a chip off the old block.”

Stone said, “Thank you, Nathan. I consider that very high praise.”

Lansing continued. “We’re in a delicate situation here. I’ve talked it over with Director Cantrell and we’ve decided it’s better if we don’t work against each other. There’s too much at stake.”

“Would you care to elaborate?”

Cantrell exchanged a glance with Lansing. “First off,” she said, “I need to tell you there’s more going on than we can share. We
can
tell you that our two agencies are conducting a joint operation, both at home and abroad. The ATF and DEA are also involved. We want Montez as badly as you do, but we want him alive.”

Nathan started to object.

Stone held up a hand. “Hear them out.”

Cantrell pulled a chair over and sat down. “Have you ever wondered why Montez ended your interrogation so suddenly?”

He had, many times. When he’d last seen Montez, he’d been at death’s door. He remembered seeing Montez leave the jungle camp and assumed it would only be for a few hours or the rest of the day. But Montez never came back. During the long months of debriefing, mental therapy, and physical rehabilitation that followed—and the decade and a half since passed—Nathan had never been able to answer that simple question. Why did Montez stop torturing him and abruptly disappear?

“This won’t be easy for you, but what I’m about to say never leaves this room. Ever.”

Nathan said nothing, waiting.

“Although Montez was never able to get your identity or what agency you worked for, he had his suspicions. It didn’t require a leap of logic to conclude you were working for the U.S. government. He made contact with the CIA after your second week of captivity.”

He spoke slowly, deliberately. “Are you telling me the CIA knew I was alive?”

“Yes.”

“And they didn’t mount a rescue?”

“We couldn’t risk sending in more teams in to look for you. Your location wasn’t known. You became Montez’s insurance policy.”

“Insurance policy? For what?”

“We paid him off to stop interrogating you, keep quiet, and let you go. We also agreed not to pursue him. Eight million dollars to a numbered account of his choice. Half paid immediately, the other half when we had you back.”

“He never released me. He left me there to die.”

“We can only speculate on why he didn’t keep the second part of his bargain. He probably left the camp to secure his first four million and figured that was enough and shouldn’t push his luck by returning. We may never know. We
do
know that he kept our presence in Nicaragua secret.” She looked at Stone, then back to him. “Officially, no direct U.S. military involvement in Nicaragua’s civil war was ever authorized by the president or Congress. More than that, no intervention of
any
kind was authorized. If it had leaked, it would’ve been an international scandal of epic proportions. The Iran-Contra scandal wasn’t that distant and the media never got their pound of flesh. The media wanted Reagan’s head on a silver platter. Knowledge of direct U.S. military involvement in Nicaragua might have brought down the Clinton administration. Although Operation Echo was fully justified and stopped countless innocents from being kidnapped, tortured, and executed, it wouldn’t have mattered. Montez could’ve caused major PR damage to us. But he didn’t. He never revealed our boots-on-the-ground training squads or the sniper teams that were mopping up the Sandinista holdouts. When Harvey rescued you, the dynamics changed, but we paid Montez the second half of his money anyway. Hush money, so to speak.”

“You keep saying ‘we’ and ‘our.’  All of this happened on Director Kallstrom’s watch.”

“That’s true, but I was the associate deputy director at the time. Number three in the chain of command. I was neck-deep.”

He looked at his dad.

“I didn’t know any of this until a few hours ago.”

“It’s the truth. There’s no paper on any of it. And there are probably aspects of the Montez negotiation I’m not aware of. I think it’s fair to say that you’re the only reason former Director Kallstrom agreed to tell me what he did. He still has tremendous admiration for both of you.”

“It makes me sick to my stomach knowing Montez was paid eight million dollars, but I’m also grateful. I’m not sure I could’ve held out much longer. He was damned close to breaking me. Or ending it.”

“I read your debrief report. You said he disappeared suddenly
before
his men suspended you in the cage. He could’ve killed you before he left the camp, especially if he never intended to collect the other half of the eight million. So why didn’t he?”

“I seriously doubt seeing me crucified was worth half his fortune.”

“Agreed.”

“I’d love to…
ask
him that question.”

“You just might get your chance.”

“I’m counting on it.”

“We’ve continued to honor our deal with him.” Cantrell held up her hands. “Before you say anything, let me explain. We have to look at the bigger picture. The truth is, we have similar deals in place all over the world. We don’t want to undermine our credibility
and
we don’t know what sleeper measures Montez has in place to release the Nicaraguan info should he disappear. If those exchange students hadn’t seen Kramer’s body go into Lake Powell, we wouldn’t be talking right now.”

“But hasn’t he broken the deal by killing a U.S. citizen on our soil?” Harv asked.

“At the risk of sounding callous, no. Our deal didn’t specify anything other than his silence in exchange for the money and our promise not to pursue him.”

“Are you telling me Nicaragua still means that much?”

“In some circles, yes,” she said.

Nathan made eye contact with Harv.
What else has Montez got on the CIA?
“So short of spilling the beans about Nicaragua, he has carte blanche to do anything he wants? Is that what you’re telling us?”

She looked at his father and Lansing. No one said anything.

“Well, Director Cantrell, Harv and I have no such agreement and we aren’t operations officers anymore. Your deal is to leave him alone, not be bodyguards for him.”

“It’s not that simple. Montez won’t differentiate the specifics. All he’ll know is that someone’s after him. He’ll assume it’s us.”

“Why? I’m sure he’s got enemies all over the world. It could be anyone.”

“That’s true, of course, but we can’t risk it.”

“So as far as you’re concerned, Montez just walks?”

“The dynamics have changed. We now want him in custody for questioning.”

“You haven’t mentioned Nichole Dalton and her daughters. What’s he doing to them as we speak? How long will they be valuable to him?
Why
are they valuable to him?” Nathan looked back and forth between Cantrell and Lansing. “There could be dozens, or even hundreds of people at risk because of him. And you can’t tell us anything more about your dealings with Montez?”

“Nathan, I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

Stone took a step forward. “Nathan—”

He held up a hand. “Okay, okay, I get it. So where does this leave us?”

“Here’s what I propose,” she said. “We can’t stop you from pursuing him, so we won’t try. But we’ll neither help nor hinder you. You’re on your own. If he captures you and forces you to talk, you can honestly tell him that you’re not working for us.”

“That’s a lovely thought.”

“I’m not trying to be callous, just realistic.”

“Suppose we find him first?”

Cantrell and Lansing looked at each other again. “There are people in important positions who are skeptical about your willingness to deliver Montez alive if you find him before we do.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Yes, I know. The NSA’s director called me. General Hawthorne was ordered to back off and not get involved.” She paused and slowed her speech for emphasis. “We need Montez alive. If he’s got a sleeper system in place to release damaging info upon a prolonged absence, we need to wring it out of him.”

“How did he find out where I live?”

“If you’re thinking he’s got a mole within our government, it’s a possibility, but we don’t think so.”

“Then how?”

“We can’t say for sure.” She looked at Director Lansing.

“We think it has to do with your trip to Lake Powell,” said Lansing.

Nathan squinted.
Lake Powell?

Lansing continued. “The man you visited, the houseboat owner?”

Nathan recalled his name. “Lars Stiegler.”

“He’s missing, presumed dead. Sheriff’s deputies found blood spatter evidence inside his houseboat. Whoever killed him made an attempt to clean it up, but Kane County deputies used BlueStar and found trace evidence all over the place.”

Damn
. Nathan had liked the crusty war vet. And now he was dead. Because of his hunt for Montez.

“We’re pretty sure he was interrogated,” said Lansing. “Did you tell him who you were?”

“I gave him my name, Harv’s too. I didn’t think—” Nathan stopped.

“What?” Cantrell asked.

“Harv, the guy on the dock. The fisherman in overalls.”

“Oh hell,” Harv said.

“What fisherman? What are you talking about?”

“We saw a guy fishing on the dock near Stiegler’s houseboat slip. Hispanic, kinda tough looking.” Nathan pursed his lips and shook his head. “The tail numbers,” he said. “Our mystery fisherman must’ve seen the tail numbers of our helicopter and traced it back to First Security.”

“Is that where it’s registered?” Cantrell asked.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“We’ll take care of that right away,” Lansing said. He pulled a small notepad and pen from his coat pocket. “We’ll hide your two helicopters within our system.”

“Thank you, Director, but this still doesn’t explain how he got my home address. All of our employees are super careful about protecting our personal information.”

“I’ll ask around the office and see what I can dig up,” Harv said. “It’s possible someone got careless. We certainly did.”

An uneasy silence took the room.

Cantrell leaned forward in her chair. “Both Director Lansing and I cleared our calendars to come here in person because of your distinguished service record, not because of who your father is. We can’t sanction your direct involvement in finding Montez, but we won’t run interference either. What we’re asking is twofold. Keep me personally informed of your efforts, and consider the bigger picture.”

“As in not killing him?”

“Yes.”

“Assuming we have anything to report, how will we contact you?”

“I’ll give you my personal cell number. Use a public phone and identify yourself as echo five.”

He took the number but said nothing.

“We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think we could trust you,” Cantrell said. “I hope that trust goes both ways.”

***

After Cantrell and Lansing left the room, Stone sat down. “That was some news. I’m glad to hear they at least tried to get you back from Nicaragua. I’m not taking the credit, but I put a lot of pressure on Director Kallstrom. I met with him in person half a dozen times. He never mentioned the Montez payoff.”

Nathan still felt stunned
. Montez paid off? By the CIA
?

“Nathan, I would’ve told you.”

“I know. And I’ve been wanting to tell you I’m sorry about that phone call last year. The things I said. I didn’t mean it. I know you did everything you could.”

“Already forgotten.”

Nathan leaned his head back. “I’m not sure where we stand. Seems we’re on our own as far as their joint operation is concerned. At least we don’t have to worry about anyone undermining us.”

“So they say,” Harv said under his breath.

“I strongly recommend you keep Cantrell informed of everything you’re doing,” said Nathan’s father. “You could get caught in a friendly fire situation.”

Nathan didn’t respond.

“I’ve arranged with Lansing to secure both of your homes. Several FBI agents will be assigned to watch them until this situation is resolved.”

“Thank you, Stone,” Harvey said. “My family’s already secure. General Hawthorne has them in a safe house back east.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“If Hawthorne was given an order to stop actively supporting us, it came from the of the navy, which probably means the secretary of defense gave the order. There’s no telling how far up this Montez business goes.”

“That’s quite a development. I know both of those men well. You want me to make contact?”

As chairman of the Senate Committee on Domestic Terrorism, his father had unfettered 24-7 access to ranking members of the intelligence community.

“We’re on our own unless you’re willing to help.”

“Of course I’ll help,” said Stone.

“I don’t want you to jeopardize your Senate seat over this.”

“Nonsense. I have the president’s ear. If I have to, I’ll go straight to him.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Four armed mercenaries just tried to kill my son and the special agent in charge of Sacramento’s field office. Yes, I’m sure.”

“Montez has proven to be a resourceful man. He discovered where I live, not an easy trick. I don’t want him going after you and Mom.”

“I have two Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and a Medal of Honor. Do I
look
worried? I’ll call you as soon as I know anything. I don’t need to say this, but you two need to be extra careful from now on. Trust no one except me and Cantrell. Don’t forget to call your mother. She’s worried sick.” His dad winked. “SAC Simpson seems equally concerned.”