Page 50 of False Flag

“Recently?”

“Weekend before last, to be exact. I attended an event the entire team was granted leave to attend.” He nodded toward Rand, who dipped his head in acknowledgment. “The guests included several archaeologists and historians, including Dr. Kira Hanson and Dr. Diana Edwards. It, uh, got me thinking about some of the things I’d heard on the Lost Civilizations podcast, and so I googled it. I’ll be honest, I was stunned. I didn’t know. Not about the attacks or that they were conducted by Archaeology Truthers. I’d never even heard of AT before that Sunday, after the party was over.”

“You asked at the beginning of this interview what watch list Gerard Campbell is on. It’s his probable association with AT that we’re most interested in. The number of attacks is increasing. Some schools are switching to online only except for labs and field schools that must be done in person.”

“Do you think my brother is in AT?”

“It’s possible. Do you?”

His first instinct was to deny it, but he didn’t really know Lloyd anymore. Had listening to Lost Civilizations changed him? As far as he knew, it had become his obsession.

“Do you, Lieutenant Burns?” Mooney repeated.

“Lloyd has never been violent. I can’t see him attacking anyone.”

“He was arrested eight months ago for assault, but the prosecutor decided not to pursue charges.”

“Lloyd was arrested?”

“According to the police report, the altercation started when your brother accused a Black man of stealing his phone when the man bumped into him as they passed in the grocery store entryway. He stated he didn’t notice the phone was missing until he finished unloading his groceries in his trunk a few minutes later. He spotted the man leaving the store and chased him down. There are no witnesses, but the victim stated that your brother called him a racial slur before he tackled him. He then sat on the victim’s chest until the police arrived—the call made with the victim’s phone. The only phone found at the scene belonged to the victim. Your brother’s phone was found inside his car, where he left it charging when he went into the store.”

No.

Jesus.

Fuck.

Why the hell hadn’t Lloyd been charged? But Jake could guess. He was a white man who’d made an honest mistake. As if that excused the trauma the other man had experienced. Lloyd was big, like Jake. And he’d kept in shape after leaving the Navy. For a while there, Jake figured bodybuilding was all he had.

“I don’t really know what to say.”

“This is all just background. We want to understand your relationship with your brother and your brother’s relationship to Gerard Campbell.”

“I can’t help you there. I attended one dinner. I met the man, but I don’t know him.”

“Does he have any reason to believe you aren’t a follower and believer?”

“No.”

“Is it because you are a follower and believer?”

Jake paused before answering. It was imperative that Mooney, Gleeson, Huang, and, most especially, Fallon know he spoke the truth and nothing but the truth. “I didn’t…question it until recently. I didn’t really think about it. Which seems ridiculous now. But my focus was never on Campbell. It was Lloyd. He’s the only family I have. As I said already, some things sounded ridiculous to me, but I figured Campbell was the expert.”

He met Fallon’s gaze. “Until the bachelor party, that is. After spending time with actual experts, I took the time to look up the vast amounts of debunking that real archaeologists have done to combat the disinformation, not just in Lost Civilizations, but also in TV shows like Ancient Aliens and Ancient Apocalypse. I spent hours Friday and Saturday night after everyone went to bed and most of the day Sunday reading blogs and journals and watching YouTube videos, all debunking pseudoarchaeology point by point.” He shook his head and smiled. “I didn’t even know pseudoarchaeology was a word, let alone real, until that weekend, but now I know my brother was sucked in by it. And he was trying to get me sucked in too. Because that’s what cults do.”

The room was silent as his words sank in. Jake was no longer sweating, but he probably should be. If his brother was a member of AT, Jake could be suspended until they completed an investigation.

His internet search history would show he told the truth. Good thing he hadn’t used any kind of privacy setting.

Gleeson gave a slow nod. He turned to Fallon, who gave a short nod back.

“Does your brother know you attended Commander Fallon’s bachelor party?”

“No. I knew he would be in DC for the event at the vice president’s house on Friday, and I didn’t want him to know I would be in the DC area also. I didn’t have time to see him.”

“Does he know Staci Allen is affiliated with FMV?”

Jake stiffened. He’d been expecting her name to come up, but it still landed hard. “If he does, he didn’t learn it from me.”