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“I told Riggs where I’d be heading.”
“And she informed the people who need to know that you are, in fact, stopping in Finland.”
“Why?”
“Star said you were clever.” She huffed impatiently, her fingers toying with the bandage the flight attendant had applied to her palm. “We’re going to wherever Star is.”
“Why Finland?”
“Why not Finland? You’ll find out when you get there.”
I frowned at her. “I thought you were supposed to answer my questions.”
She glowered at me. “Her relocation was necessary because there was an attempt to rescue her.
“Star, however, isn’t in danger.” She sniffed. “She’s with the Union. She’s safe.”
“You sound like James Garfield.”
“That fits. He was a Brother too.”
My eyes flared wide at that. “Fuck off.”
Her smirk was smug. “See? You don’t know everything, O’Donnelly. The Old World Sparrows took him out. Bastards.”
I turned in my seat to better look at her. “You’re being serious.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Of course I am. I told you we were older than the Freemasons.”
“So, what, you’re benevolent overlords?”
She scowled at me. “You put a negative spin on everything, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry if I don’t like the fact that Boatman Jim was a part of some secret society!”
“O’Donnelly, secret doesn’t mean corrupt.”
“You’re living proof ofthat, I suppose.”
“There are ten different ways to kill you in this cabin and each one involves me not breaking into a sweat—”
“That doesn’t confirm what I just said, does it?” Before we could start bickering, I demanded, “When did your indoctrination start?”
Her nostrils flared. “I wasn’t indoctrinated. In Afghanistan, I reported my CO for misconduct unbecoming, but I was the one who was punished. I was approached then. For mycandorand honesty.
“Whatever you choose to think about me, I believe in my country, in its freedoms, and its inherent desire to provide its people with a safe haven.”
I’d bet my rig that Star didn’t feel free and in a haven at this goddamn moment.
She didn’t see my glower, too busy preaching, “I pledged my life to protect the United States, not knowing that its enemies weren’t just overseas but in our government and its Armed Forces.
“The United Brotherhood fights to correct that imbalance.”
I stared at her like the lunatic I believed her to be, but something in her words hit me on the raw.
The New World Sparrowshadinfiltrated every aspect of government in our nation.
