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“I haven’t done anything,” Jack cried out. “You’ve made a mistake.”
“You can explain all that at the detention facility.”
“Don’t I have the right to speak to a lawyer?”
“We’ll arrange that at the facility for you too.”
“Listen,” I called out. “I’d like to save everyone time and hassle here. I’m aware of the allegations against Officer Richards.”
I was about to go on and explain that he couldn’t have done the things he was being accused of, that Alison was just a newcomer to the FBI trying to make her name by busting someone, but Jack interrupted.
“You knew about this?” he demanded, turning to face me. “You knew this was coming?”
“I knew only about the investigation report.”
“You didn’t say anything to me.”
“I didn’t—” I’d been hoping the case would be dropped the moment they were looked at, but he cut me off again.
“Is this something you and that FBI agent drummed up together to sabotage me?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I stared at him.
“I trusted you,” he yelled. “And youhatedher. I saw the way you treated her when she came in on a Saturday to try to go over your head. You wanted nothing to do with her.”
“We all hate these investigations.”
“Must not hate them that much! I thought being locked in all weekend with her would give you the opportunity to get rid of her for good! I thought you’d fight so much that you’d get her to give up on the whole idea. I mean, for God’s sake, did I knock down that power line for nothing?”
He looked insane. His eyes were bugging out, and his hands were flexing as if he was about to hit something. I had never seen him look so unhinged.
And then I registered what he was saying. “Hang on,” I repeated slowly. “You knocked that power line down?”
“Well, I couldn’t leave her locked in here with access to the computer network all weekend.”
“So you locked us in the building! It was all you? Why would you do that, Jack?”
“Someone had to stop her,” he hissed. “Didn’t you catch on to what she was doing? Looking through the files for the pastfive years. She wasn’t going to stop until she found something. It never mattered to her if we were guilty or innocent. She just wanted to have something to turn in. And you weren’t going to stop her! I knew the only way was to make you hate herso muchthat you would send her away and demand another investigator who would just look at the usual documents and leave the past alone.”
I shook my head. “Jack… did you know she was going to find something?”
I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to consider it.
“She wouldn’t have left until she found something. It didn’t matter to her if it was real or not. You said it yourself. She just wanted to look good for the feds.”
I remembered I’d commented something to that effect just the other day, knowing Alison would file this report.
“Jack, if there was nothing to find, why were you so intent on getting her out of here that you were willing to vandalize the power lines?” I asked.
“I’d stop talking if I were you. That’s a crime in itself,” Agent Danforth added. “And you’ve just confessed to it.”
I wished he would be quiet. He wasn’t helping matters. Jack was only getting more belligerent.
“I was trying to protect the SEALs,” Jack snapped. “Something you’re too soft to do yourself.”
“But protect us from what?” I asked. “I wasn’t afraid of letting Ms. Barrett poke around because I was sure there wasn’t anything for her to find. I was sure that none of us would have done anything worth getting worked up over. And yes, when she told me she had found something, I thought she might have fabricated it for appearances. But now, you’re not acting like an innocent man, Jack. You’re acting like someone who knew he had something to hide. Did you know what she’d find if she looked in the automotive files?”
“I don’t have to answer this shit,” Jack growled.
