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“She knows the truth behind many of thoseaccidentsbecause the assassins who performed them went to her for methods to manage their conscience afterward.”
His mind shot off rapid-fire theories. “Lawrence, or whoever orchestrated this, wasn’t after intel on undercover operatives, he wanted the dirt on our government’s illegal activity. The chancellor?”
A dip of her chin. “Most likely. Someone planted a trigger to get her to willingly give up that information once they could blackmail her, using you.”
“Nobody showed up tonight because they don’t care if I look into her death. They’re simply keeping tabs on anyone who sniffs around her accounts.”
“They may still target you if they get the slightest whiff you’re a whistle blower.” She sighed heavily and pinned her gaze on the wall as she continued to speculate. “Our government needed her contained that night because she was indeed a threat to national security. We have to get the evidence to show that it wasn’t her fault. Even then, they may not be willing to look the other way. She’s under some type of neurological programming, and finding the person responsible is the only way we can prove it.”
“How?”
“There are few who know about Command & Control. I’m asking you to keep this to yourself so you don’t make Vivi even more vulnerable, but I don’t see how Lawrence could have the ability, training, or opportunity to embed a trigger in her head.”
“You think this top secret NSA directorate is behind it?”
“Yes. Trace and Parker have both had dealings with them, and they believe the same.”
“Back to my earlier question—how do we prove it?”
“They used you to get to her, to make her believe that she had to save you. When did you become her patient?”
He nodded. “After a failed mission. Our unit lost a man. We were all handling it in various, unhealthy ways. I never underwent her Trident therapy, though.”
“Was it your CO who ordered you to receive counseling?”
“The directive came through him. No way he’s involved.” Cuswell wouldn’t have anything to do with it. “It has to be someone else.”
“Came through him from whom?”
He shrugged. “No idea. I got the order to show up and I went. Begrudgingly, but I did.”
“Were any of the other men ordered to see her after the failed mission?”
He went still inside. “No.” It had bugged him for weeks, but he’d been infatuated with Vivi and let it go. “Only me.”
“Were you already sweet on her?”
Sweet on her. Such an old-fashioned phrase. “I’d seen her around, heard about her treatment. A friend with such bad PTSD he had to withdraw from the program went to her. She helped him a lot with Trident. Yeah, I wasn’t cool with seeing a therapist, but since it was her, I figured I’d get to know her. Maybe ask her out.”
“You married in Vegas. Did anything odd happen while you were there?”
“Odd how?”
“Any accidents, even insignificant ones, like someone bumping into her or shoving her? Strangers seeming overly friendly? Did Vivi feel ill? Act out of character? Anything at all.”
“We stayed at a rental and went out for a late breakfast the morning after. A waitress spilled coffee on me and I went to the restroom to try and get the worst of it off my shirt. When I came back, Vivi seemed kind of out of it. She said she was fine, but…”
“Any chance you noticed security cameras around the place?”
“We purposely chose one that didn’t have any. I mean, we were trying to keep our marriage under wraps until I was able to complete my final mission.”
“Which turned out to be rescuing her.”
“We’re chasing our tails with this.”
“Maybe not. What was the name of the restaurant?”
“Kaleidoscope. It’s a dive in the burbs.”
