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“Okay. If you hear from them again, continue to insist you know nothing. Don’t call me again. Use the email account.” Then the line went dead. West had hung up.
“He didn’t admit it, but Captain Burnside said enough to incriminate herself,” Laura Lee said.
“Could be good leverage to get her to flip,” Garcia agreed. “Dupont, let me know as soon as Shepherd gets back to you.”
“Affirmative,” Dupont said. “And we got the recording off her cell. Looks like he’s carrying a burner. Digital Team is tracing all calls into that burn phone of his. They’ll push results out to you.” He ended the call.
“I wish he’d admitted something,” Laura Lee said. “That’s not enough to convict him of anything.”
“It’s enough for Whiting to believe us and continue to help us bait the trap. It’s enough to use against Burnside, Canfield, and anyone else we identify to get them to flip on West,” Garcia said.
She knew he was right, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. “I’m surprised he hasn’t called me yet.”
“He’s still considering his next move,” Garcia said. “My guess is you won’t hear from him until the middle of the night when he assumes you’ll be alone in bed. He knows we were there together. He assumes we still are. He won’t risk a call that could be answered with someone else in the room.”
“So, I’m assuming when he does call, I won’t answer it again.”
“No, you’ll answer. He won’t leave a message and he won’t answer on a call back because he’ll worry that he’s being set up. We’ll stay together tonight, and I’ll be listening in and directing your response to him if Shepherd approves of the plan. It’ll still be recorded.”
She really hated this plan. “Do you really think he’ll call me tonight?”
“Yeah, he’ll call,” Garcia said.
He stepped near the rear of the aircraft and popped open a panel Laura Lee didn’t know opened. He pulled two beers from inside. He handed her one. She was surprised to feel it was cold.
“I figured we could use one,” he said, twisting the top from his.
Laura Lee opened hers as well. She took a long pull. It tasted incredible and felt wonderful going down her throat.
It was nearly an hour later when they received a text message from Dupont. “Log into Shepherd’s video room for a meeting in five minutes.”
They moved behind the monitors in the front of the aircraft. Garcia logged into the system. They waited for Shepherd to open the meeting room. When he did, he sat in a room against drab-gray walls in uniform. Three more windows opened. The first displayed Cooper and Madison, the second displayed Dupont from Ops, and the last, Brielle Jarboe-Sherman, who was a member of the Digital Team and the wife of Delta Operator Brian ‘the Birdman’ Sherman. She was at home.
“Nice work at Fort Jackson,” Shepherd said. “We got what we needed. Deputy Director Whiting has taken over digital surveillance on West and will help build the case against him, but the physical surveillance is still on us. Major Canfield has given a statement implicating West in espionage, blackmail, and rape, but she maintains her innocence in providing him any intelligence.”
“Innocent my ass!” Madison said. “Do you believe her?”
“I don’t. If that was the case, she would not have called him after your visit. She’ll be in protective custody while Army Intelligence digs into the sensitive material she’s touched to confirm or rule out it’s been compromised.”
“Maybe she passed no intel to him. It could be more a matter of what she did at his request,” Dupont suggested. “In her job capacity at the base, she issues contractor passes.”
“I’ve begun looking into the passes she’s issued in the last year,” Brielle spoke up.
“Let the team know what you find,” Shepherd said.
Garcia made his pitch for the next step in baiting the trap for West. He requested permission for the two of them to meet up with the three members of Charlie Team who’d been surveilling West and Liu. “It’s time we go on the offensive with this fucker. I want to be in place so that when he makes his next move, we counter it with checkmate.”
Shepherd was thoughtful in his consideration. “I agree that we should have more assets in place to surveil West and Liu and move on them when the time is right, and we need additional manpower and equipment to do so.”
“How long until Jackson, Doc, and Delta Team wrap up the mission in San Fran?” Garcia asked.
“No ETA,” Shepherd said. “But I can give you the rest of Echo Team. Garcia, have the pilots return you and Saxton to HQ. We’ll push off the next PGP Install for Echo Team and add them to the case. You’ll deploy to meet Charlie Team tomorrow morning. I’ll notify Taco and BT of the plan and that you’re taking lead.”
“Roger that,” Garcia said.
“I’ll contact Requisition Ryan and have him pull the equipment and have it ready for you,” Shepherd added.
“I’m glad someone’s making progress,” Cooper said. “All we’re doing is racking up airline costs and making more work for Shepherd.”
