THE ROOM WAS DARK. Any illumination appeared to be coming from a lamp in another area. A man sat in a comfortable upholstered chair. He was dressed in a suit, crisp white shirt, and a tie. His winged loafers were polished. His hair was salt and pepper. His face was creased with decades’ worth of worry, all honestly earned while serving on behalf of his country. His demeanor was calm; he was used to projecting such a façade in times of extreme peril.
This was one of those times.
His code name was Blue Man, which denoted the sky-high ring of seniority of which he was a member in America’s intelligence apparatus.
Will Robie sat opposite him.
“Amos Decker has the information?” asked Blue Man.
“He does. Plus the photos.”
“Good fortune shone on you last night, Robie.”
“It didn’t feel like it at the time. How’s Jess?”
“Busy” was all that Blue Man would say on that. “Now, I take it from your overall demeanor that you wonder why we are not performing a full frontal assault on this particular problem?”
“I do what I’m tasked to do,” said Robie evenly.
“But still.”
“Yes,” said Robie. “But still.”
Blue Man held up one of his hands. “Unfortunately, we have one of these tied behind our back, Robie. Very tightly, in fact.”
“Is that so?”
“Powerful interests are arrayed all over this situation. The problem is, while they are arrayed, they are not aligned with our interests.”
“Money?”
“And power. Now if we knew for sure, with demonstrable proof, what is going on, it would be different. Without that, I can’t even get a meeting. I can’t even get an email returned. People would rather ignore a potential problem in the hope that it will go away.”
“And when it doesn’t?”
Blue Man looked dubiously at him. “You’ve been in this game long enough to know that when it doesn’t, those who ducked their responsibilities will point fingers at others. That apparently qualifies as leadership in certain places.”
“Don’t you get tired of this shit, sir?”
“I became tired of it my first day on the job.” Blue Man leaned forward. “But if all of us who hate the status quo were to leave, then the status quo would not only remain, it would become intractable.”
“Meaning evil only wins—”
“—when good men and women do nothing. I choose to do something.”
“So what now?” asked Robie.
“Do you think he can find Ben Purdy?”
“If anyone can, I think Decker can.”
“I have a good friend at the Bureau. He speaks very highly of Decker. In fact, he told me Decker is the best pure investigator that the FBI has. He also said that Decker has some quirks.”
Robie nodded. “I read the file. The man’s entitled to some quirks after what happened to him.”
“Agreed.”
“Vector?” said Robie.
“A recently created company but already embedded throughout the DoD’s operations with a cavalry of powerful political allies whom they have bought and paid for.”
“But there’s something going on out there that doesn’t jibe with their mission.”
“For various reasons, I have been concerned with the Douglas S. George Defense Complex ever since Vector was given the contract to take over operations.”
“But with an Air Force colonel, Mark Sumter, in charge.”
Blue Man waved this off. “He’s a titular placeholder. A career soldier who, unfortunately, will follow any order he’s given without gauging the moral or legal virtue of it.”
“Which may be one of the reasons why he got the assignment.”
“I think it’s the only reason he got the assignment.”
“Radar array. Eye in the sky,” said Robie.
“Officially, yes.”
“Unofficially?”
Blue Man settled more deeply in his seat. “The walls of secrecy have always existed within the American IC,” he said, referring to the intelligence community. “But I have never seen it so compartmentalized. Secrets are being kept everywhere. DOJ, DHS, DoD, and all their related platforms. Members of both parties in Congress have made inquiries and met a stone wall in response.”
“Meaning something might be going on there other than what we think is?”
Blue Man said, “It actually might be fortunate that Irene Cramer turned up dead here.”
“Not so fortunate for her.”
“I’m only talking about the bigger, strategic picture. Her murder has engaged the official machinery of the FBI. They might be able to make some headway where we could not. You know that we have no authority to operate domestically.”
“They already tried to kill Decker.”
“Which is why you were sent out, to prevent that from happening. And you did.”
“The body was disposed of?” inquired Robie.
“Yes. He was a gun for hire with no possible route back to who hired him.”
“Any guesses?”
“We can’t guess, Robie. We don’t have time for it.”
Robie cocked his head. “And why were the FBI called in? It has to do with Cramer. Decker asked me about her. I had nothing to tell him.”
“And I have nothing to tell you on that subject. Perhaps at a later time.”
Robie took this in stride. He was used to not having the full story on any op for which he was called in. “Okay. But she must have been important to us.”
“She may be more important to us in death than she was in life. But I for one believe that every death such as she suffered must lead to justice, and punishment.”
Blue Man gave him a curt nod, and Robie rose to go back to work.
“Look out for Decker and his partner with the greatest care, Robie.”
Will Robie didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to.
SUMTER HASN’T GOTTEN BACK to me,” said Kelly as he joined Decker and Jamison by prearrangement in the lobby of their hotel. He had on a gray two-piece suit and white shirt, but instead of scuffed boots he wore black loafers.
“That’s telling,” said Decker.
“The DoD works like a glacier, at least that’s been my experience.”
“Sumter came here about a year ago?”
“That’s right, when the operation of the facility transitioned.”
“What do you know about Vector?”
“Not much. But they got a lot of people over there. And most of them carry weapons. The very serious kind.”
“Got a question,” said Decker.
“Shoot.”
“Why all the ambulances over at the Air Force station? Sumter said it was a really safe place, no accidents, so I don’t see the need.”
Kelly looked at him shrewdly. “You asked that when we were over there.”
“And I didn’t get an answer. Thought I’d tee it up again.”
“You think I’m supposed to know?”
“I think you might have an opinion.”
“Well, the easiest answer is all military facilities prepare for worst case, so having ambulances there might just be for that reason.”
“And it might not. Lot of security there for a radar array. I mean, it’s not like someone can go in and steal that pyramid.”
“But they can sabotage it,” countered Kelly.
“Okay, I’ll give you that one,” conceded Decker.
“Why do you care about any of that?” asked Kelly.
“I care if there’s something going on over there that might be tied to Irene Cramer.”
“I don’t see a connection.”
“It’s our job to find one, if there is one.”
“Well, like I said, I’ve heard nothing back.”
“Then we have to move forward in other directions.”
“And where would that be?” asked Kelly.
“I’d like to go back to the Brothers’ Colony.”
“What do you expect to get there?”
“Irene Cramer worked there. We might have missed something. At the very least we can talk to other people. A lead might shake out from that.”
“I’ll give them a heads-up that we’re coming. But let’s tread carefully. They’ve all been hit hard by this.”
“I’m sure they have. And the sooner we solve this, the sooner they can get on with their lives. The not knowing probably isn’t good for them.”
“That’s a fair point,” conceded Kelly. He suddenly gave Decker a hard stare. “Some young punks went to the hospital the other night with assorted injuries. Nothing too serious. You know anything about that?”
“Why would I?”
“They didn’t file a police report, but one of my guys was over there interviewing some other dumbbells who got into an altercation. That’s how he hooked up with them. They said it was a couple of really big, rough-looking guys who took them out. Six against two, and the two kicked some serious ass. Surprised they admitted to that, but I think even they were impressed. Sure you don’t know anything about that?”
“Lot of really big, rough-looking guys in this town.”
“Yeah, there are,” said Kelly, not looking convinced.
“You want to call the Brothers so we can head out?” said Decker. “I’ll go bring the SUV around.”
He left Kelly and Jamison there.
Kelly eyed her. “So what exactly is going on?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You going down the obfuscation road, too?”
“Wow, that’s an SAT word if ever I heard one.”
“Where do you think I got it?” replied Kelly.
On the drive out to the Colony they passed the All-American Energy Company’s oil well site, which bordered both the Brothers’ land and the Air Force station.
“Colonel Sumter really hates all this stuff right next to his installation,” said Jamison. “I guess I can understand that. I mean, what if there’s an accident with one of those oil rigs, a fire or something? It could affect what he’s doing over there.”
Kelly stuck an unlighted cigarette in his mouth. “Like shooting fish in a barrel.”
“What is?” asked Jamison.
“Drilling for oil around here.”
“You ever think about getting into the fracking business?” asked Jamison.
He shook his head. “I prefer steadier work. It’s not like crime is ever going to go away.” Kelly glanced at Decker. “If you weren’t a cop, what would you be?”
“Unemployed,” answered Decker quite truthfully.
MILTON AMES AND PETER GUNTHER were waiting for them in the dining hall. They were dressed the same as before, but each man seemed paler, with Ames looking feeble and disoriented.
He mumbled, “When can we have Pammie’s remains? We have to bury her properly.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as possible, Milton,” said Kelly in a gentle tone. “It shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“Do they . . . did they have to, you know?”
“They had to perform an autopsy, yes,” said Jamison quietly. “It’s legally required under the circumstances.”
“I . . . I guess so. Susan keeps asking. She . . . we . . . want to . . .”
Kelly said, “We’re doing all we can, please believe that.”
“I do, Joe. Thank you.”
Decker said, “I know you didn’t keep a file on Cramer’s documents, but after she gave you the information about her undergraduate degree, did you check with Amherst to see if she actually went there?”
Ames said firmly, “No, we didn’t. Why would she lie about that?”
Gunther chimed in, “And why would someone come all the way out here with a made-up story? We can’t pay a lot. What would be her motive to lie to us about her past? I just don’t see it.”
“Well, if she wanted to disappear but needed a job to support herself?” said Jamison. “That would be one motive.”
Gunther’s expression showed clearly that he did not believe this to be a plausible explanation.
Jamison said, “Did she give you references from past places of work that you could check out? She’d been out of school for about eight years. She had to have held other jobs in the meantime.”
Gunther and Ames exchanged a glance.
Decker said, “During job interviews, you always ask about a potential hire’s experience. You check references.”
Gunther placed his hands together and said quietly, “We needed a teacher and . . . and she was the only one to apply for the job. It’s not like we could be choosy.”
“Teaching is a lot of work,” added Ames. “And a person could come here and make twice what we were offering just to be a cashier at a truck stop. So when she applied for the position we were thrilled.”
“In fact, I imagine you were desperate for someone?” said Jamison.
“Yes.”
“How’d she find out you needed a teacher in the first place?” asked Decker.
Gunther answered. “We placed an ad online and also in the local paper. She apparently saw it and came in. She interviewed very well. She brought model lesson plans with her, seemed very well prepared to teach our children, and appeared happy and well-adjusted. And she had done a very good job for the time that she was here. Susan told you that herself, if you recall.”
Ames said, “But why all these questions about Irene’s past? How is that relevant to what happened to her? She was a prostitute. Don’t a lot of them have bad things happen to them? I mean, it’s just the nature of the beast, isn’t it?”
“It can be, yes,” said Jamison. “But we have to follow up other angles as well.”
“We’re just trying to trace her past. It might have an impact on what happened to her,” explained Kelly. “At least we can’t discount that yet.”
“Meaning it might be someone from her past who killed her?”
“Could be.”
Gunther nodded. “Well, that is a little comforting. At least it might not be anyone from London. I would hate to think that we might have a brutal killer running around here.”
“You’d be surprised how many places have brutal killers running around,” said Decker, drawing a sharp look from Gunther.
Ames said, “I know that you have to look into what happened to Irene, but do you have any clue as to who killed my daughter?”
Decker looked at Ames. “As Detective Kelly said, we’re working hard on it. Both these cases are a priority for us.”
“Do you think they might be connected?” asked Gunther.
“How so?” asked Kelly.
“Well, both women had ties to this place. Both were killed when they were off our property. Do you think it might be someone who had a grudge against our lifestyle and beliefs? These things do happen. Religious persecution.”
“Yes they do,” said Jamison. “And we will look at that angle, although Cramer was not a member of the Colony.”
“Someone might have held it against her that she taught here or had a mistaken belief that she was a member somehow.”
“Again, we will look into that,” said Jamison, glancing at Decker.
Kelly added, “Do you have any idea where Pamela might have been living in London?”
“She never told me,” said Ames. He paused and his expression grew uncomfortable.
Jamison was quick to pick up on this and said, “Is there something on your mind?”
“The way she was dressed when she was found? I saw the clothing. I . . . she never had clothing like that when she lived here. I saw how she dressed at the truck stop but this . . . this was far more . . . What was going on there? I would like to know. And Susan asked me about it, too. She was deeply worried.”
Kelly said, “She might have just been, you know, trying out a new style.”
Ames said, “You . . . you don’t think she was? I mean . . . s-sex? With Hal Parker? She wouldn’t have done that because she found him . . . attractive. He was older than we were!” He looked down. “But she might have . . .” He stopped and shook his head. “No, I cannot believe something like that about my daughter. She would not have done that. Never.”
Decker said, “The postmortem showed that they didn’t have sex, if that makes you feel better.”
Ames put his head in his hands, moaned, and looked like he might retch right there on the flowery tablecloth.
Decker reached out and put his hand on Ames’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Mr. Ames. I just wanted you to know that whatever she went there for, that particular act didn’t happen with Hal Parker, okay? Just put that right out of your mind. And tell your wife that, too.”
Ames lifted his head, rubbed his eyes dry, and nodded. “Okay. Right. Thank you.”
When Decker glanced at Jamison, she was gaping. She quickly said to Gunther, “We understand that you bought some land from the Air Force? And then leased some of it to frackers?”
Gunther nodded. “Yes. The lease payments have come in very handy. It was one of the best investments we made, winning that auction.”
“I’m sure,” said Jamison.
Decker said, “Did you ever notice anything odd at the Air Force facility?”
“Odd? I haven’t. But I don’t really pay attention to it.” Gunther looked at Ames. “What about you, Milton?”
“My home is not near there. But there are others who do live closer to the facility. I can ask them.”
“Do you mind if we do that, and if we could meet with them now?” said Decker.
Gunther said, “All right. But what is all this about?”
“I wish I could tell you,” said Decker. “But I’m not sure myself.”