Page 57 of Knot Guilty

With his confident assurance, Maxen hops up and pulls on some gray sweats, a Knot t-shirt, and some Nikes while I slip my dress back on and strap on my sandals. Then, we’re out the door.

At the compound thirteen minutes later, we step into the lobby with plans for me to divert to the locker rooms while Maxen goes up to the boss’s office. Unfortunately, Dillan Knot must be particularly impatient this morning, as he’s standing in the lobby when we walk in.

Knot takes in my rumpled appearance with a raised eyebrow but without comment and then abruptly turns on his heel toward the elevators. He’s silent until the three of us are sealed inside and he’s seated behind his modern desk.

His mood is dark, and a profound dread settles in my bones, waiting for the bomb he’s about to drop. “Investigators went to interview Avara this morning. They found him dead. Executed.”

Holy shit. That’s not what I’d expected. It’s worse. Way worse. Upon entering Knot’s inner sanctum, I’d taken up a position standing next to one of the guest chairs because of my current state beneath this dress. At Knot’s revelation, I drop onto the seat, rather unladylike, crushed by the news.

Beside me, Maxen sits up straight in response to my reaction, blissfully unaware of what this means. “What? Why? What does that asshole have to do with anything?”

I’m too stunned to speak, much less explain the situation to Maxen. My eyes are still glued to the floor when Knot starts to explain. “The hours Aaron went missing in Afghanistan were spent with Avara. The calls made from the confiscated phone were made during that time.”

“Whoa. Hold on. Hours? With Avara? The man that attacked Sadie? Does someone care to explain why Hosfeld would spend even a minute with that dick?”

“Suffice it to say that Avara and Hosfeld had a come-to-Jesus meeting. That’s why he readily handed over operational control to Sadie during the rescue mission.”

Maxen slumps in his chair. “So, you’re telling me someone killed Avara to keep him from corroborating Aaron’s alibi.”

“Looks that way,” Knot concedes.

“Someone in Avara’s squad? If one of Avara’s men was involved, it makes sense that he’d want to make sure Aaron goes down for it. Who else knew about Avara? None of our people did.”

I lift my head and look Maxen’s way. “I knew. Aaron told me when I found him in Tennessee. As soon as I got home, I started looking for the real culprit.”

“What do you mean?” my boss asks, leaning over his desk, calling my attention away from Maxen’s look of betrayal.

“Aaron’s alibi and the call logs prove that Aaron is innocent. That means the phone was planted, and given the location of the traces, it happened after we got back. Figuring Aaron’s apartment building was a good place to start, I had Birdie hack in and get me the security videos from Wednesday night to Monday. I was about halfway through scanning the footage when I ran out of time.”

Maxen closes his eyes and turns away. “Someone set Aaron up to be the fall guy. Someone who knew that Avara could clear him or at least cast reasonable doubt.” He shoves a hand through his hair and continues, “So, who are we looking for then? If I’d had to name someone before now, I would have guessed Avara was behind this.”

Knot leans back in his seat and taps a finger on his desk. “I suspect we’re looking at an inside job. My guess is someone in Avara’s unit. It wouldn’t have been anyone in Treasury.”

“How do you figure?” Maxen asks, still not looking at me.

“The two dead agents. The manner in which they were killed indicates someone was trying to get information out of them. Another FinCEN agent would have had access to the same information they did.”

I agree with Knot’s assessment of the federal investigators, but focusing only on Avara’s surviving unit is too narrow for me. “There had to be others that knew of the raid team’s purpose; couriers, drivers, pilots. After the first pile of cash was recovered, there’d be no way this was kept quiet. Anyone in Shindand could have had designs on those caches.”

Maxen finally looks my way, his demeanor giving me the impression that he believes we’re up against impossible odds. “Then what the hell do we do?”

“We find who did this,” Knot declares.

My boss glares across his desk like the answer is really that simple. Most of the time, with his resources, he’d be correct, but I’m not seeing any options here. “How are we supposed to do that? The US already thinks Aaron's guilty. With Avara's death, they’re going to be even more suspicious. Any move we make will look like we're covering for him.”

“At this point, I'm not concerned about what the feds or the Army think. We'll find whoever is responsible and hand them over... Even if it is Hosfeld.”

Cutting off my denial, Knot holds up a hand and adds, “You two gear up. I’m sending you back to Afghanistan. You’ll lead an investigation into the smugglers while the feds are spinning their wheels looking for Aaron. Someone was working with the terrorists to hijack these raids. I want to find out who.

“And I want this quiet. Get with Birdie before you leave. She’s the only local person I want working with you on this op. Given that you’ll have to sneak across the border into Iran, you’ll need a lot of help from Sambi and his crew.”

“What about Aaron? Have you heard from him?”

“You let me worry about Aaron. You’re going to have your hands full enough as it is.”

Knot stands then, indicating the conversation is over. We have our marching orders and are expected to carry them out. My stare remains locked on his for a moment, all kinds of questions and arguments rocking around in my head.

“Come on, Sadie,” Maxen goads. “This is our first real chance to clear his name.”

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