Page 29 of State of Alert

“We went to Annapolis together. Were roommates after the first year. Kind of been together ever since. Our friends tease us about being a couple, but we’re not. We’re just great friends who enjoy hanging out and keeping it real. Or, I guess, wedid.”

The devastation on his face nearly broke Sam wide open. She wanted to howl. She wanted to tell him the truth and swear him to secrecy, but she couldn’t. They’d made her believe the greater good was at stake in this situation, and she had to believe that was true, or she’d go mad.

“Did Juan have a girlfriend?”

“He had a friend with benefits who he was hoping to turn into a girlfriend, but she was playing hard to get.”

“What’s her name?”

“Jillian. I think her last name is Danvers, or something like that.”

“Where will we find her?”

“She works at a coffee shop down the street. That’s how he met her.”

“What’s the name of the shop?”

“Uh, I can’t remember it. I don’t drink coffee. That’s Juan’s thing. But it’s on 18th, near the post office.”

“We’ll find it. Has she been told of his death?”

Isaac shook his head. “I haven’t pulled myself together enough to reach out to her. It was early days between the two of them, but he was excited about her.”

“Was he having problems with anyone that you knew of?”

Isaac looked up at her, seeming shocked that she’d ask that. “Uh,yeah. Ever since the thing with the Joint Chiefs, he seemed to have trouble with everyone. I told the NCIS people this. They know he was being hassled.”

“Who in particular was hassling him?”

“Might be easier to say who wasn’t. They knew right away that it was him who told POTUS what they were up to.”

“How did they know that?”

“White House visitor logs. They were able to show him going in when he wasn’t on duty, meeting briefly with POTUS and leaving in under fifteen minutes. They put two plus two together with what happened next, and the rest unfolded from there. Suddenly, he’s being contacted by top staff to the Joint Chiefs, his own chain of command is under fire for letting him go rogue, there’s talk of pulling his security clearance, he feels like he’s being followed everywhere he goes, he’s getting odd calls at all hours from unknown numbers with people telling him to keep his mouth shut or it’ll be shut permanently. So yeah, in short, he was having some trouble with people.”

Sam took note of everything he’d said. “If everyone was angry with Juan, should I take that to mean that the plot to unseat the president went far beyond the Joint Chiefs themselves?” The implications of that sentence made her almost as sick as the lying did.

“We’d begun to think so. Although, the chain of command was upset because Juan went right to POTUS, skipping about fourteen layers between them, which is generally frowned upon in the military. Juan said he’d do it the same way again because the only one he was sure he could trust with the info was POTUS. He had faith in him to handle the situation appropriately. He couldn’t say that about anyone else in the chain. Who knew how pervasive the plot was or who else was involved or who would kill to keep it quiet? Juan said that even knowing how intense it would get for him, he wouldn’t have done anything differently.”

Isaac ran his fingers through his hair, which was already standing on end, probably from him doing that over and over as he absorbed the loss of his closest friend. “I just wonder if he would’ve done it if he’d known he’d pay with his life.” He took a deep breath and released it slowly as he seemed to come to some conclusion. “Yeah, he would’ve done it anyway. He was all about doing the right thing, and telling POTUS was the right thing.”

“Did he tell you about it before he told POTUS?” And yes, it was weird to refer to her own husband by his acronym, but everything about her life was weird these days. That they even had acronyms…

Isaac shook his head. “He didn’t tell anyone. He went straight to POTUS. He told me after the fact, though.”

“How did that go?”

“He came home rattled. Like, really undone. Pacing and drinking, which he rarely did when he had to work. Took an hour of me asking what the hell was wrong with him for the whole story to come pouring out.”

“What did you think when you heard it?”

“At first? I thought he was making it up until I realized how seriously undone he was. Like, hands shaking and everything. He kept telling me to stay away from the windows, as if he was afraid someone would take a shot at us.”

“Why was he afraid of that if he’d already told POTUS what he knew?” Freddie asked. “What point would there be in killing him after the damage was already done?”

“I guess because he was a witness with information that could be used against them.”

“Why would that matter, though?” Freddie asked. “Heads were already rolling. The case against them was being built almost immediately after Nick… er, I mean, POTUS was notified. What did one naval officer know that would make it worth adding murder to the list of charges?”

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