Page 24 of CJ

“Yep. Killed yesterday,” said Georgie. “Bullet to the temple, just like Adam, and just like her first husband. A Marine.”

The men took their seats, realizing that this was going to take longer than expected. They stared at one another, then back at the team.

“We didn’t hear about Alana. I’m guessing the wives knew, which is the best grapevine on base, but to be honest, no one liked her.”

“I can’t imagine why,” said Jill.

“We tried to warn Adam and Tim about her. She was a woman who wanted what she wanted and would find a way to get it one way or another.”

“But why target Special Forces?” asked Jill. “You guys make decent money, but if she was this shrewd, swindling vixen, then why not target D.C. politicians?”

“I can’t answer that,” said Ross. “She always had something on the guys that lured them in. With Adam, she knew that he’d taken gifts from a tribal leader in the sandbox and didn’t claim them. He told us that. I’m not sure how she knew that, but she did. He gave them to her to sell, which she did, then seemed to turn on the charm with him, and he was sold.”

“Why do you think that is?” asked Moose.

“Honestly, we all just thought she must have given stellar head. Sorry, ma’ams. Sorry, Jill.”

“Don’t be sorry. I knew Alana wasn’t exactly as pure as the driven snow, but there’s a lot more happening here than we think. Tim was killed because someone placed poison on my doorknob. A poison that he was allergic to. His epi-pen was in his truck.”

“We were aware of that,” said Gordon. “It seemed odd because he carried that damn pen with him everywhere. He always had it in his pocket.”

“That was my experience as well,” said Jill. “Were you aware that Alana had at least one other husband?” The men all stared at one another, then shook their heads.

“We weren’t aware of it, but it’s not surprising.”

“Were you aware of her age?” asked Georgie.

“I think she was a couple of years older than Tim. Maybe forty.”

“Try fifty-two,” said CJ. The shock on their faces told them that the team knew nothing of her age.

“Shit. Fifty-two?” frowned Gordon. “I mean, it was obvious she’d had plastic surgery on her body and maybe her face, but I never suspected it was that much.”

“She could have been very good at taking care of herself,” said Jill, “I don’t want to imply that she didn’t. However, she was at least fifteen to twenty years older than all of her husbands that we’ve found so far.”

“We need to know about your last two missions,” said Moose.

“Sir, that’s classified,” said Ross. The VG men laughed, shaking their heads.

“Our clearance is so far above yours you’d get a nosebleed,” said Dan. “I can read all the details I have in the files, but I’d like to hear them from you. Why was Adam so far away from the rest of the team when you were bringing the contingent down the steps?”

Gordon stared at the others, realizing that these men knew far more than they should.

“Tim told him to take point. He asked him to check the van and the streets. The view was blocked by these large concrete lions on both sides of the steps. If you were at the top, you could see clearly, but the further down you walked, the less you could see.”

“Did you see the direction of the shot?” asked CJ.

“No. Ballistics said it came from the northeast side of the building, but that didn’t make any sense. He turned and was looking at us, which put his left temple on the southwest side of the building. It didn’t come from the direction they said, but they kept telling us that ballistics didn’t lie.”

“What was on the northwest side of the building?” asked Dan.

“Nothing. Another reason we didn’t buy it. It was an empty parking lot. The southwest side of the building had other structures along the street. It also faced the cross street, making it easy for someone in a car to drive by and shoot.”

“The contingent you were guarding said that they’d requested basic security while there and were shocked when a Ranger team showed up,” said Georgie.

“Not as shocked as we were. We were told it was an important diplomatic envoy. These guys were private corporate yahoos as far as we knew. They were negotiating shipping contracts for common goods. We didn’t need to be there.”

“Who sent you?” asked Dan. They all looked at him and then at one another. “Who gave the order for you to be sent there?”

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