Page 35 of Renegade

“Thank you, sir.” Miguel started with the disappearance of John Sutter during a sandstorm, not mentioning the location of the op or the base, even though thanks to Judy, I’d already guessed. He then backtracked and told him about our current case with the ruby, our old case with the Mulberry diamond, Sutter’s sudden reappearance at the cantina after eleven years, and our dangerous encounter with the mysterious, dark man in the stairwell of McNulty’s building. He even told him about the booby-trapped phone which had Mark’s eyes widening, the first visible sign of alarm crossing his features. Mark had been leaning forward, elbows on knees, fingers entwined as he listened with intent to every word Miguel told him. When he finally stopped talking, Mark leaned back in his chair. He was frowning, looking distressingly upset about what he’d been told about the guy in the stairwell.

“I’ll need that phone, Miguel.”

“What are you going to do with it?” I asked abruptly. When they both turned to me, I sank back into the couch, feeling stupidfor blurting out the question. When Mark answered calmly, I felt kind of silly.

“Well, first, I’m going to see if it’s actually an explosive device,” he said. “That’s easy enough. Then, I’ll check to see who made it.” He glanced at Miguel. “I assume you know how I’d do that.”

Miguel shot me a look before looking back at him. Surprisingly, he smiled as he nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s easy enough to tell if it’s a common CIA method of setting a booby trap or if it’s foreign, but more difficult to decipher where it came from or who made it.”

Mark nodded. “I’ll get Mac McCallahan’s help with that. He’s very good with things that blow up.”

My eyes widened as I looked over at Miguel. “Did you know that?”

Miguel shrugged. “All Spec Ops forces are trained in explosives and bomb-making techniques. Some of us are better at it than others and specialize in it. Sutter was the explosives expert on our team, so if this guy is working with him somehow, you can bet it was Sutter who rigged it…assuming there’s really a booby trap in that phone.” He looked back at Mark. “I’m not convinced there is.”

“Neither am I, though, there very well might be,” the older man said. “But even if Sutter was recruited by the CIA over there, I doubt he’d want to hurt another man on his team.” He narrowed his eyes at Miguel. “Unless there’s a chance he somehow blames you for leaving him behind when you abandoned the search or…holds some othermore…personal grudge?”

Miguel shook his head frantically. “No way would John ever endanger my life or any others on our team. Though I’m not surehe was picked up by the CIA and somehow convinced to join them back then, I am a 100 percent positive he didn’t expect to find me at the restaurant when he showed up.”

“At the Sagebrush Cantina?”

“Yes, that’s right. I saw his face. He was shocked as soon as he recognized me.” He glanced over at me before turning back to Mark. “And if he was following Raven, he definitely didn’t know I was his partner or that we were the two recovery agents hired to find the pigeon’s blood ruby which is missing from the Flores estate.”

Mark nodded thoughtfully. “Is there some reason you think he might have been picked up by the CIA operating out of that base? He might very well have been captured by insurgents, although I probably would have been informed of that if it happened as you well know.”

I thought he knew more than he was saying even though his expression was as relaxed as before. When Miguel stiffened beside me, I knew he felt it too.

“Sir, you probably were aware that a Force Recon Marine was lost out there at that time,” Miguel said flatly. “You would have been briefed by the operatives on base, assuming information traveled all the way up the line to you.” I could hear the edge of anger in Miguel’s voice as he tried not to sound snide. I was also aware that the two of them were dancing around what was really being said here.You know about John’s disappearance and how hard we hunted for him, so don’t act stupid.It was like Miguel had said it out loud.

Mark frowned deeply. “What I knew or didn’t know isn’t relevant here, son. What’s important is that I can help you, which is why you came to me. I still have friends—good friends—in the Company…and elsewhere.” The edginess in his response wasn’t lost on me either.

His words seemed to suck all the air out of Miguel as he sighed and deflated next to me. “Yes, sir,” he said as his gaze dropped to the floor. When he looked up, I recognized the worried look in his expression. “There’s something else we have to tell you and you’re not going to like it.” I knew he’d been debating whether to tell him of the results of Judy’s search, even though we’d discussed telling him everything. I prayed he would tell him because I felt it might be the only way he’d be moved to contact his friends in high places. As much as he said he wanted to help, maybe Miguel was right about all CIA operatives being complete and total assholes.

“Go on, Miguel,” Mark said.

“We suspect there were a rogue group of CIA agents working either at or around the base at the same time our team leader, John Sutter, disappeared.”

“Okay…I may be persuaded to your way of thinking but why don’t you tell me why you have these suspicions,” Mark said.

I held my breath, feeling only slightly better that he didn’t stand up and kick us out of his house at the very thought that men who worked with the agency could possibly be capable of such a thing.

“We know that at least one operative on base sent a message—presumably to another operative—stating that Sutter had been picked up,” Miguel said.

Mark instantly frowned, sitting forward in his chair. “How do you know this?”

“We read it,” Miguel said.

“What?” Mark’s confusion was obvious from his expression. “How? Operatives’ communications are encrypted.”

“Our office administrator found it after breaking through encrypted communications in Langley’s system,” I said.

“I’m…sorry?” Mark said. He stood and took two steps across the room before stopping dead in his tracks. His back was to us, but I could easily read the tenseness in his frame. He lowered his head and took a deep breath before running a hand agitatedly through his gray hair. When he turned back to us, his expression was dark, teeth clenched. He walked back over and sank into his chair. “Tell me everything. Don’t leave a single thing out.”

Miguel sat forward. He glanced at me and then back at Mark. “Judy Mendez was Raven’s assistant at the insurance company where he worked as a recovery agent before he left there to open our new venture. He brought Judy with him. She has several functions in our office including being a damned good skip tracer. She’s incredibly skilled with finding people on the dark web and wherever she has to help locate fugitives. I just—” He glanced at me again, gesturing between us before looking back at Mark. “We didn’t know how good she was at hacking until today.”

“You’re telling me that this employee of yours hacked into Langley and exposed a rogue CIA operation?”

“Yes, sir,” Miguel said, sitting back. “We didn’t ask her to do that,” he rushed to add. “I should emphasize this now. The only reason we’re telling you this here and now is because if she was able to do it, others can too and since it’s a matter of national security, we took the chance that coming to you with it, would be the best thing.”

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