Page 147 of The 9th Man

On arriving home, his phone rang.

Stephanie.

He reported what he’d located, the three missing images now in his possession.

“This book is explosive,” she said. “And persuasive.”

“Just Rowland’s actions alone give the whole thing total credibility.”

She agreed. “I’m sending someone to get the hard copy and everything else you have,” she said. “It all needs to be safeguarded. The good part is Rowland thinks it’s under control.”

She provided him the proper code words to use to ensure the courier was legit.

“I’ll be here until the time is right to leave,” he told her.

“You sure about all this?” she asked.

“I’m afraid I am. It has to be dealt with.”

“I have the info you wanted on Rowland’s yacht and Compass Cay.”

She told him that theBreakAway’s captain was a qualified master, but the rest of the crew, six in all, were ex-military. She’d even been able to obtain blueprints of the yacht along with a map of Compass Cay, all of which the courier would deliver to him.

“It’s time to flush the ducks,” he told her.

As a kid, hunting with his father and brothers, their golden retrievers had never failed to shake the tall grass and scare the birds into the air.

Where you could take a shot.

“Keep in mind,” she said, “we don’t have a lot of direct evidence here. It’s all circumstantial. In a criminal case, before a jury can rely on circumstantial evidence, they have to be convinced that the only reasonable conclusion supported by that evidence is that the defendant is guilty. If you can draw two or more reasonable conclusions, then it all fails. I’ve gone through the manuscript. I’ve watched Eckstein’s film, and now we have three photos.”

“And lots of bodies,” he added.

“That’s right. So I think we can make this stick. But, you know, in the court of public opinion, we don’t really have to prove a thing. All we have to do is say it, then keep on saying it, and never, ever stop saying it.”

Exactly his thought too.

He ended the call and texted Marcia, forwarding her e-images of all four photos. Nothing like a little show to further make your point. Then he added a simple instruction.

Do it. Now.

Five minutes later a reply came.

Package sent along with agreed-upon hashtags. I’m tracking on my end. Will keep you posted.

He was woken early the next morning by another text from Marcia.

Hashtag Rowland_CIA_blunderer trending strong across all platforms. Of 2400 packages sent, 90% response rate. Expecting regional TV station coverage by day’s end, national not far behind.

He then called Fancy. “You someplace safe?”

“Sittin’ down the shore a bit. If that yacht leaves, it’ll have to pass me.”

“Expect some action soon.”

“I’ll keep you posted.”

Around 1:00P.M. Marcia texted again.

---