Page 66 of Code Name: Admiral

“He’s playing you, Pershing.” Sweeney’s use of my first name caught my attention. He hadn’t called me that since my early days at the bureau. “Think about it. Who had direct oversight of Sarah Gordon’s operation? Who knew every detail of her movements, her contacts, her reports?”

“You did.”

He nodded. “You’re right, but I wasn’t the one who reassigned her protective detail the week she died.”

That was new information. “Explain.”

“Sarah had a two-man team watching her back. Standard procedure for deep cover ops. A week before she was killed, Grit pulled them for a ‘higher priority’ assignment.” Sweeney took out his phone and showed me the personnel order. “Look at the timestamp.”

“That doesn’t prove anything.”

“No? How about this?” Another document appeared on his screen. “Bank records. An LLC registered to Grit’s brother-in-law. Three payments from a Castellano shell company, each one two days before a major operation went sideways.”

I studied the records. They looked legitimate, but documents could be faked. “Why are you showing me this now?”

“Because he’s making his move. That task force? It’s his chance to bury everything. He’ll use it to discredit Sarah, to paint you as compromised because of Bobby and to take down anyone who might expose him.” Sweeney stood, facing me directly. The old pavilion’s shadows played across his face. “He’s alreadylaying the groundwork. Why do you think he suggested I was the mole?”

“How do you know he did?”

Sweeney raised a brow. “Give me a fucking break, Pershing, and answer my question. Why did he accuse me?”

“To drive a wedge between us,” I said, voicing the thought that had been nagging at me.

“Exactly. He knows our history. Knows you trust me. So he plants the seed of doubt, lets it grow.” Sweeney’s voice hardened. “Meanwhile, he’s setting up Alice Gordon to take the fall.”

My head snapped up. “What do you mean?”

“There’s a sealed indictment. Espionage charges, cyberterrorism, the works. They’re just waiting for the right moment to move on her.” He held up a hand as I started to speak. “I saw it myself. That’s why I’m here. You need to get her out.”

“If you’ve known all this, why didn’t you come forward sooner?”

“Because I needed proof you hadn’t been compromised too.” He met my gaze steadily. “I had to be sure. For both our sakes.”

“And now?”

“Now, I know where you stand. And you need to know something else—Sarah wasn’t just investigating the Castellanos. She found a connection to someone higher than the director. Above the bureau. Someone who’s been protecting them for years.”

“DOJ?” I asked.

“Higher.” Sweeney glanced around the empty park. A car passed on Main Street, its headlights sweeping across the pavilion. “She was getting too close. That’s the real reason she died.”

My mind raced. “Can you prove any of this?”

“Everything’s documented. Sarah was thorough. You know damned well she kept records separate from the bureau’s systems. Secured them in ways only her sister could access.” He smiled grimly. “Smart girl. She knew if anything happened to her, Alice would find the truth.”

The pieces started falling into place. Sarah’s coded messages, the breadcrumbs she’d left, her insistence that Alice join that dating app—it wasn’t just about documenting the Castellanos’ activities. She was building a case against corruption within the bureau itself and, from the sound of it, beyond the FBI.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I demanded a second time.

“Same reason I’m telling you now. Timing.” He stood. “You can find it all in a safe house up on Prospect. Evidence I’ve been gathering for months. Things that tie everything together—the Castellanos, the bureau leaks, Sarah’s murder.” He wrote an address on a slip of paper. “The key’s under the third brick left of the door; it’s loose.”

I took the paper, memorized the address, then destroyed it. “How about if you take me to it?”

“Can’t. I have to maintain appearances. Besides,” he smiled sadly, “Grit’s having me followed. Has been for weeks.”

“Chad…” I started, but he cut me off.

“Watch yourself, Pershing. You’re in just as much danger as I am. So is Alice.”

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