Page 22 of The Savior

“I’d assume everything the IC works on is in the shadows.” Liam wondered what they thought his experience with the intel community was.

The senator repositioned, and her jewelry clinked. “Think of him as a fundraiser.”

“All right…” If that was the case, they’d brought the wrong man in to discuss terrorism financing. Military contracting had many facets, and Liam’s didn’t reach to fundraising. Hell, the first fundraising images that came to mind were Linda’s kindergarten brownie bake sales.

Westin cracked his knuckles. “He’s the money man behind several terrorist states, yet only a few dozen agencies worldwide focus on Tran Pham.”

“Why?” Liam asked.

“Some in the IC believe he’s a myth.”

“But he’s not.”

“Not one bit,” Mr. Westin confirmed.

“And we killed his daughter?” Liam asked.

“Bravo, Ace. Now it’s clear?”

As clear as mud. Liam focused on Westin. “Are you searching for him?”

“Not personally.”

“I am,” Sorenson interrupted.

Liam glanced around the table, unsure how that connected his participation in Red Gold and Julia’spremeditatedmurder. “Why are you telling me?”

Mr. Westin lifted his chin to the second man. “Mr. Black?”

Mr. Black eased his elbows onto the table. “Julia’s death initially piqued the interest of the feds because of her work on Zee Zee Mars.”

Liam’s mind reeled. “You think Zee Zee Mars is mixed up in this too?”

“No,” Mr. Black corrected. “It’s not Mars’s MO, but Julia’s work with someone on the Marshal’s Most Wanted Fugitive List caused the government to take a closer look. That wasn’t a fast process, but when they did that, her death provided the missing lynchpin to connect a much larger, unnoticed problem.”

Liam clenched his molars. “And what was that?”

“Other victims that were connected to Red Gold.”

“Connected how? My old platoon?”

Mr. Black nodded. “Yes, but indirectly. They weren’t victims. You weren’t the victim. Yet each of you was victimized.”

Liam inhaled and held it. If what Mr. Black said was true, Liam hadn’t only failed to protect Julia from the shooting, he’d also brought the gunman to her. A wave of guilt made him queasy. “This is my fault—why?”

“Pham required his daughter to train like those he funded so she could have respect when she took over his work,” Westin said. “That included live-action combat training.”

“Field training would have protected her from their naysayers,” Mr. Black further explained Pham’s rationale.

Naysayersseemed an understatement for a group that didn’t believe women could hold leadership roles, but then again, he didn’t understand the logic of terrorism. “And Red Gold killed her?”

“Red Gold killed herandtook her body,” Westin said.

“In Pham’s mind,” Sorenson interrupted, “you, personally, stole her body.”

“Me?”

“You led your platoon.”

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