Page 80 of Operation: Sharp Angel

But he did talk in the end.

The man’s name was Sergio Lopez. His parking lot partner was Gustavo Chavez. Both were in the country illegally from Mexico. Chester’s real name was Jude Ross. He was, by the man’s definition, a sleazy CIA Agent who operated over the line. They and many others were paid well by Ross, a private army. They were both present at the DeSoto house with Chester the night the family was killed. Both of the men were at the DeSoto house the night Becca was attacked. They had already ransacked Becca’s house before going to the DeSoto house that night.

The other shocking piece of information they learned from him was that not only had the drugs been developed to induce psychotic symptoms to use with enhanced interrogation methods, Ross also planned to taint standard drugs with it and then sell it and the counteragent to reverse the effects, which would be a gold mine. Imagine a high so good it lasted until a counteragent stopped it. Addicts would sell their souls to acquire a drug like that. The potential to influence and control someonehad limitless possibilities, and Jude Ross was going to tap into it and exploit anyone he could.

Shepherd only spoke when it was done. “Good work team. Keep your detainees secure. I’ve already contacted Mason. He’ll send agents to take custody of the three you have. Moe, it’s time to transport Miss Elliot back to HQ before they arrive. We’ll debrief tomorrow at zero nine hundred.”

Yankee

It was long past sunset when Tessman drove out of the warehouse with Becca in the passenger seat beside him. They were getting her out before the federal authorities arrived that they’d hand the three men off to. She was quiet and looked exhausted. He knew what happened in the warehouse had disturbed her. How couldn’t it?

“Are you hungry?” he asked her. It was way past dinnertime.

“No, I couldn’t eat a thing.”

“Yeah, I know. Me neither. I wish you hadn’t seen all that.”

“I’m glad I did,” she said.

“What are you thinking?” he asked. “Talk to me, Becca.”

She shook her head and didn’t answer. Her head was turned, so she gazed out the window. He couldn’t see the expression on her face.

They drove in silence. He pulled into the parking garage and passed through the gate and two garage doors. “Becca, you need to talk to me,” Tessman said after he’d put the car in park.

“I can’t,” she said.

She hadn’t moved to get out of the car yet. “Are you okay?” Tessman asked.

“Okay? No I’m not okay, Carter. That had to be the most horrific thing I’ve ever seen, and I’m left with a really big question that I don’t know the answer to. Do the ends justify the means?”

“How do you not know the answer to that?” Tessman asked.

“That man was waterboarded, fucking nearly drowned. He could have been killed,” she charged.

“Better him than you,” he said. “And he wasn’t killed. The team knew what they were doing.”

“That room was set up for that,” she charged. “The supplies were there to do that.”

“Yes,” Carter confirmed.

“Was there no other way?” she demanded.

“You were there. No, Becca, there was no other way. Neither him nor the other scumbag were going to give anything up, but we now have answers we didn’t have.”

“Well, I guess when you put it that way, it’s all well and good, and we’re all happy,” she shot back sarcastically.

“Do you think anyone liked what went down in that warehouse today?” Tessman demanded. “Is anyone happy?”

“No one seemed to mind it,” she shot back.

“Really? Why do you think that? Because every single one of us did our jobs without whining about it? I’ll tell you, Becca, if you think that’s who I am, who any of us are, you are dead wrong. Sometimes tough actions have to be taken, and we have to step up and take those actions no matter how much we hate doing it. We got answers. And now with those answers, we can get justice for your sister and her family.”

“What will happen to the three of them?”

“The CIA will take them into custody, as well as Jude Ross, and clean up their mess,” Tessman said. “Shepherd will have more info for us tomorrow morning at the debrief.”

“I just want to get upstairs and take a hot shower,” she said. She was still chilled to the bone. She held her hands together in front of her chest like she was praying, but it was an attempt to warm up.

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