Page 58 of A Moment Never Forgotten
The last time they’d been together, they were all standing vigil as Matthew recovered from his memory cap removal. When he stabilized at the warehouse, they’d moved him to his own bed. No one wanted to leave until they were assured their friend was going to be okay.
Although the SOG team disappeared when they transported Matthew, Mak and his friends decided to camp out at the Saint Clare’s’ until Kenzi awoke. She slept through the entire night, obviously worn out from playing with the other children.
During the long night on Friday and part of Saturday, Dr. Petersen, at gunpoint, slowly brought both Mason and Matthew back to the present day. Elizabeth explained everything to those gathered. Like Micah, Logan and Teagan had a hard time accepting that the two men were one and the same.
When fully awake early Saturday afternoon, Matthew got to watch Dr. Sydney Petersen put under arrest for treason and taken away to a CIA holding facility by Noah Hennel. In the hours that followed, Matt and Elizabeth had decided not to tell Austin until he was old enough to handle the truth. They asked all their friends, which now included Berit, to honor their decision and be careful any time they discussed that subject.
Berit was astounded that medical science had progressed to the point where someone could actually become a different person. Leave it to the CIA to take the fullest advantage of that process. She’d personally examine the ethical side of that capability and suggest changes if needed. With her promotion, she could do that in her current job.
Screams and giggles erupted from the family room. At least three conversations were going on at the same time in the living room. After this was over, Berit was going to need a nap. Preferably with Micah curled up beside her in post-orgasmic bliss.
Knee-deep in gift wrap and high on Santa’s presents, the children had declared the family room an adult-free zone. The table was laden with leftovers and half a dozen desserts she’d brought.
Berit and Micah sat next to Teagan and Logan on the chairs brought from the dining room as the adults congregated in the living room. Noah Hennel sat in one of the wingback chairs, sipping some of Micah’s scotch. Because it was Christmas, he also shared it with Mak, Casper, Rock, and Py. Matthew wasn’t allowed to drink alcohol, just yet.
“I hate to talk business, Director Hennel, but I haven’t seen anything in the papers about Joseph Lambert being arrested for treason.” Elizabeth sipped her bubbling grape juice and unconsciously rubbed her distended belly.
“And you won’t. We prefer to deal with matters in-house, for security reasons.” Hennel grinned. “Technically, legally, he has been taken into custody by the Central Intelligence Agency under the Homeland Security laws. While we conduct a thorough and extensive investigation, he’ll remain a guest of the agency.”
“Was the attack on the refineries stopped?” Berit hadn’t been in to work all week, so she wasn’t current on the latest reports. She probably could have accessed them from her laptop, but she’d been busy. Although she loved her time with Kenzi, Mak had to learn to be a single parent. She’d accomplished the goal twenty-five years ago without her mother to dote and lift the responsibilities from time to time. But since her kidnapping, Micah had been by her side almost constantly. Not that she was complaining. She loved the man. And showed him as often as possible.
Hennel’s deep baritone voice brought her back to the conversation. “We believe so.”
Oh, yeah, the refineries, she remembered.
“We’ve turned everything we found on disabling the refineries over to Homeland Security.” He chuckled. “By the way, there are hundreds of Homeland agents all over the United States that are cursing all of you, because they’re working today. They haven’t stopped since we shared thousands of files with them. They were certainly organized. To their downfall, they kept impeccable records.”
Hennel sipped before continuing. “This should hit the news today. Agents raided three training camps last night. One in Pennsylvania, one in Kansas, and one in upstate Washington. They’re going to be cataloging the weapons retrieved for months. The agency's containment areas are already bursting. This was the biggest bust ever for them. They’re guaranteed whatever funding they want for the next several years.”
“Is there any way of tracking down theirgraduateswho had already moved into neighborhoods?” Teagan asked. She cocked her head toward Berit. “She filled us in.”
“They deserved to know.” Berit defended her actions.
“No argument from me.” Hennel sipped some scotch and smiled. “This is damn good.” He looked at the corner of the couch where Elizabeth sat cuddled in Matthew’s arms. “You can buy me a bottle of this anytime you want.”
Matthew chuckled. “I’m going to need one hell of a raise to keep you in twenty-five-year-old scotch.” His face turned serious. “Is Dr. Petersen going to be tried as a traitor?”
“I’m not sure. He will if I have anything to say about it.” He glanced over at her. “Dwayne Johnson will also be joining the doctor and Lambert in our underground facilities.”
“He was in on it?” That surprised her.
Hennel nodded. “He was actually the first. Johnson and Lambert were roommates at college, back when computers were first coming into their own. Johnson was a whiz kid and the recruiting department chased him hard. As soon as he got hired, he changed Lambert’s background so he’d qualify. Sydney Petersen was brought in under Lambert. Records back then are sketchy, but we have analysts working on it now.”
“Does any of this relate to Marsha Davis’s murder?” Logan’s question was a good one, Berit thought.
Hennel looked down at the brown liquid in his glass. When he lifted his head, his gaze went to Teagan. “Yes. Joseph Lambert confessed to the murder of Marsha Davis. He will be charged, but most likely with second degree. According to him, he was looking for incriminating evidence when Marsha walked in on him. He shot her then staged the room. He would’ve gotten away with murder if the six of you hadn’t investigated. Lambert is going away for a long time. Because of his position with the agency, we can’t afford the publicity, so there won’t be a public trial. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to take my word, but Joseph Lambert will die in jail.”
“All of this was because of hidden bars of gold.” Micah grabbed the bottle and refilled everyone’s glass. “How did you end up with them?”
Hennel smiled appreciatively as Micah poured three fingers. “I watched the entire mission from a distance. My SOG team and I walked the site before you were even in the air. We found the gold. Took it. My team couldn’t bring you out. We weren’t supposed to be there, so I called in the SEALs to get you.”
Micah shook his head. “All that time, the gold was sitting right there in the building where Lambert went to work every day.”
Hennel shrugged. “Now that we know that it actually belongs to Nassar al-Jamil, it will get frozen along with all his other assets. I talked with Tom Callahan, the Deputy Director of the agency, and we’re putting al-Jamil at the top of ten most wanted terrorist list. He should’ve been on there for years.”
“I’ll look forward to assigning a SOG team to go after his ass,” Matthew said.
“Callahan already has a team in mind. They are new, and although they trained with us, they technically work for Homeland Security.” He chuckled. “Al-Jamil is never going to see this team coming.”
