Page 46 of A Moment Never Forgotten
"Why would you doubt it? Everything else you’ve seen has been." Elizabeth countered.
Matt sighed resignedly. "I keep getting these glimpses of gold bars filling ammo boxes, sitting in dirt, but the hut had a wooden floor." He shook his head. "I’m not sure that part is real. Just like I sometimes see someone walking away, out that back door."
Micah took a minute to think back. He needed more than a minute to overcome everything he’d just been told, but he had to concentrate on the now. He’d deal with his own emotions later. “I don't remember ever being briefed about gold bars.”
Matthew and Elizabeth exchanged glances.
"While Gabriel was holding me at gunpoint, he mentioned gold.” Elizabeth shuddered, as though remembering that terrible night. “Neither of us knew what he was talking about, but he acted as though Matt should know. Then Gabe got upset when he couldn’t answer his questions. He babbled about being double-crossed and aimed to shoot me. That’s when Matt shot him."
“And then someone else sent a sniper bullet through Gabe’s heart.” Matthew finished the story.
“Do you have any idea who the sniper was?” Berit asked.
Micah had forgotten that Berit was there. He wondered what she thought of everything she'd heard. Her face was the professional mask he'd first seen at Gabriel's funeral.
"No, but I'm thankful that he was there." Matthew crawled over to the other side of the couch and slid his arm around Elizabeth, pulling her to him. “If Gabe had shot…” He kissed his wife as though no one else was in the room.
“But he didn’t. I’m here, and so are you.” She kissed him, short and sweet.
"It seems as though the sniper was protecting Elizabeth, or wanted Gabriel dead for some other reason." Berit was trying to put the pieces together. His woman was smart. She looked at Matthew. "That took someone with some damn fine shooting skills. Perhaps someone from our Special Operations Group?"
"Holy fuck." Matt ran his big hand over his face. "I never thought of that. I can check the records and see who was around that day. I'm going to be fucking pissed if it's one of my men."
"If it was one of your men, then he was following Gabriel because he'd been ordered by someone higher up the chain of command." Berit impressed him with her ability to analyze. "My first inclination would be Noah Hennel."
"Do you think he might have suspected Gabriel as being a double agent?" Matthew pinned her with a stare.
"Yes." She glanced away. "I know Director Hennel thought Gabriel may have been a spy for Nassar al-Jamil. Early in his career, he'd been embedded with that terrorist group. He'd been watched for years. Until he tried to kill Elizabeth, he hadn't shown loyalty to the New Islamic State.”
“Not true. Nassar al-Jamil has stayed out of the top ten terrorist list for years because of Gabriel," Elizabeth pointed out. "He's planning something big, right here in the United States. He's bragged about it several times. Nothing on our intercepted transmissions have let us know details, such as time or target.”
"Moving back to Matthew's revelation, who do you think reworked your mind?" Berit watched him intently.
"Dr. Sydney Petersen," Matthew said without hesitation. "He is in some of my earliest thoughts as Matthew Saint Clare. My file said he debriefed me. I was ordered to go back to his office last week for a sleep study." He made air quotes around the words. "But there was no way in hell I was going back to his office, say nothing of spending the night." He rubbed Elizabeth's belly. "Then I was given the perfect excuse. I can't leave my bedridden wife home alone with our two children."
"Okay, I'll delve into him tomorrow morning." Berit shifted in her seat. "Who else?"
"You're probably not going to like this, but Noah Hennel." Matthew made circles on his wife's arm. "I know you worked for the man for years, but for some reason, he hates me."
Berit drew in a long slow breath. She stared at him, silent for nearly a full minute. "He thought you might be a double agent."
"What the fuck?" Micah exploded out of his chair.
Both Matthew and Elizabeth stared at her, mouth open.
"Hear me out," Berit demanded. "You were brought into Headquarters by Gabriel shortly after the Syrian mission. The two of you had been tight for the past ten years."
"Guilty by association," Micah accused. He tilted his head. "You said you'd been ordered to find the mole." He strode over to her chair, grabbed her by the shoulders, and forced her to stand.
She didn’t say a word.
"This was a mission for you, wasn't it?" He glared at the woman he thought he knew. Twelve hours ago, he'd been inside her. They’d walked the beach, shopped for her new granddaughter, talked for hours.
He’d been falling for her. "Was I part of the mission too? Or was I the means to the end?"
"Yes. No." Berit sucked in a ragged breath. "I was already becoming friends with Teagan when I got asked...told...to find out more about the five of you."
She moved her gaze away from him to Matthew and Elizabeth. "The more I got to know you, the more I was sure that you weren't feeding terrorists information. I told them that, but they wanted more."
