Page 42 of The Ghost Assassin

Chapter Thirty

Ellis sits across from me in the back of the SUV, and while his tone and expression appear even, there is an energy about him that says he’s coming unraveled.

“I can’t keep this from the press for long,” he snaps. “I need a killer I can name. You need to give that to me. What if the President is next?”

“What if you are?” I ask, certain this line of thought is exactly why he’s up in arms.

“I’m taking precautions.”

“You’d be amazed at how easily a professional assassin infiltrates even the best precautions. The assassin is the hired hand to the mastermind. And the problem for you, as a potential victim, is that oftentimes the contract with the assassin outlives the person who contracted the kill.”

“Again, I’m aware. Time is of the essence, and we have to assume the hit list extends beyond two.”

“We catch the assassin, we shut down the contract at least until another assassin is hired. We’ll need to source that contract as rapidly as possible.”

“I’m going to give you a team to work the case.”

“I don’t trust them. I won’t use them.”

“You don’t know who they are.”

“I know it’s not easy to get to government officials, and yet, this killer did. We can’t rule out the assassin using insider help.”

“I don’t believe that would be an easy task,” he says, disregarding my concern, at least partially. “And you have to have a team on the ground doing interviews in New York and Washington. At least use Homeland agents to aid in that effort. We can bring your team here.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I knew Murphy. He died in New York City, not here. I have an advantage when it comes to solving his murder. I’m walking into the latest one completely cold.” My cellphone buzzes with back-to-back text messages, and I snatch it from my jacket pocket and read my incoming feed. Turns out Director Rodriguez is Marie Rodriguez. She was married with two adult children, an ex-Army officer, and later a part of the DOD team, which she eventually took over. Among her many accolades, she was the first female and Latina in her role.

This knowledge collectively translates to a few revelations on my part.

We rule out one basic motive for these murders. The killer isn’t targeting powerful men in government roles. The killer might be targeting powerful people in government roles, but the question becomes why. It could simply be for sport. An assassin who wants to prove his or her worth and feels this shows skill, but it feels personal to me, which could mean anger at the government, or anger at the individuals that were murdered.

“Agent, are you still with me?”

I glance up at Ellis again. “Who did Murphy and Rodriguez piss off, and did you piss them off, too?”

“We could piss a lot of people off just by existing.”

“Whoever this is, is rich enough to hire an assassin.”

“I could name the leaders of several foreign countries that could be behind this.”

“Has the CIA offered suspects?”

“There are always threats from abroad, but right now, none that feel credible and related. They’re still working. But equally as frustrating, Homeland has nothing better to offer. There are no indications it’s terrorism. I need you to assume it’s a domestic crime, work it like you did the Umbrella Man case.”

Roger, the Umbrella Man, was an insider, a member of law enforcement, and an expert at forensics and profiling. His ability to avoid detection was off the charts. Some would say that caseload was still a simpler investigation than these two murders, just with the sheer number of suspects in today’s hate environment—hate for each other and hate for our government.

But I don’t think this is about an average American being angry at our government or an assassin trying to prove himself. Murphy was in New York to try to stop my father. I also thought he played both sides of the fence and was spying on us and the Society. But the only way I see that relating to this is if Marie Rodriguez had crossed the Society as well, and they’re cleaning house.

Ellis’ cell rings and he accepts the call.

I text Tic Tac: See if Marie connects to the Society or my father.

Already on it, he replies. And so far, nothing. I think this is related but I also can’t find a connection. DOD and FBI aren’t closely aligned in missions.

But the CIA is funded by the DOD, I think, and apparently Murphy used to be CIA.

Ellis ends his call. “I need Murphy’s name and records from before he became FBI and Murphy.”

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