“If you want it straight, it means we don’t really know who to trust on this. The fewer people looped in the better.”
“And in doing so you might cut out the very people who could he
lp you solve this and save us from another 9/11,” he shot back.
She looked uncomfortable at this, but didn’t argue the point.
“Do you know who the buyers are?”
“We’re working on it.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t the Russian mob? Maybe he just gave them the secrets in exchange for forgiving the debts.”
She shook her head. “The fact is, these mobsters wouldn’t know how to monetize stuff like that, nor would they even want to try. You don’t want to bring the U.S. military down on your head if you don’t have to. No, they got their cash from Dabney, and Dabney got that cash by selling secrets to someone else.”
“Another government?”
“Very likely.”
“Why?”
“Couple of reasons. Only another government would be willing to take this sort of risky operation. It takes resources and deep pockets. And only another government would be so wired in to the intelligence world that they would know what secrets they wanted Dabney to get them.”
“So he didn’t pick what he stole? They did?”
“Almost certainly. You’re not going to run an op like this and not get what you want as the prize. The people behind this, I’m certain, told Dabney exactly what they wanted and to which they knew he had access. This was very well planned out. Which makes me believe they had some inside help. Which is why we want to keep as many people out of the loop as possible. If we’ve been compromised, we could be doubly screwed if we read in the wrong people on this.”
“Did you trace the money?”
“On the back end. Ten million.”
Decker’s jaw went slack. “Ten million dollars! Did this Corbett guy gamble twenty-four/seven?”
“He played for high stakes, and when your creditor is charging a thousand percent interest a day, it adds up pretty quickly.”
“But if the buyer has the secrets isn’t it already too late?”
“Not how the game is played, Decker. If we find out who did it, and it is a foreign government, that’s a chit we can play later. Perfectly accepted diplomatic blackmail played out every day among allies and enemies.”
“But what if it’s a terrorist organization?”
“To execute on the information that Dabney sold takes infrastructure and lots of capital. Dabney worked on large-scale military projects: ships, tanks, and planes. That’s why we think it might be another government. ISIL is not shelling out billions to build a Zumwalt-class destroyer.”
“So you’re going to keep looking for the buyer.”
“Of course. That’s my job.”
“And we’re going to keep looking for why Dabney killed Berkshire.”
She stopped walking and looked at him. “And if there’s overlap?” she asked.
“Then we have a joint investigation. And we’d welcome the cooperation.”
“How sweet. Tell me, is that your best chess move?”
“No, I always hold something back.”
“You can keep doing what you’re doing, and so will I. How’s that sound?”
“Great, if you actually mean it.”
“You’re a smart guy. I’ll let you figure that one out on your own,” she said, and walked off down the street. “Thanks for the coffee,” she called back over her shoulder.
CHAPTER
25
“WE FOUND WHERE Dabney went on the mysterious trip.”
Todd Milligan was studying the computer screen in front of him. He, Decker, Jamison, and Bogart were sitting in a small conference room at the WFO, the Bureau’s Washington field office on Fourth Street. Decker had filled them all in on his conversation with Brown.
“For a walk.”
* * *
He started at the café. After a full breakfast at home, Dabney had stopped here, sat at a table overlooking the street, then got up, walked out and down the street, and shot Berkshire in the head before putting a round in his own brain.
As Decker was sitting there the same female employee he had spoken to earlier came over.
“I saw you in here earlier with that woman. You guys still looking into what happened?”