“Yes,” said Tyler defiantly. “I wish it had been more but that’s all there was.”
“Sounds like a confession to me,” said McKinney.
“Don’t think so,” said Michelle before Tyler could say anything.
“Why?”
“Just my gut.”
McKinney snorted with derision.
She ignored this and said, “What was he delivering? And was it just him?”
“It was apparently just him. Which makes no sense at all considering the cargo. But then maybe the military does things differently.”
“So what was the damn cargo?” asked Michelle.
McKinney cracked more knuckles. “Every alphabet agency and all the uniforms are mixed up in this shit. It’s big, really big.”
“I’m sure it is. Big enough for you to get a call from the Pentagon and read us the riot act. But that doesn’t explain why you’re here. Like you said, you’re DHS. You have lots of resources. You don’t need to come to us for anything.”
“What you say is perfectly true,” he said.
“And still, here you are.”
McKinney let out a long breath. “I checked you two out some more. You and King. That’s why I’m here. People I respect say you’re both the real deal. That you can be trusted. That you’re sharp.”
“Okay,” said Michelle warily. “But why do I think one reason you’re here is that you’re having trouble getting straight answers from your side? And maybe there’s a lack of trust going on.”
McKinney hiked his eyebrows at this but said nothing.
Michelle said again. “So what was the cargo?” She added, “Come on, the suspense is killing me, Agent McKinney.”
McKinney glanced at Tyler and then back at Michelle. He seemed to have finally made up his mind. “Forty-eight hundred pounds.”
Michelle’s brow furrowed. “That was the weight? Well over two tons?”
McKinney nodded.
“So what was it?”
“What do you know that weighs forty-eight hundred pounds?”
“What are we playing here, Jeopardy!?” Michelle snapped.
“A nuke or a dirty bomb?” said Tyler anxiously.
McKinney shook his head. “No.”
She said, “Too light for a tank or a plane. Bioweapons? Some off-the-rack centrifuges? A few hundred al-Qaeda terrorists?” she added sarcastically.
McKinney shook his head.
“Okay, we give, what is it?” said Michelle.
McKinney cleared his throat. “One billion euros.”
CHAPTER