Call to Treason (28 page)

    Most eyes turned to Hood when he emerged. The team knew, intuitively, that he would be the last man out.

    Hood moved among the group to where Bob Herbert was sitting. He wanted to make sure his colleague was okay. Herbert said he was. He said it without emotion, which bordered on disinterest to Hood. But at least there was no anger. That was progress. Hood then told his team about Mac McCallie. There were a few moans of disbelief and several quiet oaths. Mac could be a severe pain in the butt who damn near counted every staple. But he was a professional who put in long hours. If employees needed something to do their job, he made sure they got it, ASAP. Hood also promised that they would find whoever had infiltrated their organization and planted the bomb.

    The 89th Medical Group was stationed at Andrews, and ambulances began arriving to give each of the dozens of employees an on-site examination. Installation commander Brigadier General Bill Chrysler also arrived by staff car. Hood stepped from the group to meet him.

    It was just now hitting the director that his facility had been e-bombed. Op-Center had been virtually destroyed. Hood felt violated, overwhelmed, and demoralized. Paradoxically, he was also starting to feel what Liz Gordon had once called "impotent rage," the desire to lash out in the absence of a target. Worse, he knew he had to stifle every one of those feelings. Unless the team was very lucky, this would not be a quick fix nor an easy one. And finding the perpetrator was not the only immediate problem. Hood also had to make sure that the CIOC or the press did not start positioning this as a publicity stunt or a grab for additional funding. He also had to make certain that the CIOC did not decide that it was easier to shut down Op-Center than to fix it. After what Hood hoped would be a brief meeting with Chrysler, his top priority would be to get in touch with Debenport and let him know that Op-Center was vigorously pursuing the investigation of the USF Party.

    After all, they had something that they did not have before: a very personal reason.

    

    Langley, Virginia Tuesday, 3:44 p.m.

    Darrell McCaskey had spent several unproductive hours at the British embassy and then at FBI headquarters. He had been looking for suppressed criminal records pertaining to any of his key players. He was searching, in particular, for someone who might have sold drugs or had a drug habit at one time. Someone who would have known how to inject William Wilson under the tongue.

    There was nothing.

    Dispirited, McCaskey was en route to Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, when Maria called to tell him the news about an explosion at Andrews Air Force Base.

    "Are there any details?" he asked.

    "Only that eyewitnesses reported seeing a glow over the northwest corner of the base."

    "That's where Op-Center is," McCaskey said.

    "Which is why I phoned," she told him. "I tried calling Bob Herbert and Paul, but I only get a recording from the phone company saying there is a problem with the number I dialed."

    McCaskey thanked her and tried calling them himself. He got nothing.

    He phoned the office of Brigadier General Chrysler and was told about the explosion. It appeared to be an electromagnetic pulse weapon.

    Everyone was still there except for Rodgers. McCaskey decided not to return.

    If there were a plot against Op-Center, it was best to keep the resources disbursed. If there were a plot against the investigation, McCaskey refused to let this stop him. He had called in a favor with Sarah Hubbard, a friend at the Company's Central Intelligence Crime and Narcotics Center. McCaskey wanted to see a medical director at the Directorate of Science and Technology. There was an aspect of the murders that troubled him, and he needed answers. Hubbard said that Dr. Scot P. Allan was the man he wanted. She set up the appointment for four p.m.

    McCaskey parked and went to the main entrance of the new headquarters building, a commanding white brick facade topped by a high, proud, hemispherical archway. The roof of the enclosed arch was made of panes of bulletproof glass. Compared to this showplace, Op-Center was downright homely. McCaskey went through the security checkpoint, where he was given a color-coded day pass to stick on his lapel. Then he waited for someone to come and get him. The former FBI agent felt a stab in his soul when he saw the sun slanting through the glass. The white stone gleamed, and there was a healthy sense of purpose to the men and women who moved through the corridors beyond. McCaskey thought of Op-Center and how badly the building and its occupants must have been wounded. He was glad, then, that he had not gone right back to Andrews Air Force Base. He needed time to process the fact that his home for the last six years had been invaded and disfigured.

    A clean-cut young man arrived promptly to take McCaskey back to Dr.

    Allan's office. There was no conversation as the two men made their way along nondescript white corridors. This was the Central Intelligence Agency. People were trained to listen, not to speak.

    Dr. Allan's book-lined office was toward the rear of a wing that included several laboratories, computer centers, and offices. Sports memorabilia was tucked between the volumes and hung on the wall between the diplomas. There were family photos in hand-painted frames, probably made by a daughter or son decades before. Compared to Matt Stall's little tech hut, this was Mount Olympus.

    Dr. Allan was a powerfully built, outgoing man in his late fifties. He had a long gray imperial beard at the end of a long face, full white eyebrows, and longish gray white hair. His brown eyes were dark with purpose. He looked like Uncle Sam dressed in a white lab coat with red stains on the sleeves. The all-American icon covered with blood.

    "It's toluidine," the physician apologized, noticing McCaskey's gaze.

    "Working on a red dye." He did not tell him what it was for; this was the CIA. Allan motioned McCaskey to have a seat. He shut the door, then sat behind his desk. "I don't have a lot of time, Mr. McCaskey, but our mutual acquaintance said this was urgent."

    "Yes, Dr. Allan. Thank you for seeing me."

    "I had no choice," Allan informed him. "Ms. Hubbard wields a great deal of power here."

    "She does?"

    "Your friend controls the block of Redskins tickets." Allan smiled.

    "It's important to stay on her good side."

    "She always had an angle."

    "That is what government service is all about," Allan remarked. "Access and control. Now, what can I do for you?"

    "Sir, I believe that Ms. Hubbard forwarded verification of my security clearance," McCaskey said.

    "She did. She also told me that you were investigating the murder of William Wilson for the NCMC."

    "That's right," McCaskey said.

    "Speaking frankly, why did you want to see me? Do you suspect that someone here was involved?"

    "Not someone who is presently employed here," McCaskey said.

    "Good," Allan said. "I never discuss coworkers without their knowledge, especially with outsiders."

    "We are part of the same team," McCaskey reminded him.

    Allan just smiled.

    "Doctor, I recall reading a top secret white paper about Company assassination policy in the 1960s," McCaskey went on. "It discussed the twenty-five-year-long moratorium instituted after the failed attempt to kill Fidel Castro using toxins in a cigar and poison in his beard."

    "That is commonly known," Dr. Allan remarked.

    "Yes. But there was a footnote I found interesting. It said that all of the Company's past and recent chemical attempts on high-value targets involved cyanide-based compounds. I need to know if that is true."

    Dr. Allan suddenly seemed less relaxed. "Mr. McCaskey, the Redskins have a shot at the Super Bowl this year."

    "I'm sorry?"

    "I do not want to jeopardize my chances of seeing the game in person.

    That said, you are poking a finger in extremely sensitive areas."

    "Sir, I know this is a very difficult question "

    "Difficult? You're asking me to explain what I may or may not do to abet murder," Dr. Allan said. "That is not a routine question."

    "I appreciate that, but there is some urgency involved. Someone just attacked Op-Center "

    "What do you mean, attacked?" the doctor asked.

    "They hit the place with an explosive device of some kind," McCaskey told him. "I have not been able to talk with my colleagues to get specifics. I'm guessing it relates to this investigation, and I need to find the people who are behind it. Any information you can provide may help."

    Dr. Allan tapped his fingers anxiously on the desk for a few moments.

    Then he folded his hands. "Mr. McCaskey, I really wish you had not dropped this at my feet."

    "I'm sorry, sir. But there it is."

    "Yes," Allan said. He thought for another long moment. "Aw, hell.

    We're on the same team, Mr. McCaskey, and if you ever try to quote me, I'll deny everything. I think you are on the wrong trail."

    "Why?"

    "For one thing, the lethal injection described in the news accounts of Mr. Wilson's death. Potassium chloride is not a compound that we use for the purpose you just described."

    "Do not or would not?"

    "Both," Dr. Allan replied. "It just isn't anywhere on our radar. For the purpose of incapacitating an enemy, potassium chloride is too unpredictable. Individuals have different levels of tolerance. A dose that would kill one person might end up giving another nothing more than an irregular heartbeat."

    "If that's true, why would someone have used it on William Wilson?"

    McCaskey asked.

    "Three reasons. First, the compound is readily available online.

    Doctors routinely prescribe is as a counter agent for potassium depletion caused by high blood pressure medications. Finding out who ordered it, and from what national or international source, will be virtually impossible. Second, as you saw, potassium chloride is far more difficult to detect than cyanide. Third, the killer obviously had time to make certain the compound worked."

    "Would you think a military medical technician would be familiar with its use?" McCaskey asked.

    "Almost certainly."

    "Do you happen to know, Dr. Allan, where on the human body field agents are told to give lethal injections?"

    "In the muscles," he said.

    "Not in veins?"

    Allan shook his head.

    "Why?"

    "Muscle fiber has a very dense network of blood vessels and delivers drugs in just a few minutes," the physician told him. "The entry point is clearly visible, but that is the trade-off to a quick, efficient injection. That's another reason I do not believe your killer is a Company alumnus."

    "I don't understand."

    "Most of the people we send into the field are survivalists Allan told him. "They are not scientists or doctors. Techniques are dumbed down as much as possible to give agents as little to worry about as possible. It is easier to inject an individual in the buttocks or thigh than in the arm or a more exotic spot, such as between the toes.

    An injection in the root of the tongue is relatively precise, not to mention dark and slippery. The person giving it cannot be a novice. In this case, maybe you should look for someone with dental training. The underside of the tongue is an entry point for a number of drugs used in oral surgery."

    "I've already done that," McCaskey said. "Getting back to this question of novices, the Company has used precision assassins in the past. Poison in the tip of a blind man's cane, formaldehyde on a hero sandwich in a victim's refrigerator, even the abortive attempts on Castro."

    "Yes, and those efforts against Castro are the reason today's killings are outsourced," Allan said. "Assassins can make millions of dollars a hit. Why would they work for salary and an inadequate pension?"

    "Patriotism?" McCaskey asked sincerely.

    "God and country cannot overcome greed," Allan replied. "When we engage in field work of this kind, it has to be successful. Often, it also requires plausible deniability, as you know. When we need it super clean, we go into a for-hire mode."

    McCaskey had no more questions. But something the doctor just said did interest him. He stood. Allan also rose.

    "Sir, I appreciate your time and counsel," McCaskey said.

    The men shook hands across the desk.

    "I am truly sorry it could not be more," Allan said.

    "To the contrary," McCaskey told him. "This was very helpful, though I have to ask you, Doctor, to satisfy my own curiosity. What is it that drives you? Patriotism or greed?"

    "Neither. I'm here for the difference in conjunctions," Allan replied.

    "I don't follow."

    "I asked myself that very question for years," Allan told him as they walked toward the door. "I deluded myself into thinking I came to work here out of civic spirit. Then I realized that, at the heart of it, I enjoyed more power than any other physician I know. I have power over life and death. That's and, Mr. McCaskey. Not or."

    The difference in conjunctions.

    McCaskey left the doctor's office. He was glad to go. The office that had seemed warm and personal when he arrived now had a pall about it, a subtle chill, like the waiting room of a slaughterhouse. Murder was conceived here, plotted with cool, impersonal efficiency.

    The young aide was still waiting outside the door to escort McCaskey back to the lobby. They walked in silence. This time, though, McCaskey's head was filled with noise. There was the sound of his own voice as he cherry-picked what had been said by Link and others. He played out an evolving monologue in his mind as he sifted through the last few days for clues.