Long Road to Mercy (Atlee Pine, #1)(38)

They reached the front doors and Pine took the lead. She opened the door, stepped out, took a sweep of the area, and nodded to the two men.

“Where’s your ride?” she asked Ben Priest.

“In the parking lot over there. The light green Explorer.”

“We’ll take your truck and come back later for mine. Give me the keys, I’ll drive.”

“Where are we going?” asked Ben.

“For a little ride and a lot of talk. From you.”

Ben rode shotgun and Ed was in the back.

“Start from the beginning,” said Pine as she steered them out of the parking lot and onto the road heading out of the park. “Capricorn Consultants?”

“It doesn’t exist.”

Ed said, “But you told me that’s where you worked, Ben.”

Ben swiveled around to look at his older brother. “I’m sorry, Eddie. It comes with the territory.”

“Which is what, exactly?” said Pine. “Are you in the intelligence field?”

“I used to be,” replied Ben.

“For our side?”

“It’s not that simple.”

Pine said, “It is for me. If you’re a spy for another country, we’re going to have a big problem.”

“Shit, Ben, please tell me that’s not true,” exclaimed Ed.

“I can work for interests outside this country without working against this country. But allies are allies until they become enemies. And sometimes our enemies can be allies. It’s a fluid situation.”

“So, do you work for one of our allies or one of our enemies?”

“I work for myself after working for Uncle Sam and others. And doing it well and honorably.”

“Okay, go on,” prompted Pine.

“I put out my own shingle.”

“Doing what?”

“I help arrange things.”

“Like what? The guy on the mule pretending to be you?”

“You’ve no doubt heard of money laundering?”

Pine said, “Not only have I heard of it, I’ve investigated cases dealing with it.”

“Well, money is not the only thing that can be laundered. You can launder people, too.”

“You mean switching their identities? Making them disappear?”

“Something like that,” answered Priest.

Pine could sense he was lying but decided to move on. She said, “Talk about the guy on the mule. He disappeared and left behind a dead animal with the letters j and k carved on it.”

Ben let out a long breath. “I don’t know what that means.”

Pine thought he might be telling the truth on that one. “Was it part of the plan that the guy would head out at night on a mule?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, what was the plan?”

Ben shook his head. “I can’t get into that.”

“Do you know where he is now?”

Ben shook his head again. “I haven’t heard from him.”

“Does our government know about whatever he’s doing?”

No answer.

Pine said, “The FBI’s National Security Division is very interested in all this. Did you know that?”

Ben took off his glasses and wiped at his eyes. “I’m not unaware of it.”

“Spoken in true doublespeak,” said Pine sharply. “You’ve told me basically zip, and I’m rapidly losing my patience.”

“Ben, you need to work with Agent Pine,” implored Ed. “She has my family in a safe place. We were threatened.”

“I know, Eddie. You told me, but there’s nothing I can do.”

“Bullshit! You were the one who got us into this.”

Ben snapped, “No, you got yourself into it. You should have stayed out of it. Then they never would have come after you.”

“All I did was try to contact you when you disappeared. What did you expect me to do?”

Ben pointed at Pine. “You spoke with her. You talked to the FBI. They know that.”

“Who does?” said Pine quickly.

Again, Ben would not answer.

“She called me,” said Ed. “What was I supposed to do?”

“Look, this is getting us nowhere,” said Ben. “I need to get back.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” said Pine. “You either work with me, or I’m going to arrest you.”

“On what charge?”

“Obstruction of justice and wasting police time. The search for you cost thousands of dollars and wasted the time of a lot of first responders who could have been helping other people.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it!”

“We can let a judge sort that out. But I’d prefer that you answer my questions so we can get to the bottom of this.”

“Who said I wanted to get to the bottom of it?” replied Ben coolly. “Or that I wanted you to?”

“You’ve put your brother and his family in danger. You need to help fix that.”

“No, I really don’t.”

“Ben!” exclaimed Ed. “We’re your family.”

His brother turned to look at him. “On this, my family comes second. It’s just too big. I’m sorry, Eddie, but that’s how it has to be.”