Seeing Red(104)

“In exchange for what?” Trapper asked.

“Keeping Wilcox apprised of The Major’s comings and goings. Who he saw, who came to see him. Government types like I’d mistaken Wilcox for. I was to tell him anything The Major said about the bombing when we were in private, especially if he ever questioned the findings of the investigation or the three men who were credited with the crime.”

Hank was gaping at him, incredulous. “You spied on The Major.”

“On my best friend,” Glenn said, his voice gravelly with emotion. He took another drink.

“How could you do that? Why didn’t you just tell this Wilcox no? Or pretend to agree, and then go straight to the FBI and turn him in?”

“Tell him, Trapper.”

“No evidence,” Trapper said. “Wilcox wasn’t at the Pegasus. He wasn’t at the factory that burned to the ground. And there would’ve been no evidence of his having tampered with the election. I could go on, but you get the point.”

“You’ve got to understand, Hank,” Glenn said, virtually pleading. “That’s how this guy operates. If he tells you to do something, you’re already indebted. You’re already in. At least I was. The only option is to say yes, unless you want the sky to fall, not just on you, but on someone you care about.”

“Admit it, Dad, you were a coward.”

“Goddamn right,” Glenn fired back, no longer imploring him for understanding. “Wilcox had me sign a pledge, but not before covering all the signatures above mine. You don’t know who he’s got watching you. He says it keeps everybody honest. There was no one—no one—I could trust with this. First person I confided in could be the one watching me, and, like Trapper said, I’d be found looking like a sausage patty under a freight train. Or you. Or your mother.”

Hank looked both frustrated and fearful, but he stayed silent.

Trapper let Glenn catch his breath, then said, “You upheld your end of the bargain.”

“Wasn’t really a bargain, but, yeah, I began conveying information on The Major, but it didn’t feel like spying, because nothing he did or said aroused suspicion. There was never anything noteworthy to report. Months would go by when I’d forget about Wilcox. But he didn’t forget about me. The first time my loyalty was tested was when you joined the ATF.”

“Wilcox was keeping tabs on me?”

“Not until he learned you were with the bureau. Then he was on me for months. ‘What’s this about John Trapper going into the ATF? What does The Major say about it?’”

“You came to see me,” Trapper said. “You brought a bottle of cheap champagne to celebrate my being inducted.”

“I’m ashamed to say that I was fishing. I reported back to Wilcox that your interest in bombs and such was natural, seeing as the Pegasus had so impacted your life. That didn’t pacify him, though. Periodically he would ask me to find out what you were working on. I held my breath, fearing you’d start looking into the Pegasus.”

“Then I did.”

“Then you did,” he said with unnatural huskiness. “I didn’t know for certain, but I had an inkling that was what was causing you trouble inside the bureau. The best day of my life was when you were fired.”

“Yeah, that was a real party.”

Glenn had the grace to look remorseful. “Forgive me, Trapper. It got Wilcox off my back. When The Major retired and went into reclusion, I thought, ‘Thank Christ. I’m reprieved.’”

“Until I appeared on the scene,” Kerra said quietly.

Glenn sighed and gave her a rueful smile. “You didn’t know it, but when you entered the picture, so to speak, you might just as well have put a bullet in my head. It ended my life as I knew it.”





Chapter 30




The more Glenn talked, the deeper Trapper felt the cut.

Maybe he’d never professed it out loud, but he loved the guy. To hear all this hurt. He wished he could be someplace different, doing something different. If he could be someone different, maybe the laceration wouldn’t be so painful.

His heart was bleeding.

But he had to keep at it. Glenn had betrayed not only their close relationship, he’d betrayed his oath of office and the law he was duty-bound to enforce. Trapper wouldn’t let him make excuses for that.

“Sooner or later, Glenn, one way or another, you would have been found out. Don’t put it off on Kerra.”

“I don’t.” When he reached for his glass, Hank said a cautionary “Dad,” but Glenn ignored him and took a drink. To Trapper, “When you told me The Major was going back on TV, I was surprised but not panicked. Dutifully I called Wilcox to let him know. He wasn’t overjoyed, but, like me, he didn’t think it was cause for alarm.

“But when I told him that Kerra Bailey was doing the interview, it was like I’d launched a rocket up his butt.” He turned to her. “That’s when he told me who you were and why he didn’t want you and The Major comparing notes, especially on live television.”

“I interviewed Wilcox barely a year ago,” she said. “He never let on that he knew I was the girl in the picture.”

“I don’t know when or how he made the discovery,” Glenn said. “But he knew, and it made him paranoid as hell that you’d be one-on-one with The Major.”