Carolina Rain (36 page)

The jet hit
a
small pocket of turbulence
,
shaking the plane and its inhabitants just enough to remind
Manny
that they were thirty-thousand feet over the earth
,
as did Sophie’s quick re
-
grasp of Dean’s hand. He was struck with how life’s layers were unavoidable. He feared that this conversation would complicate those layers for at least two of them.

Letting out a breath, Manny searched the faces around the table. “Not counting Garity’s motivation for trying to take me out, which may include contact with Argyle
,
or not
, w
e didn’t
exactly
get a chance to talk to him
to see if he’d enlighten us. Anyway, a
ccording to the last update from the computer crime guys, they still don’t have a trail for his finances and just exactly where he might have been over the last two months. When we do track that down, it’ll help explain his actions, I hope. At any rate, I think you have to work backwards in this situation and think about who had access to Max and Garity, other than the obvious, which is someone on this plane or within the Bureau, including techs in the lab and even the doctors who do our annual physicals. All of us would have had access to Max’s hair, and more. Now you have to start eliminating the obvious. Max was killed two days ago
;
Garity, two weeks. I know where all of you were, with the exception of Braxton, when Garity was killed and Max was shot.”

“Dat’s true,” said Braxton, his Island grin wry and wide. “Go on.”

“It won’t take long to finish the background checks
on the techs and the physicians
that I asked Josh to start before we
left for
North Carolina and I’m betting we won’t find anything out of the ordinary regarding them.”

“Why do you think that?” asked Sophie.

“Two reasons
,
and you’ve got to hang with me here. If Garity had been part of the cult-like following Argyle was trying to build and the Good Doctor ha
d remained true to his profile, then
Garity was an example of
Argyle
trying to influence people close to me, like he did with Max. Trying to get someone involved that I’d
have
extremely limited contact with wasn’t going to work for him. The other side of this is that we’re giving Argyle far too much credit
and t
here’s something else going on. That Garity was a part of another agenda.”

“Is it possible that
Garity
just had a hard
-
on for you? You know, like maybe he had a thing for Chloe or some shit like that?” asked Sophie.

“That’s way down on the totem pole
of possibilities
for me
.
Chloe
can
only
remember
seeing him once or twice and
had
never spoken to him.
Garity’s
action was extreme,
even
for a jilted lover
,
not to mention the attack on me was meant to be something bold and blatant. He wasn’t angry because
he
only stabbed me once. If it had been a secret lover situation, he’d
have
probably used a gun and I’m pretty sure
, in that case,
I wouldn’t be here talking with you all.”

Watching Josh stand again, Manny felt his unease
increase
.

“I know you’re in the business of explor
ing
all possibilities and
,
like you said, eliminating situations that might not fit
. B
ut if you go down the road that this wasn’t orchestrated by Argyle, just what the hell are you saying? And don’t give me that
‘
I’m not sure
’
thing. You’ve already paved another
path
here,” said Josh.

Tur
n
ing toward Braxton, Manny smiled. “What am I saying
,
Big Man?”

“Ha
h
a
. . .
you be a bright one for sure,” said Braxton. Then he shrugged his massive shoulders, shifted his weight to his right foot, and turned as serious
as
Manny had s
een Braxton Smythe, US Marshal
, become. Manny suspected there would be virtually no trace of the Caribbean dialect
when
he spoke. He was right.

“First of all, let me say that I’m not involved in either
the
elimination of Garity or Tucker. Garity’s murder is the re
ason I was sent to the Carolina
s. I stayed out of your way and went to work the way operatives like me do
. W
e like invisible. My office has a few more tools to work that way. Even more
than
the Bureau because we don’t answer to anyone
, period
. We’re counted on to dive into everything and anything when we’re told to.
We’re the CIA’s little brother,
except
we stay out of the espionage arena.”

The only sound inside the cabin was the quiet roar of the jet’s engine and Dean’s pen clicking in and out as they waited for Braxton to continue. Manny
knew
they were going to like
what was next
, especially Josh.

“Among other resources we can pull from, we were able to access feeds from local security cameras leading to just about every public, and even some private, businesses up and down the
E
ast
C
oast, particularly within a hundred miles of where Garity was found. Sometimes that’s like looking for a blue fish in the ocean
. B
ut we got lucky and found two images of Garity within a mile of where he was found. The first one was
of
him leaving a local restaurant
,
alone
,
three hours before the next
image
.
That image
,
taken
an hour before we think he was shot, was outside a bar near the pier north of Wrightsville Beach
,
about five miles from where
your first
Aphrodite
body was found
.
Garity
was standing near a
n
SUV
,
probably a Buick Enclave
.
The image just wasn’t
clear. He was apparently speaking with a tall man, then he walked away and left the
camera’s reach. The man he was speaking with followe
d him
,
but not before he stopped
and
,
for some damned reason
,
looked at the camera, smiled
,
then was gone.”

“So you got an image?” asked Josh.

Manny’s phone vibrated in his pocket and
he
took it out to see that Chloe was calling. He put it back in his pocket. He’d call her back
as soon as this was over
.

“Yes.
It still
wasn’t great. Most of these cameras are in black and white so contrast is tricky. We cleaned it up but it was still fuzzy as hell. We were able to nail down his height and approximate weight in relationship to Garity and where they were standing. About six-three or so and around two hundred and fifteen pounds. He is apparently dark
-
complected or spent time in the sun.”

“There’s software available that can enhance those shots. I assum
e
you’ve tried that. If not, I consider myself a bit of an expert in that area,” offered Dean.

“Dude. Really? You know how to work that stuff? Personal or professional reasons? You know
,
like naked pictur
es of Asian women, for instance?
” asked Sophie.

Dean blushed
,
then recovered. “A little of both,” he said, glancing at Sophie then back to Braxton. “Hey
,
I had to practice on something.”

“We ran computer enhancement programs that you probably don’t know exist and we still couldn’t get a true ID, but
—
”

Braxton was interrupted.

“I can answer that part for you,” said Josh, rubbing his face with both hands. “I think I know who this man is.”

CHAPTER-49

“It’s done. I’ve finished what you sent me to do and wrapped up all of the loose ends. What’s next?”

The voice on the other end
w
as
silent.

He’d parked his SUV in the Fort Fisher parking lot on the very south end of Highway 421 away from any possible interruption and observation
, just
the way he’d been trained. There was only one other vehicle in the lot and it hugged the right of the exit near the building, two hundred feet away. More than that,
this
way was most effective for him to maintain maximum control over his self-preservation.
Watching your back wasn’t just a statement in his world.
The work he did
for his employer had included eliminations that, if one used
his
imagination,
could
lead to the next step, the next loose end, which was him. He was important to his employer
,
and he guessed not many were able to pull off what he had
. C
aution wasn’t just a philosophical memorandum to him. One never knew.

“I have one more place for you to visit and then I want you to come here.”

Shifting the phone to his other hand, he checked all three rearview mirrors.
Only
it didn’t quell
his
growing nervousness
.
He wasn’t sure why his mind had walked that
trail
,
but he wouldn’t take any chances, particularly given the odd request of his contact.

“Come there?
Are you sure that’s a good idea?
What if I run into someone
who
knows me?”

The deep authoritative voice spoke again. “That’s not a concern, at this point. You did well and hopefully accomplished what we needed done. We didn’t want anyone, especially Williams
,
sticking his nose too far into this thing. It’ll be necessary for you to be reassigned. I want you to
come in because
we still have issue
s
i
n Las Vegas and you’re just the man to take care of them. Are we clear?”

It was clear
. He
didn’t care for the change of policy
. Still, h
e
had
always
been
a good soldier and would do what he was told
. B
ut he’d do it his way.

“Where is the place I need to visit?” He kept his voice cool
,
cooler than he felt.

“I want you to go to Michigan. There is someone I need you to meet. He’ll explain all of the details and you need to listen. I’m sending you the address. You’ll have two days before the situation in North Carolina
heats
up for you. They’ll think something’s
wrong
when you don’t report to work
. I
t will take the locals another day or two to catch on. Flying is too easy to track so I want you to drive
. Although,
I don’t suppose I have to tell you how to do your job.”

The phone vibrated in his hand
.
“Hang on a moment.”

He had
just
received the text with the address. He frowned as he read the
name
and
address of the location for his
next rendezvous
.

“Are you sure this is right?”

“It’s correct.”

“But a cemetery?”

“Just do what the hell you’re told. Your contact will explain everything.”

The phone went dead.

He twisted the phone in his hand
, contemplating the end of the call. His man seemed different. Upset, almost
.
W
hen people were upset, the
y usually acted less responsibly
and certainly more careless
tha
n when they maintained
total control of all their facul
ties. Sometimes desperation dictated the modus operandi. He didn’t like desperate.