Radiant Surrender (CSA Case Files Book 6) (13 page)

Gavin and Taryn were right. There was nothing she could do until Gavin had taken care of the FBI’s investigation and the pending charges they’d brought against her. It made her wonder if something couldn’t be done sooner to convince Ryland to hand over the information that Gavin needed to confront the CIA. She started to pull the items out of her bag as ideas began to formulate into a plan. Now all she had to do was convince Gavin.

Chapter Twelve

C
rest received the call he’d been expecting a bit earlier than anticipated. It was late afternoon and after having maneuvered Jessie through the utility tunnels to her destination, he’d exited through a different route to where his personal vehicle had been moved earlier. He’d headed to his apartment, showered, changed into a fresh Norton & Sons suit, and then headed into the office. Given that the CSA offices were swept every day for audio and surveillance devices, the team members still weren’t taking a chance of being overheard and kept their conversation to routine cases. The afternoon SITREPS had been delivered after Taryn had returned from her lunch break, although he hadn’t had a chance to speak with her regarding her side trip to see Jessie. Their actions this morning had been weighing on his mind, but it was too late to take it back. This was the path they both chose and he hoped it didn’t lead them straight to hell. He was currently sitting in his office when Schultz’s name appeared on the display of his personal phone…an answer was about to be given.

“Blue skies in May.”

Crest disconnected the line and glanced at the time on screen. It was going on sixteen hundred, which meant he had one hour before he met with Schultz in person. His friend had given no indication on whether or not his request had been granted, but it was better to be prepared for either outcome. He logged out of his account and then pushed his chair back with his legs before walking over to grab his classic cut suit jacket. He’d already secured an outside agency to provide a personal protective detail for Ryland so that as of this afternoon his agents would no longer have to disguise their movements to and from Hotel Ivy. They were in the free and clear of being traced back to Ryland’s lair, their not-so-funny epithet for the penthouse suite at the Ivy. Fortunately that meant Kevin was available to tag along in case things went south and matters needed to be taken in hand with a more threatening manner.

“Kevin.” Crest nodded his head toward the door and kept walking past the conference table and the cubicles to the main foyer of the offices. Only then did he turn around and face his team. “You’re with me. Jax and Connor, I need you on standby with TAC bags in the Suburban. Don’t leave the garage without my express orders. Comms will be preplanned package Echo-1. No unscrambled communications without authorization from me. Ethan, keep working on retrieving those account numbers. I need access ASAP.”

Crest wanted everything in place should he receive a negative answer from Schultz. One should always be able to adapt, improvise, and overcome as the circumstances changed. He looked at Taryn and gave a slight nod, knowing she would understand his directive. His meeting place with Schultz would need interference with the video feeds. Other than that Crest had every confidence the Secret Service would provide enough cover. With any luck a full pardon would be granted. Otherwise he was going to have to dirty his hands in a way that he hadn’t personally since the Gulf War.

Kevin followed behind, carrying his own TAC bag and the two of them left the offices as if this were no more important than any other case. It didn’t take long for them to make it to the underground garage and from there drive from Minneapolis to St. Paul in less than ten minutes. He pulled into an open spot along Seventh Street West and parked like he normally would when he came to this part of town. Kevin remained silent as they got out of the car, but he smiled when he realized they were stopping in at Mickey’s Diner.

“Hope you’re hungry.” Crest locked and armed the vehicle security system as he waited for a lull in the traffic before crossing the street. The dining car was a historical eatery location and one that served damn good food. “I asked Terry to join us but he got caught up at the hospital.”

“How’s he doing?” Kevin asked, opening the door of the diner and letting the smell of grease escape the railroad car. “I haven’t seen him at the club since everything went down.”

Kevin was referring to the fact that a former employee of Masters had murdered Terry’s wife when someone else had owned the club. Crest didn’t like to reveal too much of his private life to anyone, so no one knew that Terry was his half-brother. They were best friends from childhood and that’s all anyone needed to know.

“He’s living life again, so I guess that’s something.” Crest figured they’d better sit at the counter as the place was already relatively full. He took the stool on the end and waited for Kevin to sit next to him. He launched into a normal conversation. “How’s Elle doing? I hear she’s making a name for herself in the non-profit arena. She hit me up last week for a big donation towards the women’s shelter.”

“If you can’t say no to the woman I love, do you think anyone else has a chance?” Kevin laughed and when the waitress appeared he gave his drink order. Crest followed and didn’t bother to look at the menu as he rattled off his usual meal. Kevin asked for that to be doubled and then they returned to the conversation. “I don’t know if you saw Jax’s email, but Connor is dead set on
not
having a bachelor party.”

“Let me guess,” Crest said, reaching for his black coffee that the waitress had set before him. “Jax is doing something anyway.”

“It’s his way of keeping things status quo.” Kevin picked up the straw that he’d been given and slowly removed the wrapper before putting the long white tube in his soft drink. Crest knew he was referring to their current situation and not some fun banter between Connor and Jax. The two had been friends for a long time, so if someone were purposely eavesdropping on their discussion no one would think odd of such a sentence. “I think it’s a good idea.”

Crest nodded in agreement as he scanned the glass behind the counter for reflections, then casually glanced at his watch. They had roughly thirty-five minutes before they needed to be walking out of this establishment. Before too long the food was delivered and they kept up the conversation until it was time to leave. The subject of Jessie purposefully wasn’t brought up, although it was obvious that Kevin was curious as to how she was. Taryn would have to fill them in later. Crest had too many eyes on him at this point. He took care of the bill and left a good tip.

“I need to stop by St. Joseph’s Hospital to speak with Terry.” Crest casually waited for the pedestrian light to appear before crossing the street. “No need to move the vehicle. We’ll just walk the two blocks.”

“If you want to give me the keys I need to hit the bank for some cash and there’s one right down the street. It’ll save me time. I’ll swing around and pick you up in around fifteen minutes, if that’s all right.”

Kevin held up his hand as Crest tossed him his keys. The men went their separate ways and within five minutes he’d entered the hospital. Using the elevator he punched in the floor number where Terry usually performed his outpatient surgeries. As the doors slid open Crest looked at his watch and calculated ninety seconds before Taryn switched over the surveillance equipment on this floor to loop the feeds. This meeting shouldn’t take more than five minutes, but she would give him at least ten.

“May I help you?”

“I’m here to see Dr. Sweeny. He’s expecting me.” Crest casually looked around the waiting room, quietly observing the people as they waited for their loved ones to get out of surgery. He waited patiently while the older nurse confirmed his request. She directed him down the hallway and gave him directions from that point on. “Thank you.”

Crest didn’t waste any time when he walked through the heavy double doors. He didn’t follow the route he’d been given, but instead he turned left down at the end of the hallway and continued to the conference room where Schultz would be waiting for him. They had prearranged meeting areas for cases such as these, although this one had never been used before. His coded phrase had been specific about this encounter taking place here.

Reaching his destination, Crest walked past the sole agent standing outside the door into a small hospital conference room where the whiteboard still held notes from this morning’s orderly meeting. Schultz was sitting on the edge of the conference table while picking over someone’s leftover donut, only one of his dress shoes touching the sterile floor. In his friend’s hand was a folder, although his facial expression was grim. Not wanting to assume anything, Crest waited for the verdict.

“There are two specific desks within the CIA who could be pulling the strings on this. Both have now caught the full attention of POTUS and some high-ranking intelligence oversight officials.” Schultz didn’t need to add how sensitive this issue was. If the CIA had taken matters into their own hands on ensuring that specific policies were kept into place by eliminating the people who differed on their views, it didn’t bode well for a good outcome. “They are very interested in this list that you’re about to produce for them.”

Crest inhaled deeply, now knowing that he’d just been given the leverage needed to keep Jessie out of prison. He wasn’t so arrogant as to think his pull had something to do with it. All he’d done was draw attention to a sinister conspiracy that gave one intelligence agency a little too much power. Regardless of the reason, he’d use this to his benefit first before turning over the information Schultz needed to appease his superiors.

“What do you have for me?”

“A written agreement signed by the Attorney General that will pardon Ryland for all crimes committed inclusive of his enlistment to the current date. Endorsed by POTUS, a copy of which will be filed with the Senate Select Committee for Intelligence Oversight.”

Something in Schultzy’s manner kept Crest on edge. This wasn’t a sharing information only type of deal. He held out his hand, wanting to read what exactly was being given to a man who assassinated more government officials than anyone else in history. Schultz’s lips thinned out as he gave over the file.

Crest opened the folder and his gut tightened at what was being granted by executive decree. Travis Bowers, aka Ryland, would be publicly given a full pardon at the end of POTUS’ term. The agreement was binding immediately and would carry the full force of a presidential pardon once the required documents were produced. The public wouldn’t recognize anything amiss because they wouldn’t understand who and what was being pardoned. The document even went on to state that all crimes committed while in service to his country whereby working for a clandestine intelligence agency would be pardoned. As he skimmed the rest of the wording he felt sick to his stomach.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Crest’s gut tightened as he closed the folder and held it up in disbelief. Anger sliced through him at what was a total disgrace. “Back pay for his military service? A full retirement as a lieutenant colonel with an 05-pay grade? Why doesn’t POTUS just give the man a CMH, for fuck’s sake?”

“He wants no strings for when the election takes place come November.” Schultz’s lips thinned out in distaste as if he too were having trouble swallowing what was being given to this confessed assassin. “There’s no telling what Ryland would do after the fact and POTUS wants this wrapped up in a nice tight bow. This goes beyond us now, Crest. Once I relayed your information an immediate internal investigation was launched and Justice assigned a special prosecutor. It was the chance you took when you contacted me. Two agency operations desks have been revealed as potentially having ulterior motives to go to these lengths to achieve what they need for their own purposes.”

“I gave you that intelligence, Schultzy.” Crest rubbed the back of his neck, the tension in his shoulders insurmountable. This was unacceptable and the thought of handing this deal over to Ryland made him sick. “I told you the Agency was using their power to eliminate those that they couldn’t influence. That doesn’t mean that POTUS or the AG should reward the tool that was used to accomplish those agencies’ objectives.”

“The higher powers are under the assumption that Ryland has more information than he’s letting on. This falls under statues developed for high-level whistleblowers. He’ll be formally debriefed and then have the option to be taken into the WITSEC program. I suspect that they’re hoping their forthright generosity will produce more intelligence with better results.” Schultz stood and glanced at the clock on the wall. Crest knew they were out of time, but that didn’t make this any easier to swallow. “You’ve been given forty-eight hours to handle your own business and then you’ll need to hand over the list of names of people who Ryland has eliminated, any intelligence he may have in his possession that was provided as part of the targeting package, and of course, the witness in question. This is bigger than either of us, Crest.”