by Justine Davis, Amy J. Fetzer, Katherine Garbera, Meredith Fletcher, Catherine Mann
“So, you think the U.S. government set up King and his entire platoon?”
“I’m not sure yet. But all of the information I’ve gathered points to a connection between the SEAL ambush and drugs.”
“I’ll look into it, but I can’t promise anything.”
“That’s all I was hoping for.”
Tory disconnected the call. She sipped her tea, letting the information she had stew in her head. She had a gut feeling that King’s sperm had been the target of the clinic burglary. And that he had no idea his sperm may have been stolen. But did that have anything to do with the events on Puerto Isla?
In theory it seemed pretty far-fetched. The fertility clinic break-in had happened more than twenty years ago. And the players in this game would have all been doing different things with their lives.
Her gut said the DEA angle was the key in Puerto Isla, and she was going to call her brother back in the morning and pump him one more time for more information.
She did an Internet search to see who the drug czar had been when the SEAL team was sent to Puerto Isla. Paul Terrence. Interesting. He’d managed James Whitlow’s campaign for the presidency. She’d call in the morning and see if she could get an appointment with him.
She finished off her tea and leaned back in her chair. Her mind buzzed with possibilities. Some of them were really far-fetched.
One of the first things Tory had learned when it came to unraveling secrets was that you had to start with every plausible scenario.
She wrote down a number one on the yellow pad. Tom King was ambushed because his sperm was illegally used to fertilize Rainy’s eggs and the people who did this didn’t want him to recognize his kids.
Two. King’s sperm had nothing to do with the Puerto Isla events and King and his team saw or heard something that they didn’t realize was important.
Three. The person behind the stolen sperm and the DEA connection were the same.
She crossed off number three. That was too strange to contemplate. She rubbed her eyes. She was tired and not thinking straight. But she felt as if the answer was right in front of her.
Chapter 12
Tory’s cell phone rang on the way to LaGuardia to catch her flight to Norfolk, Virginia. The cab was making slow progress on this chilly Thursday morning in November. The cabbie was listening to talk radio. “Chris Pearson was in South Dade County this week fund-raising for President Whitlow’s reelection campaign next year.”
Tory’s mind was fixated on Pearson. She’d seen him in Puerto Isla at the presidential palace, just before the start of her troubles.
Tory tuned out the rest of the newscast. It was one week until Thanksgiving. Tory was afraid the caller might be her mother asking if she was coming home for the holiday. She didn’t want to leave this story long enough to visit her family for the holiday and she knew her mom would argue about it. But the number wasn’t a familiar one.
“Tory.”
“It’s Marie.”
Her sister-in-law sounded tired and upset—as if she’d been crying.
“Where are you calling from?” Tory asked. She had her sister-in-law’s cell, home and work numbers programmed into her phone.
“The hospital. Derrick was shot four times last night. Two other members of his team are dead.”
“Oh, my God. Is he okay? Do I need to fly down?” What the hell had happened?
“Yes. He’s in surgery and should be out soon.”
“Are Mom and Dad there yet?”
“They’re on their way.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Tory disconnected and called her boss, informing him of the situation with her brother. Tyson insisted she go to Miami, saying the follow-up with King could wait. Tory was glad, because if she’d had to choose between work and family, family would win.
She was able to get a stand-by flight that left at almost the same time her flight to D.C. had been scheduled to leave. She rented a car at Miami International and drove quickly to the hospital where Derrick was being treated.
She was directed to the critical-care unit and took the elevator to the proper floor. The first person she saw when she stepped out of the car was her sister-in-law. Tory walked straight to Marie and gave her a hug. Seeing Marie made Tory start crying. The entire flight she’d refused to think about Derrick, her big bear of a brother, being injured.
“How is he?”
“One of the bullets nicked his lung, and it collapsed, but it’s reinflated. Dad just went to try to get an update. Your mom took the kids to her house.”
“Is he still in surgery?” Tory asked. She wrapped her arm around Marie and moved them to the vinyl-covered seats that lined the wall.
“No, he got out about twenty minutes ago. But we haven’t been able to see him.”
Marie held tightly to Tory’s hand, and though Tory made her living with words, she couldn’t find any to comfort Marie. Her own heart was heavy, her mind swirling with a million different scenarios. She refused to settle too long on any of them.
Her dad, William “Buster” Patton, came around the corner a few minutes later. Tory ran to him and he held her close. He was a big bear of a man and his hug engulfed her. She closed her eyes and prayed for his strength. He pulled back and scrutinized her through his dark brown eyes.
“Glad you made it, kiddo.”
“What’s the news?”
“He’s recovering and we can go in to see him in a few minutes.”
“Thank God. He’s out of the woods?”
Marie went in first to visit with Derrick, then Tory’s dad did. Tory stood in the doorway. A wave of helplessness washed over her. Derrick looked vulnerable in that ICU bed, and he’d never looked that way before.
Finally Tory had a chance to talk to her brother. She carefully hugged him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. “How are you?”
“Well, I’ve been better,” he said with some effort, a shadow of the wry grin she was used to seeing on his face.
“I’ll say. And you thought my job was dangerous.”
“Stop asking questions about Puerto Isla.”
“Why?”
“I got an anonymous warning in the locker room before we went out on the raid.”
She held his wrist, feeling around until his pulse beat against her finger, reassuring her that her big brother was okay. “Then you got shot. Derrick, I’m sorry. I should never have asked you to poke around in this.”
He turned his hand in her grip and held it lightly. “You’re not responsible for this. But I don’t want to be visiting you in ICU next. So stop.”
Could Derrick’s accident be her fault? She knew that the person she was searching for had been willing to kill an entire platoon of SEALs. She doubted he’d hesitate to take out a DEA operative. “Don’t ask any more questions for me.”
“What about you?”
“I’m not letting go of this story. But I’ll make sure that I don’t contact the family until it’s over.”
“Just be careful, Tory.”
Tory would be doubly careful now. She hugged her brother one last time and left his room. Her dad and Marie were waiting for her. “How long will he be in ICU?”
“We’re not sure. The doctor said they might move him to a regular room tomorrow.”
“Do you want me to stay and help with the kids?” she asked Marie.
“No, your mom is handling that.”
Tory said goodbye to them and drove to her parents’ house. She visited with her mother for the afternoon, and booked herself on flight the next morning to Virginia. She called Jay and asked him to meet her in Norfolk. She had a very personal reason to get to the bottom of this story.
The airport was busy with early-morning commuters. Tory let the people flow around her. For the first time the stakes of pursuing a story were raised. Her brother had almost died after asking questions for her. She battled with her own sense of self-preservation for about a second. Before she realized that
someone was scared, and scared people always had something to hide.
She hurried to her gate and took a seat in the lounge area. She opened her laptop and started making notes. She pulled out her yellow pad from two nights ago and looked again at her list of three scenarios.
She needed a second opinion. She needed a different point of view and someone to bounce ideas off of. But she wasn’t going to risk any of her friends or family.
She should call Josie and the other Cassandras and warn them to be careful. Although they might take offense. All of them knew how to be discreet. That was another thing that Rainy and Athena Academy had taught them. Her heart lurched, and for a minute she allowed the anger that had lingered at Rainy’s untimely death to flood her.
She needed her friend’s advice. But Rainy was gone. Tory was on her own despite having five Athena friends. She didn’t want to risk anyone else getting hurt because of a story she was pursuing.
On her own.
Her heartbeat sped up and that weird elixir of fear, excitement and anticipation buzzed in her veins. She shivered and closed her eyes, visualizing the end result. Visualizing her story coming together.
“Miss Patton?”
Tory glanced up. A young man with one earring in his left ear and a tattoo on his neck stood there. His hair was spiked and his eyes lined with thick black eyeliner.
“Yes?”
“Here,” he said, thrusting a piece of paper at her. He walked out of the lounge.
Tory opened the note and immediately saw the American-eagle insignia that was AA.gov’s trademark. The note was brief and asked her to go the rest room to receive a package to deliver to the naval air station in Norfolk.
Tory tucked the note into the pocket of her blazer. Though she hadn’t sent a note to the courier group to tell them her plans, she wasn’t surprised to be contacted. The group was highly connected.
Tory put away her laptop and notes and left the lounge. The bathroom facility wasn’t busy when she entered, and she glanced around for her contact. A woman in a dark blue suit came up next to Tory at the mirror.
Tory pulled her bright red tube of lipstick out of her purse. The woman next to her had an identical tube. Tory set her purse on the counter and leaned closer to the mirror. She saw the woman’s hand flash briefly and deep into Tory’s purse. A moment later, the woman turned and left.
Tory saw the small brown envelope sitting on top of her wallet. She dropped the lipstick into her purse and zipped it shut before leaving the bathroom.
A short while later, Tory was on the plane on her way to Thomas King and, hopefully, the answers to some of the more bizarre questions surrounding this story.
Jay was waiting for her at the rental-car counter at the airport in Norfolk. He’d come from D.C., where he’d been covering the latest Washington tug-of-war. President James Whitlow’s recommendation for the empty Supreme Court seat was being met with a lot of opposition.
But then, most of Whitlow’s presidency had been filled with strife. Even his campaign had fallen under intense public scrutiny. Tory had covered some of the fall-out from that. He’d had a lot of contributions to his campaign from the business sector.
“I was beginning to think I should go ahead without you.”
“Funny, Jay. You might be a talented cameraman, but you don’t know the questions to ask.”
“I’m sure I could wing it.”
“It takes talent and experience to do a good interview.”
He gave her a cheeky grin. “Then why are yours always well received?”
She punched his arm and took the keys from him. “Wise-ass.”
They made their way to the rental, a truck with four-wheel drive. “Can you handle this truck?”
“Hell, yes. I grew up on a ranch in Florida. I learned to drive on a truck.”
“Is there anything you don’t know how to do?” he asked.
There were a few things. But she was careful to never let anyone notice them. She was of the school of never let anyone see you sweat. “I’ll let you know when I find out.”
Tory noticed a couple of other reporters from rival networks at the airport. She knew Thomas King was on everyone’s radar. But Shannon, thank God, wasn’t there. Tory still felt a simmering anger toward the other woman. Shannon had a vendetta against her. First going after Perry, then Athena.
Tory forced thoughts of Shannon to the back of her mind but she was still angry and would like nothing better than to expose Shannon for the hack she was. But that would have to wait.
It was dusk by the time they headed toward the King household. Tory called her parents while they were driving and learned her brother was doing well.
Tory parked in the Kings’ driveway and she and Tory got out of the truck. It was cold out, and she tugged on her leather gloves. She reviewed her notes. “Ready?”
Jay nodded and they approached the brick house with its neatly landscaped yard. A basketball hoop hung over the driveway of the three-car garage, and a ball rested in the shrubs. Two bikes stood by the front yard.
Tom opened the door for them. He looked one hundred percent healthier than the last time Tory had seen him. He’d asked to keep his reunion with his wife private, but had agreed to give UBC and Tory this interview on the Kings’ home turf.
“Hello, Tom. Are you enjoying being back in the States?”
He nodded and stepped back. Tonight he looked like any other guy in suburban America. He wore a pair of chinos and a plain black sweater. Most of his visible wounds had healed. “Come in.”
“Do you remember Jay? He’s going to be shooting us again.”
The men shook hands. The hallway of the King home was adorned with navy plaques and pictures of the small family of three at different holidays. “We’ll let Jay mike you.”
Tory glanced up to see a very attractive woman coming down the stairs. She was tall, at least five-seven, and curvy. She had a warm smile and thick blond hair that fell in waves to her shoulders. “This is my wife, Ellen.”
Tory stepped forward and shook Ellen’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for letting us come to your home. Where can we set up for the interview?”
Ellen led the way to a formal living room. It reminded Tory of the room in her parents’ house where no one was allowed to wear their shoes, drink coffee or eat. While Jay set up the equipment and miked Ellen, Tory turned to Tom. “Can I speak to you alone?”
“Sure,” Tom said. They stepped back into the foyer. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the door frame.
Tory took a deep breath. She’d asked some tough questions in her years as a reporter and she didn’t want to just blurt this one out. “I have an odd question for you. Did you ever visit a fertility clinic?”
He seemed surprised. He ran his hand through his thick blond hair. Then he took her arm and led her away from the opening leading to the living room. “As a matter of fact, yes. That was back when Ellen and I were newly married, before we had Tyler. Because of the nature of my job, there was always a possibility that I might not make it back or would come back in bad shape. And Ellen and I wanted kids.”
“I understand.” Her brother had done the same thing before Marie had given birth to the boys. Then they’d asked to have the sperm destroyed. Men who laid their lives on the line every day had to consider things that most didn’t. “Are you familiar with the Athena Academy?”
“Yes. I didn’t mention it when we were on the island, but I taught a course there for a semester.”
“How long ago?”
“It was during the first year that the school actually opened. Why do you ask?”
“I’ve been researching some odd things pertaining to Rainy Miller. Lorraine. She would have been Rainy Carrington when you were there.”
“I remember her. She was one of my strongest students.”
“Rainy was recently killed,” Tory said. Tears burned the back of her eyes. Suddenly she felt the loss more powerfully than she had si
nce she’d first gotten the call. She wrapped her arms around her waist and took a deep breath.
“Bear with me, because this is going to sound a little strange. An autopsy was performed, and it revealed some scarring on Rainy’s ovaries. We believe her eggs were mined, way back when she was an Athena student. In the process of our investigation, we found out that your sperm had been stored at a fertility clinic in Arizona that was burgled around the same time.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“My group of friends from Athena. Rainy was our group leader for our first year at Athena.”
“What does this have to do with my sperm? We were contacted about the break-in. The authorities were certain that sperm wasn’t the object of the break-in. Samples were destroyed randomly as the burglars went through the office.”
“We don’t know. But we are continuing to look into it. What were you teaching at Athena?”
“Special-ops techniques.”
“When I was at Athena we had a Green Beret.” Athena had close ties to the military and each year they rotated in different experts from all the military branches.
“Is everything okay, Tom?” Ellen called from the living room.
She and Tom went back into the living room to get ready for the interview. Tory put aside the information Tom had given her. She couldn’t wait to let everyone know what she’d found out. But the new information only led to more questions.
Ellen and Tom sat on a brocade-covered love seat. On the end table next to them were their wedding picture and a picture of Tom and Tyler, their son. Tory took a deep breath and started asking questions.
“Tom, what was the first thing you did when you got home?” she asked. The camera was trained on Tom and Ellen, so Tory didn’t have to worry about how she appeared. She kept her notepad in her hand so she could take notes, as well.
Tom put his arm around his wife. “Hugged my wife and son.”
“How has life changed for you since you’ve been back?” Tory asked. She could see that the couple was happy to be back together. “Ellen, how does it feel to have your husband come back from the dead?”
