“I mean every name, branch of service, mission, secret op, every kill, every marriage, everything. From Nine to everyone in service now. Her father went in before he died and literally wiped everything from the records, saving it all on that one tiny disc. That tiny disc was made by us,” he grinned.
“Jesus, he literally saved our asses. Are we sure the information doesn’t exist anywhere else?” asked Jak.
“As sure as we can be,” said AJ. “There’s always a possibility but when we created an algorithm to search for certain words that would trigger connections, we got nothing. With our new technology, we’re able to wipe the records of our guys in service now. Almost everyone here owes that man their life and the life we live now.”
The entire room was quiet and then they heard someone sniff. Turning, Priscilla was standing in the doorway.
“I always knew he was amazing,” she grinned. “I’m so glad he did what he did, I just wish he’d have told me about it.”
“Either way, we owe him everything,” said Gator. “While you’re here, can you take a seat?”
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
“Priscilla, you knew the guy in the coffee shop, Leopold, better than you let on,” said Ham. She took a deep breath and exhaled.
“I had an arrangement with Leopold. Most of what he spewed I didn’t buy into but every now and then, he had great information to share. I took advantage of that. He trusted me and he wasn’t creepy at all. He was very careful to not make it look like we were talking business.”
“Sounds like you admired him a little,” said Gator.
“I did. How many men will stick their necks out like that, to reveal government cover-ups and hidden secrets? I mean, beyond you guys,” she smirked. “Leopold wasn’t hurting anyone. He never disclosed cheating spouses or drug addicted Senator’s sons. That wasn’t his thing. His thing was telling the truth to the American public.”
“And he gave you information on occasion?”
“More than one occasion.”
“But never to Celine, or Natalia,” said Gator.
“No. He didn’t like her although he never told me why. The few days before all this went down, he sent me a message to be careful and watch my back. He said we would talk soon. When I saw him in the coffee shop, I wanted to speak with him but I could tell that River was making him nervous.”
“We found him,” said Gator.
“Is he alright?” asked Priscilla.
“He is. He apparently knew your father as well. He knew about the information that your dad saved on us and he knew that Natalia wasn’t a good person. He knew she was involved with her step-brother and he knew that she was selling secrets to him.”
Priscilla sat back and just went white.
“Priss? Honey, look at me,” said Ham. “This has nothing to do with you as an agent.”
“Doesn’t it? I considered myself a good agent, competent, intelligent, and yet I missed all of this. I wasn’t crazy about Cel-, damn, Natalia but I didn’t suspect her as a double agent or having an affair with her step-brother, whom I knew nothing about.”
“There wasn’t a reason for you to know that. You didn’t work intimately, side-by-side,” said Gator. “Plus, you have to know that Greene was covering for her and helping her and Morris.”
“It just makes me feel stupid,” she said wiping her eyes.
“Listen, we’re going to work with Leopold on something. He’s going to help us draw out Morris. The boys are working on some scripts now to be used on his broadcast.”
“Morris won’t fall for conspiracies,” she said shaking her head. “He’s very smart.”
“This isn’t a conspiracy theory,” said Jak. “We’re going to give him what he wants.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Us.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“Well, well, well, happy Wednesday everyone. This is your one and only source for the truth. The kicker of rocks, the revealer of scandals and conspiracies. This is Leo the Bold, better known at Leopold Bold.”
