“Actually, I spoke to Colonel Worley, who gave me a quick briefing—before you did.”
“Did you get my two calls on your cell?”
“You’re sounding like my ex-wife.”
“Those calls could have been blocked by Worley.”
There was a silence; then Dombroski said, “So you got Mercer.”
“I did. We did.”
“Outstanding, Mr. Brodie. And Ms. Taylor. Is she there?”
“Right here. And Captain Mercer is restrained and on his way to the extraction point.”
“Excellent. Did you read him his rights?”
“Ms. Taylor did.”
“And I assume you didn’t follow that up with an interrogation.”
“The suspect spoke voluntarily without prompting.”
“Okay. What did he say?”
“It’s a very long story, Colonel, and I don’t have enough battery or saliva left to tell you. But he did clear up the meaning of Flagstaff.”
“What’s the meaning?”
“It’s the Afghan version of Phoenix.”
There was another silence on the phone. Dombroski said, “Are you sure?”
“Got it from Mercer, who was part of it.”
“Holy shit.”
“And Colonel Brendan Worley was a big part of it.”
“Holy shit.”
“And he doesn’t want Captain Mercer returned to U.S. soil to testify about Operation Flagstaff. But we can discuss that in a more secure transmission. Or in person.”
“All right… So how in the hell did you snatch Mercer?”
Brodie realized that Worley had never told Dombroski about the call that Worley received from Kyle Mercer himself—the call made when Brodie and Taylor were the ones in custody. Which meant Worley had assumed that Brodie and Taylor would wind up dead, like Worley’s friend Ted Haggerty. Logical assumption.
Brodie asked, “Didn’t Worley tell you that Taylor and I had been captured by Mercer’s men?”
“What?”
“And Mercer used our sat phone to call Worley, and Mercer put us on the line to speak to Worley.”
“Are you…?”
“Yes, very serious. And pissed.”
Again a silence; then Dombroski said, “For another time.” Then he remembered something. “I instructed you both not to risk looking for Mercer’s camp.”
