“Right. But it would be interesting if Worley was there at the same timeas Mercer and Crenshaw.” He reminded her, “Ted was there at the same time Worley was.”
“We don’t know who Ted is.” She chided, “You’re getting off base, Scott. We’re here to find and apprehend Kyle Mercer, not to develop conspiracy theories. Focus on the mission.”
She was right, of course, but her disinterest in all of this seemed somewhat out of character for Maggie Taylor, who was so diligent, manic, and detail-oriented. He said, “We are CID Special Agents, not a couple of MPs sent to go out and fetch.”
“We areinvestigators—cops—not Intel officers.”
“Okay… but also consider this: Robert Crenshaw’s murder was big news at the time, so Worley knew about it, and Worley—who’s an Intel officer—must have heard that Crenshaw was actually a CIA officer. And if Brendan Worley is half as smart as he thinks he is, then he’s pondered the possible connection between Robert Crenshaw’s murder and Kyle Mercer’s geographic proximity to Peshawar at that time—just as Colonel Dombroski thought about that connection.”
“Talk about making assumptions.”
“All right. But we do know that Worley was in Afghanistan and he never mentioned it to us—and when someone withholds information, you have to wonder why, and also wonder what else he’s withholding.”
“Scott, he may not have mentioned it because of security issues.” She added, “CIA officers, for instance, don’t tell you where they’ve been.”
And she would know about that.
She said, “If you ask Worley if he was in Afghanistan, do it in a friendly way.”
“I always ask questions as though I don’t already know the answer.” He added, “It will be interesting to see if he lies.”
She nodded.
“Stick with me, Maggie. You’ll learn something.”
“I already have.”
Brodie changed the subject. “Did you look up Tomás de Heres?”
“I did. He was an officer in Bolívar’s army and he helped lead the liberation of Peru. He was assassinated when someone set off a bomb in his house. The killer was never found.”
“An Army cold case. Let’s look into it after we find Mercer.”
“Wrong army.” She asked, “Did you mention Tomás de Heres to Dombroski?”
“I didn’t. But I did mention Flagstaff.”
“And?”
“Didn’t ring a bell with him.”
“Did you mention that Worley didn’t tell us he was in Afghanistan?”
“I decided to withhold that information.”
“Why?”
“I’m protecting my source. Luis.”
“Why?”
“Colonel Dombroski has no need to know.”
“He’s our boss.”
“General Hackett ishisboss.”
“So General Hackett is on your list of co-conspirators?”
