“Sounds like fun.”
Brodie realized that Colonel Dombroski was wondering if his two agents were sleeping together. It would be useful if Dombroski thought they were, so he said, “Maggie and I have a lot of catching up to do. Plus, we got the rug pulled out from under us on this case and, frankly, we could both use a week or two to… commiserate.” He added, “You would still have your report by Friday. I can e-mail an encrypted file.”
Dombroski’s bullshit detector must have been off the charts, and he said, “I can appreciate all that, Scott. But since this is an open case and you were the initial investigators, I need you on call in case anything arises. The Bavarian adventure will have to wait.”
It sounded like the colonel was meeting Brodie’s bullshit with a pile of his own. Raise or call?
Before he could decide, Taylor said, “Sir, we would like to stay in Germany until the conclusion of the investigation.” She added, “On our time.”
Dombroski was quiet a moment. Then he asked, “Why?”
“New information has come to light that directly contradicts the official narrative, and we have reason to believe that this case will be handled improperly.” She added, “If we’re to be on call, we’d prefer to stay in-country.”
“You are no longer the agents on this case, Ms. Taylor. Whatever this new information is, I expect to hear it during the debrief, and you will pass it on to your very capable colleagues from the Fifth MP via the Legal Attaché’s Office.” He added, “As for your belief that this case will be handled improperly, tell me about it in person.”
Brodie jumped in. “Colonel, the Germans, the FBI, and our own counterterrorism people are… mishandling this case. Harry Vance was onto something, and now he’s dead, and whoever killed him is going to incredible lengths to see that this investigation concludes that Vance’s murder was an act of Islamic terrorism.”
“That seems to be the correct conclusion, based on the jihadis who blew themselves up and left Mr. Vance’s eye in their freezer. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“I… and Ms. Taylor believe another entity is manipulating the evidence to make it look like—”
“Like Tiny Tim killed JFK.” He asked, “Do you hear yourself?”
“Sir—”
“Have you two been drinking?”
“Colonel—”
“Maybe you do need a vacation. But not now. I expect you in my office tomorrow. Tonight. Right from the airport.”
Neither Brodie nor Taylor replied, and Colonel Dombroski shifted to a milder tone. “I appreciate your dedication to this case. That’s why I wanted you both on this in the first place. But there are larger forces at play here, and you are being replaced by two of CID’s best counterterrorism specialists.”
Taylor said, “This is not a counterterrorism case, sir.”
Dombroski was getting annoyed. “You will fly to DC tomorrow. You will be in my office tomorrow night for a debrief. Ms. Taylor, I will speak to your CO at Fort Campbell and have your connecting flight home rebooked, and you will also be present for this debrief. Is that all clear?”
Brodie and Taylor looked at each other, but neither responded.
Brodie looked around the park and realized they had stopped walking almost exactly where Harry Vance had been shot.
The dead can speak.
He looked toward the dark tree line along the eastern edge of the park, and imagined a figure there, a little over six feet tall, a skilled marksman. TheIslamic terrorist who he’d imagined wasn’t there anymore. Now he saw a U.S. Army traitor.
He looked at the microscope slide in his hand.
Unexploded ordnance.
The thing that was buried in the ruins, believed to be rendered inert by the passage of time. Harry Vance thought he was investigating something important but not dangerous. He was dead wrong.
Who still cared about the Stasi? No one. Well, almost no one. But what if the past is not past? Maybe in a place like Berlin, it never is.
“Mr. Brodie? Ms. Taylor? Do I make myself clear?”
Brodie and Taylor stood in silence, looking at each other. Brodie thought about their last case together, about what they’d been asked to give. He didn’t mind risking his life. That came with the territory, and maybe he kind of had a death wish anyway. But they’d been forced to compromise their integrity, their oath to duty, their commitment to justice. And for what? A bump in rank. A little extra pay.
He thought about Harry Vance, and about why the man had kept his investigation secret. The obvious reason was that it was outside his mandate. The less obvious reason was that he understood that the case was sensitive and did not know whom to trust. But Brodie suspected there was another reason, maybe present only in Harry’s subconscious: He didn’t think anyone other than himself and Anna would care about Anna’s father, just another forgotten victim of an old war. As for Odin, the U.S. Army officially had no traitors in the Cold War, and they’d like to keep it that way.
