Brodie assumed that the two goons who’d tried to kidnap or kill him were NordFaust guys. They weren’t particularly good at their job. On the other hand, they knew who he was and where he was going. So that indicated an Intel network of some sort, or informants in the right places. More disturbing was that they were willing to act on their information and had no hesitation about trying to ice an American Army officer. Brodie didn’t know why he and Taylor had gotten on NordFaust’s hit list, but he pictured a bunch of these Nazis sitting around drinking beer in a smoke-filled room, and one of them saying in German, with subtitles, “These nosy Americans know too much, goddammit, so they must…” Finger across the throat. Problem was, neither he nor Taylor knew too much. But if NordFaust thought they did, then maybe they did. Maybe they’d hit on something. In fact, maybe it was NordFaust who’d killed Harry Vance. But why?
Chilcott was going on: “NordFaust operates differently than most of these neo-Nazi groups. Most of the other groups hold meetings, which leaves them open to infiltration by German Intel. They have online chat groups that can be monitored, they show up at rallies, like at the American Embassy, and they commit one-off acts of violence that leave a trail of blood and evidence. NordFaust operates more like a Black Ops and espionageunit. Long-term planning, stockpiling weapons, building influence among high-level contacts in the officer corps of the Bundeswehr, and doing the same with the police and far-right politicians in the Bundestag and also in the government ministries.” He looked at Brodie, then Taylor. “Now and then, when they feel threatened by the news media, or by left-wing groups or government inquiries, they eliminate the threat.”
Brodie couldn’t keep himself from saying, “Are we still talking about NordFaust? Or the CIA?”
Even Chilcott smiled at that. He really enjoyed the role of secret agent man with a license to eliminate.
Chilcott, for the record, said, “Don’t believe all those things you hear about us, Mr. Brodie.” Which meant the opposite, of course.
Brodie reminded him, “The Phoenix Program in Vietnam, Operation Flagstaff in Afghanistan. Not to mention the shit I saw the Agency do in Iraq.”
Chilcott was not happy hearing those words spoken aloud, especially Flagstaff, which he had been deeply involved with—while also involved with Maggie Taylor, whom he’d seduced in more ways than one.
Chilcott stared at Brodie. He should have let that go, but he said, “Should I remind you, Sergeant Brodie, of what you and your unit did to ‘liberate’ Fallujah?” He added, “The civilian dead stunk up the streets for a month. So don’t get sanctimonious on me, Sergeant.”
“Trent… can I call you Trent? Trent, go fuck yourself.”
Maggie Taylor said, “Stop! Stop this!”
Brodie wanted to explain to her that this is what two alpha males do to compete for top dog. But she probably knew that. She probably also thought that Brodie’s aggressive behavior toward Trent Chilcott had something to do with Trent having had sex with Maggie Taylor. Well, she was completely off base on that. Not even in the ballpark. Those thoughts never crossed his mind.
Howard Fensterman, playing peacemaker again, said, “Gentlemen. We need to move on.”
“No,” said Brodie, “first you need to tell me why I and Ms. Taylor are here.”
Chilcott replied, “Two reasons. The first should be obvious. You’re herein this safe house because your lives are in danger. You’ll stay here for a day or two, then we will get you on a flight back to Washington.” He let them know, “There are four bedrooms here—one for me, one for a security person, and one each for both of you.” He smiled. “So you don’t have to share a bedroom.”
Brodie had already told Trent Chilcott to go fuck himself, so he moved on to: “I and Ms. Taylor are not staying here, and certainly not with you. We are leaving as soon as we’re finished here, which will be soon.”
Chilcott said, “I must insist.”
“Me too. Okay, what’s the other reason we’re here?”
Chilcott seemed annoyed and frustrated that Brodie was not going along with the program and not grateful that Chilcott was offering them a safe place to stay and a ticket home. But he collected himself and said, “I need some information from you. Which I’m sure you’ll share with me in exchange for me alerting you to the danger you’re in and offering you a safe place and safe passage—”
“Trent, Maggie was on her way home before you waylaid her. And I don’t need your safe house. If you need information from us, you need to pay for it with information.”
Chilcott glanced at Fensterman, then replied, “Okay. We have information you can use in your criminal investigation.”
Taylor said, “We’re off the case, Trent. You know that.”
“I’m fairly sure I can get you both reinstated. If that’s what you want.” He added, “It’s my understanding that you are both at a… well, a career crossroads, and that—”
“Let us worry about our careers,” said Brodie. “Worry about your own.”
“There’s nothing for me to worry about. I play the game. And I make the rules.”
Asshole.Brodie was fairly certain that his resignation hadn’t progressed beyond Dombroski’s desk, so a phone call would fix that. As for him and Taylor getting back on this case… He said, “You have no influence in the Army, Chilcott.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“I would be.” But maybe Trent and his colleagues in the CIA did have some influence in the Pentagon. It certainly seemed that way whenBrodie and Taylor were in Venezuela. And the reason for that was these joint Army/CIA Black Ops programs that were borderline illegal—or not so borderline. When people become co-conspirators, they have each other by the balls, and no favor is too great to ask. Brodie glanced at Taylor, who nodded. Brodie said, “All right. Let’s talk.” He looked at Chilcott. “What do you need to know?”
Chilcott asked, “First, why was Mark Jenkins and Harry Vance’s brief encounter with Colonel Brandt—a supposed member of NordFaust—in Stuttgart last year of interest to you in the Vance homicide case? We don’t understand the connection.”
How did Chilcott even know about Brodie’s interest in the Stuttgart case? Well, it was likely that Mark Jenkins had told Brodie and Taylor’s CID replacements—Jones and Mellman—what Scott Brodie was bothering him about. And Jones and Mellman, in turn, could have passed that on to the legat and other embassy officials, and then one way or another that Intel would find its way to Howard Fensterman and Trent Chilcott. The other possibility was that Brodie and Taylor’s phone conversation—while Brodie was in Alexanderplatz and Taylor was in a cab near the embassy—had been intercepted by the SCS. And maybe the answer didn’t matter. Chilcott and Fensterman were in the loop, and they wanted their two CID safe-house guests to know that. And yet, Chilcott and Fensterman were still missing some pieces of the puzzle.
Brodie replied, “We believe this Stuttgart case might be connected to the unsanctioned investigation that Mr. Vance was conducting here in Berlin before his murder.”
