Finding North (40 page)

“
Friends?” Hank shook his
head. “Did we seem like friends?”

Alex looked at
him.

“
Yes,” Alex said. “You
spent every moment with him.”

She turned back to the
coffee.

“
You both treated me like
crap,” Alex said while she poured the coffee. “You goaded the other
guys into abusing me when they could. You stood by when our Captain
tried to
rape
me.
Yes, you seemed like best friends.”

She held out the cup to
Hank.

“
Cream?” Alex
asked.

He looked into her
face.

“
That’s it?” Hank asked.
“You stand there telling me of all the ways I’ve hurt you, and your
next word is ‘cream’?”

“
It was a long time ago,”
Alex said. “We were twenty years old. Have some cream. I don’t
trust anyone who drinks his coffee black.”

She poured cream in his
coffee.

“
Chocolate?” Alex asked.
“I’ve recently taken up the habit. My partner, Raz, loves a little
chocolate in his coffee.”

“
Sure, fine, whatever,”
Hank said.

Alex smiled. She gave him
the coffee and stuck a spoon in it for him to stir. She did the
same with her coffee cup.

Using his cane, he limped
over to the couch and sat down. Miraculously, he managed to not
spill the coffee. Alex turned a chair around from the conference
table and sat down. She stirred her coffee so she didn’t have to
look at him. They drank coffee in silence.

“
I
think . . .” Alex started at the same time Hank
said, “I wanted to . . .”

“
Please,” Alex said.
“Ethan says I need to listen to you. I can do that.”

“
I’m sorry,” Hank said. “I
was under Garcia’s thumb. I don’t know why or even how, really,
he . . . took over my life, but he did. He told me a
lot later that I was a blond, rich kid who deserved to be taken
down a notch.”

Alex gave an indignant
snort.

“
What?” Hank
asked.

“
He said something like
that to me,” Alex said.

Hank nodded.

“
I sat next to Garcia on
the bus to Fort Bragg,” Hank said. “I feel stupid saying this,
especially to you, but he bullied me. I was terrified of him. I
couldn’t fight like you. I didn’t know all the answers. I certainly
wasn’t born to it like Mac Clenaghan or a genius like Olivas. I
know it sounds like a cop-out, but Garcia took over my
life.”

His words were so foreign
to her experience at SF training that she watched his face to see
if he was fabricating the story. He seemed to be telling the
truth.

“
Think about it,” Hank
said. “Do you ever remember hearing me say anything?”

Alex cocked her head to
the side to think.

“
Anything? Any
word?”

Alex looked at Jesse, who
was hovering by the coffee maker.

“
I don’t,” Jesse said.
“But I still don’t like him.”

“
I don’t remember you
saying anything,” Alex said.

“
You thought that since I
was with him, I agreed with him,” Hank said. “And to be completely
honest, I did. I didn’t like that you were there. I didn’t like how
strong you were, how capable, and how fearless.
I . . . Garcia, he . . . I mean, it
was subtle. It started on the bus and . . . A few
days later, he . . . owned me
completely.”

Hank swallowed hard and
nodded. Alex blinked. She’d seen the same haunted look in Leena’s
eyes.

“
Holy crap,” Jesse said.
“Is he saying Garcia . . .? At our
training?”

Alex gave a small
nod.

“
What happened when we
were in Uwharrie?” Alex asked. After being intentionally lost,
deprived of food, water, and sleep, the last test for being a Green
Beret is to find your way out of the Uwharrie National Forest.
“When you were injured?”

Hank looked at his coffee
cup.

“
I was with my team,” Alex
said. “We got lost. Jesse’s team got lost, too. He found me after
we . . .”

“
You divined a well,” Hank
said. “The amazing Alex.”

He shrugged.

“
Always working the
angles,” Alex said. “What else did I have? I wanted to be a Green
Beret, and . . .”

“
I did, too,” Hank
said.

“
What happened?” Alex
asked.

“
Your team made it out
first,” Hank said.

Alex nodded.

“
They blew the horn when
you won. My team . . . they . . .
blamed me,” Hank said.

“
Why?”

“
Garcia was on my team, of
course,” Hank said. “He turned on me. Destroyed me.
He . . . The guys were pissed, anyway.
They . . . and I . . . couldn’t
defend myself. I tried, but they were too angry, too
many.”

Hank nodded. Alex felt a
rush of empathy for him. She knew what it was like to face
overwhelming violence with the sure certainty that you couldn’t
stop it. Jesse made a sound, and Alex’s eyes flicked to him. He
looked like he felt as she did.

“
They left me,” Hank said.
“To die, I guess. Mac Clenaghan’s team passed about a foot from
where I was. I tried to signal but . . . They broke
my leg, two vertebrae, every bone in both of my hands,
and . . . inside . . . I wanted to
die. Alex, I wanted to die right there. But I didn’t. Somehow. I
was discharged on a medical and sent home.”

Alex nodded. She knew what
it was like to be sent home with a severe injury.

“
Mac Clenaghan thinks I
made the whole thing up,” Hank said. “I . . .
uh . . . My dad was a brute like Garcia. I guess I
was programmed to just take it. It sounds stupid, even as I say it,
but that’s what happened.”

“
I understand,” Alex
said.

“
I’m really good at my
job, Alex,” Hank said. “I would have made a great Green
Beret.”

“
How did you become
a . . . uh . . .” Alex wasn’t sure
what to call him.

“
A soldier for hire?” Hank
asked.

Alex blushed.

“
My business card says
‘Contractor,’” Hank said.

He smiled. She gave him an
embarrassed grin.

“
I wasn’t always
someone’s . . .” Hank said. “I had a friend from
Airborne. He wanted to start this business and asked me if I would
join him. I wasn’t doing anything and had a hunk of change from the
lawsuit. Turns out, I’m not the first person to be left for dead by
his team in Uwharrie National Forest. I put the money in,
and . . . that was that.”

Alex nodded.

“
I’ve never been in North
Korea,” Hank said.

“
Why are you telling me
this?” Alex asked.

“
Because you found the
ball cap with my DNA on it,” Hank said. “You saw me with the
President’s team in Afghanistan.”

“
The boys say you told
them to fire at the convoy,” Alex said.

“
Not me. It wasn’t me,”
Hank said. “No way, and I can prove it. I have records for
everywhere I’ve been in the last five years. That assignment was to
guard the president. I was
with
the president. Whoever they talked to, it
was not
me.”

“
And Pakistan for the
award ceremony?” Alex asked.

“
I was there to protect a
diplomat,” Hank said. “The moment I saw your guy — Hutchins, I
think his name is — I knew I’d been set up.”

“
Why you?” Alex
asked.

“
You hate me,” Hank said.
“Gives you someone to focus on while the person pulling the strings
can continue to hide.”

“
Who’s behind this?” Alex
asked.

“
You know about Eniac,”
Hank said.

Alex nodded.

“
Do you know he’s dead?”
Hank asked.

“
What?” Alex and Jesse
asked at the same time.

“
He was killed after he
was unable to execute that computer virus,” Hank said. “You didn’t
know?”

“
I thought he was behind
all of this,” Alex said.

“
He did, too,” Hank
said.

“
How do you know so much?”
Alex asked.

“
Good question,” Hank
said. “I’ve spent a lot of time surveilling you. It was my job off
and on for . . . years.”

“
Me?” Alex asked. “Why
me?”

“
It was a job,” Hank said.
“Our first contract was to protect the kids of
politicians.”

“
I thought Trece and White
Boy’s team did that,” Alex said.

“
Only when the target gets
into trouble,” Hank said. “Most of the work goes to contractors.
We’re good at it. About a year before your team was killed, I was
assigned to watch you. I was requested by name, paid extra because
of my seniority. All I had to do was keep tabs on you.”

“
Did you send them in to
kill us?” Alex asked.

“
No,” Hank said. “But I
can see by your face that you already know that. Who
did?”

“
One of those CIA
MK-survivors,” Alex said. “Cooper. A teammate’s ex-wife. She was
manipulated to let them in. They found out about the vault from the
bookstore owner. You know about him?”

Hank nodded.

“
My sister, Samantha, was
drugged and manipulated into telling a Senator where the vaults
were,” Alex said. “The rest fell like dominoes.”

They heard the toilet
flush in her little bathroom. They both looked at the door. They
turned away when the water turned on for a shower. Hank reached
into his pocket.

“
This flash drive contains
all of my reports on you for the year prior to the assault on the
Fey Special Forces Team.” Hank held out a USB drive to
her.

Alex was so surprised, she
could only gawk at him.

“
Including the time you
confronted me,” Hank said. “I assume you don’t
remember.”

“
I don’t remember anything
from that time,” Alex said. “And I’m learning that other parts of
my memory are also spotty.”

“
Too much trauma,” Hank
said.

“
I guess,” Alex said. “Who
ordered you to watch me?”

“
At the time, I thought it
was your father,” Hank said. “Now, I’m not so sure. I’ve made a few
attempts to track payment, but I’ve never been successful at
finding out who hired me.”

“
Thank you,” Alex said and
tucked the drive into her pocket.

The Monk started to sing
the Catholic hymn “Immaculate Mary” at the top of his lungs. Alex
shook her head and sent Hank a questioning look.

“
It’s how he tells time,”
Hank said. “That song is exactly six minutes long.”

“
Good to know,” Alex
said.

“
There’s more I need to
tell you,” Hank said.

“
You’ve already told me a
lot,” Alex said.

“
There’s a list of people
capable of stopping their plans,” Hank said.

“
Oh?”

“
You’re on the list,” Hank
said. “Of course.”

“
And the team?” Alex
winced at the idea.

Hank nodded.

“
JS and a couple of his
teams,” Hank said. “Seal Team Eight, and another SF
team.”

“
How do you know this?”
Alex asked.

“
I’ve seen the list,” Hank
said.

“
Where?” Alex
asked.

“
The last assignment,”
Hank said. “With Ethan. We were supposed to be protecting our
asset, but everything fell apart. We ended up taking out a few
guys. We relieved them of their possessions, of course. One of them
had a hit list in an email on his phone.”

“
A hit list?” Alex
asked.

“
That’s what it seemed
like to me.” Hank nodded. “Ethan, too. It was in an email chain
listing who could stop them. Team in India, of course. The Monk.
Ji. You guys. JS . . . Ethan has the
phone.”

“
Is Garcia involved in
this?” Alex asked.

“
I think so,” Hank said.
“That’s just a feeling. It has all the hallmarks of him. He hates
you, me, JS, everyone on that list.
But . . .”

“
He’s not smart enough to
be behind all of it,” Alex said.

“
He’d use any excuse to
vent his rage,” Hank said.

Alex nodded. There was a
tap on the door to her office.

“
Sorry, it locks
automatically,” Alex said.

She stood up and walked to
the door.

“
Garcia is evil, Alex,”
Hank said. “To the core.”

She turned to look at
him.

“
He had help getting
through SF training,” Hank said.

“
Wasn’t me,” Alex
said.

There was another knock at
the door, and Alex pointed at it. Her hand went instinctively to
her handgun. Colonel Howard Gordon was standing on the other
side.