do around here, and I’m not going to ask. Cal’s probably going to kill me when he finds out I came.”
“Why don’t you just tell me what’s wrong. I’m sure he won’t mind. If he gets out of line, I’ll smack him around a little.”
Diane looked up and smiled. “Promise?”
Trent drew a cross over his heart and put three fingers in the air. “Scout’s honor.”
“Okay. You know I was in the Navy, but do you know what I really did?”
Trent would’ve preferred she not ask the question, knowing that she would assume that Cal had been spying on her. But it looked like the cat was out of the bag anyway.
“Intel,” he said.
She didn’t look surprised. “I assume you know how I feel about Cal too.”
“You two are pretty close.”
Trent wondered where the line of questioning was going.
“I love him, Willy,” she blurted. “I would do anything to keep him safe. But I know I won’t always be able to do that. He’s his own man. Stubborn and proud, but I love him.” She looked at her hands and went on. “I still have friends in the intelligence business. I won’t tell you where because it doesn’t matter. When Cal came back from his trip overseas, you remember, right after we started dating?”
Trent remembered. Cal had led the hand-picked international coalition that drove the stake into the heart of ISIS. He’d been wounded in the process. Nothing major, but impossible to hide from Diane.
“I do remember.”
“Well, I reached out to two of my old friends and asked them to…I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a stalker…but I asked them to keep an ear out for the name Cal Stokes. Now, before you say anything, there’s not surveillance or anything like that. It’s more like a Google alert. If something came across their desk through various intel gathering networks, they promised to let me know.”
Trent cringed inside. Diane was right. Cal wouldn’t be happy. He’d consider it an invasion of his privacy instead of what it really was: someone who loved him watching out for him.
Diane went on. “Yesterday I got a call.”
“And?”
“We met for breakfast. I had to drive up to Warrenton to meet him. I can’t tell you who he’s with, but he said that in the last two days there’ve been repeated mentions of Cal.”
“From who?”
“He couldn’t say.”
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”
“I think couldn’t. He did say that he thinks it’s someone in government based on certain systematic indicators.”
Trent nodded. “What was the context of the conversations?”
Diane reached in to her purse and pulled out a thin stack of folded paper. “The transcripts are right there. I’ll leave them with you.”
Trent took the stack and asked, “Diane, what do they say?”
The composure she’d been trying so hard to maintain left her, tears streaming from her eyes as she said, “They want him dead, Willy. They want to kill Cal.”
Chapter 14
Montego Bay, Jamaica
1:34pm, December 7 th
Rear Admiral Joseph Gower nodded to the Jamaican customs agent who looked as bored as anyone he’d ever encountered. It made him wonder how diligent their screening process really was. Then again, who was trying to bring illegal substances into Jamaica?
He grabbed his civilian passport from the counter and made his way to the Sandals Lounge. A bubbly concierge named Martha greeted him and ushered him inside where she said he could have his pick of complimentary snacks, soda or Red Stripe beer on tap. He would’ve loved a flimsy plastic cup of beer, but he opted for a bottle of water instead.
Five minutes later, his date arrived, taking in the lounge like a child seeing Mickey Mouse for the first time.
“It’s so pretty!” she exclaimed as she set her carry-on bag next to him and kissed him on the cheek. “I won’t even ask what you paid for all this.”
Gower shrugged as if it didn’t matter and that nothing was too good for her. In fact, he
“Why don’t you just tell me what’s wrong. I’m sure he won’t mind. If he gets out of line, I’ll smack him around a little.”
Diane looked up and smiled. “Promise?”
Trent drew a cross over his heart and put three fingers in the air. “Scout’s honor.”
“Okay. You know I was in the Navy, but do you know what I really did?”
Trent would’ve preferred she not ask the question, knowing that she would assume that Cal had been spying on her. But it looked like the cat was out of the bag anyway.
“Intel,” he said.
She didn’t look surprised. “I assume you know how I feel about Cal too.”
“You two are pretty close.”
Trent wondered where the line of questioning was going.
“I love him, Willy,” she blurted. “I would do anything to keep him safe. But I know I won’t always be able to do that. He’s his own man. Stubborn and proud, but I love him.” She looked at her hands and went on. “I still have friends in the intelligence business. I won’t tell you where because it doesn’t matter. When Cal came back from his trip overseas, you remember, right after we started dating?”
Trent remembered. Cal had led the hand-picked international coalition that drove the stake into the heart of ISIS. He’d been wounded in the process. Nothing major, but impossible to hide from Diane.
“I do remember.”
“Well, I reached out to two of my old friends and asked them to…I don’t know how to say this without sounding like a stalker…but I asked them to keep an ear out for the name Cal Stokes. Now, before you say anything, there’s not surveillance or anything like that. It’s more like a Google alert. If something came across their desk through various intel gathering networks, they promised to let me know.”
Trent cringed inside. Diane was right. Cal wouldn’t be happy. He’d consider it an invasion of his privacy instead of what it really was: someone who loved him watching out for him.
Diane went on. “Yesterday I got a call.”
“And?”
“We met for breakfast. I had to drive up to Warrenton to meet him. I can’t tell you who he’s with, but he said that in the last two days there’ve been repeated mentions of Cal.”
“From who?”
“He couldn’t say.”
“Couldn’t or wouldn’t?”
“I think couldn’t. He did say that he thinks it’s someone in government based on certain systematic indicators.”
Trent nodded. “What was the context of the conversations?”
Diane reached in to her purse and pulled out a thin stack of folded paper. “The transcripts are right there. I’ll leave them with you.”
Trent took the stack and asked, “Diane, what do they say?”
The composure she’d been trying so hard to maintain left her, tears streaming from her eyes as she said, “They want him dead, Willy. They want to kill Cal.”
Chapter 14
Montego Bay, Jamaica
1:34pm, December 7 th
Rear Admiral Joseph Gower nodded to the Jamaican customs agent who looked as bored as anyone he’d ever encountered. It made him wonder how diligent their screening process really was. Then again, who was trying to bring illegal substances into Jamaica?
He grabbed his civilian passport from the counter and made his way to the Sandals Lounge. A bubbly concierge named Martha greeted him and ushered him inside where she said he could have his pick of complimentary snacks, soda or Red Stripe beer on tap. He would’ve loved a flimsy plastic cup of beer, but he opted for a bottle of water instead.
Five minutes later, his date arrived, taking in the lounge like a child seeing Mickey Mouse for the first time.
“It’s so pretty!” she exclaimed as she set her carry-on bag next to him and kissed him on the cheek. “I won’t even ask what you paid for all this.”
Gower shrugged as if it didn’t matter and that nothing was too good for her. In fact, he
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