what went wrong with Raines?’ Hunter asked.
‘Raines’s man, Matthew Horn, received severe injuries. Double leg amputations. He suffered very badly in hospital when he got back here. Infections and that type of thing. Almost died.’
‘What about Raines’s injuries?’
‘He recovered fairly quickly.’
‘And psychologically?’
‘I guess we wouldn’t be here if the same could be said for his mind.’
‘Tell us the rest.’
‘Okay, so Raines is released from hospital but starts to make some noises about Horn’s treatment. Showed up at the hospital and wrecked the place one time. He got arrested for that. Then he starts writing letters to just about everyone. Around the time Horn was at his worst he started making veiled threats in the letters.’
‘Like what?’
‘How this country wasn’t fulfilling its obligations to its servicemen and that someone would have to pay for that. Nothing too specific.’
‘And this is how you get involved?’
‘Yes,’ Grange said. ‘We take that kind of threat very seriously.’
‘You think the arrest sent him over the edge?’ Cahill asked Grange.
‘Maybe. Who knows.’
Cahill was not warming to Cooper Grange.
‘Anyway,’ Webb went on, ‘we sent a couple of agents to talk to his ex-wife and to Raines. He didn’t respond to the interview at all. Pretty much ignored them.’
‘And it’s after this that he starts buying up weapons and goes off the grid?’ Cahill asked.
‘Correct. And it looks like he recruited some other like-minded veterans.’
‘So how does Tim Stark get mixed up in all of this? I mean, he was still with the Secret Service.’
Grange leaned forward and spoke.
‘We wanted to infiltrate covertly and we needed a back-story that would stand up to scrutiny. Someone with a tale to tell of anti-government sympathies. Stark had applied to come back to the Agency and with his previous background here it struck us as the perfect opportunity to manufacture him getting sacked and that being the cause of his unhappiness.’
‘Raines never bought it,’ Cahill said. ‘That much is obvious now, right?’
‘We think so,’ Webb said. ‘Tim was using the name John Reece on the flight to Washington. That was a cover identity set up for him so that he could get out quickly and it was supposed to be untraceable.’
‘He never got close enough to know what they were doing?’ Hunter asked.
‘He was doing okay for the first few months,’ Grange said. ‘We got regular reports. Then they got less and less frequent. It was getting risky for him.’
‘Which brings us to you, Detective,’ Webb said to Hunter. ‘What’s the story with your case?’
15
Logan looked at Ruiz and Martinez when his phone rang. He took it from his pocket to turn it off and saw that it was Irvine calling.
‘Hey,’ she said when he answered the phone. ‘It’s me.’
‘Becky? What time is it there?’
‘Late. Or maybe it’s early. Depends on how you look at it.’
‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing. I can’t sleep. This case I’m working on, you know. So I thought I’d call.’
‘I’m glad you did.’
‘What you up to? Alex keeping you out of trouble?’
‘Uh, not really. Believe it or not I’m sitting in the Denver field office of the FBI.’
‘What?’
‘Long story. And before that we were at the police headquarters.’
‘Sounds like a typical Alex Cahill holiday plan.’
Logan laughed.
‘Tell you about it when I get back. But what’s up with your case?’
‘I don’t know. It was a tough day. We were at a scene. Multiple deaths. One was a boy, just a teenager.’
‘Sounds bad.’
‘It was. I hate this drug stuff. Give me a robbery any day.’
Drug stuff.
‘But I’m already feeling better,’ Irvine went on. ‘I mean, talking to you.’
Logan was only half listening. The other part of his mind was rewinding to an earlier conversation with her. Something about heroin overdoses that CID was asked to look at. He stood and walked out into the reception area out of earshot of the agents.
‘You said something before,’ he said to her. ‘About drug-related deaths.’
‘Yeah, it’s this case. The thing today. Why?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe nothing, but the reason we’re here, at the FBI, is kind of similar.’
‘What?’
‘I guess I’m not making much sense. Sorry. Must be the jet lag.’
‘Similar to what?’
‘I mean, drug overdoses. They’ve had a few here as well. Seems like there’s something going on with ex-soldiers.’
There was a pause.
‘Becky …’
‘Somebody told me today that there are former soldiers involved in my case. You remember the murder I told you about – the one in the newspapers? Guy got shot dead in a Range Rover. Andrew Johnson. He’s one of them. Not that the guy who told me is all that