sat on the couch, and Taylor swiped her tablet for a minute, then said, “There’s a Venezuelan army base southeast of Ciudad Bolívar, not too far from Tomás de Heres Airport. So if Worley and his friend Ted were doing actual military attaché work for the embassy, they would have legitimate business down there.” She added, “They were not going from the Tomás de Heres Airport to someplace in the south to look for Kyle Mercer.”
He reminded her, “The U.S. and Venezuela are not allies, and not even on speaking terms. So I doubt that our military attachés would be welcome at a Venezuelan military base.”
“Scott, we don’t know that world. For all we know, Worley and others are meeting secretly with the Venezuelan military to plot a coup against the regime.” She added, “That would be a good reason for Worley and Ted to be flying to this military base.”
“You’re messing up my conspiracy theory. Worley and Ted flew to Tomás de Heres Airport, then on to the south because they had a lead on Mercer’s whereabouts.”
“We don’t even know that they actually flew to Tomás de Heres Airport.”
“Right. Maybe they were just talking about what a great name that is for an airport.”
“Can we move on?”
Brodie took her tablet and typed and swiped. “Okay… Ciudad Bolívar is the capital of Bolívar State… considered the gateway to southern Venezuela, and the way station for tourists going to visit the national parks…” He looked up. “Now this all makes sense. Ted was in Venezuela to look at the waterfalls and the wild monkeys.”
“Let’s put Tomás de Heres in the clue bag and look at it later. Okay?”
“Okay.” Mercer was the mission and the rest was noise. They had a very good lead on Kyle Mercer’s whereabouts, and they had to stay on track.
It occurred to Brodie that Kyle Mercer’s fatal flaw might not be his soft spot for old Army buddies or his fondness for English-speaking prostitutes, but his arrogance. Mercer must have known that after he’d literally turned his back on his old buddy, Al Simpson would have done the right thing and contacted the Army. Mercer also knew, as a soldier, that it would be the CID who would be coming for him. But a guy like Mercer, with his elite military pedigree, would look down his nose at—and underestimate—an organization like the CID. When you spend your career operating outside the rules, the people who dedicate their lives to enforcing the rules look like schmucks.
And Kyle Mercer didn’t just break the rules, he broke the law, and he also broke his sworn oath of allegiance to his country, and he literally walked away from his duty to the men under his command. And two soldiers died as a result. Captain Mercer would pay for that. CID Special Agent Scott Brodie, himself a combat veteran and a rule-breaker, would see that he did. In fact, it almost didn’t matter why Captain Mercer had deserted. Brodie could not think of anything that Kyle Mercer could say during the extenuation and mitigation phase of his court-martial that would in any way justify his actions. And quite possibly Mercer, in his arrogance, would offer no extenuating or mitigating circumstances. Which was why Brodie had to look Kyle Mercer in the eye and ask, “Why the fuck did you desert, Captain?”
“Scott? Where did you go?”
“I’m thinking about Kyle Mercer. About why he deserted. But I’m also wondering why he’s training men in the jungle.”
“What I’m wondering is, where does the money come from? Guerrilla forces have to be fed, clothed, and armed.”
“Right. As we say in the Army, ‘Beans, bandages, and bullets.’ And as the spooks say, ‘It’s not important to know who fired the bullet—it’s important to know who paid for it.’ ”
“So who is paying for the beans, bandages, and bullets?”
Maybe General Gomez. Were Gomez and Mercer involved in a coup against the regime? Or had Gomez hired Mercer to hunt down anti-regime insurgents? Brodie hadn’t briefed Taylor on Carmen’s mention of General Gomez, so he replied, “In my experience with paramilitary and insurgent groups in Iraq, I learned that many of these groups are self-funded. They deal drugs, rob banks, raid military armories, steal oil, and even impose taxes. Sort of like politicians. So, given what we know about Kyle Mercer, I have no doubt that he takes what he needs.” He added, “And/or, he’s being backed by General Gomez.”