“What I know is you’re not helping yourself with that attitude. Maybe a few more hours of cooling your heels in a cell and you’ll feel a little more like talking.”
Bran clamped down on his temper, reminded himself Galen was just doing his job.
“Maybe a few more hours and you’ll have what you need to make a case against Coffman, and I can get back to protecting my client.”
So far he’d been able to keep thoughts of Jessie out of his head. She was with Ty and he would keep her safe. The problem was, Jessie was a wild card. When she found out he’d been arrested, she’d wouldn’t stand by and do nothing, and whatever she did might put her in danger.
Never good at waiting, Bran fidgeted in his chair. Maybe he should make another run at Galen, try once more to persuade the guy to let him go.
He blew out a frustrated breath. Knowing his brother was right, he stayed where he was and kept his mouth shut.
* * *
Jessie sat in the waiting room outside General Holloway’s office. His assistant, Lieutenant Dickerson, had gotten the call from the gatehouse, and fortunately he remembered her. She’d told him she had crucial information she could only reveal to the general. The lieutenant had spoken to Holloway, and he had agreed to see her as soon as he arrived.
She’d been waiting an hour. It seemed like a week.
Finally Lieutenant Dickerson approached. Jessie recalled his sandy hair and slender, boyish features.
“Ms. Kegan? General Holloway is ready to see you. Please follow me.” He led her down a hall into the general’s office. Holloway stood up behind his desk as she walked in. The lieutenant closed the door behind her, leaving them alone.
“Good morning, Jessie. I understand you have something important to discuss.”
“That’s right, General. I appreciate your seeing me on such short notice.”
“I’m assuming this is in regard to your father’s death.”
“It’s in regard to the missing chemical weapons, sir. And my father’s death. As you know, I believe the two are connected.”
His eyes remained on her face. “I expected to see Captain Garrett here with you.”
“Captain Garrett is currently in jail. That’s part of the reason I’m here.”
Holloway’s interest sharpened, driving up his graying brown eyebrows. “I’m listening.”
“Brandon was arrested for bringing in a man named Wayne Conrad Coffman. Coffman is connected to a man named Weaver. Weaver arranged my father’s murder through his contacts in the army prison. He was hired by someone who wanted to frame my father for the theft of the weapons. If you want to find the stolen munitions, Wayne Coffman is the man who can help.”
The general rounded the desk and motioned for her to join him at the table in the corner. “I think we had better take a seat, and you can start from the beginning.”
Jessie took a deep, hopeful breath as both of them sat down.
* * *
Bran paced the interrogation room from one wall to the other, anything was better than just sitting there. With every turn, he cursed Mace Galen. The guy had to know the charges against him were bullshit. The gun belonged to the scumbag who’d killed Janos Petrov. The two were birds of a feather. Vultures.
Tension slid through him as the door cracked open and Galen walked back into the Spartan room. Bran wondered how long he and his men had been watching him through the two-way mirror.
“We got some interesting news. I figured you deserved to know.”
“Good news or bad news?” he asked, parroting Galen’s earlier words.
The detective’s mustache kicked up at one corner. “From your standpoint, very good news. Wayne Conrad Coffman was arrested for assault in Atlanta three years ago. He’s also been arrested in Memphis and Phoenix. He’s got a history of violent crimes, but the charges never seem to stick.”
Bran wondered if the Brotherhood had played a part in keeping Tank out of jail and if killing Janos Petrov was the kind of work he did for them in return. He wondered if killing Jessie had been next on his list. “I’m still waiting for the good news.”
“The good news is he was questioned as a person of interest in the murder of a federal judge in Nevada last year. There wasn’t enough to arrest him, but the MO matches the Petrov murder—.45 caliber gunshot between the eyes. And just like Petrov, the bullet recovered from the crime scene matches the one from the SIG P220 you took off