Walk the Wire (Amos Decker #6) - David Baldacci Page 0,96
was redacted. Classified.”
“Well, hell, I told you that.”
“But you didn’t say why.”
“I can’t, dumbass. That’s sort of the point of it being classified.”
“More people have been killed,” said Decker. “Several more. Something big is being planned. We need you to help us understand what that could be.”
“I only have your word for that and I don’t believe you. You’re not pulling the wool over my eyes. For all I know, you’re spies.”
“We can show you our credentials,” offered Jamison.
“Can’t see ’em. I told you that.”
Decker sat on the edge of the bed. “Is there anything you can tell us about your time at London AFS?”
“No.”
“We’ve been there. We’ve seen the radar array.”
“So?”
“It’s funny.”
“What is?”
“They have an identical facility near Grand Forks, North Dakota.”
A hint of a smile crept across Daniels’s features. “Is that right?”
“But you knew that, didn’t you?”
The smile vanished. “Who says?”
“It was discovered that the facility was being used for another purpose just recently. Not an eye in the sky, but something totally different.”
“Who cares?”
“Your help could be vital to the national security interests of this country.”
“Again, says you. You’re not tricking me. I gave an oath.”
“You’ve been out of uniform a long time.”
“An oath is an oath. Take it to my grave. Just how it’s done.”
Decker looked at Jamison in frustration.
“Is there anything we can say to make you change your mind?” said Jamison.
“Yeah, you can get the president of the United States of America to order me to give it up. Other than that, fuck off.”
“You’re the only one left from that time at London AFS.”
“Last man standing,” cackled Daniels.
“So you’re the only one who can help us prevent something really bad from happening.”
“It’s lunch time. I can smell the onions. I’m going to the dining room.”
He wheeled his chair forward, managed to ease it past the bed and wall, and then maneuvered it through the doorway.
“For a blind guy, he navigates pretty well,” said Jamison.
“He’s obviously not going to talk,” said Decker.
Jamison said, “I’m surprised they haven’t come here and killed him, too. I mean, look at poor Beverly Purdy.”
“If Irene Cramer never gave him up, they probably would have no way of knowing.”
“But if they followed us here? And found out we asked him questions? That’s probably how Beverly Purdy died.”
“Good point, Alex. I’ll have some security put here to guard against that.”
He got up to leave but then glanced at the nightstand. He picked up Daniels’s ballcap.
Jamison joined him. “Shows the unit in the Air Force he was assigned to,” she said. “Lots of veterans have them.”
“Right, but that’s not all.” Decker pointed to a series of metal pins that were attached to the hat. “Look at these.”
“Places where he worked. Sort of like merit badges he earned,” observed Jamison.
Decker ran his eye over all of them, until they held on one.
He shoved the hat into his pocket. “Let’s get out of here before Daniels comes back and notices his hat is missing.”
“He said he can’t see.”
“He said a lot of things. I don’t believe any of them.”
“So what’s with the hat?”
“A clue. Maybe a really big one.”
“USACC,” SAID DECKER.
They were driving back to London from the nursing home. Decker was holding the hat and looking at the pins. One in particular had drawn his focus.
“USACC? What does that stand for?”
Decker took out his phone and searched for the meaning. “United States Army Chemical Corps,” he said.
“But Daniels was Air Force, not Army.”
“He still has the pin. And that’s not all.” He unclipped several of the pins from the hat and held them up. “Beale Air Force Base, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Camp Detrick, Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Some of them are Army, some Air Force. And Camp Detrick is in Maryland and now it’s Fort Detrick.”
“So he spent time at all of them?”
“Apparently enough time to earn a pin.”
“What do they do at those places?”
“The question is what did they do when Daniels was in the military.” He paused. “And there’s something else. From his service record, I learned that Purdy spent time at Beale and Rocky Mountain Arsenal.”
“Okay, that’s a definite connection.”
“And that’s not all. The printed pages we found in his closet of the military facilities? They’re all places that Daniels has pins from.”
“I would definitely call that a big clue,” replied Jamison.
She saw Decker glancing in the side mirror. She did the same in the rearview. “I don’t see anybody back there,” she said.
“I was just checking, after last time.”
They arrived back in London. Decker and Jamison went immediately to her