True Patriots by Russell Fralich

Author:Russell Fralich [Fralich, Russell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2020-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

THIRTY-SIX

POWERED BY TWO STRONG COFFEES, Claire strode into a room buzzing with overlapping conversations, chirping cellphones, and keyboards being tapped. An array of large TV screens covered one wall. The operations room in CFB Halifax was full of activity. It was the nexus of the effort to track down the smugglers, whoever they were. She recognized multiple uniforms: navy, of course — but also Halifax Police and RCMP. She was also the only woman in the room.

Her phone buzzed. She turned it off without checking to see who had texted or when.

A civilian stood beside Captain Hall.

“Sir,” she said, saluting, “you wanted to speak with me?”

Hall turned, returned the salute. “This is Cliff Whitby. Detective Inspector. RCMP.” Whitby, dressed in a grey uniform, looked like a retired park warden with dark secrets behind his eyes. Claire thought of Deliverance, which she had seen in film class.

Whitby smiled. “I’ve heard a lot about your encounter, Lieutenant Commander.”

Hall seemed to be waiting for her to respond. When she didn’t say anything, he continued. “I want you to sit in on the briefing. We’re coordinating all of the information we can gather, and then we’ll decide what our next step should be.”

She followed the two men to a separate room with glass walls. There was a long table with eight chairs, a projector on one wall, and a whiteboard on the other. Two seats were already taken. Hall and Whitby took places next to each other. She sat opposite Hall, feeling that, although she was the most junior, she was the one everyone most wanted to talk to.

Hall called the meeting to order. “Thank you for coming at such short notice. Let’s begin with a round-the-table update. I’ve asked the captain of the Kingston to join us to answer any questions you might have.” He motioned to Claire. “Lieutenant Commander Marcoux.”

Nods all around, but no one said anything.

Hall grabbed a marker and started writing on the whiteboard. “Let’s summarize what we know so far. The Atlantic Mariner is seen leaving Boston early Sunday morning. It’s identified by a coastal patrol flight from Greenwood Monday evening. It doesn’t respond to radio requests. The Kingston encounters it. It fires on a search-and-rescue helicopter. The Kingston is forced to sink her.” Hall glanced at Claire. “No debris was recovered. That’s what the navy knows. Cliff?”

Whitby stood and watched Claire as he spoke. She didn’t like the way his eyes bored down on her, a suggestion of violence behind the stare. “The FBI sent us what they know. The ship was owned by a shell company listed in Barbados. IRS can link the account to a former Blackwater operator who’s serving ten years for manslaughter. He was a private military contractor who killed a local family while on duty in Iraq. He disappeared after that. But the account is still active. We think it belongs to someone higher up in the company. Probably used it to cover operational expenses. It suggests there’s an operation underway right now. But we don’t know for whom.

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