King and Maxwell (Sean King & Michelle Maxwell 6)

“And she’s disappeared too,” said Sean.

“Right,” interjected South. “Maybe they’re on the Riviera right now enjoying the fruits of their theft.”

“So you think they were in on it together?”

“Why not? They had a year to plan it. A billion euros sets them up for life.”

“I might agree with you but for one thing,” said Sean.

“What’s that?” asked South.

“Tyler Wingo.”

Michelle added, “We don’t think he would ever abandon his son. By all accounts they were incredibly close.”

South shrugged. “Maybe he plans to come back for the kid.”

“So that also makes his son an accessory after the fact. A fleeing felon at age sixteen,” said Michelle.

“That much money will make people do strange things,” replied South.

“We understand that the money was intended for certain Muslim freedom fighters to use to purchase weapons. Is that true?” asked Sean.

South and Marshall exchanged nervous glances.

“Is that a yes?” asked Michelle.

Marshall cleared his throat. “It’s not untrue.”

“Good, because that’s what the president told us,” added Michelle.

“So why ask us?” South groused.

“Just making sure everyone’s on the same page,” said Michelle.

“So a mess for the White House?” said Sean.

“Not just the White House,” said Marshall. “Technically, such funds are not to be conveyed in that manner. So we’re all in the same boat. I doubt whether Congress will take a scalpel to this.”

“More like a meat cleaver,” said South.

“So you mean technically it might be illegal?” said Michelle.

“That argument could be made,” said Marshall. “The freedom fighters may be fighting against a regime that is not our ally. But it’s not as though most of those rebels are knights in shining armor.”

“Many of them want to bring sharia law to prominence in the secularized Arab countries,” added South. “And in the countries that already have sharia law they could still be as bad as or worse than the regimes in power now. So it’s a shitty situation all the way around.”

“Like us supporting Osama bin Laden and the mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviets in the 1970s,” noted Sean. “They later used the weapons we bought them against our troops.”

“Geopolitics is not and never will be an exact science,” noted South.

“Some might say common sense might be enough,” said Michelle.

“Well, they’d be wrong, wouldn’t they?” snapped South.

“So your career will take a hit over this, right?” said Sean, staring at him.

South’s face turned red. “I’m more concerned about making this right than whether my next promotion will come through.”