Ambush (Michael Bennett 11)

Then Santos said, “Last year a former Russian security agent said hawqala before he charged a speaker at a meeting of businessmen in Chechnya. He managed to kill the mayor and a deputy with a hand grenade. The mayor was opposed to Russian influence in Chechnya. That attacker survived four bullets by security. He said he’d been told to do it. He regretted it. He also said the reason he shouted hawqala was because he heard it would show he wasn’t a monster. It’s a weird situation. The military and some law enforcement types know the phrase. This is the first time it’s been used outside the former Soviet Union. It might be the wave of the future.”

That all started to make sense with what I had just learned in New Jersey. Now I had to find a way to tell them I’d been working on my own.

I looked at Darya and realized I wasn’t built for keeping secrets. I just started to talk. “I’ve developed some information I want to discuss with the two of you.”

Neither of them offered any encouragement so I kept going.

“I got a tip that Temir Marat had family that lived in Newark.”

Darya said, “Right here in the US.”

I nodded.

Santos said, “Did you put the lead into the system?”

“Not yet.” I paused, but I could have been just as easily yelling, I ignored you and went out on my own. Instead, I said, “I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a prank.”

Santos calmly said, “I’m listening.”

“So to ensure the information was good, I took a ride across the river.”

Santos glared at me and raised his voice. “What?”

It was about as emotional as I had seen an FBI agent.

Santos said, “Was there something not clear about your place in this task force and how the investigation was going to be conducted?”

I shook my head. “All I can say is that it was not a prank. Marat’s aunt and uncle moved here years ago and are still in touch with their nephew.”

Now Santos slipped into the chair next to me and said, “Tell me everything they said.”

“Oh, so I can’t break the rules unless I find out something important?”

“No, but this case is bigger than politics.”

I ran down the information I had gathered from Konstantin and Vera Nislev.

Both Darya and Santos took notes with interest.

Finally, when I had come clean and told them everything, Dan Santos looked at me and said, “This is good stuff. Now collect your shit and hit the road.”

I stared at him for a moment. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s a privilege to work on a case like this, on a task force like this. We all have certain procedures and everyone was briefed. Yet you are the only one who decided to go out on his own.”

Darya started to come to my defense and I was afraid she was going to mention our earlier interviews. I held up a hand to stop her. I knew when a decision had been made. It didn’t matter why it was made.

Without saying a word or acting like a spoiled brat, I picked up my notebook and a few other things I needed and strolled out of the task force with my head held high.

Chapter 23

THAT EVENING, I sat on the couch after dinner and doodled on a pad, making a few notes and my own version of a chart that showed the connection between everyone in the case.

The only call to the NYPD I had made since I left the FBI was to my lieutenant, Harry Grissom. I told him exactly what had happened, what I had found out, and that I had been told to leave. His response was pure Harry.

Grissom said, “On the bright side, at least you weren’t kicked off the task force for stealing something.”

I gave him half a chuckle