“You must have some kind of theory,” he said.
Malin nodded with a faraway look in her eyes.
“But you aren’t ready to tell me what it is.”
“I can’t prove it. I can’t prove anything other than money came in and then went back out again.”
“Your guy at DHS doesn’t have anything else for you?”
Malin took a deep breath, and her eyes filled with tears. “My guy at DHS is dead, Dutch.”
10
“We need to talk to Doc now, Malin.”
“We do.”
“Where is Ghafor?” Dutch asked when Doc answered his call.
“Not far from here.”
“Malin is suggesting you pull Striker.”
“I figured that was coming, but my guess is he knows more than she thinks he does.”
“What makes you say that?”
“It’s a hunch,” said Doc, “but he got wind of some stuff going on that didn’t sit right with him. That’s when he contacted us.”
“Rather than pursuing it?”
“That’s right.”
“Shit,” Dutch muttered after ending his call with Doc. Whatever the hell Malin had been investigating was big enough for Striker to leave the CIA for.
“What did he say?”
“Ghafor is in California.”
“And?”
“If you’re sure you want to do this, we can leave tomorrow.”
“What about Striker?”
“Doc believes that whatever the hell you’ve uncovered precipitated Striker leaving the CIA. Oh, and Ranger and Diesel are no longer with the agency either. They were given their marching orders when they got back from Somalia.”
“They must’ve been getting close.”
“Were they in on it?”
“They were connected.”
“To the DHS guy?”
Malin nodded, her eyes filling with tears again.
“Talk to me, baby.”