She smiled. “About as well as you are.”
Dutch looked across the table at Burns, who motioned with his head for them to join him when he stood.
With all the commotion, it didn’t appear that anyone saw the three of them leave the room.
“It’s a beautiful day. Would you mind if we talked in the courtyard?”
Dutch put his hand on the small of Malin’s back as they followed Burns outside.
—:—
“I won’t be joining you this afternoon, so I wanted to have our chat before the rest of your team arrived.”
Malin nodded. “Yes, sir.”
“While I don’t know the details of your mission, I do have some insight to the workings of the agency before either of you were born, let alone worked there. Do you mind?” he asked, tapping his pipe on a stone and pulling a pouch of tobacco from his pocket.
“Please go ahead,” Malin answered.
“Terrible habit,” said Burns as he brought the pipe to his lips and lit it. “I’ll get right to it,” he said, and Malin nodded.
“I’ve known Ed Montgomery longer than I would like to have,” he began.
“I concur,” said Malin. The truth was, the man made her skin crawl.
“You probably wonder what he’s still doing there.”
“At times I have.”
“Monty is very well-connected in Washington. I’ve seen many directors come and go over the years, all determined to cut him loose. However, when each one left, he stayed.”
“Who is he connected to?” asked Dutch.
“While most of the old guard have died off, there are a couple of hangers-on in Congress who still control too much of the power in our nation’s capital.”
Malin knew exactly who Burns was talking about, and assumed Dutch did too.
“You are familiar, I’m sure, with the secret society known as Skull and Bones.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And you are aware of the connections from each branch of our government to the society?”
“Some,” she answered. “The president, for example.”
“There are also members who are in both the House and the Senate as well as sitting on the Supreme Court.”
“Is Montgomery a member?” asked Dutch.
“No, but both his father and grandfather were.”
“As were the president’s,” Malin added.
“Exactly,” murmured Burns. “As well as more than one former Director of the CIA.”
“I hadn’t heard about Montgomery’s connection,” said Malin, not that she’d thought much about it until Burns brought up the secret society.
“Few do,” said Burns. “His father, Prescott Edmund Montgomery, Jr., was convicted of murder shortly before his son joined the agency. Many say the man took the fall for the crimes of another.”