“Montgomery.”
—:—
Dutch recognized two things—the tone of Doc’s voice and the look on his face, and he didn’t like either.
“You’re going to bait him.”
Doc nodded. “That’s the plan we’ll be presenting to the team when we go back in.”
“Who?” Dutch asked, already knowing the answer.
“Malin would be the only logical choice.”
When Dutch stood, the chair he’d been sitting in almost hit the floor. If the wall behind him weren’t made of stone, he would’ve put his fist through it in an effort to stop himself from saying something he knew he’d regret. Instead, he paced. He couldn’t even look at Malin, knowing that what he’d see would be disappointment in his reaction.
“Why Montgomery specifically?” Dutch asked.
“I’ll answer if you don’t mind,” Copeland said, looking between Doc and McTiernan before turning to Malin.
“First, since Kellen didn’t tell you what I’m doing here, I want you to know that I’ve been tracking you since you arrived in Germany.”
Dutch looked at Malin, whose face paled.
“I was aware of your movement and of the intercepted conversations and made sure throughout no one else was, other than McTiernan.”
“You’re saying I wasn’t on my own quite as much as I believed I was.”
Copeland nodded.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
“What were you going to say about Montgomery?” Dutch asked, growing increasingly impatient.
“He’s the loosest of the cannons in an arsenal hierarchy that is…terrifying.”
Dutch wanted to take Copeland by the throat and tell him to stop talking in fucking metaphors and answer his damn question. Instead, he met Malin’s gaze and reined himself in.
“Malin,” said Doc. “The NSA has found evidence that Montgomery controlled the Super PAC. As you know, the money transfer was carefully timed.”
“The reporting deadline was after the election,” she murmured.
“That’s right. And the Super PAC was dissolved prior to that deadline as well.”
“Making it almost impossible to track the money going in or out.”
McTiernan spoke up. “If you hadn’t made the connection to Ghafor, and brought in Orlov, they would’ve gotten away with it.”
“With what?” she asked.
“We aren’t one hundred percent certain at this point, but whatever it is, has to do with the presidential election.”
“Do you have enough evidence to get the attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor?” asked Dutch.
“No. That’s where Montgomery comes in,” answered Doc. “He needs to believe that Malin does, and is about to act on it.”
Dutch knew that what Doc was proposing was part of Malin’s job. She’d been trained to handle situations like this one. In fact, what she’d accomplished in the last year required her to put herself in far more dangerous situations than this one. The difference now was, Dutch would be aware of it.
He had no business voicing his opinion, but then, he had no business being in this meeting. Doc never should’ve included him, and he shouldn’t have agreed.