Patriot Lies (Jack Widow Book 14) Read online

  At his birth, Widow had been a Southern gentleman by definition of where he was born. So, it didn’t bother him to play along. He took her hand and kissed it.

  He said, “Nice to meet you, Sheila.”

  “Nice to meet you too, Jack.”

  “Call me Widow, Sheila. No one calls me Jack.”

  “Oh, that’s unique. Is that a sailor thing?”

  “It’s just always been that way. Started with my momma and continues to this day.”

  “I appreciate that, Widow. Are you and your momma close?”

  “We were, once. She’s dead now, ma’am.”

  Shore caught that Widow said ma’am, but she didn’t correct him. Gray smiled at him. She saw what he’d done.

  Gray said, “Can we come in, Sheila? We’re not interrupting?”

  Shore stepped back and left the door open.

  “No. No. Come in.”

  Shore walked into a huge open-concept house. Everything was island themed and colorful and calming and vibrant. She led them into a living room with a huge fireplace with colorful tiles going from the mantle all the way up to the ceiling.

  She sat in a comfortable sofa and invited them to join her. Gray sat across from her in a lounger. Widow was about to sit on the opposite sofa, but Shore put a hand down on the sofa next to her.

  “Sit here, Mr. Widow. Don’t be so far away.”

  Widow stared at her for a second and then joined her on the sofa.

  The shirtless man reappeared from another room, only this time he had put on a shirt. It was a Hawaiian shirt. Most of the buttons were undone, and the shirt was open.

  Widow got a good look at the guy. He was twenty-five at best. The guy entered the room with a tray in one hand that had two more martinis on it. He set the martinis on a coffee table in front of both Gray and Widow.

  Shore said, “Guys, this is Manuel. He works for me. Those drinks are for you. Drink up, please.”

  Neither Widow nor Gray touched the drinks, but they both thanked her for them.

  Shore asked why they were there, and they told her, some of it. They left out the gory details and just gave her the basics. The dead man in the park and the money. They mentioned Frost.

  Shore drank the rest of her martini and told them that she was a single mother and had raised Dwayne on her own. She told them stories about Dwayne and the first day he came out of the closet to her. She told them about Henry Cho. She claimed Dwayne loved Cho and never would’ve done the things the NCIS claimed he did. She got upset, and she cried a little. Then she perked up when she mentioned Frost. She said he was the only guy to believe her.

  Gray and Widow stayed with her for an hour, listening to stories about her son. Like Jessica Cho, she also showed them photographs of her son doing things and being happy.

  At the end of the conversation, Widow asked, “Sheila, do you mind if I ask what you do for a living?”

  Sheila wiped tears from her face and said, “I paint. But that’s really more of a hobby. Are you asking how I can afford all this?”

  Widow nodded.

  Shore said, “This is a gift from Dwayne.”

  Gray said, “He left you this house?”

  “No. He left behind a large sum of money in a trust for me. I guess it was some kind of insurance policy he bought.”

  Widow asked, “Insurance policy?”

  “Yeah, in case he died. He loved his mother.”

  Gray said, “I’m sorry, Sheila, but I still don’t understand.”

  Shore said, “After Dwayne died, one day this lawyer contacted me. He said there was a large sum of money in a trust that was paid out by an anonymous donor who claimed to have sold Dwayne a life insurance policy.”

  Gray said, “I don’t think that’s how life insurance works.”

  Widow asked, “What’s the lawyer’s name?”

  Shore called out, “Manuel?”

  Manuel came walking out of the kitchen.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Fetch me the name of that lawyer, please. It’s in the top drawer in my study.”

  Manuel nodded and vanished back down a hallway. A few minutes later, he came out with a business card. He gave it to her and then she handed it to Gray, who took out her phone and took a picture of it. Then she showed it to Widow.

  The name on the card read: Sean Galt.

  Widow didn’t recognize the name but was surprised by it. He half expected it to say Michael Aker.

  He handed the card back to Shore, who laid it on the coffee table.

  She said, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  Gray stood up and said, “No. The NCIS thanks you for your cooperation.”

  Shore nodded and also stood up. She eyeballed Widow as he stood. Then she led them out of the house back to their car and said one last thing.

  She said, “If you find out something that exonerates my son, let me know. Please.”

  Widow said, “If we find something, we will do that.”

  They got back into the rented car, drove out to the street, and headed back to Honolulu to find a hotel for the night.

  On the ride back, Gray said, “I think Frost might be right. What do you think?”

  “I don’t think her son killed Cho.”

  “And what was that about an anonymous donation to her?”

  “I think I know where it’s from.”

  Gray shot him that sideways glance again.

  She asked, “From where?”

  “Eggers.”

  “How? Why?”

  “Think about it. He hired a lawyer to watch over his estate. To make sure his daughter inherits fifty million dollars that he owns. Why not hire other lawyers to provide donations to Sheila Shore and the Chos?”

  Gray said, “They did say that they got a bunch of money from Henry’s death!”

  “It’s from Eggers. Has to be. He definitely had the money.”

  “But why?”

  Widow looked out the window at the last of the daylight before it vanished over the trees and the mountains.

  He said, “What’s the one thing that can drive a man, worth millions, to live like a homeless person, to eat garbage, to sleep on park benches, to give up a thriving military career? What would cause a man to do that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Think about it, Sonya,” Widow said. He turned in the car seat to face her. “Why would a decorated war hero, like Eggers, let his life fall into desolation the way he did? Even though he was a multimillionaire? Why would he do that? Why would he donate millions of dollars secretly to the families of two dead sailors from twenty years ago?”

  Gray stared straight ahead in silence for a long moment. She turned the wheel once to merge with traffic on a busy highway that headed back to Honolulu.

  Finally, she said, “I don’t know. What?”

  “Guilt.”

  “Guilt?”

  “Yes. Eggers knew something. He knew that Shore didn’t murder Cho. He must’ve. Maybe he saw something or heard something. Maybe he even participated in it.”

  “You think he killed Cho?”

  Widow shrugged and said, “I don’t know. But he might’ve been a part of it.”

  “When we get back to the hotel, I’m going to call Cameron. See if NCIS will reopen the investigation.”

  “Good idea. But wait on that. Let’s wait to see where we end up.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. Hold off until we know more of what we have here,” Widow said. He turned to the backseat. He fished into their shopping bags and through his old clothes and pulled out the phone that Aker had given him. He dialed Aker’s number.

  The phone sounded four long rings before someone picked up.

  “Hello,” Aker said.

  “Aker, it’s Widow. How are you? Are the girls okay?”

  “Yes! Thank you for getting them back to us! We decided to stay with the guards. Armed guards are better than no armed guards. We’ve been relocated to…�
�

  Widow interrupted him.

  “No! Don’t tell me where. Best that I don’t know.”

  “Okay.”

  “How’s Tunney?”

  “He’s still the same. His wife is with him day and night at the hospital.”

  “Okay.”

  “What’s your question?”

  “You know anything about trusts being set up and paid out to two families called Shore and Cho?”

  “Trust? From who?”

  “Eggers.”

  “Oh. No, I’m not aware of that.”

  “Were you Eggers’ only lawyer?”

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  “Do you know the name of the other lawyer?”

  “Hold on a second. I have it on my phone.”

  Aker went quiet for a minute. Then he came back on the line.

  “Widow, Eggers did have another law firm on retainer. His lawyer’s name there was Galt—Sean Galt. But I don’t know him. I have no idea what kind of lawyer he is.”

  Widow said the name out loud so Gray would hear it.

  “Sean Galt. Got it. Aker, do me a favor and contact him. Find out about Eggers and the Chos and Shore. We just need confirmations.”

  “Sure thing.”

  “Okay. Just text me here. I gotta go.”

  Widow hung up the phone and didn’t wait for a goodbye.

  Gray said, “Galt is Eggers’ other attorney. You have to be right.”

  “I know.”

  “We should book a flight home.”

  “Not for today. Let’s get a hotel and go out tonight. ”

  Gray looked at Widow and smiled.

  “Okay.”

  On the drive back to Honolulu, Gray’s phone buzzed from a text message. She opened it and glanced at it. She handed it to Widow. He took the phone and started to read through the text message.

  She said, “It’s from Cameron.”

  “It’s the report on her findings about Nick Gaden,” Widow said as he scrolled. He came to the bottom and found a link.

  Gray saw him studying the link.

  She said, “Just click the link, Widow. It’ll take you to Unit Ten’s secure servers. Cameron doesn’t send out sensitive information across unsecured text messages.”

  “Oh. Right. Makes sense,” he said. He clicked the link. It led him to another site. He opened it and waited for it to load.

  “Well, what is it?”

  “It’s a workup on several guys. It looks like all military records. The first is Nick Gaden. And there’s a photo.”

  He reached the phone over and showed it to Gray. She glanced at it and then back at the road ahead.

  She said, “Don’t recognize him.”

  “Me neither. But it says here that Gaden was a SEAL. Decorated too.”

  “What are the years he was active?”

  “Looks like he was in twenty-five years, but he retired five years ago.”

  “What’s he doing now?”

  “No clue. The Navy doesn’t record stuff you do after you’re gone.”

  “True. What else?”

  “A lot of confirmed kills on his record.”

  “How many?”

  Widow said, “A lot.”

  “Was he a sniper?”

  “Yes. A damn good one too. And he retired as a one-star admiral.”

  “He retired? That’s when you start making the big bucks. Why would he retire?”

  Widow shrugged and continued reading.

  “No clue. Basically, his record is spotless. Lots of citations and medals. He’s even got a letter of accommodation from the secretary of the Navy in here.”

  “Jesus. I wonder what got Frost onto him? See any connection to Cho or Eggers?”

  “No. Nothing. No signs they even met. The only connection is the Navy.”

  Gray said, “And the SEALs. That might mean something. There are only so many SEALs.”

  “Twenty-seven hundred active duty, last I was on the team.”

  “What else?”

  “Nothing more on Gaden. There are some other names here I don’t recognize.”

  Widow scrolled on and stopped dead on a face he did recognize.

  Gray said, “Widow? What is it?”

  Widow said, “That’s him. That’s the BAM guy.”

  “Let me see.”

  Widow flashed the phone screen at Gray, who took her eyes off the road for a second and looked at the photo.

  She said, “I’ve never seen him before.”

  Widow looked back at the phone, and Gray watched the road.

  Widow said, “Chris Fallow. He’s younger than Eggers and Gaden. He’s forty-five. But he served under Gaden before Gaden retired ten years ago.”

  Gray said, “Seems they stayed in touch if Gaden is the man behind it all.”

  Widow went on to read about both Fallow and Gaden. They had multiple medals between them, multiple service commendations, multiple tours overseas, and multiple promotions. They were rock stars with rock star Navy records.

  Gray asked, “What about the guy you killed in Greensboro?”

  Widow scrolled through the file and found an attachment at the end. On it, he found a photo of fingerprints and a photo of the bald guy who attacked him.

  He read it aloud.

  “Milo Sathers. He wasn’t Navy. He was Army. Green Beret. He’s also got a bunch of medals and service commendations.”

  “Green Berets are tough.”

  “So are we,” Widow said. He scrolled back to a photo of Fallow. He stared at it and clenched his fist. Then he turned and stared out the window.

  Forty-Seven

  Widow and Gray found a hotel on Kalakaua Avenue, not far from Waikiki Beach. They checked into the hotel, parked the car in a parking garage, and went out for some dinner in their newly bought NCIS-appropriate clothes. Widow took the jacket since it was getting breezy and chilly outside.

  They walked down to the beach, side by side, but not hand in hand the whole way. They found a beach bar with tiki torches and tiki wall masks of gods and goddesses with names of Hoaloha and Lono and Pele and Hina and Kuula. There were hula dancers in grass skirts, and they were both given leis to wear around their necks when they entered.

  They sat at the bar and ordered. Gray had some kind of local creation drink called the Islander, and Widow had a Budweiser from the tap.

  They ordered food and drank and ate and enjoyed each other’s company. They began with going over the files, talking more about Gaden and Fallow, and learning all they could about them. They racked their brains to find the connection to Eggers, to the money.

  That lasted through the early part of the evening, but that night, they switched gears and enjoyed their night on a Hawaiian beach. After the bar, they walked the shoreline and listened to the waves, the seabirds, and the sounds of the ocean.

  They talked. Widow learned more about Gray than he had expected. She was more than just a beautiful NCIS agent and a colleague. She was a beautiful person: smart, funny, deep, and full of compassion.

  Around nine at night, they were standing alone on the sand, five meters from the water. The moon was full. The sky was part cloudy with soft, slow-moving clouds, and filled with stars.

  Widow thought of kissing Gray. In fact, it was the only thing he thought of. He waited for the right moment. When it finally came, the bald guy’s phone rang in his pocket.

  Gray looked at him with disappointment in her eyes. She, too, was hoping for a kiss.

  “Who is it?” she asked.

  Widow looked at the caller ID, clicked the answer button, and put the phone on speaker.

  A male voice said, “Milo, where the hell have you been?”

  Widow said, “Is this Chris Fallow?”

  Silence.

  “Jack Widow. I told you what would happen if you didn’t drop it.”

  “What’re you going to do?”

  “I’m going to kill those girls!”

  “No. You’re not.”

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sp; Silence. No response.

  Widow said, “I’ll tell you what you’re going to do. You’re going to get off the phone and call your boss, the guy who’s actually in charge. And you’re going to tell him that I’m coming for him. I’m coming for you both.”

  Gray leaned into Widow and whispered.

  “What are you doing?”

  Fallow’s voice fumed. He sounded angry.

  He said, “I’m going to find those little girls and tear them limb from limb! You think I won’t do it? We’ve done it before! I’ve killed before! Men! Women! Children! We’ve killed kids in Iraq! It doesn’t bother me! We don’t give a shit about you or them! I’m going to do the same to everyone you ever cared about!”

  “You’ve killed kids? You shouldn’t have told me that. You’re going to regret telling me that. I’m going to find you!”

  “You’re not going to have the chance! I’m going to find you and that pretty agent you’ve been canoodling with. And you know what I’m going to do?”

  Widow stayed quiet.

  Fallow said, “I’m going to kill you both! But first, I’m going to take my time with her! Think I’ll get to know her real well! Make you watch! How do you like that!”

  Widow looked at the phone and picked it up, reared back, and threw it into the ocean. It was swallowed up by the waves.

  Gray shouted, “Widow! Why did you do that?”

  “It doesn’t matter at this point. You already doubled security on the Akers, and moved them to an undisclosed location. Tunney had more security on him. He was going to find out Sathers is dead no matter what. It makes no difference, now.”

  “But why did you throw the phone? Might be evidence on it.”

  “Might be a GPS tracker in it, like the one they gave me.”

  She nodded and asked, “So what now?”

  Widow stepped in close to her. He fanned his hand out across her waist, over her hips. He did the same with the other hand. He grabbed onto her by the waist and pulled her in close.

  She whispered, “Widow? I’m not sure we should.”

  “We definitely should!” he whispered back.

  “But, we’re partners.”

  “Not officially. Officially, we’re two people on a Hawaiian beach at night, under a full moon.”