Shadows of the Past (SEAL Brotherhood: Shadow Team #1)

Chapter Five

D imitri was ten minutes early. He chose the middle bench he’d seen the day before and took up temporary residence there.

Jordan Taliaferro arrived on time, looking like he’d slept in the same clothes he was wearing yesterday. The way he darted glances to the sides, behind him, and squinted ahead of him convinced Dimitri he was nervous.

That danger thing was going on again.

There were runners and owners with their dogs, since it was Saturday. The extra population gave Dimitri some comfort, but not much.

He had the cards in his jacket pocket but wasn’t sure he was going to show the journalist. And that was another thing. He needed to know more about him this time.

“Where did you go to school?”

“I grew up in Oregon. Started working at the school paper then migrated to the radical rag downtown Portland. Good for learning how to interview people, but bad for my gut. Felt like I was conspiring to overthrow the government.”

That was funny. And a great answer.

“Where did you meet Moira?”

“Oh gosh, maybe five years ago now? We met in San Francisco at a reporter’s convention. They had some great speakers lined up, including the disgraced FBI director—not the current one, the one who was keeping the mistress on the side.”

“Somes. John Somes. He was a piece of work. I met him once too,” said Dimitri.

“Wasn’t he before your time with State?”

“Yes, but he was in a group my Team was security for in Africa. Some senators, big wigs from the former administration.”

“That’s curious he’d be in Africa. FBI?”

“Probably the one bringing the cash.” Dimitri knew the kid would have a reaction to that.

“You actually saw that?”

“What? I didn’t see anything!” he teased. “I don’t focus on counting the rugs and the dollars if you get my drift. I’m more concerned about loss of life, not having the embarrassment of a bunch of important people die on my watch. That was my focus.”

“I like your comment about the carpets. Can I steal it?”

“Not if it’s about me. Not even if I’m a confidential source. No way no how. In private conversation, sure, it’s okay.”

“So, back to Moira… We sat beside each other. She was working on a story about corruption in the government and in some of the governments overseas, some of our allies. I guess, back then, you could call her a carpet counter.”

That was another new piece of news. That wasn’t the Moira he knew. But did he ever give her a chance, really? Did he even ask about it? She always asked him lots of questions, but did he ever show interest in what she was working on?

His answer to himself was a sad no.

“So you stayed in touch. Moira is like that,” Dimitri said.

“We talked quite a bit during those four days. Then she flew off to Europe or some place. She had assignments everywhere. I was most envious. I told her to keep my number and if she ever had too much on her plate to let me know.”

“You ever talk politics?”

“Nope. It wasn’t the politics either of us were interested in. It was what these guys did with it, what they were doing to the country. How they wielded their power.”

“So she was after specific people?”

“Kind of. Back then, not quite sure, but later on, yes, definitely. She was focusing more on US-European relations and the stuff they talked about at Davos.”

“Didn’t know she attended.”

“Don’t know that she did. But she followed some of the people. She interviewed lots of drivers, restaurant waiters, and hotel managers. She didn’t interview any white whales.”

“What’s a white whale?” Dimitri asked.

“The Mr. Bigs of the world. The puppeteers. The guys with the bucks, itching to spend it and see their little pet projects grow. Fester, in my opinion.”

Dimitri agreed with him on that but didn’t want to reveal it yet.

They waited for a couple to walk by, slowly kissing, holding hands, other hands going inside jackets, giggles, and all sorts of sexual tension. Reminded him of the way he and Moira used to walk. That was new love, not old love. He sighed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jordan.

“Nothing. You have a girlfriend?”

“No.”

“Boyfriend?”

“No. I’m not gay.”

“Neither am I,” said Dimitri.

“Duh, I didn’t expect that since you were engaged to Moira.”

“Don’t be so sure. It happens. I’ve seen it all, trust me. So tell me how you got that photograph or how your friend was researching Moira’s sister.”

“After the incident, I thought I’d hear from her, even though she was supposedly dead and buried. You did that.”

“Didn’t kill her, but yes, I buried her in Italy after I got home from deployment.”

“I thought she was still alive. I couldn’t believe she’d been nabbed and then killed.”

“Thank you, SEAL Team 8.”

“The now Senator Goldberg. Nathan Goldberg.”

“Why were you researching her sister?”

“She was spotted afterwards. I searched papers online and found a picture of her and her parents. I knew Moira’s mother was from Capri. Nice little island off the Italian coast. Family had a hotel there, history going back a few hundred years. Her dad retired from owning a vineyard in Sonoma County and moved the family to Florence-area years ago, when Moira was just entering college. He actually started managing several smaller wineries, started doing that again. And within months, he started buying up property with his proceeds from his winery business sale in California.”

Dimitri tried to understand why this would be so controversial she couldn’t tell him. So he asked Jordan.

“Wonder why she never told me all this. I never met them.”

“Ah! I have an answer to that. Her dad got in trouble with the wrong sort of people over there. Moira was going to look into who they were and try to help her dad by getting dirt on some of his enemies.”

“And they were bigger than she thought.”

“Bingo. Like Cabinet-level Italian government officials, mafia perhaps. Bullies. The ones that give charity balls and donate to the church or widows and orphans funds. They name libraries after those people. So here the family was, ex-pats from California, trying to deal with officials and gangsters. Only her mom knows Italian. They have two children at home, her younger brother and sister. And it’s getting dangerous.”

“A bubble ready to burst.”

“Exactly. Being Americans, they believe in the court system, so they file a complaint, and that brings down the wrath of God. They were unceremoniously told if they valued the lives of their children, they’d withdraw the complaint, and so they did.”

“This was still five years ago?”

“Before San Francisco, so at least five. Until she came over that summer, they didn’t know there was a second daughter. She complained to the US Counsel’s office on behalf of her family, who had all their money tied up in ventures with unsavories who were squeezing them.”

“Were these people to be trusted?”

“The embassy? She thought so. But the family had to flee under the cover of darkness. A group of SEALs attached to the embassy security detail helped rescue them. The family relocated, had to leave everything behind, as part of the negotiated agreement. The family could be protected but couldn’t leave Italy. Moira was sent back to the US and went back with the SEAL Team who rescued them.”

This was the part Dimitri was sure he wasn’t going to like. Just the thought of Moira with a small platoon of SEALs, traveling together on a long flight home, was disturbing. She’d even confessed to him early in their fledgling relationship she always wanted to embed with the SEALs. She got part of her wish. She must have been higher than a kite with joy and took her guard down.

“She made friends and allies. One of them was then-Lieutenant Nathan Goldberg.”

He could have just stood up and walked away. But he remembered the cards, and he wouldn’t be able to do that, even if his fears were substantiated.

“She looked me up and asked for my help. Filled me in with all the details of what had been going on with her life. At the time, she was having a relationship with Goldberg. Not sure you knew that.”

“No, I didn’t. But I’m not surprised. He’s very handsome, always on the upward move, hangs around a lot of the Mr. Bigs. He was a legend. That gives more reason he was tasked with the botched rescue—the second one where everyone was killed. Probably asked for it.”

“And it ruined his career, but it turned out to be just a minor setback.”

“Losing all the hostages is called a setback now?” Dimitri asked. “Really? Not the way the SEAL Teams thought of it. He was sort of persona non grata. Not just because she was my fiancée, and you know the community doesn’t like others messing with our women, but for his cockiness, attitude, and excuses. We all saw him on TV, and he came across like one of those lizard-people from that Sci-Fi series that ate live mice. Can’t remember it.”

“Not into sci-fi. But, sir, from your perspective, I completely understand.”

“Yeah, since I was the one who put that ring on her finger not more than six months before she left. He was going over to rescue my fiancée, and I was never told he’d been involved with her before I came back into the picture. What am I missing, Jordan? Was I just stupid or didn’t ask enough questions while I was loving the Hell out of being her other half?”

“After he helped move them, he was working with the Embassy to help her get justice for her father and permanent safety for her siblings. The Italian government wouldn’t let them leave, even though they were U.S. citizens.”

“Which means they went too deep. Our government was pressured to close the door on them.”

“Exactly. They were in it too far. But Moira thought she could help. And then she found out the truth about Goldberg. He had connections in Italy, the same connections who were making Moira’s family miserable. He’d worked out a deal to get the sister and brother rescued, but her parents were doomed to a life of house arrest. Not prison, he reasoned, but they wouldn’t be allowed to leave. He tried to convince her it was the best he could do. And she broke up with him.”

“So that put her in danger too.”

“Yes, it did. She was still working out a way to get them all out, working with State Department officials in San Diego, people who worked with immigration issues, people more on her side and not the clowns in this town.”

“But that’s when she came back into my life.”

“Met you at a bonfire on the beach.”

“I remember that night. She came with someone else.”

“And went home with you. I know the story well. Not as well as you, I suppose,” he said as he blushed and peered at the tabletop.

“It was a rekindled romance. Old girlfriend. We knew each other from before. She knew my parents. I moved fast to close ranks around her this time, though, not wanting her to disappear again. This explains some of why I didn’t ask too many questions.”

“And then you were getting married. But an opportunity developed, and she had to go over one more time to finalize the details. I told her not to go. I told her to tell you about it, but she insisted she wanted this to be done in secret. She said she didn’t want to harm your career. She wanted to marry you with all her baggage swept away forever.”

“Still, she should have told me.”

“I agree. And funny this would come up while you were deployed, right?”

“I’ve thought the same thing.”

“Probably not an accident. So when the news hit that she’d been killed, I sat on all the stuff we’d dug up on these guys, things she’d forwarded to me. At first, when I didn’t hear anything, I kept pouring over all our research, following up on every lead we had, and everything was a dead end. Then, a few months later, I started getting anonymous emails, dumping information that I’ve since kept safely stored, about things we’d been working on. I got a buddy to identify where the emails were coming from, and her sister’s name, Lauren, came up. Not Moira, but Lauren. So I started looking for her. I thought perhaps Lauren was now doing Moira’s work.”

“And that’s how you found the both of them.”

“That’s about it.”

Dimitri studied Jordan out of the corner of his eye. He was a very unlikely ally. But what he may have lacked in tactical skill, he more than made up with loyalty. No one could bet the farm on him, but in a limited capacity, he could be useful. And he had the timeline locked into his memory. It was like getting a five-year advance planning team in place before the op—always a good idea but seldom available to him.

Jordan began again. “I want to help you bring her back. I’ll do anything you want. I’ve got this Italian source, a man we started working with before she left the last time. I know he can be trusted. I didn’t tell him Moira might be alive. He found that on his own.”

“Was the rescue staged?” Dimitri asked.

“No. They killed an Italian Civil Guard. It was a serious operation, and an Italian family was indeed killed, the farm burned to the ground, no survivors. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know if Goldberg knows she’s alive or where she’s living. He nearly got booted over the incident, if you’ll recall.”

“He should have been.”

“Look, Dimitri, I’ve tried to be very careful. You’re the first person I’ve revealed this to, and I don’t want to go much outside the two of us.”

“But you can’t do this sort of mission without a Team.”

“And that’s why it has to be you that leads it, Dimitri. You have to vet the guys and build the team.”

“Why hasn’t she contacted me?” he said slyly. “Why not ask me herself?” He was fishing for honesty. Giving him a hook with bait.

“They’re in hiding.”

“Except you found her. That means anyone else can as well.”

“Which is why we don’t have much time left.”

“So does she know I’m coming?”

“No, but she said you would trust me and that I could trust you with the truth. She told me that before she left. She also said I wasn’t to believe anyone if someone told me she was dead. So whether it was a set-up gone bad or a planned operation to get them to safety, she’s alive. And she meant for me to get you involved. And yes, I’m surprised she hasn’t tried to reach out.”

“But you know she has.”

“Pardon?”

“Didn’t you plant these in the mail at State?”

He could see Jordan was flustered for an answer. He shrugged, resigned to the fact he’d been found out.

“I did it for her.”

Dimitri pulled out the notes.

“Did you ever read these?”

“No. I just slipped them into your mailroom. It was rather easy. A week apart. She said it was her last chance for survival. That we all could count on you.”

Slicing through all the little factoids he still didn’t have figured out was the truth.

He’d do anything to find her and have one more chance at redemption. He wasn’t sure even he would survive if he didn’t do that.