Afraid of the Dark - James Grippando [121]
Is that who Jack thought he was engaged to marry?
Andie hurried up the granite steps to the building’s after-hours entrance. The adrenaline was kicking in. From the very beginning, Black Ice had been an exhilarating mission: uncover the truth about the interrogation tactics used at black sites operated by Black Ice through its highly secretive subsidiary, Vortex Inc. The plan was to place an FBI agent in the role of an interrogator in training. And now the reason was clear why it had to be a female agent: Black Ice used female interrogators to berate and humiliate Muslim men in the name of “enhanced interrogation.”
Still, there was the question: Why her? Of all the female FBI agents who worked undercover, why did the bureau choose Miami agent Andie Henning? True, she was an experienced undercover agent who, over the years, had fooled everyone from cult leaders to Wall Street investment bankers. But she was no expert in counterterrorism. And that was beginning to bother her. Really bother her.
She stopped at the top of the steps before entering the building and dialed her supervisory agent.
“Harley, it’s me.”
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“Fine. Before I go back in, there’s just something I need to get off my chest.”
“What is it?”
Andie stepped closer to the building, away from the falling snow. “I’m in this role, and it’s my duty to see it through. But I’m not naïve about why I was chosen.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This is a broad investigation into private security firms. I don’t see it as coincidence that I’m investigating Black Ice.”
“Of course it’s no coincidence. There is a key role for a woman.”
The cold air made her sniffle. “Or is it a key role for Jack Swyteck’s fiancée?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know for sure yet. But my instinct tells me that I’m about to find out that I’m investigating the same black site in Prague that was at the heart of Jack’s alibi defense in the murder case against Jamal Wakefield.”
There was silence on the line. Andie took it the only way she could.
“I knew all along that Jack and I were playing on the same field,” she said. “But I can’t believe the bureau would put me in a position where my job would intersect with Jack’s like this.”
She heard his sigh on the line. “I’m sorry,” said Harley.
“It’s sleazy, at best,” she said.
“I agree,” said Harley. “I want you to know that I was just as surprised as you are.”
Andie paused. Something about the way he said it—something about Harley—made her believe him. “I’m still going to raise hell about it when this is all over.”
“Okay. But there’s something else I want you to know,” he said.
“What?”
“I’ll help you.”
“Thank you,” she said.
Andie ended the call and tucked her phone away. She brushed the snow off her shoulders, then slid her passkey through the electronic reader at the main entrance.
The door to Vortex Inc. opened. The security guard greeted her in the lobby.
“Welcome back, Ms. Horne.”
“What do you think, Leon?” she said as she shook the snow from her scarf. “Do we get extra points for working the night shift in a blizzard?”
“No, ma’am. But at least we’re not alone. Mr. Littleton still hasn’t gone home yet.”
“That’s good to know,” she said—and she meant it.
Chapter Sixty-five
Jamal’s video was short. Jack’s recovery time would be much longer. It was amazing how high a naked man could be made to jump from the table with a well-placed cattle prod. More than the image, however, it was the sound of Jamal’s screams that would stay with Jack.
“Okay,” said Jack, collecting himself. “If being Jamal Wakefield from Miami gets you this kind of treatment, I now have a better understanding of why he went to Gitmo pretending to be a Somali peasant who didn’t speak English.”
“Not to mention the fact that being Jamal Wakefield could land you on death row for a murder you didn’t commit,” said Chuck, who was still on speaker.
Shada shook her head. She hadn’t watched, but Jack