Operation Hell Gate - Marc Cerasini [8]
"Excuse me, gentlemen." The door had opened without a knock. Jason Ridley, Chappelle's young, dapper assistant, escorted FBI Special Agent Frank Hensley into the conference room. With a polite nod, Ridley quickly departed. Chappelle rose to shake the man's hand. Bauer was already standing.
"Special Agent Hensley, your fame precedes you," said Ryan Chappelle. "I received a call from Dennis Spain, Chief of Staff to Senator William Cheever of New York. He mentioned you were coming."
"Senator Cheever has been keeping close tabs on the Arete case," Hensley replied.
"This is CTU Special Agent Jack Bauer. He commanded the assault team that apprehended your man."
Frank Hensley gazed at Bauer through close-set eyes that were so dark blue they were nearly black. Under thick brows and a shock of dark, slicked-back hair, Hensley's sneer appeared to be a permanent fixture on his face. The shape of his jaw, his thin lips, and aquiline nose were all slightly twisted, as if to better accommodate the man's perpetual scowl. As tall as Jack, Hensley was thinner, more compact under a perfectly tailored charcoal-gray suit and spotless white Egyptian cotton shirt, a tie of cornflower blue.
"Special Agent Hensley." Jack offered his hand.
Hensley clenched his hands into tight fists and rested them on his hips. "You're the guy who blew two years of sweat, blood, and hard work."
Jack lowered his arm. "I don't understand."
"I mean I put two years of work — nine months of it undercover — to gather enough evidence to indict Dante Arete. The case was almost made. We were ready to grab him in his Red Hook hangout, along with his associates, his cache of weapons, drugs..." Bristling now, Hensley slapped his fist into the palm of his hand. "We had that SOB Arete under constant surveillance. We had wiretaps, electronic surveillance. My partner followed him around for six weeks with a goddamned parabolic amplifier!"
Jack didn't blink. "If that's the case, then how did Arete end up in Los Angeles, pointing an anti-aircraft missile at a cargo plane?"
Instead of answering, Hensley looked away, stared at the closed door for a good twenty seconds. "Two days ago Arete slipped through our net," he said at last. "He murdered my partner and got away. Used a stolen credit card and fake ID to fly to California. The next thing we heard was that you had him..."
"I'm sorry about your partner," said Jack.
Hensley nodded. "I heard you lost someone today, too, Special Agent Bauer."
Jack changed the subject. "Tell me again how you heard about Arete's apprehension?"
Hensley smirked, then hid the gesture with a frown. The micro expression lasted just long enough for Bauer to suspect Hensley was lying, and he and Ryan were being manipulated.
"Arete has a lot of associates here in LA. In Chicago and Detroit, too," Hensley said smoothly. "We put out an APB with the other FBI district offices and got lucky this morning when one of our own undercover agents saw him in South Central. We were ready to pounce..."
"When we got in your way," Jack said, forcing a regretful smile.
"And used too much force for the situation," Hensley added.
"His associates were about to launch a surface-toair missile at an approaching aircraft. We had to act," Jack replied.
Hensley flashed dark. He leveled his gaze at Bauer. "You've recovered this missile launcher?"
Ryan Chappelle stepped between them. "Unfortunately the missile launcher was lost when Dante Arete's associates blew themselves up in their escape vehicle."
Chappelle failed to mention the memory stick they'd recovered. Jack was certain the omission was deliberate, that Ryan suspected Hensley was lying,