The Beltway Assassin Read Online Free Page A

allies decided they wanted the weapon for themselves. While the Mossad team was eliminated, the trail of dead behind the nuke might have gotten one body longer. Ritter and Mike had handed the weapon off to another element of the Caliban Program, but he had no idea where it had gone after that.
    Shannon nodded.
    “That’s our working hypothesis,” she said. “Only our organization, aside from the Israelis and the Koreans, knows about the weapon. If someone inside the organization—or higher—is making a move for the nuke, then we need to know who.”
    “Higher?”
    “Everyone works for someone, Eric, even the directors.”
    “Why stop at one director? Why not take them all out in one fell swoop?” he asked.
    “An excellent observation,” she said. “Find out who did this and ask them why.”
    Ritter examined the FBI badge, light glinting from the copper. There was more to this story than Shannon was telling him.
    Shannon lifted a small framed photo from her lap and set it on the desk. A much younger Shannon in navy whites stood next to a man dressed in khakis and a safari vest.
    “There’s a personal aspect to this, Eric. Bendis was an old Soviet hand. He went on countless missions behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War and did great things in service of our country. After 9/11”—Shannon’s hand swept over a bare ring finger—“he brought me out of a dark place and gave me a purpose. He was the director who brought me into the Program.
    “That’s how it works, you understand? Every director has one operative who reports to him or her. They recruit a single team leader. Then that leader builds the team.” She swallowed heavily. “I’ve said too much.”
    Ritter pocketed the badge and glanced into the envelope; sheets of paper detailing Eric Gamil’s backstory were inside.
    “Why don’t you do this?” he asked. “If I can be FBI, so can you.”
    She smirked. “I’m ronin until the rest of the directors decide what to do with me, and they’ve all gone to ground until this plays out. I’m going to lay low for a bit. My contact with Bendis was indirect, but traceable. Whoever killed him might have me in their sights.
    “Besides, the angle we have set up for your placement and access with the FBI depends on you. True name or otherwise,” she said. “Base out of the off site. Tony’s already there, setting up the tech support. Irene is under an alias at TEDAC, where all the forensic exploitation for this case will take place.”
    “Wait. You sent Irene into the FBI undercover?” Ritter asked. Irene was a brilliant analyst and an asset to Shannon’s team, but she didn’t have a dishonest bone in her body.
    “She’s a big girl. The FBI is bringing in additional analysts for this case, and her alias is airtight. I told her to keep her head down, mouth shut, and to be unfriendly. She’ll fit right in.”
    “I don’t speak FBI very well. What’s this angle you mentioned?”
    Shannon chewed her bottom lip. “Yes, about that…”

CHAPTER 3
     
    Shelton jotted down the address for the house in front of him, then stretched his arms behind his back. He’d interviewed dozens of Bendis’s neighbors in the preceding hours. None had anything worthwhile to add to the investigation. The house before him was the last one before the road cut off into sparse trees covering a small knoll.
    He adjusted his badge so it was easily visible on his chest and stepped onto the driveway.
    “Shelton! Someone wants to see you,” Burkowski said as he rumbled toward Shelton. The large man had graduated from coffee to cigarettes hours ago, a smoldering butt still between his lips.
    Shelton rolled his eyes and made his way toward Burkowski. The last house could wait a bit longer. He looked to the setting sun and estimated he had another half hour of useful light left. Asking a witness to point out anything in the dark wasn’t good police work.
    “Who needs me?” Shelton asked.
    “Assistant Director