Deep state bear logan th.., p.19
Deep State (Bear Logan Thrillers Book 4),
p.19
Adams leaned closer, his face a perfect mask of confusion. “I’m sorry, I don’t know—”
“Let’s stop playing games, Mr. Vice President. You were, after all, my contact in the White House. I wrote the article for you. It was our signal to get in touch with each other. To move forward with our plan. To expose those who were behind this grand conspiracy. Who were, as a matter of fact, also behind these global acts of terrorism, you have been speaking about today. So, I’ll ask again: How is the Director of National Intelligence?”
“You are disrupting this press briefing. I will kindly ask you to leave before I am forced to have you escorted out.”
Cara was the pinnacle of strength as she made her way down her row of reporters and toward the center aisle, where she stood alone against the Vice President. “The last I heard, he was dead, but no formal announcement has been made. I wonder why? Why is that being kept under wraps? Is it because you don’t know who killed him? Or is it because you do?”
Murmurs erupted within the press room. Adams turned to the guards lining the wall. “Please escort her out of here.”
None of them moved.
“There’s another reason why you might know who I am.” Cara’s voice faltered for the first time, but only slightly. To Bear it didn’t sound like fear. It sounded like anger. “I’m the one your men held at gunpoint. I’m the one your men beat for information. I’m okay, by the way, though you didn’t ask. I have a cracked rib. Makes it hard to breathe sometimes. A mild concussion. They say I should be okay. There’s no swelling. The bruises will fade. The scrapes will heal. The shoulder—that’s a different story. It’ll be fine, but it won’t ever be quite the same.”
Cara took three steps forward. She had the command of the entire room. Even Adams was enthralled. He couldn’t look away, even though Bear was certain he was thinking of every possible exit scenario he had ever devised.
“You know, someone asked me the other day, What will you do after this?” She laughed quietly. “I still only had one, single thought: I was going to be a reporter. This wasn’t going to stop me. Did you know this was my first story? At least it was the first one of consequence.
“What I can’t wrap my head around is why you helped me for so long. And then this morning it came to me. You wanted to control the narrative. That’s why you’re holding this press briefing, isn’t it? You want to make sure the world sees only what you want it to see. You’re expecting some man in a uniform to walk up to you and whisper something into your ear. That something would have been another terrorist attack. This time, it would’ve been an explosion of tankers in the Persian Gulf. If it had been successful, what would’ve been next? An attack on the United States? Would you have urged the President to declare war before or after? How long would you have let this continue before convincing the government to occupy the Middle East, bringing its people and resources under our control for good?”
At this point, Adams was speechless. He was looking around at the men in uniform who surrounded him, beseeching them with his eyes to do something, anything.
One of the men did step forward. Bear didn’t recognize him, but he wore his dress uniform with his hat held under one arm. For the briefest of minutes, the Vice President looked relieved. And then the man spoke.
“My name is Lieutenant General Andrew Gibson. The Vice President thinks I’m here to deliver him a piece of intelligence indicating that several tankers in the Persian Gulf have been attacked by a group of unknown terrorists. Instead, I’m here to report that the threat has been thwarted and the tankers remain in one piece. Unfortunately, I am also here to confess my knowledge of and involvement in both the London and Munich bombings.”
When the man turned toward Cara, his face softened. “You don’t know me, Ms. Bishop, but I’ve been following your story for quite some time. When your picture was first shown on the news, I had a hard time believing you were a killer. I was with my daughter at the time. She was still recovering in the hospital from the bomb that went off in Germany. I had been stationed there and didn’t know she’d snuck away to go to the Oktoberfest celebrations.”
Bear sat up a little straighter.
“Her name is Amber Gibson. She almost died that day, but thanks to a man named Riley Logan, she walked away with a broken leg and second-degree burns on her arm. She’s alive because of him. I know I’ll never be able to thank him for that, so I thought I’d do the next best thing.”
Gibson turned back to Adams. “The Vice President and I don’t know each other well. I worked with the Director of National Intelligence for many years. We were in the army together, and though we went our separate ways, we stayed in touch. A few years ago, he invited me out for a drink. We got to talking about the state of this country. About the state of the world.
“I, like Director Hughes, believed we needed to do more to secure our place in this world. I wanted to keep the people of this country safe. I wanted to keep my daughter safe.” Gibson paused to gather himself. “Except she was there, in Germany. And one of the men who is accused of these terrorist attacks saved her life. He comforted her when I couldn’t. And I do not regret to inform you that I can no longer abide by your plan, Mr. Vice President. I will take the consequences deemed necessary for the crimes I have committed, and I will apologize to this country, to our President, and most importantly, to my daughter, for betraying all of your trust. But I will take it, happily and gladly, knowing, Mr. Vice President, that you will be in a jail cell next to mine.”
It seemed as though the room was collectively holding its breath. All eyes were on Gibson until Cara once again stepped forward. She looked Adams dead in the eyes.
“I think that about covers our press briefing for today, don’t you?”
41
“Where did you find him?”
“Believe it or not, he found us.”
Bear, Sadie, and Jack sat around a table in some hole-in-the-wall pub in downtown Washington D.C., drinking beer and decompressing after what felt like a lifetime of lies and conspiracies and accusations.
Sadie slugged back the rest of her beer and set the bottle down with a clunk. “Between the op-ed that Cara wrote and seeing your face on television, Gibson had pieced together the information Hughes and Adams had been keeping from him. He knew we worked together in London, so he found me. He was a mess.”
“He’s got a good kid.” Bear remembered the way she’d pushed through her fear and pain. Her father would’ve been proud of her. “I hope she’ll be okay.”
Sadie shrugged. “Gibson did a lot of things wrong, but I have a feeling his confession will go a long way in redeeming him in her eyes. And hopefully the courts will see that, too. He might not end up spending the rest of his life in a jail cell.”
“Adams on the other hand…”
The fallout from the press conference had been immediate. Even a week later, the news cycle hadn’t let anyone forget that the Vice President of the United States had betrayed his country. The President had issued a statement, but they were keeping most of the information regarding Hughes and Adams’ plan under wraps. The less the general public knew, the better. But this was certainly a hit for the administration.
Sadie stood up and slipped on her winter jacket. “I should probably get going.”
“Already?” Jack looked at his watch. “It’s a little early, isn’t it?”
“I’ve got to go in early tomorrow. For some reason, when they said they were giving me a promotion, I figured I’d get paid more to do less work. You know, like every boss I’ve ever had. Turns out that isn’t the case.”
“Any idea where they’re sending you first?”
“Nope, but I hope it’s somewhere warm. I’m already tired of this weather.” She leaned over and gave Bear a hug, holding on for a fraction longer than was customary. When she straightened up, she had a sad smile on her face. She turned to Jack. “Walk me out?”
Jack got up wordlessly, thumping Bear on the back and following Sadie out of the bar. Bear watched them go and then ordered another round. The waitress brought another couple of bottles to the table and cleared the empty ones. Before she walked away, she put a hand on her hip and looked him up and down.
“I feel like I know you from somewhere.”
“I’ve just got one of those faces.”
She shrugged and returned to the bar, but Bear saw her cast a glance at him every so often. He turned his back on her, hiding his face.
Bear scratched at his beard. Cara had suggested—again—that Bear shave it off. No one would recognize him, she’d insisted, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Besides, it had already been a week and it felt like most people had moved on. He and Jack had been given a presidential pardon, and for now, everyone’s attention was on the Vice President’s crimes and his eventual trial.
In a few more weeks, or maybe a month or two, Jack and Bear would be just another face in the crowd.
Bear took a healthy pull of his beer and thought about Cara. He’d had a chance to say goodbye to her, though it had been brief. She’d hugged him, and thanked him once again, but he’d shrugged it off. She’d done her part in all of this, and if it hadn’t been for her and Gibson’s public appearances, Bear would probably be locked up right alongside Adams.
But he had his freedom. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it yet, but that would be a problem for a later date. For now, he was content to see where the world took him. But wherever he was, he knew he’d check up on Cara Bishop every once in a while, just to make sure she hadn’t gotten into any more trouble.
And to make sure she got that book deal.
Jack returned a few minutes later, bringing the December chill back with him. He downed half his beer and shook his head.
“What?” Bear asked.
“I don’t know, man.” He shook his head again. “I don’t know.”
“You think Sadie’s going to be okay?”
Jack laughed. “She’s going to be fine.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine, too.” Jack paused and took another pull of his beer. “But I’m not going to lie, it’s been nice having her around.”
Bear felt the same way. There was something comforting about knowing Sadie had your back. It was more than just the fact that she was an incredible operative. She was also just a good friend. Jack and Bear didn’t have too many of those. Associates? Yes. Contacts? Definitely. But friends?
They could count those on one hand.
“We’ll see her again.”
“Oh, I’m sure of that.” Jack laughed. “Probably when we have a half dozen guns to our heads.”
“She would choose that exact moment to show up and ream us out for not calling her.”
Jack’s laugh echoed around the bar. A few people turned in their direction.
“I missed this,” Jack said. “Being in the same place. Drinking a couple beers.”
“Not getting shot at.”
“Or blown up.”
It was Bear’s turn to laugh. “Especially that one.”
“We make a pretty good team, Big Man.” Jack held up his bottle.
Bear clinked his drink to Jack’s. “Maybe we should stick together for a while this time.”
“Fine by me.” Jack leaned back against the wall and surveyed the bar. “But what should we do next? I feel like we’ve really peaked with this last mission of ours. You don’t get much bigger than accusing the Vice President of the United States of global terrorism.”
“You’re not wrong.” Bear finished off his beer. “Maybe we should lay low for a while.”
Jack scoffed. “What’s the fun in that?”
Just then, his cell phone rang. Jack pulled it out of his jacket pocket and looked down at the number. His eyebrows knit together.
“Who is it?”
Jack shrugged and opened the phone, holding it to his head. “Hello?”
Bear could hear a muffled voice on the other end, but he couldn’t tell who it was. He couldn’t even tell if it was a man or woman. Not many people had Jack’s number, and those that didn’t have it would have to go through hell to get it.
Jack’s eyes met Bear’s, but Bear couldn’t read his expression. He was still processing the information.
“Okay,” Jack said. “We’ll meet you there soon.”
Bear rolled his eyes as Jack hung up the phone. “You just had to go and say something, didn’t you?”
Jack shrugged. “You didn’t think the universe wasn’t going to let us off the hook that easily, did you?”
“I had hope.” Bear threw a wad of ones down on the table. “We’re due for a break sooner rather than later.”
Jack stood up and stretched, clapping Bear on the back.
“Looks like it’s going to be later, Big Man.”
Also by L.T. Ryan
The Jack Noble Series
The Recruit (free)
The First Deception (Prequel 1)
Noble Beginnings
A Deadly Distance
Ripple Effect (Bear Logan)
Blowback (Bear Logan)
Takedown (Bear Logan)
Thin Line
Noble Intentions
When Dead in Greece
Noble Retribution
Noble Betrayal
Never Go Home
Beyond Betrayal (Clarissa Abbot)
Noble Judgment
Never Cry Mercy
Deadline
End Game
Mitch Tanner Series
The Depth of Darkness
Into The Darkness
Deliver Us From Darkness - coming soon
Affliction Z Series
Affliction Z: Patient Zero
Affliction Z: Abandoned Hope
Affliction Z: Descended in Blood
Affliction Z Book 4 - Spring 2018
About the Author
L.T. Ryan is a USA Today and international bestselling author. The new age of publishing offered L.T. the opportunity to blend his passions for creating, marketing, and technology to reach audiences with his popular Jack Noble series.
Living in central Virginia with his wife, the youngest of his three daughters, and their three dogs, L.T. enjoys staring out his window at the trees and mountains while he should be writing, as well as reading, hiking, running, and playing with gadgets. See what he’s up to at http://ltryan.com.
Social Medial Links:
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- Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6151659.L_T_Ryan
L.T. Ryan, Deep State (Bear Logan Thrillers Book 4)
