Kill and Run (A Thorny Rose Mystery Book 1) (20 page)

“That is correct, ma’am,” Murphy said. “Two members of the hit squad escaped and I failed to save Emily Dolan.”

General Raleigh smirked at the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They each looked at each other. The Joint Chief of Staff’s chair shook her head. “And you call yourself a Phantom, Lieutenant.”

“We did—”

“You are a disgrace to the Phantoms, Lieutenant,” General Raleigh said in a loud voice.

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“Not only are you a disgrace to the Phantoms, Lieutenant,” the chair roared, “but you are a disgrace to that uniform, the United States Navy, and the United States military and the United States of America. You knew that an American citizen was in danger, but you didn’t warn her.”

“She—”

The chair waved her reading glasses in Murphy’s direction. “And you know why you didn’t warn her?”

“Be-because—” Murphy found that he was stuttering.

“Because that woman—that woman who hated the military and the police—scared you!”

“No,” Murphy objected in a quiet voice.

“You are a coward, Lieutenant! This garbage about you not having the authority to question her and to bring her in is nothing but a bunch of crap. You are a Phantom! You were selected to be a Phantom because you’re supposed to be smart enough and cunning enough and have the integrity and courage to go up against anyone, no matter what their beliefs or agendas to get what needs to be done done—and yet, the first time you run up against a girl who doesn’t like you—you run and hide even though you know that she is in danger of being killed. Well, guess what, Lieutenant—you’re fear of this little girl—this American citizen—got her assassinated!”

Rising out of her seat, General Raleigh pointed her finger directly at Murphy. “You, Lieutenant Murphy Thornton, are a coward! Because of your cowardice, Ms. Dolan, an America citizen you swore to protect is now dead! You are a disgrace to the Phantoms, your uniform, and your country!”

Adverting his eyes from the raging general, Murphy swallowed. Bile from his breakfast was threatening to come up. During the tirade, his commanding officer was checking what appeared to be a chipped fingernail. He sucked in a deep breath and swallowed again.

“The Joint Chiefs of Staff will go over your statement and the evidence that you have collected on this case,” General Raleigh said. “But we can tell you right now that you are not worthy of being a Phantom. After our review of this case, we will determine if you are even worthy of being an officer in the United States Navy. In the meantime, I want you out of my sight! You are dismissed, Lieutenant Thornton.”

Dropping back into her seat, General Raleigh tossed her reading glasses down onto the table and glowered at Murphy.

Silence dropped over the chamber. All eyes were on Murphy, waiting for the young lieutenant to slink out of the chamber with his tail between his legs.

Dropping his hands to his side, Murphy turned toward the door. Then, standing up straight, he turned back to the row of distinguished officers lined up before him.
What have I got to lose? Nothing more, really.
“Permission to speak, ma’am, sirs?”

“Do you have something to say, Lieutenant?” Admiral Patterson asked.

“Yes, sirs, ma’am.”

“Then say it.”

“With all due respect, ma’am, I disagree with your assessment, Madam Chair,” Murphy said.

A gasp went throughout the room. General Raleigh sat up straight in her seat. “Really, Lieutenant Thornton?”

“Really, ma’am,” Murphy replied. “Yes, things did go badly last night. A hit squad came in. I saw them coming. Out of everyone else that was there, including my two team members inside, I was the only one who spotted them for what they were. I had only seconds to warn my team and to get inside that coffee shop to help save everyone that we could and we did it. Things would have gone much worse—most of those civilians and possibly my own team would have perished if I had not acted with what little time I had to do so. Yes, one civilian, our witness did die, but everyone else—witnesses that the hit squad clearly intended to eliminate—survived. Plus, we took out two presumably professional assassins and an accomplice attempting to steal possible evidence that Dolan possessed. Through those three men, we hope to be able to find out who had hired them and who is behind these murders. Saving the lives of innocent bystanders and taking out three assailants sounds like a win to me and if you disagree with that assessment, then I suggest you talk to those civilians we did save last night and their families.”

Stunned, the Joint Chiefs turned to the chair, who asked in a tone devoid of emotion. “Do you have anything else to say, Lieutenant?”

“Yes, I’ve made mistakes,” Murphy said. “Everyone makes mistakes. But when I make a mistake, I’m man enough to step up to the plate and take responsibility for it. Maybe I should have brought in that witness sooner. But it wasn’t cowardice that kept me from doing it. It was a calculated risk based on her attitude toward the military—the type of decisions that officers have to make every day. I’m a good navy officer. As a matter of fact, I’m an exceptional naval officer. All the way through my career as a cadet and active member of the military, I have made the best decisions that I know how to make and if that isn’t good enough for you or the Phantoms, then so be it.

“But I will tell you this,” Murphy said, “I was chosen to be a Phantom because of my character and my integrity. You told me when you recruited me that it was a quality that you were looking for in the Phantoms. Kick me out of the Phantoms and you will find those assets to be a curse as well, because I can tell you right now that there is nothing you can do in heaven and earth that will get me off of this case. I made a promise to a young girl to find out who killed her mother, and I intend to keep that promise either as a navy officer or a Phantom or just as an American citizen whose character won’t let him walk away from finding out what’s going on in our United States Army that brought about the deaths of seven women and one police officer.”

“Seven?” the marine commandant asked.

Murphy counted off. “The five women in Reston, Emily Dolan in Starbucks, and Army Specialist Cecelia Crenshaw in Pennsylvania thirteen years ago, plus Pennsylvania State Trooper Nicholas Gates.”

“Is that all you have to say, Lieutenant?” Admiral Patterson asked.

Murphy swallowed. “Yes, sirs and ma’am. That is all.” Assuming an at ease position, he waited to be shot—even if only verbally.

A silence fell over the chamber once again.

The six men and one woman looked around the table at each other.

Finally, General Maxine Raleigh cleared her throat again. “You are quite impressive, Lieutenant Thornton. You are an eloquent speaker, too. You have passion.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“While I expected you to defend yourself, I must admit I underestimated you. I didn’t expect you to stand up for yourself the way you did. Usually, in a setting like this, the vast majority of young officers would have slinked out of here with their tails between their legs. You didn’t.”

Murphy detected a slight curl to the corner of the chair’s lips. “Congratulations, Lieutenant. You passed.”

A collective sigh of relief filled the chamber.

Looking across the line of the distinguished officers sitting at the table, Murphy saw that each of the chiefs was grinning. He didn’t know whether to be relieved or angry. “This was a test?”

“Smile, Lieutenant,” Admiral Patterson uttered a hearty laugh. “You just made me six hundred dollars.”

With effort, Murphy forced a good natured grin onto his face.

The chair turned serious. “I apologize for being so harsh, Lieutenant, but we needed to make sure you were immune to intimidation no matter what its source. From what we’ve seen, there’s no telling where this case is going to lead you.”

Murphy asked, “I’m still on this case?”

“Of course,” General Raleigh said. “You are an excellent investigator and an exceptional officer. You do the military … and the Phantoms … proud.”

Murphy fought the grin working its way to his lips.

“Unfortunately, we feel that the scope of this investigation is beyond your rank,” Admiral Patterson said. “While you have the guts to pursue the case wherever the evidence may take you, we feel that the team leading it needs someone with the authority and experience to carry it to completion.” He nodded his head in Bernie’s direction.

Standing up from where he was leaning against the wall, Bernie crossed the chamber, going behind Murphy, and across the room to the double doors through which Murphy had entered earlier.

The queasiness in Murphy’s stomach that had disappeared moments before returned. Until this time, he had basically been a lone wolf. As a Phantom, he had worked virtually every operation alone. While working as the liaison for NCIS, he worked freely without direct supervision, though he had to keep Hillary Koch happy.

He liked it that way. He liked either depending completely on himself or leading the team. Now, he was going to be working directly under someone new.

The clap of the footsteps on the hardwood floor approaching him from behind made the hair on the back of Murphy’s neck stand on end.

Suck it up, Murphy. Dad always accused you of not playing well with others.

The footsteps stopped when the navy officer halted to stand shoulder to shoulder with Murphy. Out of the corner of his eye, Murphy saw the flash of captain’s stripes on his shoulder board when his new leader raised his arm up to salute the Joint Chiefs.

“Captain Joshua Thornton, United States Navy, reporting for duty, ma’am and sirs.”

Chapter Nineteen

It took all of Murphy’s restraint to keep from turning to look directly at his father. He thought he was over five hours away in West Virginia prosecuting a major murder case. Instead, he was standing next to him on the seventh floor of the Pentagon before the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“Lieutenant Thornton,” Admiral Patterson said, “I believe you are familiar with Captain Thornton.”

“Very much, sir,” Murphy replied.

“Captain Thornton,” Admiral Patterson said, “the Joint Chiefs appreciate you coming here on such short notice.”

“I was told that it was imperative that I make myself available for this assignment, sir.”

“We have come to believe that it is,” the admiral said.

The men on the panel turned their attention to the chair, who regarded the two navy officers standing before them.

Once again, there was a long silence before the general uttered a deep sigh. “Lieutenant Thornton, yesterday, you requested a copy of the case file pertaining to the death of Lieutenant General George Davis.”

Murphy felt his father’s eyes flick, only for an instant, in his direction before he returned to staring straight ahead.

“Please explain to the staff and the captain here why you made that request,” the general ordered.

“Because,” Murphy began slowly, trying to recall the details of his own reasoning for requesting the case file. “Because his daughter, Colleen Davis, was one of the women poisoned at the Baxter home in Reston. You see, in this case, according to friends and relatives, none of these women knew each other before that evening. There was no reason for them to be socializing with each other. But they had to have one thing in common to bring them all together. All that we could find was either a direct or indirect connection to the army. In Colleen Davis’ case, that connection was her father, who was killed in a helicopter crash. I can’t say for certain that it was what brought her to the Baxter home, because I have not seen the file.”

“Lieutenant General George Davis was a personal friend of mine, Lieutenant,” General Johnston, Chief of Staff of the United States Army said.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Murphy said in a soft voice.

“I have seen that file, Lieutenant.” General Johnston’s expression was stern. “The helicopter crash that killed him and five other good men was no accident. There was a bomb on board the chopper. The Department of Defense kept that information from the media because they were concerned that the public would panic if they knew terrorists were striking military targets here on our soil.”

“Permission to speak, sir?” Joshua spoke up.

“Yes, Captain.”

Joshua cleared his throat. “Do you believe these murders and the attack at the coffee shop last night was a terrorist attack?”

“No,” the army’s chief of staff said, “but we do believe it is a conspiracy of some sort. Witnesses of the helicopter crash swore that it exploded in the air. CID uncovered evidence of the bomb. Their best agent was assigned to the case. He found something—something so important that he called me at home. By then, I had been appointed to chief of staff of the army. The agent made an appointment to speak to me about what he had uncovered the next morning. That night, his home burnt down with him, his wife, and two children inside.”

Murphy could feel his father’s body stiffen where he stood next to him.

“If I may ask, ma’am and sirs,” Joshua replied after a long silence, “why us? I would recommend that this case be sent to the FBI.”

“Because we don’t know who is behind it,” General Raleigh said. “Whoever it is has deep pockets and resources.”

“Lieutenant Thornton just informed us that whoever is behind this also had a Pennsylvania state trooper killed,” Admiral Patterson said.

Joshua turned his head to look directly at Murphy’s profile. “Nick?” he whispered.

Noticing that Joshua had shaved his beard and cut his long hair, Murphy paused. After recovering from the shock, he offered a slight nod of his head.

“This conspiracy is running deep and wide and apparently stretches back many years,” General Raleigh said. “There’s no telling what level of authority the perpetrator may have reached. But we can almost be certain that he or she is connected to the army.”

“But doesn’t appear to be connected to the navy,” Admiral Patterson said. “Granted, Lieutenant Thornton, you seem to have caught this case completely by accident. We are going to keep this investigation in house here in the military—under the Phantoms. Captain Thornton will lead the investigation with Lieutenant Thornton taking second in command.”

“You are right, Captain,” General Raleigh said. “The FBI does need to be involved in this. However, we want this investigation to stay with the Phantoms until we can get a handle on who is behind it. Luckily, we have a Phantom within the FBI. She will be contacting you, Captain. The rest of your team, we are free to hand pick.”

“Thank you, ma’am, sirs,” Joshua said. “May I ask where this investigation is going to be taking place?”

Admiral Patterson chuckled. “Well, since NCIS Chief Hillary Koch got Lieutenant Thornton into this mess …”