Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 483(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 322(@300wpm)
We all followed him up wooden stairs that looked like they’d been recently polished. The smell of pine-scented cleaner, leather, and winter permeated the entire space.
Reaching the top, Aiden pointed down a wide hallway that already had several enlarged photographs of nature in Idaho, including a deer near Lilac Lake. “My office is the farthest one in the corner, Tessa. Make yourself at home.”
She huddled into her white puffer jacket and nodded, leaning up to kiss Nick on the cheek before turning and striding down the quiet hallway. Her hips swayed, and not once did she look back. Yeah, my older sister was a badass. Man, I loved her.
“The conference rooms are this way.” Aiden led us in the other direction.
I noted several more enlarged pictures. One of Silverville from atop a mountain entranced me. “Who took the photos?”
“We all chose our favorites from our phone’s camera rolls and had them blown up. The one of Silverville is mine.” Aiden opened a door to what was, indeed, a conference room and not an interrogation room. My body started to relax until I noticed the two cameras mounted on the walls. Expensive blinds covered an expansive window that fronted the lake.
James Saber looked up from the other side of the table where he’d been scouring some notes. “Hi.” He stood.
“Hi, Saber.” While we’d had a somewhat rough introduction, I liked Aiden’s second in command.
Saber was as tall as Aiden and had brown hair to his shoulders. His eyes were a tawny brown, his skin tan, and his jawline tough-looking. Several scars lined his right temple, and his rugged face looked like he’d once been a boxer. His accent held a hint of Spain. “Basanelli.”
“Saber,” Nick said, pulling out a chair for me.
I sat and noted Aiden’s frown before he crossed around to take the seat next to Saber.
“Why the fuck am I here?” Nick asked.
I smiled serenely. It was so odd to hear him swear. He really was having a rough week.
Saber shuffled some papers, but Aiden didn’t look down. “Five years before you became an attorney, you were a JAG officer, correct?”
Both of Nick’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah.”
“Do you remember a case against Charlie Daniels that took place about seven years ago in the spring?”
Nick sat back. “I do. Why?”
“Tell me about the case,” Aiden said, no expression on his face.
“How about, you tell us about the case,” I interjected. “My client is under no obligation to say a word to you.”
Aiden’s gaze flicked to me. “Your client served as a JAG officer in the United States Navy and is still under obligation to speak with me. That obligation doesn’t go away, Counselor.”
I didn’t know military law, but Nick did.
He sighed. “I have no idea what this is about, but I remember the case. The United States versus Charlie Daniels.”
Charlie Daniels. I looked around. Was nobody else going to make the quip? All right, I’d be quiet.
“Again. The case,” Aiden said. “Tell me what you remember.”
Nick looked away as if trying to sort the facts. “If I remember right, a container of AT4 anti-tank weapons and javelin missiles were stolen from Camp Lemonnier by a group of thieves, including one disgruntled sailor named Charlie Daniels. An NCIS team caught him and several of his compatriots, and I was called in to prosecute him.”
“Were you successful?” Saber asked.
“Yes, of course, I was,” Nick said blandly.
Aiden sat back in his chair, just watching Nick. “Were the weapons and missiles recovered?”
“No. We offered him a plea deal, but he wouldn’t flip,” Nick said. “We never found any of the weapons. I believe several of his co-conspirators were arrested locally and tried. Why is the ATF involved? Have you found the weapons?”
“Possibly,” Aiden said. “We have intel that the weapons were smuggled recently into the U.S. for a planned domestic terrorism attack.”
Nick crossed his arms. “All you had to do was ask for help. Dragging me down here wasn’t necessary.”
“I don’t need help,” Aiden said. “I want to know your involvement in getting the weapons out of the Port of Djibouti.”
Nick frowned. “What are you talking about? By the time I arrived at Camp Lemonnier, the weapons were already off base. That’s how we put the case together against Daniels.”
I cleared my throat. “I’m not an expert in geography here. Where is Camp Lemonnier?”
Nick answered before Aiden could. “The camp is a naval base adjacent to the Port of Djibouti in Djibouti City, in the Horn of Africa.”
Okay. “So, we have a base there, and somebody stole weapons from it?”
Saber nodded. “The port is at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, on the route to the Suez Canal, making it a significant maritime hub for trade routes between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.”
“Thanks,” I said, at least now picturing the area a little better.