Page 66 of Code Name: Tank
As we left the command center, I watched Dragon’s expression change.
“Something about this doesn’t feel right,” she said once we were outside and on the way to her camp.
“What, specifically?”
“The timing, the presentation, even James’s demeanor.” She shook her head. “I can’t put my finger on it, but something else is at play here.”
It had beentwo days since the secretary arrived to close the case and inform us that Flint was in custody. My gut was screaming at me that Dragon was right to think we weren’t getting the whole story, but I couldn’t figure out why.
She had been quiet since he dropped the bomb on us, and I could see her working through the inconsistencies I was.
“I keep going over it,” she said as we sat in front of the fire at the end of the day. “The timing, how quickly everything wrapped up.”
“What bothers you most?”
She faced me. “Flint doesn’t want to talk to me? That doesn’t sound like him. He came here to convince me he’d changed. Why would he suddenly not want any contact?”
I agreed that didn’t add up.
“Maybe the situation is more serious than we know,” I suggested. “If he’s cooperating with the investigators…”
“Then, he’d want me to know that too.” Dragon shook her head. “I hate to say this, but James is lying to me. Not just me, all of us.” She rested her head on my shoulder, then raised it again. “Plus, something about the federal procedures bothers me,” she continued.
“Ever heard of a witness being interrogated by the Treasury before?”
“No. Have you?”
I shook my head. “Never.”
Alice wasthe only one in the command center when we walked in the next morning. She looked better than I’d seen her in weeks.
“I’m glad you’re here. Admiral wants a team briefing in twenty minutes.”
“Actually,” Dragon said, “maybe you can help us think through something. I’ve been going over what James told us, and some details feel unclear.”
“Which details?”
“Something feels off about the procedure process. Why aren’t we hearing more from the DOJ?” Dragon shook her head. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe we should get clarification,” Alice suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Dragon agreed.
Alice’s eyes opened wide. “Well, duh. Why don’t we just ask our DOJ contact? Brenna could clarify the procedures in five minutes.”
Dragon and I exchanged a look. It was such an obvious solution.
“Of course she could,” Dragon said.
“I’ll reach out to her,” Alice said, pulling up Brenna’s contact information. She dialed, waited, then frowned. “Straight to voicemail.”
She tried again with the same result. “Let me call her office line.” There was a long pause. “That’s weird. The automated message says she’s on administrative leave through the end of the month.”
“She’s on leave in the middle of our investigation?” Dragon asked.
“When did her leave start?” I asked.
“According to this, the day after Flint disappeared.”
