Page 53 of Long Past Deadly

Alanna moved closer to the screen. “They served together. Correct? Whit would never confirm, but I guessed.”

“Yes, at a few intersections, and not amicably.”

Alanna rolled her eyes. “I knew it started way back, but couldn’t make sense of it. Why?”

“Bad chemistry. Uncontrolled aggression. The reports never say who was at fault. The Army chalked it up to ‘boys being boys’ in basic. During that time, they had four reprimands for fighting. I personally wouldn’t have tolerated the behaviors. They’d have been out. When you’re in a violent profession, more discipline is necessary, not less. But Army, different regs, different missions. Mercer went to Airborne, then Rangers. Whit was accepted to Special Forces training, then went to Airborne school, too. But they both deployed to Iraq in the same timeframe twice, and they ended up together for some notable operations. Whit filed a complaint in 2007, excessive force, failure to follow commands. It went nowhere. His commander most likely handled everything internally. At any rate, Mercer got out.”

“When was this?”

“April 2007,” Harrison answered. His eyes stayed glued to the service record.

“That’s when we begin to connect him to several assassinations. Commander Gregg would like a call from your AIC, and he’ll release some of the classified documentation to the FBI.”

“I’ll bet that went over well.” Harrison closed the records and pulled the thumb drive.

“They want him.”

“We all do,” Quaid muttered. “Was he ever in Afghanistan?”

“Not officially. Why?”

Quaid shook his head, fighting his memory. “Something. Can’t say what. I joined the Marines in 2008 and did two tours of Afghanistan and finished my degree in those six years, then transferred over to CIA training in 2014. I was all over Asia after that. I’ll have to think about it.”

Mackey rubbed his chin. “Is this timeline critical to finding him?”

Alanna crossed her arms, holding herself tight. She turned to Hunt. “Possibly. I had an incident with him in early 2010. Here in San Diego. He attacked a friend. I tried to help and he took me out. The friend disappeared. Whit and Mercer had a fight then, too. Whit’s disappeared now. Two weeks ago, a police report describes another knife fight. Since Mercer is currently here, the blood in the alleyway is because they got into it again. Might be helpful to figure out what all the animosity between them was about. Can we check with other members of the unit?”

Hunt shifted away from the partition. “We can check, but might be easier to find Whit and ask him.”

Mackey groaned. “We’re having about as much luck with that as we are finding Mercer.”

Harrison disagreed. “Feelers are out. Delaney is back. He’s in the infirmary and going nuts at the inactivity. Let’s start over. We don’t assume he’s dead unless we find a body. The man is resourceful, Green Beret resourceful.”

Alanna didn’t say anything, but her stricken face made Quaid want to draw her close again.

Harrison held out a hand. “This helped, Hunt. Thanks. Let us go through it. If we have any more questions, I’ll call.”

Hunt drew him close enough to slap on the shoulder in a man hug. “Intelligence wants in. They want this guy put down.”

Mackey rose and grabbed his coffee cup. “Police Department wants him, too. They aren’t liking the violence he’s brought with him.”

Alanna offered her hand to Hunt. “I’ll call my boss. Thank you. The sooner we unravel this the better.” She followed Mackey out the door. Quaid wanted to stop her, but eased away from the need. A bit of time apart would help both of them settle. Alanna was logical and smart, but this case was pushing emotions that were more than a decade encrusted with fear.

Quaid stepped to Hunt. “Thanks, LTC. I’ll let you know if I figure out what’s nagging me.”

“If I can help, call me.”

Harrison shook his head. “I guess we’re all playing nice together. That’ll be a first.”

“It’ll also be a miracle if we pull it off.” Quaid couldn’t stop the sarcasm and negativity. The man had killed people like it was his calling in life. Stopping Mercer with three government agencies and QM involved spelled headaches, egos, and mistakes. He had to help Alanna stay above the fray so they could get this man out of their lives. Time to drop the silent act and make up.

Chapter Eleven

Alanna pilfered a diet coke from Quaid’s office fridge and listened to the conversation in the main entry area. Mackey was giving security instructions to Celissa. She stayed to the side of the floor-to-ceiling windows, sitting on a low credenza, more aware than ever of Mercer’s sniper expertise even though his compulsion required hands on. She’d have to think through those skills and his history with Whit. He’d crossed her once, twice if she counted Quaid and the parking lot. Why was she a target? Was it because she was searching for Esme? What difference did her digging make to a man who killed dozens – military and potentially civilian.

There was no answer to that, so she shoved the whole line of questions aside and confronted what she was really worried about.

Was now the time to talk to Quaid or should it wait?