The Templar Reprisals (The Best Thrillers Book 3) by James Best (free ebook reader for ipad .TXT) 📗

the car. The driver drove in an orderly fashion that wouldn’t arose attention, and both kept sweeping their eyes in every direction. Evarts wondered how they were armed. Evarts felt something on the floorboard and moved his heel around until he could confirm that there was a rifle tucked against the seat.

“Yes sir, that’s an M-4,” Wilson said. “Just a precaution.”

“I’ll bet you’re proficient with it,” Evarts said.

“I have a Silver EIC Badge,” Wilson said matter-of-factly.

Impressed, Evarts whistled. The Silver Excellence in Competition badge was the second highest competitive marksmanship award. The sergeant knew how to handle weapons. He hoped she would never need to demonstrate her skill.

“Are you expecting trouble?” Baldwin asked over her shoulder.

“No, but that doesn’t mean we should let down our guard,” Wilson answered.

Baldwin turned in her seat to look at Wilson. “Are you going to introduce our driver?”

“No,” Wilson said.

They rode in silence for the remainder of the half hour drive. Before they arrived, Wilson said she would exit first while they remained in the car until she instructed them to get out. They were to go directly into the restaurant looking unrushed but without dalliance.

The arrival went without a hitch and Wilson led them to a table in the far back already occupied by O’Brian. Wilson slid in beside him. Evarts looked around. The immediate tables were empty. He spotted watchers at the first occupied tables toward the door, evidently to create a buffer between their party and the regular customers. The Oak Steakhouse was expensive, but this meal which had evidently requisitioned the entire back of the restaurant would put their normal prices to shame.

Evarts nodded toward Wilson. “Are you sure you want her here?”

“Why? Are you planning on using foul language?”

“I might,” Baldwin interjected.

After a laugh, Evarts said, “You know what I mean.”

O’Brian said, “She has the required security clearance and she’s been read in. She stays.”

Things must be bad, Evarts thought. Instead of an intelligence officer, O’Brian decided to rely on family. So be it.

“We’re starving, so let’s eat dinner before getting down to business,” Evarts suggested.

“Considering last time, that sounds like a terrific idea.”

The food was excellent and the meal congenial. Wilson acted like a daughter-in-law rather than a sergeant first class, and Baldwin kept her profanity to a minimum.

After they were served after dinner drinks, Evarts asked, “Who is Jim Lewis?”

“Testing me immediately?” O’Brian asked.

“I told you he was the price of admission to our confab.”

“You did,” O’Brian said. “His real name is Jeffery Methow. A high-powered New York attorney. He’s a trust baby with piles of cash. Schooled at Harvard. No military service. A supposed third-degree freemason, but he’s an admitted Templar. If this meeting goes well, I’ll tell you more.”

“Fair enough. How dangerous is the Templar infiltration of the Army?”

“That’s an odd way to open discussion,” O’Brian said.

“I figure it has to be pretty serious for you to give us up to the Templars.”

Nonplussed, O’Brian asked evenly, “What are you accusing me of?”

“I’m accusing you of surreptitiously revealing our identity to the Templars so I could help you rout out their presence in the Army. The Templars then leaked our identities to the terrorists to bring them into the open so they could bloody their feud. I blamed the Templars for setting us up as bait, but you committed the original sin.”

“You’re wrong, on many counts” O’Brian said. “Starting with my motivation, my goal is not to rid the Army of Templars.” He paused dramatically. “I’ve been tasked with purging them from the entire national government.”

Chapter 40

Baldwin sat straighter. “Are you saying these wannabe medieval knights have infiltrated the entire government? That’s ridiculous. Lewis, or Methow or whatever, said there were well under a thousand Templars Knights. And the ones we ran into sure weren’t supermen. Besides, they seemed focused on eliminating a group called the Ikhwan. Terrorists. Terrorists who want to kill the lot of us. You have your sights on the wrong secret society. Listen, the Templars even committed suicide rather than harm police. You put our lives at risk to eradicate a bunch of delusional people with a disreputable, but quite understandable agenda.”

“Are you through?” O’Brian asked evenly.

“Not even started.”

Since Baldwin added nothing more, O’Brian started speaking again.

“I didn’t leak your identities to the Templars … but someone in my office did. Yes, I have a Templar spy in my department, and I need to expose the mole. Not because I have my sights on the wrong party, but because the Templars have compromised three operations. They’re too damn eager to charge in. They get wind of what Army Intelligence is doing, but they don’t have the whole picture due to compartmentalization. They wreck everything we plan. I need to expose these vigilantes so my operations can proceed without interference.” O’Brian gave each in turn a hard look. “My priorities are correct. Get rid of the Templars so we can make headway against the Ikhwan. By the way, congratulations on getting the name of the group.”

Evarts thought a moment before speaking. “General, now that you have identified the mole, what are you going to do?”

“What makes you think I’ve identified the mole?”

“Because the Templars didn’t compromise three operations; they compromised two. The third was a trap that they sprung on themselves. You leaked our names to your top suspect and your top suspect only. When the Templars later leaked our identities to the Ikhwan, you had your man.”

The table became quiet.

O’Brian eventually broke the silence. “Guilty. The two of you presented the perfect opportunity. The Templars would want to know the identity of the couple that helped them take down an Ikhwan-sponsored terror operation. But I didn’t know they would use you as bait. I assumed they would try to recruit a capable mason into their fold. I apologize.”

“For what?” Baldwin demanded. “For using us without our permission. For the attacks on our lives. For not explaining fully after the first attack. What exactly are you apologizing for?”

“I understand you’re angry,