Cold Case 8-2: The Company (Not My Creation)

[valrush]

Kat leaned back and smiled slightly. “Hell of a move.”

Sharon smiled back wistfully “It wasn’t my first time.”

“You think they killed Jeff?” Kat asked.

“From what Jeff told me, they’ve killed for less.”

“Those guys were hired by the CIA?” Vera asked.

Sharon shook her head. “Private security on Bob Garrison’s personal payroll. He used them for ‘off the book’ assignment he didn’t want his superiors knowing about.”

“How’d he afford that?” Vera asked.

“Jeff and Steve did some digging into his financial records. Ethan Moore wasn’t the only one taking money.”

Kat and Vera looked at each other.

“They weren’t interested in bringing Omar in alive. Their job was to make him disappear”

“But why?” Kat asked. “What did Omar know?”

Sharon shook her head and sighed. “I don’t know. Omar only told Jeff, made him promise not to tell anyone else.” She looked at the detectives. “Which means Omar’s probably the only person alive who knows why all this is happening.”

[valrush]

Stepping out of the car, Scotty and Cavanaugh looked around the sunny suburban neighborhood, before Scotty pointed to a small house just up the street.

“Let’s hope Sharon Royce’s info’s good.” Scotty said, walking over to the house.

“DMV records checked out” Cavanaugh said.

“Guess you and Lil are gonna be doing a lot of travelin’.”

Cavanaugh gave Scotty a dull look. “Well that is how it works when you’re a federal agent.”

“Yeah, and if you see someone you like, you scoop them up too.”

Cavanaugh stopped. “I’m not gonna apologize for trying to recruit good people, Detective. As I recall, Yates thought you might be FBI material yourself.”

Scotty frowned. “I’m fine where I am.”

“Well maybe Rush isn’t.”

Scotty rolled his eyes. “Sure that’s the only reason you’re interested?”

“Meaning what exactly?”

“Nothing.” Scotty said, with a hint of a smirk. “You just seemed a bit concerned when you showed up at the bomb site. You two worked a lotta long hours on that Woodstock case of yours, didn’t you?”

“I’m not interested in talking about this with you.” Cavanaugh smiled. “Besides which, you really don’t have any business lecturing anyone on office relationships, do you, Detective?”

Scotty rolled his eyes again and said nothing.

“Like I said before, just because you’re not interested in something new, doesn’t mean she’s not.”

Scotty’s smirk returned. “You mean something better.”

Cavanaugh looked at Scotty. “I say what I mean, Detective.”

The two walked up to the driveway of the house, which had a mid-sized propped on a trailer attached to a minivan. A thin, slight-looking Arab man in his fifties emerged from around the other side of the van to inspect the trailer, before he looked up and noticed the two men.

“Ahmed Zahir?” Cavanaugh asked.

The man nodded.

Scotty gave the man a friendly smile. “Nice boat. You plannin’ to take her out?”

The man smiled back. “Well, the wife’s out of town for the weekend, and the kids are staying with friends, so I thought I’d get in some fishing.”

“You know they got some decent fishing spots around Philly.” Scotty said. “You ever been there?”

“No.” He said, shaking his head.

“Ah well, just gotta be careful though.” Scotty said. “Boat accidents are pretty common. Actually, I heard about a guy in Philly, died in a boating accident a few years back. ‘93, I think it was.” He turned to Cavanaugh. “What was that guy’s name? Omar…?”

“Omar Khalid.” Cavanaugh said, almost deadpan.

Scotty snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that was his name.” He reached into his pocket. “Actually, I got a picture of him right here.” Scotty pulled out a small photo of Omar Khalid and held it up to Ahmed. Aside from some less gray in his hair and wear on his face, there was no mistake. “He look like anyone you know… Ahmed?”

The color drained from Omar’s face as he looked and the photo. He closed his eyes and shook his head, suddenly looking even older and more worn. “I’ve been dreading this day for seventeen years.”

“No one’s looking to get you in trouble, Omar.” Scotty said, his tone softening as he and Cavanaugh flashed their badges. “I’m Detective Valens, Philly Homicide. This is Agent Cavanaugh from the FBI. We’re looking into the murder of Jeff Royce. His wife told us where to find you.”

Cavanaugh looked around the street. “Hell of a hiding spot they picked.”

Scotty nodded. “Yeah, right in the middle of Langley, half hour commute from CIA Headquarters. Talk about hiding in plain sight.”

Omar said nothing.

“We know that certain people were after you and that Jeff protected you.” Cavanaugh said. “There was also a bombing in Philly that killed an ex-CIA agent two days ago that someone’s implicated you in. I think they were trying to force you out of hiding.”

“A bombing?” Omar looked at Cavanaugh incredulously.

“Someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to find you.” Scotty said. “One thing we still don’t know though is why. We know you’re not a terrorist, so what is it about you that’s so dangerous?”

Omar looked at the two men and sighed. “You know, where I come from, there was so much destruction, suffering. When I came to America, I thought I could start over, leave it all behind.” He looked far off for a moment as his voice grew hoarse. “I never imagined it would follow me here…”

[valrush]

Cold Case Soundtrack: "Forever Blue"

Kandahar, Afghanistan: August 13, 1986.

Omar shook his head as he walked down the steps into the dusty basement. He’d already sworn this would be the last information he gave them. Not that he had any love for the Soviets, but he simply wasn’t a soldier. Just coming here made him nervous.

What if someone saw me going in or coming out? He thought. After this, I’m leaving. I can get a job in any city. Someplace safer.

An imposing looking mujahideen soldier, standing in the doorway at the bottom of the stairs, holding an AK-47, gave Omar a steely look, which softened as he recognized him.

“I have the reports you asked for.” Omar said in Arabic, holding up the small stack of papers he was carrying. “We agreed I was done after this. I’m not cut out for this.”

The mujahideen nodded and stepped aside, allowing Omar to pass through. Omar walked nervously down the hallway, unsure of what room he was supposed to go to, when he noticed the muffled cries coming from behind the door up ahead on the right. Omar paused for a moment, then went forward again, and found himself opening the door.

When Omar stepped in the room, the first thing he saw the man handcuffed to the metal table, with a cloth covering his face. Omar looked over to see a light-haired Caucasian man looking over the handcuffed man with a frown. He nodded to two mujahideen off to the side, who walked over carrying a large hose. One of them turned a nozzle at the head of the hose, which began spraying water over the handcuffed man’s face. The handcuffed man immediately began shaking violently and let out a muffled scream.

This went on for several seconds until the light-haired man held up a hand, and the mujahideen turned off the water. The light-haired man pulled the cloth off the man’s face. The handcuffed man was bald, middle aged, with his eyes wide with terror.

“All right, let’s try this again.” The light-haired man said in English, with what sounded like an American accent. “Where are the Soviet convoy routes?” He turned to another man standing next to him. “Tell him we know the reports go through his office.” He turned back to the handcuffed man. “Where are they, Rashid?” He asked, his voice raising. “Tell me!”

The translator, a young-looking man, calmly repeated the light-haired man’s words in Arabic. He then leaned forward and strained to listen as Rashid whimpered something in Arabic between sobs.

The translator looked up at the light-haired man. “I swear I don’t know.” He repeated dispassionately. “I’m just a low-level worker. They don’t tell me anything. Please believe me.”

The light-haired man looked back at Rashid with a glare. “You’re doing this to yourself.”

He pulled the cloth back over Rashid’s face and snapped his fingers at the two mujahideen carrying the hose. “Again!”

Rashid wailed until the two men started spraying his face again, causing Rashid’s body to shake even more violently this time.

Omar who had been watching silently with a horrified look on his face, finally began to step backwards towards the door. As he did, he bumped a table, the noise causing the others in the room to turn in his direction.

As the light-haired man looked at Omar, a murderous rage came over his eyes. Before Omar could do anything, the light-haired had rushed over, grabbing Omar’s chest, and pushing him through the doorway, into the wall of the hallway outside.

“What do you think you’re doing?” The light-haired man hissed. “You think that’s any of your business?”

“I… I didn’t see anything.” Omar stammered in English.

The light-haired man’s eyes widened. “You speak English?”

Omar opened his mouth, but said nothing, unsure of what to say.

“It’s all right, Mr. Garrison.” The translator said nervously in English, rushing over to them. “He’s just a civilian worker who’s been passing us information. He’s not a threat.”

Garrison turned his glare to the translator. “He is, now that you told him my name!” Garrison pulled a heavy-looking gun from his belt and pressed it into Omar’s head. “I’m afraid your boys are going to have a mess to clean up.”

“Wait!” The translator said, grabbing Garrison’s arm. “You don’t have to do this! He’s not a threat!”

Before Garrison could respond, one of the mujahideen in the room shouted something in Arabic and pointed to Rashid, who was still shaking, even without water being sprayed on him.

Garrison and the translator ran back into the room. The translator placed his ear on Rashid’s chest. “I think he’s having a heart attack!”

“Dammit!” Garrison shouted. “Get the medic in here!”

Finally regaining his bearings, Omar dropped the stack of papers he was still holding, and started running towards the stairs.

“Hey! Hey!” He could hear Garrison yelling behind him. He didn’t turn to look, but ran past the startled mujahideen at the doorway, up the steps, and out the doorway as fast as he could…

[valrush]

Omar shook his head. “What he had them doing, I think they call it ‘waterboarding’. The man’s name was Rashid Kamal. He was a local bureaucrat they’d abducted for information. I heard later that he didn’t make it. In fact, they told me it turned out he was telling the truth. He didn’t have clearance to anything sensitive. He really didn’t know anything.”

“And what happened after you left?” Cavanaugh asked.

“I got as far away as I could. I heard later that man, Garrison, was looking for me but I never saw or heard from him again after that. It never occurred to me it would still matter by the time I came here. I figured everyone would have forgotten by then.” Omar swallowed. “I know I tried to.”

“You told Jeff what you saw?” Scotty asked, thoughtfully.

Omar nodded. “He set up this hiding place, got me a new identity. He said he didn’t trust anyone else, so he set it all up himself. Jeff said I’d be safe here, and told me to be ready to tell people what I saw when the time was right. But after I heard he was killed, I wasn’t sure that would ever happen.”

“All right, you better come with us, Omar.” Cavanaugh said.

Omar looked at them. “Am I under arrest? What about my family?”

“You can call them and let them know you’re okay.” Cavanaugh said. “We just need to get you someplace safe for now, until we can get Garrison into custody.”

“Believe me, Omar,” Scotty said, leading them back to the car. “The time is definitely right.”

[valrush]

“Yeah, okay.” Stillman said, before hanging up the phone and turning to Lilly, Vera, and Jeffries. “Scotty and Cavanaugh have Omar secure. They’ll have him brought back here once they’re sure it’s safe.”

“So all this was all to cover up a guy getting waterboarded back in the eighties?” Vera asked with a frown. “You don’t hear about any of the guys stationed at Guantanamo sweatin’ about this.”

“Well, it wasn’t always kosher, Nick.” Stillman said with a shrug. “They prosecuted the Japanese for waterboarding after the war.”

“That kind of scandal can’t be good if you’re trying to work your way up the CIA ladder.” Lilly said. “It’s not the only thing I found on Garrison either.”

They looked up to see Bob Garrison being led into the squad and towards an interview room by an officer.

“We still don’t have anything tying him to Jeff’s murder.” Stillman said quietly. “We gotta put him at the scene or connect him to someone who was.”

Jeffries leaned over to Stillman. “How’d you get the brass to sign off on you bringing him in anyway?”

Stillman gave a small facial shrug. “Well, chain of command’s a little fuzzy right now. They still haven’t settled on a replacement for Doherty. Figured I might as well take advantage of the power vacuum.” He turned to Lilly. “Come on.”

“Been looking at the info you provided on Omar Khalid, Director Garrison.” Stillman said, holding a folder. “Not as much as I thought there’d be.”

Garrison shrugged. “What can I say, Lieutenant? Terrorists don’t always fill out the census forms.”

“Well, we’re just trying to find out what this guy’s done that makes him so dangerous.” Lilly said, sitting across from him at the table.

“The whole reason my job exists is to stop people before they do something dangerous.”

“Well, you certainly put in the effort.” Lilly said, leafing through the pages in the folder in her own hand. “Made inquiries to Interpol, foreign intelligence agencies, INS, anyone to try and track him if he crossed a border or came here. A lot of effort to look for one guy.”

“Everyone was still focused on the Cold War.” Garrison said. “Somebody had to pay some attention to the next threat.”

“Huh.” Lilly said. “You ever been to Afghanistan, Director?”

“Once, just after the Taliban fell.”

“No, I mean back in the eighties.” Lilly said, smiling. “Back when Omar was still living there.”

Garrison’s face remained neutral. “I wouldn’t have had any business over there back then.” He held up his finger and thumb close together. “Though even I did, I think that’s just a little bit out of your jurisdiction.”

“Well, I’m sure there’d be a few people interested.” Stillman said.

“As I said, I didn’t have any business over there.”

“Well, maybe we should ask Omar about that.” Lilly’s smile widened. “If we ever find him.”

Garrison’s eyes darted from Lilly to Stillman and back, but his face remained impassive. “Maybe you should. Of course, the word of a fugitive suspected terrorist against a senior government official with over four decades of service, not exactly the strongest of cases.”

“Jeff Royce thought differently.” Stillman said, his eyes narrowed at Garrison.

“Well I guess Jeff was getting a bit confused about which side he was on, but that happens to undercover operatives sometimes.”

“Is that why you sent that private commando team in to finish the job?” Lilly asked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. My department’s never used private security.”

“Hmm, funny. That’s not what Ray Martin said.” Lilly said.

Garrison moved his head ever so slightly.

“Oh, you remember him, the agent looking into that missing money.” Lilly pulled a page from the folder and looked it over. “He wrote a memo about it. Said he was concerned about some of it being used to fund a private security unit for some ‘off the book’ assignments. He wanted to follow up on it. Too bad you sent him on that mission in Prague he wasn’t cut out for, the one he never came back from.”

Garrison nodded. “Let me guess. Souvenirs from the collection of Steve Mitchum; disgruntled burnout. Again, not the best witness.”

Stillman leaned in. “If Ethan Moore stole that money and those commandos answered to you, that leaves the question of who was really blackmailing Ethan?”

“And who had a bomb planted in his motel room?” Lilly asked. “Maybe even had Jeff taken out?”

Garrison smiled. “Those are some good questions. You really are tenacious. No wonder Cavanaugh wants you. Hey, when you see him next, ask him about that poor fiancee of his. Is he still telling people it was a head-on collision?”

Lilly’s face slackened slightly.

“Oh, he didn’t share that with you?” Garrison asked. “Well some people like to keep things close to the vest.” He looked up at Stillman and grinned. “Kind of like the Lieutenant here and, what was her name? Abby…. Donovan?”

“All right, back to the question.” Stillman said, looking stoic as Lilly tried not to look at him.

“Right, well, I think I’ll let my lawyer answer that. I took the liberty of calling him on the way here.” They looked up towards a knocking sound to see a dark-suited man with a briefcase standing in the doorway next to a frowning Jeffries. Garrison gave the man a nod and stood up. “Well, what do you know? Anyways, this has been enlightening, but I think I’ll be going now.” He smiled as Lilly looked at him. “Don’t feel too bad. I was conducting interrogations before you were in a training bra.”

Stillman stepped towards Garrison with a glare, but stopped as Lilly stood up.

“I wonder what your bosses at Langley are gonna think about this?” She asked.

Garrison looked back at them with a hint of surprise. “Oh, you didn’t hear? I put in my retirement today. So here’s to new chapters.” He gave the two one final nod. “Be seeing you.”

Lilly watched Garrison walk out of the squad until he was out of sight. “Sooner than you think.”

[valrush]

5

“Hey,” Lilly said to Scotty and Cavanaugh walking hurriedly into the squad. “You heard?”

“Miller brought us up to speed.” Cavanaugh said, nodding. “We still got a location on Garrison?”

Lilly sighed and shook her head. “He and his guys gave Fugitives the slip after he left.”

Scotty frowned. “This guy’s gonna skip the country. We gotta find him.”

“Even if we do, we’re gonna need more than we got.” Cavanaugh said. “Omar’s testimony’s helpful, but pretty much everything else is circumstantial. Now we’ve got three dead CIA agents, two of them on American soil. We gotta connect him to at least one of them.”

“I was thinking about that.” Lilly said. “Now Garrison probably had people helping him, besides Ethan.”

“We figure out who they were, maybe they can give us something.” Scotty added.

“I’ve got a hunch about that.” Lilly said, holding up a stack of papers with columns of phone numbers on them. “I was looking over the Royces’ phone records from when Jeff moved here until he was killed. There’s over thirty calls to a number at Langley, most of them before Jeff died. I thought it might be Jeff checking in with someone, but I checked the times, and for most of them, Jeff and Sharon were out working.”

Scotty tilted his head. “Only one other person in the house who could’ve been making those calls.”

[valrush]

As Lilly, Stillman and Cavanaugh watched from Interview’s observation, Jimmy closed his eyes and sighed. “Yeah, I made them. Almost forgot about those.”

Sitting at the table, Kat nodded, then thought for a moment. “You were calling Bonnie, weren’t you? She was close to your family before your father brought her into the CIA.”

Jimmy nodded. “My dad never seemed to be around, so I’d call her sometimes. She couldn’t tell me much, but I sort of got an idea of what he’d been doing all those years, and why.“

“The thing is, after your father died, those phone calls started getting a lot shorter. Fifteen, thirty seconds at most.” Kat leaned closer. “Just long enough for someone to tell you they can’t talk.”

Jimmy shrugged. “She was busy. Her job was important.”

“She found time before your father died.”

“Maybe it was just too painful to talk after.”

“Or maybe she didn’t want to be reminded of something.”

Jimmy looked at her intently. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying your father wouldn’t have gone to the park in the middle of the night, not without somebody he trusted. He wouldn’t have gone alone for Garrison or Ethan. Steve and Omar wouldn’t have had any motive.” Kat paused for a moment and spoke carefully. “But someone just starting out at their job, someone who could be led astray…”

Jimmy looked down, the sadness growing on his face. “I never put them together. It happened the night before he died, but I never put them together.”

“Put what together?”

Jimmy shook his head. “We were finally gonna start over, but there was a misunderstanding…”

[valrush]

REM
“Find the River”


Jimmy crept down the stairs and peered towards the kitchen, where Jeff and Sharon were standing.

“So, everything’s taken care of?” Sharon asked.

Jeff nodded. “He’s on his way down there now. I got people I trust ready to set him up when he gets there. He’ll be okay. I told Steve I could handle things from here on out. I think he’s just glad to put the whole thing behind him.”

“He’s not the only one.” Sharon said evenly.

“Listen, I wanna thank you for helping me on this. I know it was a lot to spring on you all at once.”

Sharon shrugged wearily. “What else could I do?”

“Well I couldn’t have done this without you.” Jeff smiled slightly. “You said I could never lie to you. There’s no sense trying now.”

“Well, apparently, you can.” She said, with a calm look.

Jeff sighed. “Sharon, I–“

Sharon put her hand up. “You have to do what you have to do, and you always have your reasons for it. I’ve understood that for a long time.” She sighed as she began to look more tired. “It’s just I’ve been waiting a long time for my husband to come home, and I’m not the only one. I just need to know it’s really over this time.”

Jeff took her hand. “I have everything I want, everything I need right here in this house. Nothing else comes first.”

Sharon gave him a weary, but content smile.

Jeff slowly turned his head towards the doorway. “You’re supposed to be asleep.”

Jimmy’s eyes widened as his parents walked over to him. Neither looked mad, however.

“You’re good, but I’ve been at this a bit longer” Jeff said with a smirk. “So how much of that did you hear?”

Jimmy said nothing.

Sharon smiled at Jimmy, then Jeff, before heading upstairs. “I’ll give you a few minutes alone.”

Jeff sat down in a living room chair. “Look, I know you’re probably wondering what I’ve been up to all these months. When you’re a little older, I’ll tell you about it. The important thing to know for now is that I’m done with it.”

Jimmy gave his father a slight frown. “That’s what you said before.”

Jeff closed his eyes and nodded. “I know, I know. I should be the one person you trust more than anything, and it’s my fault if I’m not.” Jeff shook his head. “That life cost me more than I ever thought it would.”

Jimmy just looked at him for a moment, unsure what to say, before his father pulled him into a hug.

“I know you’re not gonna trust me again overnight,” Jeff whispered, “but I’m willing to put in the time.”

Jimmy nodded as his eyes started to well up.

When Jeff finally let go, he noticed Bonnie through the window, standing in the driveway, looking out at the street.

“Her cab still hasn’t come yet?” Jeff said quietly. He looked back at his son. “We’ll talk some more tomorrow. Go get some sleep for now.”

Jimmy smiled slightly and headed up the stairs…

[valrush]

Cold Case Soundtrack: "Fireflies"

Just far enough to hear his father walk through the front door and close it behind him.

Jimmy hurried over to the window in the upstairs hallway, which was open a crack.

“Still waiting?” Jimmy heard Jeff ask.

Bonnie turned and smiled. “Yeah. I don’t mind though. It’s not like I have a boyfriend waiting at the hotel or anything.” She laughed nervously.

Jeff chuckled slightly. “Look, I wanna thank you for everything you did. You took a lot of risks, but I want you to know you did the right thing.”

Bonnie’s smile widened.

“You know I think about how far you’ve come since you started. You’re smart, resourceful, people trust you. You’re gonna be a better agent that I ever was. I’m proud of you.”

Bonnie pushed herself into a hug with Jeff, who just smiled and patted her back.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

When she pulled back after a few moments, he put her hand around her arms and smiled. “Just promise me you won’t let this job be the only thing in your life.”

She nodded. “You mean find someone to share it with?”

Jeff just shrugged. “Sure. Anybody’d be lucky to have you.”

Bonnie looked at Jeff intently for a moment, before Jeff startled looking confused, then she pressed her lips against his. Jeff immediately made a muffled noise inside her mouth, and pushed her off. “What that hell do you think you’re doing?”

Bonnie just stared at him in shock. “I… I thought…”

Jeff just shook his head in disbelief. “You thought what? I have a family, for God’s sake.”

Bonnie pulled her arms around herself. “I’m sorry, I…”

Jeff wiped lipstick off his mouth, and gave her a stern look. “All right, I’m gonna go back inside now to my family, and we’re just gonna pretend this didn’t happen.”

“Yeah.” Bonnie said through her teeth. “Right.”

Jeff gave her a cool look, before turning back to the front door. As Jeff headed away, Jimmy could see the pained look she was giving him, before she turned away herself.

Jimmy pulled away from the window, and hurried towards his room, swearing this would be the last time he spied on his father…

[valrush]

“The next night, he went out, and he never came back.” Jimmy whispered.

“Did you ever tell anyone about this?” Kat asked. “To you mom, maybe?”

Jimmy shook his head. “I never told anyone before today. I’ll never forget that look on her face. She just looked so disappointed. I guess she thought he was something different than what he really was too.”

[valrush]

Cold Case Soundtrack: "Forever Blue"

Lilly walked about of Observation, which Stillman and Cavanaugh had already left. When she caught up to them, they were standing around Scotty and Jeffries, a phone in his hand.

“Dispatch just got a 911 call from a guest at the motel where Bonnie was staying.” Jeffries said “A woman matching her description was just abducted outside her room by two men in a black van, five minutes ago”

Stillman shook his head. “Garrison’s tying up loose ends before he makes a run for it.”

“If we don’t get to them before they stop, she’s dead.” Cavanaugh said.

“We get a make on that van? Which way they were headed?” Stillman asked.

Jeffries nodded, handing him a pad.

“We gotta go now,” Lilly said, glancing at the writing on the pad. “We don’t have much time.”

[valrush]

“Black van spotted heading north on 352.” The police dispatcher said.. “Possible hostage, Caucasian female, mid-forties.”

[valrush]

Thick trees lined the road, where Cavanaugh’s SUV pulled to a stop as the saw the van. Lilly and Cavanaugh drew their guns and hurried over to check inside the van, already knowing it would be empty.

“Over there.” Lilly said, pointing to a hint of footprints leading into the woods on the right side.

Cavanaugh took a quick glance back at the road. Back-up would be here in a few minutes, but Bonnie almost certainly didn’t have that long.

“Come on.” Lilly said, giving Cavanaugh a nod before hurrying into the woods.

[valrush]

“Please, please!” Bonnie sobbed as Moreno and the other mercenary dragged her through the forest.

“Shut up!” Moreno hissed, taking a quick glance behind him before moving forward.

[valrush]

Lilly could hear Cavanaugh signaling their location on the radio, but didn’t look or slow down. She wasn’t even sure if they were still headed in the right direction, but adrenaline wouldn’t let her slow down. Ignoring the branches that brushed against her, she ran deeper into the forest.

[valrush]

As they emerged into a clearing, Moreno threw the still-pleading Bonnie to the ground. He gave a quick nod to other mercenary, who stood over Bonnie, blocking her path. Moreno then raised his gun, directly at the back of her head.

[valrush]

The jarring sound of the two gunshots forced Lilly and Cavanaugh out of their run. Lilly’s eyes widened as she looked at Cavanaugh. Neither said a word, but hurried forward in the direction of the gunshots.

[valrush]

Lilly emerged into clearing and immediately saw Bonnie.

She was on her knees, trembling and breathing heavily. Beside her on the ground were the unmoving bodies of the two mercenaries, each with bullet wound in their chest.

Lilly looked over to see Sharon no less than fifty feet away, her gun still raised, a police scanner peaking out of her jacket pocket, and a solemn look on her face.

While Cavanaugh checked the bodies, then Bonnie, Lilly walked over to Sharon, who lowered the gun.

Sharon said nothing but glanced over at Bonnie with a hint of disgust, then turned back to Lilly and let out a sigh of relief.

[valrush]

Lilly set the cup of coffee down in front of Bonnie in the FBI field office’s interview room. Bonnie, looking exhausted and pale, didn’t touch it.

“So, you ready to tell us what happened?” Lilly said, as she and Cavanaugh sat down.

Bonnie said nothing, only giving them a defensive glare.

“Bonnie, we know about that misunderstanding at Jeff’s house.” Cavanaugh said. “Between that and wanting to get in good with your boss, you’ve got motive. Jeff would’ve still trusted you enough to come to the park that night. Maybe you even pulled the trigger yourself.”

“I didn’t do that!” Bonnie suddenly.

“Then tell us who did.” Cavanaugh continued. “You do that and tell us where Garrison is, we’ll tell th D.A. you cooperated.”

Bonnie looked at Cavanaugh, then Lilly, uneasily.

“We talked some of your co-workers at the CIA.” Cavanaugh said, looking over the file folder in his hands. “Apparently, you were a real up-and-comer there back in the day. Then you hitched your wagon to Bob Garrison, and he turned you into a glorified secretary, while he gets a promotion.”

“What happened in the woods there, that’s how Bob Garrison rewards loyalty.” Lilly said, leaning closer. “He uses people, and the second they stop being useful, they end up dead. Ray Martin, Jeff Royce, Ethan Moore, you.”

Bonnie shifted uncomfortably, as her face looked pained.

“Jeff believed in you.” Lilly said.

A tear rolled down her cheek. “He always told me what a good agent I was.“

Lilly smiled slightly. “So prove him right.”

Bonnie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “There’s a private airfield two hours north of the city.” She shook her head. “He wasn’t even worried about me telling anyone about it.”

Lilly looked over at Cavanaugh, who was already standing, and heading towards the door.

“Talk about what happened the night Jeff died,” she said, turning back to Bonnie.

Bonnie swallowed hard. “Jeff called me and told me Ethan had called to meet him at the park. Steve had overheard some phone call between Ethan and Garrison and thought it was too dangerous, but Jeff thought he should go and find out what they knew. He thought he’d be safe as long as I was his eyes and ears.”

“He didn’t know.” Lilly said.

“I… I was just so upset about what happened before,” Bonnie said, starting to shake. “And Garrison confronted me when I got back to the hotel. He said my career was at stake, that I could have a future working with him, or throw it away.”

“So, you had to make a choice.” Lilly said, looking thoughtful.

“I thought I made the right one,” Bonnie continued. “Garrison said he’d just talk some sense into Jeff, that maybe Jeff would even thank me one day.”

“Garrison was there that night?” Lilly asked.

Bonnie nodded. “It was the only time I ever saw him get his hands dirty…”

[valrush]

Cold Case Soundtrack: "The Professor"

“Bonnie, I need those heat signatures.” Jeff whispered into the earpiece.

“Okay, I’ve almost got it.” Bonnie said, sitting in the van, her eyes nowhere near a computer screen. “All right, I’ve got movement sixty feet away at five o’clock.”

“That’s gotta be Ethan.” Jeff said.

“Yeah, probably.” Bonnie said, before turning to Ethan, who was sitting next to her in the van, with a nervous look.

Jeff slipped around the bushes, towards the signature Bonnie had given him. If he was careful, he should be able to get the drop on him.

As he moved into the clearing by the walkway, however, he couldn’t find any trace of Ethan, or anyone else.

“Drop the gun,” the voice behind him said.

Jeff spun around to see Bob Garrison pointing a gun at him.

Garrison gestured to the park bench beside the walkway. “Come on, Jeff. Set it down.”

Jeff frowned and stared for a moment before setting the gun down on the bench.

Garrison smiled. “Why don’t you give me that earpiece too?”

Jeff’s eyes narrowed, before he pulled out the earpiece and tossed it to Garrison, who caught it with his free hand, and raised it up to his mouth..

“Good work, Bonnie,” he said, causing Jeff’s eyes to widen.

“Yeah, don’t be too surprised.” Garrison said with a frown. “Bonnie’s a smart girl. She knows which one of us can give her a future.”

Jeff looked at the earpiece for a moment, then spoke.

“Bonnie?”

“Jeff,” Bonnie said through the earpiece. “Jeff, I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right, Bonnie. It’s all right.” Jeff said glumly. “You’re a good agent.”

In the van, Bonnie blinked back tears, as Ethan touched her arm.

“It’s gonna be okay.” Ethan said, trying to sound reassuring. “Jeff’s… he’s a smart guy, you know? He’ll do the right thing.”

Bonnie could only swallow.

“All right. Enough of that.” Garrison said, putting the earpiece in his pocket. “Where’s Omar?”

Jeff shrugged. “Omar’s dead. I told you that.”

“I’m not in the mood, Jeff.” Garrison said quietly. “I’m telling you to give him to me right now.”

“I don’t work for you anymore. I would’ve thought your boys would’ve told you that after what happened.”

“You’re not leaving here without telling me where he is.”

“This was never about national security. This was about saving your own ass.”

“Where is he, Jeff?”

“You know, if you’d left him alone, he probably never would’ve said anything to anyone. All he wanted to do was forget everything that happened, start over here. But you just couldn’t stand the fact that someone had something on you, that something was out of your control.”

“I’ve spent nearly thirty years protecting American lives,” Garrison hissed. “I don’t have to justify myself to you. Now you better decide if some camel jockey’s worth it, Jeff, because you’ve got a lot more to lose than I do.”

“You don’t scare me. Anything happens to my family, they go missing, have an accident, I’ve made arrangements to have everything come out.”

“Where is he?” Garrison repeated, raising the gun.

“And just for the record,” Jeff said with a hint of a smile. “He’s more of an American than you’ll ever be.”

“Where is he!?” Garrison shouted.

Jeff shook his head. “I’m not giving him up to you, and you’re not gonna find him. You’re not that smart.” Jeff took a step forward. “Now, if you’re gonna shoot me, then do it already. Otherwise I–“

The sound of the gunshot nearly caused Bonnie to jump from her seat. She covered her mouth and looked up at the monitor in time to see Jeff slump to the ground. She could see Garrison stare at Jeff’s body for a moment, before crouching down to pull Jeff’s wallet from his jacket.

“Well, that didn’t go like I hoped.” Garrison said dryly into his own earpiece. “All right, Bonnie, Ethan, I need you to access Philly PD records. There’s something I need you to find.”

Tears were still rolling down Bonnie’s face, as she typed in the information, interrupted by sobs.

As the record printed off, Ethan, still looking in shock himself, tore the sheet from the printing roll and handed it to Bonnie.

As he did, there was a knock at the van doors. Ethan reached over to open them revealing Garrison, still holding the wallet.

“Did you find a match?” Garrison asked Bonnie impatiently.

She only sobbed in response.

“Bonnie!” Garrison snapped, causing her to jump.

Breathing heavily, Ethan took the paper from Bonnie’s hands and gave it to Garrison.

“Uhhh, yeah. Yeah, we did.”

Garrison looked over the page for a moment, then nodded.

“Yeah, okay, this one should do.” Garrison pulled a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. “Moreno, it’s me. Yeah, it went down like you said it would. Listen, there’s someone I need you to find.” His eyes scanned over the page. “His name is Oscar Torres.”

Bonnie could only look up to Jeff’s body on the monitor and stare…

Bonnie looked down at the table. Lilly nodded and slid the pad and pen over to her.