Avenge Thy Brother

Chapter 16: Under Cover

            I can't even lie, it felt great being back in Washington, D.C. with Byron. It had been a little over a week since we'd arrested Michele Whitlock and had her bail revoked for trying to have Chance Atwood killed. With her in the women's detention center and the rest of her followers either in jail or under strict surveillance, Byron and I were finally able to return home knowing that Eradication had been shut down. We were still learning things about the bigoted project but so much was still unknown. I also had other matters to look into that were separate from Eradication.

"We need to keep this between us," I told Chief Cunningham while pacing in his office. "We still have no idea who the mole is."

"These COWO people are dangerous, Rowell," he said. "From what you've told me..."

"I know but I have to come up with a way to shut them down without alerting the mole. This person knows everything because they have the original recording of my conversation with Gilmore."

"They obviously haven't acted on it yet."

"Probably because they have no idea how to get into contact with COWO. I found them by chance. If the mole gets to them and learns of their plans, we're looking at a massacre here. Beyond that, the mole has the potential to still take Eradication overseas to begin phase two."

"There is no way to find out who the mole is without putting lives at risk. It may be a risk we have to take."

"No. There has been enough death because of all this. I just..." I received a text from Byron telling me to come to his office, so I looked at Cunningham and told him, "Thank you for keeping this between us for the time being."

"Rowell, I can't promise that I can keep it between us forever. I'm breaking a lot of policy norms for you."

"And I am grateful for it. Thank you, sir. I have to go."

"Pay attention to everyone and everything, Rowell. For all we know, the mole could be closer than we think."

I left his office and headed to the elevators so that I could go to Byron's department. While I was in between floors in the elevator, the Inspector General, Edward Crosby, stepped on from his floor. When the doors closed, he stopped the elevator and said to me, "You were right to put your trust in Cunningham. We've been watching him along with others since you've been gone and he isn't the mole."

"Are you any closer to discovering who is the mole?" I asked him.

"No, but we're investigating this request that came in yesterday from your department." He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a request for information on Francine Headley.

"Who made the request?"

"They left their information blank. The request was left on the records counter overnight. The employee working the records counter that found it flagged it because it wasn't properly filed through her, which is standard protocol."

"Okay, but how would the mole have gotten the information once the request was filled if they filed it anonymously?"

"My guess is that the mole correctly assumed the information would have been sent to the mailroom; and from there, taken to your department and left in the miscellaneous basket since no agent's name was on it."

"So, we fulfill the request and put a dummy file in the basket?"

"It has to be more sophisticated than that. In order to rule out the mole being able to explain away having the file, we need to catch him or her in the act. Where are you going right now?"