Chapter 4
Taking Jack's silence as a negative, Bates turned to Devlin and said simply, "Begin, for the record."
"Steven Haladki was employed by the CIA for the 7 years from 1995 – 2002. He worked in my office. Eight months ago his body was found in a garage, with a bullet through his head. His hand was crushed, apparently in an attempt at torture, through the use of a vise. His murder has remained unsolved." Turning, Devlin continued, "Last night I received a call from Director Kendall."
Bates nodded to Kendall to pick up the story.
Kendall cleared his throat, glanced at Jack, then began, "Yesterday evening an analyst was transcribing a voice tape collected during surveillance of a meeting between Agent Bristow and Ariana Kane, as part of the SD-6 extortion case file. The meeting took place 8 days ago at an outdoor café. For unknown reasons," he turned to glare at Vaughn, "the case officers had not yet filed their report of the meeting.
Idiot, thought Jack with exasperation. If he wasn't going to report it, he should have done something with the tape.
Kendall continued, "When the analyst transcribed the text, he brought it to me immediately. Agent Vaughn, would you care to read it?"
Vaughn swallowed. Not looking at Jack, he held a paper in front of him and began to read.
Ariana Kane: "Who is Stephen Haladki?"
Agent Bristow: "He was a CIA agent loyal to Irina Derevko."
Agent Kane: "Whom you murdered. We found brain matter in the gun you fired on the day Emily was murdered. I admit, I thought DNA tests would prove that you killed her, but instead they proved that you killed Haladki."
Agent Bristow: "We had reliable intel that Derevko was accessing information through the CIA. Her source turned out to be Haladki. He was crucial to her operation and had to be removed."
Ariana Kane: "If Haladki worked with Derevko, why hide his death from Sloane?"
Agent Bristow: "The death of a CIA agent draws unwanted attention and focus. When it happens, the safest recourse is to say nothing... ever."
Vaughn finished. There was silence in the room. Kendall looked over at him and growled, "Agent Vaughn?"
"Yes?"
"Do you confirm that the transcript accurately reflects the conversation you heard?"
"Yes," he said quietly.
"When Agent Bristow returned to the van, was there any further conversation regarding Haladki's murder?"
"No."
"That is all. You may leave." With a visible look of relief, Vaughn quickly stood and left the room.
