Chapter 11
"So Ensign, do you know what my first question is going to be?" AJ asked.
"You want to know why I would do this," she stated.
"Yes Ensign, for a start."
"I didn't want to do it! Grant was forcing it on me!" Carla protested.
Sam couldn't help it, she just blurted out her question, "Forced you?! Just what could force you to commit not one but TWO murders?!"
AJ threw her a look for interrupting his questioning but he didn't say anything as they waited for Ensign Moore to answer.
"The compensation Grant is talking about on the tape is my twelve year old son," Carla whispered as a tear slid down her cheek.
"He has your child?!" Sam asked appalled.
"Yes and is threatening to kill him if I don't do as he says."
AJ turned and demanded of Webb, "How much do we know about Grant? Will he release her son when she does what she is supposed to or will he kill him anyway?"
All that was heard from Carla was a moan of pain.
Pulling out a file from his briefcase and passing it to AJ, Webb said, "I'm sorry Ensign but it's very likely that he is already dead."
"I speak to Kasey every night. I told Grant that I wouldn't go through with it unless I had continuing proof that he was still alive."
"Good," AJ replied. "Then we need to rescue Kasey before we do anything else."
"I think you should kill me to give yourself some breathing room," Sam suggested.
"Unacceptable!" exclaimed AJ. "We will think of something else."
"Thank you for that but I honestly didn't mean for you to actually kill me for real. I'm not suicidal. What I meant was to fake my death so it will look like Ensign Moore did her job."
AJ had a thoughtful look on his face as he said, "That might buy some time with Davis-Marciniak, but we still don't know who the main target is, Ensign?"
Ensign Moore sat there in silence for a moment, not like she wasn't going to answer, but for some reason she hesitated, then reluctantly told them Admiral Stiles Morris."
"Morris?" AJ asked, startled. "Do you have any idea why?"
Carla shook her head, "No, I wasn't told why. I was just told to do it or they would kill my son."
"Does it really matter why?" Webb spoke for the first time since Carla had come into the room.
"It can," Sam answered. "If you know why something is desired then you can get into the mind of the bad guy."
"Bad guy?!" Webb questioned with a sneer.
"What do you want me to call him? Evil monster?" asked Sam.
"Who cares what you call him or what his reason for wanting Morris dead? Now that we know who was going to kill him, he's safe," declared Webb.
"That's not true," AJ stated. "Once it becomes clear to Davis-Marciniak that Ensign Morris is not going to kill Admiral Morris, he will more than likely have her taken care of and then he would hire someone else to kill Morris. Webb do you have a file on Davis-Marciniak?"
Nodding, Clay pulled a thick manila folder out of his briefcase and handed it to AJ.
"Let me go through this for a few minutes and Webb you've faked your death a couple of times so why don't you figure out a way to have it look like Ensign Moore killed Major Bell."
"I don't care what happens to me, but may I ask how you are going to rescue Kasey?" Carla asked in a timid voice.
"Ensign what about Kasey's father?" Sam asked.
"He was killed in Afghanistan when Kasey was just a baby."
"Do you have any other family?"
AJ was reading through the Davis-Marciniak file, but he was also listening to the conversation between Samantha and Ensign Moore. He knew where she was going with her questions and understood, but wasn't sure he could allow what she was going for.
"No it's just Kasey and me," she hung her head and for the first time since she came into the room there were tears in her eyes. "What will happen to him if I am in the brig?"
To be continued…