"Special Agents Beck and Gunn, NCIS. We're looking to talk to Carl Kruger about a marine that might have worked with you guys about six years ago. Name's Raoul Markam."

"Just a moment." She got on the phone and within ten minutes someone showed up. "Hello, I'm Ted White, here to escort you. I'm the co-owner."

They followed the guy up the elevator and into a hallway filled with offices and people busy working. He took them to a door at the end. Ted opened the door and ushered them inside, closing the door behind them.

A man sat behind the desk with salt-and-pepper hair; cold, wintery blue eyes regarded them. He rose. "Special Agents Beck and Gunn. Welcome to Outcast, gentlemen. Have a seat."

They strode forward and settled in the two chairs in front of the desk. "What can I do for you?"

"We're working a case that involves Raoul Markam." Derrick pulled a picture up on his phone and showed Carl. "Do you know him?"

Carl shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. What's this about?"

"We're not at liberty to say, sir, but we have reason to believe that he may be involved in a kidnapping and murder."

Carl looked surprised and shocked. "How is he tied to Outcast?"

"He was a marine six years ago and worked as liaison to security."

"I see. We worked with a lot of people back when the war was in full swing, but I don't know him."

"How about Timothy Hatch?" Derrick showed him his picture.

"No."

"How about Martin Carter?" Derrick held the phone up with the picture of the dead man.

Carl's lips thinned and he blinked several times. "Yes, I do know him."

"He's employed by you?"

His voice and face were perfectly neutral, but Austin saw his eyes dart. He was lying. "No, not anymore. I terminated him about three weeks ago. I understand he was killed by SEALs during an attack."

"That's correct. A top-secret SEAL mission, as a matter of fact. We would like his employment records." It was clear Derrick was not asking.

Carl nodded. "Of course, I'll get those for you."

With Carter's records on a flash drive, Austin and Derrick left the Outcast offices and hailed a cab.

"What do you think?" Austin asked.

"Just what you think."

"Yeah, the guy's lying. I think he knows Markam."

Derrick tapped his nose. "Exactly, and if he's not involved with him, why did he lie?"

"Bingo. Carter is involved with the SEAL team ambush, which tells me that Tyler Keighley might have been the initial target."

"I think you got that part right," Derrick said.

Austin's phone rang as the cab pulled up. "Beck."

"Austin, Bagram is secure. You and Gunn can catch a helo there now," Kai said.

"Yes, ma'am." Austin told her where they were on the case. She told them to keep digging and to keep her posted. He hung up and told Derrick.

He had a gut feeling that he would have something for his boss very soon. They had pieces and all they had to do was fit them together.

And Austin was very good at puzzles.

Outcast Headquarters, Kabul,

Parwan Province, Afghanistan

Carl picked up the phone, fuming as it rang.

"Hello." Ted had left after the NCIS agents did. He had a mission. "Ted?"

"Yeah, it's me," he growled.

"You with Markam?"

"Yes, Carl. I found him."

"Good. When you find that SEAL and the senator and kill them, dig a hole and bury them deep, and anyone helping them. Make sure those bodies are never found. And, Ted?"

"Yes."

"Make sure Markam's body goes in before you cover them up."

"What about the money?"

"We've gotten half, and this is heating up." His voice was flat. "NCIS has already connected us to Carter and now Markam. If they nab him, he'll rat us out to save his own hide." Carl enjoyed his cushy life way too much and he wanted to protect what he'd built. "His plan is to pretend that he got kidnapped by insurgents and escaped. I don't think the story that insurgents killed the senator and the SEAL will fly now that they've connected him to us. We're cutting our losses."

"Yes, sir. You got it."

Bagram Airfield,

Parwan Province, Afghanistan

Austin and Derrick climbed out of the helo once it set down on the runway at Bagram. Colonel Aazar Aziz, the Afghan commander, met them and turned them over to a guy who escorted them to Heathe. The place was in shambles with bodies laid out on the side and covered with sheets. Hatch's body had been flown out two days ago and was already being autopsied. NCIS tech Lara Comstock was busy analyzing the blood and the ballistics on the bullets that had killed Hatch.

"Special Agent Beck?" a female voice said, and he turned to find a dark-haired woman standing behind him. She reached out her hand. "Hello, I'm Christina Davis, and I was here when the insurgents attacked. I understand you need to talk to me."

"Yes, thank you. Is there somewhere we can go that's private?"

"Sure, the nurses' break room."

Once they were situated, Austin said, "Can you tell me what happened the night you were attacked?"

"I was just coming back from the runway after loading Petty Officer Keighley onto his flight for Landstuhl. The flight was early and I had to hustle to get him there. When I was walking back to Heathe, I saw them overrun the gate."

"What did you do?"

"I tried to make it back to warn people, but I was too late. They were already coming through the front door. I managed to alert most of the nursing staff and we all barricaded ourselves into the supply room."

"Did you see Agents Markam or Hatch?"

"No. I didn't."

"How about Senator Jones and Lieutenant Kaczewski?"

"No. Senator Jones was sleeping in a room just off the front doors. She was waiting for a military transport back to the States. Lieutenant Kaczewski was in the wing over from this one. He was the last of our patients and was flying to Walter Reed in the morning."

"Did Senator Jones and Lieutenant Kaczewski speak?"

"They did more than that. He got out of bed and went to Petty Officer Keighley's room with her help."

"So they had contact?"

"Yes, sir."

Austin smiled. "Thank you for your time, Lieutenant Davis. We're glad you're okay."

"They didn't seem to be interested in us. We were quite safe in the supply room. No one even came near the door."

Austin's phone rang as soon as Christina left. "Beck, it's Lara."

"What do you have for me, O-forensic-goddess?"

She chuckled. "The blood they found on the floor at Bagram. It's Lieutenant Kaczewski's and Agent Hatch's. Looks like they went at it." She paused and he heard tapping. "I also did ballistics on the recovered gun and the bullets that killed Agent Hatch."

"And?"

"The guy was killed with his own gun. One right through the heart. The two bullets in his head don't match anything on record."

"That all you got?"

"Agent Beck, aren't I a goddess?" she said with pique.

"I thought I detected a smug tone to your voice. What is it?"

"I got prints off the grip and the barrel."

"Who do they belong to?"

"That would be two whos."

"Really?"

"Yup. Senator Piper Jones and Lieutenant Dexter Kaczewski."

"No way?"

"Way. But Kaczewski's is only on the barrel of the gun. Senator Piper Jones is the one who pulled the trigger."

After Austin related all this information to Derrick, he got back on his computer and started digging some more. As night transitioned to day, he and Derrick had a chance to look around outside. Just past the main gate and across the road, Derrick found some prints. Some small enough to be those of a woman. He also found dried blood.

"Looks like they hightailed it into the valley."

"What's close to here?"

"Charikar is twelve miles from here, and there's a number of small villages all over this area."

"All right, let me do more research on Lieutenant Kaczewski and see if I can unearth any clues while you start cataloging the villages. We can get an interpreter."

"No need. I speak the language fluently."

"Do you?"

Derrick looked across the expanse of wilderness and Austin knew they were working against the clock. It seemed to him that Senator Jones's protection detail had been compromised and she had not only killed one of the men who was supposed to be protecting her, but she was also supporting a wounded navy SEAL. They were running for their lives. Which begged the question: Who wanted Piper Jones dead enough to go through all these hoops to make it look like an insurgents' attack and why? Also, that SEAL ambush was all about Tyler Keighley. He was the bait to lure her here. Those marines didn't die in battle. They were casualties of a damn conspiracy to take out a US senator. Outcast was most likely involved, but who hired them? How far did this conspiracy go? All the way to the White House?

Safid Darreh,

Parwan Province, Afghanistan