Page 61 of The Fourth Option
“I’m noting the police activity out there.”
She closed the journal and slid it back across the table. “You some kind of private detective or something?”
“More of an ‘or something.’?”
“How did you say you knew Connor’s dad?”
“I didn’t.”
“Did you work together?”
“We did.”
“At the CIA?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Connor didn’t know much about what his dad did, but he knew it had something to do with the CIA. It was another reason he was so motivated to become an investigative journalist. I think he intended to investigate his father’s death one day, even talked about going to Afghanistan.”
Walker’s eyes fell to his coffee cup.
“Hey, what time is it?” she asked.
Walker turned up his left wrist. “I don’t know.”
“No watch?”
“Homeless, remember.”
“What’s your phone say?”
“I have a flip phone in the van.”
“What century do you live in?” she asked and dug into her pocket, pulling out an Android with a cracked screen.
“Didn’t realize it had gotten so late. I’ve got to get going,” she said, pulling the check to her. She flipped it over and wrote her phone number on the back of the receipt with the waitress’s pen. “Call me if you think I can help. Connor deserved better.”
“I will. And, he did.”
“Thank you for lunch.” She began to gather her things and then stopped. “What are you really doing here, Chris?”
He hesitated. “Like I said, I owe Connor’s dad a favor.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Afghanistan
2021
THE HILUX RUMBLEDover the rutted dirt road, dust clinging to the windshield like a second skin. The Pakistan border was close, though as everyone working in this part of the world knew, borders here were merely a suggestion, arbitrary lines drawn through tribal lands at the height of the Great Game in 1893 meant to create a buffer zone between world powers. Durand’s ghost haunted them still.
Walker adjusted his grip on the wheel, steering the smoothest course he could while constantly checking the rearview mirror to ensure the green Montero was still behind him.
His eyes were on that rearview when Naji hit his shoulder and pointed ahead.
Walker braked and snatched the binoculars from the door pocket.
Ahead, he saw the familiar outline of a Toyota Land Cruiser. He adjusted the focus through the glare and identified three armed men in mismatched fatigues and scarves, black flags fluttering on a whip antenna at the back of the truck. The terrain on their left was a rocky embankment, high ground. To the right was a boulder field that gave way to a wadi beyond.
