The Red Herring

Chapter 32

John's mouth dropped open. "Are you sure?"
"Four out of the five agents are in this building. Get them up here," she said.
John picked up his desk phone and had them all sent up. They entered the office looking confused. "Please have a seat."
"What's this about, kid?" Beth's dad asked John.
"Doug Hatburg."
"It's time to give up the ghost, boys," Hank said.
"It's about time," said Peter Javan. "I'm tired of keeping that Soviet fuck's secret."
"What?" Tommy asked.
Hank retold his story about Doug's secret identity. "I don't know why they want him to act now."
"And Monica's his daughter?" John asked.
"Kind of makes sense why she'd marry Jim, doesn't it?" Beth said. "The thing is, Monica isn't an agent. Doug is supposed to be dead. How can he do anything?"
Beth heard Jim's voice in the hallway. "That son of a bitch. Sorry, James. I know he's your kid," Beth's dad said. James waved his hand. "Jim Croyston, get the hell in here."
The door opened and Jim's head poked through the opening. "Babe, I need you to answer a question for us. I need you to be more honest than you've ever been. Please," Beth said.
Jim entered the room and shut the door. "What's up?"
"Did you know Doug Hatburg was still alive? Even after 9/11?"
Jim hesitated and sighed. "Yeah. He told me he had to go away for awhile. Put me in charge."
James looked at him. "Why you?"
"Thanks, Dad. Because he said there were loose ends with Dovetail. He told me Katerina never shot you. He told me she told you to run. She already knew she was pregnant. She didn't want to kill her baby's father."
"Are you in contact with him?" Beth asked.
"Not for a long time. Why?"
"Do you have a number for him?" she asked.
Jim took out his wallet and dug down into one of the pockets. He pulled out a piece of paper. He opened it, glanced at it, and handed it to Beth. "Just tell me why."
Beth looked at John. He threw his hands up in the air as if to say the ship was sinking and it didn't matter anymore. "He's the ghost."
Jim laughed. "I thought Katerina was the ghost."
"It's a long story. He's also Monica's dad."
"Yeah, I knew that. We were all surprised."
Beth took out her cell phone and dialed the number on the paper. Beth knew his voice when he answered. "Hatburg, it's Beth Lachlan. How are you? I still carry that .45 you gave me."
He was silent for a moment. "What do you want?"
"Your old case has come back into play. We got the ghost. Thought you might want to see your old pals."
"My old pals are dead. So are you."
"Yeah, well, we're pretty good at coming back to life. Are you coming?"
Hatburg sighed deeply. "Fine. But I'm coming in the back. Have someone meet me. Twenty minutes."
Beth hung up. "He's in D.C. He wants someone to meet him around back. I'll do it."
"No!" Alex Barrett said. "I'll meet him. If he's going to kill someone, I'd rather it be me."
"Dad, no. I'll do it. He doesn't know I know. I'll be fine."
Alex hid behind a tree and Beth stood by the door. A black SUV pulled up and Beth saw a drastically older Doug Hatburg behind the wheel. He carefully got out of the vehicle.
"Doug!" Beth called out and waved.
"Beth Lachlan. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" He slowly walked over to her and gave her a hug.
Beth swiped a card and the door unlocked. "This way."
Doug was looking around. "Who's looking out for you?"
Her dad stepped out from behind the tree. "Doug."
"Ha! So you found out he was faking it? Good to see you, Alex."
Beth led them upstairs to the conference room where everyone had assembled. She noticed Hatburg hesitated before crossing the threshold. "Here he is!" she said cheerfully.
"It's good to see you guys," he said. He, Beth, and her dad all took seats. "Here's what I want to know. After forty plus years, who is the ghost?"
John looked at Beth. "There's something I want to know. Why is your daughter killing sleeper agents and the children of Dovetail including your son?" she asked.
Hatburg's face fell. "Kevin? What are you saying?"
"Someone left your son's body at my house. We know your daughter is the shooter." Beth paused. She was remembering something. "Or one of them. Do you still favor a .45?"
"Meredith is not a killer!"
"So it's just you then?" Hank asked. "Come clean. We know who you are."
"I'm a former CIA agent and the former director of the CIA. I worked with all of you for decades," Hatburg insisted.
"It's interesting that you shelved Dovetail as soon as you became director," John said. "What exactly have you been doing since you faked your death?"
"Did you know about 9/11? That was an awfully big coincidence," Beth said.
"I don't know anything. We all left because it would be easier to work the op! Why am I the one who's being treated like a criminal?!"
"Because you're a Soviet spy," Peter Javan said. "You're been dirty your whole life. We've all known it for years."
"That's absurd! I'm an American citizen," Hatburg said.
"But your parents weren't," Tommy said. "We checked. They got sloppy after the Soviet Union collapsed. They were Russian-born Communists."
"Many immigrants seek refuge in this country. Why are my parents being labeled as evil for being immigrants?" Hatburg asked.
Hank looked at Beth. She opened the case file. Hatburg noticed and tried to see what was inside it. Mike walked into the room with another file which he slid in front of John. Beth looked away. She was still mad.
John flipped open the file. "Doug Hatburg did not exist before 1973. Care to explain why?"
Hatburg shifted. "Like all of you, I created it as an alias when I joined."
"You didn't join the CIA until 1978," Beth announced. "We did our research."
"You have your ghost! Why am I being interrogated?!"
"Because she gave it away. Long before we suspected it, she told me they would have never given such a task to a woman. Another female sleeper agent agreed. I can read a tell like nobody else and she wasn't lying. She just never thought she'd actually take the fall for it," Beth said.
Hatburg thought for a moment. He leaned back in his chair and laughed. "Fine. I'm the ghost. I have stage four lung cancer. I won't live to see trial."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Doug. The question is, why now?" Hank asked.
Hatburg laughed. "Six months ago, a man approached me. He handed me an envelope and walked away. Inside were instructions. I was told the mission was over. I was instructed to take out my team. They were all defectors, living big on the American dream. They were traitors. I wasn't physically able to do it. Three months later, I was approached again. I told the men I was dying. I said I wasn't able to travel. They told me my instructions had changed."
"What had changed?" Beth asked.
"They wanted me to take out both of my teams. They didn't want any evidence that Redlight or Dovetail had ever existed."
"Redlight?" Tommy asked.
"Their mission."
Beth saw John give Mike a look and then watched as Mike nodded and walked out of the room.
"Here's my issue, Doug," said Beth. "I believe you. What I'm having trouble with is why your daughter killed Kevin, Evie, and tried to kill both Mitch Javan and Dmitry Kovalev."
Beth could see in his eyes that Doug Hatburg was coming to a realization. "A month ago, they came to me. They told me they had another operative to complete the mission and that I should enjoy the rest of my life. I never dreamed they would get Meredith. Never."
"Why the children? We had nothing to do with Dovetail," Beth asked.
"Because you know it existed. For now, they think my old CIA team is dead. Taking you out ensures that no will know."
Beth looked at Tommy. He shook his head. She looked at John. He shook his head. She looked at her dad. "Absolutely not," he said.
Beth stood up. "The only way to save what's left of the thirteen is to catch her. Hell, she's part of the thirteen but whatever. I'll be the bait. We'll get her," Beth said and ran out of the room.
She ran into Mike in the hallway and grabbed his arm. "I need to talk to you," she said.
"I need to talk to you, too."
"I don't have a lot of time and it might be all the time I have left."
Mike looked at her. He led her to the elevator. In the lobby, she found Jim, Dmitry, and her kids. Jim saw the look on her face and jumped up. He met her halfway. Mike continued on to where Dmitry was.
"Baby, what you going to do?" Jim asked.
"I'm going to lure your psycho ex-wife into being captured. I'm the bait. It's the only way."