38

In the ten days prior to the hearing, Paige and Wellington put together notebooks full of cases for Wyatt to study. Paige thought it would be good for them to practice the argument like a moot court panel in law school, but Wyatt apparently didn’t do those types of things.

“Is he even reading the cases?” she asked Wellington.

“Probably not yet. But he’ll have them all read by the morning of the twenty-fifth.”

Meanwhile, Paige’s fledgling law practice was not exactly off to an explosive start. She had put her name on the court-appointed list and had picked up one client during her second week in business. He was appealing a fifth DUI conviction and had received a ten-year sentence. Paige was supposed to somehow find him a loophole to slide through on appeal. The case would pay $500.

A few friends had hired Paige to draft wills, and another friend had tried to send Paige a medical malpractice case, but Paige didn’t have the foggiest idea where to start. All of this gave her plenty of time to focus on her one big case—The Estate of Troy Anderson v. Philip Kilpatrick and John Marcano.

Three days before the hearing, Paige spent the morning at Kristen’s house, waiting for an important visitor from JSOC. His name was Daniel Reese, and he served as the chief of staff to Admiral Paul Towers, the former commanding officer of JSOC. Reese had been a Navy SEAL himself and had been a training officer in BUD/S when both Patrick and Troy paid their dues. Kristen didn’t know why he was coming, but she assumed it was good news. “They never send the brass when it’s bad.”

Paige arrived fifteen minutes early because she had learned that these Navy guys always started on time. She played with the Anderson boys for a little while and answered Kristen’s questions about the case. Kristen was nervous about meeting Daniel Reese, a man whom both Troy and Patrick had deeply admired.

Commander Reese arrived right on time wearing his dress blues, and Paige was immediately struck by how young he looked. He was tall and handsome with a colorful array of ribbons on his chest. He gave Kristen a polite hug, told her how great it was to see her, and gave Paige a firm handshake. Kristen introduced Paige as Patrick’s girlfriend. Reese expressed his condolences to both women and noticed the boys standing a few paces behind Kristen. He walked over to them and knelt down in front of them. The two little guys seemed like they were in awe.

“This is Commander Reese, a good friend of Daddy’s,” Kristen said.

Reese nodded. “Your daddy was a great man,” he said, looking from one boy to the other. “One of the bravest men I have ever known. I’m sure glad he was my friend.”

Kristen said, “Say thank you to Commander Reese, and then I need you guys to go back to the bedroom. I’ve got to talk to Commander Reese for a few minutes.”

The boys said thanks, and Caleb reached out to touch the shiny brass buttons and medals on Reese’s chest. Tiny got in on the action, and Reese gave him some love while the dog licked at his face. The man had hardly said more than two words to her, yet Paige already felt comfortable around him.

Once they had settled at the dining room table, Commander Reese got down to business. “Because Troy and the others were working for both the CIA and JSOC at the time of their death, we made an appeal to the pension board that the families receive additional death benefits typically paid to CIA families. Earlier this week we received notification that the payments were approved, and I wanted to deliver them personally.”

He slid an envelope across the table to Kristen. “Kristen, I know money can’t begin to replace Troy or even bring you much comfort, but I wanted to come so I could express how much we miss these men and how much of a hero your husband was.”

Kristen dabbed at an eye with the back of her hand and blinked several times. “He would have never made it in the SEALs without you,” she said.

“That’s not true. Troy wouldn’t have quit no matter who his instructor was. I don’t think he ever quit anything his entire life.”

“Thank you,” Kristen said. She picked up the envelope. “To be honest, it feels wrong to take money like this. I feel like it’s some kind of payoff for Troy’s death.”

Commander Reese assured her that it wasn’t. Instead, it was just a small token of appreciation from a grateful nation.

Reese told Paige that Patrick’s grandfather would be receiving similar benefits for Patrick. Paige said nobody deserved it more. She had known from Wellington’s research early in the case that it was likely the benefits were coming. Still, it was kind of Commander Reese to deliver the funds himself.

“I appreciate what you’re doing for Kristen in the lawsuit as well,” Reese said to Paige. “You’ve got an excellent reputation as a lawyer, and I know that if Q was dating you, you’ve got to be in the top point-one percent of women in the world. Q was known to be the pickiest SEAL on the entire team.”

Paige flushed a little and was surprised that Commander Reese knew about her role on the legal team. “Thanks. I guess.”

“I meant it entirely as a compliment. Q was one of the best.”

After a few minutes of conversation, Kristen offered Reese a drink, and to Paige’s surprise, he accepted. The three of them nursed iced teas while they talked, and the topic turned to law school.

“I always wanted to go to law school,” Reese said. “But I wasn’t smart enough to get into the good schools, and it turned out that all I needed to be a SEAL was to be stubborn as a mule. So I end up in Special Forces, and now I’m the chief of staff for Admiral Towers, formerly commanding officer of JSOC but presently one heckuva pencil pusher at the Pentagon.”

Paige knew about the demotion of Admiral Towers. It had only made him more of a hero with the rank-and-file men.

“Your boss is a good man,” Kristen said. “Every SEAL family I know thinks he got a raw deal.”

Eventually they finished their iced teas, and Daniel thanked Kristen again. “Can I tell you something in confidence?” he asked.

“Sure,” Kristen said.

“I hope the court lets your case go forward. There are a lot of us who want to know what really happened that night. If I can do anything to help, short of sharing classified information, just let me know.”

They all exchanged phone numbers, and Kristen told him again how grateful she was for everything he had done for Troy.

“You both have my greatest condolences,” he said. Before he left, he went back into the bedroom and said good-bye to the boys.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

This time there was no park-bench meeting. Marcano had requested a private conference room in the West Wing of the White House. For Kilpatrick, it meant the CIA director would not be secretly recording this meeting—that he was more interested in total deniability for what he was going to say. They had already signed a joint defense agreement, meaning that their conversations could be kept confidential even if the litigation blew up.

Kilpatrick started off with some news of his own. “The president has signed off on a state secrets defense,” he said. “But only if your lawyer carries the water. She wants you to file an affidavit at the hearing on Friday. She wants Pierce to argue only the Feres Doctrine. Your guy can argue the state secrets issue.”

“Very courageous of her,” Marcano deadpanned. “‘I’ll fight to the last drop of your blood.’”

“She’s got to run for reelection in two and a half years. And you’d better hope she wins so the public can have four more years to forget about this mess. You don’t need votes, John. She does. She can’t look like she’s hiding behind state secrets.”

“Okay,” Marcano said. “But assuming we get this case dismissed, I’ll need your help to tie up a few loose ends.”

“I’m not a big fan of loose ends. What is it?”

“Saleet Zafar needs to go on the list.”

Kilpatrick knew that Marcano was talking about the president’s kill list. And this one would be a tough sell. The president didn’t like adding Muslim clerics to the list if they weren’t tied into the operations side of ISIS.

“I’ll see what I can do.”