out
there about 9/11 had no credibility to them.”
“So he’s a
conspiracist?”
“He’s a truth
seeker,” Liam corrected him.
“Okay,” Kyle said,
not looking to quibble. “And the government actually contacted him about 9/11?”
“Well,” Liam said
hesitantly, “they didn’t say it was the government. You know, they go through
back channels, but he knew it was them.”
Kyle closed his
eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose, swallowing his frustration, an act
that was becoming routine while speaking with Liam. “Okay,” he said, “so what
did this … truth seeker have to say?”
“When I called
him, he started telling me a story about KnightWare and he asks—”
“KnightWare, Liam?
Really?”
“Yes,” Liam said.
“But just listen.”
Kyle was familiar
with KnightWare. The whole world was familiar with KnightWare. They were one of
the largest private military contractor firms in the world. Which also meant
that if one Googled the words military and conspiracy together, the name
KnightWare would litter the page. He knew exactly where the story was heading.
“So this guy asks
me if I know how KnightWare got its start in the business,” Liam said. “And I
told him what I know about the founder, Mack Reilly. That he was a Vietnam vet
who started contracting a small band of private soldiers for covert operations
the government wanted no official role in. You know, black ops type of stuff.
He says, ‘Yes, but do you know how they separated themselves from all the other
groups doing the same thing?’ And then he tells me. It was their
assassinations. No one else could do what they did.”
“Seriously? A
KnightWare story?” Kyle cut through the dangling end of the sentence. “That’s
what led you to finding these dates?”
“It didn’t lead me
to it. It just helped me connect the dots from the question that’s been bugging
me about this whole thing. Who in the city would need to siphon the energy of
these kids? Why would they be doing it? So the guy tells me the reason
KnightWare was so good at assassinations was because they were able to get it
done without any indications it was an assassination. No drugs and no physical violence. It didn’t even look like
an assassination , the
targets would just stroke out.” Liam paused. “Hear that? They would friggin stroke out. Just like what’s been going
on here. Just like what happened to Allie. And because the deaths would be so
clean and undetectable, it allowed them to become a big player in killing
people here in the States because, whereas overseas people could pretty much do
what they want, here in the States there’s too much scrutiny. So this gave them
a whole new platform — private
assassinations. It separated them from the other firms.”
“Liam—”
“Wait,” Liam
interrupted, “there’s more. So the guy told me he’s spoken to someone who used
to work for KnightWare. And even though the company has the strictest
confidentiality agreements there are, and everyone knows squawkers get snuffed,
he was able to talk to this former KnightWare guy because the guy’s already in
hiding for other stuff he did. He’s already a marked man, so he didn’t mind
spilling the beans because they’re after him anyway.”
“So how is it that
your friend was able to find him, yet the top private security firm in the
world with nearly unlimited funds and connections wasn’t able to?”
“He didn’t. The
guy found him. He wanted someone to know his story before they got to him.”
“So if KnightWare
is actually in the habit of killing people who spill their secrets, why
wouldn’t they just kill your friend if he knows things he shouldn’t?”
Liam hesitated.
“Good question,” he said. “And I don’t know the answer to that one. Maybe it’s
because he’s too high profile. Or maybe because he has information on them that
will be released if he dies. Or maybe they don’t know he knows. Not sure. I’ll
ask him the
there about 9/11 had no credibility to them.”
“So he’s a
conspiracist?”
“He’s a truth
seeker,” Liam corrected him.
“Okay,” Kyle said,
not looking to quibble. “And the government actually contacted him about 9/11?”
“Well,” Liam said
hesitantly, “they didn’t say it was the government. You know, they go through
back channels, but he knew it was them.”
Kyle closed his
eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose, swallowing his frustration, an act
that was becoming routine while speaking with Liam. “Okay,” he said, “so what
did this … truth seeker have to say?”
“When I called
him, he started telling me a story about KnightWare and he asks—”
“KnightWare, Liam?
Really?”
“Yes,” Liam said.
“But just listen.”
Kyle was familiar
with KnightWare. The whole world was familiar with KnightWare. They were one of
the largest private military contractor firms in the world. Which also meant
that if one Googled the words military and conspiracy together, the name
KnightWare would litter the page. He knew exactly where the story was heading.
“So this guy asks
me if I know how KnightWare got its start in the business,” Liam said. “And I
told him what I know about the founder, Mack Reilly. That he was a Vietnam vet
who started contracting a small band of private soldiers for covert operations
the government wanted no official role in. You know, black ops type of stuff.
He says, ‘Yes, but do you know how they separated themselves from all the other
groups doing the same thing?’ And then he tells me. It was their
assassinations. No one else could do what they did.”
“Seriously? A
KnightWare story?” Kyle cut through the dangling end of the sentence. “That’s
what led you to finding these dates?”
“It didn’t lead me
to it. It just helped me connect the dots from the question that’s been bugging
me about this whole thing. Who in the city would need to siphon the energy of
these kids? Why would they be doing it? So the guy tells me the reason
KnightWare was so good at assassinations was because they were able to get it
done without any indications it was an assassination. No drugs and no physical violence. It didn’t even look like
an assassination , the
targets would just stroke out.” Liam paused. “Hear that? They would friggin stroke out. Just like what’s been going
on here. Just like what happened to Allie. And because the deaths would be so
clean and undetectable, it allowed them to become a big player in killing
people here in the States because, whereas overseas people could pretty much do
what they want, here in the States there’s too much scrutiny. So this gave them
a whole new platform — private
assassinations. It separated them from the other firms.”
“Liam—”
“Wait,” Liam
interrupted, “there’s more. So the guy told me he’s spoken to someone who used
to work for KnightWare. And even though the company has the strictest
confidentiality agreements there are, and everyone knows squawkers get snuffed,
he was able to talk to this former KnightWare guy because the guy’s already in
hiding for other stuff he did. He’s already a marked man, so he didn’t mind
spilling the beans because they’re after him anyway.”
“So how is it that
your friend was able to find him, yet the top private security firm in the
world with nearly unlimited funds and connections wasn’t able to?”
“He didn’t. The
guy found him. He wanted someone to know his story before they got to him.”
“So if KnightWare
is actually in the habit of killing people who spill their secrets, why
wouldn’t they just kill your friend if he knows things he shouldn’t?”
Liam hesitated.
“Good question,” he said. “And I don’t know the answer to that one. Maybe it’s
because he’s too high profile. Or maybe because he has information on them that
will be released if he dies. Or maybe they don’t know he knows. Not sure. I’ll
ask him the
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