Deep state bear logan th.., p.1
Deep State (Bear Logan Thrillers Book 4), page 1
DEEP STATE
Bear Logan Book Four
L.T. Ryan
Copyright © 2019 by L.T. Ryan and Liquid Mind Media, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously.
Jack Noble™ and The Jack Noble Series™ are trademarks of L.T. Ryan and Liquid Mind Media, LLC.
For information contact:
contact@ltryan.com
http://LTRyan.com
https://www.facebook.com/JackNobleBooks
Contents
The Jack Noble Series
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Also by L.T. Ryan
About the Author
The Jack Noble Series
The Recruit (free)
The First Deception (Prequel 1)
Noble Beginnings
A Deadly Distance
Ripple Effect (Bear Logan)
Blowback (Bear Logan)
Takedown (Bear Logan)
Deep State (Bear Logan)
Thin Line
Noble Intentions
When Dead in Greece
Noble Retribution
Noble Betrayal
Never Go Home
Beyond Betrayal (Clarissa Abbot)
Noble Judgment
Never Cry Mercy
Deadline
End Game
Receive a free copy of The Recruit by visiting http://ltryan.com/newsletter.
1
“After all that buildup, you’re going to leave me hanging like that?”
“You know I like a good dramatic pause, Bear.”
Bear could tell Jack was enjoying himself. It had been a while since they’d gotten to rib each other, and it was much better to do it in person than over the phone. Bear couldn’t even bring himself to be annoyed. It was just nice to be back in the same place, like old times.
Except it wasn’t like old times. Jack was still considered a terrorist-at-large, and the threat of the next World War was hanging over their heads.
“Let’s go somewhere noisier,” Jack said.
Bear nodded and followed Jack as they wove their way back through the crowd. Oktoberfest in Germany is better than anything you could ever experience in the United States. It’s what dreams are made of. Food and women and beer and friends. Big burly men hugging each other and laughing. An atmosphere that begs you to let go of all your problems and just enjoy yourself.
And Bear was hardly seeing any of it.
He’d had his fill over the last couple of days, not that he’d ever get tired of eating and drinking. But he was starting to sober up now. He was also starting to come down from the high of seeing Jack again after so long. This whole situation with Thorne, the entire conspiracy, was beginning to feel real. He kept his head on a swivel.
Jack looked less concerned, but Bear noticed the tension in his shoulders. He was ready for anything. He probably had a weapon on him, too, despite the density of the crowd. It’d be dangerous to pull a gun out in a place like this, but if this turned into and us or them scenario, Bear would be glad to choose him and Jack.
He felt naked without his own weapon. He trusted Jack to cover both of them, but there was something about the weight of a weapon in the palm of his hand that made him feel secure. He made a mental note to see if Jack had a backup piece he could keep on him.
They were bumped and jostled on their way to who knows where, but Bear didn’t mind. Everyone was having a good time, and for now, the threat felt like it couldn’t pierce the bubble of Oktoberfest. Jack nodded at a person here or there, and Bear wondered if he was just being polite or if he had men stationed throughout the crowd in case something did go wrong.
Jack led Bear to a crowded open-air restaurant. It was packed from wall to wall, but there was a single empty table in the back corner. Bear had a feeling Jack had reserved it for them, which was confirmed when he saw Jack shake hands with the waiter, who immediately slipped his hand in his pocket.
Bear squeezed his way through the room. The other diners saw him coming and did their best to hold onto their meals before he could knock them off the table. Nobody seemed to mind, though. That was the charm of eating in a place like this. It was worth sitting elbow to elbow with your neighbors.
When they finally made it to the table, Bear took the chair opposite the bar. The man behind him had seen him coming and scooted in as far as he could. Bear nodded his thanks. He had just enough room to slide down into the chair. For his part, Jack squeezed into his own seat, which backed up against the bar. There was no way he was going to finagle anymore room for himself.
Bear felt like a sardine in a tin can, and when Jack looked up at him, he laughed until there were tears in his eyes.
“Are you happy?” Bear asked. His voice was gruff, but he was hiding a smile. “Does this bring you joy?”
“It does.” Jack wiped his eyes. “I promise you I got the roomiest table in this joint. Only the best for you, Bear.”
Jack’s waiter friend showed up and they each ordered a beer and as much food as they could handle. Bear wasn’t convinced it would all fit on the table at once, but he didn’t care. It was time to load up on as much as he could while Jack filled him in.
Jack leaned forward and put his arms on the table. Bear mirrored him. The restaurant was loud with chatter and silverware clinking against plates and bowls. There was no way anyone would be able to hear them, but Bear wasn’t going to take any chances. They’d keep their voices low and their eyes roaming.
“Well?” Bear asked.
“Tell me what you know.”
Bear sighed but didn’t fight it. Jack had already said he was having trouble figuring out where to start. Maybe this would give him a jumping off point.
“Sadie and I spoke to Thorne. He had an audio jammer, so as far as I know, everything he said was confidential.”
“I told him you wouldn’t believe him,” Jack said. He sounded amused.
“I don’t. Mostly.” Bear sighed again. “I don’t want to believe him, but then things started adding up.”
“What did he tell you?”
Bear opened his mouth but didn’t say anything until the waiter who had arrived with their beer walked away again. He took a deep pull and drank half the golden liquid down all in one go.
“He said Senator Goddard had collected state secrets and sold them to the highest bidder, including foreign powers. That’s why he sent me and Sadie to Korea. We had to clean up his mess so he could keep his hands clean.”
“Sounds like Thorne,” Jack said, draining half his beer, too.
“Apparently Goddard had bits and pieces of information that pointed to someone within the government putting together a plan to cause the next World War.” Bear couldn’t keep the doubt out of his voice. “He also said you were his backup plan.”
Jack didn’t look proud, but he also didn’t deny it. “I nearly shot him the first time he showed up face to face. After all that goddamn running around, he just waltzed right back into my life. I had a gun to his head and everything. I didn’t care who would’ve seen me.”
“What made you stop?” Bear was still trying to imagine a scenario where Jack didn’t shoot first and ask questions later.
“He mentioned you and Sadie. He said something big was going on. He gave me his piece, fully loaded. Told me if I didn’t believe him by the end of it, I could shoot him dead with his own gun.”
“He must’ve been pretty convincing.”
Jack’s lip twitched. “Almost shot him anyway, just for the hell of it.”
“He would’ve deserved it,” Bear said, holding up his glass.
Jack knocked his beer against Bear’s. “And more.”
“Thorne said London was just the first domino, that more was coming. He said all of this was some nationalist bullshit, that it was all about re-establishing the United States as the strongest nation in the world.”
“I bet the money helps, too,” Jack said.
“War is profitable. That’s what Thorne said.”
“He’s not wrong.”
“The CIA thinks you’re working with Thorne, Jack. They think you’re a terrorist.”
Jack shrugged his shoulders, like Bear had just accused him of eating the last slice of pie. “They’re not wrong about the first part. I didn’t set off any bombs, though.”
“I know that.”
“You must’ve had your doubts.”
Bear drained the last of his beer before he answered. “I didn’t know where you were, Jack. Didn’t know what you were up to. I found out from Dottie that you were in London and hadn’t even reached out. We were starting to connect the dots, and none of it was looking good.”
Jack held up a hand. “I don’t blame you. You had more faith in me than I probably deserved, especially after going radio silent.”
“We both did what we had to do.”
Jack nodded his head, and just like that, Bear felt the last remnants of any tension between the two of them completely disappear. They were back on track. Back to normal.
“Your turn,” Bear said.
Another round of drinks and an unseemly amount of food showed up before Jack could say anything. Bear had momentarily forgotten how hungry he was, and the two of them spent the next several moments in silence, eating a little bit of everything from their plates.
“It all comes back to the Middle East,” Jack said, his mouth half full of sausage.
“Doesn’t it always?”
Jack tipped his head in agreement and swallowed the rest of his bratwurst. “Thorne showed me the evidence he had gathered from Goddard. The plan is to destabilize the Middle East while simultaneously coordinating attacks around the world.”
“To what end? We already have our hands in that pot.”
“Not like this,” Jack said. “Imagine something like the Treaty of Versailles for the countries of the Middle East, where reparations come in the form of controlling their resources, their oil.”
Bear couldn’t help his reaction. He had a fork full of rouladen halfway to his mouth when he froze. This entire thing seemed like some crazy conspiracy theory when they had first talked to Thorne, something way beyond the scope of reality. But this made sense. This was plausible. This was a situation he could see the government trying to manipulate.
But his brain still wouldn’t accept it. “Who would have the balls to do that? This would require immense coordination. You’d have to trust the people on your side with your whole life. Discretion would have to be absolute. Who would have that kind of pull?”
Jack looked Bear right in the eyes before he answered. It was another one of his damn dramatic pauses.
“What about the Director of National Intelligence?”
2
This time, Bear actually put his food back down on his plate. “Come again?”
Jack wasn’t so discerning. He shoved more food into his mouth before answering. “That’s what Thorne’s evidence was pointing toward.”
Bear tried to dredge up all the information he knew about the current Director of National Intelligence. He was drawing a blank. He told Jack as much.
“His name is Mason Hughes,” Jack supplied. “His track record is spotless. Honestly, he’s one of the best we’ve had in a while. He’s sharp, smart, and doesn’t have a problem making tough calls. He practically came out of the womb singing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’.”
“Maybe that’s the problem,” Bear said. “I’m damn proud of this country, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.”
“From what I’ve gathered, Hughes is aware. He’s gotten his hands dirty a few times, but he always came out on top. It always seemed to be the right call by the time all was said and done. No one ever thought less of him because of it. Definitely not the president.”
“Which would have given him reason to believe something like this is the right call.”
“He’s probably hoping he’ll get a medal by the end of it.”
“Control over the Middle East and oil prices the lowest they’ve ever been?” Bear said. “He probably would.”
“Doesn’t make it right.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Bear washed his food down with the rest of his beer. “But this is a big play. You have any idea how they’re going to pull it off?”
“Some.” Jack wiped his hands on a napkin and leaned over his plate. “I guarantee you that Hughes is gunning for a presidential run. He’s playing this as close to the chest as he can. No one knows everything, except for him. What Thorne has gathered is as close to a complete dossier as we’re ever going to get.”
Bear knew this was Jack’s way of telling Bear nothing was a guarantee. He didn’t care. “Understood.”
“There’s a man named Thomas Mateo. He’s some eccentric billionaire who has more money than he can count, but in between jet-setting across the world in private planes and vacationing on yachts the size of mansions, he’s started spearheading an effort for green energy.”
“Ironic, but how is it connected?”
“My guess is that once the Middle East has been destabilized, everyone is going to start selling. Energy companies will be worth pennies on the dollar, and Mateo has enough money to buy them all. He can convert them to green energy, bring stability back to the region and make both his and Hughes’ agenda look better.”
“He’ll still be a monopoly. People hate monopolies.”
“A green monopoly,” Jack said, pointing his fork at Bear. “People are willing to pay more to support a good cause. My guess is they’ll find a way to keep it cheaper for those who are on the right side of history. Mateo and Hughes will be heroes in everyone’s eyes, swimming in more money and power than anyone could ever dream of.”
“And no one will ever know they caused the whole thing to begin with.”
Jack sat back and laughed. “I imagine that is the ultimate goal.”
“You think Mateo is the weak link, don’t you?”
Jack leaned back and sighed, surveying the damage he had dealt to the plates in front of him. “I do.”
“What makes you say that?”
“He’s not a politician or a military man. He’s a big kid who grew up on Daddy’s money and turned millions into billions. He’s smart, but I don’t think he would last under pressure. As far as I can tell, Hughes is blackmailing a lot of the people he’s working with. He doesn’t have anything on Mateo. He doesn’t need it. Hughes just needs to keep Mateo happy and keep reminding him of all the money they’re going to make.”
“And you think if there’s any doubt in Mateo’s mind that Hughes is going to hold up his end of the bargain, Mateo will fold?”
Jack nodded. “There’s also the chance that he grows a conscience, but he’s already in pretty deep. He knows what Hughes is planning on doing and he agreed to it anyway.”
“So, what’s the next play?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. We need to get into contact with Mateo, set up a meeting.”
“Preferably alone,” Bear added.
“Preferably. I have a possible lead, but I’m not sure how it’s going to play out just yet. There are a lot of wildcards here, Bear. This could get very messy, very fast. We’re not taking down some random foreign contact in another country. This is back home, in the President’s Cabinet.”
“What do you need from me?” Bear asked.
“I need you to be my boots on the ground.” Jack leaned forward, serious. “I’d do it myself, but—”
Bear held up his hand. “You’re a wanted man. It’ll be ten times easier for me.”
“They’re still watching you.”
Bear waved off the comment. “I can shake them long enough to do this.”
Jack pulled a cell phone from his pocket. “Take this. Go home. I’ll contact you in about three days. I should have more information by then.”
