EXFIL by Anthony Patton (best book reader txt) 📕

FOUR

Before I returned to America, there were two important developments, one unfortunate, the other more intriguing. While working with Tom to pursue Chen, I gave him a crash course on the craft of intelligence to impart my years of hard-earned wisdom. As with any craft, knowing what not to do in intelligence was half the battle. You had to know when to drop would-be sources who couldn’t go the distance and not run sources beyond their useful lives.

As luck would have it, we bumped into two Middle Eastern military attachés during a national day event, who were eager to meet outside the diplomatic circuit, away from their Muslim brethren, especially when Uncle Sam was paying the bill. Both had a penchant for the red-light districts and would settle for nothing less than Club Ecstasy. We had limited interest in seeking sensitive information from them because of the strong relations between our two governments in fighting terrorism, but we wrote intelligence reports and took the opportunity for Tom to hone his skills.

Despite the difference in rank, Tom worked them like a pro, collecting interesting tidbits as we sipped our Scotch and enjoyed the company of Thai dancers, who were only too eager to entertain four military attachés with expense accounts. By now, Jewel and I had ceased all public contact, but we would exchange smiles as she moved from one client to the next.

Although Tom appreciated my mentorship, he demonstrated that I didn’t have much to offer beyond the initial Jedi Knight training sessions.

He wasn’t cocky or disrespectful, but I soon judged that it best to dial back and treat him as an equal, which our Middle Eastern friends found peculiar in a charming, Western meritocracy kind of way.

We would still address each other by rank and last name, but there was a growing sense of all being the same in the trenches, fighting the same war, which was probably for the best.

The weeks flew by, with Christmas and spring break trips to West Point to spend time with Beth and the boys. The invention of free video calls on the Internet eased a major burden for military couples habituated to spending time away from each other. Now and again, I noticed Beth making pointed comments about making sure I was “behaving,” but I loved her and the boys as much as I had before I met Jewel, so there were no awkward moments.

As my last year was winding down and the coercive pitch of Captain Chen approached, we scheduled a meeting with our Middle Eastern friends to bid me farewell.

However, they cut the evening short, being recalled by their ambassador to address a terrorist attack back home, so Tom and I found ourselves alone in Club Ecstasy with time to burn.

As the glistening go-go dancers in lingerie and platform high heels strolled by to offer lap dances, Tom declined like a gentleman, but not without hesitation or an occasional blush.

Like most men, he would enjoy risk-free sex with any of them and could do so without loss of love for his wife. He probably had cousins or uncles in Puerto Rico who bragged about their sexual conquests without social censure, so he was performing a variety of mental calculations to rationalize his desires. And, as someone who had himself surrendered to temptation and was now seeking to manage the emotional fallout, who was I to pass judgment?

After saying no several times, he finally allowed a delicious Thai princess to get comfortable on his lap. He loosened up in a playful way, but after caresses and a kiss with a lick on the neck, he sipped his drink and looked at me with desperation in his eyes.

“You want this pussy,” she said, followed by silence.

Tom glanced at me with a smirk, and we both burst out laughing.

I felt myself smile and leaned closer to whisper, “She’s smoking hot, amigo.”

I would have preferred that he not go through with it, but I recognized, having been there myself, that nothing would stop his desire at this point. He would get it out of his system one way or another if he hadn’t already. And as much as it pained me to admit, the idea of Tom surrendering to temptation helped me rationalize my own misdeeds.

To my surprise, he looked over the hump and ready to dismiss her as she released his hand.

“Of course he wants that pussy,” I said to my own surprise and hit his arm in a teasing manner. It was a slow night, with no one else in the club to recognize us. “Get your ass back there…that’s an order.” I said it in a joking manner, but the boom of colonel authority slipped into my voice.

Taking my cue, the Thai princess held his hand with a playful tug.

Tom looked at me, then stood and followed her to the back.

I felt ashamed as I watched him walk away, but I made no effort to stop them.

◆◆◆

I failed to calculate that the brigadier general promotion decisions would be made after my return to America. I couldn’t take a general officer position at West Point even if I were offered one. Luckily, an opportunity surfaced that would allow me to have the best of both worlds.

Lieutenant General Lewis, under whom I had served in Iraq, was selected to be the Director of Operations (J3) for U.S. Cyber Command. Cybersecurity was becoming a cornerstone of U.S. national security, but the bureaucracy was struggling to keep pace.

Lewis knew my situation and selected me to oversee HUMINT collection management, which meant submitting requirements to the right collectors to ensure that Cyber Command had the latest and greatest intelligence to make all the right decisions. I would divide my time between Cyber Command in Ft. Meade, Maryland, and the Pentagon. The job would last for a few months—the offer was permanent if I wanted it—and Beth understood that it was the only way.

Saying goodbye to