Page 112 of The 9th Man

“Thomas Rowland’s name appears nowhere in the Warren Commission findings or in any of the FBI reports.Not a word. Only his statement, buried among hundreds of others, is there. By July 1964 Thomas was out of the Secret Service and at Langley, tucked under Daddy’s wing, where he stayed for decades.”

Luke wanted to know more about Charles Rowland.

So he googled the name.

Eckstein pointed at the screen. “Charles is one of those people you never hear about. On purpose. He was with Wild Bill Donovan when the Office of Strategic Services was founded. In 1947, when Truman turned it into the CIA, Charles’s star took off. Name something that stinks during the Cold War and his prints are on it. Bay of Pigs, Hungary, Guatemala, the shah of Iran, Watergate, Lumumba in the Congo, Baby Doc in Haiti, Gulf of Tonkin. And dozens more no one’s ever heard about. His whole life was an exercise in sociopathy. People aren’t people, but mere marionettes with strings to be pulled. Murder? Torture? Just levers to be worked. Blackmail and extortion are a first resort, not last. Some senator won’t do your bidding? Get his daughter hooked on heroin and pimp her out. An attorney general digging into your affairs? Fabricate and plant evidence to incriminate.”

“Are those real events?” Jillian asked.

Eckstein nodded. “Benji and Ray sniffed them out. Bankrupt businesses. Steal family fortunes. Railroad innocent people into prison. The father taught the son everything he knew, and Thomas eventually surpassed Charles in every way. Over the years we found people who would talk about the Rowlands, but only from the shadows.”

“Is Charles still around?”

“Died in his sleep twenty years ago. Can you believe that? Nice peaceful end. Thomas spent thirty-five years at the CIA, then retired a few years before Charles passed.”

Jillian said, “If Thomas is retired—”

“I know what you’re thinking. But once outside of Langley, Rowland became more powerful, even more dangerous.”

“He killed my grandfather,” Jillian said.

“I hate that. I really do,” Eckstein said. “Ray and Benji wanted to make contact with him. Our manuscript is ready to go, so we wanted to give him a chance to explain things. But he never replied to their inquiries.”

“That was foolish,” Jillian said. “Benji got shot thanks to those inquiries.”

“I know. And I’m sorry for that. He was my friend. But none of us thought Rowland would resort to violence. The man is in his nineties. We thought the greatest threat would come from lawyers wanting to sue us.”

Luke wanted to know, “Why keep your identity secret?”

“I have the film. It’s the single most damning piece of evidence. We didn’t want anyone to interfere with what we’re doing. We three agreed to keep me in the deep background.”

“What happened after Ray died?”

“That was unexpected. It really was. It shook me. He was always a quiet man, but I never thought him suicidal. Ray had told me about Benji being sick and time was short. We were trying to move this along so things could happen while Benji was still here.”

“Yet you still did not contact my grandfather,” Jillian said. “He knew about you, just not how to contact you.”

“We stuck to the plan. We all agreed to that. Our work is done. Rowlandnever answered their inquiries. So I’ll be moving forward with publication. That’s what they wanted. So that’s what I’m going to do. All three names on the cover.”

Snow-swollen clouds that had been stacking over the western peaks during their trek were now releasing frozen moisture. While their host prepared a late lunch, Luke and Jillian sat upstairs and watched through the glass doors as the snow coated the outer deck.

“I could get used to this,” she said.

“You and me both. This is a wonderful place to live.”

“That isolation cuts two ways.”

“I hear you. But Eckstein could be right and Rowland has no idea he exists.”

He’d already noticed the gun cabinet across the room. Eight shotguns and rifles stood at attention. Some impressive weapons too. Not a lot of spit clean or polish either. These guns had been used. Which he liked. So they had some firepower, if needed.

“Can someone like Thomas Rowland really have that much influence?” Jillian asked, regaining his attention.

“With enough money and power, absolutely. My boss gives him a lot of credit for bad things, and she’s not one to exaggerate.”

“I never should have called you.”

He glanced at her.