The more Nathan thought about it, the more uneasy he became. Had Lansing given him the use of the Lear strictly as a way to monitor and control his activities? He thought back to Holly’s comment in the piano bar. She’d said Lansing didn’t need him. Why would he? The director of the FBI had 31,000 employees under his command. She’d also said Lansing would want containment at this point, and his continued involvement would have serious consequences if it ever leaked. So why had Lansing brought Nathan in? Granted, the bombing in Sacramento had changed the equation, but did Lansing truly believe Nathan was the FBI’s best bet of capturing the Bridgestone brothers? An adage flashed through his head: Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Was Nathan the enemy? If so, why? In the piano bar with Holly, he’d made it quite clear he and Harv were going to pursue the Bridgestones with or without the FBI’s blessing. Had Lansing allowed him into the investigation only to monitor his every move?

Nathan rewound to the beginning of his involvement in the operation. Freedom’s Echo and Semtex. James Ortega was discovered while undercover. The raid at the compound. The FBI’s field office being bombed. Semtex being used. Semtex still missing. Semtex. Semtex. He closed his eyes and let his head rest against the seat back. Aside from the dead FBI agents, the stakes of this case revolved around Semtex. How easy would it be to get the stuff? Even if Leonard Bridgestone had made contact with a Syrian official in northern Iraq, there was still a language barrier. Unless Bridgestone spoke Arabic, which he doubted, someone would’ve been needed to translate conversations. He made a mental note to check if Leonard spoke Arabic. Then, if a deal was struck, the Semtex would have to be smuggled out of Syria, but not without at least a partial payment, more likely the entire payment. Did Leonard have that kind of money back then? Nathan doubted it. So how had the deal gone down? Assuming Leonard had managed to find a translator and assuming he’d made a deal with a foreign national, probably a complete stranger, and assuming he had the financial wherewithal to purchase the Semtex in advance, why wouldn’t the Syrian official just keep his money and never deliver the explosives?