“Well, tell me what you can,” she said. “I’ll do my best not to convict the man in print. The mercenaries who were with Angel,” she added, “are they back in the States?”

“That’s another thing I can’t tell you right now,” he replied. “I’m not trying to be evasive. I’m protecting my men from trial by media. We have attorneys for all of them, and our investigator hopes to have something concrete for us, and the press, very soon.”

“That’s fair enough.”

“Here’s what we know right now,” Eb said. “My squad leader was given an assignment by a State Department official to interview a local tribesman in a village in Anasrah. The man had information about a group of terrorists who were hiding in the village—protected by a high-ranking government official, we were told. My squad leader, in disguise, took a small team in to interview him, but when he and his men arrived, the tribesman and his entire family were dead. One of the terrorists pointed the finger at Angel and accused his team of the atrocity. I’m certain the terrorist was paid handsomely to do it.”

Michelle frowned. “You believe that?”

Eb stared her down with glittering green eyes. “Miss Godfrey, if you knew Angel, you wouldn’t have to ask me that question.”

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s my job, Mr. Scott.”

He let out a breath. “You can’t imagine how painful this is for me,” he said. “Men I trained, men I’ve worked with, accused of something so inhuman.” His face hardened. “Follow the money. It’s all about the money, I assure you,” he added curtly. “Someone stands to lose a lot of it if the truth comes out.”

“I can only imagine how bad it must be,” she said, and not without sympathy.

She asked questions, he answered them. She was impressed by him. He wasn’t at all the sort of person that she’d pictured when she heard people speak of mercenaries. Even the word meant a soldier for hire, a man who sold his talents to the highest bidder. But Eb Scott’s organization trained men in counterterrorism. He had an enormous operation in Jacobsville, and men and women came from around the world to learn from his experts. There were rumors that a few government agents had also availed themselves of his expertise.

The camp was state-of-the-art, with every electronic gadget known to modern science—and a few things that were largely experimental. They taught everything from evasive driving techniques to disarming bombs, improvised weapons, stealth, martial arts, the works. Michelle was allowed to photograph only a small section of the entire operation, and she wasn’t allowed to photograph any of his instructors or the students. But even with the reservations on what she was shown, what she learned fascinated her.