WITH THE HELP OF ONE OF THE MEN, Gregory Evans stood up, catching his breath after having received a strong blow from Agent Adams.
— Are you okay? — asked one of the men. — This is the kind of situation that no training prepares you for…
— Yes, I think so… — replied Greg, still recovering his composure.
— Adams… I never would have imagined he was capable of something like this… — said the other, who was examining his friend's corpse.
— Maybe he wasn't — replied Gregory Evans.
The men looked at each other in alarm and one of them said:
— What do you mean?
— He didn't seem normal, even to me, who didn't know him. During the trip, I was able to observe him, after the moment he bumped into me. I noticed that he was disoriented, sweating excessively, he couldn't keep his balance and his hands were shaking.
— But that doesn't explain why he tried to assassinate the President — replied one of them.
— Is that right? — Maybe he was nervous about what he was going to do. — the other added.
— It actually explains more than it might seem — continued Gregory Evans — A trained man like you, correct me if I'm wrong, in the middle of an assassination mission, would never let such an intention show.
The men nodded in agreement.
— If he had that in mind, he would make the necessary effort to hide his real intention as much as possible. — In fact, he seemed disturbed, as if he suffered from some psychological problem...
— Like a bug? — asked one of the agents, who seemed to mock his assumption.
— Why a bug? I don't understand your comparison. — asked Greg, surprised.
— Before all this happened, I had a brief conversation with him and I found him very strange. observed the man. "His way of speaking was different and he didn't finish things, he left sentences half-finished, he didn't keep any reasoning that emerged until the end. At times he even had difficulty speaking...
— So you think that a problem in his mind may have been the driving force behind his attempt to assassinate the President?
— What nonsense! — the other agent scoffed, incredulous.
Gregory was astonished by the information.
Could it all have anything to do with what had happened to Allison Bates?
In an instant, his mind seemed to connect the facts and similarities. He said:
— This makes perfect sense!
— Makes sense with what? — the men asked.
— We were listening to the conversation between the President and the criminal. Did you happen to notice that Agent Adams reacted exactly after he heard the man's last word on the phone?
The two agents looked stunned.
Gregory Evans continued:
— He was talking about pawns... something that referred to gambling, and for President Kenan to pay attention! During the conversation, nothing happened, everything happened after he said "Check"!
— Are you suggesting that that was a command to the agent? — one of them asked.
— That's right! He only acted after hearing that!
— So in your theory, Agent Adams was an accomplice to this criminal and was just waiting for the order to act on a suicide mission? — the man said, with strong sarcasm.
— No, not exactly! Agent Adams was the pawn, the pawn in this game! The President was put in check! Do you understand?!
One of the men muttered "man, you're crazy" and the other couldn't understand what Gregory was saying.
— How was Adams a pawn? What made him obey him?
— I'm investigating a previous case. — Greg said. — A woman named...
— I see you're forming theories, Agent Evans. — Floyd Kenagan was heard to say, interrupting him.
He was coming towards him, from where he had taken the President.
— Keep them to yourself for now.
— Yes, sir. — he replied embarrassed.
Floyd continued:
— The President is fine, but we're going to keep him isolated for safety at the moment. We don't know if there are any other traitors among us.
— What are we going to do with the dead, sir? — one of the agents asked.
— Put them in a more appropriate place.
The men went to take care of Peter's body, leaving Greg and Floyd, who approached him and said:
— Don't forget that you're dealing with an unofficial investigation! We have enough problems to deal with right now!
— Yes, sir — Greg replied, nodding his head. — I just thought too loudly, it's a problem I have with myself.