Read Shadow Agenda: An Action Suspense Thriller for Free Online

water was cut off from civilization by lines of trees along each side, with road access at each end;  the trees gave it the illusion of being away from the rest of mankind. It was stocked, a dam lake that needed to be drained every few years to clean out sediment buildup. But the day was warm, just shy of seventy, and they knew that even if the bass weren’t biting, they could still pick off a less-than-cautious catfish or two.
    More than that, it would be quiet during the week. The lake was large, and still, and dark, with plenty of shoreline to afford them some privacy. They found a shaded spot under some trees and cast off the bank using night crawlers, the wiggling guaranteed to get the hungry fish interested.
    Both men were silent for nearly the entire first hour, just enjoying the solitude, the company, the taste of a cold beer and the slow ripple of the water as it lapped against the shore.
    “You know, you look like hell,” McLean finally said.
    Brennan frowned. Why did Callum pull the big brother routine every time he sensed tension? “I’m fine. Just forget it.”
    McLean propped his rod against the forked stick he’d buried in the mud for just that purpose. “Bud, how long have we been friends again?”
    “Nineteen years, I think. Something like that.”
    “Yeah… well in nineteen years, the only time I’ve seen you with that crappy look constantly was when we lost someone in Iraq. And this morning. Like I said…”
    “I know,” Brennan said. “This isn’t about Bobby. Not really, anyway.”
    “What then?”
    “Work.”
    “Ah.” McLean knew he wasn’t supposed to ask. They hadn’t technically been teammates in seven years, and he’d only just received his own honorable discharge. But he’d looked on Joe as a “brother from another mother” for so long, he couldn’t really help it. “Serious?”
    “Deadly. A friend of mine is in trouble.”
    “In the field?”
    “Yeah. Look, it doesn’t really matter because I’ve been warned off. I’m not allowed to get involved.”
    “Huh,” McLean said.
    “What?”
    “It just reminded me of back in the day.” He almost smiled a little when he said it. “You know…”
    “And… we’re back to Bobby,” Brennan said. “This isn’t like that. Al Basrah was a shit-storm. In this case, my friend went into something knowing it was deniable.”
    McLean watched a hawk circling above, looking down on them from hundreds of feet above, no doubt searching for the smallest movements, the instant of a prey’s weakness. “The brass won’t help the guy?”
    “Something like that, although the official word is they’re doing all they can.”
    McLean guffawed at that. “That’s a crock of shit line if ever there was one.”
    “Yeah.”
    They fished some more, McLean certain for about two exciting minutes that he’d landed a huge one, only to break his line on a tree snag. “Goddamn,” he said. “That was ten-pound test.”
    “Don’t yank it so hard when you set the hook and that won’t happen,” Brennan said. “You just need a quick, sharp pull, just once. They grab the bait and you’re good to go.”
    “I know, I know. Geez, I taught you, not the other way around. I’ve forgotten more about this lake than a landlubber like you would…”
    “I want to go get Walter,” Brennan said, interrupting the thought.
    McLean let it hang there for a minute. “Okay. Do you have an idea where…”
    “No. But I still have some friends in the agency, people who can get me the latest intel.”
    “Have you talked to Carolyn about this?” Both had been married for a decade. Both knew the expectation once they were off the military’s clock and calendar, and that their wives were tired of them being gone.
    “No, she doesn’t know yet.”
    “Are you going to tell her?” It wasn’t because he expected Joe to deceive his spouse; but Carolyn also worked at the agency and had a bright career ahead of her. As a senior analyst she’d be obliged