“But these” - Ewen produced another stack of papers - “are theactualmanufacturing specifications Hardline used. The steel composite is thinner, cheaper, and mixed with inferior materials. According to the experts I showed these to, there is no way the composite would pass the required tests.”
Lamont took the documents and compared them side by side. The differences were subtle but damning. “So, in effect, the company substituted cheaper materials and pocketed the difference.”
“It’s a scam repeated by dozens of companies every year - the ones that only care about their bottom line. In this case, the differences were worth millions of dollars annually to the company. To the soldiers, it was a totally different story.” Ewen’s voice was hard. “Profit is one thing, but in this case, the company falsified the safety testing to cover it up. I have signed affidavits from three former Hardline employees who witnessed the falsification. One of them provided the original test results. Those results showed the armor failed before anyone doctored the numbers.”
Sitting back in his chair, Lamont frowned. “That would be enough to sink the company.”
“That’s enough to put executives in prison.” Ewen pulled out more documents. “But it gets worse. Someone at theDepartment of Defense had to sign off on those falsified tests. Someone had to approve the vehicles for deployment, knowing they were sending soldiers into combat zones with defective equipment.”
Lamont’s hound stirred, angry at the betrayal of innocents who deserved better. “Did you find out who that was?”
“You know I did, although that took more work. It was the Assistant Deputy Director Martin Winters.” Ewen produced a series of emails, bank statements, and property records. “He’s been on Hardline’s payroll for six years. Not directly - that would be too obvious. But from what I found, his daughter’s consulting firm has received over two million dollars in contracts from Hardline in the past year alone. Contracts for services that were never performed from what I could see.”
“Bribes disguised as legitimate business expenses, in other words.”
“Exactly.” Ewen spread out three more folders. “And Winters wasn’t alone. Congressman Richard Paulson sits on the Armed Services Committee. His campaign has received substantial donations from Hardline executives and their family members. Senator Diana Channing chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. Her husband’s real estate development company sold three properties to Hardline at prices well above market value right before the testing figures were submitted for approval.”
Lamont stood and moved to the desk, examining each document carefully. Ewen had built a meticulous case, connecting shell companies to campaign contributions to suspicious financial transactions. Every claim was backed by multiple sources.
“Do you know how many soldiers died because of this?” Lamont asked quietly.
“I can verify forty-three casualties over the past four years where armor failure was cited in the incident reports.” Ewen’s voice cracked slightly. “But the real number is probably higher. A lot of incident reports just mention ‘hostile fire’ without specifics about vehicle performance.”
Lamont’s fingers tightened on the edge of the desk. Forty-three dead soldiers. Families destroyed. All so some executives could inflate their profit margins, and a few politicians could fund their campaigns.
“What about Cortesi?” he asked. “The sergeant who started this?”
“He died three months ago.” Ewen’s words showed no emotion, but Lamont could feel how his mate hated what had happened. “He suffered from a single-car accident on a clear day. His car went off a bridge.”
Lamont was silent for a moment, mentally hoping Cortesi was one of the good guys who would have a decent afterlife. Then he said, “You think it wasn’t an accident,” Lamont said.
“I think it’s convenient that he died two weeks after I told him I was close to breaking the story.” Ewen met Lamont’s eyes. “I think it’s convenient that his car was totaled so thoroughly that the police didn’t bother with a detailed investigation. And I think it’s really convenient that his house was burglarizedthe day of his funeraland the only things stolen, according to a friend, were his computer and a file cabinet.”
Lamont’s hound pushed closer to the surface, wanting to comfort Ewen, who clearly felt responsible in some way. “They killed him.”
“The thing is, I can’t prove that.” Ewen’s hands curled into fists. “But yes, I believe they killed him.”
“And then they came after you.”
“I knew I was being followed about six weeks ago.” Ewen pulled out a small notebook filled with dates and observations. “They weren’t very discreet. The same car was parked outside my apartment three days in a row. A different man spent hours in the coffee shop across from The Times every morning. I started taking precautions, which included renting the two hotel rooms in Egypt and encrypting and making copies of all my documentation before I left.”
There was one thing Lamont didn’t understand. “If you knew you were walking into danger when you went to Egypt, why did you go? It clearly wasn’t a vacation.”
“I’m sure you know how it is.” Ewen sighed. “I felt I needed one more source. I was hoping to talk to someone with firsthand knowledge of the manufacturing process who would go on record.” Ewen’s jaw tightened. “I believed I’d found him. The man was a former quality control supervisor at Hardline’s facility outside Cairo. He agreed to meet with me at Pier888.”
Another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. “That’s why you were there.”
“That’s why I went there.” Ewen’s smile wasn’t a happy one. “I don’t know if he showed up or not, although his message received today suggested he was going to be late anyway. I knew I was being followed, and then I saw you leaving as I arrived. My fox understood who you were to me immediately, and for all of five minutes I forgot about the story, the danger, everything except that I’d found my mate.”
Lamont circled the desk and pulled Ewen into his arms. Ewen stiffened for a split second and then sank into the embrace.
“So, we need to find the quality control supervisor?” Lamont asked against Ewen’s hair.
“From what I heard, there’s no point. I mean, I haven’t checked any local news lately, obviously, but the woman who was interrogating me took great pleasure in letting me know any source I thought I had was already dead. Tragic car bomb. How sad. Those were the exact words she used. How sad. She claimed the police would be treating the bomb as a terrorist attack gone wrong.” Ewen’s voice was muffled against Lamont’s chest. “Another convenient tragedy.”
Lamont held him tighter. “What were you planning to do with all this? Before you were abducted?”
Ewen pulled back enough to meet his eyes. “Publish. My plan was to give the story to The Times with all my documentation. To cover my bases, I was also going to send copies to three other major newspapers and two cable news networks simultaneously so that they couldn’t suppress it. I thought it would be useful to contact the FBI and the Inspector General’s office as well. My plan was to make so much noise that whoever was behind the mess couldn’t just make it disappear.”