"That makes sense from a resources point of view," Milan said. "Which still begs the question as to how she expected to pass that background check."
"Maybe she underestimated it?" Del said.
"Or it was never a serious attempt in the first place but just something to try in case it miraculously panned out."
Coulson slowly nodded at Milan's suggestion. "When I talked to Seth about it, he said that unlike the others, she might not have been planning to get involved in the assassination, and when she did, she never thought she would get caught. Get identified. Because if she'd had even the slightest expectation of us finding out about her, I doubt she would've done it. Not when she knew we had her on file."
"That makes sense. She may have figured her involvement was so small—approaching Christopher Hales and getting him to compromise his laptop—she reasoned we'd never be able to track her down," Milan said.
Calix smiled at his use of the word we. Maybe it was a law enforcement thing, but it was funny when he'd only been on board for such a short period.
"Regardless of her thoughts on getting caught, what does this tell us?" Del asked. "Does this suggest that the white nationalist organization she's linked to is somehow involved?"
Coulson took a deep breath. "That's the big question. And while we have no hard evidence yet, a lot suggests that may be the case. Let's not forget that we traced some materials back to the Midwest, basically her backyard, and that the components used in the Pride Bombing bore much more resemblance to domestic bombs than foreign terrorist attacks."
Calix's heart beat faster. What was Coulson saying? "Then what about Al Salaahin?" he asked. "Where do they come in?"
"We don't know. First of all, this information is fresh. We only discovered this today. So we haven't discussed the ramifications yet in a broader circle. We have a meeting scheduled with representatives from the intelligence community on Monday."
"Speculate for me," Del said.
"Honestly, sir, I don't know. Maybe Al Salaahin doesn't exist, and somehow, someone has been able to build a very effective smokescreen to hide what's really been going on. Or they do exist and have somehow teamed up with a US-based group that shares a common goal. We could be talking about two different groups, and we're just missing several pieces of the puzzle. We can't tell at this point, but one thing I am comfortable saying is this is far more complex than a case of Muslim extremist terrorism. The domestic angle is undeniable, which will make our investigation way more complex."
Milan rested his chin on his steepled fingers. "On the other hand, I'd assume it may be easier to set up an undercover operation. I'm no expert, but it seems to me that finding a suitable agent to infiltrate a terrorist organization in, say, Yemen or Pakistan is a hell of a lot harder than getting federal agents willing and suitable to go undercover in a domestic one."
"Absolutely. As you know, we were already working on getting someone into Derby. He's been successful in making the first connections there, but it's a slow process."
Del furrowed his brow. "Not to ask the stupid question, but why is it this slow? Of course I understand he can't just walk in and start asking questions, but I've been surprised at the tortoise pace of that aspect of your investigation."
"I understand, Mr. President, but going undercover is not quite as easy as TV series or movies make it seem. A good undercover operation takes months, sometimes years, to set up. You need a foolproof background that will withstand any scrutiny by the organization we're trying to infiltrate, not to mention the necessary paperwork and permissions. Once upon a time, you could set up a sting in a week, but those days are gone."
Milan nodded. "Those were also the days when the FBI boys established their own background, and they had to get creative about it too. I once worked with an undercover agent on a sting involving a big drug cartel based on Staten Island, and I learned a lot from him. He told me all about the network he had built up with banks, landlords, even the Social Security Administration so he could get the forged paperwork he needed. It made for colorful stories, but it was a far cry from the professional way the FBI approaches it now. They now have a whole department for all these details."
Coulson dipped his head in agreement. "The downside of that professionalization is the time it takes to organize. In this case, we had to put together a background for this guy, including a job that brought him to the area, a résumé that would pan out, fake diplomas, fake IDs, the whole nine yards. For minor operations, we keep it limited, but considering the importance and possible scope of this one, we wanted to set him up in a way that would allow him to get information over a longer period of time. He's building a life there."
Calix had listened with rapt attention as Coulson explained a little about the process. He'd known this in theory, but when observing from the sidelines, it was easy to forget how much work was involved. "Let's say you're right that the organization Naomi Beckingham is tied to is involved. What does that mean? Why would a white nationalist group want to kill the president? Or carry out an attack on the pride parade? Because there's a wide gap between being antigay and orchestrating a bombing that killed over a hundred and fifty people. And hating the president is one thing, but actually assassinating him is jumping ten hurdles at once. Why? What is their motivation?"
Silence hung heavy in the room.
"Unfortunately, history has taught us that the why is often incomprehensible. Look at Timothy McVeigh. Why did he place that bomb in Oklahoma City? Even after reading his statements, it's still not entirely clear. Radicals are arguing on a different level, reasoning that, to us, makes no sense," Coulson said finally.
"At the end of the day, to law enforcement, the why doesn't matter all that much. That's more of a moral question, maybe even a legal one, that will play a role in the courtroom, but it isn't necessary for us to try to track down criminals. The why is only relevant for us in as far as it helps us discover the how and prevent it from happening again," Milan said, his voice as solemn as Coulson's.
Calix let out a deep sigh. They were both making good points, and from their perspective, they were right, but he looked at it differently. He hated to call himself a victim because the word made him distinctly uncomfortable, but he couldn't deny that the Pride Bombing had robbed him of so much. It had irrevocably changed his life, and the why of that did matter to him. He’d never be able to understand how people could commit such atrocities against their fellow human beings, but still he'd hoped it would at least offer some kind of explanation.
"Aside from the why, I find the timeline concerning," Del said. "If the Pride Bombing and the assassination were indeed carried out by the same group, whether that was Al-Salaahin, a domestic one, or some unknown combination, it still means they've been active for at least six years if you count the time they would've needed to prepare for the Pride Bombing. That's a hell of a long time to fly under the radar."
Coulson leaned forward. "I agree, sir. That concerned us as well. Naomi Beckingham is only twenty-six years old. Was she already involved when she was twenty? Or did she get recruited later on? Those are just some of the questions we are now asking as we find out more and more."