The Terminal List

Long ago, Mike Tedesco decided that he wanted to spend more time with family but had to make a certain amount of money to comfortably achieve that goal. His involvement with “the Project” will allow him to reach that goal many times over.

Steve Horn approached him to organize the team that would develop, test, and eventually sell a drug that would prevent PTSD, describing it as a “mental prehab for warriors” (103). He is a close confidant of both J.D. and Lorraine Hartley, which is how they get involved in the project. Mike realizes that he is in a dangerous situation and intends to stay quiet, get paid, and then spend time with his family.

Dr. Paul Russell, a doctor at Balboa, finishes his shift and heads to his car. When he gets in the car, Reece grabs him by the head and presses a gun under his chin. He asks why Russell cleared him when he had a tumor in his brain. Russell admits that he was told by a Defense Criminal Investigative Services (DCIS) agent to clear Reece regardless of his test results or else Russell’s family would be harmed. He gives Reece the business card of the agent, Josh Holder, and Reece exits the vehicle.

Steve Horn’s assistant arranges a meeting at a local restaurant. Saul Agnon and Mike Tedesco wait for Josh Holder to arrive. It is revealed that Holder works for the Hartleys and helped plan the ambush in Afghanistan with Marcus Boykin, who looked after Capstone’s interests in the Project.

Once Holder arrives, Agnon explains that Horn wants Holder to kill Reece. Holder balks, saying that it would be too suspicious for Reece to die now. He admits to killing Boozer. Tedesco tells Holder that J.D. Hartley has offered a new asset—referred to as a “sleeper asset”—that they could use to kill Reece. Holder and Horn are concerned that Tedesco will blow the project up and threaten him, saying, “[D]on’t get weak on us, Tedesco, we need everyone on the bus. How’s that pretty wife of yours doing?” (111).

Reece arrives in Huntington Beach and greets Katie. When he hugs Katie in the hotel room, he thinks, “God, she smells good, […] with more than a little guilt” (115). Katie gives him a manila folder, explaining that she used some facial recognition databases to which she has access. She shows him some pictures of Josh Holder, including one of him with Lorraine Hartley. She then pulls out a third photo that shows Holder at a charity event with Steve Horn, Saul Agnon, and Mike Tedesco. Reece recognizes Tedesco from outside the admiral’s office.

Reece goes to his appointment with Dr. German. After filling out paperwork and having some preliminary tests, Dr. German prepares Reece for his biopsy. They will locate the tumor, cut a small incision, and then drill into Reece’s brain to take samples. Reece will be awake during the procedure. The procedure goes well, and, after a few hours, Reece drives home.

Pilsner receives a call from Horn. Horn tells him that there is a plan in motion and soon they will make a lot of money from the Project.

Reece takes his teammate’s car to surveil Holder. He doesn’t want to take his Land Cruiser because it is too noticeable.

Reece parks next to the DCIS office. After several hours, Holder arrives. Reece assumes that he has time to go to the bathroom before Holder leaves, so he heads into the restaurant nearby. As he leaves the bathroom, he sees four men approaching the hostess and realizes that one of them is Holder. He grabs a menu to obscure his face, barely escaping being noticed. Reece returns to the car and moves to a new location to avoid being detected.

Holder leaves after lunch, and Reece follows him back to his apartment complex. Once he’s sure that this is where Holder lives, he heads back to his home to plan for the next day.

The next morning, Reece returns to Holder’s apartment complex and waits for him to leave for work. Following his departure, Reece heads to the leasing office, gives the leasing agent a fake name, and explains that he’s interested in leasing an apartment. She takes him to a model apartment where he takes videos, zooming in on the door locks. He additionally takes detailed measurements of the dimensions. He learns from the leasing agent that none of the apartments have alarm systems. Once Reece has everything he needs, he tells the leasing agent that the apartment is too expensive for him and leaves.

At home, Reece reviews the videos and dimensions and buys the same door lock. He practices picking the lock until he perfects his technique. Reece assumes that Holder has a second computer where he conducts all of his non-work tasks. This computer probably stays in the apartment while Holder goes to work. While Reece is not skilled in technological espionage, he previously retrieved a device from his gear locker that would allow him to download the contents of Holder’s computer.

Reece goes to Holder’s apartment and waits for him to leave for work. Holder doesn’t notice Reece as he leaves his building, and once Holder drives away, Reece goes to his apartment to pick the lock.

While Reece waits for his device to download the information off of Holder’s computer, he crouches down with a gun in case Holder reappears. The device finishes the download, and Reece exits the apartment, spraying the door hinges with a lubricant before going to his car.

J.D. Hartley receives a phone call from his wife, Lorraine, who demands that he go to California immediately to fix the Project’s failure. J.D. initially refuses, claiming that he has meetings in New York, but he concedes once Lorraine tells him that she knows the meeting is just an excuse for him to have an affair. She reminds him that his philandering ways cost him the presidential race, and she isn’t going to let any of his actions ruin her chances of a presidential run. He agrees and promises to go to Los Angeles.

Reece realizes that he needs help from Ben Edwards to understand what is on Holder’s computer. He invites Ben over to his house and fills him in on what he’s learned about Holder. He gives Ben the hard drive with Holder’s computer contents on it, and Ben promises to crack the encryption.

Ben returns the next day and explains that he found emails between Holder, Saul Agnon, and Marcus Boykin. Two emails stand out to Reece: one from Marcus Boykin that advises that they should destroy any evidence of adverse effects of the drug RD4895 and a second from Agnon that agrees and explains that he is “[c]oordinating with frog to take out test subjects while overseas” (146). While Reese doesn’t know what RD4895 is for sure, he assumes that this is the root cause of the deaths of his troop and family.