Текст книги "Заговор мечей"
Автор книги: Джейн Doy Press
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Chapter One
Alex Reis sat in the hallway near the emergency room, with her elbows on her knees. She brushed at the blood stains on her black pants, and frowned at the dried redness on her hands. She knew she should go wash, but found she just didn’t have the energy. The alarm had awakened her a little before five, and it was now just a few minutes till midnight. Alex was tired, her head ached, and she needed caffeine. But it was just too exhausting to stand up.
She couldn’t figure out just what had gone wrong. David had told her earlier in the evening that everything was running smoothly, and she shouldn’t worry. They had every door into and out of the Sheraton covered. The two halls leading to the banquet room each held a security checkpoint with a metal detector. Anyone attempting to enter the area had to present an invitation, or a specific press pass. Hotel personnel had to have special clearance, and had to be wanded with a hand held metal detector before entering the attached kitchen. Even the police and FBI agents were checked for proper identification.
But, despite everything, the assassin had gained access to the ballroom. Reginald Dabir, former head of the NAACP, ex-mayor of Philadelphia, and newly announced candidate for the U.S. Senate, had been gunned down at his first big fundraiser. The killer had quietly walked up behind the candidate, pumped two bullets into the back of his head, and quickly but calmly headed for an out of the way exit. The suppresser he had used guaranteed him enough time to get into a utility corridor before anyone tried to stop him. All the police and FBI could do was race after the suspect as he fled. David Wu, Alex’s partner, had been leading the chase, with twenty other officers at his heels.
Alex had stayed behind, trying to stem the tide of liquid life as it drained out of Reginald. She’d ridden beside him, listening to the chatter of the paramedic who was vainly trying to revive the dead man, as the ambulance sped toward Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
Now she sat in the depressing white and green corridor, bent forward, elbows on her knees. As her short blond hair hung over her eyes, she could see that there was a smear of red mixed with the pale yellow. Alex had held Dabir’s head in her hands, pressing her jacket against the bullet holes in his head. As a result she was covered in Dabir’s blood. It stood out against her blue shirt, turning it to the color of the night. The thick fluid had mostly dried, changing the fabric from soft silk to the consistency of cardboard. She’d already tossed her bloody jacket in the garbage; there was no way it could be cleaned.
Whatever had gone wrong, Alex felt responsible, and she knew that her boss was probably going to place the blame on her shoulders. For Alex and her partner, sleep would not be an option tonight – despite being bone tired.
Speaking of partners, Alex wondered where David was.
As if in answer to her thoughts, she heard her name being called. She raised her head as her partner, and fellow FBI agent, approached.
He looked as ragged as she did, though he wasn’t coated in red. He had also lost his suit jacket somewhere, and stains had appeared on his white starched shirt. His face, normally smooth, was deeply lined with the frown he was wearing. Though he was taller than his partner by four inches, the weight of his shoulders seemed to pull him towards the floor, making him look shorter than his five-ten stature.
David took one look at Alex’s face, and shifted direction to the soda machine just beyond Alex. He fished for quarters in his pocket, then pulled out a bottle of Advil while the Coke clattered down the machine’s insides.
“Any word?”
Alex gave a deep sigh. “Yeah. DOA.”
David winced and handed her the soda and two tablets. With a short nod of thanks, Alex downed the Advil, and followed them with a few swallows of soda. Its icy coldness tingled in her throat, and she could feel the headache recede just a touch.
Seating himself beside Alex, David leaned back against the wall. He ran his fingers through his short black hair, then rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Well, it looks like we’re batting double zero tonight.”
“What d’you mean?”
“The assassin’s dead, too.”
Alex’s shoulders dropped another inch. “Damn.”
“I know, partner.” David reached over and patted Alex’s knee. “He had a car, waiting in an alley, and a big enough lead on me that I knew we wouldn’t catch him before he could jump in the car. So I slowed, and took a shot at him while I called for backup, and for cars to try and block any escape routes. He got to the car, the driver hit the gas. The shooter returned fire, almost taking out two of the officers who had raced past me.”
“So, how’d he get killed?”
“He got as far as the corner, then —” David raised his hands, trying to illustrate, “boom. The car blew up.”
Alex groaned. “So that’s what that noise was.”
David wiped absently at a black mark near his temple. “Yeah. I tried to get the guy out, but the flames were hot enough to melt the tar under the car.”
“Is that how you got soot all over you?”
“Yep.”
Alex frowned at her partner. “Do we know why the car blew up?”
“Yep. An incendiary device attached to the underside of the vehicle.”
“In other words, a bomb.”
“Yep.”
“Somebody offed the hitman?”
“Uh-huh.”
Alex ‘s frown turned into a grimace. “I knew I should have stayed in the research department.”
They were both quiet for a moment, then Alex looked at David. “Is it too late for me to be an accountant, instead of working for the FBI?”
He gave a short laugh. “No. But you’d be bored silly inside of two days. By the end of the week they’d have to bring the guys with the white jackets to take you away.”
“Are you saying I’m an adrenaline junkie?”
“No. You just love excitement.” They gave each other a halfhearted grin.
Alex took a deep breath, picked up her soda and got up from her seat. “Okay, David, let’s go.”
David stood beside her. “Where to?”
“The hotel.” Alex began ticking items off on her fingers. “I know the local guys won’t be very happy to see us, but this is our case. I want you to gather the video tapes – if they’ve been thinking, Keller and Price have already pulled the tapes and sent them to Washington. I want to know where this guy came from, how he got into a secured area, and who the hell he was. I want to talk to the officers who were at the security checkpoints, and those that were in the parking lot. Lieutenant Wister already promised me a list of all officers, and where they were stationed.” She stopped and looked at her partner. “That door the guy went through. You and I checked on that, remember? We made sure Wister had somebody there, but the officer didn’t exactly slow up the shooter. I want to know why.”
“He could be dead.”
“Maybe. If he’s not and he left his post, then he just might wish he was dead.”
Agent Wu nodded solemnly.
“You think the killer came in that door?”
David rubbed his jaw. “I don’t know, Alex. If I remember right, it was a fire door; you couldn’t open it from outside.”
“Right, but the alarm didn’t go off, did you notice that? What if he cut the system, then somehow got the door open?”
“It would show in the surveillance tapes. The door was in camera range. But the guys in the camera room never gave an alert.”
“Which means they didn’t see anything suspicious until the same time as everyone else. Damn.” Alex took a final drink from her soda, then tossed it in a recycle bin. “If the killer, or someone else tampered with the door, I wanna know. I want to check out the scene again, and look at those tapes.” She stopped and looked at David.“We also need to check with the M.E. and find out when the autopsy – sorry, autopsies – will be held. One, or both of us, need to be there. Maybe they’ll find something on the killer’s body that will help us out.”
“Right.” David nodded. “Uh, Alex, don’t you think we need some sleep?”
“Sleep? David, have you forgotten that we have a phone conference scheduled with our boss for 8:30 this morning? Cliff probably already knows that Dabir is dead, and he’s gonna want answers. So far, we don’t have any. It’s now,” Alex looked at her watch, then scratched off the dried blood so she could see the numbers, “ten minutes after midnight. That gives us eight hours and twenty minutes to come up with something. I personally don’t want to sit there and tell Cliff that we don’t know how the assassin got in, we don’t know who the assassin was, and we don’t know why, despite everything we did, Reginald Dabir is dead.” Alex turned and started walking down the corridor, David trailing after her. “I have a feeling we’re going to get our butts chewed no matter what information we have, but I’d kind of like to leave that conference with at least a little bit of flesh on my sorry carcass. If that means a night without sleep, so be it.” She stopped and took David’s arm so he would look at her. “I was the lead agent, David. I have to tell him something.”
David sighed. “You’re right. You’re right. So, it’s back to work.” The two of them started off down the corridor. “Tell me we can at least get some food, and more caffeine before we sit down to look at any papers. Otherwise I’m gonna fall asleep on Cliff, and then he’ll really be pissed.”
“Agreed. We’ll get showers now, then meet near the ballroom. If you want, you can see if the hotel will keep the kitchen open for us.”
“If they don’t, I’ll just sic you on them.”
“Ha, and ha, ha.”
David just chuckled as they left the building.
************************************************************************
As the water from the shower pounded against her back, Alex tried to let it massage the anger out of her. In her mind she tried to picture the frustration seeping from her pores, mixing with the water, and sliding away down the drain. It was a mental calming technique Sarah had been urging her to use, saying that it would help the agent rid herself of negative energy.
She hated to prove Sarah wrong, but it just wasn’t working. In fact, the only picture she could really see was one of her banging her own head against a not so proverbial wall.
Alex reached out to turn off the faucet, shaking her head. Mentally calm she wasn’t, but she knew how to let her mind divide her emotions from the list of what needed to be done. The former would be pushed away, trapped inside her own mental closet, and the latter would be handled in a thoroughly professional and detached manner.
Stepping out of the shower stall, Alex grabbed a towel and vigorously dried her hair. She stood in front of the mirror, staring into the half-fogged glass in front of her. Her image stared back, with its short blond hair spiking out in every direction. As she lifted a hand to smooth her wayward locks, her glance landed on her own green eyes. With a heavy sigh, Alex had to admit, if only to herself, that she was tired.
This wasn’t the first case where someone had been killed. Hell, Dabir wasn’t even the first person to literally leave their blood on her hands. She’d had worse experiences. The serial killer she and David had chased down the year before had left a string of bodies, including a thirteen year old girl, who had all been violated beyond normal human comprehension. Alex had taken the case in stride, never having to worry about her emotions getting in the way. She’d cried for the victims when she was off duty, and spent her on duty time trying to mete out justice. She’d never had a problem separating the two.
Now, though, with this case, it seemed her emotions were always waiting to leap out at her. She’d been frustrated on cases, but never like this. She’d been angry over a person’s senseless death, but never to the point of wanting to punch someone or something. But this case …
At the hospital, when Alex had spoken to Lieutenant Wister and Captain Davies, the arrogance of the Captain made her fists clench. It wasn’t the first time local law enforcement had been angry at the “interference” of the federal agents, but it was the first time it had been insinuated that she didn’t know her job, didn’t belong with the Bureau, and that she had been responsible for someone’s death. When the Captain finally finished his tirade and walked away with a smug look on his face, Alex had been trembling with the force of her anger. It had been the first time she ever wanted to actually harm another human being.
Somehow, she’d told the Lieutenant what she needed from him, and that she would wait for her partner to pick her up. The Lieutenant, who had remained silent during his Captain’s comments, had simply agreed. He’d been about to turn away when he stopped.
“Agent Reis, it’s not my place to say anything, but in my opinion, you’re a good cop. What happened tonight wasn’t your fault.” Then he’d placed a hand on her shoulder, and walked away.
Alex had simply stood in the hallway, staring at nothing. She didn’t know whether she wanted to vomit or punch something. She’d settled for crushing the plastic coffee mug she held in one hand, squeezing it so hard that the flexible plastic had cracked and splintered, coffee splashing to the floor in front of her. She’d apologized to the nurses, who had solemnly nodded and told her they’d take care of it. Then she headed for the corridor to wait for David.
So, here she was, in her hotel room, staring into the mirror, trying to find the energy to get dressed and go meet David. She sighed deeply, noting that it was quickly becoming a habit. She leaned forward, examining her eyes more closely.
“Damn. If this keeps up, I’ll have bags over my eyes. It’ll make my nose look like a pack horse.”
She watched as the corners of her mouth went up in a quick grin. Amazed that she could still make jokes, she reached for her toothbrush.
************************************************************************
Feeling much more awake, and a thousand times cleaner, Alex approached the entrance to the ball room. She showed her identification to the uniformed police officer. He looked at it carefully, then let her through the door. Alex smiled at him as she passed, realizing it was the rookie she’d yelled at before the banquet began. She’d seen him allow an officer into the area after only seeing his badge. Protocol insisted that everyone, officers included, had to show personal identification. For his mistake, Stein had endured a five minute lecture on following procedure.
“Haven’t they let you go home yet, Stein?”
He gave a tired smile back to her. “Not yet, Agent Reis. I’ve been on door and checklist duty for a couple hours now, but they’ve promised me breakfast and all the coffee I want. Speaking of checklist,” the young man held out a clipboard, “would you sign in please?”
Alex quickly signed the roster of people allowed into the crime scene, noting the time as 1:35. Glancing over the list she noted with satisfaction that Lieutenant Wister and Captain Davies were both still there as well. If their officers were going to be up all night, it was only fitting that their superiors suffered with them.
She handed the clipboard back. “So, Stein, where were you when the shooting happened?”
“The parking lot, ma’am. Too far away to join the chase, though.”
“I thought you had checkpoint duty.”
Officer Stein grimaced. “I originally did, ma’am, but after you scolded me so effectively the Lieutenant decided he didn’t want to take the chance I’d screw up again. He needed someone to help with parking, so he sent me out there to help the Sarge.”
The FBI agent winced. “Sorry, Stein, didn’t mean to come down on you quite so hard.”
“No problem, Agent Reis. Sometimes a guy needs his butt kicked just to keep him thinking, you know?”
She grinned at him. “So, no hard feelings?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Good.” Alex patted his arm, then headed over to her fellow agent Kendall Thomas. Thomas was the third member of the FBI team that had traveled from Washington to Philadelphia in an attempt to protect Dabir. The other agents assigned, Rick Price and Chad Keller, were both from the Philadelphia office.
Alex had always appreciated having Ken along on a case. His specialty was forensics, and his background included a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and physics, as well as one in criminology. He was known as a methodical agent, always following a logical path. He had joined Agents Reis and Wu on the Minnesota serial killer case the year before. Alex knew she had a habit of letting her intuition leap to a conclusion, and had appreciated it when Ken forced her to use logic to reach the same end. Alex had been more than happy to have him along.
She also had been forced to admit that part of the reason was that he was African-American – the only African-American agent assigned to this case, despite the fact that Dabir was African-American himself. When charges had been made that the “white” federal agents hadn’t understood the “black” concerns, Ken had taken it upon himself to bridge the gap, explaining to each side the ways of the other. Alex’s respect for the man had risen sharply over the last two weeks.
Ken Thomas was seated at a table near the wall. He was speaking intently with a young man in a firefighter’s uniform. She noticed that his blue shirt was stained and smudged with soot.
“Hey, Alex. This is Mike Jones. He’s one of the guys that helped put out the flames on the car. We were just talking about it.”
“Nice to meet you, Mike. I’m Special Agent Alex Reis. Sorry you had to stay here so late.”
“No problem. Captain Davies said he wanted someone from the crew to stick around. Said he needed to talk to us. Figured I’d stay, since it’ll mean overtime.” He reached out to shake Alex’s hand. “Good to meet you, Agent Reis.”
“Call me Alex. So, what have you two been talking about?”
“Mike’s been telling me about what they found in the car, after the fire went out.” Alex could see a look of nausea cross Ken’s face.“From what he said, it doesn’t sound pretty.”
“Got that right. Didn’t smell too good neither.”
“So, you saw the bodies before they pulled them out?”
“Yeah. Not much to see, really. Mostly charred bones. Could tell they’d had clothes on ‘em. Couldn’t tell what kind.”
“Not much left, huh?” Alex’s voice was softer, and her eyes were focused on the table in front of her.
“Nope. Little shoe leather. Back of the driver’s coat.” Mike was silent for a moment. “I could see the guns, though. They both had shoulder holsters.”
Ken leaned forward. “Could you tell what kind of gun?”
“Naw. Don’t know much about hand guns. Now, if they’d had rifles or shotguns, I could tell you.”
Alex frowned as something tried to click in her mind. “Was the passenger wearing a coat?”
“Nope. Or if he was it was burned completely off.”
“Mike, when they put the bodies into the ambulance did the guns go with?”
“One of the cops pulled ‘em out. Funny, too, cause the guy tried to grab them with just his fingers – burned the heck out of ‘em. He had to use a glove, and a rag, to pull them shooters outta the holsters. They was smokin’.”
Alex and Ken exchanged a look, and Ken nodded that he’d get the report from the local police.
“Any idea where the bomb was placed?”
The young man nodded. “Bomb squad showed up. Heard ‘em talkin’ bout it.” He gave a snort. “Not that you couldn’t tell.”
“What do you mean?” Alex was content to let Ken lead the questioning, but she couldn’t help jumping in a bit.
“Could tell from what was burned and what wasn’t. Driver’s side was gone. Front dash gone. Fire reached back seat, and blew the gas tank, but you can tell where the bomb was. It had to be under the driver’s side, probably hooked to the gas pedal. Figure it either blows at a certain speed, or it’s timed.” He scratched the back of his head. “Could also been a remote.”
“Anything you can tell us about the car itself, Mike?”
“Ford. Escort, maybe a ‘96.” He shrugged. “Not much else. Definitely not a sports car. In fact,” Mike frowned and sat up a little straighter, “it looked like a family car.”
“What do you mean, family car,” Ken questioned.” I thought it was a sedan type, not a station wagon.”
“Well, yeah, it was. But, I don’t know. Just something … ” He snapped his fingers. “That’s it. Back seat. There was a lump of melted plastic, and the seat belt was buckled through it.”
“Melted plastic?”
“Yeah. Kinda like a car seat. You know, for a baby?”
Alex and Ken traded shocked glances. Ken recovered first. “Are you telling us that there was a baby seat in the car?”
“S’what it looked like.”
Before either agent could think of something else to ask, a uniformed officer informed them that Captain Davies wanted to talk to the young man. They thanked him and watched as he was escorted over to another table, where Davies and Wister were waiting. Davies glared back toward Alex before turning his attention back to the young firefighter.
“Don’t let Davies bother you, Alex. The man’s got a bug up his ass about feds because he was turned down.”
“I take it you heard about our … discussion … at the hospital.”
“Yeah, Wister told me. And he said it wasn’t a discussion. It was Davies spouting a lot of garbage. Let it go. Nothing to do with you.”
It took another minute before Alex could look Ken in the eye. “Thanks, Ken. I needed that.”
Ken grinned at her. “I know.” He leaned forward and looked over his notes. “Okay. I’ll check with our local buddies about ballistics, and try to find out what I can on the guns. I’ll also see if I can get on the team that’s going over the car.“He gave a short chuckle. “I went to college with one of the guys in their forensic department – and he owes me a favor.”
“Good. You work on the car and the guns. David and I were planning to check out the tapes, then prepare anything we have for our meeting with Cliff.”
“Oh, shit, yeah, I forgot about that. That’s at, what, nine?”
“Eight-thirty.”
“Damn. You want me back for that?”
“No. You stick with forensics. David and I can handle the call.”
“Okay. What about the autopsies?”
“No, don’t worry about those. We’re planning on being there. I’ll call you if there’s anything I need you to follow up on.”
“Got it. So, when should I report in, boss?”
“Don’t call me that. And I don’t know. Let me check with David. Keep your cellular with you, and I’ll call when we set a time.”
“Sounds good.” The two of them stood. “Alex, it wasn’t your fault. We did everything we could think of. Dabir was better protected than Kennedy in Dallas. They just got lucky.”
Alex nodded and reached out to Ken. “I know. We all did the best we could.” They shook hands, Alex squeezing Ken’s just a little longer than usual. “Now, get out of here. You’ll need to corner Wister to get access.”
“No problem. Call me when you’re ready for me.”
Alex stood there for a moment longer, watching Agent Thomas cross the room with his long strides.
“But it feels like my fault, Ken.”
She shook her head, and left to go find her partner.
************************************************************************
Alex found David in the surveillance room, watching a television intently. She noticed he was much cleaner, and in a fresh suit, though the shower and change seemed to have done little for his disposition – he was still frowning.
He looked up as she approached. “Hey, Alex. There’s a buffet set up in the room next door. Just biscuits and such, but they’ve promised us eggs and pancakes by five o’clock.”
“Yeah, I know, I spoke with the front desk.” She sat down with him. “What are we watching, David?”
David turned back to the screen. “It’s a copy from the video camera in here. We’re just about to the shooting.”
The two of them watched Dabir move smoothly through the crowd, accepting congratulations and wishes of luck. He was laughing with a small group of women, when someone asked for a picture with her daughters. She took a few steps away, the candidate put an arm around each of the teenage girls, and they all smiled for the camera. The flashbulb went off, and Dabir seemed to slump in the arms of his young supporters. The girls moved slightly farther from him, and the candidate fell to the floor. For half a second there was just a quiet murmur of concern, then a scream broke through the whispering as people noticed the blood.
As she watched the events on the screen, Alex saw a flickering movement that went against the movement of the crowd. While most everyone was surging toward the fallen man, including the image of Alex herself, one individual was headed towards the side corridor. A woman got in his way, and was rudely pushed against the wall. David stopped the tape.
“It was here that I spotted him. I saw the gun in his hand and the girl hit the wall, and I just went after him.”
Alex’s eyes were half closed, but David could tell by looking that the motor behind them was working frantically.
“Has anyone spoken to the girl, can she tell us anything about the guy?”
“Yeah, she was interviewed, I read the officer’s notes. Didn’t see much, just felt the guy bump into her, then she was hitting the wall. She said she barely noticed, all she could think about was Dabir.”
Alex nodded. “Have we found out what happened to the officer stationed on the door? “
“Officer Buckner was found outside, propped up against the wall. He’d been killed from close range – coroner said the powder burns indicated the weapon was less than six inches from the back of his skull. Possibly the same gun that killed Dabir.”
Alex stood and began pacing across the rust colored carpet. “So he whacked the guard, then came through here and hit his target. Then he went back through that door —”
“No, Alex. He didn’t come in through this door. He used it for an escape, but it’s not how he got in.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. It was locked, no one from the outside could get in, though the alarm had been cut. A couple of officers tried the door from outside. They couldn’t get in.” David motioned to the tape. “The camera shows, no one came through it. However the guy got out, he didn’t use this door to get in.”
Alex just stared at the TV in front of her. “How good a picture can we get? Of his face, I mean.”
“If you watch close you can follow him from just a few minutes before the shooting. Price confiscated the original tapes. They’ll go out to Washington by courier later this morning. But he did have copies made of this, and the parking lot. A copy of the camera in the corridor is on the way. I’ll send a message to Washington that we need this tape enhanced, and stills made of all frames that show the killer’s face. Technical should be ready, and with any luck, they’ll have it finished by tomorrow night.”
Alex nodded. “Good job. Maybe with the stills, someone can tell us who this guy is – or was. Have you already seen the parking lot tape?”
“Yeah, for what good it did. Problem is, the place the car was located wasn’t in camera range.”
“Wait a minute, I thought the entire lot was on camera, and anything that wasn’t was off limits.”
“Exactly. The car was parked in an off limits spot. I noticed that when I saw him jump in.”
“Who the hell authorized that?” Alex was glaring at David. “Did you ask Wister?”
“He just said that Sargeant Leonard, who’d been in charge of the parking lot, had received an authorization. He didn’t say who it was from.”
“So where the hell is this Leonard? I’m gonna rip his goddamn -” Alex stopped as she noticed a figure in the half open door.
Officer Stein cleared his throat. “Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Thought I’d let both of you know that breakfast is here. You might want to eat while everything’s hot.”
David nodded. “Right. Thanks, Stein.”
The young man hesitated in the door way. “Um, Agent Wu, Agent Reis, you wouldn’t be referring to that blue Escort, would you? The one that exploded?”
Both agents looked at him. Reis cleared her throat and took a step towards the young man. “Yes, Stein, that’s exactly what we’re referring to. What do you know about it?”
“Well, didn’t you and Agent Wu okay that vehicle to park there?”
“No, Stein, we didn’t,” Alex’s voice was strained. She hoped she wouldn’t have to yell at the poor man any more; he did seem to have the makings of a fine officer. “Did you see the car, Stein?”
“Yes, ma’am. When I was reassigned to the parking lot, I noticed it was in an off limits area, and I asked Sarge about it. He said a couple of agents parked it there, and they had your permission. I remember, he was grumbling about you changing your mind on things without notifying anyone. He’s my superior, so I didn’t question him, but I remember thinking that you don’t seem like one to change your mind without a good reason.”
Both FBI agents just stared at him. Alex recovered a second before David did.
“Stein, I take it Sarge is Sargeant Leonard?”
“Yes, ma’am. Sargeant Robert Leonard.”
“He said I had authorized a change in the parking?”
“Well, he said that’s what the agents told him.”
“What agents?”
“He didn’t say. Just told me there’d been two FBI agents. One had stayed with the car, and the other went inside. He’d never seen them before, he said, but they showed ID.”
Alex nodded. She could tell that David was fuming behind her and she needed to get Stein out of the room before her partner exploded on the young man.
“Thanks, Stein. I’ll check it out. Are you still on door duty?”
“No, ma’am. I just got released. I actually came over to tell you and Agent Wu that the buffet was up.”
“We appreciate that. What I need you to do, right now, is tell Lieutenant Wister exactly what you just told me. Then tell him I authorized no such change, and all agents were accounted for – they were inside the building from early evening on. Let him know we need to speak to him, now. Can you do that for me?”
“I’ll go find him.”
“Thanks, Stein.”
She watched the younger man walk away, then turned to her partner. Alex could almost see the heat coming off of him.
“Jesus fucking Christ!” David exploded. “Why the hell didn’t they just call you to confirm? That’s the whole reason everyone was carrying a fucking radio, for God’s sake!”
“I don’t know, David.” Alex leaned back in her chair, her arms folded. David’s voice was low, but forceful.
