“Maybe he was dealing with someone who didn’t know the rules?”
Tommy waved his toothpick at Walt. “Nah. The street wouldn’t allow it. Too many steps to booking inside the beltway. The SEC practically regulates the damn thing.”
Walt smiled. “Thanks, Tommy.” He turned to Nick and made it a point to look at his shoulder as he spoke. “So like I was saying, I don’t like the timing.”
Nick stared out the window and thought about Dave Tanner’s wife and kids. For a brief moment he remembered that he himself had a child on the way, but he quickly brushed away the thought like a housefly.
“Any idea who did it?” Nick asked.
Walt leaned his head back. “That bothers me. We’ve practically had that scene scrubbed with a microscope and came up with nothing. No prints which matched anyone in the computer, no witnesses. Nothing.”
“Barzani paid a professional, no doubt,” Nick said.
“He’s the ultimate delegator,” Matt chimed in. “What about the rest of the team?”
Walt cocked his head, “Those three? You see them hiding in a safe house while the rest of the office goes after Dave’s killer?”
Matt shook his head.
“Exactly,” Walt said. Then he squirmed a bit trying to get comfortable. “I need to tell you, there’s credible evidence the KSF is attempting to detonate a bomb at LAX.”
“How credible?” Nick asked.
Walt seemed to understand the question. He shrugged. “It’s not strong, but it’s LAX and we can’t afford to be wrong about it.”
“So there go our resources,” Matt said.
There was a twinkle in Walt’s eye as he watched his two star pupils putting the puzzle together.
“That’s right,” Walt said. “That’s where I’m headed right now. I won’t be able to offer you much support. They’re not threatening anything around here.”
“Except us,” Nick said.
“What about the Army, the National Guard, Hostage Rescue?” Steele asked.
Walt sighed and went for the obvious retort. “The military is a bulky sword,” he said. “What this requires is a scalpel. A small tactical team of professionals.”
Walt looked around the room, his eyes landing on Steele. “That’s where you come in. They’re going to need your help here.”
The room stayed silent while Nick considered the challenge of going after Barzani with the inhabitants of that small room.
Walt let out a big breath, like he was holding it in for just such an occasion. He edged forward on the chair and counted off on his fingers. “First of all you’ll have full access to our tech squad. You need a license plate run or a satellite image, you got it. Second, I’ve sent for a couple of agents to come up from Phoenix. They can set up a safe house for Julie until we can resolve this mess. Third, I’ll have a specialist sent up with those guys. Someone with gear to help track Barzani. And finally …” Walt looked at Nick and Matt. “Do what you two do best. Use your instincts.”
Nick and Matt nodded.
“So,” Walt said, repositioning his stiff legs. “What do we do?”
“Start with what we know,” Matt almost chanted. It was the same question Walt would ask during every briefing and induced the same response each time.
“And what do we know?” Walt asked.
“Barzani has been here for six months,” Steele said.
Walt smiled. “That’s right, Jennifer. What does that mean?”
“It means he’s had time to plan,” Steele answered.
“Good,” Walt said. “What else.” He was playing the mediator. Like a good football coach trying to press the right buttons to squeeze the most out of his players.
The room was quiet for a minute while Walt drummed his thick fingers on the desk.
Finally, Nick said, almost absently, “They’re using cash.”
This brought a great big grin to Walt’s weathered face. “Go on.”
Nick looked over at his deputy who was sitting in the back of the room, paying attention, but not seeming comfortable with a roomful of federal agents. “Luke, you’ve been here the longest. Go to all the local realtors. Find out who paid cash to rent a place up here five and six months ago. Only the ones who paid by cash. There won’t be many. It’s not like Barzani opened a checking account. After that, check the car lots. Find out about any big cash purchases within the same time frame.”
Luke left the office with a smile, seeming grateful to be part of the chase.
Nick thought about Luke’s skill with terrorists and gestured to Steele. “Jen, go with him. I don’t like him out there without someone with experience. He has a tendency to react too quickly.”
Steele nodded and left the room.
They sat silent for a moment. Walt pointed to Tommy. “You have any connections in Mexico?”
“Sure,” Tommy said. “What are you looking for?”
“We’ve discovered a large tunnel under the California border. It went directly into a dirty warehouse a couple of hundred yards into the country. It’s different than most tunnels we find, very sophisticated. Halogen lights, oxygen, the whole works. I need to know if there was any Kurdish involvement with this project or simply a high end drug tunnel.”
Tommy hopped to his feet, pulled out his cell phone and headed for the door. “I’ll make a call and find out,” Tommy said. Then he closed the door behind him.
Chapter 8
Tommy felt the cool mountain air hit him as he stepped out of the sheriff’s office and dialed a contact number on his phone. Even though he’d been in Payson less than a day, he was beginning to develop an appreciation for the small town’s atmosphere. It was more open and serene. He could see himself living in a place like this where the skyline was etched with pine trees.
Back in west Baltimore the streets were teeming with possible assailants. Tommy’s innate ability to detect a foreign body in the city’s bloodstream always served him well, but it had been fine-tuned from years of mingling with the crowd and creating alliances. Out here, however, it seemed much easier to spot an intruder. There were no drug dealers hanging out on the corner, or gangbangers looking to initiate new members.
So it was easy for him to spot the shadow lingering behind the steering wheel as he strode out onto the wooden deck. The figure behind the wheel seemed to track Tommy as he moved onto the gravel parking lot, paying too much attention to an ordinary man on his cell phone.
Tommy waited four rings, then heard the tone click over to voice mail. A male voice on the phone said, “Go.”
“Hey, Hector, it’s Tommy. Give me a call.”
Tommy pushed his phone off and watched the figure in the car stare at the sheriff’s office. From the parking lot Tommy could see Julie standing by a small window. The man’s attention seemed to be on her.
Tommy considered getting help from inside, but was afraid the guy might bolt. He decided to be direct. Maybe the guy was simply waiting for someone, but Tommy couldn’t afford to wait. From what he’d heard, this Barzani guy could be using anyone to get Nick.
Something gnawed at Tommy’s gut and it took a minute for him to realize what it was. Julie. She was inside that office waiting for Nick, being the good wife. Being brave. He had to eliminate any possibility the shadow was a danger.
Tommy went to his rental car, which was parked behind the man’s car. He went around the back and opened the trunk, stalling for time. Trying to figure out what to do next. From behind the opened trunk he could see the back of the car. Tommy waited for someone else to leave the office or someone to pull in, but in this one horse town, it could be a while. He was about to dial Nick’s cell phone when the guy started the engine. Tommy lost his patience and decided to do what he did best. Go head first. Be the aggressor. Take the tail by surprise.
He slammed the trunk shut and took long, strong steps toward the sedan. As he approached the passenger side of the car, he could hear the window slide down. He bent over to see who he was dealing with and saw right away his haste had cost him. The man behind the wheel held a pistol with a confidence which took years to acquire.