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.