Xander grinned at him. “About damn time that girl found some sense. That’s great, Reed. Congratulations. You guys were meant for each other, we all knew it.”
McReynolds smiled, shyly this time, pleased with Xander’s obvious happiness for him. “Ah, go on. You know how much she loves to ski. There was no keeping her away for long. I’ll go call her, you all wait here for a minute. I’m sure she’ll be happy to go over the stuff on Gerhardt’s stock. And I’ll get the records pulled from Gerhardt himself. Might take a little bit though. Where will you be?”
“Back at Arapahoe Cafe. We need the wireless to look at some other stuff.”
“They caught the guy who did it, you know.”
“That’s what we hear.”
McReynolds pushed himself off the desk. “All right. Let me go get your info. Meet you back here in an hour, say?”
“That’s perfect. Thanks, Reed.”
“Oh, you owe me. I’ve got a list the length of my...arm of things you’re gonna do to repay me.”
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” They jostled each other shoulder to shoulder, the grown man’s version of a hug, then Xander took Sam’s hand and they walked back out onto the street.
“What’s next, madam?”
“Well, you need coffee before you faint. And I’d like to go through Loa Ledbetter’s photos more thoroughly. I can do it on my iPad. So let’s settle in at this cafe for a bit, see what we can’t uncover.”
Chapter 35
Washington, D.C.
Detective Darren Fletcher
Fletcher hung up the phone and stowed it in his pocket, then turned the sound up on the television in Bianco’s office. The announcer was holding back a smile, trying to look serious while also relieved.
“We are here with breaking news right now, good news, as we’ve learned that the Metro attacker may have been caught. A suspect was arrested by police on his way to stage another attack, this one on the Capitol building. This news is just coming in to us over the wires. Again, it seems the Metro attacker suspect has been identified and detained by police. Stay with us, we’ll be right back.”
Fletcher watched as the station went to commercial, in awe of their audacity. If this backfired, they were all fucked.
Bianco stood to his right, a grim smile on her face.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Fletcher said.
“It’s better this way. He won’t know that we know. He’ll think we’ve backed off, and he will relax, and then he’ll slip up and we’ll catch him.”
“Disinformation is a tricky thing, Andi. You’re going to have to admit you were wrong about the Moroccan.”
“I’m not wrong about the Moroccan. The FBI has been working him for several months. He was on his way to the Capitol with a backpack full of what he thought were explosives loaded with shrapnel and ball bearings, all puffed up on the idea of a second attack in as many days destabilizing us. The material found at his apartment makes him a strong suspect in the Metro attack.”
“But it’s not him.”
“We don’t know that. We still need to run the prints we found. There is a mountain of evidence that puts him together with the attack. The problem is, even with him off the street, there’s going to be yet another wacko waiting in the wings. Our people are working day and night to mislead these lone wolves. We’re watching three others right now, just to make sure they aren’t making friends with the wrong people. It takes months, years, to set this up. And yet somehow, someone has slipped in under the radar and manufactured enough abrin to make a weapon. God knows what else he has planned. We have to catch up to him before he does something else, and this was our best shot. Even if the Moroccan wasn’t responsible but knows who is, we’re golden. And if there is a third party and he thinks the pressure is off, he might make his move. We’ve got eyes everywhere, just waiting for it. And when we catch the bastard who did this, no one will be the wiser until all the details emerge. We control the game now, and we will explain our reasoning once the shit is in custody. Okay?”
“Big gamble. Your ass, not mine.”
She smiled. “Exactly. So we have work to do. Where are we on Conlon’s computer?”
“Inez and the boys are going at it. They were like a bunch of locusts. Do you ever get the sense that we’re becoming obsolete?”
“No. They may have the technological advantage, but we’re the adults. We know that you don’t get a blue ribbon for trying. They may not have that figured out just yet.”
Fletcher laughed. No kidding.
“What’s the next target?”
“No earthly idea.”
“And yet you’re calm as a deep blue sea.”
“You know that all the motion in the ocean goes on underneath the surface, right?”