Last Chance to Die, Noah Boyd [most read book in the world TXT] 📗

“Steve, I’ll do whatever you and Kate want, but I don’t know if I have a feel for all these nuances—who to tell, who to let listen. I can get to the right people, but who’s told what is a tough call.”

“I guess you’re right. Will it be a problem if Kate goes with you?”

“More of an asset, if you know what I mean.”

“Kate, do you see any problem going with him?”

“You don’t want to go?”

“People might not notice two FBI agents, but three could start speculation. Besides, I’ve got some things I have to get done with Luke.”

She took the digital recorder and put it in her purse. “I guess Tim and I can handle it. But before I go, I wanted to show you something in the kitchen.”

Vail followed her from the room, and when they were out of sight, she pushed him back against the refrigerator, pinning him with her body. “Allowing little Kate to run a lap all by herself. You’d better be careful, someone might think you’re letting your guard down.”

He put his arms around her and said, “We’ve been too busy to get you drunk, so I had to try something.”

She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “Well, Silky, it just might be working.” She pushed off him and headed toward the living room.

He called after her. “Said the good-looking blonde as she headed for the safety of witnesses.”

29

It was dark when Kate got back from the Pentagon. Bursaw had taken off to WFO to put in an “end of the day” appearance for his supervisor. Vail could hear Kate’s footsteps coming up the marble staircase. She rushed into the room. “I think we found him,” she called out as soon as she saw him.

“Where’s Tim?”

“He said he had a meeting with the town council that he couldn’t miss. Actually, I think he was trying to impress you with his modesty by not bringing the news himself.”

Vail looked at her patiently, tipping his head to one side, telling her not to draw it out herself.

“Okay, okay,” she said, “the air force guy. I’m getting to that. Who knew that working applicants for decades would have an upside? Tim seemed to know everybody. The first stop was this air force colonel. He was in charge of personnel there. Tim explained about the sensitivity of the inquiry, and this guy was great. He explained that whatever he gave us would have to go through his commanding officer, who is an air force general. So I made the decision—let’s go see him right now. He told the colonel to let us have carte blanche. The only thing he wanted was to be given the heads-up should we have to arrest one of his people. I told him I’d personally call him. The colonel found the infrared facial-recognition drone project almost immediately. We played the tape for him, and he didn’t recognize the voice. He determined there were eight individuals assigned to it who could have had access to the actual plans. One is a woman, so she’s out. Of the remaining seven, four are still there. The others either have finished their hitch or were transferred. Now it gets interesting. One of them disappeared over a year ago. They’re still carrying him as AWOL, an E-5 staff sergeant named Richard David Gallagher. I got a copy of his service record. The colonel also gave me copies of the other six.”

She handed Gallagher’s file to Vail, and he flipped through its pages until he found what he was looking for. “Did you read this?”

“I haven’t had a chance.”

He handed it back to her. “Let me see the rest of them while you take a look.”

She read a few pages and closed the file. Vail looked at her, and she said, “He was born and raised in Texas. Whatever accent Preston has, it’s not Texan. I thought with him taking off, I was onto something, because we don’t know how old that recording is.”

“Actually, I think you are. The percentage of air force E-5s going AWOL has to be about zero. He may not be Preston, but that he’s missing may not be a coincidence.” Vail went back to reading the other files. When he looked at the fourth one, he read the first page and then handed it to Kate. He went over to the computer and started typing.

“Master Sergeant Chester Alvin Longmeadow, E-7, grew up in Patzau, Wisconsin.”

Vail punched one last key on the computer and, watching the screen, said, “Which is in northern Wisconsin on the Minnesota border.”

“He’s had several Article Fifteens, whatever that is, for drinking-related incidents,” Kate said, continuing to read the file.

“They’re administrative actions taken by his commanding officers when something isn’t court-martial serious. And it’s not unusual for a double agent to have a drinking problem, or a gambling problem, or women problems. Actually, I believe it’s a requirement.”

“So do you think this is him?” Kate asked.

When Vail didn’t answer, she looked over at him. He got up and started exploring the information on the wall. “Longmeadow—that’s an unusual name. I’ve seen it before.” He looked at the reports and files scattered around the room. To himself he said, “Please tell me I don’t have to go through all this again.”

He went to the window and pulled up the shade. Sitting down, he let his stare reach the old Russian embassy across the street. He picked up a pencil and tapped its eraser on the tabletop like a drumstick. Finally Vail snapped to his feet and walked over to a smaller table, where Bursaw had piled up the printouts from Sundra’s laptop. He took them and sat down on the couch. “Can you call Luke and run Longmeadow’s name by him?”

“You think he’s involved in the analyst’s disappearance? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know. For some reason I’ve got it in the back of my mind it’s connected. Maybe Luke can eliminate