A Noble Calling by Rhona Weaver

Author:Rhona Weaver
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rhona Weaver
Published: 2020-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

By ten o’clock that wintery morning, Win was trying his best to project some degree of competence while surrounded by the Hostage Rescue Team’s high-octane juggernaut.

Supervisory Special Agent Matt Smith, who was called an operator supervisor in HRT parlance, was a tall guy from Georgia in his late thirties who looked like he could play linebacker for any NFL team. He had a friendly, down-to-earth manner that contradicted his penetrating eyes. He assigned Win the job of developing suspects related to the information leak. Trey was to assist Win and would also serve as HRT’s main resource to get a feel for the park’s terrain, including the small patch of real estate twenty-four miles southwest of Mammoth where the dedication of the Cohn Monument would take place in five days, on May 12th.

Win set up shop in an empty space down the hall from Phillips’s office. While the support staff got him plugged into the FBI computer systems and set up a landline, Win pulled out a yellow legal pad and began work the old-fashioned way, writing down the known time line of the intelligence leaks. He’d been at it for well over three hours before Trey stuck his head in the makeshift office.

“The team’s breaking for lunch, so I’m free. What’ve you got?”

Win stood up and stretched, glad for the interruption. “Trying to pinpoint the time line of the leaks. Praying it’s a hacker—would make life simpler. Denver’s got a team of technical folks working on that end. I’m just looking at on-site personnel, and I’ll need your help with that; you know lots of these folks.” He motioned Trey into the office. “Drag over a chair. They been treating you alright?”

Trey dusted the chair off and closed the door before he sat down. “Yeah, sharp bunch, real professional. They understand the difficulties of working in remote locations, and they’re accustomed to doing a job under less than optimal circumstances. They’re not, however, accustomed to having dozens of curious tourists milling around.” He glanced down at the tan ranger hat he was holding. “Are we supposed to be pretending we’re seismologists, like these guys? Wearing civilian clothes?”

“Naw, since we’re gonna be out spy catching, we probably need to look like we do normally—otherwise it would be a tip-off. Don’t you think?” Win replied.

“Yup, guess so, but I’m gonna go with my field uniform and lose the tie. . . . On another subject, what do you suppose the odds were of that drone spotting us up on that ridge yesterday morning?” the ranger asked.

“I sure wouldn’t think too high.” Win shrugged and sat back down. “Got a little tense in there this morning, huh?”

“When those two guys came in behind me and Phillips pulled out those aerials . . . I thought . . .” Trey looked to the side and paused for a long moment.

Win finished the sentence for him. “You thought I’d double-crossed you. You know, Trey, if we’re gonna work together, it would be real nice if we could trust each other.

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