Lady Justice and the Vet by Robert Thornhill

Author:Robert Thornhill [Thornhill, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Published: 2013-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

When I walked into the squad room the next day, the last person I expected to see was my half-brother, Mark Davenport.

I didn’t even know that I had a half-brother until a few years ago. Dad was an over-the-road trucker and unbeknownst to anyone, including Dad, his lady friend in some small town out in western Kansas became pregnant. Knowing that Dad was like the fellow in Gogi Grant’s old song, The Wayward Wind, she decided to raise Mark on her own.

When I first met Mark, he was in the FBI, but later he transferred to Homeland Security. As fate would have it, I actually got to work with him undercover on two different occasions.

“Happy birthday, Bro,” he said, shaking my hand.

“Thanks. I hope you didn’t come all the way from Washington just for my birthday. A card would have sufficed.”

“Actually, I wish that was the case, but I’m afraid there’s more to my visit than that.”

I got an uneasy feeling. “Please don’t tell me you’re here to recruit me for another undercover.”

“Walt! What kind of brother would do that on your birthday?”

At that moment, the captain called the meeting to order.

“Gentlemen, I’m going to turn the meeting over to Mark Davenport of Homeland Security. He has some rather unsettling news. Mark.”

“Thank you Captain. I’m sure that many of you have been reading the headlines about the attack at the Westgate shopping complex in Nairobi, Kenya. Over sixty were killed and another two-hundred and forty injured. A terrorist group, al-Shabab, which has ties to the Taliban, has claimed responsibility. Immediately after the attack, twenty agents from the FBI flew to Nairobi and have been sifting through the rubble. Unfortunately, they have uncovered evidence that indicates that some of the terrorists may have ties to Kansas City. We’ve known since the aborted attack at the All-Star Game last summer that a small cell has been operating in Kansas City. Now, it seems, they have stepped up their game. The FBI believes that the Nairobi incident was just a tune-up for a much larger operation on US soil --- possibly right here in Kansas City.”

An uneasy murmur swept through the room.

Mark continued, “There are a number of possible targets, but we believe the one most vulnerable and most likely is the American Royal Parade coming up this weekend. The theme again this year involves a salute to our veterans. In addition to the usual marching bands, Boy Scouts and floats, there will be several hundred servicemen and women, veterans, the Governor of Kansas and the grandchildren of a couple of presidents. Over ten thousand spectators are expected. An attack of any magnitude would be devastating and a real feather in the Taliban’s cap. The problem is that the parade route stretches from Union Station north to the Sprint Center. There’s a hundred different places along Grand Avenue where they could launch an attack.”

“How can we help, Mark?” the captain asked.

“We need to scour every inch of the parade route and that will require a lot of man hours.

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