The Furies by Mark Alpert

Author:Mark Alpert [Alpert, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: kickass.to, ScreamQueen, young adult
ISBN: 9781250021359
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

SIXTEEN

Agent Larson had met plenty of asshole bureaucrats during his sixteen years at the bureau, but for sheer plodding pomposity it was hard to beat Kent Halstead, deputy secretary of the Homeland Security Department. The silver-haired, impeccably dressed Washington official had been assigned to lead the search for John Rogers, but so far he hadn’t brought much urgency to the task. After flying by chartered jet from D.C. to the Upper Peninsula, Halstead had spent most of his first day setting up his command post in the federal office building in Sault Sainte Marie, the largest town close to Mackinac Island. Finally, at 6:00 P.M. he summoned Larson to his new office and requested an update on the investigation.

Larson sat in an uncomfortable chair while Halstead studied three photographs spread across his desk. The first photo, which had appeared on the front page of the Detroit Free Press that morning, showed the Ojibway beached in a marsh just north of the Les Cheneaux islands. The second was the surveillance-camera shot of John Rogers on the White Star Ferry pier, and the third was the image retrieved from Van’s camera chip. Halstead spent the most time staring at this last photograph. He scrutinized it from every angle, first squinting at Rogers’s caramel-colored face and then examining the bearded Amish men beside him.

“Where was this photo taken?” he asked.

Larson knew how to handle bureaucrats like Halstead. The most important thing was to speak with utmost confidence. “According to my informant, it was taken just south of the Amish farm near Pickford.”

“Is there any corroborating evidence for this? Does the photo have a GPS tag?”

“No, sir, unfortunately it doesn’t.”

Halstead tapped the photo with his index finger. “What about the people next to Rogers in this picture? Have you identified any of them?”

“Not yet, sir. When we visited the farm this afternoon, the men we spoke to claimed they didn’t recognize any of the suspects. But I believe they were lying. There’s a strong family resemblance between the men we saw on the farm and the men in this photo. Notice their reddish hair and beards. It’s likely that the whole clan is involved in the drug operation.”

The deputy secretary tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. It was an ugly, irritating, skeptical expression. “And what about the woman in the photo? Is she part of the clan too? She has red hair but she doesn’t look Amish. No bonnet on her head, at least.”

“My informant says she’s Rogers’s girlfriend. I’m guessing Rogers met her while doing business with her family. He must’ve persuaded her to give up some of the Amish traditions.”

Halstead narrowed his eyes further. “You believe the Amish men let one of their daughters hook up with a meth dealer?”

Larson was starting to really hate this guy. He was the kind of bureaucrat who moved up in the ranks by shooting down everyone else. “Rogers is a violent character. He has a long association with one of the Disciples gangs in Philadelphia.

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