Three Weeks in Washington: A Titus Ray Thriller by Luana Ehrlich

Author:Luana Ehrlich [Ehrlich, Luana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Potter's Word Publishing
Published: 2016-08-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

I walked away from Carlton’s desk and sat down in the armchair by the fireplace. Benson immediately grabbed his outline off the desk and took the chair opposite me.

I said, “The details I have about Walid Khouri are pretty sketchy right now, but after tomorrow’s briefing, I could learn a lot more.”

Once I’d told Benson what Katherine had turned up on Khouri and what I’d learned from Carlton earlier in the day, he said, “That’s it? Khouri recently traveled to the Middle East, and he’s not connected to the drug trade. That’s all the intel you’ve got on him?”

“Yeah, that’s it. Your turn now. Tell me about the hobby club. Was Valario interested in photography? Was that his connection to Khouri?”

For a few seconds, he looked at me without saying a word, and I thought he was about to refuse to share his intel on Valario with me because of the limited details I’d given him on Khouri.

Finally, he shook his head and said, “Not exactly. Razorback Century Club is a conglomerate of hobbies housed under one roof. Besides photography, they offer classes in a bunch of crafty stuff like painting and quilting, but those are just their indoor activities. They also sponsor outdoor hobbies, and that’s what he was interested in.”

“Bird watching? Archery? What?”

“Reyes Valario was there to learn about model airplanes, specifically how to fly them.”

When I heard this, I experienced an immediate letdown. “You mean those remote-controlled airplanes made out of Styrofoam?”

“I guess that’s what they were made of when you were a kid, but, in these modern times, they’ve improved them quite a bit.”

“I’m not that much older than you.”

“Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

I tapped my watch. “Wrap this up, Frank. Nikki’s waiting for me.”

He smiled, and I thought he was about to make another smart remark, but then he turned serious. “I interviewed the president of the club and also the guy who’d been giving Valario lessons. Both of them told me Valario had already mastered the rudiments of flying the larger models. What he really wanted to do was to learn how to fly the new stuff, like drones, especially the commercial ones. He said he’d been offered a summer intern position requiring him to take aerial photographs for a real estate agent who owned a drone, and he needed to get up to speed quickly.”

I considered this new intel a moment. “Were you able figure out why Valario kept calling Khouri after every lesson? Did you find out if those conversations were ever overheard by anyone?”

“That’s a negative. The Agency should contact the National Security Agency and get a transcript of those actual conversations. I was only able to access the phone number Valario called. When I did, I realized he was making calls to Khouri after almost every session.”

“While this is interesting, Frank, for all we know, Reyes could have been telling the truth. Maybe he did have a summer job lined up with a realtor. Maybe he was just consulting a professional photographer about how to take aerial photographs.

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