Aim And Fire

“Well, of course we can’t have criminals coming here, but still, the INS system should be corrected—it’s ridiculous to make people wait for six or eight or ten years to immigrate to America.”

“I agree, but that isn’t my problem—sorry, my issue— down here, but something for you folks in Washington to chew on. However, if you come up with a quick, easy, fool-proof way to solve the immigration process, I’m sure INS would love to hear it. My only problem at the moment, along with the rest of the CBP, is to find a way to locate and detain anyone crossing the border into America who doesn’t have the right to be here, and if we could, to figure out a way to make them stay on their side of the river until they can come here legally.”

Tracy gritted her teeth, trying to rein in her temper.

“You keep saying ‘you’ and ‘I’ like we’re two different groups. Last I checked, we were still on the same side.”

Nate shook his head. “Maybe so, but not in the way you and I see those issues of yours.” He looked around her.

“Nurse’s comin’ back.”

Sharon walked over to them. “Mrs. Martinez is resting and taking intravenous liquids, so she should be all right for now. We’ll monitor her overnight, just in case.”

“Good, we’ll check on her tomorrow, and someone from the agency will be by to pick her and her daughter up later, assuming she’s ready to travel,” Nate said.

“Call about midmorning—we’ll know more then.” The nurse looked as if she wanted to say more, but didn’t.

Nate nodded. “Thanks. Someone will be in touch later.”

He turned on his heel and headed for the doors, leaving Tracy behind.

“Are you his partner?” the nurse asked, her expression neutral, although her seemingly nonchalant tone was anything but.

As soon as she heard the question, Tracy figured out what was going on between the two of them, but was too tired to blush at the inference the nurse had drawn. “Just temporarily.

I’m from out of town, here on assignment. Besides, I’m not sure I could handle being his partner for more than a few days.” She offered a wry grin, and got a small one in return.

“Yeah.” Sharon’s eyes hadn’t left the doors Nate had walked through. “Is that why you’re still standing here?”

“Maybe. Maybe I just like pissing him off.” Something slammed against the glass, and Tracy looked back to see Nate standing there with a “what the hell are you doing?” look on his face. “Duty calls. Thanks for looking after them,” she said.

“Oh, sure, at Providence the revolving door is always open.” Sharon shook her head. “They’ll be all right—until the next time they try to cross.”

Tracy watched her walk away, then she turned to catch up with Nate before he decided to really leave her at the hospital.

“You girls have a good time catching up?” Nate said snarkily.

Tracy considered teasing him about the nurse, but stole a look at his face that told her it wasn’t a good idea. Instead, she dug the phone out of her purse. “I’d better check in.”

She waited until they got back into the truck before flipping it open, bracing herself against the door as Nate tore out of the hospital driveway on squealing tires.

Kate looked as if she was sleeping in her chair, tilted back with her eyes closed. In reality she was deep in thought, letting all of the sketchy data she had flow through her mind while she brainstormed. She was searching for a logical connection that might give them a lead, anything to go on.

The problem was that the trail was already cold when Kryukov got the bomb—well, what he thought was the bomb. They had researched the arms dealer’s extensive list of associates, searching for the missing link between him and al-Kharzi. Although they had connected him with several other terrorist groups, they hadn’t come up with anything connecting the two men.

Of course, it’s not like I could just log on to www.terrorist.com and find whatever I’m looking for, she thought.

Although the various U.S. intelligence agencies had made some very good strides, they still had a long way to go.

Getting accurate, timely data was still difficult at best.

With the 9/11 attacks, there hadn’t been any excuse for intelligence agencies dropping the ball—there had been a clear, definitive chain of ignored or passed-over evidence.

But if a day ever came where a terrorist group managed to stay off America’s radar until they struck, then she didn’t want to see what would happen in the aftermath. That’s one of the reasons I’m in this job in the first place, and supposed to be good at it. But all I’ve got is three men, a truck and a nuke to go on…a truck…

Something about the truck bothered her, but before Kate could grasp it, her computer chirped, signaling an incoming call. Let’s see, who am I this time? she wondered. It was from Robert Lashti. Hmm, I hope this is interesting.

Kate tilted her chair forward and slipped on her wireless headset. “This is Primary.”

“Primary, this is Alpha. I’ve got some information on that switched package you’ll find interesting.”

“Go ahead, Alpha.”

“The acquaintance I made recently was very informative. He said that one of Kryukov’s men had run a side deal with a man claiming to be with a group known as the Fist of Allah. The buyer paid Kryukov’s man at least two million for the suitcase and its contents. They mentioned a ship going to Mexico in front of the seller, not knowing that he spoke Arabic.”

“Mexico? He’s sure of that, Alpha?”

“If you’ve ever watched the Chinese interrogate someone, you wouldn’t ask that question, Primary. Mexico is confirmed as the suitcase’s destination. He didn’t know anything beyond that.”

“Great work, Alpha. Time to come on home.”

“With pleasure, Primary. Just one thing—when Kryukov pops up on our radar again, I want a shot at him.”

“I can’t guarantee that, but we’ll see what we can do.

Primary out.”

As Kate disconnected, her computer chirped again. It was Tracy. That girl must be psychic, she thought.

“Agent Stephanie Cassell,” Kate said.

“Stephanie, it’s Tracy.”

“It’s good to hear from you. Are you all right?” Kate already knew the answer—although from what they had heard during the chase, she and Denny had had their doubts until it was over—but she couldn’t mention that at the moment.

“Yes, apparently I got a less-than-traditional border welcome here.”

Kate heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a snort or guffaw in the background, and a quick check of the camera revealed that they were in a truck of some kind.

“What did you find out?” she asked.

Tracy took a few moments to fill her in on what they had discovered, which wasn’t much. “The best thing we can say is that there was definitely something radioactive in that barn in the last two days, but that’s it. I’ve got the team staying up all night analyzing the soil if they have to, but it’s doubtful they’ll come up with anything useful in the next twelve hours.”

“Okay. I’m pleased to let you know we’ve confirmed that the device was delivered to Mexico, but after the killings in the desert, the trail goes cold. We’ve been crunching data here, as well, but haven’t come up with anything else. We’ve been concentrating on nontraditional vectors, but there’s way too many of them to evaluate quickly, even just in the area. What about your partner, does he have any ideas?” Kate asked.

“Oh, he’s got ideas, all right. It’s just that he’s a bit re-luctant to share them.”

“Well, now isn’t the time to be holding out. Shall I talk to him?”

“I don’t know if that will do any good, but…” Kate heard muffled voices in the background.

“Yes, Special Agent Cassell, how may I help you?”