'That's fine, thank you. My people are ready to leave whenever you are.'
I nodded, and thanked her as I headed for where Lucy and the girls were waiting for me. I looked over the menu, and quickly made my choice; when the waitress arrived a bit later with coffee, all of us were ready to order.
As we were waiting for our meals to arrive, we chatted about a number of things before I managed to ease the conversation toward the FBI.
As I'd hoped, Robyn and Sandra were anxious to know what we'd be doing there. Lucy and I shared a look before I started telling them about what the day held for us all – that I'd be going with the FBI to TechoDynamics office while they and Lucy stayed with the FBI. I went on to explain that the FBI liked the idea of all of them staying together while I was out, then brought up the idea that there might be something for them to do there. They perked up at that idea, and I suggested that maybe the people at the office could even show them some of the stuff that FBI agents learned. They seemed to think that was a*great* idea, and actually started to look forward to spending some part of the day at the FBI offices.
Lucy leaned over to give me a hug and kiss, whispering 'You are *such* a
About then, the waitress showed up with our order, and Lucy and I listened as the girls wondered about the different things they might be able to do that day.
When we'd finished our meal, the waitress was prompt to clear away our dishes, then return a few moments later with our check – I got to it before Lucy did – and coffee refills for Lucy and me. When we'd finished our coffee, I left the money for the meal with the ticket on the table, and nodded to Agent Jones, who stood up and led the way out of the caf. Out in the lobby, I saw a number of people not paying the slightest attention to us as we headed for Lucy's car. I saw a car leave the parking lot ahead of us, and another behind us after we'd pulled into traffic. Both kept direct visual contact on us, despite the vagaries of city traffic, even though they were careful to change position so as to try and stay inconspicuous.
Once at the FBI offices, we found that Clara was waiting for us, as was Bill, to my surprise. He reached out to shake my hand, saying 'I'm here to brief the rest of the people that will be assigned to you. If you've got a minute, I'd like to introduce all of you.'
I looked at him and said 'Far as I know, my time is yours. We'll be glad to.'
Lucy and the girls quickly agreed, and the four of us followed Bill back to his office, then through another door into a conference room full of people. Once there, Bill cleared his throat, and the light chatter quickly stopped. When it was quiet, he told them 'Folks, this is Mr. Andrews. You've all read his file, and seeing him, I trust you can understand why you've been instructed not to interfere with him if he takes a, uh, active part in events. I tried him yesterday, and was lucky enough to come out of it with only a broken rib. With him is Lucy White, her daughter Robyn, and Robyn's friend Sandra.' As he mentioned their names, Robyn and Sandra gave the group a small wave, and earning themselves a number of smiles.
Bill went on to tell them 'People, just to make it clear, Mr. Andrews here is armed. Here are the targets he used last night when he was checking out the weapon.' At that, another agent came in with the three targets mounted to some kind of foam backing, keeping them straight and flat. The white background also made the holes in the targets stand out.
'This one was his FIRST magazine, at twenty feet. His first shot was the one furthest from the x-ring; they got better from there, as you can see.
'This next one was a magazine he shot using the classic antiterrorist double-tap; that is, two shots fired in rapid succession. The target was at thirty feet. He fired these from a standing position, his weapon in his hand, but at his side. The owner of the range called out for each of the four exercises.
'Last is this target. He started from a standing position, the weapon in a holster at his
Andrews fired all eight of these in less than six seconds. The range was FIFTY feet. I think you can put away any fears you might have had about Mr. Andrews accidentally shooting you', he said to general laughter.
'Agent Gallery has reported that Mr. Andrews is a very cooperative protectee, as are the ladies. Last night, they gave the detail plenty of warning before moving anywhere, actually asked for input from the detail about security measures AND LISTENED to the answers.' – this drew general laughter – 'Mr. Andrews even made arrangements for his detail to get something to eat while they were at Caf Triomphe, whose owner is an old friend of his. Folks, he has an eye for security, and the training. Best of all, he's got good instincts, so don't be afraid to let him take over, if need be. Mr. Andrews understands some of the problems we're facing here, so don't hesitate to be honest with him. How much diplomacy to exercise is up to you.', he added with a grin.
Here, Agent Jones, who had been standing in the back spoke up 'I can vouch for how helpful Mr. Andrews is. Mr. Andrews actually prefers that you address him informally, so call him Dan. He took the time to call down to us this morning to inquire if we had any problems with him and the ladies having breakfast in the hotel. When we didn't, he even let us know when they would be moving so that we could have our people in place. From my own experience, and from what Gallery told me, I have every reason to believe that Dan and the ladies will be helpful and understanding. I also want to add that Dan is a most observant person: he had me spotted as FBI well before I could introduce myself; further, he had me identified as the head of the detail. So if he spots one of you, don't take it personally.'
As she was talking, I nudged Bill, and when he turned, asked him 'I'm going to guess that she'd not a junior agent?'
He grinned, and said 'Nowhere near it. She's one of my best; her and Gallery get the important ones' before turning back to the crowd.
About that time, the door behind us opened a bit, and Clara stuck her head through to ask Bill if we were free. He nodded, and gestured she should wait a moment. She did, and heard him tell the agents 'Okay, people. You already knew the why. Now you know the who. Thank you, and you're dismissed.'
They easily got to their feet, with most of them pausing to give us a close look before heading out the door.
When they were gone, Clara told us that she had an agent to show the girls around while we talked about what would be happening that day.
With that news, both of them perked up considerably, and were ready to go when Clara opened the door to introduce them to Special Agent Abigail O'Malley, a cute young agent fresh out of the FBI Academy.
Mid-20's, short brown hair, hazel eyes, slender but nicely curved, she looked more like a surfer girl than an armed agent.
When they'd left, I told Clara that I'd hinted to the girls that they *might* get a chance to see some of the training the agents went through, so they'd be more agreeable to the self-defense and weapons introductions they'd be getting. Clara smiled at my ruse, and said that she figured her people could come up with plenty to show the girls to keep them busy. That out of the way, she led us to a smaller conference room where there were several agents around a table. Clara led us to the gap they'd left us, and when they'd stopped chatting, told them 'Folks, this is Dan Andrews and Lucy White. They're the people that brought us the goods on TechnoDynamics. Lucy is going to be staying in the office today, but Dan will be going with you, for several reasons. First, he's already been inside, and is familiar with the layout of the place, and the people. Second, it's his work that got us here. Third, he's had some damn good ideas about how to go at this. For those of you who haven't read his file, let me tell you that he was the team leader for a group that was the prototype for the Delta Force, and he's been 'in the field'. He's rated expert pistol and rifle. He has a Masters degree in computer science, from MIT. He's smart, and he's got good instincts; if he makes a suggestion, you should listen before making up your mind. If he insists, you better be ready to justify it to me if you say 'no'. Any questions? No? Okay, let's get on with the briefing.'
Lucy and I sat there as different people talked all of us through what would be happening shortly after 1:00 PM that afternoon: First, several cars full of agents would pull into the TechnoDynamics parking lot, and the lead agent – Agent Hernandez – me, and a couple of others would enter the lobby where we'd get the head of security and the head of personnel to the front desk. At that point, the other agents would enter, and spread through the building to establish themselves in certain key offices. That done, Agent Hernandez and I would head for the IS supervisors office while the other agents began the process of letting people know what was going on. Depending on what we got from the IS supervisor, one or two of the junior agents might be pulled off to assist us. All
