participants in the peace rally probably thought the gunshot was from some jerk that didn’t share their enthusiasm for a less violent world. The crowd had congregated at the far end of the Mall, away from the less than peaceful activity.
Sean, Kelly Paul, Bunting, and James Harkes met in the middle of the Mall. Sean was listing to one side.
“How bad?” said Paul, as she looked at the hole in his body armor.
“Bruised rib, but it’s a lot better than being dead.”
“You saved Eddie’s life,” she said, gripping his arm.
Harkes said, “They obviously didn’t fill me in on the entire plan. Didn’t know they were going to do that.”
Paul said, “Might have just been someone looking to get a kill bonus.”
“How’d you spot the shooter before anyone else did?” asked Harkes.
“Used to do it for a living,” replied Sean.
“Status of the others?” asked Paul.
“Checked with Michelle,” said Sean. “They’re at the safe house. Megan is pretty beat up, but with some rest, clean clothes, and some food she should be okay. The wound on her shoulder was nasty, but Michelle cleaned it up. When she goes into WFO to make her statement they can check her out more thoroughly.”
“Good,” said Paul. She looked at Harkes. “Next move?”
“I get to visit a couple of my favorite people and tell them things that will literally change their lives in a way they hoped would never happen.”
“Please give Ellen Foster and Mason Quantrell my best.”
“They thought they were using Megan to get Bunting and Roy. I’ve got nothing against the lady lawyer, but we were really using that to get them to a face-to-face.”
Paul added, “Only way it was going to work.”
“Are you sure you have enough to put both of them away?” asked Bunting anxiously. “They’re both very good at deflecting blame. I have vast personal experience of that.”
Harkes said, “I know you do, Mr. Bunting. But we’ve had this sting going for some time now, and the prosecutors are pretty confident we’ve got what we need. And I’ll make a star witness. If it wasn’t just he-said- she-said legal issues, I could have arrested her before now. The cost for waiting was huge. A lot of people died. The hit on Agent Murdock will haunt me the rest of my life.”
“He found out about the E-Program, my brother said.”
Harkes nodded. “They had the prison cell tapped. They freaked and authorized the kill without talking to me about it. I found out Murdock was dead when everyone else did.” He paused. “But now we’ve got the bastards.”
“I hope so,” said Bunting without much confidence in his voice.
Harkes picked up on this and said, “Just to reassure you, we also got a nice little bonus on the evidence front.”
Bunting perked up. “What?”
“We checked out the satellite angle that you gave us,” said Harkes. “It was better than we could have hoped. Foster signed off on the sat position change over Edgar Roy’s home for a three-hour period on a Wednesday night a week before Roy was arrested.”
“And that’s when the bodies were put in the barn,” said Sean.
“Right.”
“But why was it better than we could have hoped?” asked Paul. “You just have the sat change. That’s instructive but not necessarily incriminating. There could have been other reasons for the change, or at least she could argue that.”
“No, she really can’t.”
“Why?” asked Bunting sharply.
“Because it turns out Mason Quantrell also had a pair of eyes on the barn the whole time from his private platform. It was like you said, he wanted some extra insurance in case Foster turned on him.”
“So you’re saying we have video feed of the bodies going in?” asked Sean.
“Yes we do. Nice and clear. And it turns out the guys who did the deed worked with Foster when she was stationed in the Far East. I guess she didn’t trust Quantrell to do the job right. We’ve picked up these men, and let’s just say they are being cooperative with the Bureau in building the necessary case.”
“Couldn’t have happened to two nicer people,” said Bunting, who looked and sounded far more confident now.
Harkes patted him on the arm. “Sorry I had to keep you in the dark on everything. And for roughing you up and threatening your family. The people I was dealing with were very smart and they were watching me the whole time. I had to play it right next to the edge to get them to trust me.”
Bunting said, “I have to admit, my suspicions about you were aroused after you let Avery live, even after I pushed the button.” He paused. “But now he really is dead.”
“No he isn’t. He’ll be waiting for you at the New York office on Monday.”
Bunting’s face collapsed. “What? But the phone call?”
“They wanted to kill him. But I convinced them we could always do it later. So we just did a little subterfuge on you instead. I wasn’t going to let them kill the kid.”
“Thank God for that.”
“And your family is safe and sound under federal eyes.”
“I know. I spoke to my wife.” He hesitated. “I’m thinking about taking some time off. I believe the E-Program can survive without me for a bit.”
“I think that would be a great idea,” said Paul. “And quite frankly Eddie needs a break, too. And he and his big sister are going to start spending more time together, starting right now.”
Harkes walked off to finish what he’d started a long time ago.
“A good guy to have on your side,” said Paul, as she watched him go.
“I’m sure he said the same thing about you,” replied Bunting.
“How did you two meet?” asked Sean.
“Let’s just say it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
Sean was about to respond when his phone buzzed. He looked down and recognized the caller’s name.
It would be a call that would change absolutely everything for Sean King.
CHAPTER
86
THE DREAMLINER 787 LANDED at Dulles Airport right on time, and the jumbo jet slowly came to a halt. The pilot taxied the plane to an open space on the outskirts of the airport property. There were two SUVs waiting at this spot. The jet door opened, a set of portable steps was wheeled into place, and Mason Quantrell walked down them. He was dressed in pressed jeans and a white shirt with a North Face parka over that. He had a briefcase in hand. He looked casual and happy.
He smiled and waved when the window of one of the SUVs rolled down and he saw Harkes sitting inside. He climbed in next to him.
“Good flight?” asked Harkes.
“Fine, fine. Got your message. We were just descending into Dulles. Sounds like it could not have gone better.”
“No, it really couldn’t have,” replied Harkes.
“I can’t wait to hear all about it. Why don’t we drive to my home in Great Falls? My chef studied in Paris and my wine cellar is open for your inspection. We can have something to eat and you can debrief me.” He paused and added, “Does Foster know yet?”
Harkes smiled. “I was saving the best for last.”
Quantrell laughed. “You’ve set it up beautifully. She will be beholden to me forever since we saved her tight little ass. I can get any budget increase I want through now.”
“We need to make one little detour,” said Harkes.
