Unforeseen Dives – 38b – Trigger

<< 38a – Trigger

I had no idea how much information Nadina could provide. However, it trumped robbing Agent Jackson of a focus for his crusade. His partner and him were close. He needed to work on finding Ryan and telling him he didn’t have the security clearance to do so was heartless. Moreover, Jackson’s stubbornness might lead his nose where it didn’t belong if we forced him to look for us.
I preferred reading his reports while he pursued his leads. Besides, a fresh set of eyes could be useful, even though they weren’t aware they were helping us.
“What do we know about Nadina Perez?” I asked to the small team around the table in one of the meeting rooms back at our headquarters in Washington. Becky sat by my right. We faced a couple of FBI agents. Daniel and Aaron sat at each end of the table.
“We have the somewhat superficial file assembled for her prosecution.” An FBI agent said. “We’ll push it a step further to investigate her known connections and all that jazz.”
“We should also get a hand on her prison time reports.” Aaron added. “Is there a subtle way to debrief the warden without drawing too much attention to our investigation?”
“We can probably pause as lawyers investigating our client’s behaviour or something.” The same FBI agent answered. He looked as young as he sounded but I didn’t doubt his competence; the Bureau wouldn’t assign unskilled agent to this case. Not anymore. I could only hope it wasn’t too late.
“A revision of the security detail around Cassidy is in order. Let us not forget that.” Daniel’s phlegm wavered enough to force a pause. “In fact, I’d rather you remain here from now on.”
“I can’t do that.” The idea of getting in arm’s way, or actually to put a whole city in arm’s way, charmed no one. Which didn’t make it any less necessary. “You’ll need me to interrogate Nadina. Even if you could find an Arabic-speaking telepath in such a short notice, we cannot bring in someone new.” An uneasy silence welcomed my analysis. “Let’s keep from advertising my position, that’s all.”
“Agreed. But you’ll limit your direct interactions to people hidden in this whirlpool.”
I nodded to Daniel. That made sense since our opponent read the future too.  Plus, the recent event proved he planned to follow through on his attempt on my life.
“I’ll have a team investigate the possible resources of our opponent. The intricacies of the recent events indicate we are facing an organization rather than an individual.” The other FBI agent said. I thanked him with a subtle nod. A little distraction from my Sword of Damocles was welcomed.
“Good. How are things coming on the drug lords’ front?”
“Still digging,” Aaron said. “We narrowed down the list but we have yet to link it with the potential prompt divers’ data.”
Nadina’s interrogation might turn out to be essential for us to move forward in our race to catch the bad guys. Our trails were running cold. Somehow, it made me thankful for yesterday’s crazy events; hadn’t there been an attempt on my life by way of riot, I would have missed something. Unfortunately, the events sent a message to the population that I doubted we could overturn.
News channel already moved on to other news, as carefully suggested to them by the government. What worried me was the blogs. I started monitoring the heat on the reader community a little after our investigation went underground. Since pinpointing the moment in time were it all started could get me lost in a whirlpool, it began my unofficial forecast for the closeness of the war.
Yesterday, “NY Court Siege” was trending on Twitter.
Yesterday, reader-related blog posts created more polemic than the Lady Gaga’s latest dress.
“When would it be reasonable to start our interrogation of Nadina?” I asked, snapping out of my dark thoughts. Rebecca looked at me sideways; it wasn’t like me to lose track of a conversation during a meeting. She’d sum it up to me later.
“We should hold the horses until we have the ammunition to strike strong.” The young agent paused for some internal computation. “Friday. Maybe next week.”
“We need about that long to expedite the paperwork and get her transported here.” Aaron added. “We’ll have a room in the basement set up for her.”
“Ok.” I rose from my chair. “I guess I’ll dive a bit to see if I can gather more info about her in the Ocean while you guys do your thing.”
“No. You won’t.”
“Becky, we can’t slow down now. We can’t afford any delay.” My partner stood to oppose her short and broad resolution to my tall and flimsy will. I swear I would have felt the same if she was actually towering over me.
“My husband has been missing for more days than I dare count. I don’t want delays.” Daniel opened his mouth but Rebecca’s glance shut it. “My best shot at seeing him again involves keeping your from burning out. Trust me when I say I’ll drug you to sleep if I have to.”
Our spectators fidgeted, forcing us back to a less tense opposition. I nodded.
“I’m taking the rest of the day off. And tomorrow is all hands on deck.”
Becky nodded this time. We exited the meeting room together and headed for our bedroom.
“I kept Casey at bay with white lies but he’s basically going nuts with worry.” Rebecca said once we each sat on our bed. “You have to call him.”
It was 11am. Casey would be at work.
“I’ll call him during his lunch break. How about we play some music while we wait?”
“Huh?”
“I may need sleep but you sure need a little distraction. James brought that video game. We should play.”
A doubtful smile made its way to Becky’s lips.
“Okay. You’re on, Square!”

39a – Menace >>