To: ringo
Subject: Mail
Ring,
It was good to hear from you. It sounds like your trip is going well. Don’t worry, your fish are fine and I have collected all of your mail.
Bye the way, a couple of the guys at the shop have quit. When you are back in town I’d like you to come work with me again, even if it is only part time.
— Cookie
It was a good sign. The DPS did not connect him with the folks in Texas and they were still operating. It was clear that they had tasking for him.
Gabriel looked out the dormer at the truck stop across the way. It was full of eighteen-wheelers stopped for a bite to eat. He was sure one was headed for Texas.
Jazz and T-Ball stepped off the plane. Their children charged toward them, as valkrie armed with balloons. Nicholas and Tyler nearly knocked Jazz to the ground. He bent over and scooped them up in his arms.
“Look at my mancubs! You boys have gotten so big! I have missed you so much!”
“We missed you, Daddy!” said Tyler.
Jazz kissed and hugged both of his sons.
“Okay, boys, gosh you have gotten heavy! Let me put you down.”
He looked to his bride. She was holding baby Abigail. Though it was a Wednesday, his wife was dressed for Sunday. He wondered if that theme changed underneath.
Jazz felt his sons still tugging and pulling on him as he walked up to Melanie. He took Abigail from her arms and kissed his daughter on the forehead.
“She’s gotten big, Mel.”
“I know… they all have. You have missed too much.”
“I know.”
Melanie stood on her tiptoes and kissed her husband as he held their daughter.
“Welcome home.”
Ten feet away, the Ball family was enjoying a similar scene.
Cameron Thompson wanted another progress report. Ironically, writing the progress report halted Elena’s progress. It took her two days; she would have to make up ground on his investigation over the weekend. She had never billed so much overtime.
The case was driving her insane. Despite the meeting in Indian Head, by the time her plane landed, Elena was back to suspecting Jascinski. She looked into De Luca as a target, but it was not bearing fruit.
She checked on her superior several times throughout the morning.
“Any questions, Cam?”
“No, not yet, Elena. I’ll call if I have a question.”
She called Kilkenney confirming that his team was in position and ready for Jascinski’s arrival. Then Elena tried to sort through the various incident reports again, San Patricio, Rome, and Tirane. She was not able to concentrate and could not see anything new.
Finally, one of the secretaries approached Elena while she nibbled on a muffin in the snack bar.
“Cameron wants to see you as soon as possible, Elena. He said it was about your report.”
A wave of smoke hit her when she opened the door. In violation of government regulations, Cameron was enjoying a lunch of cigarettes and coffee. Elena could not tell if her report was buried in the landfill of papers on and around Cam’s desk.
“Elena, come in and have a seat.”
The chair across from Cam’s desk was comfortable. He did not want anything to distract his audience when he chose to pontificate.
“Elena, I have read the report. It was fine. I want to talk about it though. Shoot holes in it once again.”
“Okay.”
“Begin with your basic premise.”
“San Patricio, Rome, and Tirane are joined not just by a common IED. They are joined by a common IED factory. This leads me to believe that they are linked by an organization. It may be loose, but it is linked. The nuances involved in the factory layout and the weapon’s design are too precise and too similar for this to be merely three guys who bought the same set of plans from the internet.”
“Okay. Who are your suspects?”
“I’m still looking at the list of people who attended all of De Luca’s conferences. None pans out yet as a suspect, so officially I only have Jascinski.”
“So why Jascinski?”
“He was at all three sites.”
“Being there should not incriminate him. Why not Ball?”
“Ball was only at two of the incident sites. He has a long, perfect record in EOD. Nothing leads us to suspect him to date.”
“Ashland?”
“He’s further out there. He just barely arrived in Texas from Det Norfolk when the San Patricio issue occurred. Again, another perfect record.”
“Okay then, give me more than he was just at all three sites.”
“I’d like to parry with a set of return questions.”
“Fine,” Cam leaned back in his chair and puffed the end of his cigarette. He was thoroughly enjoying this.
“One, why did Jascinski leave Surface Warfare? He was a shoo-in for admiral. He had some protection from his father’s reputation. Two, why come into EOD when he’d have one, maybe two operational tours before he is behind a desk? My answer is that it was not about the career, it was about the schooling. This guy wanted to learn how to blow shit up.”
“Okay, continue,” Cam said, lighting another cigarette.
“There are very few people who had both the capability and the know-how to locate and stop the explosive vehicle with Martin and West. Jascinski is one of them.”
“That is one of your better points, Elena. That is convincing.”
“Thank you,” said Elena.
Selling the case to Cam became as important to Elena as solving it.
“Now listen, Cam, my carousel of evidence is coming full circle. Let’s look at why Jascinski is my prime suspect again.
“The other two cases are connected to each other and San Patricio in two ways. First, it is the same weapon in all cases, the factories and the attack. The second way they are connected is that Jascinski was at all three locations.”
“Okay. Again, Elena, I say his presence at the second two can be argued to be circumstantial. After all he was assigned to be there.”
“If Jascinski happened to be at all three incidents and they were linked in no other way, it would be circumstantial. When you add the specificity of the devices used, it is no longer a coincidence. Look at it this way… have there been any other uses of the SANPAT bomb?”
“No.”
“So at every SANPAT incident, Lieutenant James J. Jascinski has been there.”
“Good damn point. Now you got me again.”
Elena waited as Cam sat back in his chair and puffed on his cigarette silently, thinking.
Finally he sat up and spoke, “Okay, keep after Jascinski. Keep on the De Luca angle also, but Jascinski is still your prime suspect.”
It was the same feeling he experienced whenever he disappointed his mother. Gabriel lifted his head from its droop of shame and looked at Nasih sitting in the chair on the other side of the hotel room. The tone of voice Nasih used, even his look, made Gabriel feel like a child again.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Well, it could have been worse. Fortunately, I do not think that they know who you are. If they did your friends here would already be in jail.”
“I am sorry.”
“You are fortunate. I actually like you,” Nasih lied. “I have killed men for lesser mistakes. The initial detention by the police officer was just as he said, I’m sure… a routine inspection. It is for this reason that I have told you never to mix two missions.”
“I know. I should have followed your advice.”
Nasih was silent again for a long time. Gabriel patiently watched the minute hand slide past two numbers. He knew better than to speak.
“You seem to attract bad luck. First, the old woman finding your house, now this. I am sympathetic only because I too have faced bad luck recently. The details are inconsequential, but it affects both of us. If we do not act soon, we may be discovered. I have made moves to erase the evidence leading to us… but more action is needed.”