I guess the FBI doesn’t worry about getting towed, Theo thought.
Check-in had been taken care of. They rode the elevator to the fifth floor and walked briskly to Room 520. An agent said, “Your room is next door, Theo, and Mr. Boone’s is next to yours with a connecting door.” He looked at Slade and Ackerman and said, “You guys are across the hall.”
The door opened and they walked into a large suite filled with more agents, and not a single one was wearing a dark suit. An older guy with gray hair stepped forward with a big smile and said, “Hello, guys, I’m Daniel Frye and I’m the leader of this team. Welcome to DC.” It took some time to shake everyone’s hand and listen to everyone’s name. There were six of them, plus Frye, and all were dressed differently. One wore a maroon jogging suit with “Mississippi State” across the jersey. One wore jeans and hiking boots and looked as though he’d just come out of the woods. A female agent was dressed like a sailor in navy whites. The other female agent could have passed for a homeless person. A skinny white boy looked about the same age as Theo and was dressed like a student, complete with a backpack and an earring. And the sixth one had hair as long as Ike’s and looked about as rough. Frye looked like he’d just played a round of golf.
They were all very friendly and seemed amused to be working with a thirteen-year-old kid. Theo was overwhelmed and struggled to keep from grinning like a goofy idiot. The agents were sitting casually around the room. A sofa was covered with jerseys and caps. Daniel Frye said, “Okay, Theo, first things first. What’s your favorite sports team?”
“Uh, the Minnesota Twins.”
Frye frowned, as did a few of the others. “That’s kind of odd. You’re not from Minnesota. Why the Twins?”
“Because nobody else in Strattenburg pulls for the Twins.”
“Fair enough. Problem is, we don’t have any Twins stuff.” Frye sort of waved his hand over their collection on the sofa.
“Got any Yankee stuff?” Ike asked.
Theo shot back, “I don’t do Yankees,” and got a few laughs.
“Okay,” Frye said. “What about the Redskins?”
“I’d rather not,” Theo said. More laughs.
“Nationals?”
“Sure, I like the Nationals.”
“Great. Now we’re getting somewhere. We’ll put you in that red Nationals jersey with a matching cap.”
“No cap,” Theo said.
“Well, excuse me. But we think you should wear a cap of some sort, part of a disguise.”
“Okay, sure, but not a Nationals cap. I have one of my own.”
“Okay, okay. We’ll look at it in a minute. Now, if we can proceed, here’s the plan.” One wall was covered with a huge map of central DC and above it was a row of enlarged photos, all of Mr. Duffy. Frye stepped to the wall and pointed to a spot labeled MARRIOTT. “We’re here. The Metro Center Station is just around the corner. That’s where you got on last Thursday, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And Duffy was already on the train, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“By the way we’ll use a code name for him. It’s Cowboy.”
“I don’t like the Cowboys, either,” Theo said. More laughs.
“Well, who do you like? What’s your favorite football team.”
“Green Bay Packers.”
“Okay, we’ll use Packer. Does that suit everybody?” Frye looked at his team. Everyone shrugged. Who really cared what they called him? Frye continued, “Good. We’re making a lot of progress here. At four o’clock you and Mr. Boone will ride the subway up to Union Station and catch the four thirty-eight coming back this way. Theo will be in the third car, Mr. Boone in the fourth. We will have people in all the cars, and there will always be an agent within ten feet of you, Theo. At four thirty you and Mr. Boone will be hanging around the Judiciary Square Station, waiting on the train and watching the crowd.” Frye was pointing to the map as he spoke. “You’ll get back on the train at that point and ride here to the Metro Center. If you see nothing, you’ll ride to the Farragut North Station, switch cars, and ride all the way to the Tenleytown Station. At that point you’ll get off and hang around there for half an hour. That’s where Packer made his exit last week. We thoroughly covered this route on Tuesday and Wednesday, saw nothing of course, and, frankly, right now we’re just praying for a miracle.”
“How do we communicate?” Ike asked.
“Oh, we have lots of toys, Mr. Boone.”
“Can I go by Ike?”
“Sure. Makes it easier.” Frye stepped to a small table that was covered with gadgets. He picked one up. “Looks like your typical smart phone, right?” he said. “But it’s really a two-way radio. Plug in the earphones, and you and Theo will look exactly like a couple of guys listening to music while you send e-mails or play games.” He moved it a little closer to his face. “And if you need to speak, just get it to within eighteen inches of your mouth, press the green button, and speak softly. It will pick up almost anything. We’ll all be on the same frequency and listening in. Any one of us can talk to the others at any time.”
He looked at Slade and Ackerman and said, “I assume you guys want to join the fun.”
Both nodded yes.
“Okay, we’ll give you a couple of briefcases and you’ll pretend to be lawyers. There are only about half a million in this city, so you should blend in okay. I’ll be at the Metro Center Station. Salter here will be at Woodley Park and Keenum will be at Tenleytown. Questions?”
Theo asked, “And what if we spot Packer?”
“I was getting to that. First, don’t stare. Is there any chance he might recognize you?”
Theo looked at Ike and shrugged. “I really doubt it. We’ve never met, never been too close to each other. I saw him when he was sitting in court, but I’m sure he didn’t see me. The courtroom was crowded. And I saw him a couple of times out of the courthouse during the trial, but he would not remember me. I mean, I’m just a kid. What do you think, Ike?”
“I doubt it, too, but let’s not take any chances.”
Frye asked, “Did he look at you last week when you saw him on the train?”
“I don’t think so. We didn’t make eye contact.”
“Okay, if you spot him, don’t stare, and as soon as you can without being noticed, press the green button and tell us. Depending on how close he is to you, we’ll ask the questions. When it looks like he’s about to get off the train, let us know. When he does, follow him but don’t get close. By then we’ll have people ready to stop him.”
The thought of being close by when the FBI nabbed Pete Duffy made Theo’s stomach turn a flip. It would be terribly exciting, and he would be considered a hero, but he really didn’t want the attention.
Frye convinced Theo to wear a pair of black-frame glasses as part of his disguise. They spent another ten minutes haggling over the right cap. No one seemed to like the one he brought — a faded, green John Deere number with an adjustable strap. City kids probably wouldn’t wear a cap advertising farm machinery, and Theo finally gave in. He agreed on a gray one with a Georgetown Hoyas logo. They decided not to use his backpack, but instead gave him one that was much lighter, just in case he had to move fast once on the streets. He and Ike ran through the workings of their new radios and earphones, and when everything seemed ready, they left and headed for the Metro Center Station.
They boarded and Theo found a seat in the center of the fourth car. Ike, wearing a sports coat, different glasses, khakis and loafers, sat across from him. The guy with the maroon jogging suit was a few feet away, standing. When the train began to move, Theo plugged in his earphones and scanned the crowd. He pretended to be texting when he heard Frye’s voice. “How you doing, Theo?”