This caught Grant off guard. He and Lloyd both turned around and looked first at Shauna, who also looked surprised, then agent Williams, who wouldn't meet their eyes.
"The FBI's worried about Shauna?" Grant asked.
She hesitated. "It's not Shauna per se." Agent Williams glanced nervously between them. "It's the Bureau itself. Both of the attempts at the dams were executed with credentials. Both attempts required detailed information about procedures and the dams themselves. We suspect that our bad guy might be — "
" — an insider," Grant finished.
Grant turned back around facing forward, nodding for Lloyd to take off. The rotors accelerated immediately and a few moments later they were back in the air.
The agent spoke again, almost pleading. "Look. We don't suspect either of you, but we wanted information to be minimized through your organization."
Grant had to admit when he first heard about the credentials, he wondered if it could have been an inside job. He'd dismissed the idea mostly due to motive, but it was certainly possible for someone in the Bureau to become disillusioned with the organization. When it came right down to it, he felt disillusioned with the Bureau, especially his bosses. Of course, he never considered blowing up any dams. His bosses maybe, but not dams.
"All right, Agent Williams, we accept the FBI's notion of an insider as a potential suspect. But don't you think it would've been better to bring us in earlier? We could have discussed how Shauna and I would handle ourselves when communicating back to Denver."
"Absolutely. But things have been happening so fast. We just haven't had enough time to sit down and talk it through."
Grant tried to remember the last time he had a few minutes to relax. He wondered about the next twenty-four hours — would they be any different? He didn't think so. They still had Palo Verde and Imperial Dams to worry about, not to mention Hoover-Two. Then there was the dam in Mexico. Although the Bureau of Reclamation had no responsibility or jurisdiction below the border, Grant had a nagging feeling he might end up getting involved, even if only as a consultant.
Without looking back at the agent, Grant talked into the headphones. "Okay, so let's say we suspect somebody in the Bureau. How do we go about figuring out who it is?"
"We're generating a list of any employees that were absent over the last three days, vacation, sick, or even traveling. Our contact in the Bureau is pretty confident about generating the data quickly. She said the Bureau is pretty anal about attendance and time keeping."
That made sense. Grant had personally been written up for time card violations a few times. And he had only been a day behind on the information. He tried to think whether he personally knew anyone who had been out for the last few days. No one came to mind. Wait, Howard, his boss, was in Yellowstone. Oh, that would be too good to be true. He snickered silently, imagining his boss being escorted between two FBI agents with his head bowed and his wrists cuffed. But Grant knew it could not be Howard. He wasn't smart enough. His expertise centered more around politics and less on planning and execution, and he didn't like to get his hands dirty.
"So once you get the list?" Grant asked.
"We'll run it past some of the other data we're already looking at — cellular phone usage near the dams, credit card usage, hotel records, and even the list we put together about boating accidents."
Grant considered that for a moment. "When they crashed into the World Trade Centers, I seem to remember you guys figuring out all the names of the terrorists within a few hours."
"That was different. We received flight numbers from all four planes within minutes. It was only a matter of calling the airlines and getting passenger lists."
Grant tried to phrase his next question correctly. "So in cases like this, where the bad guys don't leave any obvious clues, how long does it usually take, you know, to sift through all the data and everything?"
Agent Williams seemed to resent the question. "That's kind of hard to answer. Every case is different."
"Best case?" said Grant. "What's the fastest it's ever happened?"
"Well, when the Oklahoma Federal Building was blown up, we got him within a couple of hours."
"That's different. That wasn't the result of sifting through data and suspects; you got lucky when he drove through a stop sign and the cops nabbed him."
"Yeah, but we would have caught him eventually. We found the truck rental agreement and we figured out where he bought the ammonium nitrate."
"Sure, days later. That's my point. Without a lucky break, it'd be unreasonable to expect all these lists to be whittled down until after it's all over. The most likely scenario is to arrest the perpetrators next week, after the damage is already done. Even September 11th was like that, way too late."
Agent William's voice sounded defensive. "Don't underestimate lucky breaks. All criminals make mistakes. We'll get one here, too. You'll see."
"Will it be in time though? That's what worries me. Will it be in time?"
"In time for what?" Agent Williams asked.
Grant turned around to face her again. "In time to prevent whatever other pandemonium they have planned."
Lloyd interrupted them. "Is that your dam up ahead?"
Grant looked ahead. He had never actually seen the Palo Verde Dam before, only pictures. It seemed smaller than he expected. Even from the distance Grant could see two bulldozers at work on the dike. It meant the Headgate Rock fiasco would not be repeated.
"Good job," he said.
David watched as a large red helicopter lowered a cable with an orange padded loop. The helicopter was at least a hundred feet above them.
The white helicopter that found them hovered just off the cliff as before, relaying instructions. "Be careful. Don't let the harness pull you off the ledge."
Afram grabbed the harness. The noise was loud with both helicopters so close, and turbulence buffeted the rock ledge. David sat down to ensure he didn't fall.
"YOU FIRST." Afram motioned to Judy with the harness.
Judy put the harness over her head and looped her arms over the padded material. She gave a quick thumbs-up sign to the white helicopter. Immediately she was lifted. Seeing her dangling out over the canyon made David sick and he had to shut his eyes for a few seconds. When he opened them Judy was almost up to the helicopter.
Before long, the empty harness was sent back down to them. Afram pushed the harness toward David, but he wasn't ready.
"NO. YOU GO."
Afram looked unsure, then pulled it on and allowed himself to be lifted. Again David winced when Afram's body lifted out over the edge of the cliff. He was not looking forward to this.
When the harness was lowered back down, David held it in his hands and looked at it. Suddenly the fear of heights was back and he was afraid to stand and try to put it on. What if he fell while putting it over his head?
"Go ahead, son," the metallic voice coaxed. "You'll be fine."
Still sitting, David pulled the harness over his head and looped his arms over the pad. He intended to take a minute to catch his breath before motioning he was ready, but they didn't wait for him. As the harness lifted David, his body went rigid and he screamed. He tried to hook his feet on the jagged rocks, but he was pulled up and out. Once in the air, the tension in the cable made him feel more secure and the panic subsided. But he didn't dare look. He kept his eyes firmly shut. The chopper's buffeting air grew stronger as he was hoisted. Before he knew it, he was in the chopper and a man was removing the harness. When he was free, he collapsed in a seat next to Judy and Afram.
The skinny man took a long swig from his Big Gulp. Too much driving. From San Onofre beach, he had driven another hour south into San Diego, then east, parallel to Mexico on I-8 for an hour and a half, and according to the last sign, El Centro should be the next exit, the heart of California's Imperial Valley. That would be just in time. He needed to get out and walk around. He needed to find a restroom. And he was hungry.