Gary Ponzo - A Touch of Revenge

Julie said, “I found this man roaming the parking lot,” then she disappeared and closed the office door.

Matt was the first to greet Walt, first shaking his hand, then being pulled into a bear hug.

“Good to see you, Walt,” Matt said.

“Yeah, well I couldn’t exactly stand still while a couple of my old agents became targets.”

Nick moved around the desk now and Walt was careful to keep his greeting to a two-handed handshake, dropping his bag on the desk.

“How are you?” Walt asked, sincere as always.

“I’m fine,” Nick said, glancing at his shoulder. “A flesh wound is all.”

Walt frowned. “Yeah, right.”

Nick made some introductions, then directed Walt to the only chair which might hold his large frame-the chair behind Nick’s desk.

Walt sat down with a grunt. He had bags under his eyes. “Been traveling all day,” he said, stretching out his legs.

Tommy must’ve sensed a law enforcement meeting coming on as he edged toward the door.

Before he took a second step, Walt said, “Sit down, Tommy. I could use some of your help here.”

Tommy’s chest pumped out at the comment. He grabbed a folding chair to sit on, then resumed his toothpick routine.

“I hope you didn’t come all the way here just for me?’ Nick asked.

The sun momentarily hid behind a cloud while Walt looked down at his shoes. “You know about Dave, right?”

Nick nodded.

Walt said, “I don’t like the timing.” He reached over and grabbed his bag. He came out with an eight-by-ten glossy of Dave’s body. He handed it to Matt and watched his ex-partner grit his teeth.

When Nick got the photo, he wanted to hand it to Steele before he even looked it over. Dave appeared to be in an alley lying face down looking away from the camera. His neck was twisted at an odd angle as if he’d fallen on a rock. Steele took the picture and spent more time than Nick did before handing it to Tommy.

“Professional,” Tommy said.

“That’s right,” Walt said. “Two bullets to the back of the head.”

“He owe anyone any money?” Tommy asked.

Walt raised his eyebrows. “Yeah, actually he did. He was down heavy to a bookie in D.C. It made us wonder if that direction was a possibility.”

“How much?” Tommy asked.

“Five grand.”

“Uh uh,” Tommy said. “Not enough to get slammed like this.”

“Tell me,” Walt said.

Tommy leaned over to put the photo on the desk, then said, “There’s a ten grand rule in D.C. Everyone abides by it. Someone runs their debt up to nine grand and they stop playing or leave town. No one’s dumb enough to go over the limit.”

“Maybe he was dealing with someone who didn’t know the rules?”

Tommy waved his toothpick at Walt. “Nah. The street wouldn’t allow it. Too many steps to booking inside the beltway. The SEC practically regulates the damn thing.”

Walt smiled. “Thanks, Tommy.” He turned to Nick and made it a point to look at his shoulder as he spoke. “So like I was saying, I don’t like the timing.”

Nick stared out the window and thought about Dave Tanner’s wife and kids. For a brief moment he remembered that he himself had a child on the way, but he quickly brushed away the thought like a housefly.

“Any idea who did it?” Nick asked.

Walt leaned his head back. “That bothers me. We’ve practically had that scene scrubbed with a microscope and came up with nothing. No prints which matched anyone in the computer, no witnesses. Nothing.”

“Barzani paid a professional, no doubt,” Nick said.

“He’s the ultimate delegator,” Matt chimed in. “What about the rest of the team?”

Walt cocked his head, “Those three? You see them hiding in a safe house while the rest of the office goes after Dave’s killer?”

Matt shook his head.

“Exactly,” Walt said. Then he squirmed a bit trying to get comfortable. “I need to tell you, there’s credible evidence the KSF is attempting to detonate a bomb at LAX.”

“How credible?” Nick asked.

Walt seemed to understand the question. He shrugged. “It’s not strong, but it’s LAX and we can’t afford to be wrong about it.”

“So there go our resources,” Matt said.

There was a twinkle in Walt’s eye as he watched his two star pupils putting the puzzle together.

“That’s right,” Walt said. “That’s where I’m headed right now. I won’t be able to offer you much support. They’re not threatening anything around here.”

“Except us,” Nick said.

“What about the Army, the National Guard, Hostage Rescue?” Steele asked.

Walt sighed and went for the obvious retort. “The military is a bulky sword,” he said. “What this requires is a scalpel. A small tactical team of professionals.”

Walt looked around the room, his eyes landing on Steele. “That’s where you come in. They’re going to need your help here.”

The room stayed silent while Nick considered the challenge of going after Barzani with the inhabitants of that small room.

Walt let out a big breath, like he was holding it in for just such an occasion. He edged forward on the chair and counted off on his fingers. “First of all you’ll have full access to our tech squad. You need a license plate run or a satellite image, you got it. Second, I’ve sent for a couple of agents to come up from Phoenix. They can set up a safe house for Julie until we can resolve this mess. Third, I’ll have a specialist sent up with those guys. Someone with gear to help track Barzani. And finally …” Walt looked at Nick and Matt. “Do what you two do best. Use your instincts.”

Nick and Matt nodded.

“So,” Walt said, repositioning his stiff legs. “What do we do?”

“Start with what we know,” Matt almost chanted. It was the same question Walt would ask during every briefing and induced the same response each time.

“And what do we know?” Walt asked.

“Barzani has been here for six months,” Steele said.

Walt smiled. “That’s right, Jennifer. What does that mean?”

“It means he’s had time to plan,” Steele answered.

“Good,” Walt said. “What else.” He was playing the mediator. Like a good football coach trying to press the right buttons to squeeze the most out of his players.

The room was quiet for a minute while Walt drummed his thick fingers on the desk.

Finally, Nick said, almost absently, “They’re using cash.”

This brought a great big grin to Walt’s weathered face. “Go on.”

Nick looked over at his deputy who was sitting in the back of the room, paying attention, but not seeming comfortable with a roomful of federal agents. “Luke, you’ve been here the longest. Go to all the local realtors. Find out who paid cash to rent a place up here five and six months ago. Only the ones who paid by cash. There won’t be many. It’s not like Barzani opened a checking account. After that, check the car lots. Find out about any big cash purchases within the same time frame.”

Luke left the office with a smile, seeming grateful to be part of the chase.

Nick thought about Luke’s skill with terrorists and gestured to Steele. “Jen, go with him. I don’t like him out there without someone with experience. He has a tendency to react too quickly.”

Steele nodded and left the room.

They sat silent for a moment. Walt pointed to Tommy. “You have any connections in Mexico?”

“Sure,” Tommy said. “What are you looking for?”

“We’ve discovered a large tunnel under the California border. It went directly into a dirty warehouse a couple of hundred yards into the country. It’s different than most tunnels we find, very sophisticated. Halogen lights, oxygen, the whole works. I need to know if there was any Kurdish involvement with this project or simply a high end drug tunnel.”