catch wind of what we’re doing?”
“ Probably. He’ll at least be briefed on the Kramer case. ”
“Why’s that?”
“ We have Legats all over the world. ”
“Legats?”
“ Legal attaché offices. The FBI has them in every major embassy, including Budapest. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t have official word on Kramer’s murder by now. ”
He looked at Harv. “If Lansing finds out we’re involved, I doubt he’ll be real happy about it.”
“ He definitely won’t. ”
“Will you be okay? We can handle things from here on.”
“ I’ll be okay. You’ve got Grangeland on your ops team when you need her. ”
Special Agent Mary Grangeland was a pro’s pro, and she’d helped them in the Bridgestone case. She’d also nearly paid the ultimate price.
“Are you sure about this?”
“ Yes, absolutely.”
“All right, then. Thanks. And thank Grangeland for us too.”
“ Will do. When will you be arriving in Bullfrog? ”
“Around nineteen-hundred.”
A call-waiting tone interrupted them. “Holly,” Harv said. “We’ve got another call coming in. We’d better take it. It could be General Hawthorne.”
“ No problem. Have a safe flight. ”
“Will do, thanks again.”
Harv brought the call in.
It was Thorny. “ You boys on your way? ”
“Yes. You?”
“ We’re still a few minutes away from our takeoff roll. ”
“We just heard from Holly,” Nathan said and brought Thorny up to speed.
“ I made the call to the secretary of the navy. I’m waiting for a return call. ”
“Thanks, General. Let’s see where that leads us.”
“ Make sure Holly coordinates her efforts with Major Halliday. We don’t want to duplicate work. ”
“Sounds good. Harv and I will look around at Bullfrog and report back to you by tomorrow evening at the latest. Hopefully, you’ll have something by then.”
“ If I hear anything sooner, I’ll call you right away. ”
“Have a safe flight, General.”
“ You too. ”
Harv ended the call.
“This Hungarian clean coal business is still our only real lead so far,” Nathan said. “I’m trying like hell to see how it makes sense. I guess the stakes are high enough, at least in financial terms. Once we know what Kramer’s role was, things may start to add up.” He looked down at the sleepy community of Julian a few miles to the south. “It just doesn’t seem like Montez’s cup of tea, getting involved with Hungarian business interests. Wrong hemisphere, for one thing. And the coal industry?”
“Like you said, the money’s big.”
The images of Nichole Dalton and her daughters returned. He shook his head. “Montez told me many times he’d interrogated children. I hate thinking about it. He’ll use them like pawns to his advantage. If their mother knows anything, she’ll talk.”
“We’re gonna nail him to a wall. Don’t lose sight of that. Also, it’s still possible that Nichole Dalton’s kidnapping isn’t connected to Kramer.”
He didn’t respond.
“Yeah, I think Montez did it too,” Harv said.
“He’s many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. Dumping a body in Lake Powell seems like a pooch screw. It’s out of character. Why risk it? There’s thousands of square miles of empty real estate in every direction out there.”
“I think it’s fair to assume he didn’t think he would be seen. It was the dead of night. The lake’s in total darkness. It was just dumb luck there happened to be campers in the area. More than that. They happened to be awake at the time, heard the boat, had a clear line of sight, and had night vision equipment. You have to admit, the odds are pretty low anyone would see it happen. The campers could’ve been on the opposite shore and not seen what happened. There’s a million what-ifs.”
“I suppose you’re right, but it sure seems like more risk than he needed to take. I mean, if you want to be certain you aren’t seen losing a body, there are surefire ways to do
“ Probably. He’ll at least be briefed on the Kramer case. ”
“Why’s that?”
“ We have Legats all over the world. ”
“Legats?”
“ Legal attaché offices. The FBI has them in every major embassy, including Budapest. I can’t imagine he wouldn’t have official word on Kramer’s murder by now. ”
He looked at Harv. “If Lansing finds out we’re involved, I doubt he’ll be real happy about it.”
“ He definitely won’t. ”
“Will you be okay? We can handle things from here on.”
“ I’ll be okay. You’ve got Grangeland on your ops team when you need her. ”
Special Agent Mary Grangeland was a pro’s pro, and she’d helped them in the Bridgestone case. She’d also nearly paid the ultimate price.
“Are you sure about this?”
“ Yes, absolutely.”
“All right, then. Thanks. And thank Grangeland for us too.”
“ Will do. When will you be arriving in Bullfrog? ”
“Around nineteen-hundred.”
A call-waiting tone interrupted them. “Holly,” Harv said. “We’ve got another call coming in. We’d better take it. It could be General Hawthorne.”
“ No problem. Have a safe flight. ”
“Will do, thanks again.”
Harv brought the call in.
It was Thorny. “ You boys on your way? ”
“Yes. You?”
“ We’re still a few minutes away from our takeoff roll. ”
“We just heard from Holly,” Nathan said and brought Thorny up to speed.
“ I made the call to the secretary of the navy. I’m waiting for a return call. ”
“Thanks, General. Let’s see where that leads us.”
“ Make sure Holly coordinates her efforts with Major Halliday. We don’t want to duplicate work. ”
“Sounds good. Harv and I will look around at Bullfrog and report back to you by tomorrow evening at the latest. Hopefully, you’ll have something by then.”
“ If I hear anything sooner, I’ll call you right away. ”
“Have a safe flight, General.”
“ You too. ”
Harv ended the call.
“This Hungarian clean coal business is still our only real lead so far,” Nathan said. “I’m trying like hell to see how it makes sense. I guess the stakes are high enough, at least in financial terms. Once we know what Kramer’s role was, things may start to add up.” He looked down at the sleepy community of Julian a few miles to the south. “It just doesn’t seem like Montez’s cup of tea, getting involved with Hungarian business interests. Wrong hemisphere, for one thing. And the coal industry?”
“Like you said, the money’s big.”
The images of Nichole Dalton and her daughters returned. He shook his head. “Montez told me many times he’d interrogated children. I hate thinking about it. He’ll use them like pawns to his advantage. If their mother knows anything, she’ll talk.”
“We’re gonna nail him to a wall. Don’t lose sight of that. Also, it’s still possible that Nichole Dalton’s kidnapping isn’t connected to Kramer.”
He didn’t respond.
“Yeah, I think Montez did it too,” Harv said.
“He’s many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. Dumping a body in Lake Powell seems like a pooch screw. It’s out of character. Why risk it? There’s thousands of square miles of empty real estate in every direction out there.”
“I think it’s fair to assume he didn’t think he would be seen. It was the dead of night. The lake’s in total darkness. It was just dumb luck there happened to be campers in the area. More than that. They happened to be awake at the time, heard the boat, had a clear line of sight, and had night vision equipment. You have to admit, the odds are pretty low anyone would see it happen. The campers could’ve been on the opposite shore and not seen what happened. There’s a million what-ifs.”
“I suppose you’re right, but it sure seems like more risk than he needed to take. I mean, if you want to be certain you aren’t seen losing a body, there are surefire ways to do
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