Choppy Water
- Автор: Вудс Стюарт
- Серия: Stone Barrington #54
- Год: 2020
- Язык: английский
- Год: G. P. Putnam’s Sons
- ISBN: 978-0-593-18829-3
- Жанр: Триллеры
Электронная книга - «Choppy Water». Краткое содержание книги:
“Sam, it’s Bill Wright.”
“Evening, Bill, what can I do for you?”
“I’m with Tom Blake and Stone Barrington. Stone has a question or two for you, and we’re all on the call.”
“Hello, Sam.”
“Hi, Stone. What do you need to know?”
“Tom has reason to suspect that there might be a leak from someone on the transition staff.”
“A leak to whom?”
“To a person unfriendly to Holly.”
“What’s the nature of the leak?”
“Holly’s daily schedule.”
“I manage that, and I know most of our schedulers pretty well.”
“Think about it: Is there someone among the schedulers that you might trust a bit less than the others?”
“Let me tell you how this works,” Sam said. “We get a call — sometimes from a fund-raiser or other friend of the campaign — someone who wants Holly to speak or hand out diplomas at a graduation, or just to shake some hands. The call is directed to the scheduling team, and the person taking the call fills out a form taking down all the details: date, time, location, purpose of the gathering, numbers expected, like that.”
“Go on.”
“If that staffer thinks the caller isn’t who he says he is, or that the event isn’t worthy of Holly’s time, she puts the form into an out tray and it comes to me. I decide if I think the scheduler is wrong, that it is an important event, and order it to be put on the schedule. If I agree that it’s weak, a form letter goes out, over my signature, politely declining the invitation.”
“What happens if the scheduler thinks it’s a worthy event?”
“Then it goes to a scheduling supervisor, and if she thinks it’s worthy, then it’s discussed at a meeting, where we either schedule it or write a declining letter over Holly’s signature, with a handwritten note at the bottom.”
“So who sees the final schedule?”
“All the heads of the various subcommittees of the transition, at a daily meeting.”
“How far ahead of the event?”
“As little as a day or two or any time before January 20. After that, the White House staff takes over.”
“So how many people have knowledge of the schedule?”
“A dozen or fifteen.”
“Have they all applied for a top secret security clearance?”
“Yes, every one of them.”
“Have any of the clearances been granted yet?”
“No, the Bureau doesn’t do it piecemeal. We’ll eventually get a letter with a list of the cleared personnel. If someone doesn’t make the cut, I’ll get a phone call about why.”
“Anybody turned down yet?”
“No.”
“Sam, back to my original question: Is there anybody in that group that you trust a bit less than the others?”
“Anybody who used to be an extreme right-winger of any standing.”
“What does ‘of any standing’ mean?”
“Someone who worked for somebody important at a level requiring trust.”
“How many of those people are on the clearance list?”
“Well, there’s one who used to be a press aide to a recently appointed Republican senator and one who was a policy aide to a Republican congressman.” He gave their names, and Tom noted them.
“Anybody you have any personal qualms about, Sam?”
A long silence. “No. They’re a good bunch.”
“Sam, it’s Tom Blake. A question...”
“Go ahead, Tom.”
“Is there anyone among them who anybody thinks may have had ties with or even sympathy for a white-supremacy group?”
“No one that I know about, but a person like that wouldn’t be broadcasting those views around here.”
“Thank you, Sam. Anybody else have a question?”
Heads were shaken.
“That’s all, Sam. Thanks for your help.”
They said good night, then hung up.
“I’ll give these names to the right people,” Tom said.
“One other thing, Tom,” Stone said.
“What’s that?”
“I’d like to know if any of the people on that list are Virginians.”
“Why?” Bill asked.
“Because we’re dealing with a white supremacist from Virginia and, now, a senator from Virginia,” Stone said.
“Fair enough,” Bill said.
“Stone,” Tom said, “have you spoken to Lance Cabot about his man on the inside, the cook, at Sykes’s compound?”
“I confess I haven’t, Tom,” Stone replied. “I’ll speak to him tomorrow morning.”
“While you’re at it, ask him to ask his man if he knows of any outside visitors to the compound, people who aren’t members of his group.”
“I’ll do that,” Stone said, and they adjourned.
54
The following morning, Stone got Lance Cabot on the phone, and they both scrambled.
“What can I do for you, Stone?”
“Talk to me about Leroy Collins, aka Elroy Hubbard.”
“Are you a messenger from the FBI?”
“If you mean the assistant director you invited to lunch, then stiffed, yes. The question remains unanswered.”
“Do you think we discuss our officers with just anyone?”
“No, and I didn’t believe you would invite them to lunch, then stiff them, either.”
“That was unfortunate. There was a flap.”
“What was the nature of the flap?”
“You don’t have a need to know that,” Lance replied.
“Tom Blake has a need to know anything that will keep Holly Barker alive. I should think, given your past association with her — and your future service — you’d be happy to help him.”
“Do you want me to tell you everything about Leroy’s work?”
“I’d rather you’d call Tom Blake and tell him.”
“Almost nothing.”
“Say again?”
“Almost nothing; that’s what Leroy Collins knows about Wade Sykes and his merry band of hatemongers.”
“How long has Leroy been on the assignment?”
“Four or five months.”
“And he’s learned nothing? I don’t believe that.”
“Almost nothing. He’s learned the name of the FBI agent assigned to the group.”
“Thank you. Tom Blake already knows that — he sent her there.”
“What would you have expected him to learn, Stone?”
“Oh, let’s see. Has he learned that the junior senator from Virginia, Les Hardy, has visited the compound?”
Lance took a beat before he responded. “I beg your pardon?”
“I spoke clearly, Lance. Does that name surprise you?”
“I’ve heard it before.”
“From Leroy Collins?”
“Not necessarily.”
“Lance, who’s running Leroy?”
Lance let out a deep sigh. “I am.”
Stone doubted that. “Doesn’t Leroy ever call? Don’t you have heart-to-hearts?”
“Only when he has something to report,” Lance said.
“Did you hear that Holly canceled two events yesterday?”
“Yes, something about the president being in the city and taking up all the oxygen, I believe.”
“Did you know that Wade Sykes and one of his minions reconnoitered both sites the day before yesterday? Or that they learned about the visits from Les Hardy, who is running a leaker on Holly’s transition team?”
“Where does your information come from?”
“From Tom Blake’s agent, who wears a wire and picked up a conversation between Hardy and Sykes.”
“If that information became any more widely known, it would threaten the life of my agent.”
“No. Sykes never speaks about anything important when Elroy is around, because Elroy is black, and Sykes doesn’t trust anyone black.”
“That would account for Elroy’s lack of productivity,” Lance said.