The Hunters (Presidential Agent 3)

“But he knows (a) he’s here because the President set it up and (b) that if anything leaks to the FBI and we hear about it, we’ll know he’s the leaker because he’s the only FBI guy who’s being clued in.”

“Except Yung, of course,” Castillo said. “What did you think of Edgar Delchamps?”

“I think he likes you,” Miller said. “I think the reason he was really pissed—and really pissed he was—was because he thought his friend Castillo had stabbed him in the back.”

“You think he still thinks that?”

“I think he’s giving you a second chance,” Miller said.

Castillo nodded. “I really like him. And a dinosaur like him is just what we need.”

“I wonder how he and the inspector are going to get along?”

“Jesus, I didn’t even think about that,” Castillo said. “And there’s one more guy coming. A heavy hitter from NSA. He won’t work for us, but he will get us whatever we want from NSA.”

“When’s he coming?”

“He should be here now,” Castillo said. “Let’s go look at what Agnes has set up.”

The conference room wasn’t nearly as large as a basketball court, as Agnes had described it, but it was enormous. There was an oval table with more than a dozen spaces around it, each furnished with a desk pad, a telephone, a small monitor, and a leather-upholstered armchair. And there was room for more. One narrow end of the room had a roll-down projection screen and flat-screen television monitors were mounted in a grid on the walls. Two wheel-mounted “blackboards”—the writing surfaces were actually blue and they came with yellow felt-tip markers instead of chalk—were against one wall, and there was room for a half dozen more.

“This place looks as if we’re going to try to land someone on the moon,” Miller quipped.

Castillo and Agnes chuckled.

Delchamps and Doherty didn’t even smile.

“Colonel,” Doherty asked, “are you open for suggestions on how to do this?”

“Your call, Inspector.”

“Okay, first the basics. If this room hasn’t been swept sweep it, and sweep it daily.”

“NSA is supposed to send a man here to get us what we need from NSA,” Castillo replied. “I presume that means technicians. That sound okay?”

Doherty nodded, then went on, “And seal this room. Never leave it empty, and make sure nobody gets in here who shouldn’t be. If it gets so we can’t walk through the clutter on the floor, we’ll shut down for an hour or so, turn the blackboards around, and have it cleaned.”

“Not a problem, Inspector,” Agnes Forbison said.

“And speaking of blackboards,” Doherty said, “two’s not half enough. Get another four—better, six—in here.”

“When do you want them?” Agnes said.

“Now.”

“The first will be here in five minutes,” Agnes said. “It’ll probably take a couple of hours to get another five.”

“The sooner, the better,” Doherty said.

“What’s with all the blackboards?” Castillo asked.

“Inspector Doherty shares with me,” Delchamps said, “the philosophy that if you’re going to use a computer, use the best one.”

“What about computers, Agnes?” Castillo asked.

“I can set up pretty quickly whatever you and the inspector tell me you need.”

“We are referring, Colonel,” Delchamps said, “to the computers between our ears.”