Chapter 26 Chapter Twenty Six
Bates was still in the major operations room, and walked in alone.Bates looked up, trying not to show disgust on his face.Buck Winters sat down across from him.
"I just saw London go out of this building."
"According to the regulations, he has to come back to report after a while."
"Hmph, I really believe it." Winters put his palms flat on the table and carefully observed the expression on Bates' face.
"Why on earth do you care so much about that person?"
"He's a good agent. As you said, I'm sort of his teacher."
"Honestly, I wouldn't say that kind of thing."
"For the bureau he almost died several times, much more than you and me."
"He's a brash guy, like the guys on the rescue team. They're not with us. They're going their own way, making faces at us guys as if they're better than us. They're just a bunch of rough guys, waving Big gun, itching to pull the trigger."
"We're on the same team, Buck. They're a special unit of the team that handles things the others can't handle. Yes, they're pretty arrogant, as anyone else would be. We're all the United States after all. Bureau agents, working for the same purpose."
Winters shook his head.
"Do you really believe these words?"
"Yes, I really do, otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"I've been reading your investigative memos. Not much, to be honest."
"The investigation itself hasn't progressed much."
"Coff. How is he? You write very vaguely about him."
"Not much to report."
"I'm sure you know the bureau's approach: Any undercover agent who doesn't show up for such a long time can only assume that he is either dead or instigated. In this case, we should issue a detailed report."
"Cove was not instigated."
"That means you talked to him. Strange, I don't remember it being in your report."
"I'm still crossing the river by feeling the stones, and I haven't received any information from Cove."
"What's the opinion of our famous undercover agent about this mess?"
"He said he fell into a trap."
"Ouch, that's surprising," Winters said sarcastically.
"He said he didn't want to go back to the Bureau, because he thought the agent was somewhere inside the Bureau." Bates stared at Winters as he said this, although he didn't understand why.Winters is unlikely to reveal the secret, "Is it? He knows about the leaks and the failure of the mission. He thinks the same reason for the rescue team's accident."
"Quite an interesting theory. But I guess he has no proof."
Bates found the remark strange.
"He didn't tell me, if anything," he replied. "I've got everything under my control, Buck. I know you're a busy man, and you don't want to disturb your famous insights with such little things. I promise you Letting you know immediately so you can play tricks with the media. You're really good at that."
It was impossible for Winters not to hear the thorn in the words, but decided to ignore them.
"If I remember correctly, you were very close to Cove for a while. California, wasn't it?"
"We were working together at the time."
"At the time when his home was attacked?"
"right."
"It's a great misfortune for the Bureau."
"I think it's a great misfortune for the Cove family."
"What I don't understand is, how did this incident happen? As far as I know, Cove found the finance department of a drug gang in that house."
"Then the rescue team was ordered to attack," Bates said. "There were some people who might testify in court. The rescue team's specialty is getting people out alive."
"Ouch, they really screwed up this time, they couldn't even bring themselves out alive."
"They fell for the trap."
"I agree with your point of view, but how did you fall into the trap? If it's not Cove, how did you fall into the trap?"
Bates recalled meeting Randall Cove at the cemetery.Cove firmly believed that someone inside the Bureau had leaked information, and that was the reason for all the recent blunders.Bates stared at Winters for a moment before saying, "To get this sort of thing done, I can only assume someone has access to inside information from the highest levels of the Bureau."
Winters leaned back.
"Top level, from within the Bureau of Investigation, is this what you said?"
"The inside is the inside."
"That's a very momentous judgment, Bates."
"I'm not judging anything, just pointing out a possibility."
"It's much easier to instigate an undercover agent."
"You don't know Randall Cove."
"Perhaps you know him so well that you can't see the forest for the trees."
Winters stood up.
"No sudden action, Bates. No real action unless I know it in advance, is that clear?"
As Winters left, Bates murmured, "As clear as it was in Waco, Buck."
Webb was in the car when Ann Lyle called.
"I'm sorry it took so long, but I wanted to get you something real."
"It's all right. I just heard something about Cove from the Bureau. Naturally, it's like pulling a tooth."
"Something? Well, I'll get you one."
"Who? Cove?"
"As good as I was, I didn't make it to that point. I tried my best to find a police officer in the Washington area. Cove had been in touch with that officer when he worked in the Washington Field Office area a few years ago."
"Local cop acting as undercover FBI liaison? What's going on?"
"It's not unusual, Web. Undercover agents often use a police officer they trust as an intermediary. Cove got one on his first assignment here. The man agreed to talk to you."
He pulled over to the side of the road and grabbed a piece of paper to write down his name.Sonny Vennapoll, still a police officer with the Washington, D.C. 1st Precinct.Ann also gave him the man's phone number.
"Ann, does anyone else know the line of Wennabo?"
“Sonny didn’t say anything, and I think he’d bring it up. He was Cove’s informal liaison since Cove’s first rotation in DC, a long time ago. Others probably wouldn’t call them The two are connected, although Sonny Wennapo is a very interesting person."
"Sounds like you know him."
"Web, honey, if you've been around as long as I've been, you know pretty much everybody. I've had a lot of dealings with the D.C. police."
"Wennabo is willing to talk to me, why?"
"He only said that he had heard of you, and I tried my best to persuade him, although my words were not that important."
"But we don't know what he thinks about me yet."
"I think it's up to you to find out by yourself." Ann hung up the phone.
Webb called that number, and Wennabo was not at home, so Webb left his name and cell phone number.Twenty minutes later, Wen Nabo called him back, and the two agreed to meet in the afternoon.Webb also asked him about one other thing, and Wennabo replied that he would find a way.If the man could give Webb a lead on Cove, he'd have a chance to keep going.Webb had one more thing on his mind, related to Bates—he never told Webb that Cove had worked in the Washington Field Office before he went to California.Not a big deal, he thought, hadn't he given Web a peek at the man's file, Web could have found it himself.It's just that he didn't have that long to read that person's experience from beginning to end.
But why didn't he tell Webb?
Wennapo asked Webb to meet him at a bar near his precinct in the early afternoon.Nothing unusual, Webb knew, the police could quench their thirst by doing this, and they might be able to hear something, which could be used to solve the case later.The police are the best at making the most of their time, and they really don't do much good in other ways.
Sonny Vennapo, a white man in his forties, a veteran cop of nearly twenty years, told Webb that while buying beer.They found a quiet corner, put down their beers and sat down.
Wennabo looked at Web over the rim of his beer glass.There are many wrinkles on his face, which looks weather-beaten and experienced.This man has seen a lot of things, mostly bad things - just like himself.Webb judged so.
"I've been thinking about you guys from the rescue team."
"What's there to think about? We're just policemen, but there are more guys in our hands."
Wen Nabo smiled and said: "Hey, don't be too modest. I have a few buddies in the FBI who wanted to join the rescue team, but they came back with their tails between their legs. They said they would rather have a damn baby in person, just rely on their mouths I just bite a stick to stop the pain, and I don’t want to suffer that crime again.”
"Looking at Randall Kove's appearance in the photo, it must be no problem to join the rescue team."
Wennabo leaned his head on his beer glass and pondered for a while.
"You've probably wondered, what does Randy Cove have in common with a rough guy like me?"
"I thought about it."
"We grew up together in a little place in Mississippi that was so small it didn't even have a proper name. We played ball all the time and there was nothing else to do there. Our little place won state football two years in a row The game winner. We were still together when we got to Oklahoma.” Wennapo shook his head, “Randy is the most amazing offensive guard I have ever seen. Less advantage. I was an offensive guard at the time, three years as a starter, like him. Tackling the ball for him every game, and this body was throwing around the field like a goddamn derailed train. But I loved it. Thanks to him, we were national champions the last year we were on the team. Oklahoma didn't even have to pass the ball back then, we just handed the ball to Randy Cove and let him do the work."
"It sounds like your relationship has always been strong."
"That's it. I don't have the talent to play professionally, but Randy does, absolutely. Everybody wants him, and I mean everybody."
Wen Nabo stopped talking and stroked the table with his fingers.Web didn't rush him, and waited for him to speak.
"He broke his knee in the league, and I was there at that time. As soon as the accident happened, we both understood. It was different at that time. I went to the hospital, fiddled with it, and returned to the game next year, intact. As always. His career is over, it's that simple. Football, alas, he only knows football. We sat on the goddamn field and cried for an hour. I didn't cry like that at my mom's funeral. No. I love Randy, he was a good guy back then."
"At that time?"
Wennabo fiddled with the pepper shaker, leaned back, and flipped his hat up.Web saw a lock of curly gray hair poking out from under the brim of his hat.
"I guess you know what happened at his house." Wennabo said.
"I've heard a little bit, what do you know? Tell me all about it?"
"What's there to say? The Bureau screwed up, and Randy paid for it with his wife and kids."
"Did you see him then?"
Wennapo looked as if he was about to throw a beer in Webb's face.
"I was the coffin bearer at the funeral. Have you ever carried a four-year-old's coffin?" Web shook his head. "Okay, let me tell you, once you do that, you'll never forget it."
"Did Cove tell you this? Is it the Bureau's fault?"
"He didn't have to tell me, he didn't have to. I'm a cop and know when things like this usually happen. I'm in Washington because my wife lives here and Randy works for the FBI here. Think you know. Let me be his go-between, and he knows I can be trusted, which is rare in his line of business."
"It's just as rare in other trades."
The two looked at each other knowingly.The glance came at the right time, perhaps strengthening the bond that was just forming between the two.
"Then Randy was transferred to California, where his family was killed."
"I know he took it upon himself to avenge his family."
Wen Nabo gave Webb a cold look, and it could be seen from his expression that he knew a lot, but he was unwilling to say it.
"If it were you, wouldn't you do this?"
"I suppose so. Kov must be a big man, and the Russian is no lightweight."
"Try growing up dark in a poor part of Mississippi." Venerable leaned forward, leaning his elbows on the table, "I've heard of you, some from the papers, some from Ann Lyle .”
He paused, as if weighing Web thoroughly, and it took a moment for Web to realize that he was looking at the half of his own mutilated face.
"I've been a police officer for almost twenty years, and I've only drawn my gun a dozen or so times. I'm in the 1st precinct now. Although it's not as clean and rich as the Northwest District, it's not as bad as the Anacostia section run by the 67th precinct. That's where your team happened. I have a lot of respect for those who dare to go deep into danger, and instead of shrinking in the face of danger, they muster courage to face danger. Damn you like that It's like a living poster for that kind of guy."
"I didn't ask for this look."
"The point is, I respect you, or I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. But even you wouldn't want me to believe that Randy was up to anything. I know the undercover business can be tough sometimes. There's something wrong with someone's brain, and Randy has no reason to be fond of the Bureau, but Randy has absolutely nothing to do with what happened to your team. I hope you understand that."
"I want you to understand this too: you seem to be sincere as hell, and I don't mind having a beer with you someday, but I can't take everything you say."
Wen Nabo nodded in understanding.
"Well, you'd be a real fool if you believed everything I said."
"He could leave the investigation bureau at that time. I checked. The bureau offered him a new life and a full pension. Why didn't you accept it?"
"Spent the next forty years in some cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood in the Midwest, mowing the lawn to pass the time? Randy isn't that type of guy. What else is he going to do but keep his head down at work? It might sound funny, But he's really proud of his work and he feels like he's doing a good thing."
"Me too, that's why I'm here. I'll find out the truth. If Cove is involved, maybe I'll get my revenge the way he did. Even though you're his friend, I can't promise you that I won't lay hands on him." .If he's all right, I'll be his best mate. And, believe me, Sonny, most people would rather have me as a friend than as their enemy."
Wennabo leaned on the back of the chair, as if pondering what he said, and finally made up his mind, bowed forward, while scanning the billiards players rubbing their cue sticks with chalk, smoking and drinking beer, while using extremely low "I don't know where Randy is now. I haven't heard from him since this incident. Actually, I haven't heard from him for a long time."
"So he never told you what he was doing?"
"You see, I was his liaison when he was on his first assignment in Washington. I saw him the last time he was on duty here, but let's just say it wasn't for business. I know He was on a big mission, but he never told me what it was."
"That means you two are not so close now."
"With a guy like Randy, I can't get any closer than I am. Ever since that happened at home, well, I don't think he's going to be close to anyone anymore. Even if I'm a Mississippi The same old buddy who grew up with him and made so many stops for him."
"Any other police officers as his contacts? Did he mention it to you?"
"No. If he wants a contact, it must be me."
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"A little over two months ago."
"How does he look?"
"Tight-mouthed, thinking somewhere else. Not looking good, really."
"He hasn't been home for a while, the bureau has checked."
"I never knew where his house was. Because of what he does, we'd meet up in unrelated places, just talk about the past, really. I figured he just wanted someone to talk to. But If he wants me to pass something on for him, I'll do it."
"How does he contact you when he wants to meet?"
"He never called my house, he called the bureau, and he used a different name every time. Every time we met, he would tell me the new name he used for the next call, and I didn't know it was him until he called. "
"No call lately?" Webb watched him intently.Wennabo seemed to be telling the truth, but no one could be sure about this kind of thing.
"No, there is no news at all. I am starting to worry that something will happen to him. His job is really very likely to happen."
Web leaned back in his chair.
"So, you can't help me find out his whereabouts."
Wennabo drank his beer.
"Let's go for a walk."
The two went out and walked along a mostly deserted street.Work 13 isn't over yet, and Webb reckons most people are probably still in their offices, counting the hours to get out.
"Randy found a place on his first rotation in the Washington field office, and he used it when he wanted to leave me a letter. He told me he sometimes changes there and stuff, sort of a hideout."
"Does the local investigation bureau know?"
"I don't know. Even then I don't think he's all that trustworthy with the big shots in the bureau. I think that's why he asked me to be his liaison."
"He may be very clever in his hand. Have you been there lately?"
Wennabo shook his head.
"Maybe I was worried about finding something there. I don't know why. I don't even know if Randy still uses the place. If I ask you, it might have been demolished."
"Can you give me the address?"
"Do you smoke?"
"No, I don't smoke."
"Now you smoke." Wennabo took out a box of Winstons from his coat pocket and handed it to Webb, who took the cigarette.
"It's better to light one, in case someone looks at it." Wennabo gave him another box of matches.
Web lit his cigarette, tried not to choke, and put the pack of cigarettes in his pocket.
"Thank you for your help, but in case Kefu is really involved..." His voice became softer.
"If Randy is going to do something like this, I don't think it's very likely that he'd want to live on."
Sonny Vennapo was gone.Web returned to his car, tore open the packet of Winston, and pulled out a roll of paper inside.He looked at the address written on it.There are also three small photos folded in the cigarette case.Webb asked Wen Nabo if there were any children reported missing in the city last month. He had light dark skin and was about the same age as Kevin.Apparently this was the material he had found.
Looking at the three photos, Webb saw that all three looked similar to Kevin, with only slight differences.The looks on the children's faces told him that they all longed for a decent life, and now that hope had been dashed.He drove away.
Twenty minutes later, Web looked out of the car window, hopelessly depressed.Wen Nabo casually said a word, who knows that it became a prophecy.
Randall Cove's old hideout has now been dug into a large building site.Judging from the progress of the project, Webb could only conclude that Cove hadn't used the lair for a long time.dead end.Web crumpled up the piece of paper with the address on it and threw it on the ground.He still has one lead left to track down Randall Cove.
He called Romano from the car.
"Want to do some poking around?"
After picking up Romano, they headed south toward Fredericksburg.
Romano looked at the interior of the car.
"What a wreck."
"This is a Grand Marquis, and it's probably the same kind of car that the director drives."
"broken car."
"Try to find you a better car next time." He glanced at Romano, wondering what Angie had told the psychiatrist about him.With Romano as a husband, Angie's conversations with mental health professionals are likely to be indispensable.
"How is the rescue team doing?"
"Same old, old old. No missions, just training. Oh, it's so boring."
"Hold on, Paulie, it won't take long to fire."
"Maybe I should join the French Foreign Legion or something."
"Anyway, no matter how good the situation is, you won't admit it."
"Guys keep talking about you, Webb."
He knew the subject would always be brought up, but when Webb brought it up, Gordon felt a little bit in his heart.
"Oh, what was said?"
"Some say good, some say bad, half to half."
"Hey, I thought my popularity would be stronger than this."
"That's not the case. No one thinks you're a coward, Web. You've been crazy enough over the years to catch up to me."
"but……"
"However, some people think that if you froze once, you may froze again. Whether or not you have an accident this time will not affect the fate of Team C, but it may affect other comrades next time."
Web stared straight ahead.
"I guess I can't argue with that logic. Maybe I should be in the Foreign Legion. Do you have a gun?"
"Are politicians lying?"
Randall Kove lived outside Fredericksburg, Virginia, about fifty miles from Washington, D.C., where Kove worked.Ann Lyle had said that, as a rule of thumb, an undercover agent should work at least twenty-five miles from home, and the Cove's was about twice that distance.The Cove's address was one of the things Webb peeked at from Bates' files.
They just missed rush hour traffic and pulled over forty minutes later on the quiet suburban street where Randall Cove lived.There is a row of identical conjoined houses on the street, many of which have signs for rent hanging outside.Although the weather was sunny and pleasant, there were no mothers and children playing outside, and there were hardly any cars parked on the street.This neighborhood really seems to be abandoned.
A bureau car with a government license plate was parked in front of the house.
"The FBI nanny," Romano said.Web nodded, thinking about how best to handle it.He drove to the bureau car and got off with Romano.
The agent rolled down the car window, glanced at Webb's and Romano's FBI IDs, and then at Webb.
"You are a big celebrity now, so you don't need to show your ID at all," the agent said.Webb didn't know this guy, he was a young guy with a lot of energy and a bright future ahead of him.But with an empty house that everyone knew Randall Cove would never even come near, Webb reckoned he must be tired of life by now.The young man got out of the car and held out his hands to the two people who were coming.
"Chris Miller, Richmond Field Office."
He also showed his ID.The way to show evidence is to take out the certificate from the right breast pocket, without hindering the handshake with the right hand-it is the direct inheritance of the Bureau of Investigation.Even if the Bureau did nothing else, at least it did a rigorous training that gave agents a common denominator of rigor in handling the tiniest of details.Webb knew without looking that Miller had put an extra layer of lining in his coat so that the constant carrying of the gun wouldn't poke a hole in it.He also knew that when he parked behind Miller's car and got out and walked toward him, Miller's eyes were fixed on Webb's eyes through the rearview mirror, because eyes always reveal people's intentions.
The three of them shook hands, and Webb looked at the duplex house with no movement and no lights.
"Do you have a twenty-four-hour shift here?"
"Eight hours, eight hours, and eight hours," Miller said wearily, checking his watch. "I have three hours left on my shift."
Web leaned against the car.
"I guess it's not that exciting."
"I watched a cat fight about two hours ago, and nothing exciting else." After a while, Miller asked, "Well, what can I do for you?"
"We were just driving around here and I wanted to see the place. Do you know anything about this man?"
"Not much. All I know is that he had something to do with the attack on your rescue team. I can't see how anyone would do something like that, I mean, turn on one of their own."
"Yeah, it's unimaginable." Webb looked at the row of duplex houses, and the woods were behind the houses.
"Hope some of you are watching over the back."
Miller grinned.
"There's nobody in the back, but there's something. Police dogs. There's a fence in the back, and if anyone tries to come in that way, they'll be surprised. Cheaper than putting two agents in there, I think."
"I think so." Webb looked at his watch. "It's almost time for dinner. Have you eaten yet?"
Miller shook his head.
"I brought some biscuits or something, and a bottle of water, so I'll make do with it. As I said, it's three hours before a replacement comes. The worst part is there's no toilet."
"You needn't tell me, I've done a lot of surveillance in the Midwest. I suspect that some farms are drug distribution centers. There are thousands of acres. I have to keep an eye on them; there are also those mobile car parks. There are some good guys who rob murderers The bank is a serious job, and I have to find them. Either hold back, or urinate into a bottle, or simply stand in the wild and just urinate."
"Yeah," Romano said, "where in the hell I was in Delta, we used to squat in a row and shit. I killed a guy one time, and I was shitting. Well, tell you, that's Embarrassing to death."
Miller seemed unimpressed by these solutions to his internal urgency.Webb noticed that he was very neatly dressed.Make no mistake, pissing in a bottle and risking being naked in front of other people is not the image of the teenage agent.
"There's a Danny's restaurant down the street. If you want to have a meal, we'll stay here until you come back."
Miller seemed a bit undecided about leaving his post.
"It's not every day that good deals come along, Chris." Webb half unbuttoned his shirt so Miller could see him with a gun.
"Is this okay?"
Romano put out his most menacing tone.
"If there are people who shouldn't come, they will regret that they didn't go from the dog's side and ran into us instead."
With these words, Agent Miller immediately jumped into the car and drove away.
When he was out of sight, Web went to the trunk of his car, took out a small tool and a flashlight, looked around, and walked with Romano to the front door of Cove's house.
"Damn it, that kid couldn't last even two minutes in the rescue team." Romano said.
"This kind of thing can't be guessed in advance, Paulie. Don't you just survive?"
"Are you really going to pry this place open?"
"Yes, I really intend to. If you have any questions, go in the car."
"I haven't had many problems in my life."
With the lockpicking gun, the simple front door lock was opened in the blink of an eye, and Webb and Romano entered the house a few seconds later.Web closed the door and turned on the flashlight.He found an alarm panel next to the main entrance, but the alarm was not connected, and it is estimated that only Cove knew the password.They walked down a short passage into the living room.Web swept every corner of the room with his flashlight, and both hands were on the butts of their pistols.There was very little furniture in the house, and Webb guessed that Cove didn't spend much of the day here.The two quickly searched the first floor, but found nothing interesting.Webb wasn't surprised by the result.Cove is an old hand, and old hands don't just throw around detailed records of what they do every day, waiting for someone to find out.
The basement hasn't been cleaned yet, only a few boxes are placed.Romano and Web quickly searched one by one.The only thing that took Webb a moment's time was a framed photo of Cove, his wife and children.
"It's a nice home," Romano commented.
"Nope." Webb didn't explain much.
He put the photo back in the box, and the two went back upstairs.His flashlight had just caught the sliding door at the back of the house when something slammed into the window.Webb and Romano drew their pistols at the same time, and then heard a dog barking, which turned out to be a loyal police dog behind the house.
They hurried upstairs, hoping to finish what they had to do long before Miller returned.Webb didn't want to dupe a fellow agent, much less get caught doing an unauthorized search of the home of a prime suspect.
The room at the back was vacant. It had been built as a bedroom, but apparently it had never been used as a bedroom.There were no scratches from a hanger on the wall of the small closet, or the imprint of furniture on the carpet.Webb and Romano are about to leave when Webb notices something.He looked at the windows of the house facing the street, then walked into the connected bathroom, entered the front bedroom, and looked at the windows here.Small venetian blinds hung on the windows to keep outsiders from seeing.That's right, this house faces the street.Web walked back to the bathroom and into another room, and noticed that there were curtains on the windows here, too, but instead of small blinds, they were old-fashioned roller blinds.There are dense forests outside the window of the back room, so there is no problem of personal privacy being peeped.Web looked out the window to see where the sun was setting.This back street room faces north, there will be no west sun in the afternoon, and there is no need for curtains to shade it.Besides, no one is using this room, so why hang the curtains?If one really wants to choose a decoration for one's windows, why not use the same kind of curtains for the whole house?With blinds at least some light can come in and a certain degree of privacy.With curtains, either fully open or fully closed.There is no light in this house. As long as the curtains are drawn down, no light can penetrate the outside, and the house will be completely dark.It doesn't make sense.Perhaps the tracery had been carried over by Cove from the previous owner, and he had no interest in changing it.
"What did you find? See your antennas are up." Romano asked.
"The man's taste in picking curtains."
"How do you think of telling me about these women?"
Web ignored him and went straight to the window.The curtains were rolled, and Web grabbed the curtain pull cord and gave a tug.The curtains worked and fell down, nothing out of the ordinary.He went to another window and did it again, but the rope got stuck and the curtain wouldn't come down.For a moment Web thought about it and walked away, but then he shone the flashlight up on the curtain rail and found that the rail was bent and the pull cord wouldn't work.He snapped the slides back into place and tugged on the curtain cords.The curtains fell, and the envelope hidden in the rolled-up curtains fell into Romano's hands.Romano gasped involuntarily.
Romano glared at him.
"You can really do this."
"Let's go, Paulie." Web rolled up the curtains, and the two trotted down the stairs.Romano looked around, and there was nothing outside, so the two slipped out.Web closed the door behind him.
Webb and Romano get back in their car.Web turned on the overhead lights and sat down to examine their findings.
He opened the envelope and pulled out a yellowed news clipping.It was cut from the Los Angeles Times, reporting on the death of an undercover agent's family at the hands of the Russian Mafia.Officials speaking on behalf of the Bureau of Investigation lashed out at the criminals, vowing to bring them to justice.Newspaper clippings indicated that the officer was heavily involved in the case and that he was in direct command of the undercover agent.The bureau declined to identify the undercover agent, although the names of the slain family members have been released.Seeing the name of the official from the Bureau of Investigation who spoke, Webb could only shake his head.Percy Bates.
Miller drove back a few minutes later. He got out of the car, came to their car, patted his stomach and said.
"Thanks for your help, guys."
"It's okay," Romano said, "We've done this kind of thing before."
"What happened in my absence?"
"No, everything is fine."
"Hey, I have a shift change in two hours, want to have a beer together?"
"We—" Webb looked into the distance, the slanting sun flickered in the west, and there was something reflective in the distance.
"Be careful Webb," Romano yelled, seeing the same thing.
Webb reached out, grabbed Miller by the tie and tried to drag him down.The bullet was hitting Miller's vest, exiting his chest, whizzing past Webb and shattering the passenger side window.Romano had already jumped out of the car, concealed behind the wheels, and stuck a gun from the hood, but did not fire.
"Webb, get out of the car."
In that fleeting moment, Webb was still holding on to Miller's tie, but the young agent had already slid toward the side of the car.The last thing Web saw was a pair of dead eyes staring at him, and Miller fell headfirst to the ground.
"Webb, get out, or I will beat you to death with my own hands."
Another bullet shattered the rear window of the car, and Webb slid out of the car with his head down, taking up position on the rear wheels.That's how it's taught in the academy, crouching behind the wheel, that's a good place, few weapons can penetrate that many layers of metal.
"Find anything?" Romano asked.
"Only that glint just now, on the scope. A damn thousand yards, in the woods, right between those two rows of duplexes. Miller's dead."
"Damn it. I think it's a .308 chambered steel round with a Litton ten-power scope."
"Brilliant, like the ones we use," Webb replied. "Put your goddamn head down."
"Oh, thanks for telling me, Web. I was about to jump up and scream at Mommy."
"Can't return fire. Our pistols don't have that long range."
“干吗不跟我说些我不知道的事儿？你行李箱里有什么好家什吗？”
“要是我自己的车就有。”
又一颗子弹打在车上，两人都往下一矮。再一颗，打爆左前胎，又是一颗，水箱漫出水蒸气。
“你觉得会有人试试打个电话报警吗？”罗马诺抱怨道，“要不就是他们小区里，天天都有狙击手？”
“我的电话在车里。”
“嗯，别冒险去拿，那边的人是个懂行的。”他们又等了五分钟，再也没打来子弹，最后总算听见远处传来了警笛声。韦布慢慢从车旁探出头来，透过车窗嘹望。他没再看见树林里有反光。
警察终于露面了。韦布和罗马诺举起证件，打手势让警察弯下腰。又过了几分钟，韦布爬到警车那里，把情况告诉警察。再没有子弹飞来，接着几乎全县的警察都冒了出来，还来了些州国民警卫队。树林被仔细搜了一遍，什么人都没发现。只在通往科夫家的主要街道的土路上发现了新印上的车辙。还找到了一些步枪弹壳。罗马诺的判断正确：点308全钢弹。
克里斯·米勒被正式宣布死亡，救护车来了，将他运走。尸袋拉链拉上前，韦布发现死者手指上戴着结婚戒指。唉，米勒太太今晚就会有调查局的访客，向她通报这个可怕的消息。他摇摇头，看着罗马诺。
“这种日子我真受够了。”
Notes:
Notes: