Read Online Digital Divide (Rachel Peng) by K.B. Spangler - Free Book Online
Authors: K.B. Spangler
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with a Heckler & Koch MP7 under his suit.
Honest, stark terror shot down her spine. Washington D.C. had some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, and these guys had some serious boundary issues if they were willing to carry concealed to a public event sponsored by a judge.
Rachel called Santino’s cell. “I’m leaving,” she told him.
“What?” It was always strange to hold a phone conversation in her head. Santino sounded as close as an Agent. “I already parked. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“I scanned the crowd. There’s a disturbingly high gun-to-creep ratio here. And somebody brought their kid and I don’t want things to escalate,” she added, noting a mother and a young boy playing beginner’s Sudoku together in the window seat by the front door. They had the petulant air of persons forced to kill time and Rachel wondered who had dragged them along.
“Wow. Yeah, okay. I’ll meet you on …” he said, then paused to check for street signs.
“I’ll find you. Get to a bar a couple of blocks away and we’ll hole up there until—”
“Agent Peng?”
She swore across their connection as Edwards caught her on her way towards the door. She heard Santino start to run as he promised he’d be right there, and he hung up to call for backup.
“I thought I recognized you,” Edwards said, all smiles. “Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have a representative from OACET with us. Is this a formal visit?”
Rachel smiled back. “No, sir, this is pure coincidence. I just love a good cup of coffee.”
She reached out through the link and poked Administration. “No time to chat,” she said without waiting to learn who was on duty. “Send someone to me for damage control at an Edwards event. Possible mob.”
“Why don’t you stay and join us? We’d love to hear your thoughts.”
“Sorry, but I’m off the record tonight,” she said cheerfully, breaking her attention away from the panicked chatter on the other end of the connection.
“Really? You have no opinions about the attack?”
“No comment.” This was bordering on harassment. No sensible politician would selectively target someone at a rally. Edwards needed a campaign manager in the worst way. She had a sudden mental image of a sophisticated older woman in a pantsuit floating down from an unseen cloud like Mary Poppins by way of a banner with Vote Edwards! stenciled on its face. Oh, the songs they would sing.
“A man was brutally attacked, right outside this store. They saw it,” Edwards said as he swept out an arm. He got a lukewarm response from the baristas. “But since it didn’t show up on video, the police say it didn’t happen.
“A concussion, four broken ribs, and a collapsed lung, Agent Peng, and the MPD claims it didn’t happen? What’s wrong with this picture?”
“No comment,” Rachel said. Most of the crowd had done the usual sideways leaping thing they did when they learned she was OACET, climbing over themselves like lemmings pushed towards a cliff to avoid touching her. The exceptions were the media, who pressed forward, and the three armed men who swept through the cracks to form a human barrier across her path.
“We’re all just here to learn, Agent Peng. Can OACET explain why the tape was in error?”
She ignored him and pushed forward, trying to intimidate the three men in front of her with a quick sweeping stare. No luck.
“Come on, Agent Peng. Why won’t you help us out?”
Edward’s small and self-appointed militia wore very nice suits to complement their very expensive haircuts. They had the look of well-fed young lawyers right before they made partner and were allowed to put on weight. Rachel would have been more comfortable if there was just the smallest hint of camouflage or religious iconography somewhere on their persons; being gunned down by yuppies in an upscale coffee house was not a scenario she had played out in her mind and she felt woefully unprepared.
They
Honest, stark terror shot down her spine. Washington D.C. had some of the toughest gun control laws in the country, and these guys had some serious boundary issues if they were willing to carry concealed to a public event sponsored by a judge.
Rachel called Santino’s cell. “I’m leaving,” she told him.
“What?” It was always strange to hold a phone conversation in her head. Santino sounded as close as an Agent. “I already parked. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“I scanned the crowd. There’s a disturbingly high gun-to-creep ratio here. And somebody brought their kid and I don’t want things to escalate,” she added, noting a mother and a young boy playing beginner’s Sudoku together in the window seat by the front door. They had the petulant air of persons forced to kill time and Rachel wondered who had dragged them along.
“Wow. Yeah, okay. I’ll meet you on …” he said, then paused to check for street signs.
“I’ll find you. Get to a bar a couple of blocks away and we’ll hole up there until—”
“Agent Peng?”
She swore across their connection as Edwards caught her on her way towards the door. She heard Santino start to run as he promised he’d be right there, and he hung up to call for backup.
“I thought I recognized you,” Edwards said, all smiles. “Ladies and gentlemen, it seems we have a representative from OACET with us. Is this a formal visit?”
Rachel smiled back. “No, sir, this is pure coincidence. I just love a good cup of coffee.”
She reached out through the link and poked Administration. “No time to chat,” she said without waiting to learn who was on duty. “Send someone to me for damage control at an Edwards event. Possible mob.”
“Why don’t you stay and join us? We’d love to hear your thoughts.”
“Sorry, but I’m off the record tonight,” she said cheerfully, breaking her attention away from the panicked chatter on the other end of the connection.
“Really? You have no opinions about the attack?”
“No comment.” This was bordering on harassment. No sensible politician would selectively target someone at a rally. Edwards needed a campaign manager in the worst way. She had a sudden mental image of a sophisticated older woman in a pantsuit floating down from an unseen cloud like Mary Poppins by way of a banner with Vote Edwards! stenciled on its face. Oh, the songs they would sing.
“A man was brutally attacked, right outside this store. They saw it,” Edwards said as he swept out an arm. He got a lukewarm response from the baristas. “But since it didn’t show up on video, the police say it didn’t happen.
“A concussion, four broken ribs, and a collapsed lung, Agent Peng, and the MPD claims it didn’t happen? What’s wrong with this picture?”
“No comment,” Rachel said. Most of the crowd had done the usual sideways leaping thing they did when they learned she was OACET, climbing over themselves like lemmings pushed towards a cliff to avoid touching her. The exceptions were the media, who pressed forward, and the three armed men who swept through the cracks to form a human barrier across her path.
“We’re all just here to learn, Agent Peng. Can OACET explain why the tape was in error?”
She ignored him and pushed forward, trying to intimidate the three men in front of her with a quick sweeping stare. No luck.
“Come on, Agent Peng. Why won’t you help us out?”
Edward’s small and self-appointed militia wore very nice suits to complement their very expensive haircuts. They had the look of well-fed young lawyers right before they made partner and were allowed to put on weight. Rachel would have been more comfortable if there was just the smallest hint of camouflage or religious iconography somewhere on their persons; being gunned down by yuppies in an upscale coffee house was not a scenario she had played out in her mind and she felt woefully unprepared.
They
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