Read Online Split Second by David Baldacci - Free Book Online
Authors: David Baldacci
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Thrillers, Espionage, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Fiction / Thrillers / General, Thrillers & Suspense, Spies & Politics
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fiasco and its aftermath. As she read the account and then looked at the man on the screen, she felt a sudden, visceral connection to him. They’d both made mistakes on the job, and it had cost them greatly. It appeared King had rebuilt his life pretty dramatically. Michelle wondered if she’d be anywhere near as triumphant in reconstructing her world.
She had a sudden inspiration and phoned a confidant of hers at the Service. The young man wasn’t an agent. He was in administrative support. Every field agent needed to cultivate strong ties to the admin staff, for those were the folks who really knew how to cut through the red tape that plagued most government agencies. He was a huge admirer of Michelle’s and would have somersaulted down the hall if she had condescended to havecoffee with him. Well, she did so condescend. The price was, he had to bring her copies of certain records and other materials. He waffled at first—he didn’t want to get in trouble, he said—but she soon persuaded him otherwise. She also got him to agree to slow-walk her admin leave papers such that she would have access to the Secret Service database using her name and password for at least another week or so.
They met at a small café downtown where she got the records from him. She gave the young man a hug that she let linger just long enough for her to be quite certain that he would continue to do her bidding. When she joined the Service, she had not handed in her membership in the female ranks. At one level it was just another tool. In fact, used judiciously, it was far more powerful even than her .357.
As she was getting back into her truck, a voice called out. She turned to see an agent she had leapfrogged over in climbing the career ladder. The look on his face was clear. He was here to gloat.
“Who would have thought?” he began innocently. “Your star was shooting straight up. I still can’t understand how you let it happen, Mick. I mean, leaving the guy alone in a room you hadn’t really swept. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I guess I wasn’t thinking, Steve.”
He slapped her on the arm, a little harder than he needed to. “Hey, don’t worry, they’re not going to let their superstar woman fall. You’ll get reassigned, maybe guarding Lady Bird down in Texas. Or maybe the Fords. That way you get six months in Palm Springs and six in Vail and a sweet per diem. Of course, if it were one of us poor slobs, they’d cut our heads off and forget about us. But who said life was fair?”
“You might be surprised. I might not be with the Service when this is all over.”
He smiled broadly. “Well, maybe life is fair after all. Hey, you take care.” He turned to leave.
“Oh, Steve?” He turned back. “I trust you got the memo that they’re doing a computer sweep on everybody’s laptop nextweek. You might want to get that porno stuff off—you know, from that site you keep checking from the office? That might blow your clearances. And who knows, maybe even your wife might find out. And while we’re on the subject, are big boobs and a tight ass really worth the risk? I mean isn’t that, like, so sixteen-year-old?”
Steve’s smile disappeared; he extended his middle finger to her and stalked off.
Michelle couldn’t stop smiling all the way back to the hotel.
CHAPTER
13
M ICHELLE SPREAD OUT the documents on her bed, going over them meticulously and making notes along the way. It became apparent that King had had a spotless record and a long list of commendations in his career at the Service—at least until that fateful day when his attention wandered and Clyde Ritter paid the ultimate price.
During his stint working counterfeiting early on in his career, King had even been wounded when a bust went down badly. He killed two men after taking a round in his shoulder. And years later he killed Ritter’s assassin, albeit a few seconds too late. That made a total of three men he’d gunned down in the line
She had a sudden inspiration and phoned a confidant of hers at the Service. The young man wasn’t an agent. He was in administrative support. Every field agent needed to cultivate strong ties to the admin staff, for those were the folks who really knew how to cut through the red tape that plagued most government agencies. He was a huge admirer of Michelle’s and would have somersaulted down the hall if she had condescended to havecoffee with him. Well, she did so condescend. The price was, he had to bring her copies of certain records and other materials. He waffled at first—he didn’t want to get in trouble, he said—but she soon persuaded him otherwise. She also got him to agree to slow-walk her admin leave papers such that she would have access to the Secret Service database using her name and password for at least another week or so.
They met at a small café downtown where she got the records from him. She gave the young man a hug that she let linger just long enough for her to be quite certain that he would continue to do her bidding. When she joined the Service, she had not handed in her membership in the female ranks. At one level it was just another tool. In fact, used judiciously, it was far more powerful even than her .357.
As she was getting back into her truck, a voice called out. She turned to see an agent she had leapfrogged over in climbing the career ladder. The look on his face was clear. He was here to gloat.
“Who would have thought?” he began innocently. “Your star was shooting straight up. I still can’t understand how you let it happen, Mick. I mean, leaving the guy alone in a room you hadn’t really swept. What the hell were you thinking?”
“I guess I wasn’t thinking, Steve.”
He slapped her on the arm, a little harder than he needed to. “Hey, don’t worry, they’re not going to let their superstar woman fall. You’ll get reassigned, maybe guarding Lady Bird down in Texas. Or maybe the Fords. That way you get six months in Palm Springs and six in Vail and a sweet per diem. Of course, if it were one of us poor slobs, they’d cut our heads off and forget about us. But who said life was fair?”
“You might be surprised. I might not be with the Service when this is all over.”
He smiled broadly. “Well, maybe life is fair after all. Hey, you take care.” He turned to leave.
“Oh, Steve?” He turned back. “I trust you got the memo that they’re doing a computer sweep on everybody’s laptop nextweek. You might want to get that porno stuff off—you know, from that site you keep checking from the office? That might blow your clearances. And who knows, maybe even your wife might find out. And while we’re on the subject, are big boobs and a tight ass really worth the risk? I mean isn’t that, like, so sixteen-year-old?”
Steve’s smile disappeared; he extended his middle finger to her and stalked off.
Michelle couldn’t stop smiling all the way back to the hotel.
CHAPTER
13
M ICHELLE SPREAD OUT the documents on her bed, going over them meticulously and making notes along the way. It became apparent that King had had a spotless record and a long list of commendations in his career at the Service—at least until that fateful day when his attention wandered and Clyde Ritter paid the ultimate price.
During his stint working counterfeiting early on in his career, King had even been wounded when a bust went down badly. He killed two men after taking a round in his shoulder. And years later he killed Ritter’s assassin, albeit a few seconds too late. That made a total of three men he’d gunned down in the line
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