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Authors: Stephen Coonts
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and
MasterCard lists. I’ll take anything.”
But he already knew what the answers were going to be.
When Mabel gave him the printouts there it was in
blackand-white. Each man had both Visa and
MasterCard credit cards, but they had never made
any charges on the cards.
These accounts were less than a month old. The
driver’s licenses were real, but the addresses
weren’t. Burke, Virginia, had no such street
as Wood Duck Drive, where Tanana’s
license said he lived. Hicks’ address was
equally bogus. The telephone company had never
heard of either man.
So the identities were fake.
“Anything else?” Mabel asked. She was still on
the right side of thirty and had a cute, intelligent
face.
“Well,” said Toad Tarkington, and grinned
conspiratorially. “There is one little thing.
Richard Harper won a hundred bucks in our
baseball pool this weekend and we don’t know where
to get in touch with him.
Could you check him on the CIA data base?”
“That isn’t official business,” Mabel told
him primly.
“I know. But I’ll bet Richard would like the
hundred.”
“Commander, we’re not supposed . . .”
Toad gazed into her eyes and gave her an
undiluted dose of the ol’ Tarkington charm that had
melted panties on three continents. “Call me
Toad. All my friends do.”
Mabel swallowed once and lowered her eyes.
“Okay,” she said and turned back to the keyboard.
She punched keys.
“Here it is,” she told him. “He transferred
to the CIA computer facility at Langley. His
office phone number is 775-060 1.”
“Lemme write that down,” Toad said, and did
so on a piece of scratch paper he snagged from beside
the terminal.
“Thanks a lot, Mabel. I’ll tell
Richard he owes you a lunch.
“You were right,” Toad told his boss.
“Tanana and Hicks are fake identities.”
lake Grafton just nodded.
“How’d you know?”
Jake shrugged. “They wanted us to see that
ID.”
“And the analyst who worked on the photo of Herb
Ten they, Richard Harper, now works at the CIA.
As of this past Wednesday or Thursday.”
“So he was probably the leak,” Jake said.
“Yessir.” Toad found a seat. “What are
we going to do now?”
“I don’t know,” Jake said.
Toad frowned.
“If YOU have any suggestions, let’s hear
them.”
Toad shrugged. “I’m just the hired help around
here, Admiral. You’re the guy getting the big
bucks.”
“Someone thought this out very carefully,- Jake said after
a moment.
“They wanted to scare us, and they did, but there was the
Possibility that we could be induced to impale ourselves
on our own swords. So they came equipped with
fake identities and bogus Langley passes.
And they drove leisurely from my house
to Your house to give me time to call you or catch
up. “I didn’t check the passes, was Toad
said.
“Oh, they’re as fake as the driver’s licenses
and credit cards. You can bet on it. And if I
charged off to the front office with this wild tale about
CIA employees threatening us and demanded that
General Brown go after someone’s head, I would have
merely discredited myself, made myself look like a
fool. And put General Brown in a difficult
Position.”
“Too bad we didn’t take photos of those
clowns.”
was Umm.”
“So what are You going to do?” Toad asked again.
“I’ll have to think about it. If I go to General
Brown I’m going to have to tell him about that Herb
Tenney photo, and I don’t know that that’s a good
idea. We still don’t know a goddamn thing.”
“The CIA’S reaction to the Photo Proves that
they helped Keren depart for eternity.”
“If those two worked for the CIA. What if
Tanana and Hicks were Mossad agents trying
to make me suspicious of the CIAT’
“We’re going to have to tell General
Brown just to cover our fannies,” Toad said.
“Maybe. And that may make General Brown
overly suspicious of the CIA, which might have been the
Mossad’s goal when they gave us that photo. If
it was the Mossad.
The
MasterCard lists. I’ll take anything.”
But he already knew what the answers were going to be.
When Mabel gave him the printouts there it was in
blackand-white. Each man had both Visa and
MasterCard credit cards, but they had never made
any charges on the cards.
These accounts were less than a month old. The
driver’s licenses were real, but the addresses
weren’t. Burke, Virginia, had no such street
as Wood Duck Drive, where Tanana’s
license said he lived. Hicks’ address was
equally bogus. The telephone company had never
heard of either man.
So the identities were fake.
“Anything else?” Mabel asked. She was still on
the right side of thirty and had a cute, intelligent
face.
“Well,” said Toad Tarkington, and grinned
conspiratorially. “There is one little thing.
Richard Harper won a hundred bucks in our
baseball pool this weekend and we don’t know where
to get in touch with him.
Could you check him on the CIA data base?”
“That isn’t official business,” Mabel told
him primly.
“I know. But I’ll bet Richard would like the
hundred.”
“Commander, we’re not supposed . . .”
Toad gazed into her eyes and gave her an
undiluted dose of the ol’ Tarkington charm that had
melted panties on three continents. “Call me
Toad. All my friends do.”
Mabel swallowed once and lowered her eyes.
“Okay,” she said and turned back to the keyboard.
She punched keys.
“Here it is,” she told him. “He transferred
to the CIA computer facility at Langley. His
office phone number is 775-060 1.”
“Lemme write that down,” Toad said, and did
so on a piece of scratch paper he snagged from beside
the terminal.
“Thanks a lot, Mabel. I’ll tell
Richard he owes you a lunch.
“You were right,” Toad told his boss.
“Tanana and Hicks are fake identities.”
lake Grafton just nodded.
“How’d you know?”
Jake shrugged. “They wanted us to see that
ID.”
“And the analyst who worked on the photo of Herb
Ten they, Richard Harper, now works at the CIA.
As of this past Wednesday or Thursday.”
“So he was probably the leak,” Jake said.
“Yessir.” Toad found a seat. “What are
we going to do now?”
“I don’t know,” Jake said.
Toad frowned.
“If YOU have any suggestions, let’s hear
them.”
Toad shrugged. “I’m just the hired help around
here, Admiral. You’re the guy getting the big
bucks.”
“Someone thought this out very carefully,- Jake said after
a moment.
“They wanted to scare us, and they did, but there was the
Possibility that we could be induced to impale ourselves
on our own swords. So they came equipped with
fake identities and bogus Langley passes.
And they drove leisurely from my house
to Your house to give me time to call you or catch
up. “I didn’t check the passes, was Toad
said.
“Oh, they’re as fake as the driver’s licenses
and credit cards. You can bet on it. And if I
charged off to the front office with this wild tale about
CIA employees threatening us and demanded that
General Brown go after someone’s head, I would have
merely discredited myself, made myself look like a
fool. And put General Brown in a difficult
Position.”
“Too bad we didn’t take photos of those
clowns.”
was Umm.”
“So what are You going to do?” Toad asked again.
“I’ll have to think about it. If I go to General
Brown I’m going to have to tell him about that Herb
Tenney photo, and I don’t know that that’s a good
idea. We still don’t know a goddamn thing.”
“The CIA’S reaction to the Photo Proves that
they helped Keren depart for eternity.”
“If those two worked for the CIA. What if
Tanana and Hicks were Mossad agents trying
to make me suspicious of the CIAT’
“We’re going to have to tell General
Brown just to cover our fannies,” Toad said.
“Maybe. And that may make General Brown
overly suspicious of the CIA, which might have been the
Mossad’s goal when they gave us that photo. If
it was the Mossad.
The
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