The Hunted

24

Scott Haviland was escorted through Mahogany Row to Director Knox’s office suite. He sat down in a chair and let his mind drift off as he stared out the large window to his left.

Just then, Knox entered and moved behind his desk, followed by Liz Evanston. “Fine, tell them to make up the plaque and I’ll present it in a short ceremony.” Knox looked up and appeared to suddenly become aware of Haviland sitting there. “Please give us some time alone,” Knox said to Liz. Then, turning to Haviland, he said, “Report.”

“Agent Waller’s been working with Payne. His days are divided into morning and evening sessions. He begins with tactical and skill-building reviews, such as target shooting, HRT situational exercises at Hogan’s, and policy and procedure briefings. So far Payne’s doing extremely well. Although his memory is still stunted, his instincts are intact, which is good. That would take a great deal longer to teach or relearn.”

“My chief concern is his memory,” Knox said tersely.

Haviland nodded. He had just received the doctor’s report indicating that all the diagnostic tests had come back normal, despite the evidence of significant blunt trauma to the back of Payne’s head. Haviland knew that Knox would focus on the doctor’s prognosis for memory recovery. The report concluded, excising out all the medical technobabble, that all they could do was wait and see.

“I reviewed the doc’s report,” Haviland said. “It seems to me, when you get right down to it, that by labeling it postconcussion syndrome with atypical amnesia, or some such wording, the doctor wasn’t completely sure what the hell was going on.”

Knox rose from his chair and walked to the window. “I’ve already arranged for a second opinion. I’ll make sure you’re fully briefed on the results.” He threw his arms behind his back and began to pace. “What kind of progress are you making with him on the Scarponi file?”

“The evening sessions are consumed by a substantive and comprehensive review of all the reports Payne generated while undercover, as well as his follow-up notes. Every morning he’s up by five A. M. and at a terminal in the computer lab reviewing trial transcripts. If this plan fails, it won’t be because of a lack of effort on his part.”

“I don’t intend for this plan to fail, Agent Haviland.”

“Of course not, sir.”

“But I am concerned about the time.”

Haviland knew Knox was referring to the seven day deadline in the threat letter he had received. “We can go public tomorrow with news of his return and get a trial date set. Technically, he doesn’t have to be fully prepared until the day before trial.”

Knox continued to pace. “I want him ready as soon as possible. I want to know for sure whether or not he’s going to be able to pull this off. If not, we’ll have to take a different tack. It would be a PR disaster if Payne’s amnesia leaks to the press. The media would have my ass.” He shook his head. “I need to know which way we’re going to go before we make anything public.” Knox stopped pacing and turned to face the window. “Thanks for your time, Agent.”

“Understood, sir,” Haviland said to his director’s back. He knew that was his cue to leave.