The Panic Zone

57

Washington, D.C.

Robert Lancer entered his section chief’s office at FBI Headquarters and set a folder before him.

Hal Weldon slid on his bifocals and loosened his tie. As he reviewed the file, Lancer glanced out the window overlooking the National Mall and the White House.

Since Jack Gannon called him yesterday, Lancer had worked on warrants to obtain the phone records of Polly Larenski and the pay phone in Santa Ana, California.

He’d called the FBI’s Los Angeles field office and FBI’s Santa Ana Resident Agency. He prepared a summary of all the facts, including his sworn oath and belief that the information was linked to a suspected imminent attack. The rest had to be processed up the chain for sign-off before it went to a judge.

“Looks good, Bob. I’ll take it from here.” Weldon removed his glasses. “I just got off the phone with Charley. We’re still trying to locate Drake Stinson and Gretchen Sutsoff.”

“Are we going to go public?”

“It’s being considered.”

“And the others?”

“Defense and the CIA have located the other scientists who worked on Crucible, and they’ve volunteered to cooperate. They’ve been taken to military bases to be flown to Detrick, but the CIA will give them a rough reception.”

“Why?”

“They’re suspects, too,” Weldon said.

“What? Foster Winfield’s the one who first alerted them to this. The guy’s got a terminal condition.”

“They’re covering their asses,” Weldon said. “Look, we’ll flag our warrant application as an expedited request. How fast we make it through the lawyers to a judge is anybody’s guess. I’ll keep you posted.”

As he navigated D.C.’s traffic back to the Anti-Threat Center in Virginia, doubt gnawed at Lancer.

In the warrant application, he’d failed to specifically detail that Jack Gannon claimed to possess Adam Corley’s computer files on the case, because he knew Weldon would have demanded he go after Gannon for the files with a warrant, or even an arrest.

Am I a fool to allow Gannon, a reporter, free rein with what could be a significant piece of evidence in a threat to national security?

Lancer was on a tightrope.

He needed time to cultivate Gannon as a source. The guy was good at digging up information. Maybe he could strengthen their uneasy alliance with some quid pro quo? As for the warrant, well, that was a roll of the dice at best. They could take days or hours.

Even then, would it yield anything?

At his office at the center, Lancer scrutinized everything he had that was related to the case. He made calls and followed leads. The sun had set by the time he got a call from Weldon.

“We got our pitch to a judge who granted the warrant. Our people are banging on doors in California. We should have the phone records by morning, Bob. I hope to hell we get some mileage out of this.”