Chapter Fifteen
On his drive back to the garage a few hours later, Sloan thought about the strange meeting he’d just left. Near the end, they’d been joined by others from Homeland Security, who’d presented the intelligence they’d collected so far. Information they’d journalized about Samir and his family and their previous lives in Pakistan. They’d had scads of lists and reports he’d have to read as soon as he found the time.
Also, they’d organized the equipment Alia would need for surveillance and just looking at the list made his ass tighten. Where the hell would they store all this shit?
Come to think of it, his house had two bedrooms and a sunroom at the front. The square footage worked well for one person but add two more, along with all this crap, and it would be a disaster.
Taking a deep breath, he’d swallowed the cuss words and scanned the table instead. He’d observed that the agents in the room were comfortable with each other, with one exception.
There’d been a noticeable constraint with Agent Hawkins. The only ones who seemed at ease with her were Don and Jack Harrison. He’d heard both of them refer to her as Al; probably a nickname and she’d gone along with it.
Guess if she liked someone, she’d let it pass. From the icy attitude she threw his way, he figured he’d be calling her Agent Hawkins, rather than something friendlier, like Alia or ‘little sister’, till the end of the case.
According to the plans they’d prearranged, she’d be arriving Sunday at lunchtime, when the Amans would be at his house for a barbecue. Everyone in the neighborhood took turns cooking outdoors and had gotten into the habit of going to a different house on the cul-de sac-each week. As it turned out, his turn to host the event was this coming weekend. It couldn’t have worked out better.
Don, Roy and Les would be there to help with the arrangements, do most of the work, and he’d be the guy manning the barbecue. That hecouldhandle and do it well.
He thought back to the arrangements they’d discussed earlier. Don had suggested, “Al and Kean should appear as if by magic and Sloan can act totally shocked… but welcoming. That way, the whole neighborhood will get the story all at once.”
Sloan had broken in there. “What story?”
“That Sloan Booker has family staying for an unspecified amount of time. She’ll have her cover and you won’t have to tell everyone about her. They’ll see her arrival with their own eyes and the word will be out.”
The rest of the people around the table had nodded, agreeing, even Alia. Sloan’s groan hadn’t been heard by anyone but himself. He had two days left of freedom, a neat house and no gorgeous chick running around in her undies… one he had to keep his hands off.