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She waited until they were in the parking lot and then said to Rankin, “Pull up at the door.”
He did so and waited until she and the Senator had alighted before driving away at speed, squealing the tires a bit when he made a turn out of the lot. She grinned and heard the Senator chuckle. “He’s not happy.”
“Nope,” she said merrily, making the Senator laugh even harder before he quickly sobered. “Let’s get to the office. I need to call Hank Patterson.”
They strode up the stairs, giving Rachel another indication of the Senator’s mood. He didn’t take the elevator when he was troubled, once saying it made him feel penned in.
Gavin was waiting at the door of the Senator’s office when they arrived and followed them inside before shutting the door and sitting in what Rachel was quickly coming to look at as his chair. She started coffee for them all and then sat in her own chair, waiting.
The Senator plucked his cell from his pocket and started to dial when Gavin held his hand out. “Mind if I take a look at your phone first, sir?”
Mitchell narrowed his eyes then relinquished the phone with a sigh. Gavin flipped it over and quickly went through the process of removing the sim card and then examining the phone. He even took out a pair of glasses that, when he glanced up, made his eyes twice as large as normal. Rachel’s expression must have given her away because he smiled, “My secret agent glasses.” She smiled at him in return then watched as he put the phone back together and returned it to the senator. “We need to do that every morning, sir. With all of our phones,” he finished and held his hand out to Rachel. “Your phone, Payne,” he said after she stared at his hand for interminable seconds. She plucked it out of her jacket pocket and handed it to him. He repeated the process and gave it back to her before turning to the Senator. “If we’re going to do this, we need to do it right.”
Senator Mitchell nodded grimly and then dialed Hank Patterson’s number. After a minute, he spoke. “Sorry, I wanted to be in a secure place before we talked, Hank. You can’t trust anyone in Washington, these days.” He pushed a button and Rachel heard the man laugh.
“You said it, I didn’t. But it’s a good idea, Gray.”
“You’ve got news,” Senator Mitchell said.
"Yeah. It seems the drug distribution ring is getting a little anxious, what with the investigation spreading. DEA, the Brotherhood, and Shadow Ops, though the ring probably won't realize Kane's group is involved, unless Payne gets compromised. Now, you're involved. What have you been doing that's pulled in the shooters?"
CHAPTER3
“So, it was the cartel?”Mitchell said and nodded toward Rachel and Gavin.
“Oh, yeah. And they aren’t planning on stopping with a simple shooter so you’d better be sure Payne is watching your six.” Hank asserted.
“She’s with me all the time except when I’m asleep and in the bathroom,” Mitchell groused and Rachel smiled angelically at him, causing Gavin to chuckle. “I’ve also called in a friend to help. Gavin Hansen. Remember him from Kansas?”
Rachel heard the shift in the Senator’s voice, as well as the slightly stilted reply Hank Patterson made. Gavin, in contrast, sounded as if he’d gone to high school with one of the men and hadn’t seen them since their last reunion. Whatever he did, he was good at it, she thought, then turned her attention back to the conversation.
“There’s been some talk of something going down in the DC area,” Hank said. “We haven’t been able to learn what, but the internet has been buzzing with it.”
“Whose on it?” Swede?” Gavin interrupted and didn’t look at Rachel when she sent him an inquiring glance.
“Among others. The tech group has grown a bit since you and Swede played your pranks.” Hank said, his tone wry.
“He’s good,” Gavin spoke to the Senator who acknowledged the comment with a nod. “Any idea what?”
“No. No idea if it’s going to be directed toward you or if it’s going to be bigger. At this point, the distribution ring is so big, we can’t rule out the possibility they might pull a mini coup to turn attention away from them.”
“Damn,” the Senator muttered. Rachel echoed the sentiment. She took a breath then spoke. “If that’s the case, we need more boots on the ground. I can call Kane—”
“No. He’s going at this from a different angle,” Hank said and continued without giving Rachel time to question him further. “If it’s okay, Senator, I’m going to send in three of my guys. We’ll alert the DEA as well. Agent Fanning from the Seattle office will continue to be the contact. She can move in if needed, but I think we need bodies and eyes right now.”
The Senator agreed and they discussed the roles the bodyguards would play since a cadre of security wasn't the norm for a mid-level elected official in Washington. It'd look a bit odd if he had as many security personnel as the Vice President, Mitchell joked.
At the end of the call Gavin spoke up again. “Have Swede give me a call, would you, Hank?”
“Sure thing. He’ll want to touch base with you too. Payne, I’ll let Kane know you’re good with the changes.”
“Yes, sir.” She recognized the necessity of the added security, but it didn’t mean she had to like it. More men meant more people to keep track of, more actions to monitor. More risk of someone getting hurt if she screwed up.
“Oh, one more thing, Gray. Take a look at the news on DC Tattle.”
“What?” The Senator said, surprised. He glanced at the phone. “He hung up.” He looked at Rachel and rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “Look that up, Payne, will you. I don’t want it on my phone logs, just in case.”
“Yes, sir.” She pulled up the gossip site and scrolled down, looking for items that may have caught Hank Patterson’s attention. When she found it, she felt the blood rush first to her face then to her feet. She silently handed the phone to the Senator.
