Old Growth & Ivy (The Spook Hills Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

had
named himself well.  He was a clever and elusive fox of the drug
world.    
    Once
they were heading back to the heliport, Steve exchanged a look with Mathew, who
appeared as taken aback as he was.  The facts of the day were clear
enough.  They had been duped and they felt foolish.  On the return
trip to Guadalajara, they would devise their interrogation strategy for the
four men from the yacht.  Steve doubted they would learn much but he had
never missed apprehending a perp in his career.  He would run this Astuto
character to ground.  It might take some time, but Steve had no intention
of letting a major drug dealer and money launderer evade the FBI for very long.
    Once
back in Guadalajara, he would leave Mathew in charge and head back to
Portland.  He wanted a thorough briefing on the data analysis that London
and Stanford were doing on the child trafficking case and he would get another
chance to see the lovely but prickly, Ivy Littleton. 
    ***
    As her eighth meeting of the day finished up
just before four, Ivy took advantage of the break to stop in and make sure the
two FBI agents, Brian and Moll, were doing okay.  While they were
easy-going guys, they were so motivated, focused and intelligent as they worked
methodically through the data that she would be glad to have them as
employees.  Brian would be a wonder with clients, while Moll was one of
those half technical/half data guys who would be a real asset to her analytical
team. 
    “Hey
you two – checking to make sure you don’t have any questions.”
    Brian
glanced up and smiled.  The agent was tall and slender, with a
delightfully friendly personality and he was altogether good-looking enough to
be a male model.  Instead he was an attorney, an FBI agent and a data
hound.  Ivy thought of him as an aspen, a tall and attractive tree with
year round interest in its nearly white bark and whispery leaves that turned
brilliantly yellow in the autumn.
    “I
think we are progressing along nicely – should soon have this nailed. 
Thank goodness too.  The big guy is due back tomorrow.”
    Ivy was
curious to learn more about Steve Nielsen.  “Isn’t he a bit old to be an
agent?”
    “Steve’s
not really an agent.  He’s an FBI HBO.”
    “A
what?”
    “High
Bureau Official.  Only one level between him and the Director of the
Bureau and that doesn’t really count because Steve has the Director’s ear.”
    “And he
is here, working on this case?”
    “He
lives for solving cases, catching the bad guys and putting a stop to
crime.  When we are on the hunt, he does whatever work is required, no
matter how tedious it is.  He wants this case solved and he will do what
it takes to break it open.  The man is a walking legend at the
Bureau.  He has a record of always getting the perp he is after.  He
never forgets a case, a perp or anything.  In a word, he is the best.”
    “Yeah
well, I thought at one point he might put a gun to my head to get the data.”
    The
agents shifted uneasily in their chairs.  “He would never do that,” Brian
said softly.  “Not to any civilian, and certainly not to you.  He has
strict rules of operation and standards for performance.”
    The
curly-headed agent took over, saying in the soft, pleasant way he had, “Thanks
to your team for all the ground work.  They were honing in on a likely
issue.”
    “Tell
me more,” Ivy said, pulling out a chair to join them at the table.  Moll
was definitely like a noble fir which grew with its sometimes sparse limbs
springing out at odd lengths, making it an attractive, if somewhat odd tree to
decorate for Christmas.  If left to its natural ways, it often had a
little whirl of branches at the top, almost like a propeller.
    “Well
this Terry guy who works for you left a great trail of possible issues. 
Cryptic pointers here and there.  He noticed little patterns that might
have taken us weeks to find or maybe that we would have missed.  Do you
have some special