Red Angel: Book II: Raiders (Red Angel Series 2) Read Online Free PDF

lieutenant who had been holding Kris.
    "No. Captain MacLin is just being cautious. I think the danger will be proportional to our success as our investigation proceeds."
    He laughed. "Based on your previous success, I should plan on adding additional guards soon."
    The rest of the ride was made in silence. We set down on a landing pad near the Stone Ring NIA office, a small two-story cement building. Inside, we were escorted to the second floor and into a conference room where several men and women waited.
    "Good morning, I'm Commander Perry," said a broad shouldered man with a neatly trimmed goatee. "I assembled my team when I heard you were on the way down." He proceeded to introduce the junior lieutenants, two men and one woman, and the two full lieutenants, a man and a woman.
    Adrian then introduced Major Pannell and us. The three marines had remained in the hallway.
    "I understand, the NIA agents in charge of the robbery investigations on each planet will be joining the raider taskforce." Perry looked excited at the idea. Clearly, being on such a team would put him on the fast track for promotion—and maybe in charge as he would be the ranking Lieutenant Commander on the team.
    "Expanding the team is a possibility. For now, however, we'll be reviewing the reports and talking with the facility personnel to determine the best approach," Adrian answered cautiously.
    Perry frowned. His voice hardened to an intimidating tone, and his smile disappeared. "There are only three of you. Wouldn't making the people who have already investigated each robbery part of the taskforce expedite the investigation? I've heard Admiral Rawls is in favor of the idea."
    Unfortunately for Perry, while Adrian was easygoing, he wasn't easy to intimidate. "Then I'm sure it will happen, but for now, we need to talk with you, with those of your team who were involved with the police in the initial investigation, and with the people at the facility."
    "They've already told us everything they know," Perry persisted. I could feel his rising anger.
    "Commander, because civilians were involved, at the time neither you nor your team had the authority to take charge of the investigation—"
    "You don't, either!" Perry snapped his mouth closed when Adrian held up his P1A card.
    "Commander, I would appreciate it if we could begin our review and not speculate on what Admiral Rawls will choose to do when we're finished. For now, we're proceeding with the approach she approved," Adrian said in his easygoing manner.
    Perry reluctantly sat, having no other option. However, judging by his raging feelings of revenge, he hadn't given up.
    "Lieutenant Rubin, why don't you start?" Perry's voice and face were now under control. His outburst had been a practical demonstration of one of the potential problems that could result when adding new players to the team.
    The review took more than three hours. It turned out that the commander had overseen the investigation but had done very little of the actual work. Most of the material in the report had been the result of the local police investigation.
    When we finished, Rubin recommended a café on the outskirts of town. The restaurant was small but the local country ambience and music were pleasant, and the three of us could hear each other talk.
    "That was interesting," Kris said as we sat waiting for our dinner. "Perry saw this project as a fast track to full Commander, yet he did little except to sign the report."
    Adrian shrugged. "Not unusual in the military. Lieutenant Rubin didn't do much either, except organize what the police had found. He didn't have the authority, but he also didn't appear interested in digging deeper. I don’t think I would want either one of them on our taskforce."
    Kris bit her lip. "Perry's not a team player. He would be disruptive."
    I nodded agreement.
* * *
    The next morning, we were met by Junior Lieutenant Gannon and taken to the Nano Technology Industries building where the robbery