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George Sykes, a DC police officer and a security guard were dead They’d found the real security guard in a storage roounshot wound burned into his forehead
The sniper had disappeared
Stone had given descriptions of hione out, but none of the outlow or already on private wings heading out of the country
Stone and Chap outside the , Maryland It was in the hborhood with kids on bikes, rass Or it would have been if the street hadn’t been evacuated and then shut down by the FBI
Agent Ashburn was in the front passenger seat while another agent was at the wheel
“What do we know about him?” Stone asked
“Wife died three years ago Kids all grown and gone Been with the National Park Service his entire career No problems”
“And six grandchildren,” said Stone He glanced down at the man’s file “He’s not much older than me He must have started early”
“Money problems?” Chapman asked
Ashburn nodded “That was one of the first things we looked at Didn’t find anything there But we dug a little deeper and shook out an account that was tied to Sykes Recent deposit of a hundred thou”
“So so”
Stone said, “What exactly did they pay him for?”
Ashburn answered “Bomb in the root ball What if someone started to poke around there? He would steer them clear Make sure wherever the boot close to it”
“So he betrayed his country for a hundred thousand dollars?” said Stone “A grandfather of six?”
Ashburn shrugged “I’ve seen people do it for a lot less And six grandchildren eat a lot”
Chapht’ve only been the first payment”
“Right,” said Ashburn “And they made sure the only pay their tea up the tunnel So no leads for us”
“The sniper took a risk by iuard,” noted Stone “We saw his face”
“But like we concluded, the guy is long gone And six months from now he’ll have a new face”
“Lot of money behind this,” said Chapman “That’s clear”
Ashburn hiked her eyebrows “Like a country’s treasury at work?”
“Russia,” said Chapman
“I’ve heard that theory floated around overnh competition”
Stone nodded at Sykes’s house “So what are aiting for? We don’t need a warrant The guy was shot We can go to his house to investigate He was a federal employee”
Ashburn said, “That’s true, but considering that these folks eo in before we do That’s also e’ve evacuated the neighborhood”
The canine unit ca h a back door opened by an FBI agent Ten iven
It didn’t take long to go through the house, but they found very little of help As they walked back to their car Ashburn said, “We’ll send in a forensics teaive it a scrubdown, but I doubt it will yield much”
“Still have to do it,” said Stone
“Still have to,” agreed Ashburn
“Has his family been notified?” asked Chapman
“In the process That’s another place that et us somewhere”
“Heslip to a family member, you mean,” said Chapman
“If we’re real lucky”
“I’ that lucky,” said Stone
Ashburn dropped them back at their car and they drove off Chapht
“What do you think?”
“I’e before they yank Fuat Turkekul and make him talk”