Midnight Sun (64 page)

“
What
do
you
think
of
the
interior
design?
”
he
asked in
a
playful
tone.
“
I
call it
r
etro-
f
ederal.
I
had
considered
going
with
the
old
seventies
metal
desks,
but
the
climate
up
here
convinced
me
to
stick
with
eighties
wood.
Not
so
cold
to
the
touch
,
you
know.
”

“
Perhaps
you
should
have
opted
to
let
your
secretary
’
s
designer
do
your
office
as
well,
”
Lonnie
said
.

He
smiled
.
“
We
’
re
in
progress
with
that
,
actually.
The
last
few
SACs
all
had
this
notion
that
a
federal
officer
should
live
like
a
Spartan
and
had
n’t
spent
a
penny
on
new
furniture
since
before
I
was
even
in
the
bureau.
I
don
’
t
know
why
they
did
that
—I t
hink
it
cheapens
the
appearance
of
the
position.
We
need
to
impress
on
people
’
s
minds
that
we
know
what
we
’
re
doing,
not
that
we
’
re
penny
pinchers.
I
’
ve
only
been
stationed
here
a
couple
of
months
now
and
don
’
t
plan
to
spend
the
next
four
years
sitting
in
the
same
chair
my
father
may
have
sat
in
when
he
was
an
agent
up
here.
This
office
will
finally
get
its
updated
décor
later this
week.
It
’
s
being
delivered
as
we
speak.
In
the
meantime,
let
’
s
talk
business.
”

He
motioned
to
four
threadbare
cloth
-
bound
chairs
in
front
of
his
desk
as
he
moved
around
behind
it.

“
Coffee
,
anyone?
”

“
Not
me,
”
Mike
said. “H
ad
plenty
with
breakfast.
”

The
others
nodded
agreement.

“
So
what
can
I
do
for
you?
”
Caufield
refill
ed
his
own
cup
from
a
bone
-
colored
plastic
carafe
that
sat
on
a
tray
on
the
hutch
behind
his
desk.
Hilde
started
and
they
went
over
the
details
,
beginning
with
the
wedding
and
ending
at
the
rail
-
yard
confrontation.

“
We
called
for
a
taxi
to
take
us
back
to
the
hotel
after
the
attack
at
the
rail
yard,
”
Hilde
said
.
Mike
glanced
at
her,
discreetly
signaling
her
not
to
mention
Kharzai.
“
We
tried
to
get
hold
of
Tonia
this
morning
,
but
couldn’t.
I
left
a
message
on
her
cell
phone
,
but
she
has
n’t
called
back
yet.
”

“
Well
, I might be able to shed some light on
that
last
concern,
”
Caufield
said
.
“
Agents
Warner
and
Roberts
are
inspecting
the
underground
tunnels
beneath
the
Delaney
Park
Strip
and
adjacent
areas
with
one
of
my
agents.
They
are
going
to
be
out
of
cell
range
as
long
as
they
are
underground
, w
hich
is
probably
going
to
be
most
of
the
day.
”