"Ed Howdershelt - Field Decision" - читать интересную книгу автора (Howdershelt Ed)

sometimes obstructive ploys to gain control or political favor both within the
agency and from outside.
John's offices weren't like that, partly because they existed only to
further a single purpose; to extract people from Iron Curtain countries and to
support agents who lived and worked on the other side of the line. The only
way to advance within the agency from John's offices was to leave them for
another office.
Ed Cade believed that it took a kind of sociopath to follow an
_'anything for the cause'_ banner. He'd never found a way to turn off his
brain and blindly follow orders, and John knew him well enough that Cade had
never been assigned to work with any of the other offices in the building.
John had warned Cade that Debra McAlister seemed to have the typical
resentment of the intelligence community that seemed to be fashionable lately.
It was John's opinion that the grousers resented the need for the agency more
than the agency itself. That need didn't fit into their preferred public image
of things.
A missing seventeen-year-old daughter had driven McAlister to look
beyond the usual sources for assistance. Some friend or acquaintance of hers
had suggested that she speak to Cade's boss. John had left the matter of
Cade's involvement up to him to determine by calling it a _'field decision'_.
Cade could take the job or leave it, supposedly without incurring any hard
feelings if he didn't take it.
John had warned Cade that the woman was likely to be rather difficult
at first. Cade had decided to play it by ear, but he'd let her know up front
that her full cooperation was essential, and that without it, he'd refuse the




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case.
The attractive blonde woman who answered his knock on the office door
was a living example of conservatism. Her hair was bound tightly and she wore
a matching jacket and skirt of some indeterminate shade of brown over her
tall, lanky frame.
She wore very little makeup and her earrings were simple little gold
studs. Her rather mechanical greeting lacked warmth, as did her _'I'm in
charge here'_ demeanor.
"Hi," he said, unbuttoning his coat. "I'm Ed Cade. John sent me."
She seemed to study him for a moment before saying, "Yes. Of course.
I'm Debra McAlister. Please have a seat by the desk, Mr. Cade."
She offered no handshake, instead waving him to a chair by the desk as
she walked toward it. He'd no sooner sat down than she handed him a manila
folder inside a large envelope. Cade took a moment to riffle the folder's
contents.
Inside it were pictures and copies of German police reports and reports
from the U.S. authorities. The latest item in the folder was over a month old,
dated October. That probably meant that nobody was looking too hard anymore.
Cade noticed that McAlister seemed to be staring at him. He looked up
and met her gaze as he asked, "Yes?"