The Assassin's Trail by J.C. Fields

“The agency will require too much paperwork and court orders for the kind of internet search I need. JR can do it with his eyes closed and not ruffle any feathers.”
    She nodded, “Okay, I’ll clean up and go to the hospital and let you know about Neil as soon as possible. Sean…”
    “Yes?”
    “Be careful.”
    “I will.”
    Stephanie went to the bathroom, and Kruger heard the shower start. He went to his desk and retrieved the glass in the plastic bag with the fingerprints. He stared at it and said to himself, “Guess I need to get you to Fed Ex for a quick overnight. Maybe this will help give us the name of our eavesdropper.”
    Kruger looked at his wrist. His watch still wasn’t there. Glancing at the digital clock, he determined he had a few hours before the conference call. Plenty of time to clean up and get to the KC office. He had a bad feeling the events of the day would suck him into the investigation of the other two murders. All three were rich. The first two had connections to Israel. He realized he needed to know what connection Guevara might have to the Jewish state and he needed to know it before the conference call at the KC office. It was time to call Seltzer and bring him up to speed.
    He didn’t know his phone call would set in motion a cascade of events affecting Stephanie and him for the foreseeable future.

Chapter 13
     
    Kansas City, MO
    Monday
     
    By 3 p.m., Kruger was checking emails in an empty cubicle on the second floor of the Kansas City FBI Office. Nothing from Luke yet, but after this amount of time, he was not optimistic about getting results from the photos. The drinking glass was another matter; Fed Ex Priority Overnight was scheduled to deliver it directly to Luke Riley's attention first thing in the morning. Hopefully by Tuesday afternoon, he would have a name and face.
    Kruger understood when Dollar told him to go home and clean up, he meant for Kruger to put on a suit and tie before the conference call. He had no intentions of wearing a suit to the office, so he showed up in khakis, FBI polo shirt, light tan socks and his Docksider loafers. At least he was comfortable, and hopefully sending Dollar a message he wasn’t Kruger’s boss.
    Promptly at five minutes to four, a young agent stopped at his cubicle and said, “Are you Agent Kruger?”
    Kruger looked over his reading glasses at the agent and nodded.
    “They're ready to start in the conference room. Agent Dollar sent me to find you. Ah... sir, Agent Dollar has a strict dress code for the office. Coat and tie at all times.”
    Kruger stood, closed his laptop, placed it in his backpack, walked around the desk, patted the young agent on the shoulder, and smiled before answering.
    “I don't work for Mint Dollar. Besides, I'm on vacation.”
    He exited the cubicle farm and headed for the conference room.
    When Kruger entered, Dollar glared at him, shook his head, and said, “You're late, Agent Kruger.”
    Kruger glanced at his watch, it was exactly four o’clock and the conference call had not started. He said, “No, I'm not, it’s just now four.” Pointing at the large screen monitor on the wall, he added, “No call yet.”
    “In this office, we anticipate, we are professional, and we are punctual.”
    Kruger rolled his eyes, shook his head, and found an empty chair on the far end of the conference table. He glanced around. There were eight other agents, all young and all in dark gray suits with red striped ties. Except for the faces, they were identical. He removed his computer from his backpack and placed it on the conference table. He stifled his urge to laugh at the absurdity of Dollar and his rules. Finally, he was saved by the big screen coming to life with the image of FBI Director Phillip Wagner. Sitting next to him was Deputy Director Paul Stumpf and Assistant Deputy Director Alan Seltzer.
    Director Wagner started, “Thank you all for joining this call. I wish it was under better circumstances. Deputy