OUR TASK FORCE had again assembled in Clapper’s office on short notice. It was 7:45 a.m., and technically I was late, but as I’d been the last soul in the squad room at 1 a.m., I met Clapper’s gaze and gave myself a pass.
Conklin was on his feet, reading aloud headlines: “‘Police Discover Cache of Military Weapons in Trunk of Car.’ ‘Fifth Grader Brings AK17 to School.’ ‘Parks Department Finds Automatic Weapons in Work Shed.’
“Cindy pulled another dozen stories like these from coast to coast, all dated within the last three days.”
Rich sat down beside me, and Clapper said, “What do you make of this? Anyone?”
I said, “Bayview was three days ago. So it could be that while we were there, the gun deal went down elsewhere.”
Clapper said, “Worst-case scenario. The party went on without us.”
I said, “Or maybe these weapons showing up all at once, hundreds of miles away, is a feint to get us off their trail.”
Clapper nodded, said, “Both are possible.”
He assigned two teams to calling the PDs in those towns and getting an update. Then he got out from behind his desk and stepped to the whiteboard. He stared at the faces of the dead men, who stared sightlessly back at him.
I could read his mind. We were nowhere, but not for lack of trying. Every cop in the Bay Area was working the homicides. The families, friends, neighbors, and coworkers of the deceased had given us everything they had, and we burned through manpower following dead-end leads.
And we were heading toward worse to come.
Alvarez spoke up. “What if we put out the word that the deal did go down? That we bought it?”
“I like that,” Chi said. “We missed the boat. Guns landed on the beach. No one is watching us now, and we continue to work this deal as before.”
“This time without Kenny Chen’s pointers,” said Conklin.
He was going for a laugh and got one, but Brady and I exchanged eye contact. I was still feeling the effects of the shoot-out in Bayview. I’d fired. Jammed on the gas. People had died.
“I’m not done with this,” said Clapper, “and you people are not quitters. Stay alert even in your dreams.”
We said “You bet” and “Yes, sir,” but I was swimming in place. I wanted to ask what we could have left out, overlooked, dropped? What was the truth about the monster gun run? Would we solve the homicides that were at square zero and going cold?