Killer Weekend Read Free Page B

transcript?
    dryer: It's coming, which probably means we'll get it Tuesday or Wednesday, after the conference and Ms. Shaler's talk, Sunday morning, are long behind us. Government work.
    fleming: But credible.
    dryer: Mentions "AG" and a price of five hundred thousand dollars. 
    shaler: My stock has gone up. The first man to try to kill me was a volunteer.
    cutter: Dick feels it's of concern, certainly, but it was apparently stated vaguely enough that it could be for any date, now or well into the future.
    fleming: I take it means we make adjustments. Have we considered canceling the talk?
    cutter: Let's not get carried away.
    fleming: You'll excuse me, sir, but any of us getting carried away is what we're trying to prevent.
    dryer: Any talk of cancellation is premature. We've received twelve threats in the past three weeks. This is by far the most credible, but we need more intel.
    cutter: It's the end piece of the conference. I will honor and respect whatever decision you make, Liz, but you know the stakes.
    shaler: No one's canceling anything. Walt is just looking after me. I appreciate it, and I'm going to listen to him and give it some thought.
    dryer: It comes back onto you, Sheriff. We all report to you. 
    cutter: But not the decision making! Liz can make up her own mind about appearing or not.
    fleming: I agree with Special Agent in Charge Dryer: We need as much intel as possible. Has the threat been assigned?
    dryer: It didn't come from OC. That's what we got from the Bureau. Not mob. A third party, someone unknown to them, is behind the buy. That could be good news, could be bad. But at least it's not some crime family, because that would scream duck and cover, as far as I'm concerned.
    fleming: And maybe still does. 
    dryer: For now we stick with the plan: My guys cover her in transit and in situ. Your boys clear the routes, handle crowd containment, traffic flow, and advise us on back-door routing. If there's any investigation to take place, that's going to have to come from you, Sheriff. It's not what we do, and I don't have the staff. I've asked the Bureau to stay on top of this, but you never know. They're over worked and underpaid, just like the rest of us. Most of the rest of us. cutter: I can offer any of Dick's team. He has a couple dozen men on the ground, as far as I know. Most, if not all, are ex-Bureau or military. No one with less than twelve years. A bunch of investigations among them.
    fleming: I'll get with O'Brien then. Thank you.
    shaler: I want you all to know that this isn't the first time and won't be the last, I'm sure. I feel very safe in your care. I'd like to be kept up on what we know, and I'd be the most comfortable if Sheriff Fleming acted as go-between. So I trust, Agent Dryer, that every effort will be made to keep the sheriff in the loop at all times.
    fleming: Sure thing.

    What the transcript would never reveal, Walt realized, were the nuances of glances and telegraphed body language that accompanied the discussion. Patrick Cutter believed he had the most to lose. He worked himself up throughout the meeting, growing steadily more agitated. Special Agent in Charge Dryer maintained a dispassionate calm, but failed to make eye contact with Walt even once, confirming how uncomfortable he was with Walt's theoretical control of the conference's security, and his relationship with Liz Shaler; Dryer was a take-charge man, and he saw Walt as standing in his way. Liz Shaler had stood up for Walt, perhaps a little too much, focusing her attention nearly entirely on him over the ten-minute discussion, embracing Walt as her ally, and perhaps even using this support as a threat to Patrick Cutter and Agent Dryer. Walt came away better informed but oddly less confident of his own position. There were games at play, both subtle and overt. The unspoken but clearly apparent alliance between Cutter and Dryer was what he feared most—they meant to have Liz Shaler to