Sara nodded, closed the door, and glanced at the paper. It was a handwritten fax message to her that read:
Go BACK To Your post.
A five-digit number followed the message. They dressed and hurried to meet Molina.
"Who wants you to go back to your post?" Kerney asked as they walked down the corridor to the elevators.
"And why?"
"I don't know," Sara replied in a troubled voice.
The elevator doors slid open on the ground floor to reveal Molina pacing impatiently. The night manager behind the guest check-in counter looked on with unabashed interest.
"How did you locate us?" Kerney asked Molina.
"Ingram faxed your wife a message," Sal said, holding up an office key.
"I've got a place where we can talk. What did the message say, Chief?"
Sara answered.
"Basically, it said get out of town."
Molina took them into the general manager's office and slipped a minicassette into his pocket tape recorder.
"This was just picked up from Agent Applewhite's room," he said.
"I recorded it off my handheld radio, so the sound quality isn't great, but you can still make it out."
Sara and Kerney listened to the tape of Ingram's conversation with Applewhite.
Molina glanced over Ingram's fax message. When the tape ended Sal asked,
"What do the numbers in the fax message mean?"
"Each West Point graduate is assigned what's known as a Cullen number,"
Sara said.
"It's named for the general who began chronicling biographies of every graduate in 1850. The numbers are assigned alphabetically and in sequence starting from the first graduate through the most recent class.
Everyone has a unique number. I'm betting this one is Tim's.
He wanted to make sure I'd know who sent the message."
"So that you'd take it seriously," Kerney added.
"He also gave Applewhite a suggestion on how to ease you out of the picture."
"Exactly. Something nasty is in the works and Ingram isn't happy about it. He risked a lot to warn me."
"How did he get onto you so fast?"
"I think I know," Molina said. He looked totally sleep deprived.
"Perry never showed at the airport, so Sloan took Apple white. I waited until Ingram arrived and followed him. He went directly to the federal courthouse, where he stayed for a good three hours."
"Did you keep a surveillance log?" Sara asked.
"I can give you exact times," Molina said, consulting his notepad. He read off a chronology of Ingram's movements in hours and minutes.
"He tapped into my laptop," Sara said.
"Either through Carnivore or SWAMI," Kerney said, swinging his attention to Molina.
"This is the second trip someone's made to the federal courthouse."
"Yeah, Perry last night," Molina said with a weary smile.
"But it feels like it happened a week ago."
"That's where the tapes are," Kerney said.
"How reliable is your informant?"
"Jake? He's a retired sheriff's captain."
"Perfect. That makes him a rock-solid source. See what more you can squeeze out of him. Get specific information about what's inside that room. Concentrate on communication equipment, radio and television monitors, computers-any kind of hardware that's used for electronic surveillance."
Molina took notes.
"He might not budge."
"Find a way to push him."
"Anything else?"
"Get background information on his law-enforcement career. I'll need to be able to show that he has expert knowledge of undercover operations and equipment."
"Are you going for a search warrant?"
"You bet I am. That room may hold exactly what's needed to break this investigation wide open. Where's Sloan?"
"Following Ingram back to Albuquerque."
"Someone has to keep an eye on Applewhite while you're busy with Jake.
Have Deputy Chief Otero backstop you. He's filled in on the operation.
If Charlie Perry makes an appearance, Larry covers him."
"How long do you want us to go with this, Chief?"
Kerney looked at his watch. It was four in the morning.
"We pull the plug in twelve hours, as originally planned. Can you hang in there?"
"Ten-four, Chief. Where will you be in case we need to make contact?"
"Sara and I will be paying some early visits to a couple of people.
I'll keep in touch with you by cell phone."