The Assignment (Elvis presley story)

Chapter 11

He took his time, worried his upper lip with one finger for a minute, then shook it at Ava. "You were responsible for Vinland's arrest before. We know he got much less time than you thought he deserved for what he did. Now you seem to have convicted him of these bombings already. Suppose he's not the only one you should be after."

Ava blew out a breath of frustration, then shook her head. "Sheriff, I know he's the one. Who else would be doing this?"

"There were a couple of guests at the casino who might have been targets that had nothing to do with Vinland. As a matter of fact, we know they are loosely tied to organised crime here in the south. I think they were hoping to muscle in on our action, or at least check it out to see if it was worth their while. They certainly have enemies within their organisations. I asked a few of your people to pursue that line of investigation."

"That's in the works," She assured him. "But it's considered a real long shot, sheriff. I'm telling you, Vinland has plenty of reason to do something like this and he did. I'm sure of it."

The sheriff pursed his lips and inclined his head. "Okay, I'll give you the manpower to do the search, but let's try to keep an open mind. Vinland's got no business being back here on the boundary anyway, but unless you can prove he committed some crime, all we can do is send him packing. Even that will take some doing."

Elvis could see Ava working up to an argument and quickly intervened before she could let it fly. "Thank you, sheriff, that will be fine. Just catch him and let us question him. We'll take it from there."

The sheriff raised a dark brown and gave Elvis another once over.  "You are convinced he's our man? Do you have some information you haven't shared?"

"No," Elvis admitted, "but agent Walker's concerns seem legitimate to me. We need to find this man and we need your help."

He nodded. "All right, but I can't commit every man available. I'll give you six deputies and three cars."

Ava looked outraged, but she knew when to hold her tongue. She realised that was as much cooperation as she was going to get. Elvis added prudence and self-control to her attributes and would mention those in his report on her to Red. She also knew how to make do.

It was sometimes necessary in the business to work with what you had and make the most of it. Limited manpower and funding often altered an operation and agents had to adjust and compensate for that.

"Thank you, sheriff," She said, schooling her features into a more pleasant expression. "We appreciate it."

Elvis wanted to reassure her. He kept getting the urge to do that for some reason. Why? She was just as capable of understanding all the ramifications of this op as he was. Why was he seeing vulnerability in her that probably didn't even exist?

She began laying out a plan for the use of the limited resources available to her. If he had his way, she would become a great addition to COMPASS, and Red would be thanking Elvis for his assessment before Vinland even came to trial. And he would, Elvis thought. Ava would get her man one way or another. For what it was worth, her gut hunch about Vinland seemed right on the money to him.

He just hoped for all it was worth that personal prejudice wasn't creeping into his evaluation of Ava. The pride he felt in her didn't seem wholly of the professional variety and it bothered him more than he wanted to admit. He truly liked her as a person and that was okay. But he was also powerfully attracted to her as a woman. And that was not okay. He would need to ignore that. If he could.

She nodded to the sheriff and the others who were present, thanked them again, then closed her notebook. "Okay, that does it. sheriff, if you will divied up the search teams and assign areas to be canvassed, I'd appreciate it." She turned to Elvis. "You and I are on the radio and will act as control. That okay with you?"

Elvis shrugged and followed her out the door, closing it behind them. "It's your op. I'm just here to advise and lend a hand."

"And grade me," She added with a wry grin. They're setting up a small conference room over at City Hall for a command post. I asked one of the deputies to outfit it with maps, get a copy of Vinland's trial transcript and mark where his possible targets live and work. The EOD and other visiting personnel can use the place to coordinate."

"A-plus, so far," Elvis told her. "I like the way you handled everything, how you interface with local authorities."

She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't handling them if that's what you think. They're wise people with good ideas. It pays to listen and learn, even when you don't fully agree. I do wish the sheriff had bought into this a little more, however. We're going to be stretched pretty thin."

"You show respect when it's due," he said with a smile. "I like that."

She replied with a succinct bob of her head. "Now, if you want, I'll take you to Karen's kitchen and we'll get some breakfast. I'm starved."

He followed her out to the car and got in. "Don't tell me. Karen's another cousin of yours?"

She hopped in the driver's side and slammed the door.

"Nope, but she cooks the best hominy you ever had."

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! And thanks for reading! xoxo