about four more of them."
"Well, he didn't tell the rest of us about you, either, so it could be he
just doesn't communicate very well, y'know?"
Levering himself off the door frame, Cade said, "I'll leave my door open,
just in case. Later, milady," and swigged his beer as he headed for his room.
Some guy with a phone to his ear opened the temporary ops room's door across
the hall, saw Mandi, and spoke to someone as he stood there. Cade veered across
the corridor and noddingly pushed past him into the room.
The guy followed, protesting, but his objections ceased as Cade showed him
his ID.
"Where's Frank?" asked Cade.
"Uh, downstairs, at dinner. Which group are you with?"
"I'm on John's B-team. We worked with the cops today. You guys got any
loaner laptops in here?"
"No, they're two doors down. See Mitchell or Gray."
"Will do. Thanks," said Cade, heading for the door.
Some twenty steps later he had to use his keycard on his door, which hadn't
been closed when he'd left the room. Letting himself in, he closed the door
securely and turned to see Mandi step from behind the hallway corner by the bed.
With a grin, Cade said, "Hi, there. You're as quick as ever. Should I send
out for more beer?"
Waving her half-full bottle, Mandi smiled and said, "Oh, not just yet, I
think. I didn't really come here to party. Thanks for running interference for
me."
Looking enlightened, Cade said, "I knew there was a name for that," and
handed her his phone. "Might as well call John and see what he has to say about
what happened."
Mandi put the phone on the desk and pulled the chair out to sit down, then
said, "In a little while. First I'd like to hear what you think about what
happened."
Cade sat on the end of the bed and sipped his beer, then shrugged.
"I can think of a few possibilities. One; a kid named Jeremy sandbagged a
copy of the pictures and sent them to news outfits all over the place. Two; some
news guy may have set up a way around the ban. If the pix really were sent to a
hundred unaffiliated stations -- and I think they probably were -- some of those
stations would have put them on the air."
He sipped again, then said, "Three; the same unnamed people who are running
this op -- or those above them -- may have decided to spill the beans about our
new, no-longer-secret weapon. You know; to cheer up the voters and give the
terrorists the finge