Page 82 of Stone
“Once we know, is it worth putting advance teams in?” Parks suggested.
Everything Juliana “knew” about the FBI she’d learned from books, but she envied the woman’s cool. She’d only just been brought into all this yesterday, and she rolled with the punches and pushed forward like a…well, it wasn’t flattering, but she reminded Juliana of a snowplow. No matter what weather came at her, she kept pushing forward.
“Yes,” all three Falcons answered at the same time.
Juliana didn’t know exactly what an “advance team” entailed, but she could guess at the basics. “Are we getting ahead of ourselves here?” she asked. “We don’t even know if Lowery will take the bait.”
“As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail,” Sabina replied. “But I hear you. Even if he takes the bait and agrees to meet, who knows where or when he’ll set the meeting. Unless we want to have teams in place indefinitely, I’d suggest we only put eyes on both for now.”
“And when he makes the call and gives us a location,thenwe can decide whether to put advance teams inside,” Simon said.
“I agree,” Parks said.
Sabina nodded. “If we have surveillance at both sites, we’ll be in position to make a move when we need to. If the triad doesn’t send in their own advance team, then we can decide whether to send in ours.”
“I’ll make arrangements for the Auburn site. It’s closest to Sacramento,” Parks said.
“HICC will take the Galt site,” Leo said, typing something on his keyboard.
Juliana’s heart hitched, and her palms started sweating. “So I guess that means I’m making the call soon?”
Sabina glanced at Parks, silently signaling that the ball was in her court.
“We have a lot to walk through in terms of what you’ll say to him to, as Sabina said, provoke him in the right way. And while we’ve agreed on the site logistics, we haven’t even begun to talk about what might happenduringthe meeting.” Parks paused as her phone dinged with a text. She read the message but didn’t share. Instead, she set the device down and looked Juliana in the eye.
“We have a lot of ground to cover, but you should make the call tomorrow.”
39
“I’d like to speak to Supervisor Lowery, please,” Juliana said.
“He’s in meetings, may I ask who’s calling?” his secretary replied. She sounded efficient, and nothing in her tone gave any indication of how she felt about her boss. Juliana wondered if she knew—or had an inkling of—the man he was. Maybe she did and didn’t care. Or did and needed the job to keep food on the table. Or maybe Aaron Lowery was that good at hiding his true self.
“Please tell him Juliana Morganstern is on the line,” she replied, holding Simon’s steady gaze. She wondered if he had any idea how much she needed his grounding presence right now. She suspected he did. As always, though, his focus didn’t seem to be on what he was giving her, but on providing what she needed. There was a time when she hadn’t seen the difference, but she did now. The first was a form of currency, the second an act of love.
“Hold one moment, please,” the secretary said.
“You can end the call at any time,” Simon said, having heard the woman. To her right, Sabina shifted, but Simon didn’t take his eyes from her. Juliana anchored herself to him, then nodded.
“I know. And thank you, but I want this over with. We have a puppy to raise,” she said, managing a tiny smile.
“He really wouldn’t mind our undivided attention,” he conceded. They looked to their feet where the giant ball of black and tan lay sprawled on the floor of the atrium where they’d all gathered. Sherman’s butt was on her feet, and his front paws stretched out to rest on Simon’s toes.
“This dependance could be a problem,” she said.
“Maybe he needs a brother or sister.”
She looked up, holding his gaze, his words taking root in her heart. He wasn’t just talking about animals, but about their future.
“Connecting you now,” the secretary said, clicking on and off the line so quickly Juliana didn’t have a chance to thank her.
“Ms. Morganstern,” Lowery said, answering after one ring.
Juliana glanced at Sabina and Callie, a woman she was now on a first-name basis with. Both hovered over her, trying to look confident in her ability to guide the conversation as they’d agreed (after hours of discussion) the day before. Neither was very successful. She lowered her gaze and looked at Simon instead.
“Supervisor Lowery,” she said, pretending she was back in Simon’s bedroom practicing with him and only him. The team had gone over and over everything the afternoon before, but by six, she’d been exhausted and Simon had called an end to it. He’d driven her home, fed her dinner, then taken her to the hot spring. When they’d returned to his house for the evening, her nerves soothed, she’d asked him to practice with her. Without all the pressure of so many eyes on her, her confidence had grown. Now she needed to find that again and hold on to it.
“I will give you fifteen minutes to call me back on a less…public line, or we can continue as we are,” she said.
