Read Under Suspicion - The Legend of D.B. Cooper Page 30

Thursday morning.

  In a large office area, at the DEA building in Seattle, there were people moving about while others were talking on phones. In the back office with glass doors, Deputy Director Cranston sat behind his desk while O’Leary finished describing the previous night’s events in detail.

  “Damn it!” Cranston yelled, slamming his fist down on his desk. “Not only does he screw up the bust, but he kills the only man on board who can inform on Kingpin. This time he’s gone too far. Rodriguez!”

  From the desk just outside the door she turned around. “Yes, sir?”

  “The minute Bradley comes in tell him to see me, escort him if you have to,” Cranston barked as he got up and walked towards the door.

  “Sorry sir, but Bradley called in sick this morning.”

  “Then get him on the phone. I want to talk to him, pronto!” he ordered.

  “Yes sir,” she replied before he closed the door.

  “O’Leary, I want you and Anderson to get all the paperwork together that I need to can his butt! Now get moving.”

  “Yes sir,” Anderson replied. The two agents walked out of the office and towards their desks.

  Cranston opened the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle of Pepto Bismol. With a shaky hand he took a long drink. It’s too early in the morning for this, he thought to himself. But he knew there was no way he would get through the report without it. As he paged through countless photos and pieces of paper on his desk, he couldn’t believe his eyes. Twenty years with the force and not once had he broken a rule, yet in what seemed like a blink of an eye, this boy had thrown the whole book out the window.