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Title: The Shadows Grow Long 15/18
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Tuesday, 2:45am, Bull Run National Park
They came in quiet, but they came in force.
There were local and state police, FBI, Secret Service agents, and an ambulance. Fortunately, they didn�t have to search long. Right there in the middle of the road lay a body.
As much as the Secret Service agents wanted to talk to her, they let the paramedics in first. The medics knew the significance of this victim, though, so as soon as they felt she wasn't in immediate danger they waved an agent over.
The paramedic warned the agent, "I know you need to talk to her and why, but take it easy on her. She was out cold when we arrived. Looks like she's had one hell of a night.� As the paramedic tended to her gunshot wound, he also gestured over to her car, mangled against a tree off the side of the road. �We know you want her at GW for security reasons, so a Life Flight will be here any minute. It shouldn�t take more than 20 minutes to get her there."
The agent saw the damage to both Stephanie and her car and agreed that this young woman had been through a lot. He knew that he would need to go slowly with her, but hopefully she would have some information that might help.
"Hi, Stephanie. My name is Agent Leon Martinez,� he said as he bent over her. �I know you're hurting, but I'd like to ask you a couple of questions. Would that be okay?"
The paramedic had already put Stephanie in a neck brace, so when she tried to nod she was forced instead to say, "Sure."
"Thanks, Stephanie. Now what can you tell us about the man who shot you?"
"Um, well, his name is Carl Leroy. His friends - the other two guys - were Brian and Russ." Steph said, but was interrupted as one paramedic yelled over her head to the other paramedic about her BP.
"Can you tell us what he looks like?"
"He's crazy. He laughs a lot and yells. He tried to kill the black man with the President. He's skinny and bald, but he's about my age. Oh, and he has a tattoo, right here. A swastika." She tried to point with her right hand to her left, but by this time the paramedics had already inserted IV lines to her arms, which made moving difficult. So instead she said, "Over his left thumb."
Martinez was impressed with the information this brave woman had gathered, but he realized she was starting to slip away again. "Thank you. That's great information, Stephanie, and will help us a lot.�
As he started to move away, Stephanie mumbled something and waved her hand to get him back.
The paramedic called to him, �Hey, it looks like she�s trying to tell you something else.�
Agent Martinez moved back and leaned in closer. �What, Stephanie, what did you say?"
"Barbecue. We got off the freeway here because he said he wanted barbecue," she said on a slur as she passed out again.
Agent Martinez stepped back to let the paramedics in. For a moment, he worried that she had hit her head harder than they had thought. But when he realized what she was trying to tell him, he was stunned. On the run, he grabbed his radio to contact Agent Ron Butterfield and to mobilize the rest of his agents here in the area.
email Teresa
mercier_beaucoup at yahoo.com
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