Shrugging his shoulders the staff sergeant looked out the windows, scanning about to see if anyone was giving them anything more than a passing glance. Satisfied that they were still being ignored, he turned back to Nancy. “Those paras are an energetic and imaginative collection. And they’re tough, dedicated, and not ones to roll over and play dead when the chips are down.”

“So you agree with me,” Nancy beamed.

“Even if I did, Colonel, may I ask what that has got to do with us? After all, they are on the other side,” Lightfoot reminded her.

Looking into Lightfoot’s eyes, Nancy hesitated. Her eyes narrowed. “Are they?”

Lightfoot didn’t need to consider his answer. “No, I guess not,” he whispered. Then, he added as he shook the map at her, “What do we do about them?”

Now it was Nancy who turned away and took a quick look around while she considered his question. When her eyes came back to Lightfoot, she cocked her head to one side as she licked the glue which had rehardened and pressed the envelope flap back down. Only when she was satisfied with her efforts to hide all traces of her tampering did she respond.

“I expect that they’ll be running low on rations by now. And if they’re using a pay phone to call, it’s a cinch they don’t have a secure means of contacting their highers,” Nancy reasoned.

Lightfoot nodded his agreement to her assessment but said nothing.

“It would be wrong for me,” she stated slowly as she looked into Lightfoot’s eyes, “to involve you in this, but …”

“I’d be mightily displeased if you excluded me,” he stated before she could finish.

Smiling for the first time, Nancy continued. “Well then, here’s what we do. After we’re released tonight we find a Hummer no one is using, load it up with rations, fresh water, and anything else you might think is useful. Then we take off looking for them. Between the two of us I think we’ll be able to sniff ’em out.”

As they pulled out of the parking lot, Lightfoot asked Nancy what had been in the letter. She shrugged. “Oh, nothing important. The AG was simply expressing his concerns over what the Attorney General is doing. General Saunders wanted to make sure,” she explained to her coconspirator, “that the governor understood how he feels about arming the militias. It seems that he doesn’t quite trust them.”

Lightfoot looked over to Nancy. “That’s a surprise. I thought Earl and all those good ole boys were bros.”