“None of them pulled out their guns. I happened to catch a glimpse of a gun on the agent who was standing outside with me. It was in his shoulder holster. The others might have had them as well, but I didn’t see them.” Gutierrez paused. “I’m not sure what you mean by their demeanor. The man outside kind of just stared at me. He looked tense. Almost immediately, I heard the cops’ sirens, and the three that had gone in came rushing back out. Oh, but before that, I heard breaking glass and what I thought might have been someone swearing in German.” He laughed nervously. “It’s all kind of a blur now. I know it doesn’t make much sense.”

Nate inhaled deeply, trying not to show any reaction. “You heard them speak German?”

“Well, I took German in high school. I can’t claim any fluency, but you know, in high school you make sure to learn the curse words. And that’s what it sounded like it to me.”

“What specifically did you hear?”

Gutierrez frowned. “Well, as the sirens were getting louder, I thought I heard ‘Zur Hölle damit,’ which I think means ‘to hell with it.’” With a pained expression, the doctor shook his head. “I think that’s what I heard, but I really can’t be sure. I was a little freaked out at the time.”

“That’s completely understandable, Dr. Gutierrez.” Nate kept his cool even as alarm bells sounded in his mind. “Where did the agents go when they left?”

“They just ran back down the stairs. Didn’t even say a word to me. I didn’t really pay attention to where they went afterwards. My mind was kind of focused on the police siren and then the flashing lights as the cop cars arrived. Although… I did notice a van leaving the parking lot just as the cops arrived. It could have been them.”

“Did you happen to notice the make of the van? Model, color?”

“It was black, or at least a really dark gray. Not sure about the rest. It was a panel van—no windows except up front. But beyond that… I don’t know. It was too far away for me to see too much detail. Heck, I didn’t even see which direction they turned out of the parking lot.”

Nate sat back. This hadn’t been in the report. A panel van? If he were conducting some kind of multi-person tactical op, that would be a reasonable choice of vehicle.

“The report noted that your home laptop was missing. You didn’t notice anything else missing?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“So, you didn’t have any work-related items missing?”

Gutierrez shook his head. “I don’t keep work stuff at home anymore.”

“Really? That surprises me. Most folks nowadays tend to bring a bit of work back home with them.”