Free Incitement by David Graham Page A

attacks, people like Allenby and Samuels tabbed her as anti-Plan. Thinking about it now, she was not so worried about Allenby. There was little chance of them crossing
paths regularly; she was too low in the pecking order to justify his interest. Samuels, however, was another matter; as chief of operations, he could certainly influence her future in the DEA.
    One positive she took away was the task Marshall had set her, to investigate further and establish one way or the other whether there was cause for concern. Yes, it meant seven-day weeks until
she could offer something conclusive but it might help TAIT’s cause. A good job might convince Marshall to break the budgetary deadlock.
    The train stopped at a station and she watched some passengers leave. One woman stepped down, walked to a waiting man and together they headed off down the platform, arms interlinked. She would
have to give Jean a call to see how last night’s dinner had gone and check how annoyed her intended date had been. Lately she had found herself leading an increasingly solitary lifestyle, a
trend she wanted to reverse. Being in her late thirties and having a demanding job made it difficult to meet new people. In college it had been easy; there had always been one party or other to go
to and she had enjoyed the exhausting social schedule. Even during her brief time with the investment bank, building a full life outside work had been effortless. Most of her colleagues had been of
a similar age and at the same stage in life, interested in making the most of life following the lean financial years of college. After the divorce, though, it had become harder. She had met Alan
straight after college and they had been married just six months later, too quickly as it turned out. Less than two years later, when they had finally accepted their mistake, they split. A little
time to herself afterwards to get her head together had stretched to months and had then been compounded by her radical career change.
    During the first year with the DEA, she had lost touch with so many people, not all of it due to her being neglectful. The demands of the new job had played their part but by the time she had
been ready to rekindle the friendships, a lot of the old crowd had moved on with their lives and, she had realised, so had she. Perhaps it would have been easier had she still shared the same
professional background. But how many of them were interested in the street price of crack along the eastern seaboard and, for that matter, how much did she care anymore about the current rate of
deficit spending?
    Well, she knew she needed to make a concerted effort to reverse the trend in her personal life, and she would. Just not right now. When she had successfully completed Marshall’s
assignment, the situation with TAIT would become clearer and things would get easier.
    “... all the latest gossip from Hollywood.”
    “Okay, something to look forward to later in the bulletin, no doubt. Thanks for that, Mark.”
    Sandra Whittaker, the co-presenter of the evening news bulletin, swivelled away from the entertainment reporter to face the camera.
    “Over the past months, the joint-initiative Plan Coca, the strategy designed to bring the struggle against the Colombian drug cartels to their own backyard, has intensified its
operations. We have a report now from Caroline Williams, our correspondent in the Putumayo region of Colombia, on the campaign’s latest success. Following this segment, we’ll be talking
to Senator Charles Dalton about the benefits the Plan is already demonstrating here in the US.”
    “In the early hours of this morning, Plan Coca experienced its most significant breakthrough to date.” The picture opened with a close-up of the reporter’s head and
shoulders. “For months, the authorities have been trying to locate a major cocaine processing plant in this part of Putumayo. Yesterday, they succeeded. Fierce ground fighting ensued between