Chapter 59

“Are you through with your meeting?’’ Ching Lee asked, ‘‘If not, finish it up.’’

I forced myself not to smile; Ching Lee was growing more aggressive and stronger since Takeo was born. Before she always needed a little guidance then took things and ran with them. She did not need the guidance any more - now we needed to make sure we got out of her way.

‘‘Frank, Jim and Harry, stay; the rest of you continue with your assignments,’’ Ching Lee said as they got up to leave.

‘‘Frank, I was happy to see that you did not cave into the student union demands about changes to the guards at the parking lot entrances. I am disappointed to see that the university still has not made any attempt to install any kind of restrictive fencing along the front by the highway. That was one of the recommendations of last year’s audit and they agreed to it,’’ Ching Lee said.

Ching Lee had brought two maps - one was the college grounds as it was today and the other was last year’s map after the audit with the suggested changes marked on it.

Unfortunately there were a few that had not been started let alone completed. The college had agreed to do all of them.

I called Washington just in time to catch Bobby before she went home.

“Can you look up in the grant system to see what amount Oklahoma State applied for and was finally granted, the application date and the award date?” I asked.

“They requested four point nine million sixteen months ago under the Emergency Construction Terror Prevention Program. The House appropriations approved four point two million fourteen months ago.”

‘‘There have been progress reports on the construction phase of four items in the request, those four were completed. There were no completion or compliance reports on the four remaining,’’ Bobby said.

‘‘OK Bobbie, thanks, have a good evening,” I said.

Either way it was too late to push the issue now. I anticipated that any attack would happen in sixty days or less. The only thing pushing a rush on construction would do was telegraph that we were on to them - the last thing I wanted to do.

Tomorrow I would have Ben put the screws to the college. The grants had restrictions and regulations. They had to have specific projects listed and the cost of those projects with bids accompanying the request. The funding was not meant to be just a cash grant. There was a deadline on the construction with one grace period for weather or material shortage.

I needed to do that to protect both JBG and myself at the task force. If the media ever got wind that a college with JBG security was let slide on the grant requirements there would be hell to pay.

There were Representatives and Senators who wanted the grant program stopped, freeing up funds for pet projects. There were others that were still pissed that their favorite college didn’t get special treatment in the grants.

“Our visit is not social and our conversation is strictly confidential. This college is at the top of a list of potential terror targets gleamed from recent ISIS sources.’’

‘‘I expect an attack to be carried out against Oklahoma State this school year. I agree with Ching Lee that it is a disappointment that the college has neglected to complete the agreed upon measures. There is nothing we can do about that.’’

‘‘What we can do is gently step up security without tipping off the people that are watching and doing the planning,” I said.

‘‘We don’t want to drive them away and underground with their planning. We don’t want them to suspect we are watching but that is exactly what we are going to do.”

‘‘The EIT group is scouring all known communication links that the terrorist had and still use. We know this group is Middle Eastern or possibly African connected so all students from those areas are to be looked at.”

‘‘What Robert, BJ and I need you to do is to tighten your surveillance of those individuals without being obvious. Use the card system to track them. Are they routine meeting on campus, off campus, in small groups or large groups? Be intelligent about it.”