“I was a lawyer before that.”
“Right, but only for a few years. And not in any practice field that pays big bucks.”
“I invested well.”
“And your position in Congress allows you to write laws that concern companies that you’re invested in, I know.”
“That would be a conflict of interest.”
“Of course it is, but it still happens. Because people in Congress write the laws in a way that allows them loopholes the size of the Grand Canyon. And the burden of proof on public corruption is so high that it’s almost impossible to get a conviction, so prosecutors have just stopped trying.”
“Thank you to the United States Supreme Court for that. But if you have a complaint, you can speak to my assistants.”
“I think you probably have done the conflict-of-interest thing. But I doubt that’s where the bulk of your fortune came from. Your official financial disclosures only have to give broad ranges. You don’t have to disclose the value of your principal residence, and assets in certain trusts don’t have to be valued and disclosed at all. I would assume that you take advantage of all of those loopholes.”
“On the contrary, I take no steps to hide my wealth. You knew where I lived, or else you followed me here. I’ve had parties and fund-raisers here, and at my other residences. My personal financial history is transparent.”
“Not even close. And members of Congress don’t have to undergo security background checks. So there could be a lot in your background that we don’t know.”
“The media would have ferreted out any issues. And if you’re questioning my patriotism, we take an oath of secrecy, and as a member of the Intel Committee I took a separate oath.”
“Just words, nothing more.”
“I’m an elected official. The voters have vouched for my integrity by casting their ballot for me. So that case is closed.”
Pine shook her head. “That hardly does it in my book.” “Look, it’s been a long day and I need to get to bed.”
“Trust me, your days are going to get longer.”
Franklin sat forward and snarled, “I’m getting tired of this back-and-forth bullshit. And just so you know, vague threats do not move me. Try it again and you’ll be looking at a lawsuit for slander. And a congressional investigation into how the FBI vets its agents. I doubt the FBI director likes his agents going rogue.”
Pine sat forward, too. “Then let me make it a little less vague. All the penthouses are under surveillance. Any time now you’re going to get served with search warrants along with God knows how many other high-ranking officials and CEOs and judges and cops and other traitors.”
“Do you think I’ve been blackmailed, Agent Pine?”
“I don’t recall mentioning anything about blackmail. I wonder why you would.”
Franklin tensed but then relaxed and sipped her brandy. “I made an assumption based on what you just told me. I’m allowed that, right? People in high places? Traitors?”
“Do you really want to know why I’m here?”
“Certainly. Then maybe we can draw this meeting to a close.”
“I can cut you a deal.”
Franklin almost spilled her drink. “A deal? I’m a lawyer, Pine. I’m assuming you’re not. So don’t try to intimidate me. I eat people like you for lunch.”
“You weren’t a criminal lawyer, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. They killed Jeff Sands. They gunned down Tony Vincenzo on a beach in New Jersey. Lindsey Axilrod, or whatever her real name is, was going to stick him with some shit in a syringe before I temporarily rescued him.”
“I know none of those people and you have no proof that I do.”
“By tomorrow the proof will be there. Do you want to be ahead of the curve, or behind it and in a jail cell?”
“The FBI really needs to start hiring higher-caliber personnel. I will be delighted to subpoena you to appear before one of my committees. I will tear you to shreds. You’ll lose your badge and what little dignity you might have left. You can spend the next fifty years in regret.”
“Do I take that as a no?”
“This meeting is over,” snapped Franklin. “Please leave, now. Or I’ll call the police.”
Pine rose. “Okay, then I’ll give Gorman the deal instead. He’ll probably claim you ordered the killings and the kidnapping of an FBI employee and an Air Force lieutenant colonel. SAC Graham doesn’t care where the inside help comes from. He told me it’s full throttle all the way.”
Franklin paled just a bit and her voice changed. “Graham? You spoke to Warren Graham?”
“He is head of the New York Field Office. Who else would be heading up an operation the size and complexity of this one?”
“Operation?”
“Yes, it’s official title is Operation Stars and Stripes.” She looked down at the woman in all her smugness. “But it has an unofficial name, just for the amusement of us FBI types.”
“And what, pray tell, is that?” asked Franklin, giving Pine a cocksure smile.
“Operation Kiss Your Ass Good-bye.”
Pine let herself out of the mansion.
CHAPTER
67
PINE CLIMBED INTO HER CAR and sped off. But she merely drove around the corner and parked. She called the number she had been given by Warren Graham. A woman’s voice immediately answered.
“Okay, Agent Pine, we have the wiretaps on her phones—hardline, cell, and a second cell—and all her email accounts.”
“I put the fear of God in her. She should be calling out to Gorman now. Then we can trace the call.”
“Roger that. I’ll let you know as soon as she initiates contact.”
“There are other people in that house. A maid and a cook. What if she uses their phones or email accounts?”
“We have a digital blanket wrap on that house, Agent Pine. Anything coming from there we can sweep up. The warrant was broad enough to cover that.”
Pine clicked off and then called Puller. She told him what she had done.
“As soon as she makes the call, email, or text we can trace it. These days they don’t have to be on the phone for half an hour. The Bureau can make the connection really fast.”
“Where are you now?”
“Outside of Franklin’s place in Greenwich Village.”
“Give me the exact address so I can relay it to General Pitts.”
She did so and added, “But the FBI will be keeping a short leash on her. She’s not going anywhere.”
“Belt and suspenders, Atlee.”
He clicked off.
And Pine waited. And waited. Forty minutes went by. Then an hour.
She called the number again. The woman said, “Nothing, Agent Pine. She’s made no call or email or text. We got one text coming out of there about twenty minutes ago. A Lily Walker. It apparently was sent to her boyfriend because it had some, well, it would be reasonable to call it sexting.”
Pine’s spirits plummeted. How could that be? After their meeting Pine was sure Franklin would try to contact Gorman to warn him. She might try to go see him, too, but that would be far riskier. She would know she would be followed. Had she figured out that her phones had been tapped? Did she have another email account or a burner phone they weren’t aware of? If so, her plan was not going to work.
She noticed movement on the street and tensed. Someone had turned the corner from Franklin’s residence and was walking toward her. When the person passed under the streetlamp, Pine saw that it was Lily, Franklin’s maid. Was Franklin using her as a messenger somehow?
Going with her gut, Pine got out and quickly crossed the street. The rain had stopped but the air was chilly and the pavement and streets slick.
“Hey.”
Lily pulled up, looking fearful at first, and then, recognizing Pine, she relaxed.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Oh, that’s okay. What are you still doing around here?”
“I ha
d some other business in the area. I thought you were hitting the sack.”
Lily smiled. “I took a catnap. But I’m heading to meet my boyfriend. There’s a club in SoHo we want to try.”
Pine looked at her watch. “It’s after midnight.”
Lily smiled. “That’s when things start really going.”
“Ah, to be young again.”
“And my room is pretty small and there’s not much to do. But when Ms. Franklin finishes renovating the other house, she said I’ll have my own sitting room and access to an indoor pool and a home theater. That will be so cool.”
“Other house?” said Pine.
“Yeah, the one next to hers. She bought that last year. She plans to combine it with the existing residence. I don’t know why they haven’t started construction yet. I thought it would have started a while ago. I’m kind of bummed.”
“Lily, is there any connection between the two buildings now?”
“What? Oh yeah, that was the cool thing. Ms. Franklin told me. See, those two homes used to be owned by the same person, like nearly a hundred and fifty years ago. Then, at some point, they were separated and sold as two houses. Talk about minting money. But there’s an old passageway between the two. It goes under both houses. Cellar to cellar. It’s boarded up now, of course. But I’ve seen the door to it. Ms. Franklin showed me a while back.”
Every muscle in Pine’s body tensed. She pulled out her badge and creds. “I’m an FBI agent. And I need to get inside that house now.”
“What?” Lily took an anxious step back.
“When was the last time you saw Adam Gorman?”
“Mr. Gorman?” She looked confused for a moment. “He . . . he came by last night.”
“Do you know why?”
“No.”
“How long did he stay?”
“I think about an hour.”
“How did he come? By car? Did he walk?”
Lily didn’t answer right away. She stood there looking pensive. “That was the funny thing.”
“What?”
“I never heard a car pull up. I was actually looking out the front window. Then, when I turned and walked back down the hall, there he was with Ms. Franklin, going into the library.”
“Could he have come in the back door?”
“No, they’re all on a chime. I would have heard it.”
Pine was barely listening. “You said there’s a connecting passageway between the two houses?”
“Yes, there is. What is going on?”
“I don’t have time to explain. Let’s go.”
As they rushed back down the street, Pine called the woman at the FBI surveillance center and told her what she had just found out.
“We’ll get a team there as fast as we can, but if it’s listed as a separate residence, we don’t have a search warrant for that house, Agent Pine.”
“Screw the search warrant. I’m going in.”
She texted Puller and relayed the new information. Then they reached Franklin’s house.
“Where is Franklin?” asked Pine.
“I thought she went to her room.”
“I don’t think so. Take me in the back way.” Pine pulled her gun.
“You’re scaring me,” wailed Lily as she glanced at the weapon.
“After we get in there, I need you to take me to the passageway connecting the two houses.”
“And then what?”
“And then I want you to get out of the house and go see your boyfriend. And don’t come back here.”
Lily led her into the back garden and down a set of steps. She unlocked the door and they went inside. Pine made Lily stop and she listened intently. Then she nodded.
Lily led her down a set of steep stairs that ended in a stone passage that smelled of mold and age. At the end of the passage was a door.
“It’s open,” said Lily, looking alarmed.
“Saves me the trouble,” replied Pine. “Now go!”
Lily flew up the steps and out of sight. Pine pulled out her Beretta backup and started down the hall.
CHAPTER
68
THE MUSTY, FUGGY ODORS INCREASED as she moved down the passage. Pine glanced at the walls. They were a mixture of old stones and aged brick. The floor was stone as well. And the temperature had dropped about fifteen degrees. The illumination was a series of single light bulbs with a power line snaking between them.
She rounded a corner and found a partially open door facing her. She eased up to it, trying to move as silently as possible. So much for military quick-strike teams and an overpowering force from the FBI.
It’s just me and my two guns until the cavalry gets here, if it ever does.
She slowly peered around the door and two things caught her eye.
A pair of women’s shoes that she recognized as belonging to Blum.
And a military dress jacket with its myriad ribbons, no doubt belonging to Robert Puller, was draped over the arm of a wooden-backed spindle chair.
Pine had a sense of inward relief. If their things were here, it was a safe bet that they were, too.
She didn’t want to open the door farther, afraid that it might make undue noise. Instead, she squeezed her body past it and entered the small room. There was a hallway running off to her right where the passage no doubt continued.
On a foldup table next to the chair were two empty pizza boxes and three open beers. Pine hoped whoever she was about to confront had been drinking. It might slow their senses long enough to let her prevail against what would undoubtedly be superior numbers.
She stopped to text her location and how she had gotten into the house to the FBI team and Puller. Thankfully, the text went through, even this far down and with stone walls and ceilings.
She continued on down the passage, listening intently for any sound that might give her some intel on who was down here and where they were. Ten more seconds passed, and she heard something that made her freeze.
The raised voice said, “So how the hell do we get out of this?”
It was Franklin’s voice. It was tense, angry, and blunt.
The next voice was Gorman’s. Pine recognized it from when Gorman was playing the role of police officer after gunning down Jerome Blake.
“Calm down, Nora, I have this covered.”
“Bullshit. I told you that you never should have taken them.”
“And what exactly did you want me to do? She was filming us in the hotel. She met with Robert Puller in an alley and they were discussing us. Did you want me to just let them walk away?”
“I am telling you that the FBI is about to come down on us like a ton of bricks.”
“One agent, this Atlee Pine, put that notion into your head. I have feelers out everywhere and I’ve heard nothing of the kind.”
“She’s a good liar, that Atlee Pine,” said a new voice.
Pine’s fingers tightened around both guns.
It was Lindsey Axilrod.
Axilrod continued, “She knows a lot, too much, but she doesn’t know about either of you. She just thinks this is about drugs.”
“Now you’re the one lying,” snapped Franklin. “She told me about the penthouse. She’s figured out its true purpose. How the hell did they find out about that?”
Axilrod groaned. “Shit, Tony. He must’ve found out.”
“And she mentioned Warren Graham.”
Gorman snapped, “She’s full of crap. If Graham were onto us I would know, trust me.”
“Well, we have to get rid of Puller and the woman,” said Axilrod. “And we have to do it now. And then I’m going to find Pine and slit her throat.”
The next moment Pine kicked the door open. One pistol was pointed at Gorman, the other at Axilrod.
“Well, here’s your chance,” said Pine.
They all three turned to the doorway. Franklin screamed as Gorman grabbed her and put her between himself and Pine. He held a knife blade against the woman’s neck.
“Pu
t down the gun or she’s dead.”
“That won’t be happening,” replied Pine. “So slit away.”
Axilrod heaved a chair at Pine and she had to duck. A second later the trio fled out of sight and continued down the passage.
Two shots fired at her kept Pine from charging headlong after them.
She waited a few moments and then peered around the corner. She jumped back as another shot tore a chunk of the wall off. Some of the shrapnel cut her cheek.
She peered back around the corner, saw the hall was clear, and hustled down it. She launched sideways, rolled, and came up firing as another man, large and beefy, charged at her from another doorway. Three rounds from her Glock hit him in the chest, and he slumped against the wall and slowly slid down it, dead.
She kept going and started to sprint as she saw a doorway farther down the hall start to open. She left the floor, leaping forward, then landed a devastating kick against the door, slamming it backward and catching the man behind it flush in the face.
He screamed in pain and tried to lift his pistol.
He never got the chance because Pine crushed his hand between the door and doorjamb. He dropped the gun, fell to his knees, and caught a kick right under his chin, lifting him backward. The back of his head banged into the wall, and he slipped into unconsciousness.
Pine heard someone scream.
It was Blum.
Pine rushed into the room and around a corner. And stopped dead, her chest heaving and both pistols held out in front of her. She had a myriad of targets.
And two hostages. Three, if she counted Franklin.
From above them, they heard the cacophonies of sirens.
As she faced off with Gorman and Axilrod, she also was looking at Robert Puller and Carol Blum. They were both bound and gagged. And Gorman was pointing one gun at Blum’s head, and one at Pine, while Axilrod had her weapon pointed at Puller. Franklin was cowering on the floor in the corner.
“We seem to be at a standoff, Agent Pine,” said Gorman calmly.
“I don’t see a way out for you,” said Pine, lifting her gaze to the ceiling for a moment. “The cavalry is almost here.”
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