by J. C. Fields
After taking a sip of his coffee, Moody turned and walked out of the coffee shop.
***
Jimmie Gibbs sat in a Ford Transit van with the decal of a local cable TV company on the side. He watched as the wife of Joel Moody backed out of her driveway. Her vehicle was a four-year-old Toyota Rav-4. After it drove off, he waited until he heard Clark tell him the woman was merging onto West Interstate 90.
After checking with Kruger, he gathered his tool bag, exited the van, and walked nonchalantly to the back of the Moody home. The back deck was hidden from neighbors by tall cedars and dense pine trees. Extracting a small tool from a leather pouch in his back jean pocket, he was through the door in thirty seconds.
The door opened into the kitchen area, and he stood quietly listening for any sign someone was at home. All he heard was the ice maker filling. When it finished, he stood still for another two minutes. The only sound he could hear was a ticking clock somewhere in the kitchen. Placing the tool bag on the kitchen floor, he extracted a Ziploc bag containing opaque discs with a thin colorless filament attached to each. He strategically placed one disc in each room of the house, making sure the tiny microphones were positioned to pick up any speech uttered within the rooms. One was placed behind each nightstand in the couple’s bedroom.
Gibbs completed his task in less than five minutes and did a quick sound check on each. With this task completed, he picked up his tool bag, relocked the door, and walked out onto the wooden deck. The back lot was relatively flat, with the deck a few inches off the ground. He reached into his tool bag and withdrew a small box the size of a small paperback book. The color of the box blended well with the weathered wood. Kneeling, Jimmie peeled the covers off of four patches on one side of the box and then reached under the deck to attach the object to a support post. With the object now hidden, he stood and walked back to the Ford van.
As he drove out of the neighborhood, he spoke for the first time since entering the house. “Package delivered.”
Knoll responded. “Roger.”
Turning to Kruger, who was sitting across the table at a local diner three miles from the house, Knoll said, “Okay, now we can listen to your meeting with Moody.’
Kruger nodded and sipped the coffee in the mug he held. “I’m not sure I trust him yet. Let’s make sure everyone is close at hand tonight.”
“Already planned. Gibbs will be in the trees behind the house. Range of the transmitter is three miles, so he will have no issues listening to your conversation. Clark and I will be parked a few houses down the block. We can be inside in a matter of seconds.”
“Good.” He sipped his coffee again. “Every action he’s taken indicates he wants to help. Why am I not convinced yet, Sandy?”
“It’s healthy to be suspicious, Sean. I’ve survived a lot of shit being suspicious.”
Smiling, Kruger nodded.
***
“Would you like coffee, Agent Kruger?”
“No, thanks.”
Kruger sat at the breakfast table watching Moody pour himself a cup. Prior to meeting with the ex-detective, Jimmie Gibbs explained to Kruger where the microphones were located and the best chair to occupy. He now sat in a chair across from where Moody would sit. A small glass bistro table located in the breakfast nook separated them. The bug was located under the chair on his right.
As soon as Moody sat down, Kruger asked. “Why did you call me the other night?”
The retired detective sipped his coffee. “Courtesy.”
Sitting back in his chair, Kruger crossed his arms over his chest. “Detective, I’m not going to sit here all night and listen to you dance around the subject. Tell me now, or I’m out of here.”
“You’re on the right track, Agent.”
Kruger did not respond, keeping his gaze on the man across the table.
“The list you were given was edited. There was a name removed from the original.”
Choosing not to tell Moody he already knew, he uncrossed his arms and leaned forward, placing his arms on the table.
“Uh… that’s withholding evidence, Joel.”
“I know.”
“You’re an ex-cop, why would you do that?”
“Technically, I didn’t. Robert Burns Sr. ordered the list changed.”
“Still, a prosecutor could charge you as an accessory.”
Moody nodded. “I did a little more research on you today, Agent. You have a doctorate in psychology and spent twenty-five years tracking down serial killers.”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Not really. There are a lot of reasons Mr. Burns had the list altered.”
Kruger did not respond.
“Over the course of your career with the FBI, I’m sure you’ve dealt with others like Robert Burns Jr.”
“What type would that be?”
“An individual who lacks remorse or empathy for what they do to others. Someone who won’t take responsibility for their own actions and lie about it.”
“Yes, I’ve dealt with a few.”
Sipping his coffee again, Moody put the cup down and stared at Kruger. “When I was an SPD Detective, Agent, I worked vice for a while, then a murder desk for several years. I’ve had to deal with all types of predators. Most weren’t too bright, which made catching them easy. A few were smart, but we eventually caught them.” He paused for a moment and stared past Kruger into the dark back yard. “Robert Burns Jr. is a brilliant man. Some of his inventions have made millions for Haylex Holdings. He is also deceitful and impulsive.”
“I know about the assault on the Senate intern. I also know it wasn’t the father.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Moody shook his head. “The only reason that poor girl is still alive is because I stopped Junior.”
Kruger barely kept his surprise from showing. “Oh.”
“Yeah, it was my first year as head of security for Senior. The incident occurred just before he would start his campaign for re-election. One of several reasons I was hired. Before leaving for the evening one night, I was checking to make sure all the doors in his Senate office were locked. I heard a noise and investigated.”
The retired cop closed his eyes. “I’m not going to go into detail, but the girl was tied up, and Junior was on the verge of hurting her. I stopped him and called Senior. Let’s put it this way, lots of money exchanged hands and the father took the blame for the son. It ended his Senate career. Junior, to this day, denies the incident even happened. He claims I made it up.”
“What does the father say?”
“He never talks about it. I’m not proud of it, Agent, but financially, I was rewarded quite handsomely for keeping my mouth shut about the incident.”
Kruger frowned. “How much money did the elder Burns spend to get his son elected?”
Moody shook his head. “I don’t know the exact amount, but it’s in the millions. Most of it hidden.”
“Why is the father so intent on his son being a senator?”
“I don’t know, I’m not privy to the palace intrigue. I’m just hired help.”
“I need hard evidence Junior was at those colleges at the time of the disappearance. If I can get it, I can issue an arrest warrant for him.”
“I would bet the personnel records have been altered by now to make sure Junior’s name is gone.
“Can you get me access to the computer system?”
Moody shook his head. “Our IT team is exceptional. They’d spot a breach in a second.”
Kruger reached into his pocket and pulled out a flash drive. “Insert this into any computer on the network for ten seconds.”
Staring at the object, Moody didn’t reach for it at first. “What’s on it?”
“Better you don’t know. Just make sure it’s not a computer you normally have access to.”
Moody reached for the drive. “Ten seconds, that’s all?”
Kruger nodded.
Chapter 17
Seattle, WA
&n
bsp; Arriving early, Joel Moody followed his normal routine of walking the six floors of the Haylex building looking for anything out of the ordinary. But this particular time, he also noted one additional piece of information: whether an office was in current use or vacant. The occupied offices outnumbered the vacant ones by nine to one.
His next stop was personnel, not part of his regular routine, but he made up an excuse for the visit. Gail Johnson was already there handling phone calls from the eastern part of the widespread Haylex empire. When he walked in, she smiled.
“Morning, Joel.”
“Hi, Gail. Had your coffee yet?”
The middle-aged woman shook her head. “Phone started ringing the second I got here.”
“How do you take it? I’ll get you some.”
“You’re a dear. Just bring one of those pink envelopes, I’ll take it from there.”
Five minutes later, Joel sat on the edge of an adjacent desk sipping coffee and making small talk to Gail in between phone calls. When the current call ended, she looked up at him and asked, “You want the list of current home office personnel on vacation?”
Moody nodded.
“So, what’s up?”
“Checking out a hunch.”
“Oh, what kind of hunch?”
Looking over both shoulders to feign he was about to reveal state secrets, he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Unauthorized international phone calls are being made from company phones. I think they’re originating from phones on the desk of vacationing employees.”
This was a lie, but he doubted Gail would bother to check.
“Oh, my.” Her phone rang, and she started another conversation. After a minute, she said, “Please hold for a second.” After suspending the call, she returned her attention to Moody. “Give me an hour, and I will have a list for you.”
“Thanks, Gail. I’ll be back. Don’t say anything to anyone, I need to keep this quiet.”
“No problem, Joel.”
As he returned to his office, the din of a normal morning at Haylex Holdings grew as more employees arrived to start their day.
***
At ten minutes after twelve, Pacific Time, Joel Moody unlocked the door of an office on the fourth floor. Its current occupant, a senior vice president of sales for one of Haylex Holdings’ East Coast companies, was on a cruise with her husband. Closing the door, he used a flashlight app on his cell phone to locate the small workstation computer box under the woman’s desk. Finding an empty USB slot, he inserted the flash drive given to him by Kruger. He counted to ten, extracted the drive, placed it back in his pocket, and walked out of the office. He was in the office less than thirty seconds. No one saw him enter or leave.
***
“The database with Junior’s name is gone. There are no such files within their HR department or any of their archived technical data, Sean.”
“You sure?”
“I’ve checked in all of the HR files for those years, and his name has been redacted from all of them. It’s been done expertly. There’s no digit evidence it was ever there.” JR’s voice sounded a bit excited.
“You don’t have to be happy about it.” Kruger’s frustration was reflected in his response.
“That’s not it. We’re dealing with an IT department with exceptional computer skills. I’ll have to be extremely cautious going forward.”
“But you got in.”
“Yes, the pathway was open, but as soon as I discovered the missing information, I shut it down.”
“Why?”
JR took a deep breath. Even though the distance between the two men was over two thousand miles, Kruger could see in his mind’s eye his long-time friend’s reaction.
“During the short time I was able to stay in their system, I saw evidence of one of the most sophisticated security firewalls I’ve ever encountered.”
“Better than yours?”
“In some ways, yes.”
Kruger was surprised by the admission, but let JR continue without interrupting.
“The systems I install for my clients are some of the most secure in the world. Just a fact, not a boast.”
“I’ve heard that.”
“This is a private computer network; there are protocols on it I’ve never seen. To be honest with you, I’m surprised I was able to hack into it as easily as I did the first time. I stumbled upon a flaw, which has since been patched.”
“Can you get back in?”
“Maybe, if they didn’t detect my intrusion.”
Kruger was silent for a while. Finally, he continued, “We’re at a standstill here.”
“How so?”
“Our suspect is in Washington, D.C., preparing to be the next senator. Sandy and his team are catching a flight this afternoon for D.C., and I’m coming home.”
“You’re not going to be in the middle of it?”
Silence was his answer. “Okay, what do you need me to do?”
“Not sure at this point. I need better background on both Senior and Junior. Once I have that, I’ll understand what we’re up against.”
“Do you want me to do it?”
“Yes, plus I’m going to get a Bureau analyst to do a work-up. We can compare what they find to what you find. My guess is there will be a difference.”
“I’m not following you.”
“Something just isn’t right. It’s hard to explain since I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Which one do you want me to start on?”
“Senior.”
“Got it.”
***
Barbara Whitlock had been an analyst for the FBI for as long as Kruger could remember. Having worked with her on numerous cases, he knew her results to be exceptional. She was also discreet. He found her direct number on his cell phone, a number only a select number of agents possessed, and pressed the send icon.
The call was answered on the fourth ring.
“Is this the Sean Kruger who’s been ignoring me for over two years?”
“Guilty.”
He heard laughter on the other end of the call, then, “I should hang up.”
“Please don’t.”
“Have you divorced that young hussy you married yet? There are broken hearts around here waiting for it to happen.”
“No, still married. Happily, I might add.”
More laughter. “What can I do for you, Sean?”
“Has the Bureau preformed a work-up on the newly elected senator from Washington State?”
“If they have, I haven’t seen it. Why?”
“I need one on him and his father.”
“Uh-oh. Should I ask why?”
“I can’t tell you right now. Besides, it would prejudice your analysis, you know that Barbara.”
“Can’t fault a girl for asking, can you? When do you need it?”
“Yesterday.”
“Well, guess I’d better get busy, I’m late getting it to you.”
They both chuckled, and Kruger ended the call. He stared at the boarding gate for his flight back to Springfield. His concerns about the two men he was investigating was increasing with every piece of information he gathered.
The announcement for his flight interrupted his thoughts.
***
The bedroom was dark, and his hands were behind his head as the prospect of getting to sleep waned. Stephanie put her arm over his chest and snuggled.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Hope I didn’t wake you?”
“You didn’t. Something’s bothering you.”
He placed his arm around her and brought her closer. “It’s been several years since I’ve had to spend so many nights in a hotel.”
“Glad you’re home.”
“Me, too. It brought back memories I don’t care for.”
“Such as.”
“All those nights we were apart before we got married.”
“We were both miserable during those years, weren’t we.�
�
“Yes.”
“So, what are we going to do about it?”
“I’ve got to figure out how to balance the traveling and the investigations.”
“You will, give it time. Besides, remember our homecomings after being apart for a while?” She slipped her hand under his t-shirt and rubbed his chest.
Smiling, he turned his head toward her as she moved her hand toward his waist. “Yes, I do, they were almost worth the time away from each other. Are you trying to start something?”
“I’m not trying, I am starting something.”
He leaned over and kissed her as his hand slid under her night shirt.
***
The next morning was Sunday. Brunch was the first meal of the day and always prepared by the man of the house. As a frustrated chef, he strived to make something tasty and different every Sunday. Most times it was excellent, occasionally it was not. Today’s menu was well received by the members of the Kruger household.
While Kristin and her younger brother, Mikey, watched a movie in the adjacent room, Stephanie and Kruger cleaned the kitchen.
“You’re quiet this morning.” Kruger dried a sauté pan while Stephanie refilled their coffee cups.
“Do you remember Dr. Eunice Maxwell?”
“Yeah, she’s the head of the Business College at the university? Isn’t she the one who talked your ear off at last year’s faculty Christmas get-together?”
Stephanie nodded.
“What about her?”
“She called on Friday.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, she wants me to join the faculty as an instructor and start a mentor program matching senior women working toward a business degree with woman business leaders in the community.”
“Sounds interesting. Did she give you any details?”