by Nancy Mehl
“I think they already did. That stuff almost caused him to have a heart attack. Somehow he managed to live through it. Someone tried to kill him, Mark.”
“Keep me posted,” Mark said. “No matter what time it is, okay? And if you need a break, I’d be happy to relieve you.”
“Thanks. Just give Tom a call.” He sighed. “Hey, Mark, can you get me a secure phone? I’m concerned about going through the hospital switchboard.”
“I doubt anyone would try to hack their phone service. It would be pretty complicated.”
“Seems to me these guys don’t care much about complications. This appears to be a pretty well-oiled operation.”
“I see what you mean. I’ll do my best. If nothing else, I’ll get you an old burner phone.”
“Thanks.”
“Speaking of phones, I wanted you to know as soon as possible that the dead paramedic had his phone on him, but there weren’t any calls from Batterson on it. Whatever phone the chief used didn’t belong to that guy.”
“So does that mean the chief used a phone owned by the person who attacked him?”
“Looks like it.”
“And this person murdered the real paramedic so he could assume his identity?”
“Yes.”
Tony was silent for a few moments as he processed the information.
“We all thought the chief’s injuries came from the explosion, but he was in good enough shape to get to the parking garage under his own power. Then something happened. For some reason this guy targeted the chief, but I have no idea why. It doesn’t make sense, Tony. I realize there are criminals out there who hate us, but usually they threaten deputies—the people who actually confront them. The chief is rarely out on the street.”
“But the bomb was set off near his office.”
“Yeah, but who knows? Maybe it’s a coincidence.”
“What happened in that parking garage wasn’t coincidence.”
“You’re right about that,” Mark said. “Oh, one other thing. A witness, a guy who saw the chief this morning, said he was outside the parking garage for a while, on the grass, but then he went inside, which is where you later found him. I’m not sure why he did that. If he’d stayed where he was, I don’t think he could have been confronted without being seen.”
Tony found this new information interesting, but there was no way to know why the chief changed locations without asking him. “So the bad guy was pretending to help Batterson, and then the chief asked to borrow his phone. Sometime after that, he convinced the chief to get out of public view so he could kill him?”
“Looks like it. I’m assuming Batterson’s head injury came from our friend. But why not just shoot the chief? Get it over with.”
Tony was finally beginning to see daylight. “Because he didn’t want anyone to know Batterson died from anything besides the injuries he sustained in the blast. If he’d shot the chief, we’d realize he was a target. Even though he made it across the street, we’d probably just chalk it up to the chief’s determination. Which is exactly what happened.”
Tony rubbed his free hand over his face. Was Mark right? Was he reaching? “Regardless, Mark,” he said finally, “our people are in trouble and we don’t know their location. I’m afraid whoever bombed our building might know exactly where our witness is—and our friends. We need to figure this out before it’s too late.”
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Tony hung up, not bothering to tell Mark what he was doing. He quickly called the burner phone Casey had used when she’d contacted him earlier. Although he didn’t expect her to answer, he was relieved when she did.
“Casey, there’s a problem,” he said when he heard her voice.
“Is it the chief?”
The fear in her voice made him feel guilty. He should have reassured her first. “No, it’s not the chief. He’s still the same, but the doctor is hopeful he’ll wake up soon.” It wasn’t totally true, yet it wasn’t a complete lie either. The doctor did hope Batterson would wake up. He just didn’t tell Casey that the likelihood of that happening was getting less and less without some kind of miracle.
Tony told her about the phones and the paramedic. “I think whoever murdered that paramedic and hurt the chief wanted to know who Batterson called. My guess is he planned to kill the chief as soon as he had the information he needed.” He paused for a moment. “He called you, Casey.”
“Actually, he called Doug.”
“Then he can track Doug’s cell.”
“No, we turned off Doug’s phone. Now we’re using only this burner phone. They can triangulate it if it’s on, but since we left St. Louis I’ve kept it off.”
“But you answered when I called.”
“Because I was getting ready to call you. Not only has our witness compromised us, we found a tracking device on my car.” She told him all about Valerie and what they’d discovered.
Tony got up and began pacing around the nurses’ station as she talked. When she finished, he couldn’t seem to make sense of what she’d shared. “I was afraid they might be able to find you, but this wasn’t the way I thought it would happen. So . . . whoever bombed us knows your location?”
“I didn’t think so at first since Valerie didn’t have an actual address. But with the tracking device . . . I have to assume they know precisely where we are. Besides, she told them the house belonged to the chief. I doubt it would be too hard to find the connection between this house and Batterson, if they did any research. But here’s the kicker. Valerie says they want her to make it to D.C. They need her to testify that her story wasn’t true. If she’s right, would they try to stop us? Seems to me they’d want us to meet up with the FBI and get Valerie to Washington safely.”
“Casey, you can’t take the chance. These people can’t be trusted. They’ve killed some of our own. Tried to kill the chief. They’re not playing.”
“I’m sure you’re right. I keep feeling like we’re missing something.”
“The Feds aren’t there yet?”
“No, and that’s a problem.” Casey sighed. “Either we get out of here because whoever blew up our offices might know where we are, or we wait for the FBI. Once they arrive, we’re handing Valerie over to them. She’s their problem from then on. We’ll fill them in on everything we know, but I’m confident they have a better chance of getting Valerie to D.C. than we do. We’re just too compromised.”
“Tom needs to contact the Feds and bring them up to speed,” Tony said. “Find out where they are. We shouldn’t be guessing about this.”
“That’s up to Tom. I wonder, though, if you should wait just a bit. Since we don’t know who Batterson talked to, we might be giving away information best kept between us for now. I hate to sound paranoid, but we seem to be puppets in a show scripted by Ali Al-Saud. He has long strings, and I’m not sure how far they stretch. We’ll watch ourselves. If the Feds don’t show up soon, we’ll get out. Go somewhere safe until we can figure out our next move.”
“I think I’d rather see you head home.”
“But we’re closer to D.C. than we are to St. Louis. I think E.J. should call his chief. Get help from his office.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll run it past Tom and let you know what he wants you to do.”
“So Valerie plans to tell the Feds what’s been going on?”
“That’s what she says. Frankly, she needs to give them a chance to find her sister. You know it’s almost impossible they’ve kept her alive this long.”
“Yeah. I take it she doesn’t?”
“No, and we haven’t told her.”
“What if these guys find out Valerie spilled the beans?” Tony asked.
“That’s the one thing we can’t allow to happen. None of our lives would be worth a plug nickel.”
“You need to shut Valerie up. She can’t tell Al-Saud’s people anything else that would put you in further danger.”
“To be honest, Tony, I don’t think
that’s going to be a problem. She’s afraid they might hurt her sister because she betrayed them.”
“I see your point. You’ve got to tell the FBI everything when they get there.”
“Absolutely.” A deep sigh came through the phone. “We’ll wait here another hour. It’s almost eleven o’clock. If they’re not here by midnight, we’ll take off.”
“Seems to me they should have shown up hours ago.”
“We have no idea what Batterson told them. Maybe he didn’t think we’d get here this fast. I hate being in the dark like this.”
“Me too. Well, if you decide to leave, let me know where you go,” Tony said.
“Will do. Regardless, I’ll check back with you in an hour or two. Where will you be?”
“Right here. Just call the hospital again. I’ll let you know when I have a secure phone.” He paused for a moment. “I just can’t seem to leave, Casey. I want to be here when he opens his eyes.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. Finally, Casey said, “I understand.”
Tony heard the catch in her voice.
With that, she hung up. Tony went back into the waiting room and grabbed a magazine from a nearby table. He slumped back down in his chair. All this sitting was beginning to make his back tighten up.
He kept going over reasons someone would want Batterson dead. He even thought about recent cases, wondering if someone they’d put away might be involved. But no matter what, he couldn’t come up with any solid answers. Just suspicions. He decided to read his magazine, hoping he could distract himself for a while. He was getting ready to open it when he noticed something on the wall-mounted TV screen. He’d turned off the sound earlier, but he found the remote and hit the mute button. His mouth dropped open as the news anchor said, “Repeating our top story this hour, the body of Colorado Senator Dell Warren was found by police about an hour ago. All the police are telling us is that they aren’t looking for any suspects at this time.”
They switched to an official picture of the senator as Tony sat there, stunned. Usually if the police weren’t looking for suspects, it meant the death was either natural or a suicide. The senator had seemed to be in good health. What in the world was going on? He wondered what this turn of events meant for his friends. The situation was getting stranger by the hour. He felt as if it was made up of lots of little pieces of information, but he couldn’t figure out how they all fit together. Right now, besides worrying about the chief, he was becoming more and more concerned about Casey and Doug. He wouldn’t feel better until the FBI showed up.
Special Agent in Charge Alex Owens, in the Billings, Montana, office picked up the phone. He wondered who in the world could be calling so late. He was usually home by now, but the pile of paperwork on his desk had grown too large to ignore. He’d decided to stay until he could at least put a dent in it. A quickly cooling pizza sat on one side of his messy desk. The call had been transferred to him by an agent who warned him it could be a fake.
“Hello,” he said. “This is Agent Owens.”
He listened to the man on the other end of the line tell him a story that was hard to swallow.
“I’d need proof that you are who you say you are,” Owens said. “I’m sure you can understand why it’s hard to believe what you’re telling me.”
A few minutes later, he picked up a pen and wrote down the information the caller gave him. “Stay where you are and keep out of sight. We’ll have someone there as soon as we can.”
After hanging up the phone, he stared at the words he’d written on his notepad. He picked up the phone again. In the thirty years he’d worked at the bureau, this might be one of the most important phone calls he’d ever make. As he dialed the special number in Washington, he looked up another number. Once he finished with Washington, he needed to talk to someone connected to the U.S. Marshals Office in St. Louis.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
“If the FBI doesn’t arrive soon, we’re out of here,” Casey said to E.J. after she disconnected her call to Tony and turned off her phone. She told him about the paramedic and Batterson.
“So you think this guy, possibly the bomber, actually tried to kill your boss?” E.J. asked. “And he might know about Batterson’s call to us? Then he’d also know about the call to the FBI, right? That should actually make us safer.”
Casey shrugged and leaned back into the comfortable overstuffed chair where she sat. “I don’t get it. They have Valerie under their thumb. Why would they need to know who the chief called?”
“You got me.”
“Once I tell the FBI the truth,” Valerie said, “they should be able to find Susan, right? If they can get her to safety, then I’m free to testify against the senator and Al-Saud.”
“What proof do you have that Al-Saud was involved with the senator besides what Martin told you?” Casey asked.
“Well, right before Marty disappeared, his messages stopped and the intimidating ones began. They clearly threatened the life of my sister—and me. One of them says that Marty is dead. All the messages came from Marty’s phone.”
“That only proves they have his phone,” E.J. said. “It doesn’t prove they killed him. You need real evidence.”
“I took screenshots of every single message. I can prove they were threatening me.”
E.J. frowned. “That could come in handy, but it still isn’t proof.”
“I’m sure the Department of Justice has something else—something on the senator and Al-Saud—but I have no idea what it is.” Valerie stared at Casey for a moment. “Of course, if the FBI finds my sister, she’ll be able to tell them who kidnapped her.”
Casey and E.J. looked at each other. “Maybe, but it’s thin. A man like Al-Saud usually hires people to do his dirty work. He likes to keep his hands clean. Besides, he has enough money to retain the world’s best lawyers. And he can buy off almost any jury. I really think you need something more solid. Frankly, I’m surprised you were asked to testify to the grand jury if you don’t have more evidence than you seem to.”
“But they don’t know exactly what she has,” E.J. interjected. “That’s why they called her.”
“Maybe, but you’d think they’d want something solid before calling for a grand jury.”
“I do have another name,” Valerie said. “A man Al-Saud uses to go after his enemies. He’s the man who probably killed Marty.”
Casey’s ears perked up. “Do you think he’s the one who bombed our offices?”
Valerie nodded. “I’d bet on it. Al-Saud has a lot of people under his control. Like the senator. He forces them to do what he wants by threatening them or their families. He might have used someone like that to plant the explosion, but Marty and I found he uses this man more than anyone else to carry out his most important plans.”
“You know his name?” E.J. asked.
“Yeah. It’s Benyamin Mattan. He’s called Ali Al-Saud’s shadow. Ruthless. Doesn’t like to leave witnesses behind. Friends or enemies. I’m convinced he’s the one sending these texts. The person I’ve been in contact with.”
“This could be important, Valerie,” Casey said. “If the FBI can find this guy and turn him, they might be able to bring Al-Saud and his whole network down.”
“I doubt he would betray Al-Saud,” Valerie said, uncertainty in her voice. “He seems beyond loyal. I did some research on him. I think he might be Al-Saud’s illegitimate son.”
E.J. grunted. “Well, that’s interesting. Still, family members turn on each other all the time. We see it a lot. If we can offer them protection and keep them out of prison, they’re pretty willing to turn on mommy, daddy, brother, or sister.”
“Do you have Avery’s testimony in writing?” Casey asked.
“Yeah. Everything’s in my files.” She gestured toward her phone on the table. “That’s not my original phone. I was told to get rid of the other one.”
“Can we recover it if we need to?”
“I’m
sorry, but no. I threw it in a dumpster not long after Marty went missing. It’s been gone for months.”
“With the screenshots, her files, and her knowledge about this Mattan guy,” Casey said to E.J., “it might be enough. The government could finally have a viable link to Al-Saud. Mattan might not even need to testify if the government turns their attention to him. Maybe through him they can uncover something that will give them what they need to bring Al-Saud’s dynasty down.”
“You’ve got a point. It could be enough to—”
The front door opened, and Doug poked his head inside. “Someone’s here. I think it’s the Feds, but you’d better get out here just in case.”
E.J. jumped to his feet and pointed at Casey. “Take her in the back until we tell you it’s clear.”
Casey got up and grabbed Valerie’s arm. “Come with me,” she ordered. She pulled the frightened reporter toward the hallway and guided her to a back bedroom. Casey pointed at Valerie. “Go in the bathroom and lock the door. Stay there until I tell you to come out.”
Valerie ran to the bathroom and closed the door. Casey heard the lock click. She held her gun out in front of her and slowly opened the bedroom door, trying to listen. No matter what happened, she was trained to protect their witness. Problem was, if her team was killed, she might not be able to hold off attackers by herself. Even so, she would give her life trying to keep Valerie safe. If that was the price that had to be paid, so be it.
She waited to hear something, but there wasn’t any sound at all. Finally the front door opened, and she heard voices. She saw E.J. coming down the hall. He gestured to her. “It’s the FBI. You can bring Valerie out.”
Casey breathed a deep sigh of relief. Now the Feds could take over. Their mission was completed. She put her gun back in its holster and went over to the bathroom. She rapped on the door. “It’s okay, Valerie. The FBI is here. Come on out.”
The doorknob turned slowly, and the lock clicked. The door opened a few inches, then part of Valerie’s face appeared. “Are you sure it’s them?”