by Bob Blink
The Director stared at him for a considerable time.
"As a private detective do you frequently leave dead bodies with their identification stripped from them for the police to find and ponder about? Because of Mr. Martini's assistance to you in this matter, you two have made that body and the killing a Bureau responsibility, which isn't going to endear us to the Las Vegas PD once we involve ourselves in the matter again. We have enough issues with local departments, and this kind of action, killing a man and fleeing, won't serve to improve relations."
"The killing was unfortunate and unavoidable," Karl replied, unwilling to be intimidated by Crampton. "If I hadn't killed him, we wouldn't be having this conversation, and none of you would be aware that you had badly bungled the investigation into the killing of Mrs. Craig, and that something very serious is at work here."
Karl glowered back at the Director. Nothing like being tactful he decided, but he was getting annoyed that the Director was more interested in policy than in the implications of their discovery.
More tactfully, Kevin inserted himself into the discussion.
"If Karl hadn't made off with the items he recovered and departed the scene, it is very likely we wouldn't have learned the critical connections he has uncovered," he said. "The police would had detained him, and the evidence would have disappeared into a locker, possibly not to be looked at for some time, and even then the true importance not understood. I realize this isn't a mode of operating that we normally would want to pursue, but it's important to understand what was at stake."
"And what do we tell the Vegas police about the body they have sitting in their morgue?" the Assistant Director asked.
"Lie to them," Karl calmly suggested to him. "Sooner or later they will submit his fingerprints to the FBI for potential identification. When that happens, have someone contact them, tell them they have become involved in a matter of national security. The dead man is, or was, a foreign agent linked by a CIA agent who couldn't become entangled in a police investigation if his mission wasn't to be compromised."
"You must be kidding," the Director said. "The CIA would just love hearing about that."
"You said at the beginning that all aspects of this situation were to be considered confidential. The police don't need to know the truth, and they need some explanation for the dead man. If you don't like my idea, then get creative and think of your own story."
"You like this because it gets you off the hook for a felony," the Assistant Director hissed. "We do this, and the FBI now owns the dead man."
Karl shrugged. "You aren't ever going to prosecute me over this. Put me on the witness stand and you will all look more than a little foolish. The man is dead in self-defense. The man is clearly involved in a federal level conspiracy, that you must pursue and which you wouldn't have been alerted to if the "proper" procedures had been followed. Somehow I think catching the culprits behind all this is what's important."
Kevin couldn't help cringing at the way Karl spoke to his boss, and waited to see what kind of fallout was going to follow.
"Send someone to deal with this," the Director ordered his assistant. "I think a better story is imperative, but Mr. Baxter is correct that they don't need to know what actually is involved here."
The Director turned his attention back to Karl.
"You have a credible story suggesting four individuals were involved in the killing of Mrs. Craig, and it wasn't a love triangle as we believed. The burner phone you recovered was programmed with three numbers that hopefully connect to the remaining individuals in this conspiracy. It seems in your bumbling around you haven't learned who any of the other individuals might be, nor do you know where these others phones can be found."
"Actually we know where two of the remaining phones are located," Kevin said, injecting the information into the conversation without thinking. "The fourth appears to be offline."
"So that individual may well be dead, or he was smart enough to ditch his phone," the Director said. "Have you any ideas how the others in this conspiracy are to be identified and located?"
"We haven't put sufficient thought into that problem," Kevin admitted.
"So it seems," the Director replied caustically. "But by your interpretation of events, these people, whoever they are, have killed at least four people. Not only was Mrs. Craig a victim of their operation, but also Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, and Miss Cindy Moore, the President's mistress."
"I can understand why they'd kill the original three people," the Assistant Director said, "but it doesn't make sense that they'd kill the Moore woman. If you are correct and this is some kind of conspiracy to turn the election in the President's favor, killing his girlfriend seems counterproductive."
"Maybe there is more at work here than we are considering," one of the two agents who were sitting in but who had been silent up to now. "Maybe the intent is to totally disrupt up the elections and create a kind of chaos with no viable candidate. Maybe the President is at risk and the woman either learned something, or was part of it. She could have had a change of heart and they decided she needed to be removed."
"That doesn't seem likely," Karl argued. "If they had intentions toward the President or the Republicans one would think they would have acted by now. The elections are only a couple weeks away."
"Then why was she killed?" the Director asked, his eyes moving between Kevin and Karl.
"We don't know," Kevin admitted. "There's far too much that we don't know here. That's why we wanted to elevate this and hopefully develop a plan to proceed on finding these people and ending whatever plans they are working on."
"It's clear we need to have a closer look at all aspects of our former investigation," the Director said. "This time around our people need to approach their questioning with the idea that Bud Marshall was a victim, not a perpetrator. That might have colored our earlier efforts. People need to be re-questioned in Palos Verdes. Maybe someone did see someone, just not Marshall. I want the weapons re-examined for potential prints, although they should have found anything there the first time. I want all of the victims habits looked at and see if there might have been people following them in preparation for the killings. It's going to take a lot of manpower, but with the elections closing, I agree we need to pursue this. I want people questioned at the various hotels where the Craig team stayed. Mr. Baxter has revealed that our perps must have stayed at the same places, at least some of the time. It's been a while, but maybe there are people who have good memories and might recall this small group of men."
"If word of this get's out, its going to have an unpredictable impact on the elections," the Assistant Director said. "It could sway the results and there will be arguementss about how things might have turned out if this hadn't been released. We, of course, will be held up to blame."
The Director nodded his head. "This must be made clear to anyone who becomes involved in this. The fact we have reopened the investigation and are looking at the killing from a new perspective is confidential information. There will be absolutely no leaks. I will personally prosecute and destroy the career of anyone who leaks the smallest hint of what is transpiring. I don't want to be getting calls from CNN or the DNC. Understood?"
Everyone nodded, Kevin relieved that the Director finally seemed to be taking the matter seriously.
"What about the Secret Service?" Karl asked.
"We've got to inform them," the Director agreed. "They will have to make certain their people hold this close, but they specialize in keeping things quiet. I don't really see a problem there."
"I want to interview that agent," Karl said. "I think it's important we understand what happened there. Was something going on between him and the President's mistress. It happened a long time before she was killed, but even so it is a link that brought this together and needs to be explained. We need to know all we can about this guy. He's close to the President, maybe too close."
"Closer than you might think," one of the agents said. He's a f
riend of the President's. They both come from Texas, and have known one another for years."
Interesting," Karl said. He wondered why he hadn't been told that before.
"The Secret Service isn't going to be happy if we point a finger at one of their people," the Assistant Director said. "How about we look into this guy and decide if it's really necessary to drag him in for a serious talk."
"We need to clear him as soon as possible," Karl argued. "If he is anyway involved, he could leak back to the perpetrators the details of whatever planning we consider. He's right in the middle of things being on the President's personal protection team."
"I think Mr. Baxter is right on this one," the Director said. "First, let me discuss this with the President and clear our plans with him. This isn't going to be at all pleasant. You," he pointed to the Assistant Director, "are to take the lead in following up on this. Send these two hot shots," as he pointed at Karl and his former partner, "out to where those phones were purchased and see what we can learn there. Get someone to investigate that weapon. Maybe it has been used in a crime somewhere else that might tell us something. Get these other two forming a crew of carefully selected agents to pursue the remaining priority items. I want answers, and I want them before election day."
"Who briefs the Secret Service?" the Assistant Director asked. "We don't know exactly what is going on. Others could be at risk. We already mentioned the President, but what of the VP, and perhaps other candidates. Imagine the impact if someone else were to be killed just before election day?"
The Director grimaced. "I'll take care of that right after I speak to the President," he said.
Chapter 29
Washington, DC
The White House
The President was visibly upset by the news the FBI Director had just delivered.
"Brad, is this real?"
The Director and the President had long been friends and always dispensed with titles when alone. The news from his friend was certainly unexpected, and the President didn't need to resort to acting to cover his genuine concern over developments by displaying surprise at the news that had just been delivered. If news of what the Director was telling him leaked to the public it could seriously alter the direction of the election, his winning something he was now taking for granted as a fait accompli. It shook him to realize that might be at risk once again. It was also bothersome that Cindy's murder was now being linked in with the Craig death whereas before the two events had been viewed as totally unrelated. The fact that his friend was concerned there might be an existing threat against him and the Vice President he didn't waste any thought on. He knew better.
"Unfortunately it is," the Director responded.
"But you assured me that the investigation had been thorough and that there was no doubt about the accidental natural of Nancy Craig's death. Now you are telling me she was deliberately targeted. What has happened? Why have you changed your mind?"
"I'm sorry, Mark, but apparently my people weren't as careful as I was led to believe, and an independent look into events has shown some disturbing developments."
"An independent investigation? You never mentioned anything about this to me?
"That's because I knew nothing about it. It was not a Bureau activity. In fact it was entirely an independent action."
"You knew nothing about it? I don't understand," the President said, still off balance and more than a bit miffed at developments. The Director sensed some of the President's annoyance, but credited to the fact the developments could be unsettling to the country rather than it being a personal risk.
"It wasn't an official investigation. It was initiated and paid for by Nancy Craig's husband. He hired a private investigator to have a look at everything and see if the same conclusion as to what happened would result."
"A PI? Like in the movies? Who is this guy that was hired and how did he find something your whole organization missed?"
"His name is Karl Baxter. He's a former FBI agent, and as much as I don't like him, he was always damn good. One of the Bureau's best, actually. He didn't like some things about the conclusion, and apparently went into things with a different perspective. He found a couple of anomalies and followed up on them, resulting in the discovery of a small group that appeared to have been tracking Mrs. Craig and her team. It ended up with him confronting one of the four men who he believed were responsible."
"Damn!" the President cursed, suddenly fearful that they'd caught one of Earl's people. "They caught one of this covert group alive?" he asked, fearing the worst.
"Actually no. Almost, but the face-to-face confrontation in Las Vegas ended up in a shootout that left the suspect dead. Someone named Ibrahim Fatani. But as a result a cheap phone with preloaded contact numbers has pointed us towards the other three, something we are now following up on."
"But you don't know any of their names?" the President asked, barely unable to contain himself with worry.
"Not yet," the Director admitted, "but at least two of the phones are currently active in your home state of Texas. We aren't sure what that implies?"
He knew his hands were shaking and he was afraid to exhale lest Brad sense it was a sigh of relief. Even though Abe hadn't known of his involvement, he would have been a direct link to Earl, and that could have made it all fall apart. He wanted to pee. "What about the last phone?" he asked needing to seem composed and involved.
"It's not on the system anywhere. It appears to have been disabled. Whether that means the owner has been killed, or simply decided to drop off, we don't know."
"Brad, you've got to follow this with the full power of the FBI," the President said forcefully, although he really wanted to scream out that his friend needed to drop the investigation and forget everything he'd just learned. "These people need to be found!"
"I understand, and that's what we are doing. I have put a couple of my better agents on the task, and we are setting up several task forces to pursue different elements of the matter."
"What about this private detective?"
"He's working the investigation as well. I felt it better to keep him busy than to let him wander off and potentially leak what he has found. Besides, as I said he is not only trained but very capable. I've paired him with his former partner. I sent them off to Texas to check on the store where the phones were purchased."
"You know where these plotters bought the phones? That was fast work!"
"Having one of the phones in hand it was easy enough to find out where it was sold, and that it was part of a bulk buy. Four phones. Now we will see if the people at the store can recall the purchaser or have anything that will help identify them."
"We are planning on increasing security for you, the Vice President, and the other candidates. Even though they haven't requested such coverage, with the election so close we can come up with some excuse. I'd like to ask that you limit unnecessary excursions out of the White House, while we will find ways to unobtrusively provide more screening for any unfamiliar visitors into the White House. Tours are suspended for the time being as well."
"It sounds like it's a good thing I have been getting in some pistol practice," the President said, trying to inject a bit of levity to the conversation.
"This is going to complicate my campaigning," the President added.
"You are well ahead, and seemingly have a lock on the election. I'd recommend that you forgo any but the most important events."
The President nodded, agreeing, even though he knew very well there would be no attempts against him.
"Oh, and we are going to press the Vice President to spend her time in her White House office rather than at the Capitol building as we've learned she prefers. The security arrangements and options are far greater if she is located here."
"This is much more serious than I realized," the President said. "How are we going to keep this quiet until after the election. I worry about the impacts if the public learns of what you suspect."
"I
understand. Mark, I have made a major issue of secrecy with my people, and will do the same when I discuss the situation with the Secret service team. I haven't informed them as yet as I wanted to bring you current first. Oh, and that brings up another matter."
"Something else?" the President asked.
"Related. Former agent Baxter might not have gotten as far with his investigation if it hadn't been for an observation made by your Vice President. I realize this might be a sensitive topic, but she accidentally observed an exchange between Miss Moore and one of your Secret Service team. An Agent Campbell."
"CC", the President said. "So?"
"Yes. I understand you have known him outside of his official role on your support team. At the time, she wondered if there might be some kind of secret relationship between the two. Something in the way the brief exchange happened."
"Impossible," the President objected. "Cindy and CC wouldn't do that."
"Perhaps, Mark, but these kinds of things do happen. The problem is, we can't see why Miss Moore was targeted by this group. It makes no sense, and understanding just what that brief exchange was about might shed some light on the situation."
"You believe that CC might be part of this plotting, whatever it is?" the President asked.
"We don't know, but we would like to ask."
"You want to interrogate CC?"
"That's correct. I intend to ask his superiors when I inform them of this on-going situation after our meeting is concluded. I wanted to ask you first."
"By all means, ask him whatever you believe is relevant. You will find he's one to be trusted. I've known him and his father for a great many years."
As he spoke, the President's mind was actively trying to think of what CC might reveal that could be problematic. He knew bits and pieces. He knew that his Dad was up to something with the President, and he knew about the special phones, although unless Brad had held back, the FBI wasn't aware of those. CC might also have spotted Bo that day in Stanford. They just didn't know. There was no way to predict what he may have guessed or might say when questioned. There was also nothing he could realistically do to prevent the questioning, nothing at least that wouldn't appear very odd and suspicious.