Final Cut (The Kate & Jay series Book 4)

by Lynn Ames

  “I understand. But life is so much richer with a companion, don’t you think?”

  “I do.”

  “After Charlie passed, Rufus was about the only thing that kept me going.”

  “I can imagine.” A memory of lying on the floor with Fred while Jay was missing and presumed dead tugged at Kate’s heartstrings, and she shoved it away.

  “Anyway, let’s get down to business, shall we? I’ve fixed some cheese and crackers for us, and some tea. Peter has given me the broad outlines of the situation. I want to hear the rest from you and then I’ll tell you what I think I can do to help.”

  Mimi led the way into a richly appointed living room and indicated that they should sit on the sofa. She listened intently as Kate detailed the history of the leak; Jay’s meeting with her publisher; the sudden frosty reception from Sydney, Jay’s longtime agent; the federal agents’ intimidation tactics with Jeremy, Black Quill, and the agent; the plans for the movie; and their own and Dara’s interactions with the FBI and the IRS.

  As Peter had instructed her on the flight to D.C., Kate omitted any reference to the Commission, to Sabastien, Vaughn, and Lorraine, and to the Black Knight. When she was finished talking, Mimi sprang up and strode over to the window.

  “I stand here often and gaze at the Washington Monument in the distance. I love this city and what it stands for. I love this country and our system of government. I am not naïve—far from it. Charlie never insulated me from the seedier side of politics. When he was troubled by it, we would talk through it. When he questioned his own ethics and the motives and ethics of others, we discussed it. But what you describe is beyond the pale, and as you are aware, I’m painfully familiar with that.”

  Mimi turned back to face Kate and Peter. “You should know that I hear what you’re not saying. Those people—that organization—took my Charlie from me and played God. They nearly killed him and they damn near destroyed this nation. I never bought the idea that putting a few of the bad actors away meant the end of it. And what you’re describing has their fingerprints all over it.” Her voice shook with anger.

  “I argued with Charlie at the time. Oh, it was a battle royal. I wanted him to expose them for all the world to see. He was the one who argued that acknowledging the existence of the Commission would compromise national security. I lost the argument then. God help me, I won’t lose it now.”

  Kate had forgotten how strong and perceptive Mimi Hyland was. She had joined them occasionally when Kate dined with the president. “I appreciate that, Mimi.”

  “I’d like to read this oh-so-dangerous manuscript of Jay’s. May I?”

  “Of course,” Kate said. “Jay asked me to give you a copy.” Kate reached into her briefcase, pulled out a bound copy of the manuscript, and handed it to Mimi. “She was so sorry she couldn’t be here.”

  Kate chanced a glance at Peter. The two of them and Jay had debated it extensively; the idea that they might lead the FBI to the former first lady’s door was just too much of a risk to take. So Jay drew the surveillance away while Peter picked up Kate for the trip to the airport.

  “I’m sorry too. I have a great affection for your wife, Kate. She’s one of the nicest, most genuine people I know. What she’s being put through is a travesty. And I intend to do something about it.”

  “Mrs Hy… Mimi. We have no desire to put you in a difficult position—”

  “Nonsense. Charlie would be appalled at these shenanigans. I may not have much of a bully pulpit left, but what I have I will use to set this right.”

  “What is it you have in mind?” Peter spoke up for the first time.

  “A press conference.” Mimi’s eyes gleamed.

  “A-a…” Kate stammered.

  “A press conference. I believe you’re familiar with how those work, Kate.” Mimi winked at her. “I’m going to read the manuscript and tell the world that there is nothing in here that violates state secrets or national security, and that if Charlie were still alive, he’d say the same thing.”

  “Mimi, I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but if I was your PR representative, I’d have to advise against getting publicly involved in something this volatile.”

  “Well, then it’s a good thing you’re not my PR rep, isn’t it?”

  Kate smiled at her. “Touché. But there’s a big difference between making private phone calls to contacts within the government or in positions of influence, and holding a press conference where every word you say will be measured and dissected. You could be inviting a lot of trouble you don’t need.”

  “My life isn’t nearly exciting enough these days, my dear. I could do with a little trouble.”

  “Still—”

  “My God, you’re stubborn.” Mimi gestured to Peter. “Is she always this obstinate?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “Look. Almost three decades ago, I nearly lost my husband, and you very nearly lost your life. We all picked up the pieces and soldiered on. Congress held its closed-door hearings, a report was generated, and it was buried behind an amorphous top secret designation.”

  Kate opened her mouth to say something and Mimi held up a hand to stop her.

  “I’m not done yet. Several horrible characters were locked away, and so was the documented evidence of the Commission. It’s way past time to shine light and send the rats scurrying. If I can help get that done, and clear Jay and restore your lives to you in the process, so much the better.”

  Again, Kate opened her mouth to speak and Mimi cut her off.

  “My mind is made up. Not another word out of you.”

  Kate laughed. “I was just going to say, ‘thank you.’”

  “Oh. That I’ll allow. Now, if you both don’t mind, I’ve got some reading to do. I’ll be in touch.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Lorraine read down the list Sabastien had printed out for her of the last ten contractors and subcontractors he’d been investigating in the days and weeks before the Hyland Commission Report was leaked.

  She tried hard to push aside the information about Kate and Jay’s IRS troubles. If only she could get the evidence to Peter… If you do and the transmission alerts the Commission or the Black Knight, you risk exposing everything, giving them a chance to cover their tracks and disappear into the darkness.

  Lorraine growled in frustration. The most she could do was alert Peter via scrambled call. That wouldn’t give him the solid data he’d need to back up any accusations. “Let it go for now,” she muttered to herself. “Keep your eyes on the main objective.”

  Lorraine returned her attention to the stack of papers in her hand. She recognized all the major players on the list, but it was the subcontracting companies that caught her attention now.

  She grabbed a highlighter off the table and marked several of those companies for closer scrutiny.

  Vaughn knocked on the doorframe. “I fixed some lunch. Are you hungry?”

  Lorraine’s stomach rumbled and she blushed.

  “I’ll take that for a yes,” Vaughn said.

  “I feel like I’m on the verge of a big breakthrough. I should keep going.”

  “You won’t be able to hear your own thoughts over the sound of your stomach gurgling. Bring whatever you’re doing with you.”

  Much as Lorraine hated to admit it, Vaughn was right. She gathered up the printouts and followed Vaughn to the kitchen.

  Along the way, Vaughn said, “Sabastien tells me you’ve got some leads on the sources behind the girls’ financial woes.”

  “I do, if only I could do something about it from here.”

  “Too risky.”

  “I know. But that doesn’t make me feel any better.”

  Vaughn nodded sympathetically. “Soon. We’ll have the bastards soon.”

  When they arrived in the kitchen, Sabastien already was sitting at the table eating. “Ah, Lorraine. Glad that you have joined us. Interesting reading, no?” He pointed to the papers in her hand.

  “V
ery. I’m particularly fascinated by these three subcontractors here.” Lorraine tilted the page so Sabastien could see it. “For some reason, the names ring a bell.”

  Sabastien scrunched up his face in a way Lorraine had come to recognize when he was trying to work out the English. “What is this, ‘ring a bell’?”

  Lorraine smiled. “They are familiar to me somehow, but I can’t quite place the context.”

  “Ah. I see. Well, if you want, I can help with that.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “Give me one second. I will have Veronique access all of the important characters at those companies.”

  “Who’s Veronique?” Vaughn asked.

  Sabastien puffed out his chest. “Veronique is my girlfriend.”

  “You have a girlfriend?” Lorraine and Vaughn asked simultaneously.

  “Oh yes.”

  “How do I not know this?” Vaughn asked.

  “When do we get to meet her?” Lorraine piped in.

  Sabastien threw back his head and laughed. “You both already have met her. In fact, you’ve been living with her.”

  Vaughn looked at Lorraine and shrugged. “Got me.”

  “Sabastien, explain yourself,” Lorraine said.

  “Of course. Veronique is my main computer. I make love to her everyday and she rewards me with answers to our questions.”

  Vaughn wadded up her napkin and threw it at Sabastien.

  “Hey!”

  “That’s for getting us going.”

  Sabastien’s smile lit up his face, making him look even more youthful and elfin than normal. “I got one underneath you.”

  “That’s over on you,” Lorraine corrected. “And yes, you did.”

  “Anyway, I will get Veronique working on this now, and by the time we are done with our meal, we will have the answers we seek.” He rose and left the kitchen.

  “Who’s got your attention?” Vaughn asked.

  Lorraine slid the list with the highlighted names across the table. “Vector Research, Innovative Solutions, and Secure Technologies, Inc. They’re all tech companies subbing on a major contract belonging to Techtronic Industries. Techtronic was owned by a known member of the Commission until a few months ago when it went public and the new board of directors ousted him.”

  “But you think Techtronic still has ties to the Commission?”

  “I think it’s worth exploring.”

  “Okay,” Sabastien said. He sat back down and tucked a napkin into the collar of his shirt. “Bon appetit.”

  When they’d finished eating, they adjourned to the office. Sabastien sat down at the computer and stroked the side of the keyboard. “Okay, Veronique. What do you have to tell us?”

  Lorraine and Vaughn stood behind Sabastien.

  “I have asked Veronique to give us the details of these companies, the names of their principles, their titles, how long they have been with the company or on the board of directors, and what specific contracts these companies hold both with your government and with the contractor who hired them for the job.”

  “Good work, Sabastien.”

  “I also asked Veronique to cross-reference for anyone who is involved in multiple companies, their bank account information, arrest records…”

  “And what they ate for lunch yesterday?” Lorraine asked.

  “I am sure if they used a credit card, we could find out where they dined,” Sabastien said.

  “That was a joke, Sabastien. I was making a funny.”

  “Oh, right.” He smiled sheepishly. “Anyway…” His fingers flew over the keyboard and he nodded. “Okay.”

  The printer hummed and Vaughn grabbed the papers as they came out and handed them to Lorraine.

  She scanned the data, flipping through the pages, looking for anything that stood out. “Oh.” She felt for the closest chair and sat down.

  “What is it?” Vaughn asked.

  “Our smoking gun. We’ve got our smoking gun.”

  Kate and Jay reached the top of Chimney Mountain in the Adirondacks. Kate handed Jay the water bottle and Jay took a generous drink.

  “Fancy meeting you here.” Peter came around the corner from behind the rocks that created the formation for which the mountain was named.

  “You picked a helluva place to meet,” Kate said.

  “I figured you two taking off in your car like a bat out of hell and hightailing it over to my place might raise a red flag or two with your FBI shadows.”

  “On the other hand, a nice hike on a sunny day in the middle of nowhere…” Jay let the sentence trail off.

  “Exactly.”

  “Yeah, they didn’t look happy about driving a few hours north and cooling their heels while we have all the fun.”

  “Hey, they should be happy. Fresh air, the beautiful scenery of Joe King’s Flow with Humphrey Mountain in the distance. What’s not to love?” Kate asked.

  “My hamstrings. My hamstrings are not to love right now,” Jay said. She lifted her leg out straight onto a rock and stretched.

  “Where did you park?” Jay asked Peter. “We didn’t see your car.”

  “I thought it might be best if I parked elsewhere so as not to raise suspicion about your motives in taking a hike. I’m parked a mile or so away. I’ll wait to leave until after you guys hike down and take your friends with you.”

  “Never mind all that,” Kate said. “What was so urgent?”

  “You guys are slipping. I wondered why that wasn’t your first question.”

  “I’m not as young as I used to be,” Jay said. “I needed a second to catch my breath.”

  “So?” Kate persisted.

  “Two things. One, we’ve got the connection.” Peter’s eyes gleamed.

  “The connection?”

  Peter nodded. “Lorraine and Sabastien have identified the subcontractor.”

  “That’s fantastic!” Jay said. “How?”

  “Never mind the ‘how,’” Kate said. “Who and why?”

  “Vector Research and Michael Vendetti in the pantry with a knife,” Peter said.

  “Very funny.”

  Peter removed his backpack and sat down on a nearby rock. “Vector Research was hired by Techtronic Industries on a major contract to upgrade Homeland Security’s computer systems and improve the technological interface with the various agencies that are within Homeland Security’s purview.”

  “Good cover if you’re trying to get access to sensitive information,” Kate said.

  “Right. As it turns out, Vector Research is a subsidiary of West Technologies. Guess who owned West Technologies until his death?”

  “Wayne Grayson,” Kate and Jay said in unison.

  “Bingo.” Peter pulled out a bag of trail mix, grabbed a handful, and passed the bag to Jay. “And guess who joined the boards of all three companies, Techtronic, Vector Research, and West Technologies a few months ago when he was released from prison?”

  “Let me guess,” Kate said. “Michael Vendetti.”

  “Right again. Vendetti, the heir apparent to Wayne Grayson as head of the Commission.”

  “I thought you had eyes on Vendetti since he got out of jail?” Kate asked.

  “I did and I do.”

  “How did we not twig onto his involvement before now?”

  “He hasn’t taken one step out of line or done anything to raise even a whiff of suspicion. And none of Lorraine’s contacts turned up anything out of the ordinary in his prisoner visitors’ log.”

  “He must’ve had somebody scrub it from the inside,” Kate said. “And he must have a secure method of communicating with other Commission operatives that we’re not seeing.”

  “Probably,” Peter agreed.

  Jay finished swallowing a mouthful of granola, raisins, and M&Ms. “Isn’t it some kind of ethics violation for Vendetti to sit on all three boards? Especially since he was a convicted felon?”

  “These are probably private corporations, or at least they would’ve had
to have been at the time they procured the work at Homeland Security.” Kate said.

  “But these are public contracts,” Jay protested.

  “Techtronic and Vector most likely had the contracts before Vendetti was voted onto the boards. Very convenient.”

  “Can we focus on the more germane issue here? We found the link we needed,” Peter said.

  “And that makes me incredibly happy,” Jay said. “So, how did Lorraine and Sabastien figure it out, how did they tell you that while we’re in a communications blackout, and what happens now?”

  “They zeroed in on which corporations Sabastien was about to investigate at the time of the leak. Then Lorraine provided the Grayson link and Sabastien’s search turned up Vendetti. As for how I got the news, Lorraine gave me a very quick rundown in a scrambled call, the same way Sabastien contacted you the other day.”

  “Now that we have the information, what are we going to do with it? The mere fact that Vendetti sits on those boards isn’t going to be enough to prove anything,” Kate said.

  Peter tossed her an apple from his bag. “Very true. Even as we speak, Sabastien is combing through the work Vector is doing on the Homeland Security contract. So far, we know that Vector’s main, official directive is to provide new, secure cellular technology to protect sensitive conversations for top-level officials at Homeland Security and all agencies under their umbrella.”

  “Sounds like a bonanza for the Commission,” Kate said.

  “Hopefully Sabastien will be able to find evidence that proves they’re up to no good.”

  “Wouldn’t you think the Black Knight, or some other expert Vector has working for them, would have put safeguards in place to prevent Sabastien or anyone else from figuring out what they’re really doing?” Kate asked. She crunched on the last bite of apple and tossed the core into the bushes.

  “I have no doubt. Lorraine said Sabastien was laboriously scrubbing the data for trip wires, booby traps, and anything else that might alert Vector to his presence.”

  “In other words, this could take a long time,” Jay said. “Besides, even if we figure out what they were up to, that still doesn’t exonerate Sabastien for the leak,” Jay said.