by HN Wake
It took a long, slow moment before the sweat condensed below her arms. A mild pressure built in her ears. She crossed her legs and clasped her hands in her lap. Sail close to the wind. Her tone remained perfectly neutral and professional. “Yes, in fact, we had lunch about a month ago.”
“Where?”
“A lovely place across town. Jean Gorges.”
“Did she mention anything unusual?”
Penny’s response was quick, tinged with a mild sarcastic. “About funding a sting operation against the SFG?”
Cliff jumped in again. “Penny, let’s see where this is going —“
She faced Cal. “Absolutely not did we discuss anything of the sort. ” She threw Cliff a questioning look. “Cliff, of course.” Like a litigator in a courtroom, she smoothly turned back to Cal. “Just so we’re all on the same page, Agent. Laura and I had a personal lunch. We didn’t speak about any work. We didn’t speak about donations. We didn’t speak about the SFG. What you’re suggesting is actually absurd to me. That being said, my personal opinion on gun control is public record. I abhor the level of gun violence in this country and am proud to sit on the Board of Citizens Against Illegal Guns.” She glanced at Cliff. “This firm and its partners are proud to have me sit on that board.” Then she turned back to Cal. “Have I been watching the news about the SFG’s fumbles? Yes. Am I glad the SFG is finally crumbling under the weight of their own shady practices? Of course. Am I glad the News is throwing public grenades about how hideous and manipulative and fraudulent and fear-mongering the SFG truly is? Absolutely.” She took a breath. “But I’m afraid I’m not one who can shed light on Laura for you. We were loose friends growing up. We stay in touch mostly around Board meetings. We meet up once every six months. She’s not what I would call a close friend.”
Cal jotted down notes and closed his small notebook. “Well, Ms. Navarro, I appreciate your time this morning. If you think of anything, please call me.”
His abruptness surprised her.
All three stood. Cal moved around the table, paused in front of her with his card. As she took it, he leaned in slightly, making her crane back and spoke one word. “Germantown.”
“Excuse me?”
“You grew up in Germantown. In Philadelphia.”
“Yes.” She noticed Cliff stood apart, a non-partisan observer.
“So did Freda Browne over at the News.”
Her heart somersaulted but her voice was strong. “Yes. Freda and I went to high school together.”
“And from what I understand she’s the one managing the SFG pieces over at the Times.”
“Ok?”
“Convenient, that.”
“I’m sorry?”
“It’s just convenient that all three of you sit on the Citizen’s Board and that there appears to have been a set up at the SFG involving a very large donation and that got reported almost immediately by the News.”
She squinted at him, her resolve steely. “Agent, we are all involved on the gun issue here in New York. That doesn’t mean we’re connected to the various incidents happening now.”
“Hmmm. Just interesting.” He stepped back, then thought of a further point. “Still friends to this day. That’s nice. That kind of long-term friendship.”
“I’m sorry, Agent, I’m not following you.”
“You, Freda Brown, Laura Franklin.”
“Yes?”
“You must have had other friends, growing up.”
She tilted her head, furrowed her brows. She said nothing.
“Maybe a fourth friend?” He let the question hover.
Her mouth dropped slightly and she stood immobile. Was that a tiny, smug grin on the Agent’s face?
As if her reaction confirmed his suspicion, Cal shrugged, glanced at Cliff. “Well, thank you. Both of you. I’ll see myself out.” As he turned to Penny his face was inscrutable. “That kind of friendship is good for kids growing up. That kind of life-long friendship. You’ve got two kids, right?”
“Pardon me?”
“You’ve got two sons.”
In that instant, her suppressed fear and tension finally won over reason. She stepped forward, her voice ice. “There are civil rights in this country, Agent. This is a country of rule of law. Threats against my family, whether explicit or implied, from law enforcement, without cause - just on ‘a hunch’ - are definitively crossing a line that could very well get you in trouble. You would do well to stay within your remit.”
Cliff finally moved in. But it wasn’t in her defense. “Penny, Penny, I’m not sure that’s necessary.”
She was ramrod still, staring at Cal. “I will not have a law officer threaten my family.”
Cliff broke the momentary silence. “I’m sure the ATF is just doing its job. Agent, why don’t you let me show you out.”
Cliff returned, closing the door behind him. “What’s gotten into you? Penny, for god’s sakes you’re not supposed to get uppity on the Feds. They better not hear about this upstairs.”
“Uppity?” Her look of disbelief was genuine. “Is that a sexist thing? As in a woman who protects her children is uppity? As in a woman who questions the mandate of a law enforcement officer who has stepped beyond his boundaries is suddenly uppity? Or is that a racist thing? I’m uppity because as a person of color I shouldn’t be questioning authority? Either way, really, really poor word choice, Cliff.” She stomped to the door, her legs finally trembling. “And, just for the record: thanks for coming to my defense. If an ATF agent used your family as part of his strong arming, I would have…as someone with a…vested interest …I would have stepped in.” She jerked the door open with a parting shot. “Now I know better.”
The diner was loud, the tempo of the lunch crowd rapid. Full plates landed on linoleum tables and empty ones clattered into the bins by the kitchen door. The waitress cleared their two dishes and poured two new coffees in one simultaneous move.
Charlotte looked over at Stacia. “Ok, lay out your options for me.”
Stacia rubbed her face with two hands, pulling lower eyelids down as her hands slid down to her chin. “I walk. I just walk.”
“Is that an option?”
“I mean it kinda is. But I’m already in danger. The nutters already know my name. Where we live. So yes, but it’s not the best option.”
“Ok, so what else?”
“I take it lying down.”
“Not really a great option either.”
“Yeah, no. Not a great option. They get away with it, without any consequences.”
Charlotte was thoughtful. “To be honest, Stacia, I don’t really disagree with what they did. I mean, if they were involved in some huge conspiracy to take down the SFG - that’s kinda cool.”
Stacia rebuffed her. “We’re the most rarefied news outlet in the country, arguably the world. We’re not supposed to make news. We’re supposed to report it. Getting involved is absolutely not ok. Not as newsmen.”
“I guess.” Charlotte shook her head, unconvinced.
“There is a third option.”
“Go ahead.”
“I threaten them with something.”
“What have you got to threaten them with?”
Stacia looked around the coffee shop. “Really, the only thing I’ve got is my sense that they are involved in this. Deeply involved. It may be enough to start, I dunno, an investigation or something.”
“But you’ve got no proof.” It was a statement, not a question.
“No. I’ve got no proof.”
Charlotte dropped her chin, stared over her glasses. “So you kinda bluff it. You go in, to Jack, and you tell him you’re going to go to the ATF if they don’t give you what you want. See what he says. Worst case scenario is he says no and fires you.”
Stacia looked out the window. “It’s an option.”
Charlotte grinned widely. “Now we’re talking.”
Five minutes later, Penny was out on the sidewalk in front of her office, hissing i
nto her burner phone. “What were your words? I believe they were: ‘you didn’t tell the ATF guy anything?’ Or was it: ‘I’m good at what I do, missy?’ Wait, I think you said you were ‘tits.’”
Freda was calm. “What are you talking about?”
Penny’s voice was pitched high. “That ATF agent was just here in our office. He interrogated me. He found me via you. Goddamnit.”
“Ok, calm down. What did you let on?”
“Nothing.” She replayed the meeting. “Nothing. Freda, I am good. I got all lawyerly up on his ass. Oh my god. I’m so angry and scared right now.” She took a deep long breath, her palm over her eyes. “My colleague is a total douche.”
“It’s going to be fine. Fine.”
“How do we know that? I am not going to jail, Freda. I have two boys at home.”
“We are not going to jail.”
“We’re harboring and abetting a spy working on US soil. That’s got to be related to aiding and abetting a traitor which is punishable by death. That’s written in the constitution for god’s sake. Jesus Christ.”
“There’s no way they’ll ever prove that. Think about it, Penny. If she gets caught, she’s a friend of ours. We never fess up that we knew what she was going to do.”
“Is that your Plan B? Are you kidding me? We’ll just say ‘We’re her friends’?”
“Actually. It’s Mac’s Plan B. Has been all along. Think about it. Has she ever told us what she’s doing?”
There was a long silence.
Penny asked, “Do you think she planned that? Do you think she planned that we would never know so we could never be implicated?”
“I think she’s planned this whole thing down to the finest detail. You know who that ATF agent was, is, right?”
“Who?”
“He’s the dude that blew the lid off Fast and Frenzied.”
Penny noticed the crowds of people bustling around her.
Freda continued, “He’s not exactly the most trusted source right now in the ATF. Our girl has got this shit covered.”
“Wow.” Penny said, “Also, he knew about Laura. What if they connect Laura’s money to Mac?”
“No way. How? Via a Swiss bank? Nevah.”
“That’s what Laura keeps saying. Ok, I’m calling Mac.”
“Use the burner phone.”
“No shit, Sherlock.”
Langley, VA
Odom’s cell phone pinged with a message from Beam. “He went into a building in Times Square about 2 hours ago. I wasn’t able to follow - card swipe turnstiles.”
“Keep an eye on him.”
Odom dialed Hawkinson’s office. “The ATF agent is in New York. He went to the New York News building twice and then into a Times Square building.”
Hawkinson responded, “He’s chasing the lead through the reporter. Smart. Can you get close?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Ok. Stay on him. Keep your distance.”
“Sir, I think the ATF agent has concluded that Mac is not working alone.”
“What?”
“I think he may be right.”
“Talk to me.”
“I think Mac has someone inside the New York News that has a vested interest in the gun legislation and who is fanning the flames of public sentiment.”
“You’re suggesting Mac may be part of a domestic…cartel… of some sort. That’s quite a conspiracy theory, Odom.”
“I’m not sure what the conclusion is, but it seems suspicious that the SFG stories are getting such high profile coverage.”
“Look into it.”
Odom hung up and turned up the volume on his computer. On the screen was MSNBC. Rachel Maddow sat at her desk in front of the camera, with a smirk. She began the segment in her typical informal style, speaking directly to the viewers, her friends. “Let me start today with a quote. It’s an unattributed quote of a long-time Capitol Hill staffer working for a Democrat. He made the off-record quote to me last week when I called him on background about the assault weapons ban.”
She looked down to her cue card and air quoted. “‘I can’t stand that we pander to the SFG. All the other issues, all the other topics that I deal with support either our constituents and interests back home or the larger country and our citizens. But when it comes to guns, I just bend over and say, ‘Yes, Sir, may I have another?’” She looked up at the camera. “What kind of failure in our democracy, what kind of failure in our constitutional checks and balances have allowed one organization to become so all-powerful that they can ‘call all the shots’ on a single issue?”
She held up three New York News. “Thankfully, the SFG took some pretty serious hits this month. First, their biggest corporate donor was arrested for gun running. Then some fairly solid investigative reporting revealed the SFG is really just a hired lobbyist for the gun manufacturers. Then, just this week, their chief strategist Neil Koen is implicated in an egregious embezzlement scheme. And yesterday —” She held up yesterday’s paper. “It came out that the SFG had a very intentional strategy to mislead and defraud their members after the Newtown massacre. And just today we hear their board is circling the wagons, undoubtedly with their lawyers, discussing how liable they might be.
“I spoke to that same Hill staffer earlier today. You know what he said? ‘Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last.'"
She set the papers down, slowed her tempo. "I think he speaks for many of us who have been supporters of sensible gun regulation for years. By some miracle we have been handed an opportunity in this country to finally push through reform. Tonight, I have one thing to say to Congress: ‘Your move.’”
50
Manayunk, PA
Penny called as the sun was setting. “There was an ATF agent here to see me today.”
Mac looked out over Pretzel Park. It was empty. “Smart. He’s faster than I expected.”
“You expected him to find me?”
“Tell me about him.”
“He asked about my boys. He insinuated that my boys were a weakness somehow. That if I were involved in some crazy plot to bring down the SFG, he knew I had kids. I lost my shit.”
“Huh. He played it a little heavy handed. He must not have much.”
“Are you kidding me? Heavy handed? We’re talking about my kids, Mac.”
“We’re going to make it through this, Penny. It’s going to be all right.”
“It better be.”
“What else did he say?”
“He knows about Germantown Friends. That’s how he found me. And the Board of Citizens Against Illegal Guns.”
“Impressive.”
“Seriously? You knew this was coming?”
“You plan for the worst. You know your weaknesses. I imagined it would happen so it doesn’t surprise me.”
“I can’t believe they found us.”
“First of all they haven’t found you. The ATF agent is a lone player without official backing. And he suspects you. He’s got no evidence. That’s an entirely different thing.”
“Was he the whistleblower for the Fast and Frenzied?”
“Yup.”
“Did you set him up?”
“The less you know the better.”
“You did, you totally did. Are you going to bring him down?
“Nah. That’s the kind of shit the CIA does. I wouldn’t do that to a law enforcement officer. We’re on the same side.”
“He knows Laura was the bank roll.”
“He suspects. He’s got no evidence. But you should send her a warning. Do it over your normal cell phone. Act normal. They could be intercepting your calls. Act like you would if you were innocent and some random ATF agent started prying into your life and then mentioned Laura. Remember, you’re the lynchpin to Laura. If he can’t make that connect stick, he’s got nothing.” Mac let the advice sink in. “We’re fine. This will be done soon. Then you can go back to your normal life.”
“I don’t kno
w how you do this for a living.”
Darkness was settling in the park.
Mac said, “When you apply to the Peace Corps they ask you what you are going to get out of it. They know two years in some third world country is a tough thing to take. They want to know you’ve got some skin in the game, that you’re going to stick it out. They want to know what your selfish reasons are.”
In a hushed voice Penny said, “My boys. I don’t want them to be shot in a movie theater.”
“Remember that. Remember why you’re doing this. Only one more day.”
“Ok.”
“And trust me. I’m good at what I do.”
“What is it with you girls?” She hung up.
Mac clicked into the chatroom. There was a note from 89 waiting for her, “Your Hushmail is compromised.”
“Roger that. Who?”
“Looks like Agency. But it’s behind walls so I’m not totally certain.”
“Roger that. Am finished with it anyway.”
“Good timing. Live long and prosper. Chat soon. :) “
She laughed to herself and logged out.
She used her burner phone to call Amanda.
“Amanda Hughes.”
“It’s Dora.”
Amanda’s whisper was hissed, “I can’t believe they are blaming Charles!”
“What did you expect? The bad apples go all the way to the top.”
“It wasn’t what we agreed. You were supposed to take down Neil. That’s it.”
Mac’s voice was calm, in control. “Amanda, we didn’t agree on anything. I showed you proof of corruption, you supplied me with ammunition to clean house. Your actions, by the way, have set you up very nicely.” She let the complicity sink in. “It’s going to be fine.”
Amanda remained silent.
“How are you?”
When it returned, Amanda’s voice was tired. “Ok, I guess. I feel dirty, like I’m hiding an enormous, dirty secret. It’s awful.”
“Just stay the course. Mrs. Bodie is pleased. We’re all pleased. The storm will pass soon.”
“They’re going to promote me since I’m the only one who really knew about Neil’s work.”