by Scott Blade
Garret looked at Keagan and then at Widow. He said, “Ruffalo didn’t kill nobody.”
Garret told them the whole story as best he knew it.
Garret said, “Thirty years ago, James Ruffalo owned an oil and gas company left to him to run by his father. The whole family was a Ruffalo Creek staple. They were one of the original families. They founded the town.
“Ruffalo Oil and Gas was the biggest draw to the area. It supplied thousands of jobs and worldwide opportunity. Locals who wanted to get out of this town, could take on a job there and travel with it.”
Widow stood and scooped up all the coffees that Babbitt had made and took them to the kitchen. He asked, “You got a dishwasher?”
Garret said, “Yes. You’ll see it in there.”
Widow asked, “Anybody want any coffee?”
Both Keagan and Garret said, “No.”
Widow poured out the coffee and put everything in the dishwasher. He found detergent pods under the sink, and he loaded the dishwasher and started the cycle. He stuck his head back out of the kitchen and called out to Garret.
He said, “Hey, you don’t mind if I make some coffee?”
Garret said, “Go right ahead.”
They heard the coffeemaker, the percolator, and the drip of the coffee. A minute later, Widow came out with a black coffee in a big white mug, plain. He joined Keagan and Garret back in the living room and sipped on his coffee.
Garret said, “For many years, things were going good for everybody. What happened leading up to the murders we’ve pieced together ourselves from news articles on the internet and eyewitness accounts. The rest we researched from all over the world to get the whole story.”
Keagan interrupted. She asked, “We? You and Kloss?”
“My daughter and I. Well, we’ll get to that,” Garret said, and he stared at the coffee table, but it looked like he was staring into a deep, deep memory. He said, “Let me ask you both a question.”
He glanced up at Widow and then at Keagan. He asked, “What’s the most lucrative smuggling operation in the world? Illegal, I mean. What comes to mind when you think of major criminal enterprises?”
Widow and Keagan looked at each other and then back at Garret. Widow said, “Drug trafficking is probably number one.”
Garret nodded and said, “It indeed is. But what others are there?”
Keagan said, “Sex trafficking. Trafficking humans. Girls all over the world are kidnapped and sold into slavery.”
Garret nodded.
Widow said, “Boys too.”
Keagan nodded.
Garret said, “What else though?”
Widow thought about Rower again. He remembered the criminal enterprise he stumbled into with that whole experience, and he said, “Human organs.”
Keagan stared at Widow.
He said, “It’s true.”
Garret asked, “What else? Any others? Think about what I said: What’s the most lucrative smuggling operation in the world?”
Widow sipped his coffee and looked at Keagan. Their eyes met. They both shrugged.
Keagan said, “I don’t know. What is it?”
Garret said, “Oil smuggling. Crude black gold.”
Keagan stared at Widow, who was shoveling more coffee in his mouth. She thought, Talk about crude black gold.
Garret said, “Every year, one point seven trillion dollars' worth of oil and gas are traded on the black markets around the world.”
Keagan’s mouth dropped. She said, “One point seven trillion dollars?”
Garret said, “Yes. That much. It’s insane that no one talks about it. And it’s one of the oldest criminal enterprises. The oil is mostly smuggled out of a handful of countries in Africa, where the governments are apt to look the other way.”
Widow added, “They’re called oil pits. They exist in countries where governments are toppled and changed out like underwear.”
Garret said, “Precisely. The US government knows all about it. They pretty much do nothing about it.”
Keagan asked, “Why?”
Garret said, “Lots of senators and other politicians are in the back pockets of oil companies. That’s no secret.”
Keagan asked, “But why would the oil companies look the other way? Wouldn’t they want to stop the competition at least?”
Garret said, “Most of the smuggled oil and the sales on the black market are down by the oil companies. It’s not in their official ledgers, but these rogue oil smugglers work for them at some level.”
Keagan said, “That can’t be true.”
Garret started to rebut her, but Widow spoke first. He said, “Accruing, finding, digging, refining, and transporting oil costs millions of dollars and thousands of skilled workers. Though much of it is found in Africa with people who know nothing about the process, far more of it is handled by the professionals.”
Garret said, “It couldn’t happen if the oil companies weren’t involved. The process would break down somewhere. There’s too much skill and expensive, state-of-the-art equipment needed for ragtag rebels to manage all of it on their own.”
Widow said, “Plus, someone’s got to sell it. I can’t imagine a ragtag rebel who probably can’t read showing up to a sales meeting in a thirty-year-old suit with no shoes on, trying to sell oil to people who have the money to buy.”
Garret nodded and said, “This is true.”
Keagan asked, “So, who buys black market oil?”
Garret said, “Rogue nations, warlords, countries that have major sanctions against them, like North Korea.”
Widow said, “Al-Qaeda. ISIS.”
Keagan nodded and said, “Okay, and Ruffalo was in this business too?”
Garret said, “Not at first. After his father died, people doubted he could run the company properly. Which turned out to be sort of true. The company’s profits dwindled for a while. Until a stranger approached Ruffalo with a deal. Ruffalo trusted this man. He had impeccable credentials. He had worked in Africa in these unstable countries for years.”
Keagan asked, “The countries with the oil pits?”
Garret said, “Yes. This stranger was an expert in the region. It would turn out he was an expert in many, many things. He asked Ruffalo to make him the controlling partner of his family’s oil company on the downlow. In exchange, he would save the company and the town.”
Keagan asked, “And Ruffalo took the deal?”
Garret said, “In all honesty, he had no choice. He was terrified of this stranger. Everyone who ever met him was terrified of him. Including me.”
Keagan asked, “Who is this stranger?”
Garret said, “I’m getting there.”
Widow took another gulp of the coffee.
Garret said, “Ruffalo took the deal, and everything was going okay. Like the stranger said, the profits had doubled and even tripled, and things went well for a long time. But the more time passed, the more Ruffalo was hearing about murders and regimes being changed in military coups and so on from Africa, in the countries where he was sending resources and money on behalf of his new partner. Eventually, the FBI caught on.”
Garret paused a beat and looked at Widow, who took another pull from his coffee.
Keagan asked, “What happened?”
Garret said, “The short of it, and that’s all I know, is that a special task force was onto the stranger. Turned out he’s special.”
Keagan interrupted and asked, “How special?”
Garret said, “Hold on. I’ll tell you. So two FBI agents ambushed Ruffalo in secret. They picked him up. They took him to an undisclosed location, and they showed him that they knew everything. They threatened him with a life sentence. Needless to say, Ruffalo was no gangster. He was scared shitless. I wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t pissed his pants.”
A smile came over Garret’s face like he had seen such a thing before from his days as the town’s sheriff.
He said, “Anyway, they worked Ruffalo over so bad
that he couldn’t think straight. So they offered him a deal to save himself. They wanted his partner, the stranger. He agreed to do it. I should also mention that Ruffalo, at the time, was the wealthiest man in all of Ruffalo Creek. He had a huge house across town. In the back of the house, he had this enormous swimming pool. I mean it was really something. There were statues of Greek gods all around it. It was really something to see.
“Also, Ruffalo had a wife. She was pregnant with their firstborn. And she was far along.”
Widow said, “What happened?”
Garret swallowed and said, “The FBI thought they were so clever. They had Ruffalo on the hook, and he was the perfect witness, the perfect whistle-blower. But they were thinking they were dealing with an ordinary international criminal. They weren’t. The stranger got wind of the whole plot. One day, Ruffalo thought he was heading home to meet with the FBI agents. Instead, he came home to a scene out of a horror movie.
“The stranger, with some of his men, were there. They were armed. They had his pregnant wife at gunpoint. And the stranger invited everyone out to the pool. At the pool, Ruffalo walked out to see the two FBI agents who made a deal with him. They were the heads of the task force. They were duct-taped to metal chairs. They were gagged. The stranger tortured them in front of Ruffalo.”
Garret took a break and rubbed his beard like he was haunted by what he saw that day. Another tear came down his cheek. This one was different. It wasn’t a tear for his dog. It was a tear of guilt.
Widow saw it. He recognized the difference. He stayed quiet.
Garret said, “The stranger put the scare into Ruffalo, who cried and sobbed and begged for their lives. But the stranger wasn’t having it. So he had his guys put these heavy chains across the two FBI agents, and one by one, the stranger kicked them into the pool. They sank like rocks. Ruffalo pleaded for the stranger to let them live. He swore that he would never tell. He wore everything just to save their lives. But the stranger didn’t help them.
“In fact, he pulled a gun and put it to Ruffalo’s pregnant wife. His men held her tight, and the stranger put a gun to her head and then to her belly. The stranger told Ruffalo to watch the FBI agents drown. He told him if he looked away, he’d murder both his wife and baby right there in front of him.”
Garret looked away for a moment and cleared his throat like he was trying to stop himself from crying. Keagan looked at Widow and then back at Garret.
She asked, “What happened next?”
Garret said, “The two FBI agents died. The stranger made Garret and his wife swear never to tell anyone. They left them. The Ruffalos had to get rid of the bodies and everything. Of course, they didn’t know how or what to do. They buried the bodies, and deep too. But we got a real problem out here with coyotes. And they love to dig. The two dead agents turned up a month later. It didn’t take long for the Feds to see that there was a deal in place to protect Ruffalo, and the two agents had a meeting with him just before they died.
“The stranger took Ruffalo from his home, his life, and gave him a new one somewhere else. Of course, I thought he was dead all these years, but he’s not. The stranger kept him alive and under guard.”
Widow said, “For thirty years, Bill Liddy has been hiding in plain sight but as someone else. Who would suspect?”
Keagan said, “Why though?”
Garret said, “I guess the stranger needed him. Probably, used his knowledge and connections or whatever. Ruffalo Oil and Gas is still a large international oil company. The offices and refinery here were only the beginning. The company itself has a CEO and a board, but really, it’s run by Ruffalo and the stranger.”
Widow asked, “What happened to his wife?”
Garret said, “After what had happened, she wanted to flee and take their kid as far away from Ruffalo and the stranger as possible. A month after the FBI agents went missing, before their bodies were found, she gave birth, but there was a complication, and she died during labor.”
Keagan asked, “What about the baby?’
Garret said, “She gave birth to a daughter.”
Widow said, “Earlier, you said 'eyewitness accounts.' Who’s did you mean?”
Garret said, “Mine. I was there. I saw him murder those agents. I didn’t want anything to happen to Silvia or the baby.”
Keagan asked, “Silvia?”
Garret said, “Ruffalo’s wife. Her and I were having an affair. I got mixed up in it. I didn’t know the stranger was going to kill those agents though! I swear! I thought he was going to scare us. It was later that I learned who he really was.”
Widow asked, “Is the girl really Ruffalo’s, or is she yours?”
Garret turned and leaned over the sofa to a side table. He scooped up a picture in a frame. He handed it to Widow, who got up off the chair and took it. He looked at it and passed it to Keagan. It was a photograph of a young woman as a teenager. She was in a soccer uniform.
Garret said, “That’s Tessa. She’s Ruffalo’s biological daughter, but I raised her. Here. As my own.”
Keagan asked, “Where is she now?”
Garret didn’t answer that.
Widow said, “She’s the one who hired Kloss. She wanted to find her dad.”
Garret said, “I had to tell her the truth someday. She’s a grown woman now. I couldn’t lie to her forever.”
Keagan said, “That’s why Kloss called her. He was calling her, not you.”
Garret nodded and said, “Kloss wanted to help. He wanted to find the stranger as badly as Tessa wanted to find her real dad. She has a right to know him. He’s not the monster that the FBI said he was. If anything, I’m as guilty as he was.”
Widow said nothing to that. Instead, he repeated Keagan’s question and asked, “Where is she now?”
Garret said, “She’s in Kodiak. When she didn’t hear back from Kloss for several days, she insisted she go after him. I couldn’t stop her.”
Keagan said, “We have to call her. What’s her cell number?”
Garret said, “It’s no use. She turns her phone off unless she’s using it. She does that so he can’t track her.”
Keagan asked, “Who?”
Garret said, “The stranger. He’s real name is Efrem Voight. He was a bureau chief in Africa for decades.”
Keagan asked, “A bureau chief?”
Widow asked, “He’s CIA?”
Garret nodded and said, “He was. That’s how he made the connections he needed to run a black market oil empire. He’s been doing it for thirty years now. And no one has a clue he even exists anymore. He’s ruthless and dangerous.”
Keagan asked, “Has she called you? Is she safe?”
Garret said, “Yes. She calls me every night. She’s staying in something called an Airbnb?”
Keagan stood up, looked at Widow, and said, “We got to get back to Kodiak. I can call my guys to keep an eye out for her.”
Widow said, “I thought all your guys are locked up?”
Keagan said, “We still got uniformed police. We got the CGPD.”
Widow said, “Better call the local cops too.”
Keagan pulled out her phone and said, “We should send someone out to Liddy’s.”
Widow said, “No! Don’t tell them about Liddy. We can’t take the chance of spooking this Voight guy. If he’s former CIA or whatever, he’s too dangerous. We can’t tip him off. We don’t know how connected he is. He could already have her. If he sees cops, he’ll kill her.”
Keagan said, “Okay. Then we need to be in the air right now.”
Widow said, “Agreed.”
Keagan told Garret that they would call him as soon as they knew something. She thanked him for his help, and Widow told him to call Keagan’s phone the second that Tessa made contact. Before they left, Garret gave them a thick folder with article cutouts, testimonies, and background files all pieced together over the last thirty years. It told the story of Voight, the CIA, the oil scheme, and Ruffalo.
Keagan too
k it and thanked him. They wished him luck and were back on the road and headed back to the Salt Lake City Airport.
27
On the flight back, Widow slept in his seat until they touched down back in Anchorage. But before that, he stayed awake until they landed in Seattle for a short layover. They sat at a Starbucks waiting on their flight back. Predictably, Widow had coffee and Keagan had a bottle water.
She looked through all of the material that Garret had collected over the years. She finally closed it and said, “It looks like Garret was building a case to exonerate Liddy.”
Widow stayed quiet and sipped his coffee.
Keagan said, “We should’ve moved Garret to a safe house or gotten local cops involved.”
Widow said, “He wouldn’t go for that. We can’t make him do it. My guess is he doesn’t trust the local cops any more than the FBI. Plus, he wouldn’t have left his house. He was going to wait by that phone with his firearm for her to call no matter what. Besides, I killed that guy who pretended to be his son. That guy was an assassin. Probably a pretty good one. The cops weren’t going to believe our story.”
“I guess you’re right,” she said. “He loves that girl.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t worry about him. He can take care of himself.”
“Still, I feel like we should tell someone. My authority is limited here.”
Widow said, “Who we going to tell?”
“The Feds. They’ll be interested in the fact you found Ruffalo.”
“We can’t involve them. Not yet. If Voight is who Garret says he is, we don’t know who we can trust. We don’t know if he’s got Tessa or not. If he gets her, he’ll use her to get us.”
Keagan asked, “Then what?”
“Voight will kill all of us. Let’s not sound the alarm just yet. Not until we get our hands on her. Then we can call the Feds.”
By the time they were on the next plane, Widow closed his eyes and leaned his head against the window. He fell asleep.
28
The wheels to the plane from Seattle came down, and the plane that Widow and Keagan took from Seattle landed on the runway just after eight thirty at night. Widow woke up from the mechanical sound of the landing gear coming down. But Keagan was fast asleep on his shoulder.