by G. K. Parks
“I guess that means you’re back to work, Agent Parker. It looks like your doctor’s gonna be pissed,” Behr said.
Twenty-five
Lucca placed a cold bottle of water in front of me. After the debriefing, Assistant Director Behr had returned to DHS to update his cohorts. Lt. Tinsley remained in the conference room. She had asked me a few questions, wanting elaborations on precisely how Donaldson had been subdued and why I hadn’t intervened. The more she asked, the more I doubted myself. Truthfully, I knew I could have done more to stop it from happening. I should have. Maybe those two men would still be alive and that asshole would be in custody. Then we’d know how the weapons came to be inside the storage area beneath the freezer and what Shade was planning. I failed epically. What was worse was the fear that my inaction could lead to mass casualties.
“Are you okay?” Lucca whispered. “The last time you looked like that we had to rush you to the hospital.”
“Don’t remind me.” I leaned back in the chair.
Tinsley hadn’t heard our exchange or was pretending she didn’t. She swiped the images on her screen to the left, circling and making notations as she went. Photos of Pepper and the hidden storage area were visible, but she didn’t offer to share.
In the quiet, I read through the updated file and the numerous transcripts from Jakov’s interviews. He swore he didn’t know anything, but he ran. I scanned through the questions, but he never provided a reason for evading us or attempting to flee the country. He had to know something.
“Can I see the complete profile on Jakov?” I asked.
“Sure,” Lucca said, getting up to search through one of the file boxes. He found the file and placed it next to me. “We need to break him.”
“Why don’t you have him moved to one of the interrogation rooms, and I’ll give it a go,” I offered.
Agent Cooper was across the table, skimming through the data on Shade’s known connections. He looked up at me. “I don’t think that’s the best idea. We’ve been given strict guidelines to follow while interviewing him.”
“By whom?” I asked.
“Behr,” Cooper said.
Tinsley snorted in displeasure but kept her head down, focused on the work in front of her. I glanced in her direction, realizing she must have thought Behr was a bureaucrat first and foremost. Although, I assumed that the lieutenant in charge of counterterrorism was also a brownnoser.
“Can you gentlemen give us the room?” I asked.
Lucca looked at me uncertainly. He probably figured I’d come to blows with the cop over my mistreatment or I’d shoot her since he tended to believe that my goal in life was to put holes in my allies. Thankfully, he didn’t have to worry about the two of us trading gunfire since I wasn’t armed or permitted to carry at the moment due to the medical mandates. Perhaps she’d fire upon me. After all, she’d made it very clear that I was to blame for Donaldson’s death and the predicament we found ourselves in.
She looked up, intrigued by my request. “This ought to be good.”
“Boys,” I said, not looking at them, “just give us two minutes.”
Cooper stood up, making an exaggerated stretch. “I could use a break.”
“Behave yourself, Parker,” Lucca whispered in my ear before exiting the conference room and intentionally leaving the door opened.
“You don’t like Behr,” I said.
“Am I that obvious?” she asked sarcastically.
“No. Not at all. It must be woman’s intuition.” I crossed my arms and assessed her. We’d either be best friends or bitter rivals. My money was on the latter, but this was important. This wasn’t a competition. Lives were at stake. “Did you know Donaldson personally?”
“Not well.”
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
She sighed. “It’s not just my loss. It’s this city’s loss. He was good police and a good man. I can’t fathom why he’d put himself at risk.”
“Did he ever mention anything about Jakov or Shade to anyone in your unit?”
“No.”
“But he must have been on to something. He had Ivan keeping watch at Pepper. Look, I’m well aware of the code of silence and the us versus them mentality. I know we’re nothing but feebs to you. Frankly, I get that. We’re a bunch of pencil pushing morons that sit in our tower away from the real world and dictate how everyone else should do their jobs. We’re assholes. We pretend we’re perfect, but we miss things. And when we do, people die.”
“So you admit you screwed up?”
I looked her in the eye and said, “I’ve screwed up a lot, but I didn’t kill Donaldson. I didn’t put him into that position. Somehow, they were already on to him. My guess is that Ivan fucked up somewhere, asked too many questions, and made someone suspicious. Donaldson tried to save me. He didn’t blow my cover. He begged them to let me go. That’s probably why they focused their attention on him, and it gave me time to get out of the cuffs. But by then, it was too late.”
“Have you seen the crime scene report?”
“Only the sanitized version that the police department shared.”
She smiled. “I see you’ve dealt with my people before.” She flipped through the pictures and turned the tablet around. “The bodies were posed. The scene was set. Everything was placed. It was too perfect. Even the most incompetent feeb would be smart enough not to leave her credentials inside the SUV and use her service piece to murder a cop.”
“Thanks, I think.”
“They roughed you up pretty good while you were in custody.”
“Yeah.” I stared at her.
“And you let them.” I didn’t say anything, but we both knew it was true. You couldn’t be a female in this line of work and not be able to defend yourself. “Was that to prove your innocence? Or was that to alleviate your guilt?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
She nodded. “Behr’s an ass. He wants to pretend this isn’t happening, and he wants someone to say they screwed up and fabricated the entire thing in order to clear it off his plate. That’s not how things like this work. I’m afraid if he doesn’t pull his head out of his ass soon, it’ll be too late.”
“Then we have to work together to pick up his slack. I need you to believe that I’m not responsible for this mess. We have to find common ground.”
“Jablonsky already gave me this speech,” she said. “He has my cooperation. I’ll get the rest of my unit on board, but you need to understand something, the FBI and OIO aren’t calling the shots. Neither is DHS. This is a collaboration. Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, I guess that means I’ll tolerate you and your pals for the time being.”
“Hurrah,” I deadpanned.
She turned off the tablet and shoved it inside her bag. “C’mon, let’s take a ride.” She glanced out the doorway. “Do you need to ask permission first?”
“What do you think?”
“That’s how you ended up in this mess.”
She led the way out of the conference room and to the elevator. Lucca caught sight of us and came over to see what was happening. He put his hand against the elevator door before it could close.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“I’m taking Parker to Pepper. It’s about time your side gets a firsthand look at what we’ve discovered. Do you want to tag along?” she asked.
“I’ll meet you there,” he said, releasing the door and disappearing from sight.
“That’s your partner, right? Is he always this protective?” she queried.
“Not usually.”
“Eh, close calls can do that to a person.” She dismissed his odd behavior easily, and we fell into a comfortable silence until our arrival at Pepper. After parking at an angle in front of the building that partially obstructed the far right lane, she marched to the front door, knocked, and waited for the officer who was guarding the place to open the door. “Simmons,” she said, nodding to him, �
�is the stuff on ice?”
He snickered. “Yes, ma’am. We left it in cold storage.”
“Anything to report?”
“No, ma’am,” he said. He stepped away from the door, allowing us to enter.
“Agent Lucca will be along shortly. Let me know when he gets here,” she said before leading the way toward the kitchen and freezer. “Parker, you still with me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said, mocking Simmons. Personally, I despised the term ma’am, but I had my reasons. If Tinsley was cool with it, then good for her.
“Good.” She stopped short the moment we stepped inside the kitchen. “Since we’re here, I’d like you to show me where everything went down. Just so I’m clear.”
I did my best to hide the glare, understanding that had been her primary motivation for taking me to Pepper. It wasn’t so we could make progress; it was so she could decide if she believed my version of what happened. I walked through the kitchen, pointing to places of interest and doing my best to remain emotionless. Flashes of Donaldson sideways on the floor with blood dripping from the bullet hole in his head and the look of horror permanently etched on his face was hard to bear, but I did it anyway.
She knelt down at the drain, taking out a pen and hooking the tip into one of the holes in order to pry it loose. Once it was free, she examined the drain with her penlight and made a note to have it swabbed for blood residue again. Then she replaced the drain cover and stood.
“Agent Lucca,” she smiled warmly, as if she hadn’t just used the last few minutes to torment me, “we were just about to check the freezer.”
“Lead the way,” he said, eyeing her crouched position. “Our crime lab is on standby to examine the items you’ve discovered.”
“Didn’t you receive our reports?” she asked.
“Yes.” A brief smugness crossed his features. He liked putting the screws to her, and at the moment, I was also enjoying it. “But it’s time we share more than just reports. You’ve been given access to our evidence and suspects, and you promised Jablonsky complete cooperation. It’s time we put this interagency task force to use.”
“Agreed,” she said, crossing through the frigid air and lifting the thick rubber mat out of the way. “Why don’t you start by helping me lift this door?”
Lucca bent down, and they opened the hatch. A narrow staircase led to a warmer, decently lit room. It reminded me of the laundry room in the basement of my college dormitory, except instead of washing machines and dryers, a dozen wooden crates lined the walls.
“Everything’s been searched and cataloged, but we haven’t moved the bulk of the weaponry yet. Samples have been taken from each crate and sent through our labs for analysis. You do have the reports,” Tinsley said. “However, we didn’t want to move the crates themselves just yet. We’ve been occupying the restaurant for the last few days, but in case our efforts have been monitored, we were hoping to let the terrorist operatives believe that we haven’t found their stash in the hopes it would delay them from acquiring more weaponry.”
“They’ll assume that the longer you’re here, the better the chance is that they’ll be discovered,” I said. “Has anyone stopped by or been snooping around?”
“Simmons didn’t have anything to report,” Tinsley replied.
“Still,” Lucca lifted one of the lids and examined the contents, “even if we delay their acquisition temporarily, they’ll find another source.”
“What if we use the stockpile as bait to lure the players out of hiding?” I asked.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Tinsley said, “but it’s been days. It could be too late.”
“We’d need approval,” Lucca said. “The last thing we need to do is put these weapons back in the hands of terrorists.”
“What if we removed the firing pins?” I asked. “We could leave boxes of ugly paperweights behind and set up a sting to grab whoever comes to get the weapons.”
“It’s not without risks,” Tinsley said. “It’d be easier to obtain firing pins than it is to obtain the actual artillery. Plus,” she lifted the box on the incendiaries and grenades, “we can’t necessarily disarm these.”
“Our people need to see this,” Lucca declared, “and whatever plan you want to implement needs to be approved by DHS and Director Kendall, not just your superiors.”
“My superiors?” Tinsley asked, and I knew she was seconds away from chewing him out.
“Uh, guys, we have a bigger problem,” I said.
“What?” Tinsley and Lucca both asked.
“Jakov’s in custody. He’s involved. Whoever he speaks to and contacts must be wondering why he’s gone radio silent. He might have been planning to meet someone once he arrived at his destination, but we stopped that. They already know we’re on to them. The question is what they’re planning to do about it.”
Twenty-six
“Parker,” Jablonsky said, “what are you doing?”
“Thinking,” I mumbled from beneath the blanket. Upon our return from Pepper, Mark had requested a private chat in his office which had been a thinly veiled excuse to give me a much needed break. I’d curled up on his couch and hadn’t moved since.
“You’re not up to this,” he said. He dropped the reports he’d been reading and stared at me. “I’ll cover for you if you go home. Stuart Behr can kiss my ass.”
“No,” I sat up, “I’m all right. Have you seen the armaments that these assholes have? Pepper has to be a front for Shade. Can’t we do something? The Patriot Act should allow us to detain and question the employees. It isn’t ideal, but we can’t disregard the danger either.”
“Our techs are scanning the surveillance footage. We need to narrow down the list. I don’t honestly believe that every employee is involved. Tinsley is supposed to be working on Donaldson’s records. Once we have verification of Ivan’s true identity and what he was reporting, we’ll have a better idea of where to go from here.”
“We shouldn’t be waiting. We’ve waited long enough. It took me long enough to remember, and even then, I didn’t see the connection.” I sighed. “How did I forget that I’d gone to see Donaldson about Shade? Anything else wouldn’t have mattered, but that mattered.”
“You can’t change it.” He went back to reading reports, and I closed my eyes for a few more minutes. Without warning, he slammed his palm down on the stack of folders. “Dammit, we don’t need everyone else involved. They dumped this shit in our laps, and then they tie our hands before we can clean up the mess. Homeland didn’t want to deal with the threat. It was beyond their scope, but now that we’ve made progress, they want to step back in and fuck up our progress.”
“Tinsley said the same thing.”
“Well, she’s not an idiot. She’s also not helping matters.” He scratched at his mustache. “Do you want to take a crack at Jakov before calling it a day? I could use the assist.”
“Sure.” I’d been dying to question the man since he recognized me inside Pepper. “Cooper said we were given strict instructions on what was allowed inside the interrogation room.”
“Yeah, well, that’s Cooper. Sometimes, it’s better to ask for forgiveness.” Mark smiled. “Plus, you weren’t here for that meeting. You don’t know any better.”
“If I get suspended, you’re subsidizing me.”
“Hey, I gave you a comfy couch and blanket to nap on. It’s the least you can do.”
He picked up the phone and requested that Jakov Horvat be moved into one of the interview rooms. After that was completed, we discussed various techniques and topics that needed addressing. The goal was to finger the Shade operatives and pull them off the street. In the meantime, the foreign FBI offices were monitoring Shade HQ for questionable activity. In the event we screwed the pooch, they’d be in a position to intervene, or so we hoped.
“You take point,” Mark instructed. “I’ll weigh in if it becomes necessary.”
“Great.” Since the night of the attack, it felt like every move
I made was being scrutinized by someone. First, it was Lucca, then the police department, and now Jablonsky. Frankly, there was no reason to beat myself up over this anymore since everyone else was taking turns. “Am I getting graded too?”
“Yes, and I expect you’ll do me proud.” He twisted the doorknob and pulled the door open, allowing me to enter.
The interrogation room was bleak, more so than the one I’d been forced to tolerate at the precinct. Even the lights appeared dim. Jakov Horvat was seated in a metal chair at the metal table with his hands bound and secured in front of him. He didn’t look like much, so I couldn’t fathom why my colleagues hadn’t broken him yet. I must be missing something.
“Do you know me?” I asked without so much as a greeting or acknowledgement of my credentials.
“What?” Jakov asked, focusing on my face. His expression didn’t change, but his pupils dilated ever so slightly, a sign of recognition.
“You know me, right?” I waited, but he didn’t say anything. “You recognize me. At least I think you did. That’s why you decided to run, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t know you. Who are you?” he finally asked.
“Let me make sure I have this right. You don’t know me? You have no idea who I am?”
“No. Should I know you?”
I shrugged. “Well, if you knew me, you’d know the answer to that.” I took a seat across from him, seeing Jablonsky take to leaning against the door. “Do I know you?”
“No,” he said, becoming more bewildered by the moment.
“Are you sure about that, Jakov?” My odd, slightly friendly and albeit utterly frustrating line of questioning just turned a little darker.
“So you know my name. Big deal. You all know my name. It doesn’t make me guilty of anything.”
“Your name doesn’t, but that thing you did, you know, that thing, it makes you guilty.”