The Last Innocent

by Rebekah Strong

  Luke tossed the Senator’s phone onto the desk, his expression cool. The phone chinked against the liquor bottle. He took a step toward Barty who cowered again.

  “Campaign manager, fundraising whiz and pimp. That’s a hell of a resume. No wonder you’re so popular with the big guys. You’ve got all the right skills.”

  Barty looked like he was about to cry. He grabbed the windowsill and hung on for dear life. His gut hung out of his untucked shirt. Luke looked at him coldly. “Why was your man calling John Cade on a disposable phone?” Luke perched himself on the corner of the desk.

  At the question, Barty did start crying. A gruesome sight. “All we wanted was an endorsement,” he whimpered.

  Luke grabbed the bottle of thirty-year-old scotch. Barty covered his head and fell to the floor when it hit the wall next to him and shattered. In one swift move, Luke approached and grabbed him by the tie. Forcing the man around, Luke put his face inches away. The sweating, crying man reeked of booze.

  “This is where you tell me what is going on and maybe, just maybe, I don’t take you to jail for a half dozen federal crimes.”

  Barty threw his hands up to hide his face.

  “You lied to me about meeting with Cade. Twomey knew he was never getting the endorsement. What was the real reason he went?”

  “C..C…Cade’s a piece of shit. He sucks off anyone who can benefit him and tramples everyone beneath him sh..show his superiority.” Barty hiccupped every few words.

  “I figured that out myself. Answer the question.”

  Barty began to blubber. Luke’s right hand went to the man’s throat, and he slammed the man down into his own chair. Barty coughed. Spit flew from his mouth. It was a moment before he could go on.

  “C..Cade negotiated defense contracts by blackmailing the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. There were things going on around military bases that would curl your h…hair.”

  Luke slammed the headrest next to Duncan’s head with his palm. “Like what?”

  Duncan flinched and leaned away. “Human trafficking around U.S. bases. Mistakenly paid for by government contracts.”

  “A mistake? Cade blackmailed Congress with a mistake? You’re gonna have to do better than that.”

  “They knew about it. Cecil found out about the whole thing. He said he had proof. Something that would win us the seat.”

  “What proof?” Luke growled.

  “I don’t know. I swear I don’t know…please. He didn’t share that with me. Please,” Barty begged as Luke came nose to nose with him. Luke said nothing. It had the desired effect.

  Barty blurted it out. “Cecil had a couple of guys he used. Hackers. They got into Cade’s personal server and found emails or something.”

  Luke straightened. Duncan sucked in air like he’d been released from a chokehold.

  “This is all very fascinating, but you’re still being useless, Barty boy,” said Luke. “This happened over twelve years ago. Long enough for them to deny it, and too long for anybody to care. That shit is way too old to be an effective play. What was Twomey blackmailing Cade with? What else did he have?”

  “I swear to you I don’t know,” Barty whimpered.

  “Get up.” Luke reached for the handcuffs on his belt. The sobbing sweating man threw his hands up like he was fending off a punch.

  “You’re right. You’re right. He never would have gone over if he didn’t have something. Something big. About two weeks ago, he said he could get a One World endorsement and hit Onessa where it hurt. That we were unstoppable. I thought it was strange, but then I forgot about it. Cecil had a lot of dirt on a lot of people, but he never used it unless he needed something. I thought that’s all this was. But I don’t know what he had. What he found. Please, you have to believe me.”

  “I’m supposed to believe you didn’t know everything he did?”

  “I didn’t know everything he did. I didn’t. I swear to you. He hired me to do a job and I did it. He was the one who got sloppy. And no, he didn’t tell me everything. I didn’t want to know. I swear I didn’t want to know.”

  Barty’s answers came quick now. Lies take more time to fabricate. Luke was satisfied he was getting the truth.

  “You set up the prostitutes?”

  Barty nodded.

  “Who else knew about that apartment?”

  “I used the same guy, always. No one else knew about it. At least that’s what I thought.”

  Luke pushed away from the chair, ready to get away from the smelly drunken mess. “Still think he killed himself?”

  Duncan shook his head. “No,” he whimpered dissolving into tears. “None of this can get out. It will ruin me. Oh god, this can’t get out.” He buried his face in his hands.

  “Sorry, Barty boy.” Luke grabbed both phones from the desktop. “Not my problem.”

  Luke and Thad left the distraught man and walked out into the hot night. “Cade keeps an apartment here, but he lives in Savannah,” said Luke.

  “So, we’re going to Chicago?”

  Luke looked at Thad.

  “I’m kidding. Lighten up, Old Man. I’m packing, like right now.”

  “Pack for an extended trip. It’s going to take a while to sweat him out.”

  “Okay.”

  “Get your caseload caught up. Be ready to go by next Monday.”

  “Can we make it the first?”

  Thad never realized there were crickets in the city. “I’ll be ready Monday.”

  TWELVE

  Thunder rumbled behind heavy clouds as the men approached a brick two story building on Bull Street. Fat drops began to fall, but Luke didn’t bother shielding his face. Rain didn’t bother him. He’d endured worse in the field for days on end. Thad held the morning paper over his head in a futile attempt to stay dry. Halfway to the door, the bottom fell out and the news disintegrated.

  Luke pushed through an unmarked brown door and climbed the carpeted stairs. At the top, the blue and gold seal of the Federal Bureau of Investigation hung in the small vestibule flanked by the American and Georgia state flags.

  A pretty brunette looked up from the receptionist's desk behind bulletproof glass. Luke grabbed his collar and shook the water off his coat as Thad grinned at her. She smiled back.

  “Luke Marshall and Thaddeus Aulden,” said Thad. He leaned casually against the glass as he flashed his credentials at her.

  “Oh, hi there. We’ve been expectin’ you,” she pushed a button under her desk. The heavy door unlocked with a click. She was already standing when they walked in, the slightest hint of cleavage peeking.

  “Welcome to the Savannah field office. Greg is gonna be in a little late today, but I’ll show you around if you like,” she finished with a little flourish. Thad looked like she’d offered him a million dollars. Luke glanced around at the small but modern suite of offices.

  “My name’s Susannah June, by the way. Everybody calls me Susie J, but you can call me anything but a bad name,” she drawled, shooting sideways glances at Luke. Thad grinned at her. Susie set off down a short hallway peppered with doors. Thad followed first then Luke.

  They passed a break room with a green Formica countertop and a large window that let in wet, gray light. Luke caught a glimpse of a deserted park sheltered by a sprawling canopy of trees.

  The trio followed the hall until it made a sharp right and ended at a door. Susie pushed it open revealing a small office. Two modular desks faced the white walls. Desktop computers and phones sat on top of each and nothing else. There was barely enough floor space for the two chairs pushed under the desks. It wasn’t much more than a broom closet, but Luke was thankful it had a window. And he was pretty sure he’d smelled coffee passing the break room.

  Susie J’s drawl answered him. “Ah just made a pot of coffee. Ya’ll help yourselves.”

  “Why thank you, Miss Susie J,” said Thad. His own twang grew considerably deeper in the last few minutes.

  She smiled at him and turned to leav
e. “Let me know if ya’ll need anything,” she called behind her.

  “I’ll let you know…” Thad started to mumble at her retreating behind. Luke cut him off.

  “Nothing but the best for company.” He surveyed the broom closet. “Let’s go unload the car and get to work.”

  Thirty minutes later the desks were piled with boxes and damp stacks of paper. Thad collapsed in his chair. “I gotta be honest with you, Boss. I don’t really know where to start with this mess.” Thad looked at the cramped office.

  “Cade.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If we dissect Cade we’ll find something. Why we’re here.”

  “Can’t we write a search warrant on his house and be done with it?”

  “He wouldn’t keep anything incriminating in his house. Even if he did, the second he gets wind that we’re in Savannah everything will get scrubbed.”

  “I still can’t believe you found a judge to sign a closed warrant for his bank accounts.”

  “There’s always an idealistic new judge ready to take on the world.”

  “Was it a woman?”

  Luke ignored him. “I can’t get into his offshore accounts yet, but his domestic accounts need some scrutiny. Cade is very philanthropic. He donates to people and organizations who can benefit him in turn. Academics, political action committees, re-election campaigns and more than a few foreign third-world dignitaries. He’s schmoozed royalty and procured god knows what for them. He’s a slime ball of a human being, but he gets results for rich people who need a back-door provider.”

  “Um. Okay.”

  “I’m going through the bankroll to research the names on it. See what that gets us.” Luke rifled around in a bank box and pulled out a ream of paper. Thad’s keyboard and stapler bounced as the heavy stack hit the desktop.

  Thad’s eyes got big. “What’s that?”

  “Cade’s phone records for a year. Cell and home.”

  “Um, where did you get this? The judge didn’t sign a phone records subpoena.”

  “Cade would get wind of it. Patriot Act doesn’t cover us there.”

  “But,” Thad stopped speaking and squinted at Luke. “You know what? I don’t want to know.”

  Luke smile. “Tried to get Twomey’s too, but his account was flagged. I couldn’t fudge that one. His legal team is top notch.”

  “Did you sleep with the phone company lady?”

  “Didn’t have to.”

  “I really don’t know why women find you so irresistible,” grumbled Thad. “They should spend an hour with you in a cubicle. That luscious hair wouldn’t save you then.”

  Luke winked at him and whirled his chair to face his own computer. “Now I have to find a way into their personal servers.”

  “You know you’re one of the good guys,” said Thad. “You can’t go rogue. And definitely no hacking into no damn servers. You’re not in the Army anymore, Sgt. York. You gotta play by the rules.”

  “We don’t need a warrant to window shop. We’re just looking right now.” Luke answered. He pulled more files out of a box. “They’ll be plenty of time to play by the rules.”

  “What am I looking for exactly?” Thad leafed through the stack of phone number printouts.

  “His wife and kid,” came the reply. Luke was nose deep in his own stack, his feet kicked up on the desk.

  “What’s that?” Thad said, irritated. It was a full-time job keeping up with Luke’s lighting fast topic changes. That is until he wouldn’t shut up about something.

  “Start with his family.” Luke flipped a page, “We’re not going to find anything shady from the phone records themselves. Cade’s too controlled for that. I’m looking for anything that seems out of the ordinary. It might not be much, but look for anything that stands out. Excessive phone calls, calls at weird times, or someone he rarely calls.”

  “With his wife and kid?”

  “Cade collects powerful friends, but the ones we’re interested in will have a different contact pattern. Most of his friends are name droppers. They advance him socially or financially. The ones that aren’t connected to his shady business dealings are the ones he’ll let near his family. They may kids at the same school, play golf with them, go to fundraisers. They’ll be easy to eliminate. I want to know about the contact he hits up randomly or not very often. I’m going to compare that to the list of donation recipients I’m going to compile from his bank statements. Patterns should show themselves.” Luke put the pile down and looked up. “And we need to find out what happened in Iraq.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t know how to do that.” Thad eyed his pile like it might bite him.

  “I’ll take care of Iraq.” Luke stood and started to pace. He forgot how small the office was and nearly ran headfirst into the wall. He settled for leaning against it. “We need something we can use to put the screws to Cade. He’s our big break, but he’s smart.”

  “You think he’ll cave?”

  “They always do.” Luke turned to look out the window. “If you push hard enough long enough. The secret isn’t outsmarting the bad guy. It’s outlasting him.”

  Thad looked dubious. “Okay.” He licked his thumb and scooped up a page.

  Luke gazed out the window. He would never admit it out loud, but Thad was right. They hurried over to this scrap of swampland to sift through a drippy haystack for a single slippery needle. They had nothing. Nothing except his flawed judgment.

  He liked one thing about the broom closet. Despite an adjacent building that partially blocked it, the office had a commanding view of the best thing in this city. Even in the gray dismal rain, the sprawling live oaks and brick paths of Johnson Square charmed him.

  The city’s tiny parks were as old as the historic city herself, and unlike anything Luke had ever seen. Bull Street split in two around it. An ornate stone pillar commanded the middle of the small park encircled by empty benches. The gnarled limbs of the live oaks dripped with Spanish moss and rainwater. He decided to see more of the city’s squares on the next nice day.

  A rap at the door made the men spin. Luke recognized his FBI academy classmate. Greg Lawrence cut an imposing figure at 6’3”, and his pink face was smoother than Luke’s lined one. It gave him a much younger appearance. The rack suit couldn’t hide the generous layer of fat over considerable muscle.

  Luke crossed the room and extended his hand. Thad watched as each man tried to crush each other’s grip.

  “Luke, how the hell are you? Been a long time.” Greg’s voice was friendly, but his green eyes were cold.

  “Yes, it has.”

  Time had done little to ease Greg’s resentment toward Luke. The academy had been one long fight with Greg coming in a bitter second to Luke in everything. Now Greg was in charge of a satellite office. A fact Luke doubted he would be allowed to forget, even if it was his to turn down first.

  “Tell me about the case. What kind of progress have you made?” Greg rested both hands on his hips and spread his elbows. He was a big guy, but he always tried to make his profile bigger. He’d done it since the day Luke met him.

  Then he shouldered past Luke into the crowded office forcing Thad to jam himself into the desk. Greg began rifling through the neat stacks Luke had organized.

  “Just a few things to wrap up. We won’t be here long.”

  “Oh, so you are going to wrap it up this time?” Greg smirked.

  Luke wanted to choke him out. Instead, he briefed Greg about their investigation in Atlanta and the blackmail they’d uncovered. Greg hung on to every word. “A dead U.S. Senate candidate and a juicy little blackmail scheme.” The glint in Greg’s eyes was bright. “Maybe we need to hold a press conference. Set up a hotline, gets some leads.”

  “We’re not doing that.” Luke sat down and kicked his feet up on the desk. It had the intended effect of coiling Greg even tighter. Luke watched with satisfaction as Greg’s lips went thin. “We won’t get anything useful, and it’s none of th
eir business.”

  “Let’s get one thing straight.” Abandoning any friendly pretense, Greg drew himself up to his full height. “I’m in charge of this field office, Marshall. I’ll decide what…”

  “Actually, this case originated out of the Atlanta office, and I report directly to your boss Steve Simon. We’re here on his orders and under his authority. Basically, we’re here to use your shitter and your copier.”

  Greg balked at Luke’s dismissive tone.

  “But I pinky promise we’ll keep you posted on any developments. Okey dokey?”

  Greg tried to recover his footing by sounding more pompous, “Well, I’ll be talking to Steve and in the meantime, I’ll expect you to keep me up to date.”

  “We’ll do that.”

  Greg hesitated. Then he decided against saying whatever he was thinking and disappeared down the hallway.

  Thad whistled. “Would you stop turning down promotions so ass clowns like that don’t end up in charge?”

  “Don’t tell him anything.”

  “Hadn’t planned on it. He might be right about the press conference though. Could yield something.”

  “We’ll do it when I’m ready,” Luke snapped. “That donkey is not running this show. I am.”

  Thad faced his computer so Luke couldn’t see him roll his eyes. The sharp trill of Luke’s cell phone in the quiet made them jump. Luke snapped it off his belt and checked the caller ID. “Hey, Sandra.”

  “Marshall?” The volume made Luke jerk the phone away. “Luke, it’s Sandra,” she yelled over a dull roar in the background.

  Luke heard china clink. He put the phone back to his ear. “Is everything okay?”

  “Oh, no, no, everything’s fine. Listen, I’m at a pathology conference in New York this week and I ran across something you’ll be interested in.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Well, I met up with an old medical school colleague of mine and your case came up.”

  “Tsk, tsk, you know you’re not supposed to be talking about active investigations, naughty girl.”

  “Stop it, you. Listen to this. He tells me he heard of a similar case about five years ago. He remembered it because it was so strange. It was a case out of New Jersey. The doc that did the autopsy is retired, but he’s a speaker. So naturally I barged my way into the green room.”