Jeanne shook her head, “Guy took a shot at me, Thor pushed me and took it in the chest. His amulet stopped the bullet.”
Simon whistled, “Gotta get me one of them.”
Ellen had us do memory gaps on everyone but Roger and Paul. She told us to get over to the Star Ship and place memory gaps on Pablo and Ray. We would have to zap them each multiple times. They had way more than three thoughts that had to disappear.
At the naval satellite computer control center an officer turned from his screen and asked, “Was anyone besides me watching that New Orleans feed just now?” Everyone shook their heads, and the officer turned back to his screen. He had thought at first the satellite feed had frozen. Then he saw a man walking around disarming other men and putting their hands up. It looked as if everyone outside of the building had frozen in place except one man in the front of the building and one in the back. Then suddenly everyone in the picture was moving. The satellite feed went dead. Moments later the feed had been restored. He watched as a parade of handcuffed men were led to waiting patrol cars. He rubbed his face. He knew what he saw.
Nine months until retirement. He wasn’t going to say shit.
William C. Thornton placed a call to Fenley.
Thomas Fenley answered on the second ring. “Yes?”
Thornton scowled. Fenley always sounded so abrupt. “The Director has asked me to come to him later today with a plan for transporting the confiscated drugs and weapons to secured storage. That gives us Texas or Kansas. He is finally seeing Dance as the screw up he is. If you contact Manio for a suggestion, we might be able to make up for some of this mess.”
Fenley slammed his palm against his steering wheel. This better be a secure line since Thornton just tied him to Manio and the guns. Thornton was getting way too sloppy. It was going to cost them all. Fenley decided when this New Orleans mess was over a decision would have to be made about Thornton. The risks to LUCY clearly outweighed the benefits.
Fenley answered, “You must have dialed wrong. I have no idea what you are talking about or who you are.” Fenley hung up.
Thornton’s neck and face became red as he sat looking at his silent phone. Fenley was too paranoid; he was becoming impossible to deal with. Thornton vowed when this New Orleans crap with Dance finally gets done, he was going to have to talk to Donavan. It seems Fenley needs to be reminded who has official standing and who doesn’t. LUCY could always find another Fenley type.
Two OSI agents removed their headphones and fist bumped each other. They couldn’t have scripted a more damaging message than the one Thornton just gave Fenley. The Director of OSI had instructed them to forward all communications to the Director of the FBI as soon as they came in. Which they did.
The Director of the FBI listened to the call on his computer and smiled. Roger had said that Thornton would risk everything to stay in the good graces of LUCY. Thornton was asking for Manio to design the plan that Thornton would present to the Director later today as his own. Arrogance of power. That was the phrase Roger said they could count on.
The Director hit play on his computer and listened to the snare drums begin their march in Bolero. This was quickly becoming his favorite classical piece.
Fenley pulled his BMW over and gathered his thoughts. He couldn’t undo that call from Thornton. He might as well try to salvage what he could with Manio. Fenley opened his phone and dialed.
Manio answered, “Yes?”
Fenley didn’t like Manio’s soft spoken demeanor. Everyone knew what he really was, a ruthless, cold-blooded lunatic. Fenley said, “I have been told that the Director of the FBI is looking for an alternative plan for moving the confiscated drugs and guns from New Orleans to either Texas or Kansas underground storage. This plan needs to be presented later this afternoon and your input is being invited.”
Manio set his cat down gently on the floor before he stood and answered, “Are you telling me that Mr. Dance’s plan to move these by train on Monday is being circumvented by his own boss?”
Fenley chuckled, “Dance is proving to be a colossal screw up. His career won’t survive the mess at French Quarter Bank. I’m told the Director is willing to consider an alternative, more secure plan to minimize the risk of anything more going wrong in New Orleans.”
Manio paused, “You mention the bank again. Do those transactions still appear safe?”
Fenley answered, “Donavan says that forty trillion dollars will have been scrubbed by the time the Federal Reserve closes today. When the Reserve opens again on Monday, more than half of our cash assets are invisible. You have taken advantage of this, haven’t you?”
Manio cleared his throat, “Donavan’s confidence level is impressive. Forty trillion dollars represents a substantial amount of faith.”
Fenley noted that Manio had not answered his question. “Call me if you decide to offer a suggestion regarding a new plan. I will see that it gets to the right ears.” Their call ended, and Manio walked to his window at the Casino. He had come to New Orleans to see for himself what Roger Dance was spending his time on.
The news reports on the television and newspaper indicated that the FBI team led by Roger Dance had been preoccupied with some national pedophile club. Mr. Dance may have overextended himself. After all, he was only human.
Manio called his financial man and instructed him to move over twenty billion dollars to French Quarter Bank immediately. While that was a lot of money, it represented only a fraction of his worth. His advisor assured him the transaction would clear within the hour.
Manio sat at his desk and began tapping his pen. Now to form a plan for the guns. Manio’s cat jumped back on his lap and Manio stroked its fur lovingly. “Perhaps Mr. Dance is a fool. Pity. I had hopes of a worthy opponent.”
Roger and the team arrived at the field office to return the assault gear and have a quick briefing. Roger found a vacant office and called the Baton Rouge agents that had intercepted the delivery of new victims for the human trafficking ring. The driver of the vehicle and a man helping him were in interrogation now. The people that had been saved were identified and that list was being forwarded to Roger. In general, they were in good health, but all complained of being injected with drugs for several days.
Roger hung up from the call and checked on the condition of the people Jackson and Abram had taken to the hospital. They were not as lucky. Many were in deplorable physical condition and some near death. Most had yet to be identified.
Paul walked in with two cups of coffee and sat across from Roger. Paul slid one coffee over to Roger. Neither spoke. Roger passed the papers over to Paul with the information he had just received. Paul read them, sipped his coffee, and placed his mug on the desk. “We will never stop all of this. I don’t know what would stop all of this.” Paul rubbed his hair and grunted, “Ughhhh.”
Roger nodded.
“Don’t say it.”
Roger smiled, “Don’t say what?”
“We’re not done yet.” Paul pushed his chin out in his nervous twitch. “Well, today is Friday. Last of the martial law and the money sting ends today. When do our LUCY guys find out they’ve been had?”
Roger’s eyebrows twitched, “Monday morning when the Fed opens unless we tell them sooner.”
Roger’s phone rang, it was Core. “Yes.”
“Zack and I are at the docks. Word is Manio is in town and staying at the Casino. He likes to gamble, but word is he’s brought his best people to town to clean things up. Heads up, you’re part of the dirt needin’ cleanin’. At least two of Manio’s men involved in the dock raid last night are dead. Manio feels they failed him.”
Roger asked Core, “When Manio comes to the Casino, how does he travel?”
Core answered, “The Casino has a private helipad for Manio on the roof. They wouldn’t tell you that, but it is the one that is always roped off as being under repair.”
Roger thanked Core for the update and looked at Paul, “Manio’s in town. He’s staying at the Casin
o. Core says he’s brought some trusted men with him. Core thinks he’s here for some hands on management and trash removal. We’re part of the trash.” Roger smiled.
“Cute.”
“Let’s line up our ducks on Manio. If he is in town, this is an opportunity I don’t want to miss. You interview Daryl Cotton as soon as the hospital is done with him and I’ll see if we have enough from Abram’s files to get us an arrest warrant on Manio for trafficking. The Baton Rouge field office may be able to apply some leverage with the driver they are interrogating to tie this even tighter. This guy was caught driving fourteen people that had been kidnapped and drugged for the purpose of prostitution. He might talk to make a deal. Men like Manio may be clever, but they are forced to use common thugs to do their dirty work. I think if we play this right we can go after him under RICO.”
Paul stood to leave and then said, “Mass mentioned earlier he was getting some pointed questions from the other field offices on our sicko club list. Seems the sickos are dropping like flies. It’s raising some eyebrows.”
Roger stretched back in his chair, “What are we up to?”
“Forty six dead out of a total of one hundred thirty two.” Paul looked at his watch, “In exactly twenty four hours. Three cities.”
Three cities made sense. They suspected three hit men were hired by Core.
Roger stood, “Nobody has come to me directly on this yet. Should we have the remaining members warned? It may be interesting to see how many are willing to trade acknowledgment that they are in a sicko club for protection.”
Paul shook his head, “They’d rather die than admit that. Did you see some of the names on that list?”
Roger nodded, “At least we can say we warned them. We certainly don’t have the manpower to afford them any security. We have a legal obligation to warn them even if we only have suspicions they may be in danger.”
Paul smiled. “I’ll give the order for the notifications.”
Lockers were slamming in the back room at the field office as everyone replaced their vests and gear in the proper storage units. Simon and Nelson had mentioned they were starving and heading for Mickey’s. Simon looked across the room to where Thor and Jeanne were. Jeanne was looking at her phone and Thor started walking over.
Thor said, “I could eat some lunch.” He looked back at Jeanne, “You coming?”
Jeanne shook her head, “I missed a call from Spicey. I’m just going to go over there.”
Thor asked, “That Voodoo lady at the swamp last night?”
Jeanne nodded and walked up close to Thor, “You saved my life back there. Saying thank you doesn’t seem to cover it.” Jeanne stood on her toes and kissed Thor’s cheek. Her eyes were glistening, and she whispered, “Thank you.” Jeanne left the room. Thor’s cheek was warm from her lips. He realized he was holding his breath. He felt as if he had been shot again.
Simon walked over, “Let me see that amulet thing again. You’re one lucky bastard.” Simon raised his eyebrows a couple of times.
Thor knew he wasn’t referring to the amulet.
Now that the bad guys had been caught, Ellen told us we could go back and visit Carol and Cindy. Ellen pointed her finger at us, “Behave!” Then she disappeared. Recess! We flew into Spicey’s shop so fast I got tangled in the tinkle bells at the door. Teresa frowned at me and went “Shhhhh.” Like I did it on purpose?
Cindy, Carol, Sasha and Spicey were all talking at the same time standing around the counter. Spicey was telling Carol and Cindy about how the real Spirits were talking to her now. Sasha was telling them about being in the swamp last night at Mambo’s. Carol and Cindy told them what Dusty had said about a dead guy, the FBI and a bunch of bad guys in the swamp. Finally Spicey asked, “So what else is new with you guys?”
Carol and Cindy looked at each other and Carol answered, “Not too much I guess.”
I got an idea.
Teresa looked at me and smiled. “You better ask Linda and Mary first.”
Linda asked, “Ask us what?” Mary had that look of suspicion on her face.
“I want Kim to call Carol and tell her we are here!”
Mary frowned, “We can do that?”
This is going to be easy. “Sure.”
Mary tilted her head, “Let me rephrase. Are we supposed to do that?” That’s the question I didn’t want to hear.
Teresa saved me. “They gave us the ability to communicate. Why would they do that and not let us use it?” Silence. I was sure one of these skeptics would say something. Nope. Alright then!
Carols phone rang, “Hello?”
Kim said, “Hey Carol. This is Kim. Vicki’s daughter.”
Carol got a big smile and punched Cindy. “It’s Kim! What’s up, girl? Guess what? Cindy and I are in Naaaawlens! We’re standing here with Sadie right now. I mean Spicey.” Carol shrugged as she glanced at Spicey.
Kim said, “I figured that out. I want you to listen carefully. Mom, Teresa, Linda and Mary are there with you now. They are angels, sort of. They want to visit with you and Cindy but they have rules they can’t break. They can only talk to humans through me. I feel like I should apologize to you and Cindy. Well, you know Mom. Mom says when their boss tells them to leave, you might not remember this happened.”
Carol was listening to Kim and looking around. “I don’t see them.”
Sasha had been listening and started looking around. “See who?”
That’s our cue! I grabbed Spicey’s ouija board from the shelf and laid it on the counter.
Sasha fainted.
I looked at Mary, “You’re going to have to do this. You spell the best and these things creep me out.”
Mary laughed, “It creeps you out that Spirits might really use ouija boards? Really? What are we?”
Hmmm, when she put it that way. I grabbed the little wooden pointer on the board and spelled ‘Hi’.
Carol looked at Spicey her mouth open, “Did you do that?”
Spicey shook her head.
Carol looked at Cindy, “It’s just the gals! Ask ‘em something.”
Cindy looked out into the room, “Do you like being angels?”
Mary moved the pointer to yes. Sasha fainted again.
Carol said, “We have to find another way to do this, Sasha isn’t going to make it.”
Spicey said, “Don’t expect me to have any answers. Maybe they can talk through the crystal ball!”
Teresa looked at Linda, “Can we do that?”
Linda answered, “Well, remember the Spirits can understand us now, and the crystal ball is how they communicate. We could try.”
Mary used the ouija board to say we would try. Spicey, Sasha, Cindy and Carol all huddled around the ball. Spicey asked, “Can Cindy and Carol’s friends hear me?”
Spicey’s eyes got wide as all four of us crammed together so we could talk to her. She understood us and relayed messages back and forth until Ellen called us to join her. We had to say goodbye.
After we had left, Spicey said, “Well, that’s one Nawlens experience you won’t forget. I think I have an idea for another one.”
Cindy and Carol both said “oooo.” At the same time. The tinkle bells at the front of the shop were ringing. Sasha walked out to take care of the customer and walked back after a few minutes.
“That FBI woman is here. Said you called her.”
Spicey looked at Carol and Cindy, “I don’t want to make you mad but I need to talk to her alone. Can you come back in about an hour?”
Carol and Cindy said no problem and left through the apartment door.
Spicey walked out to the front where Jeanne was waiting.
“You called me?” Jeanne had taken a small notebook and pen from her pocket.
Spicey leaned forward and whispered, “Please believe me. A young boy spirit has come to me and given me information. He wants to go home.”
Jeanne nodded, “How did he come to you?”
Spicey answered. “Last night at Mambo’s, the
Spirits told me they needed me to communicate information for them. Today, I saw the little boy spirit in my crystal ball.” Even Spicey worried this sounded crazy. Here she was telling this to an FBI agent. Sasha was rocking on her heels, obviously very nervous.
Sasha blurted, “Spicey ain’t no fake. Well, not anymore. Weird stuff been happenin’ for two days.” Sasha was nodding.
Jeanne looked at Spicey, “Tell me everything the little boy told you.”
Spicey asked, “Can we go in the back and sit for this? I think my knees be a little weak today.”
Jeanne and Spicey sat at her small dinette table as Spicey told the little boy’s story. His name was Michael Summers. He was six years old and had lived in Cleveland, Ohio. Last year he had been abducted from a children’s birthday party at a restaurant. His abductor had given him some kind of drug. When he woke, he was at a strange man’s house.
The boy said an angel had come and stayed with him the whole time he was at the man’s house. The angel kept putting his mind to sleep and singing him little songs. After he was dead the angel told him the man’s name and showed him where the man had hidden his Winnie the Pooh sweater. The angel told the boy that someday another angel would come and take him home.
Spicey said the little boy wants his remains sent to his mom so she can stop crying. And he wants the bad man to be punished so he can’t hurt anyone else. Spicey finished the story and realized she was crying.
Jeanne wiped a tear from her cheek also. “What was the man’s name?”
Spicey tried to control her anger but she was shaking and her voice was laced with disgust. “Senator Rolland Kenny. Michael’s sweater is in a secret closet behind the Senator’s bookcase at his city house. Michael told me his bones had been taken from the swamp by the FBI, and that is why he has the courage now to tell his story. He said an angel told him at Mambo’s she would take him home soon.”
Jeanne closed her notebook. “Spicey, I believe you have been chosen to help the Spirits. I will take this information and make sure Michael returns home.” Jeanne stood. “You have a great responsibility now.”
Silent Crickets: A Shallow End Gals, Trilogy Book Three Page 21
