by Dave Daren
So he had figured out that I at least knew about what happened to Galic’s other laptop, though that wasn’t really a surprise, especially after Matt’s not so subtle hints. I half-expected the agent to tell me to produce it, but then again, if I had to hand it over to him right now, they wouldn’t be able to use any of it in court.
“I don’t know much,” I hedged. “But I’ll check in with some of my sources and see what they can find.”
“Like the tip about the drug dealer,” the older agent said with a small smirk. “That friend was quite helpful in the past. I wouldn’t mind if they could give me some more anonymous information.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” I said with a smile. “Thanks for your help today.”
“Anytime,” Hisashi said with a nod as he patted the door and straightened. “You have my number if your… friend… manages to come up with anything.”
“Yes, sir,” I said.
I stuffed the USB into my pants pocket, rolled up the window, and then checked my rearview to make sure that Hank hadn’t pulled back into the parking spot behind me.
The bodyguard had backed up enough that I could easily squeeze into traffic, so I threw the car into reverse, inched backwards, and then maneuvered into the lunch rush traffic. I scrolled through my contacts at the first red light, found Anthony’s name, and then hit the dial button.
“How did it go?” the mafioso answered on the first ring.
“They didn’t find anything of interest,” I said. “But I got a recording of the company lawyer and Galic talking in Serbian. Galic said something to me in Serbian, and I have the feeling that it was important. Do you know anyone who might be able to translate?”
I already knew that Serbian wasn’t one of the languages that Hank could translate, but there had to be someone that Anthony knew that could translate whatever the Serbian mobster had said to me.
“I know somebody,” Anthony said after a few seconds. “Go ahead and send me the audio. I’ll get it translated as soon as possible.”
He didn’t sound as excited as he had been when I went to the Gryffon office, but there was still a note of hope in his voice as he talked about the recording.
“I have a copy of everything from the Gryffon hard drives,” I said. “I’ll start peeking through their paperwork and see if I can find numbers that match up with those payoffs we found. We might be able to find a name.”
“We’ll see,” my employer said. “But it sounds like they knew we were coming.”
“The lawyer was waiting by the front door,” I said. “And someone threatened me in front of the courthouse this morning, so someone definitely tipped them off last night. But with any luck, maybe Galic fucked up and said something in the audio. I had my phone in my pocket so he didn’t know that he was being recorded.”
“Let’s hope,” the young Febbo muttered. “I’ll call you when I hear back from the translator. Get me that conversation as soon as possible.”
“You’ll have it in a couple of minutes,” I said.
The line went dead, and I looked around for somewhere that I could pull off and text Anthony. I found a parking lot on a side street, pulled into an overgrown plot of land that had seen better days, and sent the recording off. I waved to Hank as the bodyguard pulled up next to me, rolled down my window as he did the same, and then smiled.
“I’m going to head back to my house,” I said. “I don’t have any cases today, and I want to go over what the feds found on the Gryffon computers.”
“Sounds like a plan,” the bodyguard said. “I have some errands to run, but I’ll be by later this afternoon. If someone comes to the house before I get there, give me a call, and I can be there in no time.”
“Okay,” I said. “I may call someone to come install a security system so that no one has to be parked on the street all the time. I don’t think the HOA will approve.”
“I’ll text you the number of our guy,” Hank said. “Just tell him you work for Anthony, and he’ll have someone out in no time flat.”
“Right,” I said. “I’ll see you later.”
I rolled up my window as I eased out of the uneven parking lot. I had a few bumper to bumper moments on the way back to Floral Park, but I made it there before the pizza that I ordered. I had just turned the car off and started to shut the garage door when I saw the delivery boy’s Ford Fiesta slide into the driveway.
“Mr. Morgan?” the acne-riddled teen asked as he climbed out of the car with the box in his hands.
“That’s me,” I said as I grabbed my briefcase and shut the car door.
I watched the kid out of the corner of my eye just in case he pulled a weapon. I doubted he was some trained assassin, but it was better to be prepared with enemies like Galic, especially after the encounter in front of the courthouse.
“Great!” the young man said as he approached.
His eyes darted to the gun on my hip as I turned toward him, and he somehow managed to pale further.
“Don’t worry, kid,” I reassured him. “It’s just for emergencies.”
“Right,” the teen said as he nodded his head. “Well… uh… I have your tomato, garlic, and basil with extra bacon.”
“Fantastic,” I said while I tugged my wallet out of my back pocket. “Keep the change.”
I grinned as I saw the young man’s eyes light up. I’d handed him a fifty when my large pizza had only cost twenty-five. I watched him double-check the bill as he hurried back to his car, and then I shut the garage door with the feeling of victory. I’d always wanted to be able to give bigger tips to the people who made my life easier, and I finally had a client that paid well enough for me to do it.
The house was completely silent when I walked inside. I set the heater a few degrees higher before I made my way to the kitchen to set down my lunch. I reminded myself that I really needed to go to the store and get something healthier, or I was going to start gaining weight.
I also need to find a gym. I’d used the one across from my old apartment building when I was in the city, but the suburbs didn’t have that luxury. I could probably find one nearby, though, given how toned the neighbors that I’d seen were. I had been greeted by more than one bored housewife with an ass that could kill, so there had to be someplace that I could have a decent workout.
My phone rang right as I pulled down a paper plate for the pizza. I’d bought dishes with Liz, but after she’d left, I’d opted for the disposable serving wear for easy cleanup.
I fished my phone out of my pocket while I slapped the paper plate down on the counter. I was ravenous and pretty sure that I’d eat the whole large pizza in one go. I glanced down at the caller ID to see that it was Anthony, and I quickly hit the answer button and wedged the device between my shoulder and ear.
“Hey,” I said while I slid two huge slices of New York pizza onto my plate. “Is the translator finished already?”
The smell of garlic, basil, and cheese competed with the chunks of perfectly cooked bacon, and my mouth watered as I folded one of the slices in half. I took a huge bite and closed my eyes as the grease mixed with the melted mozzarella and tomato sauce.
“He is,” Anthony said.
He sounded frustrated, and I immediately snapped out of my food paradise.
“What did he say?” I asked as I set my food down and reached for a napkin.
“My guy says that it’s a little hard to translate directly,” the mafioso sighed. “But basically, Galic said that you wouldn’t find anything from the search. And that they aren’t stupid enough to have that kind of information stateside.”
“Damn,” I muttered.
“There’s more,” my employer said. “My tech guy said he’s positive that the info on the computer was downloaded from a server that’s been hidden.”
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. I should’ve known that the Serbians would keep all of their info safe, but Galic had protected that laptop like it had the keys to the universe. I was happy that we
’d been able to retrieve some numbers for payoffs, but the names of the payees were probably on the server and not the computer hard drives that we’d copied.
“Can he find it?” I asked.
“Yeah,” the young Febbo said. “According to my guy, the server is in some tiny country called Andorra.”
“Where the hell is that?” I grumbled as I began to pace around my living room.
If there was any chance of taking down the Serbian mob in New York, then we needed to have the information on that server and the laptop. The feds might be able to find a way to subpoena the information since the company was based in the United States, but that was a longshot.
“It’s in Europe,” Anthony chuckled. “Between Spain and France.”
I paused my pacing to look out of the back doors. I still had the USB from Hisashi to go through, but if all of the information we needed was on a server in Europe, then we needed someone with a bit more pull than a local judge.
“Okay,” I said. “I think it’s time to turn the laptop over to the feds. Now that I have the RICO case going, they might be able to actually help. And they’ll have more resources for looking into the Gryffon Company.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. I knew that Anthony’s father was opposed to sharing any information with law enforcement, but we’d hit a brick wall, and we could use the FBI to legally get rid of the Serbians and all of their lackeys in places of power.
“Fine,” the mafioso agreed. “But I’m only giving them a copy of the hard drive.”
“That works,” I said. “They only have copies from the Gryffon company, anyways. They can slip it in like it was part of the original search.”
“Good,” my employer said. “I’ll send someone with it later today.”
“I’ll call the feds once we hang up to let them know that we discovered some new information,” I said. “I’m sure Monroe will be thrilled to hear from me twice in one day.”
I laughed to myself as I thought about the tightly wound young agent. I was sure that he’d give me an earful if the conversation was in person, but luckily it would be over the phone, and Hisashi would be the one I talked to.
“Update me when you’re finished,” Anthony said before he hung up.
I sighed as I stared out at my black tile pool. I wasn’t sure how much the FBI could help us with an out of country server, but it would be better than anything that I could do alone. And, it would be legal.
The grease on my pizza had already started to congeal, so I closed the lid and tossed the box in the fridge. I could eat it later, and coffee would be a better choice for the work I had ahead of me. I started a cup on the Keurig while I scrolled through my phone for Agent Hisashi.
“That was fast,” the bald man said on the second ring.
“What can I say?” I laughed. “My source is efficient.”
“And what did your source say,” the sharp-witted agent asked.
I stirred in some vanilla caramel creamer as I considered how I wanted to word the information I had to give him. I couldn’t tell him how I’d come into possession of the laptop, not that I thought the man would ask if it brought the corrupt down, but I also couldn’t make it obvious that it had come from my client. I decided to start with what Galic had said since that was the most relevant.
“Well,” I started. “He translated something that Vlado Galic said when we were standing in the lobby of the Gryffon building.”
I heard Monroe in the background asking Hisashi who it was, but the older agent must have silenced him with a look because the younger man went silent.
“He didn’t say it in English?” the FBI agent asked.
“No,” I said. “I believe it was Serbian. There are quite a few Serbians in New York.”
I let the innuendo hang in the air. I knew that the older man was bright, and I had no doubt that he could figure out that I was pointing him to a Serbian mob connection in his ongoing case against the corrupt politicians of New York.
“I have noticed quite a few eastern Europeans,” Hisashi hedged. “So, what did Mr. Galic say?”
“According to my guy, he said that he wouldn’t be stupid enough to keep anything in his American computers,” I said. “He hinted that Andorra was a lovely country with plenty of servers. I think that’s where the company is keeping all of its real records.”
“Andorra,” the bald man said.
I could hear him as he typed in the country. I hadn’t lied exactly since Galic had said that the info I wanted was not in the U.S., and I’d just filled in a few little extra details about where it was kept.
“Yep,” I said. “I was hoping that you could get a subpoena for those files.”
The agent let out a heavy sigh, and I could almost picture him running a hand down his face as he grumbled under his breath.
“I could get you one,” he said. “But the FBI can’t serve it. We can only operate in the States. If they really have everything in Andorra, then there’s no way we can get it on our own. We’d have to ask the government of Andorra to execute the warrant, and let’s just say that they take a long time to decide whether to help or not.”
“Long enough for someone to pack up their operations and leave the country,” I guessed.
“Exactly,” the agent replied.
“What about the CIA?” I asked before I took a sip of my coffee.
I didn’t want to give up just yet. I would deliver the subpoena myself if I had to.
“Yeah, right,” the older man laughed. “They won’t be interested in something like that. For all I know, they’re actually funding the little bastards.”
“Okay,” I said. “Then I’ll bring it to them myself.”
Silence filled the air for so long that I double-checked to make sure that I hadn’t lost the connection.
“You wouldn’t have any government protection,” Hisashi warned. “I could give you the paperwork, but there’s no guarantee that the company or the government would even honor it.”
“Don’t worry about that,” I said. “Just get me the subpoena, and I’ll deliver it.”
“You’ll have it by the end of the day,” the older agent responded. “You’ve got guts, Hunter. But don’t forget that these people are dangerous.”
“I won’t,” I said. “Do you need my email address?’
“I have it,” the bald man said in an amused tone before he hung up.
I took a deep swig of my coffee as I contemplated what I’d just agreed to do. I didn’t mind the trip to Europe, and I had a passport around the house somewhere. But Hisashi was right, and I wouldn’t have the benefit of the feds or the Febbos to keep me safe. I wouldn’t even have my gun, and that was strangely unnerving for a guy who’d only just started carrying one.
I tried to reassure myself that it would be okay because of the strict gun laws in Europe, and after all, I was pretty good with hand to hand combat when it came down to it. Yet I knew that the local gangs were just as good at skirting the weapons laws as their American counterparts, so I would just have to watch my back and try to stay one step ahead. It would be worth it to bring Galic down, though, and with any luck, the mayor. I picked up my phone again to call Anthony when an unknown number came through.
“Hunter Morgan,” I said in my most professional voice.
“Mr. Morgan,” a young man answered. “This is Tom. I believe my uncle Jovanni told you about me.”
“Tom?” I muttered.
I wracked my brain for the mention of someone named Tom and realized it must be Tommaso, the nephew that I was supposed to interview as my paralegal, and the man I’d completely forgotten to call.
“Right,” I said. “Sorry I haven’t had a chance to call you yet. Things have been a bit hectic.”
I glanced at the clock on the stove and did a quick calculation. I had a few hours before the subpoena would be ready, and I would need a paralegal to handle things if I was going to be out of the country. I didn’t think that I�
�d be more than a few days, but there would be paperwork to file and cases to postpone.
“I understand,” Tommaso responded. “Did you still want to interview me?”
“Of course,” I said in a happier tone. “Can you come over for an interview now?”
“Yes, sir,” the young Italian man said. “I can be anywhere in less than an hour.”
“Good,” I chuckled. “I’ll send my address to this number. I assume it’s your cell phone?”
“It is,” the criminal justice graduate said.
“Great,” I said. “Right now my office is in my home. I’m going to have a security system installed, so you’ll be safe. And there’s plenty of room for you to work.”
“That sounds wonderful, sir,” Tom said. “I’ve also helped out in a few… altercations… before.”
I almost laughed as I remembered the way Anthony and Jovanni had talked about the kid. They’d made it sound like the young man could go round for round with some of the bodyguards, which wouldn’t be entirely a bad thing given how much trouble I’d found myself in over the last year. I put the phone call on speakerphone while I typed in my address and sent it to my potential paralegal.
“I have heard that,” I said. “Alright, try to get here as soon as you can. You should have the address any second.”
“Just got it,” the Italian man said. “Thanks for the opportunity, Mr. Morgan.”
“No problem,” I said. “I’ll see you soon.”
I hung up the phone and decided to pull up my messages before I called Anthony. I decided I would plan on being out of the country for at least a week, just in case I ran into the usual slow system that Hisahi had mentioned, and I wanted to have a security system in place before that.
The number that Hank had given me was for an old Italian man with a thick accent and a voice so rough that he probably smoked three packs a day. But the older man promised to send someone out in the next few hours as soon as I mentioned my boss’ name and promised that the bill was already covered.
