Undercover Jeopardy

by Kathleen Tailer

  “So let me get this straight. I’m putting my life on the line, and so is Detective Morley, by the way, and the FBI has given the case to someone who doesn’t even have time to read the file?” She moved toward the edge of her seat as if to leave, but Hooker’s no-nonsense voice stopped her.

  “I’ll have it read by the end of the day, Agent, and I promise you that I’ll know every last detail. I take this job very seriously. I also recognize the gravity of your situation, and that of Detective Morley, I assure you.”

  She looked him in the eye. He seemed somber and his expression was resolute. Beside him, Westfield was smiling and his green eyes flashed, as if he had warned Hooker about her temper and had just been proven correct. She wondered if Westfield was on her side because he believed she was a good agent, or if it was only because he was interested in having a relationship with her. If she had to bet, she would guess it was the latter. Being around him still made her skin crawl. As if to accent the point, she felt Westfield’s leg touch hers suggestively underneath the table. She kicked him and gave him a small smile of satisfaction when he winced.

  “I’m glad to hear that,” Daniel said, joining the conversation before she could dig herself any deeper into a hole she couldn’t climb out of. “I’m sure Mr. Westfield has informed you that my boss, Captain Murphy, wants to be kept apprised of the details of this case since it is a joint operation between the FBI and the local authorities.”

  “Yes, I’m aware of that aspect of the operation,” Hooker agreed. “So why don’t you bring me up to speed so I can help you do your jobs.”

  Daniel squeezed Bethany’s leg again and she gave him a look. Finally, she swallowed and gave Hooker a short overview of the Heritage Guard undercover assignment, and finished by telling him about how she had recently cloned Bishop’s phone.

  “I was able to download his list of contacts. If you can give me a secure site, I’ll send you what I’ve found so far. I would imagine that many of the names from his phone are Guard members. Can you start checking them out?”

  Hooker nodded. “Yes. We also need recordings of his conversations. I secured a warrant authorizing the recordings, so now they can be used in court to help our case if you hear anything useful.”

  “We’ve already worked out a way to do the recordings. Every number he dials and every word he utters is being saved. I’ll start weeding through them tonight.” Next, she told Hooker about their upcoming Guard assignment and every detail she knew about the armored car robbery. He was taking notes, and she was glad to see he was interested enough to do so.

  “Okay, I’ll get this approved and make sure there’s no interference during the job. What else do you need?”

  “He mentioned C-4. I don’t know how much, or what else he’ll want, but I imagine he’ll need the detonators and timers. He said we’ll talk again after the armored car heist.”

  Hooker raised an eyebrow. “Did he mention Operation Battlefield?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I think the C-4 is going to be used for that mission. The bank job also seems like a test. If Daniel and I can help pull that off, I think he’ll start trusting us with more. He seemed anxious to get the details straight. Last I heard, they had moved up the date, so whatever they’re planning, they need to get their ducks in a row and fast.”

  Hooker wrote a few more notes, then closed his notebook. He leaned forward, his expression intense. “Okay, Agent Walker, let me tell you the bottom line. I’ve talked with the brass about this case. They’re worried that it’s been dragging out so long and they don’t have anything to show for it except the fiasco at the bank. On top of that, they believe, and I agree, that Justin’s murder is related. You’ve been given two more weeks to tie up all of the loose ends and bring this case to a close.”

  “Two weeks?” She pushed back from the table. “I don’t think that’s realistic. I can’t get you what you need in that short amount of time. It’s just not possible.”

  “Make it happen,” Hooker intoned, apparently ignoring her flash of temper. “With Bishop’s cell phone, you can record all sorts of conversations in the room, even if he’s not using the phone. Get him to say what you need. Meanwhile, I’ll be researching the list of names you send me from his contacts and cross-referencing them with what you’ve given us in the past from Jackson Smith’s contacts. Together with Detective Morley’s help, I’m confident you can get the job done.”

  She fumed inwardly, but it was patently obvious that he wasn’t going to budge. And why should he? He wasn’t the one that had devoted a year of his life to this case. All he saw was the loss of Agent Harper and the deaths at the bank, which she had to admit were very large losses. Still, if they could figure out the plans for Operation Battlefield and head off whatever the Guard was planning, they could probably still save hundreds of lives. She just didn’t think two weeks was a realistic time frame.

  She glanced over at Westfield. Instead of offering her support, he seemed to be trying to flirt with her with his eyes. Good grief! She wanted to shake him and kick him again. He was such a letch! Why couldn’t he take the hint and keep his mind on arresting the Guards?

  * * *

  Daniel looked at the computer screen, still not believing his eyes. He rubbed them and leaned back. It had been a very long day, and he had been very happy to finally get back to the apartment and put his feet up. He was sitting on the couch now with his legs resting on the coffee table, sipping a soda and reading through the information that had thus far been gleaned from Bishop’s phone. The FBI had some amazing software that had already made transcripts of many of the calls he had made, as well as created lists of his contacts and call records. The man had been incredibly busy since his phone had been cloned, and the information they were gleaning was a gold mine.

  “Is everything okay?” Bethany asked as she came from the kitchen and sat down in the chair that was sitting kitty-corner to the couch. She had a cranberry juice bottle in her hand and she took a drink, then propped her feet up on the table next to his. He liked that she was able to relax around him and be herself. He set the laptop aside and reached for her right foot, then gently started massaging it.

  “That’s wonderful.” She smiled. “I’ll give you an hour to stop.”

  He laughed at her joke, but would gladly keep rubbing if it would keep her smiling. She had such a lovely smile and it lit up her entire face. “I’m impressed by the software that is capturing all of this information about Bishop. If Hooker can research the backgrounds of his contacts, we might have a pretty good membership list for the Heritage Guard.”

  “Yeah, Bishop seems very connected. Once we do the armored car job tomorrow, I’m hoping he’ll share more of the Operation Battlefield plans with us. If he drops a few names, I’ll be ready. Now that we have to come up with our case in two weeks, we’ll really have to push for information. Pushing hasn’t worked in the past, but maybe once I see his list of items he needs, I can think of some way to weasel the information out of him.”

  Daniel switched to her left foot and she sighed. When she spoke, however, her voice held a note of concern. “So are you okay with what you have to do tomorrow? I mean, this will be the first time you’ve ever committed a felony. The first time I had to do it, I was sick to my stomach for hours.”

  Daniel was silent for a moment. He wondered how much it would change her opinion of him if she knew more about his history. He shook his head, more convinced than ever that he needed to keep his past in the past. “I’m not pleased, but I don’t really have a choice. I’ve been praying that there isn’t any collateral damage and that no innocent bystanders get hurt. Those are my main concerns.”

  “You’re right,” she agreed. “Thankfully, you’re just the driver, so you won’t have to pull your gun on anyone.”

  He put her foot down and sat back. “I keep trying to tell myself that what we’re doing is for the greater good, but in my min
d it’s still hard to justify. Maybe once I understand the details of Operation Battlefield, my conscience will be clearer. Then it will all seem worth it. Right now, it’s hard to see how it all fits together without knowing the bigger picture.”

  He told Bethany about how his cell phone had rung that first night they had been in the apartment, and how when he had tried to track down the phone’s owner, the number had come up as untraceable. “Only you and Justin were supposed to have that number. So who could have been calling?”

  “Maybe it was a wrong number?” she said hopefully.

  Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Do you really believe that?”

  She shook her head. “No. So if we assume the worst, that means the Guard knows where we are staying and is probably watching our every move.”

  “And how did they get that information? Those phones were supposed to be clean. Justin said so himself.”

  He pulled the laptop over and showed her the screen he had been looking at. “We also have another problem. See this chart? It’s a list of everyone Bishop has called in the last month.” He pointed to three of the entries. “See these? These are to Captain Murphy, my boss.”

  Bethany’s eyes widened and the shock was visible in her eyes. “How do you think they know each other?”

  “I don’t know, but we’re going to have to find out. Captain Murphy grew up in this area, but I don’t know anything about Bishop Jacobs. I’ve been searching the internet but nothing has jumped out so far. Let’s hope Hooker can find some connection. It makes me wonder if Captain Murphy is the mole we’ve been searching for.” He didn’t want to believe it was true. Captain Murphy had always seemed to be an honorable man. Yes, he was rough around the edges, but he always seemed to get the job done, and he was a good cop. Could he be the reason Bethany had almost been killed at the bank? And if so, why? If he was dirty and a member of the Guard himself, why would he sanction the killing of the rest of the Guard team? Had Captain Murphy been the one who had gotten Justin killed? None of this was adding up.

  Justin Harper had been right about one thing: they couldn’t trust anybody.

  THIRTEEN

  Daniel’s hands were sweaty. He wiped them on his jeans, then looked over at Bethany, who was calmly reading more of the transcripts of conversations from Bishop’s phone that were saved on the laptop. Today, he would commit a crime. He hadn’t broken the law since he was a teenager and he was forced to steal to survive. He hadn’t realized that this undercover assignment would bring up such old memories, but between the actions he would perform this afternoon and his conversation with Bethany when he had spilled the truth about his mother, a lot of unpleasant recollections were surfacing that he thought he had buried forever.

  He remembered picking the pocket of a man who had been wearing a dark green woolen jacket one cold winter evening. Daniel had bumped into the man and netted over a hundred dollars from the man’s wallet. The man had also carried a picture of a young girl in the leather folds, as well as some old newspaper clippings that Daniel had never even glanced at. He’d tossed the entire thing in the trash soon after the theft, but he’d always wondered how much damage his actions had caused. Had that been the only picture of the girl the man had owned? Had his victim treasured that photo and news stories that he’d carried? Had he caused the man hours or even days of angst because of his actions?

  He wondered why God was allowing all of the pain from his past to resurface, especially now when he so desperately wanted to keep it buried. What good could come from it? Yet, he did know that God would never leave him or forsake him, no matter what was happening in his life or the difficulties he faced.

  Daniel glanced at Bethany again and envied her calm demeanor. She had an amazing ability to stay focused, no matter what the circumstance. It was an admirable trait, and something that no doubt made her excellent at her job. She was the consummate professional, and he had always respected her dedication and work ethic.

  A wave of longing swept over him that took his breath away. He ached to just hold her in his arms. She was so beautiful. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, which only accented her delicate cheekbones and classic lovely features. Her eyes had always been her best feature in his mind, and were like lakes of blue on a warm summer day. It wasn’t just her outer beauty that captivated him, however. Her inner strength and fortitude were just as attractive. Yet, to share himself in the way that she required would be to lay open his heart completely and would make him totally vulnerable. He didn’t think he was capable of doing what she was asking. It was too hard. But could he let her go? Was it worth the sacrifice?

  Dear Lord, help me decide what to do about Bethany. If You want me to tell her about my past, please give me the strength to do so. I can’t do it without You. If You don’t want me to share, please help her understand. I need You. I need Your guidance. Please help me know what to do, and lead me with Your perfect will for my life.

  “This is it!” Bethany exclaimed, bringing him back to the here and now. She picked up the laptop and brought it over to the table where he was sitting and positioned it so he could see the screen. “I’ve been sorting through hundreds of texts and phone transcripts, but finally found something. Bishop was talking to someone named Bradley, and they mention Operation Battlefield. Then they say stadium and detonation. That can only mean one thing.” Their eyes met and they said the next words together.

  “They’re planning on blowing up a stadium!”

  “But which one?” Daniel asked. “There are three I can think of right off the bat. AT&T Stadium where the Lookouts play, Engel Stadium and Finley Stadium.”

  Bethany opened another window on the browser and did some quick searching. “It has to be AT&T Stadium. They wouldn’t want to do something unless it brought maximum notoriety to their cause. According to these schedules, there’s nothing planned during the next two months at Engel or Finley. But look at this.” She pointed to the screen. “There are two events coming up at AT&T, and look—all of the seating is basically along the first base side, so it would take a minimum amount of explosives to do a lot of damage.”

  “What are the two events?” Daniel asked, leaning closer.

  “There’s a marching band competition next week, and three weeks from now, there’s a huge multi-state track meet.” The worry was palpable in her eyes. “Good grief. It could be either one of those. Either one would be horrific.”

  He took her hand and squeezed it. “We need more information. Hopefully, after today’s robbery they’ll trust us enough to let us know more about their plans. Or if they don’t, maybe Bishop will let more of the details slip.”

  * * *

  The driver pulled the armored truck up to the bank door at exactly 3:15 p.m., right on schedule. As was the company policy, the driver stayed in his seat, surveilling the area, while the other guard got out and opened the back doors of the truck.

  As soon as both of the doors were open, the robbers struck.

  “Hands in the air, now!” Derek yelled. He grabbed the guard from behind, getting a good grip on the man’s bulletproof vest and pulling him to the side of the truck with his left hand as he kept his gun pointed at him with his right. The guard complied and raised his hands.

  “Okay, don’t shoot. I’ll do what you say. Please don’t shoot.”

  Bethany appeared from the other side of the truck, her gun also pointed at the guard. All of the robbers were dressed in black pants and jackets, and they were also wearing ski masks that obscured their features. She moved to the front of the truck where the guard was standing so she had a clear view of both guards, as well as the inside of the truck. Ethan was on the other side of the armored truck, also wielding a weapon and keeping an eye on the surroundings.

  “Get on your knees,” she ordered.

  The guard complied. His eyes were wild with fright. She was sorry for that. She didn’t like this part of the job,
but it was necessary. Hopefully, this would be the last crime she would be committing in the process of taking down the Heritage Guard.

  “Take out your gun and put it on the concrete. Now,” Derek yelled.

  The guard did as he was told and Bethany kicked the gun away, just as Daniel, also dressed as the others, backed up the late model SUV to the armored truck and opened up the back. Liam jumped out of the back of the SUV and got inside the armored truck. A few seconds later, he was throwing wrapped bundles of cash into the SUV.

  “Lie down on the ground,” Bethany ordered, her eyes still on the guard. She looked up and saw the other guard calling in the robbery.

  “The driver is calling it in,” she yelled to the others. “We have fifteen seconds. Go!”

  Liam threw in the last few bundles and slammed the back trunk of the SUV. “That’s it. We’re done. Let’s go!”

  Suddenly a shot rang out. Bethany looked quickly at both of the guards, but neither one of them had fired the shot. Her eyes flew over to Derek, who was loosely holding a pistol in his hand that he had taken off one of the guards, then toward Daniel, who was still sitting in the driver’s seat of the vehicle. The bullet had hit the frame of the SUV only inches from his head.

  Daniel, wearing his mask, got out of the van and slammed the door, his eyes blazing. His weapon was pointed at Derek’s head. “If you’re going to try to kill me, you’d better not miss the next time!”

  “The gun just went off. I wasn’t aiming for you,” Derek said, holding the pistol up, the barrel pointing to the sky. They couldn’t see his face beneath the mask, but his voice held a smirk. Bethany felt a surge of relief that Daniel hadn’t been hurt and took a step toward Derek, ready for some retribution, but Liam reached him first and grabbed his collar.