He rolled over onto his back and Whitney moved over to him. She kissed his chest several times and laid her head on the hard surface and could hear her lover’s rapid heartbeats. She stretched her arm over her husband and a huge smile appeared on her face. Whitney Powers Merrick could not be happier.
There was only one subject she had been putting off to talk to Trent about.
“So I love your last name and I happily accept it legally, but do you think it would be alright if in the professional sector, I keep using Powers? I only want to do this because I don’t want people to think of me as your wife, not Whitney.”
Trent said, “I really don’t think people will do that. However, that’s pretty easy for me to say because I don’t have to change my last name. I have no problem with you keeping the Powers name involving our careers.”
“That went much better than I expected. Probably helped that I asked you right after sex.”
Trent smiled. “I didn’t even realize. You cheated. I thought the idea just popped into your head.”
“Oh, well it totally did pop in right now. There’s no need to mention that it has popped in a couple times before that.”
Trent said, “Well we seem to be working out pretty well as a team. Every time I am nervous about something I mention to you, there’s never a problem and vice versa. You got pretty lucky girl.” Trent chuckled.
“Despite your ego, I did get pretty lucky. I love you, baby.”
Trent said, “I love you too.”
7
Whitney couldn’t believe her eyes as the new Chief of the Bureau of Investigation entered the room. It was the former High Judge, Raymund Ellerbee, who had made the arms deal with King Raddman on the airplane. The older man with male pattern baldness and a bushy beard and mustache had a smile from one of his big ears to the other. His jubilance was making Whitney feel ill especially the fact that he seemed to be unbothered by his criminal actions.
She looked at Trent and they both shook their heads in silence. They hadn’t told anyone about the shady tarmac meeting because they hadn’t been able to get any corroboration that they could show the other agents. Whitney wasn’t going to tell everyone they had received the information from a flying dragon that took them back in time. She knew the proof was out there somewhere because of all the payments, but they hadn’t been able to locate those receipts yet.
The new Chief stood next to the podium and shook hands with some of the senior agents before everyone sat down.
The obese Chief’s double-chin shook as he cleared his throat. “It is with great honor that I’ve been chosen by the President himself to lead this great organization. The reason our President thought that a change was necessary is because the Bureau had lost its focus. We all stand together for a great country that we love and will die for. Your previous leader’s questionable judgment had been slipping for quite a while and President Gergen wouldn’t let our reputation slip into the gutter.”
The Chief took off his suit jacket and continued, “So I have come to resurrect the honor that this Bureau deserves and will always stand for. Integrity will be the one word I am going to focus on. We need to maintain our integrity.”
This is unbelievable. Is he really going to try to lecture this group on integrity? He sold out our country.
The Chief went on. “Our integrity has been attacked by your former Chief. I really liked Mr. McTalbot, but he started to focus on baseless conspiracy theories that wouldn’t even make for a good movie script. I am here to restore order, integrity and our once-great reputation. First order of business is to shut down this ridiculous attack on our President and, in turn, our own country of Adoxia. This is all because a foreign entity that doesn’t like him tried to spread false rumors.”
He’s not even sweating. He’s an excellent liar. I figured a fat guy like him would be leaking like crazy from all these blatant lies. This guy’s more dangerous than I thought.
The Chief continued, “I have personally checked out this misinformation and debunked all these alleged theories and suggested accomplices. I’m not sure what someone was trying to prove, but I won’t allow us to go down the rabbit hole and drink the magic tea. To maintain a shred of integrity, I’m ordering everyone to give me any materials you may have related to those preposterous allegations.”
I’m not giving you anything. You want my evidence, you’re going to have to go through Trent for it. Good luck, big boy. He seems to love adjectives and analogies to try to make this look like the most ridiculous event of all time. He’s overcompensating but unfortunately only Trent and I know it.
The Chief glanced around the room with a serious look. “Our first chance to bring back the Bureau has already arrived. We have uncovered the biggest event of government corruption by the Cardinal Party. We are putting together a report as we speak about the despicable acts and atrocities they unleashed in a vain attempt to gain power. This will be our new focus.”
Whitney knew this was a diversionary tactic. The Cardinal, Raven and Bull Parties were the three main ones in Adoxia. Recently, the Raven Party hadn’t been much of a factor in the elections, but there was intense competition and hatred between the Cardinal and Bull Parties. The President and all his accomplices, including the new Chief, were members of the Bull Party.
Chief Ellerbee said, “I want everyone here to take pride in working here and we need to make sure we are putting our country ahead of our own personal agendas. Let’s take today to make sure we hand over all of those fake materials that someone tried to fool us with and refocus. The new focus and a plan of investigation will be distributed either tomorrow on the following day. Now let’s go make the Bureau and country proud. You’re dismissed.”
Whitney looked at Trent and he looked like he was about to explode in anger. She noticed even his ears were almost purple.
He said, “I’m going to kill this guy. He can’t do this to our country.”
Trent got up and a couple of agents tried to stop him, but he kept pushing his way toward the Chief. Whitney started to worry that Trent might get physical with the new Chief because of how he had beaten up the bullies from her high school. He seemed to have a passionate temper and more agents stepped in to try to talk him out of this.
“What’s going on over there?” the Chief asked as he gathered all of his papers.
“Nothing, sir,” Barrett Nedhurst cried out.
“Not happening. I’ll tell you what’s wrong. We have a lot of intel from sources that have never been wrong before pertaining to this case,” Trent yelled at the Chief.
Raymund Ellerbee immediately said, “And I just told you that those people have been feeding us false information. I suggest you calm yourself and stand down if you want to continue to work here. Or you can try to be a hero and take a run at me. You wouldn’t be the first.” The Chief laughed and Whitney worried that statement might set off her lover.
Trent took a deep breath and stopped pushing the pile toward the podium. Everyone backed away and Trent fixed his clothes and walked up to Whitney.
“Ready to go back to our office?” he asked in an extremely calm tone.
“Yes, of course.”
Whitney wanted to slap the smirk off the Chief’s face as she walked by and went back to her office. Trent remained calm on the way back and closed the door after they got into the room.
“I can’t believe that guy, gas lighting the honorable men and women that work here. How can you do those horrible things. What else do you think he’s done? This might be the only thing we know about, but I’m willing to bet there’s a lot more,” Trent rambled.
“Considering he willfully added obstruction of justice to the list today by ordering us to shut down the case, I think he’s done a lot more too. I’m almost afraid to find out what else he might be responsible for. Eww, he is the worst type of person.”
Trent nodded his head, “Agreed. This is why it makes me so mad. These aren’t just little misdemeanors, these are the worst possi
ble crimes you could commit. And the fact that they are so smug about it makes me want to get these crooks even more.”
There was a knock at the door.
“I guess the Paperwork Patrol is here to seize our work on the Gergen Files.”
Whitney opened the door and Barrett Nedhurst was waiting outside.
He asked, “Could I come in for a moment?”
“Of course.” Whitney moved to the side and gestured with her arm for him to come in.
She closed the door as the red-headed agent looked nervously around the room. He spoke in almost a whisper, “We’re not giving up on this. There are seven of us so far that are going to do this for our country. Meet us at the Graffiti Garage at ten o’clock tonight. I won’t say any more here.”
The short and stout forty-year-old man, who walked with a slight limp from being shot, lumbered out of the room. Whitney looked at Trent with raised eyebrows.
He said, “Maybe the new Chief was right. Maybe he’s going to set off a nuclear bomb of motivation for some of us at the Bureau.”
“I know it’s working for me. I hated Benno Dante but I never really saw him so it made it a little less personal. I wanted to take down the syndicate more than just one individual. Like you said, seeing the smug looks on their faces like they are going to get away with it makes me sick. My biggest worry is that they’ve been getting away with this kind of stuff for their entire careers.”
“It’s a great shame. We grew up thinking the politicians were going to listen and look out for us. And then you grow up. Then you realize that they are bought off by special interest groups and big corporations and reality again reveals the ugliness of mankind. If a system can be corrupted, hell, we just saw the same thing with the mob. That’s the scary part to me. This filters throughout the entire country from one coast to the other,” Trent lamented.
“Luckily, we are here to clean all this up. Alright, so do you want to do dinner downtown and then go to this bar to meet up with everyone else?”
Trent nodded his head, “Sounds like a plan.”
Whitney and Trent entered the Graffiti Garage and immediately felt out of place. They had changed before leaving work, but they still looked to be the oldest people in the bar. Whitney thought this might be an underage place by the faces of all the patrons. They looked around for their coworkers but couldn’t find them in the crowded Garage.
The pounding music made Whitney wonder why Barrett wanted to meet in this place. Trent tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to a table in the corner with the other agents. The couple waved to everyone and Whitney didn’t even attempt to scream over the music.
Whitney and Trent sat next to Barrett with six other agents hovering around the table.
“Why would you want to meet here?”
Barrett screamed into her ear, “Because nobody will be able to know what we are talking about. There are a lot of spies running around the Capitol and this should make it hard to eavesdrop.”
Whitney screamed to him, “So what is the plan?”
Barrett looked around and yelled, “We have ten agents now that are dedicated to finding out the truth about Gergen’s dealings. Everyone is pissed that the new Chief is going after his rival party because politics are supposed to stay out of the Bureau.”
“Then why doesn’t everyone want to find out the truth?”
Barrett licked the foam off the top of his beer. He waited for the next song to start. “Some of the agents are scared to lose their jobs. Can’t fully blame them. Some of us put country first and if we get fired, we get fired.”
Trent tapped her on the shoulder and yelled, “What the hell is he saying?”
Whitney told her lover what their fellow agent had told her. They hung out at the bar for about another hour so they didn’t look suspicious, and went home for the night. She was proud to be part of a dedicated group that wouldn’t quit demanding the truth.
They made it home and Whitney got ready for bed.
“So what can we do moving forward? Are we going to give him all of our files? We have to give up something or it will look suspicious.”
Trent stopped brushing his teeth to talk. “I don’t know how much more evidence we need before we start interviewing people. We need to do it in a public manner so the press picks it up. We can’t let this guy bury this case. Maybe if the public is outraged enough, the wheels of justice will start to turn.”
Whitney slid out of her black jeans. “That sounds a bit risky. Wait no, that sounds insanely risky. I don’t want them to bury the case either but this might end up derailing it more than getting it back on the right track.”
Trent gargled some mouthwash, spit it out and said, “Ooohh minty. Yes, this is a risky plan, but with great risk comes great reward.”
“Or amazing failure,” Whitney said under her breath.
“What was that now?” Trent asked.
“Nothing. I’m just worried about all the people the President has in place from the justice department to intel agencies to the government itself. Feels like we are running into a brick wall.”
Trent said, “There’s going to be a lot more hurdles to jump in this race than in the Benno Dante Case. Those guys cooperated rather easily, which was very surprising. If we can just get someone to admit to something under questioning, I mean, that’s all we need.”
“I have a feeling you’re right about them not talking. Benno Dante knew he was caught after his guys flipped on him. These crooks are convinced that they are going to get away with this. I bet they think they can just keep quiet and everything will be swept under the rug.”
“I hate to sound cheesy, but let’s pull out that rug from underneath them,” Trent said with a smile as he slipped into bed.
“It’s cool, I like cheesy and you should know this by now. Do you know who you want to pick up for questioning?”
8
Whitney sat at her desk and tried to eavesdrop on Trent’s phone conversation. He hung up and gave her a thumb’s up.
Trent said, “We have our guy. Do you remember Daryl Hopkins?”
“The representative from that first meeting about lifting the embargo?”
Trent nodded. “Exactly. I just found out why he didn’t get a big promotion for being part of the Gergen team. He didn’t pass his security clearance for some questionable dealings in Starvary. This is from years ago, but he tried to set up an arms deal that would benefit a rebel group trying to take over.”
“Do any of these guys have any honor? Do you think Daryl Hopkins will talk?”
“I sure hope so or we’re going to be in a lot of trouble. I think we have to do it. I’ll understand if you don’t want to take part in this,” Trent said.
“No way. I’m going to be right by your side. For better or worse. You can’t embarrass him though, you do know that right?”
Trent said, “We won’t cuff him or anything, but he has to be seen with us and leaving in the same car. I’ve tipped off my friend who works for the Capitol Gazette to make sure it gets out.”
“Then I guess we should go pay this gentleman a visit.”
Trent and Whitney drove across town to Representative Hopkins’ office building. The small square structure was just on the outskirts of the heart of the Capitol. Whitney’s heart started to race as they got out of the car. Trent pulled up his jacket and checked his pistol and Whitney instinctually repeated the procedure.
They walked into the lobby and asked the receptionist if the Representative was in.
The young woman with long blond hair in pigtails said, “He’s in an important meeting right now and can’t be disturbed. You can come back tomorrow if it’s important.”
Trent pulled out his badge and showed it to the woman. “Agent Trent Merrick and Agent Whitney Powers. We’re going to have to see him now. Maybe you can interrupt his meeting, or we can do it if you want.”
The receptionist got on the phone and tried to cover her mouth as she whispered, “Sir, two people from
the Bureau of Investigation are here right now. I think you better come out.”
The rosy-faced woman hung up the phone and said, “He will be out in just a moment.”
A slim man with dark skin and slicked-back black hair emerged, sliding his arm into a suit jacket. The middle-aged politician rubbed his lips and looked at his fingers.
He smiled widely and said, “A special visit in my honor. To what do I owe this honor?”
“We have a few questions for you, sir,” Trent told him.
“Perhaps I should call your boss to see how he feels about this,” the Representative hinted.
“Go ahead. He’s the one who sent us to ask you a few questions. It’s more of a courtesy to close a silly report. It should only take about a half hour and it will be softball questions on the record.”
I really hope he doesn’t call our bluff or this will end up in disaster.
“You two do realize that if you are screwing with me, you’ll never work again in this country? Do you understand that?” Daryl Hopkins asked in a serious tone.
“We would never do anything like that, sir. This is more of a convenience for you as we will even give you a ride so we can get this on the record and be done with it. The interview station is only a few minutes away and you’ll be back here by lunchtime,” Trent said.
The Representative reluctantly gave in and followed them out to the work car. A man with a microphone and camera ran up to them.
“What is going on? Mr. Hopkins, Mr. Hopkins, are you being arrested right now?” the man with the microphone asked as he shoved the metal mouthpiece into the Representative’s face.
Daryl just shook his head and jumped into the backseat of Trent and Whitney’s car. They drove over to the office with interview rooms and took the Representative inside. The two agents sat on one side of the small table and Daryl Hopkins sat across from them with a smug smirk on his face.
“Alright, let’s get this bullshit over with,” Daryl suggested.
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