by Paris Morgan
I started to yell, but no words came out. I reached toward my image, but it faded. Feeling very cautious, but needing to know what was happening, I stepped through the angry mass.
Instant silence. It was like the world ceased to exist. The ghost of myself appeared and beckoned toward some event that was starting through another doorway.
The Zodiac Master stood in front of me wearing a mask, but looking vaguely familiar.
“I’m glad you could join me. After all, you’re the reason they last so long on this journey. It’s only fitting that you should see the end results from a courtside seat.” He bowed from the waist and waved me inside.
Unsure if I should continue, I assumed that I was safe in this world.
“Leslie considers you a friend. She listens to you. You deserve all the credit for unblocking her psychic abilities. She’ll need them to communicate with you because your death has been foretold.”
“No, I don’t accept that.” I shook my head and backed toward the door. “I won’t let it happen.”
“My dear, you won’t be able to stop me.” He gave me an evil grin. “I promise, I’ll make it painless for you. I honestly don’t mean to cause pain. It’s simply a side effect of dying.”
“Then don’t kill me, because dying isn’t painless, and it won’t be for those I’ll leave behind.”
“Oh, phooey. You won’t be leaving them behind because they’ll be joining you. You’ll just be the first to go.” His thumbs up was supposed to be reassuring, but all I felt was terror.
“They’ll fight you and they’ll win. Justice has to prevail.”
He laughed in my face. “Justice? You think there’s justice? There’s not. Just because you believe it, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Keep dreaming. That’s the only way your dreams are going to come true.”
“Why am I here with you now? In this place?” I questioned calmly.
“Don’t you know? Leslie thought it, and so I must make it happen.”
“So this is just my subconscious projecting what she said. It’s how I see things playing out if I don’t have a gun.”
He shook his head no. “I’m coming for you, and thought you should have a heads-up. First, I have to go and kill a few people, but don’t worry, you don’t know them.”
I was done with this vision. He wasn’t going to come and get me or kill any of us because I wasn’t about to give him the pleasure of watching me die.
“Tootles. See you soon.” He blew me a kiss and exited off to the side.
“Sounds like quite a predicament.” My ghost spoke from beside me.
“I guess. He keeps underestimating us.”
“We’re stronger than he thinks we are.”
We spoke over each other and then smiled.
“It’s time to go back. He is coming soon. Beware.” My ghost walked into me and settled until we became one.
I retraced my path and went back to the original door. Stepping back into the woods, I took a second to regain my balance before I opened my eyes and surveyed my surroundings.
He wasn’t there. At least not right now, but I had a feeling that was about to change.
I didn’t feel safe until I reached the cabin. We’d been leaving the doors open or unlocked, and that was definitely going to change.
After a quick search to make sure I was alone, I closed the doors and took the key with me as I went to go visit Shea. She needed to understand the risks that we were facing.
***
Leslie
Things were quiet over the next several days. There weren’t any more bodies, and I’d had a chance to recover from my long night down the Zodiac internet trail.
We had all received a mysterious encrypted message with the address of the warehouse. Barbie and Mac had found something that was important enough for us to come to them.
Following the special instructions, each person arrived separately so that we threw anyone off who might have been trying to follow us.
“Barbie, great to see you again,” I greeted her as I opened the warehouse door. When I saw Mac, I ran to him and gave him a hug.
“Hey, now. Are you crying?” he joked as he handed me a paper towel from the small kitchen.
“Yes,” I acknowledged. “We just lost one of our own and I haven’t seen you since the Zodiac Master tried to kill you. You’re not allowed to die.”
“Hear, hear!” Adam echoed from behind us, holding out his hand. “Barbie, nice to finally meet you. Officially, that is.”
“I’m glad that we could join forces to make this happen. I think we have a few surprises for you tonight.” Barbie smiled as Ryan joined us.
“So, now that everyone is here, let’s get down to business. Mac is going to tell you what he’s found regarding Agent Watson, and then I’ll explain a few of the things we’ve uncovered.”
Mac cracked his knuckles before passing out papers to each of us.
“Here you have Agent Watson’s tax records and the amount of overseas accounts, which aren’t on the legal side. There’s plenty of evidence that he’s the person on those, and that he’s been hiding behind a few shell companies,” Mac grinned. “We have a warrant out that we can serve here when we’re done.”
“Wonderful. That will certainly help stop the leaking of information from our department.” Ryan gave Mac a high five.
Barbie folded her legs under her so that she was comfortable as Mac handed us a new set of papers. “After we have Agent Watson out of the way, we’re going to get started on issuing warrants for Urban Energy’s headquarters. And…”—she paused for Mac to give her a drum roll as we all watched curiously—“…the information that Kevin was able to gather shows that the Urban Energy Corporation and the Gold Money Exchange are one and the same.”
“What? How is that possible?” I gasped.
“Well,” Barbie drawled, “it was set up this way from the earliest days of both companies. This is why they’ve been so successful at keeping out of the eye of the government. All of their initial money was from ‘investors,’ which was just a more respectable word for ‘mobsters.’”
“Wow! To think that the very company that’s been helping the environment is the same one that’s destroying personal lives by supplying criminal organizations with funds.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Oh, just wait, it gets better,” Mac interjected.
“They do a lot of legitimate business, and a lot of it is spent through consulting costs into the company. Then they give donations or buy businesses and property to give the money back.”
“That’s really slick.” Adam mumbled while glancing through the papers.
“It is, and it’s the best way for them to outsmart the government, while at the same time, holding money until they want it. The Urban Energy Corporation owns acres of land that they buy one acre at a time for large amounts of money.”
“So the Zodiac Master wasn’t that far off when he sent us sniffing around the company. It was because there was something hidden underneath, and he wanted us to figure it out. What he didn’t figure was that we’d make these connections and try to arrest his father.”
“You’re right, he didn’t think this through very well,” Mac agreed with a glance at Barbie.
I was sensing an undercurrent that I’d never seen from Mac before, but I couldn’t tell if he and Barbie had done something together or they were thinking about it.
“Which is why this is going to completely piss him off when we take down his father. Not only are we going to arrest him, we’re going to take down the company that he’s spent decades putting together,” Barbie cautioned.
“And by doing this, we’re going to put thousands of people out of work. There’s no way for them to continue without being compromised. We’re not suggesting arresting all the employees, but at least those at the top had to know what was going on all this time.”
“Arresting John Reed and Noah Preston will be quite a coup. Are we going to get blowback from th
e local officials for doing this?”
Barbie shook her head. “No. I’ve spoken with only my direct supervisor, and we have to do this no matter the repercussions.”
“What kind of repercussions are we talking about?” Adam inquired quietly.
“A large one. Not only are we putting people out of work, but we’ll be freezing all the assets of the major criminal groups, and they will not be happy. There’s also the fact that the Urban Energy Corporation is a vested company. Their stock will drop, and it’s going to be a huge hit to the market.”
“Well, crap. You fix one problem, and then there’s always another one. Are we ready to take out the first pin in the triangle?” Adam theorized as he stood.
“I’ve called in locals who owe me a favor for backup. When we take down Agent Watson, you can take him into custody.”
“Mac, I’m sorry, but I can’t take a chance of having you leave yet. I know you want to, but I think you need to wait a few more days and let us get this done before you officially rise from the dead.”
“Yes, sir,” Mac grumbled.
“Who’s going to take over the investigation once Agent Watson is gone?”
“I will. They’ve already been considering it since several of the others filed those complaints. We’ve known this was coming, and since I’m the one that’s the most up to date with what’s going on, it will make the transition much smoother,” Adam informed.
“Got it. Barbie, are you going with us?” I questioned.
“No. They don’t know about me, and considering how dangerous the Zodiac Master is, I don’t want to get on his radar.”
“I’ll let the guys know to expect you, and there shouldn’t be that much fuss from Agent Watson. He doesn’t know this is coming, but I don’t see him as the type to go crazy and run. He’ll know it’s over, and either take his punishment or the easy way out.” Mac’s face looked sad, and I couldn’t remember the last time he’d been out on an arrest, with the exception of John Reed.
“Let’s do this,” Adam called over his shoulder as he headed for the door. “I’ll call you once it’s done and we have him in the room for questioning.”
Ryan and I followed, ready to have this part over with so we could get a few hours of sleep before we did it again on a much larger scale.
***
Agent Watson didn’t protest when Adam knocked on the door, surrounded by a few police officers to back us up.
When we arrived at FBI Headquarters, we went straight to the back where all prisoners were taken and booked. Adam showed them the warrant, and while they processed Agent Watson, he was on the phone with his bosses.
“After they get his weapon and badge and fingerprint him, then we’ll be able to do the interrogation. I’ve sent Barbie and Mac the camera link so they can watch from where they’re at,” Adam informed us when he was finished with his call.
“Are they going to strip him of his FBI status?”
“More than likely. For now, though, he’s still an agent and must be treated accordingly. We also let him have his phone call.”
“That’s going to alert whoever he’s working for.” Ryan shook his head in frustration.
“Maybe not. If he’s smart, he’ll know that his chances of getting a deal are much better if he tells us everything instead of waiting. We’ll have to see how he wants to play it,” I mused.
A local lawyer, who was on the really expensive side, strolled past us on his way to the interrogation room.
“Oh, boy. What do you think Henry James ESQ. is going to do when our guy tells him that all his money is tied up in accounts overseas? That we’ve frozen said accounts and he’ll have nothing?” Ryan snickered at Agent Watson’s predicament.
“Hey, I’m not judging. Anyone of us could have been put in those shoes by these guys. Things aren’t always as black and white as we’d like for them to be,” I reminded gently.
You’re taking up for him?” Ryan frowned at me in confusion.
“Not at all, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t make bad choices in his situation. Doesn’t make it right.”
“Let’s go see what his reasons are, and then we can decide if we think he didn’t have a choice.” Adam nodded toward Agent Watson being led to the room.
I took a deep breath and followed the others.
Adam read him his rights for the record and his lawyer’s benefit.
“Let’s get to the first set of charges. Fraud while being a government employee. Working for and with a corporation that has ties to the criminal community is going to get you locked away for a long time. So why’d you do it?” Adam questioned as he took a seat directly across from Agent Watson.
“Don’t answer that,” his lawyer advised.
“Have you brought in a federal attorney yet?” Agent Watson looked up for the first time. “I’m willing to talk, but only if there’s a deal on the table.”
“We aren’t making any deals tonight. Other arrests are happening now, and until we have all the players here and talking, then honestly, the only thing that’s going to help you is to come clean. Mostly for your soul’s sake,” Adam replied smoothly.
Agent Watson’s face turned ashen. “If you arrest him, you’ll be murdered in your beds. He can do that from jail.”
I’d been standing against the wall, but I moved to turn a chair around and took a seat. “Who, Agent Watson? The Zodiac Master or John Reed?”
His lawyer’s mouth dropped open in shock. “You’re arresting John Reed? Seriously?”
“Yeah, we are. Don’t tell me you’re his lawyer as well?” Adam grinned in anticipation of his answer.
I’d forgotten that he could read their minds and knew what each one was thinking. That would be a hard way to do an interrogation, not knowing if you only heard a confession or if your suspect had actually opened their mouth.
“Uh, no.” Henry seemed flustered. “He’s just well-known in our office for having a lot of clout.”
“Right.” Adam smiled. “He won’t have much after tomorrow. He’ll be going away for a long time.”
“Don’t call me agent anymore,” Agent Watson interjected. “Gavin is fine. I know that I’m not going to get to be an agent again between what happened with Kevin and this. My career is over because no one is going to let me run a team or trust me ever again.”
“You’re right about that. Did your actions with John Reed’s illegal enterprises have anything to do with Kevin’s death?”
Gavin took a deep breath. “Honestly, I’m not sure. When I met with him, he seemed happy it had happened. He gave the indication that he hadn’t ordered it, but was pleased someone had taken the initiative.”
“How long have you been working for John Reed?” Adam asked.
Before answering, Gavin shot a look to his lawyer, who only shrugged.
“I started working at the Black Tie Club about five years ago. I had no idea I was working for him back then. I was just a bouncer.”
“He found out and streamlined you into the FBI?”
“Kind of. I’d already applied, but was on a waitlist because of a low test score. Next thing I knew, I was headed to Quantico and in class. I never even knew he had anything to do with it until I was finished and out in L.A. again. Most of what I was asked to do was give the local manager a heads-up if something was coming his way.”
“Nothing illegal in those statements. My client—” he began, but Gavin cut him off.
“He’s right. I didn’t know about the girls until years later. It wasn’t like that when I first started. After I came back to L.A., I received a letter informing me of an account that had been opened in my name with a large amount of money in the Caymans. There wasn’t really anything on it to tell me who it was from, but I wasn’t going to question that kind of money.”
“When did he approach you?” I knew that playing good cop and bad cop weren’t going to work, and we wanted to know how he went down this rabbit hole.
“He didn’t. Every time I
would do something that helped him, whether it was intentional or not, I’d get a letter. That was until you came into the picture in March. I had no idea that you were important to the Zodiac Master until I got another letter. He praised me for making sure that you were safe. He was completely pissed off at Agent Perez, and said that she wouldn’t be a problem anymore.
“I was confused. I thought I was just helping my old boss and getting a little payback for it. When the ZM did that, I wasn’t sure what was going on. I continued to get letters with places to take information or where to send you to keep you off track.”
“So, are you working for the Zodiac Master or John Reed?” I could feel the confusion in the room. This wasn’t making sense. “Besides, how much help could you have given to the manager to have accounts totaling in the millions?”
“Got me beat. Evidently, with the raid you all did at just this club, set him back about a billion. When you multiply it out there across all of the clubs, we’re talking billions of dollars lost. He has to get new locations, new product, pay off officials and more because it’s a great risk to him and those who frequent the places. It was a worth a couple hundred thousand to get a heads-up on occasion.” Gavin shrugged, just as confused as we were.
“After the raid, I got a note telling me to be at the Urban Energy Corporation, which is the first time I met John Reed in person. He knew everything about me, but other than what you guys and Kevin had dug up, I was clueless.”
“You’re telling me that you have no idea what’s going on with the Urban Energy Corporation?”
Gavin shook his head. “No, I didn’t even know I was supposed to be protecting it. I just thought anything to do with the clubs was my main priority. Then the ZM sent those notes, and I didn’t even know how he knew about me, but with the other connections to the Urban Energy Corporation, I figured those in charge had alerted him to the fact that I was available for his use.”
I opened my thoughts just a little and threw out what I was thinking in Adam’s direction. “We don’t have much on him. A judge is never going to prosecute him. They’ll reduce his sentence to get to the big fish.”
