As soon as the tape fell away from his mouth, Tyler yelled at her, “You idiot. There’s a bomb under the seat set to go off at midnight. Cut me free and let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Oh my God,” Sandy said as she began hacking away at the tape pinning him to the steering wheel. “Are you sure about the timing.”
“How the hell would I know any more about the timing than what my loving godfather said?” he replied.
“Your loving godfather? What the hell are you talking about, Tyler?” she asked as she frantically continued with her efforts to cut him loose.
“It’s a long story.”
Before either of them could say anything else, the last of the tape came loose, and they ran from the Mustang as fast as they could. And it was a good thing, too, because no sooner had they crossed the street to get to the car Pete was still sitting in than the bomb in the Mustang went off and flames shot ten feet into the sky. Pieces of the car shot out in all directions, and only the tall shrubbery kept them from being hit by flying debris.
Pete jumped from the car and ran over to where Sandy had instinctively pulled Tyler to the ground. “Are you all right,” he asked. “What the hell just happened? Did that car over there explode?”
“Pete, help us to the car and let’s get out of here. Give me the cell phone so I can call Jelly. As for you, Tyler, just get in the car and shut up. As soon as we’re away from here, you and I are going to have a serious chat.”
For once, Tyler was quiet.
Up till now, Sandy had joked and made light of the entire evening, but now it was time to get down to business. “Lawrence, it seems your father has had your ass covered again. Jellard got word that you’re being blackmailed. Want to tell me about it?”
Tyler looked at her as though he’d like nothing better than to chew her up and spit her out, but didn’t. “No, but I guess I don’t have much choice, do I?”
“Not really.”
Without arguing, without calling her every name in the book, Lawrence Tyler told Sandra Martin his story about the blackmailing informant, who had turned out to be his godfather.
“I thought they knew what was going on at that . . . damn compound, so I took off hoping to make a bust before my ass got kicked to the curb. Now I find out this was personal. I don’t get it. I still don’t know what I was being blackmailed about. That miserable bastard never said before he forced me to let him tape me to the steering wheel and told me that now that I knew who he was, he was going to have to eliminate the evidence against him, namely me. That’s when he planted that bomb he said would go off at midnight.”
Sandy almost felt sorry for Tyler. Almost.
“I don’t know why you were being blackmailed either, but here’s what I think.” Sandy held her hand up. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you need to hear me out.”
Tyler just nodded as though he knew he was defeated.
“This blackmailer, your godfather, knew you would do whatever it took to make a grand-finale career move. He knew you were about to get the boot. He knew Kate and I were sent to Mango Key to watch that damned place. What better time to blackmail you? You were sent there so you’d be distracted, Tyler. This blackmailer, who, by the way is still running around out there somewhere, knew you were at the bottom of your career path and simply took advantage of you. Admit it, Tyler, you are just as vulnerable as the rest of us.”
“How do you know this?” he asked.
“Apparently the governor was keeping an eye on you. He had your phones tapped.”
Tyler was defeated and dropped his head against the steering wheel. “You knew who the blackmailer was when you found me, didn’t you, Sandra?”
Sandy looked at Tyler, who looked as though his world had just turned completely upside down. “No. I wasn’t given that information when Jellard sent me to babysit your ass tonight.”
Tyler grimaced. “Well, now you know. It’s my frigging godfather, can you believe that? Of all people. I’ve always hated the son of a bitch, and now I know why.”
Jelly hadn’t given her details. “What’s his name, this godfather of yours?”
Tyler gave a shaky laugh. “Carlton Staggers. I think he lives in Miami.”
“Then I’ll send a car to find the bastard. Your father has pulled out all the stops for the DEA, said anything we needed to do was sanctioned by the governor himself. If we find him first, do you want me to kick his ass?” Sandy asked.
Tyler just shook his head. “You’d do that for me after all the bullshit I’ve given you over the years?”
Now it was Sandy’s turn to laugh. “You’re damn right I would. Remember, that bomb almost killed me, too. So it’s personal with me.”
Tyler thought there was a very, very slim chance that someday he just might actually come to like Sandra Martin.
Someday.
Chapter 24
“I’ll contact the governor’s office and meet you in Miami as soon as I can,” Jellard said.
He closed his cell phone, and shook his head.
“What? What?” Kate asked impatiently. “Are they okay?”
“You know you’re starting to sound more like a mother hen rather than a DEA agent. And yes, they’re okay. Josh Levinson and Roy Jacobson are two of the best agents I have.”
“Gee, thanks,” Kate offered up.
“Along with you and Martin, I was about to add, but you keep interrupting me. Now, do you want to hear what went down or not?” Jelly asked.
“That can wait. First, you need to follow through on making arrangements for me to meet Aunt Constance. I have something very important to impart to her.”
After Sandy had called to tell them about rescuing Tyler from the bomb Carlton Staggers had planted in the Mustang, they’d been up all night, waiting to hear from her again. After she’d filed her report with the locals, she and Pete had been taken by a private plane to Miami, where Tyler was placed in protective custody until Carlton Staggers could be found and arrested. Tyler’s location was known only to Jelly and the governor.
On the second front, Josh and Roy had been able to nab “Aunt Constance” and “Mateo” just hours after they’d arrived in Cuba. It would be a long time before either viewed sunlight other than from behind bars.
As soon as Kate had learned Josh and Roy were back from Cuba, she begged Jelly to take her to their location. Aunt Constance and Mateo were being held in a secret location until the DEA and Key West authorities received further notice from Tom Dolan. But Homeland Security wasn’t going to get a chance at these low-life child abusers before Kate did.
“Kate, you know I can’t sanction this, especially since you’re not officially DEA. But I might be able to arrange a visit. I know a gal there, she’s in charge of security for things like this. I would bet when she gets the full story, she might allow a visit. We’re going to forget this conversation as soon as I make a few calls. You got that Rush? I know this has pissed you to the bare bone; hell, I wouldn’t mind a couple of minutes in a jail cell with these scum feeders myself, but that’s what distinguishes us from the bad guys. We catch them, Kate, the rest is up to the justice system.”
“I get your meaning, Jelly. You do whatever you can, I’ll take it from there, and this conversation never happened. Make that phone call. I’m going to see what Tick and Rosita are up to.”
Kate left the stilt house, allowing Jelly a few minutes to find out Jacobson and Levinson’s location now that they were back on US soil. And as she vowed, the sorry excuses for humanity were going to be on the receiving end of her temper. And that wasn’t always a nice thing.
Three hours later, after a hasty boat ride to Key West via Tick’s cigarette boat, Kate docked at the marina, found Tobias waiting just as Tick said he would be. From there, a local private investigator, another friend of Jelly’s, drove her to a small concrete-block office building located on the military naval station next to Key West International Airport, where they picked up Roy and Josh.
&
nbsp; Jacobson didn’t waste time once he saw Kate. “You’re going to get thirty seconds and not one second more. I mean it, Rush. If anyone finds out what we’re doing, they’ll have all our asses. You think you can do this and stick to these rules?”
Kate nodded. “Let’s stop wasting time, I want to get back to Tick’s before Rosita gets wind that I’m doing something I shouldn’t be. She’s had enough to deal with in her short life.”
“Follow me,” Jacobson said.
Kate followed her former colleague down a narrow hall to a small room at the end. A military guard jostled a set of keys, found the one to unlock the door. He pushed the door aside, revealing what looked like a concrete-block cell of no more than eight by ten. A woman, maybe in her late thirties, with long black hair that almost touched the back of her knees, sat huddled on a metal-frame bed, minus the luxury of the two-inch-thick standard prison mattress.
Kate knew there was no time for words. Without further ado, she glared at the woman, who returned an equally hateful stare, then turned away as though Kate were nothing more than scum.
Kate took three steps across the small cell and stopped in front of the woman who called herself Aunt Constance. Before she could stop herself, Kate grabbed the woman’s hair and twisted it until the woman couldn’t move and had no choice other than to stare up at her.
With her free hand, Kate smashed her fist into Constance’s nose. She heard the cartilage pop, then blood spewed from her nose. The woman’s face twisted into a mask of rage, hands thrashing about wildly as she tried to return Kate’s punch, but Kate had the advantage and smacked her across the face. Heart racing, she was so pissed at this . . . bitch, she wanted to do so much more but knew this was way more than Jacobson had promised. She dropped her hand by her side, wiped the blood on her jeans, then turned to leave, but before she could stop herself, Kate couldn’t resist adding, “That was for Rosita and all the other girls whose lives you ruined. May you rot in hell.” Trembling, she opened the steel door, where Jacobson waited. Kate saw the look on his face when he saw her.
“I’m going to forget I ever saw that,” he commented when he saw the blood on her hand.
But good old Jacobson. He was smiling as he spoke.
While Sandy and Pete, who had returned from Miami while Kate was in Key West, were getting some needed rest, Jelly picked up the explanation he had been giving Kate before she went out for her “discussion” with Aunt Constance.
“Apparently this Mateo’s brother, Jorge, was the mastermind behind the human-trafficking scheme. About a year ago, the brother drowned as he was bringing another group of immigrants to Miami. This shut the operation down for a while. Remember that stakeout Tyler wanted to send you on during the hurricane?” Jelly asked.
“How could I forget?”
“Mateo says that’s when his brother drowned. And that was when all the intel we were getting ceased. Somehow, according to Mateo, Jorge obtained ownership of the house until the original owner served his time. In return, when Jorge died, ownership went to Mateo. And upon Mateo’s death, or as is the case now, his future imprisonment, the ownership reverts to the original owner, who’s currently serving a life sentence at Starke.”
“Confusing, but it makes sense,” Kate said. “So you really believe Lawrence’s snitch was on the money when he told him something was going to happen at that damned compound?”
“I know it’s the last thing you want to hear, but yes. Lawrence was onto something. His snitch got scared off when Jorge and his passengers drowned. Jump forward almost a year. Lawrence started getting phone calls. Knowing he was about to lose his job, Lawrence just assumed the calls were connected to the happenings on Mango Key. He hightails it from LA to Mango Key without a plan, without telling anyone in the DEA what he was going to do. Basically, he went AWOL. Carlton Staggers, his godfather, knew what was going on because he had the father’s phone bugged as well as the son’s. We still haven’t figured out how long the governor’s office was being bugged, but Carlton did have access to the governor’s mansion.”
“Why? That’s the part that makes no sense to me. Why would Governor Tyler have anything to do with such a low-life scum bucket? And why, for the sake of all that’s holy, would this Staggers character be Lawrence’s godfather? I just don’t get it.” Kate peeked over the porch railing to make sure Tick and Rosita were safe. “They’re still romping in the water.” Tick had taken Rosita and Bird to the beach, so that she and Jelly could talk in private.
Jelly nodded and grinned. “I like this Tick. Maybe I’ll ask him if he wants to come to work for me.”
“Bullshit. As soon as this is cleared up, you’re going to take early retirement. I know you too well, Jelly.”
He stretched and yawned. “It’s possible. I’m too old for these allnighters anyway. If I don’t retire soon, I’ll be too old to enjoy myself, so you’re right on the money. I think I’ll travel for a bit before I call it a life. Always wanted to go on an African safari.”
Surprised at Jelly’s announcement, Kate replied, “Really? I never knew.”
“Yeah? I expect there are a lot of things we don’t know about each other, Kate. It’s not like these past twelve years have been one great big social gathering.”
Kate nodded. “True, now finish up before Tick returns.”
“Governor Tyler went to college with Staggers, they were fraternity brothers and roommates for a couple of years. Apparently Carlton has a law degree. He’s worked for several firms across the country. Personal injury.”
Kate took their empty coffee cups and refilled them. “Figures, all those ambulance chasers. Never cared for the type.”
Jelly took a drink of his coffee and grimaced. “When I retire, I plan to give this crap up. I don’t know how I’ve managed to avoid an ulcer all these years.”
“Stop changing the subject and tell me what you’re dying to tell me. I know you, Jelly. It’s a bombshell, too. Am I right?”
“You’re very perceptive, Kate. That’s what’s made you such a damned good agent all these years. So to answer your question, yes. What I am about to reveal to you could possibly make headlines across the country, if not the world. The governor is going to do everything in his power to keep this out of the media, but you know as well as I do, that’s easier said than done.”
Impatient, Kate asked, “And what would that be?”
“In the governor’s early days, when he first ran for Congress, he hired Staggers to act as his campaign manager. Back in the day, after Thurman and Elizabeth were married, it seemed Staggers had a sick fascination with Elizabeth. He’d met her the same night the governor did. Apparently Staggers made some crude comments about Florida’s future first lady. Elizabeth detested him, but he continued to pop up in their life. They would pity him and take him under their wing. On one such occasion, I believe the governor said he’d just won his second term as congressman, there was a big celebration, lots of hoopla, lots of booze. You know how those parties are.”
Kate nodded. “I’ve been to a few myself.”
“Keep this between you and me, Kate. I wouldn’t even mention this to the cop. He’s been through enough, he doesn’t need to hear any more bullshit. Staggers attacked Elizabeth that night at the party.” Jelly paused, suddenly unsure if he should spill the governor’s secrets. But he trusted Kate with his life. He could trust her to keep this quiet. “There really isn’t any other way to say this, so I’ll just say it. Staggers raped Elizabeth, and Lawrence was conceived that night.”
The room was stone silent. It took Kate several minutes before she was able to reply. “And Lawrence doesn’t know about this?”
“Nope, and that’s why Staggers was trying to blackmail him. He wanted Lawrence to go to his father to get the big money. The original demands were just the opening act. Not only did Staggers want the money, but apparently he wanted the whole family to suffer. He must have set up the meeting he did to soften Lawrence up some more and get him to agree to go to his f
ather. But for some reason, Lawrence had reached the point where he just didn’t give a damn anymore, and he told Staggers to go to hell.
“That left Staggers in an awkward position. Lawrence knew who the blackmailer was but had no intention of covering up whatever it was the blackmailer had on him and his family. Staggers, of course, had no idea that the governor knew about the blackmail and who the blackmailer was. So Staggers figured that if he got rid of Lawrence, his own son, he was home free. Anticipating the possibility, he had a bomb prepared and ready to be set in place. Why he lied about when it was supposed to go off, I do not know. I suppose it could have been sheer incompetence on his part that it went off almost two hours earlier than it was supposed to. Maybe we’ll find out once he’s in custody.”
“I never thought I would say this, but poor Lawrence. What a shock this will be.”
“The governor and Elizabeth want to be the ones to tell him. The governor knew after he and Elizabeth married that he wouldn’t be able to father a child, so he raised Lawrence as his own. When the time is right, they’ll tell him or not. We all know Lawrence has self-esteem issues. This would kill what little he has left. He’s always been told that Staggers is his godfather. The governor needed an excuse for his popping up all the time.”
“Wow.” For once, Kate was at a loss for words where Tyler was concerned.
“So you understand why we can’t let the media get hold of this. Nancy Grace would eat Lawrence and the entire family for breakfast. So would Larry King and Bill O’Reilly. He’d be the topic of every news story in the world. Then they’d jump on the protecting-your-rapist story. We’d have every do-gooder out there pounding down the governor’s door. I think it’s up to the Tylers to reveal this information. When the time is right or not. The governor was quite clear about that to me on the phone. I feel sorry for him. He said he was going to retire. He’d planned to announce that he was going to seek the nomination of the Republican party for president in 2012, but after this disaster, he wants out of the limelight, and so does the first lady. With Staggers about to be locked away for a very long time, effectively the rest of his life, once he’s apprehended and prosecuted, at least they won’t have to worry about him. They’ve been paying him to keep silent for years. He knew Lawrence was his son because he had somehow learned that the governor wasn’t able to father a child. They’ve been his meal ticket too long.”
Southern Comfort Page 24
