The Amendment Killer (Brooks/Lotello Thriller)

by Ronald S. Barak

  “Detective Lotello is the one who located Mr. Lance. He reached out to several associates for a list of prospects. When several sources independently mentioned Lance, Lotello examined the man’s bio. Lotello was pretty sure he’d found our man. I more or less deferred to his opinion because, as you observe, he’s more experienced than I in matters of this nature.”

  Brooks waited for Eloise to offer some barbed comment about how infrequently he ‘more or less’ deferred to anyone. If it occurred to her to do so, she chose to refrain.

  “And how interested is this Mr. Lance in taking on the assignment?”

  “Hard to say, exactly. Lance is apparently not a man of many words. But according to Lotello he seems highly principled and committed to helping resolve imponderables such as ours. After Lotello explained the situation, Lance asked a few questions, listened to Lotello’s answers, and then said he’d do it. Within lawful boundaries set by his lawyers. Lotello has the impression Lance might stretch those boundaries a little.”

  “I can see how Lance would appeal to you. Maybe to the kidnappers too. But again, how will you overcome their likely paranoia causing them to reject anyone put up by our side?”

  Our side? That Eloise had transitioned from disappointment to ownership of the concept was not lost on Brooks. He found it reassuring in the face of his own insecurities about the approach. “Well that is the $64,000 question, isn’t it?”

  “I would think Cassie’s life is worth a lot more than $64,000, Cyrus.”

  “Come, come. That’s a cheap shot. You know I was talking about the challenge of the issue, not the value of the girl’s life.”

  “Sorry. You’re right. This time. Don’t let it go to your head. Just my natural reluctance, I guess, to accept anything akin to human trafficking.”

  “Apology accepted. You are right, however, about the negotiating instinct to distrust whatever the other side proposes. However, the best results in any negotiation are when the parties find a genuine common ground on which they can build.”

  “What common ground? I can’t imagine any ground less common than what we have here.”

  “I think not. At least, I hope not.” Brooks wondered if Eloise were becoming a bit defensive. He loved trying ideas out on her, but this was the risk of disagreeing with her.

  “I’m waiting, Cyrus. When are you planning to divulge your analysis to me? Are you becoming a bit defensive?”

  Jesus, the woman’s been hanging around me too long. “Not at all, dear. We have this incredible stalemate. Both sides share that. In common. Unless we get creative, there will likely be no more than one winning side, and maybe none. And neither side has any assurance that it will be the side that prevails. Therefore, each side should rationally be motivated to maximize the chances of both sides coming away with a win.

  “This is why I think the hijackers will come around to our suggestion. It increases the chances of both sides winning.”

  “Cyrus, we’ve already agreed on that much, but you still haven’t told me why you think they’ll accept Lance. Rather than insisting you accept some intermediary they come up with?”

  “The reasoning is exactly the same as buying into the escrow concept. For this win-win procedure to work, we need a mutually agreeable handler. Someone has to come up with a credible candidate the other side is willing to trust, and accept. I think Lance is someone with whom they will identify.”

  “Again, I ask you . . . why?”

  “Look at the result they want on the 28th Amendment. They are pro-government. Everything in Lance’s background cries out that he’s pro-government.

  “Also, I think they consider themselves very righteous. Their means may not be righteous, but you know the old argument that the end justifies the means. Everything in Lance’s background reeks of honor and trust. Righteousness. My hope is that their instinct to distrust anyone we propose will be overcome by their affinity to respect and identify with Lance.

  “We have no guarantee, but we also have no other bright ideas, and we’re quickly running out of time. They are, too. At the end of the day, a common lack of time may be what brings us together. Still another thing each side has in common.”

  “Still? What is ‘still’ is the fact that you’re still making quite a leap of faith. So, what haven’t you told me, Cyrus Brooks? You know I know you all too well. You always have a trump card you hold back. Quit beating around the bush. I heard you tell Hirschfeld that if his family decides to go to the FBI, it would be important that he call you first. What are you holding back?”

  Brooks grinned. “Aren’t you the observant one. I do have an additional reason for pressing this approach, and for believing it will appeal to the kidnappers. You remember when Detective Lotello was shot while the jury was out deliberating in the Norman trial?”

  “Cyrus, do you think I could ever forget that? How it almost destroyed both you and Frank? Your remaining scars from that episode are greater than his. He’s moved past it. You haven’t. I don’t believe you ever will.”

  Brooks pretended his wife’s remarks had not struck a chord. “A little less theatrics, dear. Please. More to the point, do you remember who shot Lotello?”

  “I do. That obnoxious CIA man with the strange name. Thomas Thomas. Pretty hard to forget him too, unfortunately.”

  “Right. And you remember how we couldn’t prove it, but always thought Thomas was acting under instructions from the President to manipulate the direction of the Norman trial. And that his handler was none other than White House Chief of Staff Manny Reyes?”

  “Yes. But what have Thomas and Reyes to do with Cassie?”

  “Out of the blue, Reyes showed up at the Supreme Court hearings this morning and spent several hours there.”

  “Why do you find it unusual that the White House would take an interest in the fate of the 28th Amendment?”

  “There’s more. Reyes had a bunch of government agents stationed all around the perimeter of the Courtroom. Maybe outside as well.”

  “Doesn’t surprise me. Don’t White House chiefs of staff always have secret service agents to protect them?”

  “That’s just it. None of these agents were hovering around Reyes. They were deployed throughout the Courtroom. As if they were looking for someone, not safeguarding Reyes. Reyes appeared more interested in who those agents were looking for than in the Courtroom proceedings.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  Brooks loved nothing more than a stimulating exchange, especially when he thought he had the upper hand. “At the noon recess, one of the assailants called Hirschfeld and accused him of teaming with Reyes to take them down. According to Hirschfeld, the guy on the phone was irate, screaming threats, beside himself with rage.”

  “And you make exactly what of that?”

  “I think the kidnappers may be just one person. Thomas.”

  “My God, Cyrus, how’d you ever come up with that? Didn’t Frank say he believed Thomas left the country after the shootout and was in hiding?”

  “He did. But what more would bring him back than to think he was again needed by ‘his’ President? Thomas could see this as his ticket back into the fraternity. The chance to make amends by bringing down the anti-government 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

  “That’s some imagination, even for you, Mr. Brooks. But if you are right, why would Reyes have been in Court today looking for Thomas? For that matter, why would Thomas have been there? Why wouldn’t Reyes just watch the proceedings on the live television coverage from the comfort of his White House office?”

  “If Reyes was Thomas’s former handler during the Norman trial, who would be more worried about Thomas now than Reyes? Especially if he suspects—or knows—that Thomas is back, possibly delusional and out of control? Wouldn’t he want to personally be at the Courthouse to see if he could spot him, arrange to have him quietly taken down?

  “And,” Brooks continued, “if Thomas saw Reyes with those agents in the Courtroom today, and
thinks they’re after him, have ‘abandoned’ him, and are looking to take him out before he can embarrass the administration, then his dreams of patching things up might now be dashed. And he might be feeling more than a little incensed. And isolated. Everyone looking for him. Foes and supposed friends alike.

  “If delusional, and not merely disillusioned, he might be even more desperate than he originally was.”

  “If you’re right, then Hirschfeld’s granddaughter is in the hands of a ticking time bomb, on the verge of exploding at any moment, and doing only God knows what with the poor girl, Cyrus.”

  Brooks nodded. “Yes. But it also means our kidnapper, hoping to salvage his psychopathic plan, and longing for fraternal reunion, might be prone to accept as the escrow go-between another member, or at least another former member, of his black ops fraternity.”

  “But returning to my last question, why did you implore Hirschfeld to call you first if his family decides to go to the FBI?”

  “Because the FBI is part of the executive branch of the government, and the President of the United States is the head of the executive branch. If Hirschfeld’s family reaches out to the FBI, that would likely come to Reyes’s attention as White House Chief of Staff. What if I’m wrong and Reyes is actually still handling Thomas, in this case using Thomas to help defeat the anti-government 28th Amendment?

  “Going to the FBI in that event would tip the family’s hand to Reyes and Thomas and would be tantamount to signing Cassie’s death warrant. I couldn’t bring myself to load Hirschfeld up with that additional complication on top of everything else he’s already dealing with. But I also can’t let him be blindsided by a possible fox in the hen house if he and his family do decide to go to the FBI.”

  PART FIVE

  More Stuff And The Decision

  CHAPTER 81

  Friday, May 9, 7:30 am

  BROOKS DID some of his best thinking while marching back and forth in his home office. Actually, it was more of a rectangle than back and forth, hugging the perimeter of the flat weave kilim rug on the hardwood floor. The rug was worn thin along his path of choice. Often single purpose of mind, his subconscious coupled with the feel of the rug to keep him from occasionally missing a turn and veering off into one of his office walls.

  Hands clasped behind his back, head fixated on the tips of his walking shoes, he’d been at it for around twenty minutes when the cell phone sounded amid the electronic devices and organized stacks of documents on his “partner” desk. Not wanting to appear too anxious, Brooks waited until the third ring to answer.

  Short winded, he wasted no words: “Got the papers?”

  “Geez, Your Honor, are you okay?”

  “Fine. Exercising. What about the papers?”

  “Right here,” Lotello said. “One single-spaced page. Pretty straightforward. Some legalese, but mostly plain English. Just emailed it to you. Check your inbox.”

  “Hold on.”

  Brooks punched the speaker button on the cell phone and set it down next to the computer keyboard. He launched the email application, found the email, and opened the attachment. “Got it,” he said. Give me a couple minutes.”

  “No problem,” Lotello answered.

  He read through the document on his computer screen. Then read it a second time. He looked up at his office ceiling, and reflected on what it said. And didn’t say. He was fine with what it said. He typed in one additional sentence.

  He confirmed that the font, and the tone and attitude, of the additional sentence were the same as the remainder of the document. Lance and his lawyers would, of course, immediately spot the insert, but they wouldn’t object. He was less certain about the kidnappers. He wanted to make sure they wouldn’t detect the presence of a second author when Hirschfeld furnished Lance’s agreement to them.

  He moved through it one more time:

  Confidential Escrow Agreement

  1. Creation: After first consulting their respective attorneys on matters of legality and morality, this Agreement was entered into on the date (Agreement Date) it was initialed and exchanged by J.R. Lance (Agent) and the other two parties who also initialed it (Anonymous Party and Other Party).

  2. Performance: Within 24 hours after the Agreement Date, Anonymous Party shall deliver (Delivery Date) the acknowledged subject of this Agreement (Asset) to Agent. If Agent determines that Asset is not in reasonably good condition, Agent shall immediately release the Asset to Other Party and this Agreement shall then be void. So long as the contemplated triggering event occurs within 72 hours following the Delivery Date (Deadline), Agent shall immediately release the Asset to Other Party. If not, Agent shall immediately return the Asset to Anonymous Party at the Washington, D.C. return location Anonymous Party designates to Agent prior to the Deadline. Should Anonymous Party not do so, Agent shall immediately release the Asset to Other Party.

  3. Fees/Expenses: Other Party agrees to reimburse Agent for any expense he may incur as a result of entering into this Agreement and/or performing any related services. Upon completion of such performance, Other Party shall pay Agent a fee of $25,002. Should Anonymous Party or Other Party reveal this Agreement, or any of its terms to any third party, he shall be required to pay Agent an additional fee of $1,000,000.

  4. Miscellaneous: This Agreement has been initialed and exchanged in duplicate counterparts and shall be governed and interpreted under Washington, D.C. law. Without recourse, Agent shall be entitled to subcontract the performance of any service to sub-agents in accordance with applicable law. Should any term of this Agreement be found illegal or unenforceable, this Agreement shall nevertheless remain in effect without such term, giving the fullest meaning possible to the original intent of the parties. Anonymous Party and Other Party shall promptly take any further action directed by Agent to further the purposes of this Agreement.

  When he finished: “Still there, Detective?”

  “Where would I go?”

  “This is a very unusual agreement. Hardly taken from some handbook. The lawyers who custom drafted this for Lance knew what they were doing.”

  “Do you need to make any changes?”

  “The agreement was fine as Lance’s lawyers prepared it. I’ve taken the liberty, however, of inserting one additional sentence.”

  “Should I run the insert by Lance before taking it to Hirschfeld?”

  “No. The language won’t bother Lance. Or his lawyers. I’ve just emailed the revised document back to you.”

  Brooks went over Hirschfeld’s delivery instructions from the night before with Lotello. “You should be able to print what I’ve returned to you ‘as is’ and take it to Hirschfeld.”

  “Shouldn’t you first explain to me what you’ve added?”

  “When we have more time. It’ll keep for now. You need to get cracking so Hirschfeld can hopefully arrange to get the document to the hijackers as quickly as possible.”

  “Alright. I’ll call if I run into any snags.”

  “Please call either way. I’ll update you as soon as I hear from Hirschfeld.”

  * * *

  Lotello appreciated that Leah had assumed his usual job of getting the kids to school. Just as well, he thought. Madison was still refusing to speak to him.

  Thanks to the typically lighter Friday traffic, he made good time. Courthouse security was expecting him. He waited while they called Hirschfeld’s office and announced his presence. Hirschfeld’s assistant came out and took the sealed envelope. She confirmed that Hirschfeld had instructed her to interrupt the Justices’s conference and bring him the envelope.

  Lotello texted Brooks as he walked back to his car:

  H has agr.

  Brooks immediately replied:

  Thx. Stand by.

  CHAPTER 82

  Friday, May 9, 8:15 am

  REYES PICKED up a second message from Nishimura:

  Calling about Congress v. NoPoli. We need to talk this morning.

  She didn’t know it, but this time
she had his undivided attention. He closed his office door and dialed her number. She picked up on the first ring.

  “Anne Nishimura.”

  “Hey, Annie, Manny Reyes.” His tone betrayed a smile his face refused to divulge. “Two calls in two days. How do I rate all your affection?”

  “Noticed you in Court yesterday. What’s your sudden interest in our judiciary?”

  Reyes fiddled with the vintage Montblanc Meisterstück pen the President had given him. “I always try to stay on top of the important news. The 28th Amendment qualifies. As you know, our Attorney General and our Solicitor General are our chief representatives in the Supreme Court, but they fall under my watch.”

  “Maybe we can do a piece on that for the nightly news. Our tax dollars hard at work.”

  “Now you are stroking me. Or so I wish. Are you going to tell me what this is really about? Or do we need more foreplay?”

  “The name Webber mean anything to you?”

  The oddball who confronted me yesterday—how would she know about that?

  “The people who make the outdoor grills?”

  “Very clever. No, add one more ‘b’ and give it another try.”

  Reyes took a moment, as though thinking. “Nope. Sorry. Doesn’t ring a bell. Should it?”

  “He’s Justice Hirschfeld’s son-in-law.”

  He stopped twirling the Montblanc. “Okay. And—?”

  “Are you saying you’re unaware of that?”

  “Look, Annie, I’ve got half a dozen meetings lined up back to back this morning. Much as I love hearing your sultry voice, and would enjoy spending some quality one-on-one time with you when things are a little quieter, for now, can we just cut to the chase?”

  “Alright, Manny. I have it from reliable sources that Hirschfeld has some kind of problem and that it might have something to do with the NoPoli case. Care to comment?”

  “I love saying ‘No comment,’ even when I have a comment I could provide. Makes me seem more important than I really am. But in this instance, it’s not a stretch. I’ve got nothing for you. No idea what you’re talking about.”