Diamond pulled out her cell phone. “Yeah, I got her,” Diamond informed Starr. Seconds later she ended the call.
“Thank you, girl. That was too much.” Careese gasped as soon as Diamond hung up.
“What were you thinkin'?” Diamond snapped. “You should know better than to let them trap you off without me present. Or any lawyer for that matter! I need to know everything you told them or I won't be able to defend you.”
Careese began to play the tape back for Diamond from the time the agents swarmed the bank up until the time she had entered the interrogation room and whisked her up out of there. Diamond was sure she had seen Careese ready to reach for the pen and pad the agent had placed in front of her. Everyone in that room knew she had intervened just in time, including Careese. Diamond listened carefully to her and made a mental note to inform Starr about what she had witnessed.
Chapter Twenty-six
Another night of waking up in a cold sweat almost drove him insane. The nightmares seemed to get worse. Was it his conscience? For the most part, the guilt was a burden. The nightmare was a constant punishment, a brutal one. The things he and his partner were forced to do: the murders, the violence, and the stealing from the evidence room. So many things compiled as a whole, thought Officer Douglass. It was stacked against him, enough to put him away for life, and he couldn't take it any longer. He thought he could handle it, thought it was over, but it wasn't. And he was a fool for believing it ever would be.
Weeks had passed since, according to Blake, they had carried out the last job. So when his partner and friend called him with a sob story about one more job being the official last one, his mind was made up. There was no way he could see himself putting everything from his career to freedom on the line again. By the grace of God he believed he had escaped and now he was not willing to step back into the lion's den. His only hope was that he'd somehow receive leniency for the information he planned to provide.
It's perfect timing. With the fresh death of two federal agents, they will worship me for being able to help. I'll be a hero who is looked at as a victim who finally willed himself to get strong enough to do the right thing,
he convinced himself. It was a hell of a risk, but so was everything else he was being forced to do against his will. He knew by coming clean it meant throwing his partner under the bus as well. He was torn between regret and fear, but he felt there was no way of getting around it. A small price to pay for peace of mind and a good night's rest, Douglass weighed it up as. He took a deep breath and exhaled. He then rapped his knuckles on the pane glass of his superior officer's door.
The words, “Come in,” caused his heart rate to quicken. Douglass slowly turned the door knob and entered the office.
“What is it, Douglass?” Chief Andrews looked up over his reading glasses. He was preoccupied reading over the reports due before the day was out, concerning a 211 that turned into a 187.
“Sir, may I sit?” Douglass's voice cracked as he spoke.
“Make it fast.” Chief Andrews extended his hand to the wooden chair in front of him. “I really got my hands full with this gay bike group crap,” he added.
There was a brief pause. “That's kind of why I'm here, sir.” The nervousness could be detected in his tone.
Chief Andrews dropped his pen down onto the papers he had been sifting through. He leaned back in his desk chair and clasped his hands together. “You have information on the Double G case?”
Officer Douglass bit the inside of his gum. “I have more than information on the Double Gs, sir.”
Chief Andrews leaned forward with a peculiar look on his face. Something in Officer Douglass's tone raised an eyebrow. “Do I need to pull out the tape recorder, Douglass?”
Officer Douglass nodded his head and took another deep breath. Chief Andrews went into his desk drawer. Seconds later, he was spilling his guts. Twenty-five minutes later Chief Andrews pressed stop on the tape recorder.
“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Chief Andrews asked Douglass after hearing the chilling confession. He was still trying to take it all in. Never in a million years would he have thought Douglass and Blake to be crooked cops. Although he partially understood the circumstances, based on what Douglass had revealed, there was no excuse in the chief's eyes when it came to not upholding the law. The blinds in his office were drawn low. The chief had lowered them once Officer Douglass informed him of the nature of his visit to his office.
Douglass was now in tears. He didn't hold back one single detail. He let it all be known exactly the way he remembered it. He painted vivid pictures so that he would be safe from his leverage coming back to haunt him. After being on that side of the law for so long, he knew exactly how rolling over on somebody worked. Whatever you left out, the other person would bring up and make it look like other stuff was being held back. He left his partner with no tuck cards of his own. He would be awarded extreme leniency and Officer Blake would fry. Fry for dragging him into this mess. When they were just skimming money from raids and planting the same drugs they had just arrested somebody else for on another charge, it was cool. The partying with hookers was one thing, but to become a professional hit man on call who wasn't even paid, that was something different. He didn't care what they had on Blake or what Blake had on him. It was all out in the open now. The truth would set him free, full immunity.
Chief Andrews had been on the force sixteen years. He hadn't been shocked by much. But everything he heard in the past few hours was terrifying. It was then that he understood why Agent McCarthy was so passionate about this specific case. These women were terrorists. And they had cells everywhere. Even on the inside. Their power couldn't be second-guessed. There was only one thing to do now.
Chief Andrews stared Office Douglass in the eyes in silence. Office Douglass couldn't stop moving his trembling body the entire time he was confessing. “You know this is out of my hands. I have to turn you over to a good friend of mine who will protect you; well, until it blows over. Where's Officer Blake now?”
Officer Douglass looked at his watch. “Our shift starts in a half. He should be here in ten; he's always early.”
“Well, I'm going to make the call now. What I need you to do is stall him,” the chief instructed Officer Douglass.
“So what will happen with me?”
“Truthfully, you'll both be arrested on the spot. But that's just to make it look good. And then you'll be separated. We'll have his side of the story and we'll check into a few things. If they match up, we'll push for full immunity, along with the witness protection program, a new identity for you, your wife, and your daughter.”
Just being reminded of his family made Officer Douglass wonder if he was doing the right thing. It was so risky. Either way they were in jeopardy. Surely this would be the only thing to keep them safe. By the time anyone figured out what was going on, they would be long gone.
Maybe Toronto.
“So what now?” Officer Douglass asked.
“I'll make the call,” Chief Andrews stated.
While picking up the phone and holding it between his ear and shoulder to keep his hands free, he nodded his head toward the entrance of his office door. “You go stall Blake,” he instructed Douglass before placing his call.
Chapter Twenty-seven
When one door slams in your face another one opens. At least Agent McCarthy believed so. He was ecstatic to come right back up on such a promising lead after just losing Careese Pearson. Still it saddened him to hear of such corruption within the law enforcement department. It never ended, he thought. The scale of justice had been tipped and the government was losing.
“All right, just keep them there. I can't make any solid promises, Andrews, but I'm going to at least try to get him immunity, cocksucking son of a bitch!” he chimed. “Only if he leads to a conviction,” he added. “And it ain't gonna be easy. But I swear if even one word of his confession is false, I'll have his corpse remanded to a prison cell after he dies. I'm sending my men.” He ended, “Oh, and Chief?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks. I owe you.”
“No, you don't. We're on the same side, remember?”
Agent McCarthy flashed a reserved grin. The chief's words were comforting. It had been hard for him lately. He didn't know who was who. Only situations like this swayed his evaluations. “That's what I like to hear,” he replied. “I'm sending two of my best men and a small team to help them out. There are not many others I can trust. Those guys are still so fucked up over Mullin's and Craven's deaths that they are doing everything they can to help.”
“So am I,” Chief Andrews solidified.
They both hung up. Agent McCarthy jumped up from his desk smiling as he regained all hope stronger than before. There was no more credible witness than a cop. All they needed was any one piece of tangible evidence to substantiate it all and the FBI could start raining down indictments so hard, just to not be associated with the Double Gs a lesbian would turn straight until it was all over.
Agent McCarthy swerved around his desk while fixing his tie. His eyes widened as his office door swung open hard. He stared up at one of the meanest faces he had ever seen. He wondered to what he owed the pleasure of his superior pay him a visit. Agent McCarthy rose to greet Agent Mobley.
“Have a seat, Tom,” Mobley demanded more than suggested.
“I'm on a big lead. Give me like fiâ”
“Now!” Agent Mobley declared, cutting him short of his words.
McCarthy turned and sat back down at his desk. “Wassup?” He tossed his hands behind his head in frustration.
“I'm removing you from this case.”
Agent McCarthy nearly fell out of his chair. He couldn't believe his ears. “What? Like hell you are!” he cried out loud. “I just got the biggest freaking break ever!”
“I don't give a goddamn!” Agent Mobley interjected. “You fucked up, Tom. With the Pearson girl when you unlawfully detained her.” He sarcastically added, “Not to mention the tail leading to the death of two of our agents.”
The words stung Agent McCarthy's heart and ego like a pack of killer bees.
“Now, you will hand over your so-called leads and files over to Agent Reddick and brief him. You've put the whole Bureau in jeopardy of one of the biggest lawsuits we've ever been up against. You were too close to the agents who were murdered. It's a conflict and has affected your judgment.” His superior concluded, “Look at you, Tom. You haven't been sleeping in weeks.”
Agent McCarthy looked at Agent Mobley with a questionable eye. He tried to speak, but was stopped by the palm of Agent Mobley's hand. “I've said all I have to say about the matter. There's nothing else left to discuss. I'm doing this for your own good, but even more for this department. This Diamond Morgan hasn't lost a federal case yet. She's the best. Ask your wife about her; Linda will tell you that as long as she's been the best US attorney for the eastern district, Ms. Morgan is the only one who haunts her. No one wants to fight a civil suit. Blame yourself. You should've come to me first. I got people to answer to too, you know. Expect to be relieved by Agent Reddick shortly. I'll have him meet you in the situation room.” With that said Ronald Mobley shut the door behind him.
This has to be some fucking nightmare. Please wake me,
Agent McCarthy said to himself.
Agent Reddick?
he questioned in his mind. “Fuck!” he screamed. Then all in one motion, he slammed both palms of his hands down on the desk and swiped all of the files off it like a madman. Paper flew everywhere.
After all the goddamn work I've done! They're going to pull me?
He still couldn't believe it.
Fucking politics.
It was officially out of his hands now. But he wasn't going to let that stop him. As far as he was concerned, the city would be a better place without the organization. He had done all in his power to take them down. But he knew he had to do more if he wanted Starrshma Fields or the rest of Double G to crumble. If they got away without proper prosecution, it would be his colleagues' fault. He couldn't let that happen. McCarthy was beyond pissed at their inability to see how dangerous the Double Gs were. But if nobody else was going to fight to rid the streets of Las Vegas of them Agent McCarthy was determined to.
I may have lost the battle, but I refuse to lose the war,
he told himself as he pulled out the spare phone.
Chapter Twenty-eight
“What?” Monica hysterically whispered into the phone, still in disbelief of what she was hearing. For months she had been getting deeper and deeper within the organization. Deeper than any other she had ever heard about. The last thing she wanted to hear was that there was division within the Bureau. “So what do I do now?” she asked in search of any responsible answer. She wasn't sure whether McCarthy was trying to pull the plug on the operation.
There's no way I'm going to accept being pulled out,
she concluded. Not when she had come this far. If she gave up now everything she had put her life on the line for would have been done for nothing. “You know how much this means to me,” she reminded him. “If I have to go rogue, I will,” she threatened. Her tone was more aggressive than her normal mild one.
“Just relax,” Agent McCarthy tried to calm her. “No one's pulling you out. That's not what I'm saying.” He clarified, “There's just a few kinks that need to be ironed out. Until then, you just stay in deep cover. You will still report to no one but me. If anyone ever contacts you from the agency, it's when you've been made, don't trust them. I have your real identity. I'm the only one. I'm the only person who can give it back to you when this is over. So try not to get caught by law enforcement. But still do whatever it is you have to do to get to the top. God forbid if anything does happen. I'll be the first one on the scene.”
“But what if something happens to you first?” she asked.
That was something he had never thought about and there was no real answer. “For both of our sakes, let just hope it doesn't.” That was all he could conjure up for reassurance.
“I can't believe this, Tom. Something's not right about this.” She sighed.
“Tell me about it. But, don't worry, I'm all over it. Fuck what Mobley or anybody else says.”
“I'm glad to hear you say that, because I'm getting so close. I can feel it.” She felt a little better hearing Agent McCarthy's words. “Speaking of which . . .” She paused. It pained her just thinking about it. “I'm not sure if it's connected or a coincidence, but the Washington girl who goes by the name Bubbles was telling me a story that's similar to my brother's case. Before she could finish, she was interrupted by one of the other members.”
“So, what do you have?” Agent McCarthy asked.
“I need you to look up murders during the time of my brother's. See if any of them owned a BMW, model preferably a 325i.”
“I'm sure you're going to tell me why,” he chimed.
Monica thought she had heard something. She looked behind her and then whispered into the phone, “I'll be in touch.”
“Be safe,” Agent McCarthy stated.
His words went unheard. She had already disconnected the call.