Chapter 36
Right before she planned to head out from the office for dinner Thursday evening, the phone on her desk rang. Jane debated picking up then realized it might be Matthew.
Calls to his office got the same answer from his staff. The ASAC is currently busy but will get back to you soon. Frustrating, but at least his staff had seen him, so Jane knew he was still in one piece.
“This is Agent Cannon.”
“Hello? Agent Cannon? This is TS Cooper. I’ve been trying to reach you.” The caller had a strange accent, kind of Boston mixed with Chicago.
“Oh yes. I got your message.”
“We’ve been missing each other. Apologies. I got bogged down in other work. I didn’t know if I should call so late tonight, but ASAC Scott insisted if I didn’t hear back from him in more than forty-eight hours, I was to contact you.”
Forty-eight hours? She hadn’t talked to Matthew since Monday, but she thought he’d talked to SSA Grimshaw on Tuesday. Still, that added up to two whole days of Matthew being MIA to everyone but his office admin.
“Not a problem, TS Cooper. What’s the message?”
“I’ve been keeping a file on the comings and goings of certain members of a suspected crime organization run by August Kaminski.”
“I’m aware of the case we’re building.”
“Yes, well, it’s more than just something that’s building.
I found hidden messages in several social media accounts and sites that add up to a pattern I thought the ASAC would like to see.
I sent him the file on Monday and haven’t heard back.
So I collated more data on some of the names associated with the Collective. ”
She frowned. “That information should have gone through me.”
“I was told only to share what I learned with the ASAC. Unless I hadn’t heard from him,” he reiterated.
“Right. Well, what do you have?”
“I’ve sent you the files. But the gist is that there are eleven prominent families listed as members of the Collective.”
Jane frowned. “Eleven?” She had written down ten from the notebook.
“From what I’ve gathered, yes. There are eleven of them. I’m afraid…” Cooper trailed off.
“Yes?”
“Well, one of the names on the list was, ah, Scott. That’s not necessarily a reference to ASAC Scott’s family. But it’s certainly something that might concern him.”
Just what she’d been expecting. A tie to the Scotts.
“And you haven’t had a chance to tell ASAC Scott this yet?”
“Like I said, I sent him the files I found, along with a report. You have it. I was expecting him to give me a new direction, but he hasn’t responded to my emails or text.
And when I talked to his people, they told me he’s taking a few days.
” After a pause, he cleared his throat and added, “He told me to call him when I found something no matter what. To text his private number with the information and to keep this on a need-to-know basis. I figure since he included you in his directive, you needed to know.”
“Thanks. Yes. Keep this quiet, and if you come up with anything else, let me know. I’ll get this where it needs to go.”
“Roger that.” He held onto the “a” in an odd way.
“Cooper, where are you from?”
After a pause, he chuckled. “It’s my accent, isn’t it?”
“It’s hard to place.”
“I get that a lot. We moved around growing up. You could say I’m an amalgamation of a lot of different places.”
“Ah. Makes sense. Well, thanks for this. I’ll get on it and try to track down ASAC Scott as well.”
“Glad to help. If you need anything else, please email or call me. My number’s on the bottom of the email I sent you. Bye now.” He hung up.
Jane wanted to go over the file, but she had a dinner date. She’d look over it later at home. But in the meantime, she forwarded the file to ASAC Haversham with a quick note.
Info from TS Cooper for Matthew. Apparently, the Scotts are the eleventh name on the Collective list. But I’m not sure Matthew’s aware. He hasn’t gotten back to Cooper in two days. I’m getting worried. Will look over later and call you tomorrow.
With a harried glance at the time, she logged out and turned off her computer then rushed out the door and nearly collided with someone.
“Sorry.”
A tall, dark-haired man she hadn’t seen before held his hands up in surrender, his gray eyes serious though his lips curled in a smile. “My fault. Enjoy your evening, Agent Cannon.”
She darted past him, absently wondering how he knew her name. Then again, with the last two major cases she’d worked that had plastered her name all over the news, that might account for her lack of anonymity.
In any case, she didn’t have time for guessing games. She had an uncle and cousin to wrangle, threaten, then soothe with mediation and good food.
* * *
Casimir watched Agent Jane Cannon rush past him down the stairs.
As his cousin had said, she had a vibrant aura, the presence of someone decisive who got things done. From what he knew of her from her past cases, she was tough to kill and smart.
A worthy adversary on the board.
Carefully studying her desk through the double glass doors of the spacious, open office, he noted the lack of personnel still working. The FBI wasn’t like a typical office, though much of their crime solving happened electronically nowadays.
The number of stupid criminals leaving paper trails had shifted into leaving digital trails. Idiots who posted about their crimes, bragging about their hauls and leaving details of their misdeeds in the images and electronic signatures in their photos astounded him, though it shouldn’t have.
He’d been invested in scholarship and learning his entire life. His father could never make sense of it. Even in death, he’d probably need directions to the afterlife. And good old Victor had made sure to send the man on a one-way trip to hell.
His silly cousin. Such a big man with a big heart. His brain didn’t work right, but he had something so few in this world did.
Loyalty.
Casimir scowled. He thought he’d had that from August. That he’d found a likeminded individual content to serve the people, to right wrongs.
Instead, August had turned into the very thing he loathed, a common criminal who only wanted material goods and wealth to advance his way in this horrible world.
Casimir might not always use the best methods to achieve balance. Many would call him a criminal without a conscience. But he had purpose. Some people needed to be sacrificed to bring about righteous goals.
Goals no longer shared by the Kaminski family, apparently.
Victor had made a few mistakes, granted. But—
“Are you looking for someone?” SSA Natalie Grimshaw asked, her purse over one shoulder, jacket in hand.
He stood in front of the doorway. “Apologies. It’s been a long day.”
She smiled. “Go home and get some rest. There’s always work tomorrow.”
“Too right.”
She left him with a goodnight, and he hurried back upstairs to his desk.
Well, not his desk, but TS Worley wouldn’t be using it again. Ever.
Casimir had infiltrated the FBI on the pretext of being a tech expert sent over from the Sacramento field office. His alias, TS Casey Cooper, was known for his skills in cybersecurity.
Easy enough to fake, especially since he’d killed Worley and appropriated his electronic keys and clearances.
Without Worley around to question or be questioned, since Casimir had doctored Worley’s “special assignment” somewhere out east, Casimir was free to work at his desk with his cloned credentials, getting closer to the agents working on Kaminski’s file.
ASAC Jon Haversham, ASAC Matthew Scott, SSA Natalie Grimshaw, and Special Agents Jane Cannon and Jennifer Sullivan continued to be threats to Casimir’s previous boss.
But since he no longer worked for August, Casimir had plans of his own, a new blueprint they would follow.
He called Victor. “Do it. Tonight.” After a pause, he added in a lower voice, “We kill them all.”