Chapter 21 #2
“The person who set the blast and killed Inspector Nolan,” Harmon demanded.
Booker leaned back in his chair, shoulders slumped, and exhaled a defeated sigh. He wiped a hand down his face and shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s the God’s honest truth.”
Harmon rose. “Then there’s no reason for me to stay.”
“Wait!” cried Booker’s lawyer, holding out a hand. “My client might know something useful in your investigation, even if he doesn’t have a name.”
Harmon grimaced and returned to his seat. “Then stop these games and tell me the entire truth, nothing but the truth, from beginning to end. It might not keep you out of prison, but, if you save the public the expense of a trial with a believable confession, we can knock years off it.”
Booker and his young lawyer exchanged nods.
“The plant is old, but the real problems started after Hurricane Harvey in 2017,” Booker began.
“The former manager quit, and Whitmore promoted me. I worked myself to the bone, lost my marriage over trying to get this place back up to code. But tightwad Whitmore didn’t want to invest the resources needed.
He hired the lowest bidders, shady contractors who did shoddy work.
We sustained significant damage, but Whitmore was spending all available funds to build the new facility in Corpus Christi.
He ordered me to get production started right away, no matter what. ”
Athena remembered the chaos Hurricane Harvey left behind. The storm devastated Houston, causing an estimated $160 billion in damage and permanently altering neighborhoods across the city. With 140-mph winds and massive flooding, it held the record for the worst natural disaster to impact Houston.
“I did the best I could,” Booker continued.
“I made appeals for better insurance packages and increased wages for the workers and myself. The only thing he agreed to was adhering to federal minimum wage laws and extending a three percent annual cost-of-living increase to the white-collar personnel. Laughable. So, I started skimming from the profit pool to create a nest egg—Allied Logistics LLC. I used it to purchase a few upgrades and give the employees Christmas bonuses.”
“Yes, we found your shell company,” Bach said. “But $479,000? That’s a lot of skimming.”
“Well, I had to look out for myself too. Alimony, child support, all that. It’s not like Scrooge Whitmore offered a nice pension plan. So, I’ve been skimming right under his snooty nose since 2018, and he never looked close enough to suspect a thing.”
“So, just to be clear, Mr. Whitmore didn’t provide funds for you to pay off Assistant Chief Velasquez or to get rid of Inspector Nolan?” asked Athena.
“No.” A blank look covered Booker’s face.
“What about the discrepancies in your office’s books?” she followed up. “It seems you were buying way more materials than were accounted for in your products sold.”
Booker looked at his lawyer. They exchanged a few whispered words.
Booker nodded. The lawyer said, “My client can’t answer that question without further incriminating himself.
I need insurance in writing that he will not be charged further.
We’ll confess to embezzlement and bribing a public official.
Mr. Booker will repay the IRS for back taxes from Allied Logistics.
In exchange, he’ll give you further information that implicates another party in criminal activity. ”
Harmon glanced at Athena and Bach before agreeing. “Since this interview is being recorded, I verbally agree to your proposal and will get it put in writing, provided your client has something useful to add.”
“OK, then. Justin, tell them about Nexus.”
The word piqued Athena’s interest. Was it a plan, a person, an organization?
Booker leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and nodded.
“About four years ago, I was approached by somebody who wanted to arrange a secret sale of one of our products. Not in person; by a note slipped under my door. It instructed me to leave the barrel and promised double the going rate for the chemicals. I thought, one barrel? If this was for real, I’d get a nice bonus.
If not, I could write the barrel off as a slight loss. ”
“What was the product?” Bach asked.
“It was one of our proprietary process additives,” he said. “I couldn’t even pronounce half the ingredients. Nexus just said somebody overseas wanted it. I figured maybe the buyer wanted to avoid import fees or something else. It was unusual, but for twice the going rate?”
“Did you get the money?” Athena was sure he had; otherwise, the new partnership would have gone nowhere.
“I stayed late after everyone else in the loading area went home and wheeled the barrel to the spot specified. Three days later, I found an envelope of cash in my desk drawer.”
“And this person is named Nexus?” asked Harmon.
Booker shrugged. “I’m sure it’s not a real name. I got curious and tried to find him … or her. Gave up after a while.”
“I suppose more orders came through,” Athena prompted.
“Yeah. It was clear Nexus was taking a cut before passing the money along to me, but, since they were all relatively small orders, it was easy to hide the missing products.”
“But careful scrutiny of your records might turn up something suspicious,” Bach said.
Booker leaned back, the weight beginning to pull him down.
“Yeah. Last week, Nexus left a note saying the EPA inspector would be a problem. We’ve had inspections before, but they were pulling out all the stops this time.
Whitmore always paid their fines, and that was that, but some congressman got involved, and word was coming down the pipeline that Nolan would leave no stone unturned.
I left a reply saying maybe he wouldn’t find the discrepancies.
The next message I got was Nexus saying he’d take care of it and to keep my mouth shut. ”
He lifted a sorrowful gaze to Athena. “I didn’t know he was going to plant a bomb or catch my building on fire.
I figured he was trying to destroy the records, but then Nolan was in the office, and he and three others ended up dead.
I never wanted that. I’d have never gone along with it.
God, I’m miserable over those folks who died. ”
Athena pinned him with a stony stare. “Mr. Booker, Inspector Nolan didn’t die in the fire. He was murdered—smashed in the head with a pipe wrench an hour before the blast.”
“What?” Genuine surprise, followed by a sickening look, crossed Booker’s features. His jaw slackened, and he blinked, returning his palms to the table. “Murdered?”
“That’s correct,” Bach confirmed. “And since that murder took place in the commission of a felony that both you and Nexus were partners in—”
“Hold it there,” broke in Booker’s lawyer. “We’ve already struck a deal, and murder charges aren’t on the table. My client had nothing to do with the bomb or any murder and was completely unaware of it until this minute.”
Athena drew Booker’s attention. “Who is Nexus?”
He let out a grave sigh, turning his palms upward. “I don’t know, but I suspect he or she works at the plant, or at least for a vendor that regularly provides service. Otherwise, how would they have access to my office or the products?”
“Who are these buyers and what do they want with your chemicals?” Bach pressed.
Booker sagged, exhaustion dragging at his features. “I have no idea. Nexus found people who wanted our materials under the table.”
“Didn’t it occur to you these could be criminals, gangs, foreign actors, or even terrorists?
” Athena snapped. “Why else would they be willing to pay so much to avoid a paper trail? First, you skim from the till. Then you climb into bed with a criminal broker selling your products to nefarious buyers for illegal purposes. And now four people are dead, and a distinguished firefighter’s reputation is ruined. Was it worth it?”
Booker slid his hands back to his lap and lowered his head. “I guess not.”