Chapter 37
37
M arco sat at the dining room table next to Theresa as she finished up her writing. Today the final report would be published. She was now writing the end to that. Explaining the dead man's switch and that she was increasingly worried about being murdered by these thugs. Hopefully, this would help them understand she meant business.
She froze mid-type and whispered, "Shit."
She stood and moved toward the bedroom. He followed her to make sure she was okay and found her in the closet, on her knees, digging through her backpack.
"Is everything okay?"
She looked up at him, her brows pinched together. "I just found a note in my encrypted files from Keely. She told me she left a thumb drive for me in the bag of documents. I never read that far in the documents to see that note."
She dug through the zippered pouch. She pulled documents from inside and set them on the floor. Once the pouch was emptied, she opened it and looked inside. There wasn't anything in there. She squeezed the zippered pouch and felt something. He watched her comb through every inch of that bag with a thoroughness that was impressive.
"Oh my God. I found it."
She pulled the lining of the bag up and away from the bag itself and there was an invisible zipper sewn at the bottom. She unzipped it and pulled out a black thumb drive. She held it up between them and he saw her throat constrict as she swallowed.
He grinned and nodded his head. "You got it, baby."
He held his hand out to help her up and she rushed to her computer and inserted the thumb drive. A folder marked 4TJM was all that populated.
Marco leaned in. "What does that mean?"
She smiled. "For Theresa Jean Miklovic. That was a code we used. Though it wasn't much of a code."
"Oh. Clever. As long as you knew what it meant, it was a good code."
Theresa nodded. "If it was something about her husband the code would be SJBC. That meant Shooter John Benson Criminal. SJBL was Shooter John Benson Legal. He had some businesses that were legal, so things looked on the up and up. He never laundered through those businesses. But she watched what he did there anyway."
"She was brave."
Theresa's shoulders fell and she nodded. "She was incredible. But he treated her like shit, and she wanted him to be found out. All of them. She hated what they were doing."
"She's lucky she found you."
Theresa chuckled. "I was lucky to find her. We uncovered so many things about these assholes."
He watched her screw up the courage to open the folder. She finally took a deep breath and clicked the folder to open it. The open folder revealed a list of documents and one said Theresa.
Theresa looked into his eyes for a moment. She swallowed and clicked the folder. A document opened which was a letter to her.
Dear Theresa,
I write this letter to you knowing that I'm likely dead at this point. I told you from the beginning my life was always at risk. If Shooter found out what I was doing, he'd kill me. And there was always a chance that he'd kill me anyway, in one of his outbursts. They've become worse and it really is only a matter of time.
I know you've asked me why I don't leave. You see, I can't. He'll find me. No matter where I go, no matter what I do, he'd find me. I'd live my life on the run with no money and the inability to ever keep myself safe. One of the documents I have attached here is also a copy of my bank accounts. Shooter has been using my bank accounts recently to implicate me so I couldn't run. He always threatens to expose me, so I remain compliant. What he should realize is if he brings me down, it will also throw shade on him. But I believe he has the officials in his pocket and they have been paid off, so he likely would never be implicated. In a sense, this is my last act of defiance, and my death will not be in vain if you manage to bring the Celtics down. At a minimum, shed a bright light on what they're doing to the point their operations will cease or slow down and their influence will no longer be valuable. Besides the money, they love the power their influence brings. That alone is worth watching. The rats will all leave the sinking ship.
The documents in this thumb drive are bank statements from both Shooter's and his dad's accounts. Some of them are offshore accounts and many of those show money exchanges with foreign governments for arms and secrets. Shooter loved dealing in secrets and access to his father. That is always a big-ticket item for him.
Bring to light all these bastards have done and are doing, Theresa. Then I hope you find peace and happiness in life and know you did a remarkable thing in bringing down one of the biggest and most corrupt crime families of this century. It's been my pleasure to know and work with you.
Your friend,
Keely.
Theresa wiped her eyes as she read Keely's words. Marco lay his hand on the nape of her neck to show support. She turned and cried on his shoulder. The distance between them was large, so he pulled her onto his lap and he held her as she cried for her brave friend and the loss she felt all over again.
When her crying subsided, he tightened his arms around her waist and whispered in her ear. "You and Keely are the bravest women I've ever known or heard of. You should write her story."
Theresa sniffed a few times and finally lifted her head from his shoulder. "What would that look like?"
"It would be a retelling of how she contacted you and the things she's told you over the time you worked together. You can interview people who knew her. Her family, siblings, parents and others. You would tell the world who Keely Benson was. That would be a phenomenal tribute to your friend."