15. Chapter 15
Chapter fifteen
Roberto Mendez placed a call to José Rodriguez. “I have a list of possible locations from our insider at the Bureau. It’ll take some time to weed through the information. Be ready to move by Wednesday.”
“You give me the location and the problem will be taken care of. I’m tired of waiting around.”
Roberto felt his jaw get tight. No thanks in this business. He growled, “I’ll be talking to the boss tonight. If anything has changed, I’ll let you know.”
Two hours later, Roberto was on the phone with his boss, posing as his nephew.
“Tell me some news about the family,” Hernandez said tightly, as if he was being watched. He probably was being watched, every second of the day. Roberto felt momentarily lucky to be on the outside. He was one slip away from maximum security himself.
“We have a few possible locations…for the family reunion,” Roberto said. “We’re combing through the list as we speak. I should know something by this time tomorrow. I just need to make the call, and everything will be taken care of,” Mendez said with certainty.
“You better book that caterer I like,” Hernandez growled. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, uncle,” said Roberto. “Understood.”
Roberto hung up the phone and dialed one more number—the thugs his boss kept on retainer.
He gave them the addresses on the list. “If there’s a town nearby, ask questions.
Someone must have seen something they’d like to talk about.
Don’t make it obvious. Ask about hunting spots and cabin rentals.
Keep me informed. I want to know where they’re keeping Isla Pierce, do I make myself clear? ”
Crystal.
Mary Carlson sat in her darkened apartment. Her mind was whirling, fear paralyzing her. She had a glass of wine in one hand, but couldn’t bring herself to drink it, not even to calm her nerves.
She had known that what she was doing was asking for trouble.
But the thrill of one-upping everyone made her feel superior.
She never got the exciting jobs. She was damn good and they just assumed she wasn’t good enough to do the job.
Well she was—she was better than anyone she worked with.
They never took her talent into account, so when Hernandez approached her with a proposition, she couldn’t resist the cash in hand.
She could put her talents to use, make money doing it, and feel like she was finally appreciated.
But now, fear made her sit back and realize what she had done.
If they found Isla Pierce, she would be responsible.
They would kill Ms. Pierce. It was the only way for Hernandez to get out of the mess he was in.
And Mary knew that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her as well, even though she’d complied with his request for information.
He would tie up all his loose ends. Hackers were a dime a dozen and there was always someone better coming along who could take her place.
She felt so stupid. She considered her options: she could either go to the Bureau and confess to her wrongdoing and maybe save Isla Pierce’s life, or run like hell and hope that they didn’t find her. She was dispensable—she knew that now.
She didn’t go into work the next day. She called off sick for the first time in three years.
The guilt of possibly signing Isla Pierce’s death warrant hung heavily around her.
She needed to think, and she couldn’t do it with everyone in the office around her.
She sat in the dark and contemplated her choices.
And each time she thought she had the answers, her mind told her that she didn’t have a future.
She needed to come clean—no matter the consequences.
She picked up the phone and called her supervisor. Neil Dillon picked up his office phone.
“Neil Dillon here.”
“Neil, it’s Mary Carlson.”
“Mary, how are you?” he asked, concerned. “Everything’s okay, I hope?”
“Neil, I need to talk to you. It’s important. But not in the office. Can you meet me at the coffee shop on East Third Street near the Mall?”
“What’s this about?”
“I’ll explain everything when I see you. Meet me at ten thirty,” she said as she hung up the phone and got dressed.
Mary got to the coffee shop at ten fifteen, ordered her coffee, and sat at the table in the corner. She needed to do this. Maybe the Bureau could protect her. Why was I so stupid? she thought, over and over.
Neil walked in the door at exactly ten thirty and looked around. He spotted her and walked toward her with a look over his shoulder. He sat down across from her. “Mary, what’s this about?”
She swallowed the lump in her throat. She could feel the flush of fear crawl up her body. Her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. “Neil, there’s a mole in the Bureau, in our office.”
Neil’s jaw stiffened. “I knew it. Can you help me find out who it is, Mary?”
He looked like he trusted her. He thought she was going to help him find the bad guy. She was the bad guy. Mary swallowed again. “That mole is me. I’ve been on Hernandez’s payroll for two years now.”
The fury in Neil’s eyes was red-hot. “Are you kidding me, Mary? Is this a joke?”
Mary shook her head. “No—no joke.”
He shook his head. She knew he could call for her to be arrested right this second. But he sat back in his chair, looking at her in disbelief. “Why now, Mary?”
Mary played with the straw in her trembling hand.
“It started out with just small stuff. A tip here and there. Was the Bureau looking into this or that? Then they wanted me to hack into the Bureau’s computers and find out what agents were on what cases.
They wanted to know how certain cases were moving along.
And when things would be going down, that kind of thing.
” She felt herself rambling, spewing all the secrets inside her like toxic vomit.
She felt like a monster inside. She needed that monster out.
Mary shook her head. “It wasn’t for the money, if that’s what you think.
It was because I could do it, I could use my skills to give them the information they wanted.
I’m a good hacker. I just think that I wanted some recognition for my skills.
I wasn’t the mousy girl in the corner of the office shuffling papers around.
“Anyway, things started getting dicey when Hernandez got sloppy and got caught red-handed for the murder of Jim Watkins. They wanted to know who was on the case and where Isla Pierce was. I didn’t want to give them that kind of information.
I knew that if they found her, they would kill her.
But they threatened me. I knew what they would do to me if I refused.
I figured out that Mitch Larkin and his team were on the case and I found out through a casual conversation with Steve that he has a hunting cabin in Virginia, so I did some digging and gave them a list of possible places that they could be keeping her. ”
“Why are you coming to me now? You know I’ll have to take you into custody.”
“I know. But I can’t have Isla Pierce’s death on my conscience.
I’m not a murderer. I’ll confess to what I have done and I’ll accept the consequences.
Please, just keep me safe. I’ll testify against Hernandez and anyone else you want me to testify against. But please don’t let them kill me or Isla Pierce.
As soon as they find Pierce they’ll come after me.
I’m a liability. You have to help me, Neil. Please.”
Neil curled his lip in disgust. “We need to go back to the office. You will need to give us your statement and I’ll call the director and see what we can do. We’ll also need a list of those addresses you came up with. The sooner we get those addresses, the better off we’ll be. Let’s go.”
She stood up, her face drained of blood. Then she collected her purse with shaking hands. “Neil, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what else to say.”
“Sorry isn’t going to mean a thing if someone gets hurt or killed, Mary.
You’ve put so many people in danger, it isn’t funny.
You’re just lucky that your information hasn’t gotten someone killed in the past. I’m not going to sugarcoat it.
You’re in a lot of trouble here. You’re responsible for keeping Hernandez’s drugs on the streets.
You’re responsible for allowing murderers into our secure data.
I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s not in my hands.
Now let’s go, I have a witness and a team to protect.
” He took her arm and they walked out the door.
Mary sighed in relief. It was over.
Neil Dillon picked up his office phone and called Mitch on his burner cell. The phone rang twice before it was picked up.
“Yeah?”
“Dillon here. We’ve been breached. We’ve found the mole and there is a possibility that Hernandez’s goons are onto you. I’ll read a list of addresses. Let me know if they mean anything to you.” He ran down the list of addresses and when he came to the fifth one, Mitch stopped him.
“Wait—that address is for the hunting cabin my family owns. Who found it? It’s not even in my name. Who’s the mole?”
“Mary Carlson. She just confessed that she’s been on Hernandez’s payroll for the last two years.
But someone’s life wasn’t on the table like it is now.
She couldn’t take the guilt—or the threat of her own execution.
She said she would testify against Hernandez and his goons.
My main concern right now is keeping Isla safe.
Will they be able to find you where you are right now? ”
“It’s a possibility, Neil,” Mitch said. “We’re in the same vicinity as that hunting cabin. It’s three miles from the compound. What do you want us to do? We could move to another safe house or stay here and end this now. It’s your call.”
“Talk to your team. I figure you have at least twenty-four hours before anything goes down. But that’s not a guarantee. Have a meeting with your team and get back to me. We can have reinforcements to you in four hours.”
“Will do, Neil. Expect a call in the next hour,” Mitch said.
Neil set his phone down and shook his head. God help them all.