Chapter 38
Three more weeks. That’s how long it takes for Special Agent Lewis to contact us again. We’re back in Seattle when she does, still self-confining for our own safety. Horvat might be out of the picture, but we don’t know who else might try to come after us.
When she calls, it’s on Andrea’s phone. We’re working in my office together, setting up the fund and preparing the aid for Becker’s victims.
“Yes?” Andrea says, picking up the call, putting it on speaker.
“Miss Walker? This is Special Agent Lewis. Is Mr. Coleman with you?”
“Yes, he’s right here.”
“I have some news.”
“Go ahead,” I say.
“We’re doing it today,” she gravely announces. “My partner and I are landing in New York in about forty-five minutes. This afternoon, at around 5 p.m. EST, we’re proceeding to everyone’s arrests.”
Andrea gives me a luminous smile, as excited by the news as I am. “That’s great to hear,” she says, still grinning from ear to ear.
“I’ve been working tirelessly since you gave me the file,” she explains. “It would have been faster without having to keep it under the radar. But I found people I could trust in my line of command and got it done.”
“You understand why we couldn’t handle it ourselves,” Andrea winces.
“Absolutely. Four of the suspects are abroad, but we’ve been working with Interpol and local authorities in Germany, India, and Argentina to coordinate the other arrests.
Yesterday, we heard that the one in the United Arab Emirates, Alhazmi, boarded his jet in Dubai to fly to New York.
So I have a team ready to arrest him as soon as he sets foot on American soil. ”
“That’s … amazing,” I say, truly stunned. “We weren’t sure you’d secure them all.”
“Well … I went through some videos you sent. I couldn’t watch them all. It was too much. But let’s just say it spurred my motivation to get every one of them.”
“Yeah, it was the same for us. Did you find more of the women on the tapes?” Andrea asks.
“A few. Some of them were willing to cooperate. Some weren’t. But when this blows up, they might change their minds. Especially when they realize they can get reparations when the trials begin.”
“That’s good. We gave you the files on the one we found, but it seems a lot of them didn’t make it past a few years after their assault.”
“It was the same for most of the women we found. I’m working on bringing them justice, regardless. Anyway, I wanted to thank you two for trusting me. We had our disagreements in the past, but I’m glad you could see beyond that and reach out to me.”
“You were only doing your job,” I say with a shrug. “We wouldn’t hold a grudge over that. Thank you for hearing us out, regardless of your suspicions.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Coleman. I won’t be able to contact you again for a while, but watch the news. I get the feeling this operation will be heavily covered.”
“Right,” Andrea chortles. “Oh, don’t forget the gloves in Becker’s office.”
“Don’t worry. I got your backs. I need to go, but let’s meet up for drinks when all this settles down? I’d love to hear how you pulled that off.”
“Yeah, and you’ll come with a bug and arrest us, too. Nice try,” Andrea replies with a frown.
“I joined this career because I wanted to arrest bad guys. As Mr. Coleman said earlier, I was only doing my job. But I see the bigger picture now. Arresting people who do good by society doesn’t make much sense, does it?”
“Glad we finally see eye to eye.”
Someone calls out for her, and she uses that to excuse herself and hang up.
Andrea almost vibrates with excitement next to me, impatient to see it all go down. She checks the time in the screen’s corner and groans. “Four hours and seven minutes until it happens. It’ll feel like forever,” she whines.
“We’ve been waiting for literal months, Andrea.”
“Haven’t you learned by now that I’m impatient as hell?”
“Oh, I have. But I’ve also learned you’re easily distracted.”
I stand from my chair and pick her up from hers. She lets out a high-pitched giggle, and she holds onto me. “Where are you taking me?” she asks.
“To the moon and back, my love.”
“That’s a long journey. Are you sure we’ll have enough time?”
“With my special rocket? Absolutely.”
She snorts and slaps my chest. “My God, that was so bad,” she laughs uncontrollably. “But there’s a pun about a cockpit in there.”
“I’ll let you think about it while I work on the take off—of your clothes.”
She giggles again and presses an adamant kiss on my lips.
Only four hours and five minutes to go, and our lives become ours again.
I can’t fucking wait.
About ten minutes before the string of arrests is supposed to start, Andrea and I settle in the home cinema, showered and dressed, with everything we need to stay glued there for ten hours straight.
Food, drinks, blankets, charged phones …
We’re ready to watch it unfold the whole afternoon and evening.
CNN feels like the right move for now, so we put that on while we wait.
Even though I fucked her within an inch of her life, Andrea is jittery next to me, like an overcharged battery, unable to stay in place.
Her growing stamina is something I should probably start to worry about, but there are other concerns at the moment.
When she comes closer and wriggles to rest in the crook of my arm, with her temple against my shoulder, I adjust my position to welcome her before pressing a soft kiss on her forehead.
“When all of this is over,” she starts, “we’ll invite Kate and Rafa, and Kev and Shelly. I can’t believe they never met.”
“Well … First, we weren’t serious, then we were apart, then it was too intense to let anyone near us.”
“Oh God, yes … We were having so much sex.”
“We still are, aren’t we?”
“That’s because we have nothing else to do all day. I doubt we’ll stick to three to four times a day every single day once we’re back to our regular lives.”
“Is that a challenge, Walker?”
“No, definitely not. Stop with the baby-making eyes right now and watch the screen.”
“Alright, you lightweight,” I tease with a low chuckle.
We’re not really focused on the anchorwoman and her partner on the screen, basking in the moment instead.
“I was serious when I said I want the most boring life ever after all this,” Andrea says.
“I agree. We’ve lived enough adventures. Let’s keep things breezy from now on.”
“Deal. First, we keep enjoying each other for a little longer. Then kids, a house, the white picket fence, and a golden retriever.”
“We’re not getting a dog.”
Her head shoots up, scowling. “What?! Why?”
“They’re not my thing. I prefer cats.”
“You’re allergic to cats.”
“I know. That’s some bad luck.”
She rolls her eyes, unimpressed, and returns her head onto me.
My phone dings with a Google alert, and we both read the notification, thinking this might be it. I added all the names from Becker’s clan, so we’d know the moment it happens. “It’s just about some company going public. One of the names must be mentioned in the article.”
Disappointed, she falls back onto me.
The first mention of the arrests comes thirteen minutes past 5 p.m. EST. I straighten up and read the article out loud.
A movie producer in LA was just arrested by the FBI at his Beverly Hills mansion.
Then, a couple of minutes later, an oil magnate at his office in Texas.
Within the next five minutes, dozens of alerts pop up, and it doesn’t take long before the journalists begin to speculate.
The timing of all those arrests has to mean something.
Not long after, the two news anchors on the screen interrupt their program for a special bulletin.
“We’re receiving reports of multiple arrests across the country involving several highly influential individuals,” the man states.
“At this time, the FBI has not released an official statement regarding the nature of these coordinated actions. What we can confirm is that at least twenty-five people have been taken into federal custody.”
The blonde next to him touches her ear, then says, “We have Henrietta, live in New York, who might give us some more information.”
The screen splits in two, and another woman appears on the other half.
We immediately recognize the building she’s standing in front of, and Andrea’s hand comes to my thigh and squeezes with excitement.
They have secured the perimeter around the entrance of Becker’s building, and several agents in uniform are keeping the curious bystanders away.
“As you can see, whatever is unfolding here appears to be extremely serious,” the reporter explains.
“I’m standing at the corner of 70th Street and 3rd Avenue, where an arrest operation is still ongoing inside the building behind me.
Given the timing, we can speculate this might be connected to the series of arrests that have been occurring over the past thirty minutes.
According to sources on the scene, federal agents are here for Norman Becker, one of the country’s wealthiest individuals and the CEO of StarCare.
At this point, the exact charges remain unclear, but we will continue to bring you updates as more information becomes available. ”
She proceeds to give a rundown of the events until she’s out of things to say. Then, she interviews someone who witnessed the arrival of the authorities. He doesn’t have much to add, aside from the fact that there were at least twenty of them.
When a commotion occurs behind them, she leaves the witness behind as the camera follows her to the security perimeter. Several fully geared FBI agents are exiting the building, and Andrea’s hand clutches my thigh almost painfully.
I stop breathing when Special Agent Lewis appears on the screen in her gray pantsuit, dragging a handcuffed Norman Becker with her. With his disheveled hair and skewed shirt, he looks like he put up a fight. He’s staring at the ground, defeated.