Silenced Justice: A Josh Williams Novel (17 page)

"Such eloquence," Josh answered, turning to Maggie, "I can see why you choose to associate with her."

"Just answer my question. How are we gonna do this?" Chris replied, her voice rising.

"First, there is no 'we' in this matter. I've already made the Feds nervous by bringing in Tommy. Kennedy suspects I've been keeping you in the loop. If his bosses find out I let you help, they'll pull him out."

Chris banged the desk. "Are you kidding me? Are you freaking kidding me? Now you're gonna play by the rules? What happened to you, Josh? Did Brennan cut off your balls?"

"Again with the insightful discourse. Listen, you nasty old witch, and I mean that with all due respect to other witches, I said if they find out I am letting you help. We just have to be cautious so they don't. Feel better now, or do I dump a bucket of water on you and melt you?"

Chris smiled and leaned back in her chair. "Well, now that we've settled that matter, tell me what we are gonna do."

* * *

Zach Kennedy pulled into the lot of the East Providence Police station on Waterman Avenue. He parked next to a dark colored Ford Taurus.
I wonder who's joining the party now
. There was no mistaking the car; it belonged to some law enforcement agency. He doubted an East Providence detective would park out here.

Walking into the lobby, he saw the two detectives standing at the window talking to the receptionist.   

State Police, he guessed. He waited to see who came out to get them.

Josh poked his head out of the side door. "Well, will you look at this? The State Police are here. All hail the mighty State Police," bowing at the waist.

The two troopers turned and smiled. "Why is it whenever you guys step on your pecker, we have to come straighten it out?" Sergeant Joe Moreira replied.

"Because they cut yours off in the academy so you have none to step on," Josh laughed, extending his hand to the Sergeant. "And I see they really scraped the bottom of the barrel with your partner here. The bloodhounds were busy, I suppose, so they sent Donahue instead."

"Nice to see you too, Josh," Corporal Timmy Donahue smiled, taking Josh's hand. "Where's the crazy lady, did they finally commit her?"

"Retired," Josh answered, gesturing for them to come in. "She didn't want a party, just came in one day and pulled the pin."

"No shit," Donahue chuckled. "I would have loved to have seen that party."

Josh saw Kennedy hanging back, taking in the conversation.

"Hey, Zach, come on in. These are two of the dumbest troopers, and that's saying something, ever to wear those funny looking riding outfits. If you haven't seen them, they look like a design by a blind French whore on LSD. Sergeant Joe Moreira and Corporal Tim Donahue."

"Nice to meet you guys. I take it you've worked with Lieutenant Williams before," Kennedy said, shaking hands with the troopers.

"Unfortunately," Donahue answered. "We all draw straws, losers have to come here."

"Ah, well. We all have our crosses to bear," Kennedy smiled.

They walked over to the SIU office. Moore looked up from his desk, "Jeez, we're gonna need a bigger office. How are you guys?"

After they settled in, Josh brought them up to speed on the case. Donahue shook his head. "You mean those bastards came after you and almost got Keira? That's not going to work with me. Going after my cousin means war."

Kennedy looked up, "Josh's wife is your cousin?"

Donahue laughed. "This is Rhode Island, bucko. We're all related somehow," a hint of the Irish brogue leaking through. "If someone goes after me cousin, they go after me."

"How would you feel if they had taken me out?" Josh said, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'd have been a source of comfort and support for me beloved cousin," Donahue smiled. "The woman must have been daft to marry you in the first place."

"Well, now that we've suffered through the family history lesson, let me tell you what else I have found," Moore said. Drawing their attention to his computer screen, Moore used the mouse to expand the view.

"You know how we identified the companies behind the business on Waterman, right?"

Josh nodded.

"Well, I did some more digging on those Delaware corporations. Our friend, William Marshall is an officer of Harriet Lane Associates. I then ran a comparison of all addresses we've found for any of the main players, Collucci, Sorin, Jen Tucker, and found this," pointing to the screen.

"What is that, Tommy?" Kennedy asked.

"I used Excel to build a linking chart cross-referencing the addresses, people, and businesses. Marshall and Sorin are on five different companies all with ties to Harriet Lane Enterprises. Jen Tucker is listed on the JTS Management corporate documents. Her prior driver's licenses, some old tax documents, and P.O. Boxes link her with two of the same addresses. I suspect this is from when she was married to Sorin. Collucci isn’t listed on any of the corporate documents, business files, or anything else. The one link I can find is this," using a few mouse clicks and turning the screen so they could see.

Josh bent forward, getting a closer look.

"The registration information of the car you saw parked in the JTS slot on Waterman. The mailing address is a P.O. Box; the owner of the box is Anthony Sorin. A credit card listed to a PAC, which contributes heavily to Collucci, paid for the box. And there is more."

The investigators looked at each other. "Go on Tommy, you've got our attention." Josh said.

"One of the principals in the PAC is, Shashenka Dmitriev. A naturalized American citizen from?" pointing at Kennedy.

"Russia, with many business interests in the Ukraine. Like our dead shooter," Kennedy answered.

"Right," Tommy said. "There are a bunch of connections to Russia and the Ukraine, both businesses and individuals.

"What about the P.O. Box on the package the Judge sent, how's it tied in?" Josh asked.

"My guess is the Judge uses the P.O. Box courtesy of his daughter, unless?" Tommy replied.

"Unless what?" Donahue said.

"Unless the Judge is a little more involved in the whole thing. Having a friendly face on the Supreme Court can't hurt."

"I don't know, Tommy. I doubt he’s involved," Josh said.

"Tommy, this is great work. How come you aren't with us on the State Police?" Donahue asked.

"I did the interview. When they asked if I knew both my parents and could spell, I said yes. Instant disqualification."

Donahue looked at Josh. "You train them well, don't you?"

Josh laughed, "I am so proud. Seriously, though, this is great work. Now what?"

Kennedy reached into his briefcase. "Well, I have a few things to add," handing out copies of several pictures. "These are the people Josh spotted coming from JTS Management. The two males are not in our system, they remain unidentified. The woman is a different matter. She is Alexandra Kosokov. She's the daughter of Shashenka Dmitriev and married to a known Russian mob leader, Motka Kosokov. She travels under a diplomatic passport. She is the Cultural Attaché at the Russian Embassy in New York, aka spy."

"All this talk of Russians makes me want vodka," Moreira interjected. "Maybe we need to do some field surveillance?"

Kennedy glanced at Josh, "Am I the only one unaware of this investigative technique?"

"I guess so," Josh smiled, turning his attention back to the photos. "So, I take it this Motka Kosokov is a real bad guy?"

"You could say that. We don't think he's in the country, but I wouldn't put it past him. He has traveled under diplomatic passports. The State Department is reluctant to release info absent firm proof of a crime. The relations with us and the Russians have improved a bit and they don't want to create problems."

"I'll say this one more time." Moore interrupted, rising from his desk. "How the hell did we get mixed up in this? Next we'll have poisoned tipped umbrellas issued to us."

"You know, Josh," Donahue added, "it is always an adventure when we come here to work with you East Providence guys."

Chapter 23

Tim Donahue, Joe Moreira, Zach Kennedy, Tommy Moore, Chief Brennan, and Josh gathered in the Chief's conference room. There was a single loud knock on the door and Captain Andrew McGurk, Rhode Island State Police, strode in.

The two State Police detectives came to attention. They presented picture-perfect hand salutes to the Captain. McGurk returned each one, individually, and then turned towards Tommy Moore. The Captain started to return Moore's salute, then realized Moore was at attention with the back of his hand flat on his forehead, in a perfect Three Stooges salute.

Josh tried to hide his smile. McGurn glared, then walked to Chief Brennan and shook his hand.

"You'll have to forgive the comedian here, boy's not right in the head. How are you, Captain?"

"I am well, thank you Chief. The Colonel sent me here to be briefed on the investigation. Would someone fill me in on what you have so far?" Taking the seat next to Josh, he stuck out his hand, "Lieutenant Williams, right? I don't think we've met."

"No, sir, we haven't. I want to thank you for sending Tim and Joe to work this. We can use all the help we can get. I'm going to let Detective Moore fill you in." Leaning back to look behind McGurk at Tommy, eyebrows raised. "Tommy, will you please explain to the
Captain
what we have uncovered so far?"

"Sir yes Sir," Moore snapped, "I will be brief in briefing so you'll be briefed briefly." Brennan dropped his head, trying to conceal a grin with a cough.

Josh shot Tommy daggers.

True to his word, Tommy gave a brief synopsis of the investigation. Short as it was, it seemed to satisfy the Captain. He thanked everyone for their work, and left quickly.

When the door closed, the room broke into laughter.

Brennan tried to control himself, but even he laughed. "Moore, I shouldn't encourage this behavior, but Christ boy, that was funny. But, you should show some respect. I mean the guy is a Captain."

Tommy never changed his demeanor. "Look, we all know the guy just wanted to strut around and show us how important he is and that the Colonel is watching. Big deal. I briefed him. Although quite frankly, I think he's more of a thong wearing kind of guy."

Donahue burst out laughing, snorting his coffee. "Oh great, there's a fucking image I didn't need."

Josh took out a file from his briefcase. "Okay, now that we've finished dealing with the egos, can we decide what we're going to do next?"

"We need a way to smoke out the Russian connection to the Senator and his Chief of Staff. Collucci already created the legislation; it is pending before the Banking Committee. Since that's already in the works, there's not much we can do there. But," walking over to pour more coffee. "If we can show fraudulent land transactions, or get someone inside to talk to us, we may be able to create enough noise to derail the process," returning to his seat. "With the money involved, no doubt someone's getting paid off."

"Hey Joe," Donahue said. "Remember last year, the Governor had the Colonel withdraw us from the lottery oversight detail? Maybe there's a good place to start."

Moreira thought for a moment. "The State Police have always had responsibility for investigating backgrounds of potential lottery agents. We had two troopers assigned full-time to the detail. I can't remember when but at least a year ago, the Governor told the Colonel he no longer wanted troopers handling it. He argued they could do it more cost effectively with lottery personnel. The Colonel argued against it, citing all sorts of potential problems, but the decision stood. The Colonel had no choice but to reassign the troopers."

"So you think this was part of their play? Get the State Police out of the way so they can better control who looks at what," Brennan asked.

"It all fits," Donahue replied. "We've always had a concern, without our oversight, Rhode Island politics would take hold. They would start handing out lottery licenses to the wrong people. Looks like it was even bigger than that. If they got control of the lottery, they could cook the books on revenue and skim millions off the top. It's a huge cash flow business."

"Or," Josh added, "they use the same mechanism to launder money. Nobody's gonna complain if the revenue rises. They kick in five or even ten percent of the dirty money on top of the legitimate state revenue. Everybody stays fat, dumb, and happy."

Tommy, busy clicking away on his laptop, oblivious to the conversation, made weird noises as he worked.

"Detective Moore," Brennan asked, "what is so interesting on that computer? Some game site I suppose."

Donahue added, "He's looking for his next on-line date, the only way the boy can get laid."

Moore smirked at Donahue, and then turned the screen for everyone to see. "I'll use simple language so the troopers don't get confused. Since the Governor eliminated the State Police, lottery revenues have been rising. They are up twenty-two percent over the prior year."

"Holy shit," Josh exclaimed. "They've been doing this for a while. Everything else in the state's economy is going to shit."

"Twenty-two percent is a lot of money," Zach Kennedy chimed in. "If we assume for argument's sake just a quarter of the rise in revenue is dirty money," grabbing a pad and pen. "Let me do some quick math," writing furiously. "If they use just, say, five percent of the money to grow revenue, we're talking billions of dollars going through the system. They need a banking insider to do that. They need…," Kennedy threw the pen down. "They don't need a bank, they have all they want. Collucci sits on the damn Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee. They pass favorable legislation for the banking industry. In return, the banks provide the accounting expertise to hide the trail. There's a reason to kill somebody."

"But what the hell have I done to warrant their attention?" Josh asked.

"Collucci is their inside guy," Kennedy explained. "He goes, their system goes. They control him, and the Senate committee, through his Chief of Staff. Your little peek into his history might derail his re-election. If I remember right, he's maneuvering for the chair of the committee. He'll run the whole damn thing."

Kennedy sat back and looked at Brennan. "Chief, if we keep pushing this, they are going to come after him again," pointing at Josh. "With this kind of money at stake, no one will be immune, Keira in particular. Anyone else involved is at risk as well."

Brennan looked at Josh. "We need to have a talk with Keira. I know you can't convince her to carry a gun, but we have to make sure she understands the severity of this."

"I'll talk to her. Maybe I could convince her to work from home for the next few weeks. Put someone in the house with her when I am not there."

* * *

"I don't care what you say, Josh. No one is holding me prisoner in my own house. I don't need a personal guard," Keira yelled, storming around the kitchen, slamming doors.   

"You wouldn't be a prisoner, just in an environment we can control. Listen," Josh argued, "these guys are serious. This is huge money. Taking you out to get to me wouldn't faze them at all. It's safer this way."

"What about my cases? What about court? How am I supposed to do my job if I don't leave here?" she asked, hands on her hips, glaring.

"It won't be for long, just a few weeks. Can't you delay any motions or appearances for a little while? Or let someone else argue them?"

Keira stood staring at Josh, "Let me ask you something, are these threats gonna stop you from doing your job? Are you gonna stay here with me until this is over?" motioning for him to answer. "Well, are you?"

Josh was silent.

"I didn't think so," walking over and taking his hand. "Josh, I am not going to let them control my life. Not for one goddamn minute. I can take care of myself."

"But Keira, listen to me…"

Keira put her hand up. "Enough, I've listened. I know you are trying to protect me, but at what cost? They already came after me, or us. Whether I am here and you are out there, it doesn't matter. If that's what they are going to do, my being here won't change it," embracing her husband. "You can have someone assigned to go with me, but that is it. Nothing else."

"Will you at least carry my off-duty weapon?"

Keira looked into Josh's eyes, saw genuine fear.
Maybe I can at least do that
. "Tell you what, I'll carry the gun. If for nothing else than to get you to shut up."

Josh pulled her back to him and kissed her. "Great, I'll get Brennan to fast track the permit paperwork through the Mass State Police. Meanwhile, I'll get two detectives assigned to be with you."

Keira walked to the kitchen counter and sat on a stool. "All I had to do was not let you talk me into that first date and none of this would be happening to me," she smiled.

"Where would the fun be in that?" Josh answered, pouring her a cup of coffee, sitting next to her, and holding her hand.

There was a knock on the door, startling the two of them. Josh glanced at Keira and saw the apprehension in her eyes. Another knock, then the sound of a familiar voice, "Are you gonna open the goddamn door any time soon?" Chris Hamlin yelled.

Cassidy began dancing in front of the door, sniffing at the bottom, pacing back and forth in anticipation of the door opening. The dog loved company.

Josh opened the door and Chris came in. "Top of the morning to ya', bucko. Chris Hamlin, at your service," walking to the kitchen cabinet and getting a coffee cup. "Don't look so surprised, Brennan called me and told me the problem. I am here, problem solved. I'll stay with Keira, you go finish this."

Keira smiled, "Now I know I am in good hands," pouring Chris some coffee.

Cassidy jumped up, front paws in Chris's lap. "Everything is under control, Ace," scratching the dog's head. "You go catch the bad guys, Cassidy and I will take care of Keira. I'll stay with her until this is over."

* * *

Early the next morning, the investigative team gathered in the Chief's conference room. Josh brought them up to speed on the security arrangements for Keira courtesy of Chris Hamlin.

Donahue chuckled and said, "You're a brave man there, Lieutenant Williams."

Josh looked at Donahue, his eyes questioning him.

"There's no way I'd ever give my wife a gun," causing a round of laughter in the room. "One night I came home late after a, ah, surveillance if you know what I mean. My ex-wife was sitting in the dark. I could hear her spinning the cylinder, dropping bullets, and muttering, 'How do you load this goddamn thing?’ I left.” This caused another round of laughter.

Josh smiled at Donahue, "My wife wouldn't need a gun, and she’d stab me in my sleep if I fucked up."

"While I am sure we all appreciate the lesson in marital relations, can we move on?" Brennan interjected.

The group went over their options. There weren't many. Linking Collucci's actions in the Senate with the Russians and the dirty money was not going to be easy.

"What about the daughter?" Joe Moreira offered.

"You mean Tucker's daughter? Why her? She seems to play a very small part of this," Kennedy replied.

"Hear me out on this," Moreira said, rising from his seat. "She is set up in this business by Sorin. He's taking care of her financially; at least that's what she believes. However, we know the money comes from the bad guys. She has a daughter; she won't want to risk losing custody if she gets jammed up. Something happens to her, the Russians aren't going to save her. Sorin isn't going to save her. Daddy will not be able to. We can use this to gain her cooperation," looking at the group. "We professional investigators of the State Police call that," arms outstretched, "leverage."

"We in the FBI call that threats and extortion," Kennedy said, causing a new round of laughter. "I like it."

As the laughter died down, Josh looked around the room. "Anyone here got a problem with extortion?"

No one raised an objection.

Tommy Moore remained uncharacteristically silent.