Silenced Justice: A Josh Williams Novel (26 page)

"Of course," Karen replied.

"Thanks. I appreciate your understanding in this," Tommy headed back out of the office.

Karen watched Tommy leave. She reached for her cell, dialing a number from memory.

"Yes, what is it?" Anthony Sorin asked.

"Someone is asking questions about you," Karen answered. “He’s hired me to do a background check."

"Who?"

"Tommy Meadows, Jennifer's new partner."

"Well, then by all means follow the request. Make it thorough and believable," Sorin replied. "We need to step up our inquiry into Mr. Meadows. I want to know everything you can find on him, use all your contacts.” The call ended.

Karen sat at her desk for a moment. An idea formed in her head. Something Tommy said while they were having coffee struck a chord. Perhaps she had been going about this all wrong, making the wrong assumptions.

Reaching for her laptop, she logged into a specific website and began a search. Guessing Tommy to be early to mid-thirties, she limited her search to a five-year period. Downloading the information into a spreadsheet, she isolated some likely candidates.

There were eighty-five names on the list matching her criteria. Filtering those by location, she narrowed to search to Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

This narrowed the list to fifteen. She ran a Google image query using the fifteen names, adding three other specific search terms.

Within seconds, she had her answer. On her screen, smiling with a sense of accomplishment was an image of Mr. Meadows. His real name was Thomas Moore. The image is from his graduation from the FBI National Academy session in 2007.

A few more quick searches and she knew all she needed about Mr. Moore.

Reaching for her phone, she hit redial.   

"Yes?"

"We have a problem," Karen said. "Mr. Meadows is in reality Detective Thomas Moore, Special Investigations Unit, East Providence Police Department."

"How'd you find this out?" Sorin asked.

"We had coffee the other day. I told him about my background with the FBI and he said something which jumped out at me."

"Which was?" Sorin asked.

"When I told him about the accident, he asked if it happened while I was
'
on the job'. It's something a cop would say. Not 'at work' or 'while you were working'. 'On the job,' “Karen explained. “ That gave me an idea."

"How do you get from there to finding out he's a cop?" Sorin asked.

"It was easy. I had assumed Meadows, or Moore, was a businessperson. I decided to approach it from the idea of his being law enforcement. One thing I learned in the FBI Academy is undercover officers need to keep their stories straight. While changing the last name was a given, they often use their own first name for simplicity"

"This is good, Karen," Sorin said. "But why look at local cops; it could have been one of thousands of FBI agents?"

"You told me the local yokels at East Providence PD started the initial investigation," Karen explained. "I decided to see if I could find someone matching the description with a local connection. Many local departments send officers to the FBI National Academy. In today's connected world, everyone posts images on social media. As soon as I saw the image, I knew I had him."

"Excellent work, now you need to get rid of any evidence of your inquiries," Sorin instructed. "You can handle that, no?"

Karen's fingers went over the keyboard several times. "Done," she said. "I used an anonymizer and IP spoofing to do the searches. I'll destroy the laptop as well. I will add the cost to your fee, of course."

"You do that, Karen. You do that," Sorin said. "I'll be in touch, send the bill through the usual channels. Great work, thank you."

Sorin thought for a long moment. Karen has proven most useful in this, but she represents a loose end. There can be none of those. Reaching for a disposable phone, he placed a call.

* * *

"Did we get that?" Kennedy asked Tim Donahue, via the secure radio link.

"Yes we did," Donahue said, explaining what they had just monitored. "Better get Tommy and Josh on the phone and let them know what's happened."

A moment later, Josh came in to the SIU office.

"What's up? We get anything?" Josh asked.

"Oh yeah," Donahue said. "She figured out who Tommy is and told Sorin. Maybe we need to pull him out before anything else happens."

Josh was on his cell phone calling Tommy.

"Hey Lieutenant, what's going on?" Tommy said.

"Our friends know about you," Josh replied. "Soon as you left, she called Sorin. A few computer searches later, she figured out who you are. It’s time for the spy to come in from the cold."

"Why don't we let it play out a little more," Tommy argued. "We suspected she would call him. She's not the killer type. We'll just be more cautious. I think we let this continue at least until the story breaks, couple of days at best."

Josh paused for a moment. "Okay, but let's assume they will start to follow you. We'll have to cover the UC apartment and make sure we choreograph your movements. We can keep an eye on you and identify any surveillance. Go find Jennifer and meet us at Haines Park. Call me when you're on the way."

"You got it, LT. I'll go find Jen and head down there. Give me an hour or two, she went downtown to a meeting," Tommy lied. "I'll meet her somewhere and bring her.” Tommy hung up.

"So?" Jennifer asked.

"Our good friend Karen is the other link in the office. Soon as I left she called Sorin and told him about my request," Tommy hesitated a moment. "But there's another problem. She knows I'm a cop."

"What?" Jennifer said, as panic spread across her face. "How did she find that out?"

"We've underestimated her abilities in doing background checks," Tommy answered. "She did some advanced Google searches, applied a little logic, and found my picture from the FBI National Academy. Once she had the name, the rest was easy."

Jennifer hands began to tremble. Tommy reached over, cupping her hands in his. "Don't worry; this will go on a few more days at most. We're gonna add some more surveillance and make sure they can't get near us."

"What about Kelsey and my father?" Jennifer sobbed. "Anthony will assume I was the one who went to the cops in the first place. He'll go after my father, I just know he will."

Tommy pulled her close, stroking the back of her head. "The FBI already has a team on them in Aruba. They're bringing them home. They'll be fine. Besides, going after them doesn't make any sense. It's…."

"It's what?" Jen asked, searching his eyes.

"Nothing, it's nothing. We're going to be fine." Tommy hugged her again. "We won't be coming here together anymore though, too risky."

Jen sat up, pulling herself away from Tommy. "So now what do we do?"

"For now, we just hunker down and ride it out," Tommy said. "Get dressed. We have to go meet with Josh and the others. As much as I'd like to drive around in the car with you dressed as is, it might raise some suspicions."

Jen gave him a weak smile, kissed his hands, and gathered her clothes.

* * *

Josh and the investigative team sat in the far corner lot of Haines Park, waiting for Tommy and Jennifer. Josh took out his cell phone. "I think I had better call Hawk. Let him know the threat level is up a bit," dialing the number. "Maybe I can defer his declaring war."

Kennedy chuckled, "Good luck, I’m just glad he's on our side."

A moment later, Hawk answered.

"Lieutenant Williams, what can I do for you?"

"Ah, listen Hawk. There's been a change in status with the case," Josh said. "Our adversary has found out about Tommy being a cop. Sorin has been making calls all day on a variety of phones reaching out to some rather unpleasant people. There's nothing definite, but might be worth bumping up your security arrangements. You sure you want to handle this alone? I've got plenty of manpower."

"While I appreciate your offer, Josh, I've already adjusted for the worst case scenario. Candace tells me the first report is on for tomorrow night. Things should get interesting then. Thanks for the call. Talk to you later." The call ended.

"So?" Kennedy said.

"Yeah, so?" asked Donahue.

"I don't know," Josh said. "Maybe I shouldn't have called him. Hawk does not react- he prefers to be pro-active. I hope he leaves this alone, but I doubt he will. He might just solve the problem for us."

"Hey," Donahue said, "if he finds a way to terminate these bastards with extreme prejudice, I'm good with it."

"You and me both," Kennedy added. "Just don't mention it to the Deputy US Attorney, if he asks."

* * *

After Hawk ended the call with Josh, he considered his options. If there was one thing he learned in Vietnam it was this, when someone is trying the kill you, there is no such thing as overreacting.

He thumbed through his contacts and placed another call.

"Hawk, my old friend, usually it is me calling you. To what do I owe this surprise?" the voice on the line said.

"I may need some of your specialized services. Someone is trying to make things personal with my wife and some friends of mine. I won't let that happen."

"Whatever you need. When should we meet?"

"As soon as possible, is the restaurant still open for lunch?" Hawk asked.

"Of course. 1:00 tomorrow okay?"

"See you there."

* * *

Josh spotted Tommy's car and flashed the headlights at him.

Tommy and Jennifer got out of the car and climbed into the surveillance van.

"So how you doing?" Josh asked her, as she squeezed between Donahue and Kennedy.

"Nervous," Jennifer said. "Tommy told me they know he's a cop. I'm worried about my daughter and father."

Kennedy spoke up. "I just got a text message from the FBI team with them. They landed a few minutes ago at North Central state airport in Lincoln. They're taking them to a safe house until this is over."

"Okay,” Tommy said, "how do you want to deal with Karen?"

"I'm open to suggestions," Josh answered.

"Here's what I think," Tommy said. "I'll go to the office. Make sure Karen knows I am there. If she doesn't come right over, it will give me an excuse to call and ask how she's making out on the background. I'll tell her Jennifer had to go to a meeting in Baltimore with another client and will be away for a few days. Give them some doubt about where she is."

"I don't know, Tommy," Josh said. "It leaves you too exposed in there."

"She's never seen me," Donahue offered. "Let me go in there with him. Even if she assumes I am a cop, with two of us it poses a bigger problem for them."

"I like it, "Tommy said. “ I can hide behind his fat ass if they start shooting, fucking thing would stop a missile."

Donahue flipped him the bird. "I can take care of little Miss Tommy over here while we see what she does. Even if they were going to go after him, they wouldn't do it there. Too many things can go wrong. They'll look for somewhere isolated."

Josh caught an exchange of looks between Tommy and Jennifer.
I knew it, damn it, I knew it.

"Okay," Josh decided. “Tommy you go to the office. Tim you go right behind him, meet in the parking lot as if it were prearranged. I'll have another team head over there before you."

"What about me?" Jennifer asked.

"How about we take you to meet with your daughter? I'm sure she'd be happy to see you," Josh said.

"I'd like that. Thank you," Jennifer replied.

"Okay, Joe and I will take Jennifer to the safe house," Josh said. "Meanwhile, you guys work out a cover story for Tim to be in the office. As soon as we get back, we'll have you guys head there."

* * *

They drove to the safe house. The secluded cabin, on Waterman Lake in the village of Chepachet, was ideal for this purpose. There were no paved roads. Access was a dirt trail, difficult, if not impossible, to find unless someone pointed it out.

The cabin sat high on a piece of land, jutting out into the lake. A narrow path led down to the lake through the cliff controlled by a wrought iron gated access. Angled razor ribbon, concealed by the bushes, made climbing difficult, if not impossible. The edge of the steep cliff covered with thick, impenetrable briar bushes. With its panoramic views of the lake, it was impossible for anyone to approach the house from the water.

For extra measure, the state police brought two of their German Shepherds. The dogs had free roam of the peninsula. They offered a measure of intimidation to anyone curious enough to approach through the woods.

As they approached the house, the dogs went on alert. They began barking and yelping, circling to contain the intruders.