True
Page 94
“Darkness can be very persuasive,” Justice assured her.
“Are you willing to make a deal with him that will allow him to go free? I know what Polanitis wanted. They were discussing it at Medical while I was there and I heard some of it. A million dollars and to be sent to a country without extradition. Who is to say Brice won’t demand the same? I really don’t want that bastard set free and he could do the whole ransom thing again if he doesn’t give up everything he knows.”
Justice glanced at True, confused.
“You were outside. That’s what he asked for. Darkness wasn’t pleased.”
Justice nodded and gave Jeanie a soft look. “We don’t make deals. We break bones to make them talk.”
“And the warden of Fuller Prison would know that’s how you operate, right?” Jeanie pushed away and True eased his hold to allow her to stand on her own since she seemed to want to.
“He runs the prison he’s going to be living in. It’s…hell, right? He knows that better than anyone. I’ve spent time with Brice—Boris—whatever his name is, and trust me, he had me totally fooled. I don’t think he’ll tell you everything he knows. I think he’ll do anything to save his own ass and that means leaving people like me and those poor New Species in whatever hellish place they are in. Brice wanted to make sure I couldn’t testify against him. The last thing he’ll want is more people pointing the finger at him or more crimes added to the list if there are other locations he knows about. He might keep quiet just out of spite to get even for being locked up.” She looked up at True. “He’ll have nothing to lose since he knows it’s all over once he’s arrested. But he can get revenge by holding back what he knows.”
“Darkness can be persuasive,” Fury stated. “I wouldn’t mind spending some time in interrogation with him as well.”
Jeanie sighed. “He doesn’t know we know who he really he is, right? I’m not supposed to have viewed those files yet. What if we made him think I got sick from the drug or something to delay that? It would give you time to track where he’s been and hopefully learn more before he’s aware that he’s been identified. You can tap his phones. He’s got to be freaked out and he might try to cover his tracks.”
“Jeanie,” True rasped. “He’s too dangerous to allow him to run free. He could flee the country.”
She turned to face him. “What if he resists arrest or something? What if he’s shot and killed? This is a guy who doesn’t have a heart. He couldn’t to be able to do all the shitty things he’s done. He won’t feel an ounce of pity or regret for lives lost. What if there are others who are praying every day for someone to come in and rescue them?”
“You want us to put him under surveillance?” Tim moved closer.
Jeanie turned her head, focusing on him. “Yes.”
“He needs to be taken into custody.” True scowled. “He’s a danger to you.”
“Wait a minute,” Tim appeared to be considering the idea. “She might be onto something.” He tapped his cell phone against his other palm. “We could bug his house, his car, search it, too, without him being aware we were ever there. We could find out if he’s got burner phones stashed. We know he’s out of town.” He grew silent but the wheels of his mind were still spinning from the intense look of concentration on his face. “Yeah. I like this idea better.” He glanced at Jeanie. “I just decided I really like you.”
“Tim, I don—”
“It’s a great plan,” Tim said, cutting Fury off. “I agree that he’s a dickhead and vindictive. We can get inside his home and ghost any communication devices we find. Anything he does, we’ll know about. He wouldn’t have taken that shit with him to DC. The security there is outrageous and he’d have gone through scans at the airports. I know they only take carryon luggage. It’s standard procedure. He’d have left any burner phones at home because the security detail assigned to them is from Senator Hills’ office. He’d have worried about them noticing two phones on him and they do room checks often to make sure no one got in while they were at meetings. That includes checking his bags for tampering.”
Jeanie beamed, happy. True wasn’t. He wanted the human locked up where he couldn’t do her any harm.
Tim wasn’t done. “We can plant devices in his computers at work and at his house. I can call in a favor at the airport. The head of security over there was one of my boys from the service. I’m sure that bastard Boris has a laptop he took with him and it will be easy to tag with a ghost program. The airport scanner it has to run through could have an issue so it delays him long enough for one of my tech guys to grab his case and gain access to his computer. He’ll just think it’s stuck in the machine until they supposedly get it fixed. Anything he does on it will be transmitted to us. We can see every damn stroke he makes on the keyboard and see what he sees. We can gain access to any of his passwords and email accounts we don’t know about. It will also give us more time to look into what he’s been up to. The safer he feels, the more he’s likely to f**k up. Ms. Shiver has a point. He’s going to want to cover his tracks and probably set up new protocols to deal with anyone he’s working with currently, in case of his arrest. Otherwise he’ll fear they’ll contact the NSO directly if they don’t hear from him when they normally do.”
“Are you willing to make a deal with him that will allow him to go free? I know what Polanitis wanted. They were discussing it at Medical while I was there and I heard some of it. A million dollars and to be sent to a country without extradition. Who is to say Brice won’t demand the same? I really don’t want that bastard set free and he could do the whole ransom thing again if he doesn’t give up everything he knows.”
Justice glanced at True, confused.
“You were outside. That’s what he asked for. Darkness wasn’t pleased.”
Justice nodded and gave Jeanie a soft look. “We don’t make deals. We break bones to make them talk.”
“And the warden of Fuller Prison would know that’s how you operate, right?” Jeanie pushed away and True eased his hold to allow her to stand on her own since she seemed to want to.
“He runs the prison he’s going to be living in. It’s…hell, right? He knows that better than anyone. I’ve spent time with Brice—Boris—whatever his name is, and trust me, he had me totally fooled. I don’t think he’ll tell you everything he knows. I think he’ll do anything to save his own ass and that means leaving people like me and those poor New Species in whatever hellish place they are in. Brice wanted to make sure I couldn’t testify against him. The last thing he’ll want is more people pointing the finger at him or more crimes added to the list if there are other locations he knows about. He might keep quiet just out of spite to get even for being locked up.” She looked up at True. “He’ll have nothing to lose since he knows it’s all over once he’s arrested. But he can get revenge by holding back what he knows.”
“Darkness can be persuasive,” Fury stated. “I wouldn’t mind spending some time in interrogation with him as well.”
Jeanie sighed. “He doesn’t know we know who he really he is, right? I’m not supposed to have viewed those files yet. What if we made him think I got sick from the drug or something to delay that? It would give you time to track where he’s been and hopefully learn more before he’s aware that he’s been identified. You can tap his phones. He’s got to be freaked out and he might try to cover his tracks.”
“Jeanie,” True rasped. “He’s too dangerous to allow him to run free. He could flee the country.”
She turned to face him. “What if he resists arrest or something? What if he’s shot and killed? This is a guy who doesn’t have a heart. He couldn’t to be able to do all the shitty things he’s done. He won’t feel an ounce of pity or regret for lives lost. What if there are others who are praying every day for someone to come in and rescue them?”
“You want us to put him under surveillance?” Tim moved closer.
Jeanie turned her head, focusing on him. “Yes.”
“He needs to be taken into custody.” True scowled. “He’s a danger to you.”
“Wait a minute,” Tim appeared to be considering the idea. “She might be onto something.” He tapped his cell phone against his other palm. “We could bug his house, his car, search it, too, without him being aware we were ever there. We could find out if he’s got burner phones stashed. We know he’s out of town.” He grew silent but the wheels of his mind were still spinning from the intense look of concentration on his face. “Yeah. I like this idea better.” He glanced at Jeanie. “I just decided I really like you.”
“Tim, I don—”
“It’s a great plan,” Tim said, cutting Fury off. “I agree that he’s a dickhead and vindictive. We can get inside his home and ghost any communication devices we find. Anything he does, we’ll know about. He wouldn’t have taken that shit with him to DC. The security there is outrageous and he’d have gone through scans at the airports. I know they only take carryon luggage. It’s standard procedure. He’d have left any burner phones at home because the security detail assigned to them is from Senator Hills’ office. He’d have worried about them noticing two phones on him and they do room checks often to make sure no one got in while they were at meetings. That includes checking his bags for tampering.”
Jeanie beamed, happy. True wasn’t. He wanted the human locked up where he couldn’t do her any harm.
Tim wasn’t done. “We can plant devices in his computers at work and at his house. I can call in a favor at the airport. The head of security over there was one of my boys from the service. I’m sure that bastard Boris has a laptop he took with him and it will be easy to tag with a ghost program. The airport scanner it has to run through could have an issue so it delays him long enough for one of my tech guys to grab his case and gain access to his computer. He’ll just think it’s stuck in the machine until they supposedly get it fixed. Anything he does on it will be transmitted to us. We can see every damn stroke he makes on the keyboard and see what he sees. We can gain access to any of his passwords and email accounts we don’t know about. It will also give us more time to look into what he’s been up to. The safer he feels, the more he’s likely to f**k up. Ms. Shiver has a point. He’s going to want to cover his tracks and probably set up new protocols to deal with anyone he’s working with currently, in case of his arrest. Otherwise he’ll fear they’ll contact the NSO directly if they don’t hear from him when they normally do.”
