Page 50 of Charmed Forces
“Parts of the business are probably perfectly legitimate,” said Solomon, as he glanced at Garrett. “Is that the case?”
“It is. Officially speaking, Victor International Shipping is an import business, owned by the Victor brothers, shipping goods overseas for their clients. All kinds of stuff. Furnishings. Household products. Fabrics. All are legitimate and fine. And they file taxes on that. What isn’t legitimate are the drugs they’re also smuggling while using the import infrastructure. The accountant was running books on both sides of the business, one clean, one dirty. He was also laundering the dirty money into the clean side. They’ve been doing it for a long time and apparently very efficiently.”
“So why did Jeff Denney jump ship?” I asked, wincing at my inadvertent pun.
“I don’t think he was planning on it. The DEA have been working this case for five years and they were successful in getting two undercovers inside. They earmarked the accountant as a target two years ago when his son died from a narcotics overdose. He was twenty-three years old.”
The sight of the couple, both dead on the sofa, flashed in my mind. “What a tragic family,” I said softly.
“Yeah, well, Jeff Denney was fine earning blood money when it was someone else’s kid. When his own died, however, he changed,” said Garrett. “The investigation into the young man’s death matched the drugs to a batch the Victors imported.”
“So he wanted to get some payback from his bosses?” I wondered.
“Maybe. Maybe he just didn’t want anyone else to suffer like they did,” said Garrett with a small shrug. “A death up close and personal could have opened his eyes to the true reality of the business. It stopped being just a numbers game.”
“It’s easy to ignore the suffering when you don’t see it firsthand,” said Solomon.
“Anyway, he was tapped as a great witness to bring down the syndicate. He knows where all the bank accounts are. His testimony so far has ensured the DEA has a way to keep track of the money. They’re poised to freeze it all,” said Garrett. “Or they were.”
“What was a case like this doing on the docket at the courthouse here?” I asked. “Surely it should have been in Boston or some other big city?”
“I’m not privy to that information,” said Garrett, “but my guess is they wanted to rush through the preliminary proceedings without drawing too much attention. Jeff Denney would have testified this week, then disappeared, probably under an entirely new identity.”
“And now the DEA and DA have lost their star witness,” said Solomon.
“And if we’re not careful, we could lose Daniel,” I said. “So are the Victors the people who killed everyone in that room?”
“How did you know everyone was in one room?” asked Garrett. He glanced over his shoulder quickly, looking alarmed, before returning his gaze to the road.
I winced, realizing my mistake. “Figure of speech?” I clenched my teeth.
“Donottell me you were in that house!”
“Okay!”
“Lexi!” Garrett yelled.
“I didn’t say anything!” I yelled back.
“Let’s move on,” said Solomon as Garrett turned the car into Montgomery General’s huge parking lot. “We’re parked in the east lot,” he added, pointing.
“This is a rare occasion where we think we know who’s behind this,” I said as I flipped through the last few pages. “The problem is getting everyone else to believe it and then proving it. Hardly minor details.”
“Not to mention finding the connection between this organization and the mole in the police department,” said Solomon.
“I’m not sure which bit scares me the most,” said Garrett.
“Could our hospital assassin be the same as our safe house killer?” I wondered, even though I knew no one could confirm that yet either.
“What would you be doing right now if you were Captain Brandt?” Solomon asked Garrett.
“Assuming I had no evidence to suggest anyone else was at the safe house, therefore having no other viable suspects except one officer who has gone missing, I’d be doing everything I could to place Daniel at the scene of the crime. Evidence left behind, prints, the weapon. The weapon I would want to find most of all. I’d also search for a witness to place him there at the time of the shooting. Now that everyone’s dead, I’d want a witness outside the house too. Did someone see him leave the house? What time? Was anyone with him? What else did they notice? Did he make a call? Did he get into a car?”
“We should follow up these questions too,” said Solomon.
“What else would you do?” I asked.
“I’d be taking a deep dive into Daniel, trying to find the link between him and the cartel. Bank accounts, cash deposits, any large purchases, suspicious travel plans, that kind of thing. Anything that would make a good officer turn bad.”