Moment in Time Part 3
Chapter 8
XX Part 5
In the comfort of her work home, Kate stares across the table at Meeker. "All right, Seward, start from the beginning and don't leave anything out. What and when was your first contact with Secretary of Defense Michael Reed?"
Meeker snorts. "Reed was no Secretary of Defense when I met him, just a candy-ass kid trying to look tough by playing soldier. The ROTC marched around at our high school like GI Joes. And under the uniforms, they didn't have balls either. But Reed got his sh*t together. And by the time we graduated, he had side hustles going."
"Drugs?" Kate prompts.
"Not the heavy stuff. Weed and some LSD he got a chemistry geek to cook up for him."
"And how did you come into it?" Kate probes.
"I had contacts on the street and at other schools. So I sold his acid on consignment. But once he got into the service for real, I didn't hear from him for years, not until all the crap in Iraq started. Then he told me he came into money, lots of it."
"Did he tell you where he got it?" Rick queries.
"He said something about falling off a pallet. But I didn't know what he meant, and I didn't ask. I just helped him put it to work, building an organization at home."
Kate leans across the table. "A drug organization?"
"Yeah. Except that this time, it was the hard stuff, heroin. We were competing with the cheap brown sh*t from Mexico, but with his connections, we could run lean. And last year, he lined up a fentanyl supplier in China. The market's big for that and growing every day. Reed's bringing in enough to blanket the country – places heroin hardly reached. Maybe he should be Secretary of the Treasury. It's like he has a license to print money."
"More like a license to kill," Rick remarks grimly.
"So why did Reed come to see you yesterday?" Kate continues. "What did you talk about?"
"He said he wants to add oxycodone, that it's more addictive than our other products and should sell even better. He told me he lined up a Chinese producer for that too. They can put a counterfeit imprint on it and load it into shipping containers. According to Reed, inspectors only check about 3% of containerized cargo, and he makes sure they never come near our merchandise."
"And you would take care of distributing the drugs that come in at the docks?" Kate pushes.
"Some of them. Shipments come in at ports on both coasts and the gulf where the junk can go up the river. I'm only part of Reed's organization. We're what he says is compartmentalized. He calls us cells. No cell knows the other cells, so we can't expose each other. He told me he learned that from his military intelligence training."
"Yeah, I'll bet he did," Rick mutters.
"But you can fill the US Attorney's office in on your part of it and all your interactions with Reed?" Kate presses.
"I can," Meeker confirms, "when I'm sure I won't get my ass blown off."
Kate waves toward the door of Interrogation, where LT's tall figure looms. "Right now, you're surrounded by cops. We'll make sure you stay alive until the US Marshalls can take over. They know how to hide witnesses. And I'll make sure Reed has too many problems of his own to worry about you."
"You have no idea how good she is at giving people problems." Rick's eyebrows ripple. "Or if you read my books, maybe you do."
"So what now?" Rick asks Kate as the cell door closes on Meeker.
"We'll need a car to get back to Long Island. I don't want to put anyone here in the line of fire by knowing where we are."
"My Ferrari is in an underground garage near the loft."
"I thought you sold it when you bought the Buick to do your PI thing."
"No. I still needed it to bribe the boys. But the Buick attracts far less attention, and it's in the parking structure two blocks from my office. The place is lousy with surveillance cameras, so I doubt Reed's lackeys would bother it, even if they found out it's there."
"We still need to attract as little notice as possible. So we'll take that car," Kate decides. "And we should pick up more groceries. At least the electricity works out there. Maybe we should get a microwave. But we can't leave a trail. How are you fixed for cash?"
"No problem. When we went to the loft to get gussied up, I raided my safe. We could purchase a microwave, an induction burner, and the pans to go with it. And we should pick up a few cases of water and a portable shower."
"Let's not get carried away, Babe. We may need those funds to chase down Reed. His schedule said he'd be back in DC today."
"Kate," Rick reminds her. "We are both very familiar with where he lives. I, for one, spent considerable time lying on his driveway."
Kate strokes his cheek. "I remember, Babe. But we still have to conserve our resources."
"A microwave then."
"A cheap one."
"I've figured out the routes Reed should be taking in DC for the next few days," Vikram announces, his eyes still on the screen of his laptop.
"How about Mrs. Reed?" Rick asks. "She's the most important player in our plan."
Vikram rapidly hits keys. "She'll be addressing several charitable organizations. But she'll be spending at least half of each day at home."
"Good," Kate acknowledges. "We'll have to approach Reed at the house while she's there."
"What about the Secret Service?" Alexis wonders. "Will they let you get near either one of them?"
Kate and Rick exchange looks. He nods. "I think we've got that worked out."
Rick checks his watch. "It's almost time."
Kate scans the road leading to Reed's estate. "They're arriving now. I hope the Secret Service doesn't shoot anyone."
"Shoot at a flash mob dressed as puppy dogs? Even the dumbest agent won't be that hair-trigger," Rick asserts. "The publicity would be killer, and they're already riding a prostitution scandal. They'll just work at getting our gathering to disburse. But it will distract enough agents to enable us to get close. And once we're there, the note should do the rest."
"It better."
"I put every nanogram of my wordsmithing talent into it. OK. Counting down. Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Action!"
The costumed crowd starts barking and woofing, holding up signs saying the Secretary of Defense should defend helpless animals. As the Secret Service runs to check out the disturbance, Kate and Rick make their way to talk to the two agents still guarding the house. Kate holds up her badge. "I need to speak with Secretary Reed on a matter of utmost urgency."
The closest agent smirks. "NYPD? You have no jurisdiction here. And what could a New York cop want that's important enough to bother the Secretary?"
"If you don't want your ass in an administrative sling, you'd better let him decide that," Rick advises.
"Tell him it's Kate Beckett," Kate continues, holding up a folded sheet of paper. "And give him this."
The agent snorts. "Yeah. Sure. But I'm betting that it will be Kate Beckett's ass needing that sling."
"Kate Beckett? What the hell?" Reed exclaims.
The agent offers Rick's carefully crafted note. "She said to give you this."
Reed swallows as he scans the few lines. "I'll talk to her."
"Is everything all right, Michael?" Mary Elizabeth Reed inquires.
"Fine. This won't take long."
Reed motions the agents to wait at a distance. "Beckett, how dare you threaten me!"
"Mr. Secretary, I assure you it's not a threat. It's a promise. What was in that note is just a sample of what I know about you. And your old friend Meeker is about to spill his guts to the feds. You can probably delay any action on what he says for years. But it will catch up to you. And even if it doesn't. There's more out there. Maybe you can quash it all the way you've done so far. Maybe you can't. But this I guarantee. If anything happens to me or anyone I love or care about, recordings of you doing your dirty business will go to the sweet, beautiful woman in there. She still believes you're a hero. And if she learns the truth, what the rest of the world believes won't matter, will it, Mr. Secretary? So call off your dogs, or Brad Parker will get his wish. You will lose what you love the most."
Reed shoves the note inside his jacket. "I understand. But I told you once, Ms. Beckett, to never start a war you can't win. You've only prevailed in the first battle."
Rick stares into the secretary's watery blue eyes. "The prisons are full of cons who underestimated my wife, Reed. You'd be wise not to copy their mistakes."
Kate inclines her head toward the drive. "I have a precinct to run. Let's get out of here."
Rick smiles. "Right behind you."