After almost three hour in a car to the airport, and more seven hours on a plane to D.C. and another a car ride to the address, Kate, Reggie and Dave were exhausted from almost two days on the clock, when they arrived at the location indicated by Cooper for the meeting.
It seemed an abandoned building, where before, according to records, there was a post office.
- Really?! A Blacksite? – Dave commented to no one in particular.
It got weirder and weirder.
They approached the entrance and Director Cooper himself greeted them, guiding them inside the building, specifically to a meeting room.
Reggie was impressed by the interior. Everything in that place looked and screamed "black ops". Monitors, TV's, clocks settled in every timefuse, papers, maps… was a war room. What the hell Hector Lorca has send them into? What was this all about?
Reggie took a second glance around and saw a man typing furiously at his terminal. He looked very focused, with a headphone. He seemed Arab, or Jewish from the middle east area, maybe.
- Reggie! – Kate called him from afar, so he jogged to them.
Cooper led them up a staircase to a meeting room, motioning for them to sit and be comfortable. There were water bottles, glasses, and a folder paper case in front of each them.
Kate was mute so far. She had too many thoughts in her head right now, but was awaken from her daydream by Dave's voice.
Jennings started the meeting a little embarrassed. It wasn't every day he had to inform a director that an agent, correcting: a very seasoned and decorated agent, would be the subject of an investigation.
- Director Cooper, thank you for having us in so short notice, and as I know you are a busy man, I will be brief. Yesterday morning, agents Macer and Wayne – Dave said pointing to them - arrested Manuel Lorca in a border operation. This man is the brother of Hector Lorca, a known drug dealer who is imprisoned in New York. Manuel told us he was on operation's site doing business on his brother's behalf, so we visited Hector in jail.
Hector told us the story of how he intended to leave the country after an eye witness's disappearance, and said that Raymond Reddington himself, would aid him to that, and that Reddington, on his turn, had his crimes facilitated by Special Agent Donald Ressler.
Needless to say, this was a shock to us, because most of us know agent Ressler's reputation. I tried to talk to FBI Director, but he put me in contact with you, so I assume You, Sir, know something we don't? Right now, out of sheer professional courtesy I came to inform you, in person, that he will be placed under investigation because Lorca's declarations.
The theory Cooper had formulated and prepared for was proving to be true.
- Director Jennings, I appreciate your professional consideration, but I inform you that Agent Donald Ressler cannot, and will not, be placed under any investigation.
Cooper spoke with conviction, leaving the other three stunned.
- I imagine that you have many doubts about what is happening here, so I will clarify them... but for that, you need to sign these non disclosure agreements. The nature of this task force is strictly secret, and nothing you have access here, or that I disclosure for you, can go public in any circumstances, as much as… absurd is seems. Authorizations for some of the actions of this task force are granted by the presidential office. Director Jennings, I also do this in strict professional consideration.
Exchanging quick looks Dave, Kate and Reggie signed the documents in silent agreement, and then Cooper went on to explain, in a simplified way, the origin and nature of the task force.
- Agent Ressler led, for about five years, a task force aimed at capturing international criminal Raymond Reddington, known as the Concierge of Crime. But Raymond Reddington turned himself in when he showed up at FBI headquarters in Washington a few years ago, where his identity was confirmed by Agent Ressler.
But it was not a simple surrender. Reddington had plans, and made it a condition that he would only speak to Agent Elisabeth Keen, a newly approved rookie profiler. On our side, I was in charge of the task force because of my service overseas with Reddington in the past, and by choice, I kept Agent Ressler as senior agent because of his knowledge of Reddington. At the time we were also working with CIA agent Meera Malik, who was murdered while trying to capture one of the criminals denounced by Raymond Reddington.
The fact is that when Reddington turned himself in, he brought with him what he called "the blacklist", a list of the names of domestic and foreign criminals and terrorists, whom we began to pursue, many of whom were unknown to the authorities, because they only worked as instruments to the crimes of other criminals.
One of these criminals was known as Stewmaker. He was a specialist on disappearing with corpses, and served hundreds of criminals and businessmen who wanted to get rid of competition. Back in the day the Stewmaker captured Agent Keen, Ressler's partner, as a collateral and to obtain her whereabouts, Agent Ressler accompanied Mr. Reddington to the meeting, and presented himself as a corrupt agent, an act he repeated a few other times.
I gave clearance for you to verify the contents of this assignment's reports in specific, so that you understand that appearing as an "employee" of Raymond Reddington is part of Agent Ressler's role in this task force, and believe me when I say: Agent Ressler does a phenomenal work in that regard, even with the contempt he holds for Reddington.
- So Reddington is under arrest, in a cell somewhere, in this blacksite? - Asked Jennings stunned by the amount of information.
- No. It is part of Mr. Reddington's agreement with the D.A's Office and the President' office that he is free to come and go as and when he wants. He needs to circulate among people in the criminal circle to obtain information that leads to the names on the blacklist. So he's not a prisoner, he's a high-profile informant, and that's why only a few people know that he works with us. And the fewer people who know, the better. That's why it was necessary for you to sign the confidentiality agreement.
Jennings looked worried.
- Director Cooper... how is the situation with prisoner Lorca? He certainly thinks Agent Ressler is a crook and will want to know why his tip didn't have the desired effect.
- We will have to deal with this problem, and that's why we need a strategy. As soon as Agent Ressler arrives, we'll work on it.
- So, from what I understand, you let a criminal loose to solve things his way while serving his secret agenda, eliminating competitors, and ending up helping him with these "side effects". – Wayne was enraged by the situation. This went against all morality.
- I remember the time Agent Ressler discussed this matter, and that's one of the biggest reasons for his disagreements with the informant. But yes, unfortunately the blacklisted names are highly dangerous criminals, terrorists without any morals, and for the greater good we deal with the side effects of Reddington's actions with minor criminals, to take those who have the potential to kill thousands or millions out of circulation. It's not ideal, but it's what can be done.
- Did you call Hector Lorca a minor criminal? This guy has killed many people over the years, including cops! – Reggie felt outraged by the comment.
- Yes agent Wayne. There was a time I wouldn't say such thing about a criminal like him, but since we started pursuing the ones in the blacklist, we learned that guys like Lorca only built empires thanks to the assist of the hiding monsters Reddington is giving us now. Like the Stewmaker. Once we found him we discovered a photobook with hundreds of documented assassinations, committed on behalf of many crime lords, and that gave closure for hundreds of families. Of course Reddington took his own information to gain leverage over other criminal, but that was expected.
- Honestly, I can't imagine how someone with Agent Ressler's profile accepted this. It doesn't look like what we saw on his file. - commented Jennings shaking his head. How something like this could happen with the Bureau's blessings?
- True, from what we learnt from his file, the man is a legalist..." Reggie commented.
- No! He's not a legalist, he doesn't just stick to what the Law says only. - Kate, who until that moment had been silent and thoughtful, interrupted Reggie. – He's an idealist, someone who weighs the values and the pros and cons of some action, it must be hard for him to work in that gray zone all the time, with no certain of what is to do good or not, based on a criminal agenda.
- Agent Macer, you would be a good profiler, in a short time you understood Agent Ressler's line of thinking, as if you knew him well. – Cooper praised her with a smile. Truth be told, he himself still didn't understand why Ressler was still around with the taskforce, but he was grateful for that, as Ressler was a good senior agent and the others respected him.
- I know him. He is my ex-husband.- She clarified.