Jordan stood outside the Crypt and watched Renee Walcott going into
Garret's office yet again. Just that morning, Garret came screaming out of
his office about yet another 'mix-up' in paperwork, which could be traced
directly back to the police chief's office.
Jordan didn't have to ask to know who in the chief's office was behind the missing evidence. She guessed Walcott's frequent visits were her way of bypassing the chief's new liaison officer, Woody.
For weeks, Jordan hadn't been able to think of anything else other than him. She would lay awake nights trying to figure out what happened. The only thing that made sense to her is that Cahill had something on him. He was being blackmailed in some way.
She had been trying to contact him, ever since that night at the pub. She told herself it was to warn him that Walcott had contacted Internal Affairs about him, but she knew she really wanted answers. To know she wasn't a fool for calling him a friend. He wouldn't answer her messages or take her calls.
A week ago Jordan gave up and showed up at his office. The meeting was awkward at best. She tried to talk to him but only met an egotistical resistance. He gave her a quick excuse and left her standing in the corridor out side his office open-mouthed.
Before she left the building that day she stopped by Eddie Winslow's office. She asked for help his help in trying to get through to Woody. Eddie told her to forget it, that Hoyt was just greedy like the rest of them...
"They're at it again?"
She jumped at Nigel's voice.
"What?"
"Dr. M. and the prosecutor from hell."
Jordan refocused on Garret and Walcott who were animatedly talking to each other across the desk.
"I think she's moved her office in there." Jordan said.
"Hummm...They've been awfully chummy lately ..."
"Wow, there's a newsflash..." Jordan said sarcastically. "By the looks of it I'd say they're not planning a weekend at the Cape."
"Here's that ballistics on number six...it's a match to numbers one and two."
Jordan took the report out of his hands. The sixth of Conroy's guys had found that morning shot twice in the chest at point blank range.
"If Conroy and Cahill keep this up any longer and they won't have to worry about an organization to run...."
"It would make my job easier.... Love, do me a favor and take that to Walcott will you? I'm still trying to get the picture of her and Macy alone at a B and B out of my head."
"I was picturing a cheap motel personally."
Jordan delivered the report she made her way back to her office. She stopped dead in the hallway. Her door was open and Woody was standing in front of her desk.
"What do you want?"
Woody turned to face her. The first thing she noticed was the missing smile. In fact his face looked gaunt and pale, like he hadn't smiled...or for that matter ate in weeks. Jordan thought about her own loose waistband.
"Shut the door. I need to talk to you."
"Now you want to talk. Just last..."
"Jordan, I need you to back off." Woody said cutting her off.
She realized he was talking about the questions she has been asking around. She quietly shut the door.
"Believe it or not, I just want to help you Woody. It's not to late to get yourself out of this trouble your in."
"Jordan please, just.... call off Winslow and leave me alone."
Jordan had to smile. At least Eddie had done some checking, even if he didn't want to.
"Woody, whatever they're holding over your head can't be that bad. You can trust me, I want to help."
Woody let his guard down and genuinely smiled. For a second he thought it would so easy to confide in her.
"Jordan...if only..." He shook his head. "...damn it Jordan, just stay out of my business.....please."
"Why Woody? Tell me what's going on and I'll try."
Woody sighed. At least she was being honest in saying she could only try to stay out of it.
"That's the point Jordan....." He opened the door. The haughtiness came back to his voice. "Just tell your friend to keep to himself; I wouldn't want to see him getting hurt."
As he walked away he could feel Jordan's eyes on his back, along with the rest of the office staff.
"That went well" he muttered to himself. He could only hope she would listen. Winslow was beginning to make some noticeable waves.
His phone rang. It was Worthington he wanted to see him in his office immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I need you to do something for me."
Woody shifted on his feet in front of the chief's desk. For the last month he's heard those words one too many times for his liking.
"Yes sir"
"There's a leak somewhere and we think we know where it is."
Woody could feel the bottom falling out. He thought he had been so careful when passing information to Tillman and his team.
"I need you to go and talk with this jackass and figure out if we're correct."
"Does this have anything to do with the IA investigation.....?"
"I told you to stop worrying about that ...days ago. I have that all under control, by now Internal Affairs doesn't even know your name...No; this is a more serious situation. Information is being leaked to the FBI."
"Are you sure?"
"I want you to find out. He's waiting to meet you downstairs. My driver will take you somewhere to talk."
Woody wondered if he had enough time to call Tillman. He needed the wire. It was too dangerous to keep the hardware in his office.
"I need to make a quick run...."
"I don't think you understood me....I said take care of this now."
"Yes sir"
So much for the wire Woody thought. He fingered the cellphone in his pocket. If he called Tillman and left the line open....It was a long shot, but he hoped it would work.
"Oh and Hoyt....I don't need to tell you that it's important for him to get the message. I'm sending my driver with you..."
Worthington only sent his driver when things were going to get rough. Some how, Woody had to find a way to get some help. Only there wasn't any time.
Woody recognized the uniform cop standing with Worthington's driver in the garage. They were laughing at some joke when he walked up. Within minutes they were in the car and heading out of the parking garage.
~~~~~~
Tillman was just getting ready to grab some lunch when his phone rang.
"Tillman"
On the other end of the line he could hear a muffled Hoyt rambling something about the traffic on Hancock Avenue.
"Hoyt?"
At first he was baffled until it became apparent that Hoyt was not alone in his conversation. Either Hoyt was careless and didn't realize his phone was on...or he wanted Tillman to hear this. Tillman started to record the call.
Tillman listened as Hoyt mentioned the name of a uniformed officer that was on their list of people to watch. He figured Hoyt was trying telling him who was with him. They were apparently in a car heading down Hancock. Tillman smiled. Hoyt could be clever when he wanted to be.
His lunch was forgotten as he listened.
~~~~~~
"So what do you think Hoyt? Am I up for that promotion?"
Woody was at odds to what to say.
"You know, I don't know."
Woody looked up at the rearview mirror while making small talk. The driver gave him the evil eye. He was supposed to be drilling this guy about working undercover for the feds. If it weren't such a deadly serious situation Woody would have laughed at the irony of it all.
The driver pulled the car over off a quiet side street and he asked them all to get out.
"Well... it's like this," the driver said to the uniformed officer. "Hoyt was sent out here to talk to you about some rumors that have been flying around."
Woody breathed a sigh of relief. The more he could get them to talk the more Tillman could get. He stood close and prayed that his battery would hold out.
"What rumors?"
"The rumor that says you have been keeping company with the feds."
"What the hell? You think I'm a snitch...no way."
"So you say... You know this is your lucky day. The chief sent the brainless wonder here to find out what you know. Maybe even help toss you around a bit. But his orders were... overridden."
"Overridden by whom?" Woody asked trying to keep the panic out of his voice. He couldn't help but wonder if this was all an elaborate ploy to flush him out. Or he was just incredibly lucky...
"Cahill. The man himself wants this handled now."
Bingo! Woody told himself that he would by a lottery ticket the second he could. He could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully Tillman was getting all this.
Woody was still pondering about the moment he could get back to his desk at the nineteen when he saw Worthington's driver pull the handgun of his jacket.
He could only stand there in horror as he shot the cop point blank.
"Don't just stand there. Close your damn mouth and get in the car Hoyt."
"You just shot him."
"No shit, just get in the car before someone sees us." He looked Woody up and down and laughed, "Watch the upholstery; you got a little backsplash on you."
~~~~~~
At the sound of the gunshot Tillman stood almost knocking his chair over. He could make out the sounds of the car starting before the signal was lost. The battery was dead on Hoyt's phone. He stopped the recording.
Pay dirt. They had a positive link between Worthington and Cahill. And, he thought with a sickening feeling, the added bonus of a tie to a murder of a police officer. Tillman knew he could take this tape to the attorney general and have Cahill charged by nightfall.
He also knew they had to pull Hoyt immediately. He was now an eye witness to a murder.
He paced for a few minutes trying to piece it all together. The cop was killed because Cahill thought he was working undercover for the Bureau. There was only one way he could know there has a plant working for Worthington. There had to be a leak in his own department.
He had to get Hoyt under wraps and quick. But he knew he couldn't use the standard procedures. He didn't know who he could trust in his very own office.
He picked up the phone and called Washington.
His high from the evidence Hoyt had just procured disappeared. He promised Hoyt he could go back to his old life after he finished his job. That was now impossible. Within seconds he was talking to a Deputy Bernard with the US Marshal's Office, Witness Protection Program.
========================================================================
Rambling crappy chapter I know...I chopped a couple chapters down to just one. I wanted to get this thing in gear and get on with it.
Jordan didn't have to ask to know who in the chief's office was behind the missing evidence. She guessed Walcott's frequent visits were her way of bypassing the chief's new liaison officer, Woody.
For weeks, Jordan hadn't been able to think of anything else other than him. She would lay awake nights trying to figure out what happened. The only thing that made sense to her is that Cahill had something on him. He was being blackmailed in some way.
She had been trying to contact him, ever since that night at the pub. She told herself it was to warn him that Walcott had contacted Internal Affairs about him, but she knew she really wanted answers. To know she wasn't a fool for calling him a friend. He wouldn't answer her messages or take her calls.
A week ago Jordan gave up and showed up at his office. The meeting was awkward at best. She tried to talk to him but only met an egotistical resistance. He gave her a quick excuse and left her standing in the corridor out side his office open-mouthed.
Before she left the building that day she stopped by Eddie Winslow's office. She asked for help his help in trying to get through to Woody. Eddie told her to forget it, that Hoyt was just greedy like the rest of them...
"They're at it again?"
She jumped at Nigel's voice.
"What?"
"Dr. M. and the prosecutor from hell."
Jordan refocused on Garret and Walcott who were animatedly talking to each other across the desk.
"I think she's moved her office in there." Jordan said.
"Hummm...They've been awfully chummy lately ..."
"Wow, there's a newsflash..." Jordan said sarcastically. "By the looks of it I'd say they're not planning a weekend at the Cape."
"Here's that ballistics on number six...it's a match to numbers one and two."
Jordan took the report out of his hands. The sixth of Conroy's guys had found that morning shot twice in the chest at point blank range.
"If Conroy and Cahill keep this up any longer and they won't have to worry about an organization to run...."
"It would make my job easier.... Love, do me a favor and take that to Walcott will you? I'm still trying to get the picture of her and Macy alone at a B and B out of my head."
"I was picturing a cheap motel personally."
Jordan delivered the report she made her way back to her office. She stopped dead in the hallway. Her door was open and Woody was standing in front of her desk.
"What do you want?"
Woody turned to face her. The first thing she noticed was the missing smile. In fact his face looked gaunt and pale, like he hadn't smiled...or for that matter ate in weeks. Jordan thought about her own loose waistband.
"Shut the door. I need to talk to you."
"Now you want to talk. Just last..."
"Jordan, I need you to back off." Woody said cutting her off.
She realized he was talking about the questions she has been asking around. She quietly shut the door.
"Believe it or not, I just want to help you Woody. It's not to late to get yourself out of this trouble your in."
"Jordan please, just.... call off Winslow and leave me alone."
Jordan had to smile. At least Eddie had done some checking, even if he didn't want to.
"Woody, whatever they're holding over your head can't be that bad. You can trust me, I want to help."
Woody let his guard down and genuinely smiled. For a second he thought it would so easy to confide in her.
"Jordan...if only..." He shook his head. "...damn it Jordan, just stay out of my business.....please."
"Why Woody? Tell me what's going on and I'll try."
Woody sighed. At least she was being honest in saying she could only try to stay out of it.
"That's the point Jordan....." He opened the door. The haughtiness came back to his voice. "Just tell your friend to keep to himself; I wouldn't want to see him getting hurt."
As he walked away he could feel Jordan's eyes on his back, along with the rest of the office staff.
"That went well" he muttered to himself. He could only hope she would listen. Winslow was beginning to make some noticeable waves.
His phone rang. It was Worthington he wanted to see him in his office immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I need you to do something for me."
Woody shifted on his feet in front of the chief's desk. For the last month he's heard those words one too many times for his liking.
"Yes sir"
"There's a leak somewhere and we think we know where it is."
Woody could feel the bottom falling out. He thought he had been so careful when passing information to Tillman and his team.
"I need you to go and talk with this jackass and figure out if we're correct."
"Does this have anything to do with the IA investigation.....?"
"I told you to stop worrying about that ...days ago. I have that all under control, by now Internal Affairs doesn't even know your name...No; this is a more serious situation. Information is being leaked to the FBI."
"Are you sure?"
"I want you to find out. He's waiting to meet you downstairs. My driver will take you somewhere to talk."
Woody wondered if he had enough time to call Tillman. He needed the wire. It was too dangerous to keep the hardware in his office.
"I need to make a quick run...."
"I don't think you understood me....I said take care of this now."
"Yes sir"
So much for the wire Woody thought. He fingered the cellphone in his pocket. If he called Tillman and left the line open....It was a long shot, but he hoped it would work.
"Oh and Hoyt....I don't need to tell you that it's important for him to get the message. I'm sending my driver with you..."
Worthington only sent his driver when things were going to get rough. Some how, Woody had to find a way to get some help. Only there wasn't any time.
Woody recognized the uniform cop standing with Worthington's driver in the garage. They were laughing at some joke when he walked up. Within minutes they were in the car and heading out of the parking garage.
~~~~~~
Tillman was just getting ready to grab some lunch when his phone rang.
"Tillman"
On the other end of the line he could hear a muffled Hoyt rambling something about the traffic on Hancock Avenue.
"Hoyt?"
At first he was baffled until it became apparent that Hoyt was not alone in his conversation. Either Hoyt was careless and didn't realize his phone was on...or he wanted Tillman to hear this. Tillman started to record the call.
Tillman listened as Hoyt mentioned the name of a uniformed officer that was on their list of people to watch. He figured Hoyt was trying telling him who was with him. They were apparently in a car heading down Hancock. Tillman smiled. Hoyt could be clever when he wanted to be.
His lunch was forgotten as he listened.
~~~~~~
"So what do you think Hoyt? Am I up for that promotion?"
Woody was at odds to what to say.
"You know, I don't know."
Woody looked up at the rearview mirror while making small talk. The driver gave him the evil eye. He was supposed to be drilling this guy about working undercover for the feds. If it weren't such a deadly serious situation Woody would have laughed at the irony of it all.
The driver pulled the car over off a quiet side street and he asked them all to get out.
"Well... it's like this," the driver said to the uniformed officer. "Hoyt was sent out here to talk to you about some rumors that have been flying around."
Woody breathed a sigh of relief. The more he could get them to talk the more Tillman could get. He stood close and prayed that his battery would hold out.
"What rumors?"
"The rumor that says you have been keeping company with the feds."
"What the hell? You think I'm a snitch...no way."
"So you say... You know this is your lucky day. The chief sent the brainless wonder here to find out what you know. Maybe even help toss you around a bit. But his orders were... overridden."
"Overridden by whom?" Woody asked trying to keep the panic out of his voice. He couldn't help but wonder if this was all an elaborate ploy to flush him out. Or he was just incredibly lucky...
"Cahill. The man himself wants this handled now."
Bingo! Woody told himself that he would by a lottery ticket the second he could. He could finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully Tillman was getting all this.
Woody was still pondering about the moment he could get back to his desk at the nineteen when he saw Worthington's driver pull the handgun of his jacket.
He could only stand there in horror as he shot the cop point blank.
"Don't just stand there. Close your damn mouth and get in the car Hoyt."
"You just shot him."
"No shit, just get in the car before someone sees us." He looked Woody up and down and laughed, "Watch the upholstery; you got a little backsplash on you."
~~~~~~
At the sound of the gunshot Tillman stood almost knocking his chair over. He could make out the sounds of the car starting before the signal was lost. The battery was dead on Hoyt's phone. He stopped the recording.
Pay dirt. They had a positive link between Worthington and Cahill. And, he thought with a sickening feeling, the added bonus of a tie to a murder of a police officer. Tillman knew he could take this tape to the attorney general and have Cahill charged by nightfall.
He also knew they had to pull Hoyt immediately. He was now an eye witness to a murder.
He paced for a few minutes trying to piece it all together. The cop was killed because Cahill thought he was working undercover for the Bureau. There was only one way he could know there has a plant working for Worthington. There had to be a leak in his own department.
He had to get Hoyt under wraps and quick. But he knew he couldn't use the standard procedures. He didn't know who he could trust in his very own office.
He picked up the phone and called Washington.
His high from the evidence Hoyt had just procured disappeared. He promised Hoyt he could go back to his old life after he finished his job. That was now impossible. Within seconds he was talking to a Deputy Bernard with the US Marshal's Office, Witness Protection Program.
========================================================================
Rambling crappy chapter I know...I chopped a couple chapters down to just one. I wanted to get this thing in gear and get on with it.