Part 13

Day 4 Morning

At the office

"I can't believe it they got away right in front of us and we couldn't do anything!" Danny was tired and frustrated and didn't try to hide it.

"I think we'll hear from them sooner than we want." Sam voiced everybody's concern, not realizing that she shuddered slightly as she spoke.

"You think they'll come after Martin?" asked Danny

"No. Brian. They want him; they'll be sure to come after him."

"I'll talk to Washington. I don't know what to do with that boy." said Jack "First things first however, we've got to talk to these people, see what we can uncover. There still may be more to this than we already know. Van Doren has alerted IA and they will be investigating as well." Jack new it was inevitable that IA was involved; still, he didn't like it.

The team split, each heading to an interrogation room.

Danny was with one of the men who had last kidnapped Brian and Martin "...so tell me, Agent Petersen, what would be a good explanation for you and your partner kidnapping a fellow FBI agent and a little boy? I'm interested in why you beat him. Care to share? I'm listening..."

Petersen's eyes were focused in the distance. He knew this could happen, and he knew there were others waiting outside to kill him if he talked. He also knew that if he didn't talk there wasn't any chance for him to get out without harm. He thought for several minutes and then made his decision. He chose to talk. He knew he was probably signing his death warrant, but hell, that had been signed the minute he got taken into custody. If he was going down, he was going to take some of them with him.

"We didn't know the place of the deal. Collins told us that Agent Fitzgerald had seen a clue at the Hoskins' house that gave it away. That's why we took him. Collins didn't want Fanning to get everything after all the work we'd done."

"But if Fanning knew the place why didn't you..."

"He wanted to betray us. Fanning was a double dealing, dirty…he was with Coltwell now. Don't expect me to have any remorse over his death, either of them."

"But what was the plan in the first place?" Danny was losing his patience, God, he was so tired.

"Fanning would be on the inside. He was supposed to get to the top and he did. Our job was to keep them safe, make sure any of the cases that went to court were dismissed. Fanning was supposed to gain stature in the organization and secure Coltwell's confidence and then the Colombians' confidence. He had big plans, in the end he was going to take over for Coltwell. Today was the chosen day".

"Who took the kid the first time?"

"We did it all the times. We wanted, no needed the Hoskins to be on our side. Peter was a close friend of Coltwell and didn't want to go along with us. So we took the boy as insurance."

"What about Agent Fitzgerald?"

"Hoskins called Coltwell to let him know the boy was taken. He thought the Colombians had taken his kid as an act against him and Coltwell. We heard the whole conversation. We've been tracing everything for months now. We heard them talking about some photos they had taken and that were in the house, photos of us, Collins, Fanning, Talbot and some others. It was a form of security for them, just in case we tried anything. Ironic isn't? No honor among thieves for sure. Anyway, once the FBI got involved and Fanning found out that your agent had been to the house, he knew your agent would recognize him and maybe others too. So he decided it was better to take him out of there before he could see the pictures. But he'd already seen the album, as we found out later."

"Did some of you have contact with the Colombians?"

"Fanning did Coltwell and the Hoskins too, of course. With Coltwell being dead, I think they'll find some others to deal the drugs from now."

"You do realize that if you hadn't taken the boy, then we would never have been called in, Agent Fitzgerald wouldn't have been in the Hoskins' house, seen the photos and been able to identify Fanning and the others." Danny couldn't help but needle Petersen for all of the pain and suffering that had been caused because of his and his partners' stupidity. He grinned maliciously, enjoying the look of defeat on Petersen's face. Then he got up and exited the room, stopping at the door and chuckling at Petersen's shocked expression.

"Stay put, try not to think of any other brilliant ideas. I'll be back in a bit."

He wanted to get Jack this information to assist him in his interrogation of Talbot. He stopped at his desk long enough to organize his notes and then knocked on the door to the room where Jack was interrogating Talbot. He knocked quickly, opened the door, whispered in Jack's ear and handed him a copy of his notes. Then he gathered his files and notes and headed to see Martin. He didn't spare Petersen any more than a passing moment of reflection knowing that IA would be there shortly.

Jack had been with agent Talbot longer than he wanted. He was tired and felt more than a little dirty in the presence of a rogue agent. "Well, Mr. Talbot, I don't think I'll be calling you agent anymore what do you have to say?" Jack was deliberately being vague with his question. He was mad at the betrayal that had occurred and for now he only had Talbot to spend his wrath on and he wasn't afraid to spend a lot.

"I... I need a lawyer..." he saw the rage in Jack's eyes, this wasn't anything he'd expected to happen, Collins never said this could happen, "I don't know what you mean? Can't we make a deal?"

"Mmm... I don't know...a deal with you? You were working on both sides! How should I know you're telling the truth?" Jack was really having fun with this one, and it was going to get better within the next few hours. "What do you have to offer that I already don't know?" He didn't glance at the outline Danny had just given him but he knew the contents having perused it briefly.

"I have the names of all the agents you still don't have!"

"I'm not sure if our lists will match..." maybe in the end he wouldn't need to make a deal with this one."We can start trying to match cities maybe..." Jack was enjoying the moment; this former agent was really an idiot.

"Well, the offices are Florida, Washington, Chicago and New York"

"I already had those, nothing new to me, Talbot"

"So what do you really know that would be new to me, Mr. Talbot?" Jack enjoyed adding the emphasis to Mr.

"The operation started in Washington 5 years ago. Fanning and some friends of his decided to get into Coltwell's organization. That's what started the whole charade of the investigation."

"Still nothing new to me..." Jack looked bored.

"Some of Fanning's friends were very high in the Bureau and could handle things pretty well. They are very loaded, not only with money but with access. One of them is the fiancée of Fitzgerald's secretary, that's how we got access to first hand information."

Jack hid his surprise but his stomach clenched wondering what else had been compromised. "I need names, not just stories."

"It depends on what you've got for me."

"Why don't you sit here and think of all the names you're going to tell me. I'm hungry and tired, think I'll step outside and get a sandwich and some coffee." He smirked a little knowing that the man in front of him had to be equally tired and hungry and he didn't offer him anything.

He went outside and made a quick call. "I need to know what I can give them, Victor."

"What did they say, that could be so interesting?" Professional that he was, Victor was not happy that he wasn't there participating in the interrogations. He wanted to look into the eyes of those agents who had betrayed the confidence of all their fellow agents and who had been willing to drag the name and reputation of the FBI in the dirt for money, blood money. The bile rose in his throat as he realized that some of that blood had been his son's.

"Don't give them anything. Let them sweat. I'm en route and we'll work together on this."

Jack decided that he really was hungry and that a sandwich and cup of coffee would be a great idea. So, he left Talbot wondering and went in search of a little food. After grabbing a sandwich from the take out that had been delivered he went to observe Sam's interview.

This was Coltwell's bodyguard, he didn't expect to get so much from him, but they had to try. He'd left Collins for the last interview, so they could face him with the necessary knowledge to allow them to discern truth from lie, and he'd planned to do this with Victor Fitzgerald who was now on his way. He also wanted Martin to be on the other side of the window, it was the least he could offer the agent after all the suffering he had been through.

Sam was calmly asking her questions, her experience and training getting the better of her emotions although Jack knew it was a difficult task.

"So, Mr..." and she looked down on the file "Frank Tomasino, I know you were Mr. Coltwell's bodyguard, what other kind of work did you do for him?"

Jack had had an agent take a copy of Danny's interview to Sam so she could use it in her questioning.

"I took care of the whole security business inside and outside the company"

"Meaning what? Background checks on people?"

"Yeah, that too."

"And you think you were doing a good job?"

"Of course I did a good job. I was the only one who found out about the real Fanning!"

"And what was your advice regarding him, for example?" she was twisting the knife inside the wound and she knew it.

"We were working on it with Peter Hoskins."

"I see. Maybe I should just send you to prison and let them know how you can sing..." and she stood up to leave the room.

"Look lady, you're not threatening me, I'm not talking until I have something in writing for me. I assure you I can take down all the bad apples in your tree. I know everybody's name. I was the one that made that really nice family album at the Hoskins' and I made a copy. But I want a deal, a really good one, and I want all of them in jail. That's my condition; I don't want you making deals with them too."

"Let me see what I can do about that, but lets start first with one of those names, lets say... the biggest one?" she was trying her luck.

But Tomasino was no fool, he wouldn't let go of something so big but he was willing to let her think that he would.

"I'll do that for you blondie, his name is Max Brunner, and he works for Victor Fitzgerald since 4 years ago. He's the guy who makes sure all the relevant information and physical evidence is removed from any case that pertains to Coltwell."

"And how did he get that job? Fitzgerald is really careful with the people he chooses to work with" she knew this was a very good point of interest.

"Somebody he knows very well recommended Brunner to him. I'm not saying anything else until you get me that deal" and he closed his mouth and stared at her expectantly.

"I'll be back." Sam left the room feeling like she needed a shower. She thumbed open her cell phone and called Jack who was on his way to the hospital

"Malone"

"Jack, it's Samantha. I've got some information from Tomasino. No surprise that he wants a deal. According to him someone by the name of Max Brunner works for Victor. This Brunner apparently was inside Coltwell's organization and also managed to get a job working for Victor. Apparently a 'friend' of Victor's recommended him. There's more involved here than just drugs. No telling how far the betrayal goes in Victor's chain of command. This Tomasino is the one who made the family photo album that got Martin grabbed and he says he has a copy.

"That's great; the one at the Hoskins' house is missing. We need to get our hands on that album and see if we can recognize any other participants. I'm heading to the hospital. I want to see for myself that Martin is alright and see how quickly we can get him released. He deserves to be in on some of these interviews, even if it's only as an observer. It's the least I can do to try and heal some of his wounds."

"OK. Do you think they're going to release him? Is it good for him to leave the hospital?"

"I don't know. But the faster he can put this behind him the better, and, when we get our hands on that duplicated photo album he might be able to recognize more faces."

Jack knew that Martin had a near photographic memory. The only problem was, how much of that memory was still there? He knew that Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder could affect people in manner different ways. What if Martin couldn't remember, what if he chose not to remember, what if he was too injured. God, Jack thought, he really was tired.

TBC