Chapter 409: Sara D Roosevelt Park

Friday, February 10th, Afternoon

The taxi she rode in passed down Forsyth Street, and as they stopped at the corner of Rivington Street, she looked out the taxi's window. On the building on the corner was the mural by Eduardo Kobra. She took a deep breath and unknowingly named off the famous names that were connected to the faces she saw: Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, and Amy Winehouse. All had their lives ended by the time they were twenty-seven, mostly from drugs and one from a shotgun. The light changed, and the taxi continued up Forsyth Street to near the corner on E. Houston Street. There the cab dropped her off after she settled her fare. Looking around, she looked across Forsyth.

The pre-noon sun was weak, and the winter winds blew off New York Harbor up the avenues, making the air chiller than what it was. Fallon pulled her coat tighter to her as she walked across Forsyth. She had the taxi take her instead of an UBER to make her more inconspicuous. Fallon pretended to look off in the distance and then went to the door of The Gatsby Hotel and ducked inside. Fallon looked around the hotel lobby for a few minutes, checked her watch, and left, heading towards her destination.

Once she crossed Forsyth Street, and she came to East Houston Street entrance of her destination. Fallon looked up over the stone steps and sighed. Fallon slowly walked up the five steps, felt her feet on the stone pavement, and looked over the trees. Finally, she walked across the pavement and around two basketball courts and walked along Chrystie Street.

Fallon chose to dress rather plainly for this meeting. She wore a simple gray puffer coat, some older faded jeans, which she regretted, and some suede combat boots Keith had bought for her at her request. Fallon's hair was stuffed up into a knit hat, and around her neck hung a black, gray, and white infinity scarf. In some ways, Fallon looked like she was discount basic.

She walked deeper into the park, passing the second of two basketball courts, and looked at the vacant playground equipment. The kids were or should be at school, and it was too early for other types of trades. Fallon rested a hand on her stomach and cursed her barrenness as looking at the playground made her long for something she couldn't do.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man sitting on one of the park benches. At first, Fallon didn't pay him any mind. Slowly, she walked along the playground fence.

"Ms. Stafford," the man on the bench said calmly, coolly, and in an in-charge tone.

"Yes," Fallon said softly.

"Please, have a seat," the man said.

"I'm at a loss here," Fallon said.

He flipped open something that looked like a billfold. A badge and picture ID were in it, matching the person that sat on the bench. "I'm Special Agent Shaun Finch," he said, "Now, please, have a seat."

Fallon walked over and took a seat on the bench. "You're not what I'm expecting," she said.

"We all don't look like Mark Harmon," Finch said, "I could say the same about you."

"I don't like to draw attention to myself," Fallon said.

"Not an unwise plan," Finch said.

"I've been told I'm wise beyond my years," Fallon said.

"I also expected you to be taller," Finch said.

"I get that all the time," Fallon said.

"I bet," Finch said.

"So, we're here, let's talk," Fallon said.

"No, no small talk," Finch said.

"We've already done that," Fallon said.

"You know this park is named after Sara Delano Roosevelt," Finch said.

"I saw that on the sign," Fallon said.

"She objected to the park being named after her, but they did it anyway," Finch said.

"Thanks for sharing," Fallon said.

"There's a reason I am telling you that," Finch said.

"That would be?" Fallon asked.

"The information your lawyer sent us is critical. We've been looking into several of those organizations, and we might now have the beginning of a financial paper trail to follow, and that's all I can say on that," Finch said.

"So, why tell me this and this meeting?" Fallon asked.

"According to your foundations charter, you would have signed off on any financial transactions that large, correct?" Finch asked.

"Yes, the patron as the nominal head of the foundation must sign off on certain large transactions. The number has changed over the years," Fallon said.

"You didn't even see those transactions?" Finch asked.

"No, I didn't, as when I sign anything, and I sign a lot, I make sure I have a copy stamped as a copy for my records," Fallon said.

"Could you have forgotten or lost the copy?" Finch asked.

"No, I make the copies myself," Fallon said, "I back them up on a secure cloud drive, and one of the dates also correspond with a week I was in Norway," Fallon said.

Finch nodded, "Okay, I can check that. Now did you pick Tanner Rich to head the foundation?" he asked.

"Oh, hell no, I hate the man with a passion and every fiber of my being," Fallon said.

"So, why did you keep him?" Finch asked.

"I can't get rid of him; his contract is that airtight," Fallon said.

"So, your father gave him that contract?" Finch asked.

"No, Tanner is my grandfather's man. My grandfather wasn't the best in business," Fallon said.

"Okay?" Finch asked.

"Never lose the principle," Fallon said.

"Okay," Finch said, "That's good to know."

"Do I need a lawyer?" Fallon asked.

"Are you guilty?" Finch asked.

"No," Fallon said defensively.

"Then you shouldn't; we're just having a conversation," Finch said.

"So, what are we doing here?" Fallon asked.

Finch nodded, "As I said, having a conversation. This is also a mere courtesy call," he said.

"A courtesy call? For what?" Fallon asked.

"As I said before, the information your lawyer provided was a key break we needed for our multi-agency investigation. There are a lot of letters involved in this, and we need to make sure you understand that," Finch said.

"Letters?" Fallon asked.

"You know as in the alphabet," Finch said.

"Alphabet?" Fallon asked.

"FBI, ICE, etc.," Finch said.

"Oh, okay," Fallon said.

"Do you understand?" Finch asked.

"Yes, yes, anything you need, I'll do. Want me to wear a wire? I'll do it," Fallon said.

"No, we don't need that at this time," Finch said.

"If you need anything, I'm there," Fallon said.

"We'll keep that in mind, and if we need anything, we'll ask," Finch said.

"So, you don't need anything now?" Fallon asked.

"The only thing we need from you is to keep your normal routine," Finch said.

"Okay, that shouldn't be that hard," Finch said.

"Is there anyone else that could've possibly signed off on these transactions?" Finch asked.

"There aren't many Staffords left," Fallon said.

"Just think," Finch said.

"There's my sister, but she's a minor living in North Carolina," Fallon said.

"Anyone else?" Finch asked.

"I have a distant cousin, out on Long Island, at my family estate there," Fallon said.

"Well, that might be the leak," Finch said.

"I highly doubt Tanner would go all the way out there for a signature," Fallon said.

"Modern tech means not having to travel," Finch said.

"It has to be a wet signature," Fallon said.

"Interesting," Finch said.

"Yeah, my father made sure that was in the conditions the last time we revised the charter," Fallon said.

"He must've had a reason," Finch said.

"The technology was changing, and he didn't trust Tanner," Fallon said.

"Who he couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard he tried?" Finch asked.

"Yeah," Fallon said.

"He was trying to remove Tanner Rich?" Finch asked.

"That's what his corporate lawyer said; he was looking into removing Tanner," Fallon said.

"Your father died young; what did he die of?" Finch asked.

"It's well known he died in a robbery gone bad," Fallon said.

"Interesting," Finch said.

Fallon nodded, "Not really," he said.

"Maybe not," Finch said.

"So, is there anything else that you need to tell me?" Fallon asked.

"No, nothing, Ms. Stafford," Finch said.

"Okay, you still didn't answer one of my questions," Fallon said.

"Which question?" Finch asked.

"Why you told me that Sara Roosevelt didn't want her name on the park," Fallon said.

"Oh, yeah," Finch said, "I thought I did."

"I must've missed it," Fallon said.

"Basically, we're investigating the foundation now, and there's no stopping us," Finch said.

"I understand," Fallon said.

"That is all, Ms. Stafford," Finch said, stood up, and started to walk out of the park.

Fallon sighed, looked at the mist that escaped her mouth. After nodding her head, she stood up and walked out of the park into the Lower East Side. She looked left and right on East Houston Street, nodded, then turned down East Houston Street, having decided to have lunch at Katz's Delicatessen four blocks away.