Disclaimer: Mary and Marshall belong to David Maples. If they hadn't been misused by others I wouldn't be writing this.
Provoked Too – Chapter 16 – Rat's Trap
After the shootouts, accusations and commendations Mary welcomed being home with Bug. At work she even relished the routine witness reports, annoying phone calls and job searches for one of her witnesses. At the end of a productive and quiet day she's locking her desk when her phone pings with a text from an unknown number. 'Meet me halfway,' followed by '7 is your lucky number.' Knowing Lucas has a burner, Mary calls Joanna and arranges for her and Mark to keep Norah overnight. Mary feels a twinge of remorse for sticking them with a teething baby. She's had weeks of those nights. It's Mark's turn.
Arriving at the Halfway Bar Mary spots Lucas' Land Rover and heads for the entrance. Before she can reach it a raspy voice from the shadows says "Pssst. Wanna buy some used origami?" She peers around the corner of the building to see Marshall and Lucas.
Hands on hips she stares at Marshall who pulls her into the alley. Lucas is right behind him. "We need to meet somewhere else. I just talked to Michael. He thinks someone has this place staked out."
Mary surveys the small dirty parking lot. "What is this Spy vs Spry?" Not that Mary wants to spend another minute in that tacky bar with the piss poor beer.
"I've got a new place," Marshall offers.
Mary gives him a quizzical look. "Yeah, you live at the Prairie Complex." That's not new.
Marshall looks pained. "I moved to the apartment complex with the inadequate closets." He knew she'd remember the mobster's daughter who saw her mother shot to death. After entering WitSec her main concern was the size of the closet at her Albuquerque apartment. That didn't bother Mary. She knows people grieve differently. Anger is her go to emotion.
After studying him, she gets it. "Okay."
"Let's get out of here before our cars get stripped," Marshall warns. Driving the Probe Mary never thought twice about leaving it in the unlit parking lot of a crappy bar in a dangerous neighborhood. Nobody would steal that pile of junk – assuming they could get it running. "Let's rendezvous at the Sunshine Building."
"Don't say rendezvous," Mary grouses. She gets in her minivan without a backward glance leaving Lucas and Marshall to follow.
Marshall surveys the parking lot as he would for a witness transfer. "You really think this level of precaution is necessary?" He's not used being this careful for his own safety.
Lucas nods. "The Boss's customers are a vicious bunch and they are pissed about not getting their guns. They've offered a bounty for ATF agents and substantial rewards for information leading to the guns and who took them. They want revenge as much as they want their shipment."
Marshall nods, accepting Lucas' reasoning. He leans out the window of his truck, "Park on the rooftop. "She'll be there," Marshall assures him.
The trip to the Sunshine Building took longer than usual because they each took pains to be sure they weren't followed. Lucas and Marshall's cars are parked side by side when Mary pulls up. Lucas is leaning against his car but Marshall is nowhere to be seen. As she's getting out of the van the elevator disgorges the man himself laden with vests, helmets and assault rifles.
"Can't hurt to gear up. Especially since we're targets," Marshall grunts around his load.
Lucas opens the hatch on his car, gesturing for Marshall to drop his load there. "We'll take my car." Lucas suggests. "It doesn't scream lawman and it's easier to maneuver than the mom mobile." Mary calls shotgun and Marshall resigns himself to the back seat.
Lucas follows Marshall's directions to his new place. As curious as she is about his new living arrangements, Mary stays in the car finishing her good night call to Norah. Following Lucas she trudges up to the top floor. "Why did he get the penthouse if there's no elevator?
Marshall was waiting for her and he holds the door open. "Mi casa es su casa." The walls are bare. The furniture is bland. None of Marshall's collections are on display assuming he even has them. Mary pokes her nose into the bathroom and bedroom confirming that Marshall is sans roommate. Marshall's amused watching her check his place as they would a witness's. He's waiting for her to call 'clear.'
They settle around the kitchen table. Always the obliging host, Marshall gets beers and a bag of tortilla chips.
"What? No guac?" Mary complains. Her mouth is full but Marshall can translate. He puts a bowl of guacamole on the table.
"Your wish is my command." He eyes the blonde stuffing chip after chip into her mouth. "Have you never had tortilla chips? You know can buy them at any grocery store."
"Nope, I'll eat them," she says scooping up some dip. "If I'm desperate there are teething biscuits. Those aren't bad if you gum them enough."
"Ew," Marshall curls his mouth in disgust and Lucas grimaces.
Mary gestures with a chip. "So what's the reason for the stealth and all the party toys? And where's Mikey? He should be here."
"Michael called. Caldwell is connected to a white supremacist group, the White Knights. This is the second botched delivery so it's ratcheted up the tension between what's left of the Boss' organization and his customers."
"Did the ATF ever figure out where did the real guns went?" Mary asked.
"Were there ever any real guns?" Lucas shrugs. "It's a long way from Argentina to Albuquerque. They could have been heisted anywhere along the way. The ATF found guns manufactured in Argentina connected to hate crimes in Texas, Arizona and Kansas."
"How did they know the guns came from Argentina? Were they able to trace the serial numbers?" Mary wants to know.
"Michael says the ATF has a new equipment for identifying weapons even without serial numbers."
Marshall's impressed. "I've read about that. Didn't know anyone was using it."
Lucas sets down his beer. "That's what Michael told me."
Mary stops chewing and looks at Marshall. "Did Abigail turn up any of this? She was investigating the Boss for months, right?"
Marshall shakes his head. "I dunno. If she did, she never told me. I should have realized something was off when she stopped mentioning her investigation. It was all she talked about for months. Chief Paradiso would know." Marshall grabs a chip. "He was quite forthcoming, even apologetic when I talked to him after your arrest." Marshall shoves the bowl of dip closer to Lucas and away from Mary. "Did Michael say anything else?"
"He's not certain who from the Boss' gang is still at large, but Caldwell knows Mary was at the warehouse. He seems to be connected to both the Boss and the White Knights. His people could be watching you two."
"People?" Mary says. "That scumbag has people? Are any witnesses in danger?"
Lucas looks to Marshall since he has no idea how WITSEC works. "Does Caldwell know which witnesses are Mary's?"
"He shouldn't. He only has access to the names and casefiles of his own witnesses. Stan set up the Phoenix Inspectors that way and I haven't changed it."
Mary's rooting in the bag of chips. "What did the scan of his work computer show?"
"Nothing yet. Homeland Security has some cracking tools I wish we had. It's slow going. I don't even know what's been authorized."
Lucas reaches for the dip. "ATF can set that up. Where is the computer?"
"On his desk, at the Sunshine Building. We didn't want to tip our hand so the scan is being done remotely."
Lucas takes out a burner and places a call. After explaining the problem the person on the other end needs some answers. "Is it on the DoJ network?" Marshall nods. "Yes." Lucas ends the call abruptly. "They can work with your system admin. We should have something soon."
"Must be nice to have all the answers at your fingertips," Marshall admits grudgingly.
Lucas shrugs. "Michael cleared me with his boss. I'm sure one day you'll have your own network of contacts."
Mary rolls her eyes and looks from one man to the other. "Really? You going to make this all about whose network is bigger?" She takes a sip of beer. "So that's his phone and computer. Any eyes on him?" Mary would love to see the jackass tailed. She's still embarrassed that she didn't spot Caldwell tailing her.
Lucas frowns. "I don't know. Michael doesn't tell me everything."
"So that's it? We just sit and wait?" Mary isn't the patient type.
Marshall isn't any happier about waiting. "What would you do Mare? Follow some skinhead to their hideout and the three of us take them down? It will take more than that to take down a militia with a stockpile of weapons. This is a multi-state, multi-agency operation." Lucas nods in confirmation.
"Then why doesn't one of those 'multi-agencies' tell us what's going on? What are they waiting for? They know who's involved. They know where. Why are we sitting here?" Her eyes narrow and she stares at Lucas, figuring he's not telling all he knows. "Is there someone they need to spring before they can take them down?"
"I dunno. Michael told me DoJ is working with that new snitch from the Boss's gang."
"But what does that have to do with Caldwell?" Marshall's concerned about his Inspectors. Had Caldwell breached WITSEC security? Are any other Inspectors in danger?
Lucas puts down his beer. "I don't know. If the Boss was dealing with Caldwell, the new snitch, uh witness, might know something."
Mary's tired of talking and walks to the front window, scanning the parking lot. "Where's Mikey? We need to know what he knows."
As if an answer to Mary's demand, Lucas' phone rings. "It's Michael. I'll put in on speaker."
Before they can ask him any questions, Michael shouts, "Caldwell's down. Repeat. Caldwell's down. I'm going in."
"Where is he?" Mary asks. Marshall is busy punching buttons on his phone.
"I've got the GPS on Caldwell's phone. He's at the warehouse."
Mary yells, "Let's roll. If Caldwell's involved it's a trap."
A/N: This story is mostly written so chapters will be posted on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Enjoy!