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chapter fifty-nine
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i'm 'round the corner from anything that's real
i'm across the road from hope
i'm under a bridge in a rip tide
that's taken everything i call my own
-U2, "One Step Closer"
xx
6:45 pm
Martin sat at Sam's desk reading through the late afternoon news cycle, taking special note of the stories about the Senate passing 302 and the bill immediately being signed by President Bartlett. He kept himself occupied while John was on the phone with Anna at his office and Sam and the rest of the team tracked down leads. Danny and Sam just returned with the subpoenas for bank records under all of Senator McCloud's aliases, and the rest of the team was searching the Bureau's database to track any off-shore accounts Wyland might have been able to funnel large amounts of money through.
He was not very focused on the news reports however, instead mainly watching the team as they poured over files and records as they tracked down leads. It was a rare first-hand look into Sam's everyday life, and the closeness that the team definitely shared.
His leg rocked back and forth and, needing something to do to occupy himself, he rose and decided to get himself some coffee. He had just reached the door of the break room when he heard footsteps echoing down the hallway.
"What's going on here?" Jack Malone said, giving Martin a curious look. "Senator, is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong." Martin replied with one hand still firmly planted against the break room door. "I'm just in town helping Sam follow up on Hugo Wyland."
Jack rubbed his chin, nodding slowly. "So she got you involved?"
Martin shrugged. "I wanted to be involved. After all, these people are my constituents; it's my job to protect them."
"Right," Jack replied. "Of course. What do your colleagues in Washington think of this?"
"It doesn't matter what they think," Martin sighed and ran his free hand along the back of his neck. "People deserve to know the truth; no one should be untouchable."
Jack chuckled quietly, and his lips curled upward in a half-smile. "I've got to hand it to you, Senator. You've got guts." He paused for a beat, resting his hands on his hips. There was a glint in his eyes as he continued, "I'm probably going to regret saying this in a few days when my bosses have my head on a plate, but is there anything I can do to help?"
Martin smiled. "Trust me when I say that the only people with their head on a plate when all this is over should be Wyland and anyone he's bought favors from."
"Good."
Both men turned their heads as there was shuffling in the bullpen. Everyone had crowded in front of Danny's computer and spoke quickly amongst each other.
Martin immediately forgot about the coffee and shuffled quickly back into the bullpen with Jack just a step behind him. "What's going on?" he asked.
Sam turned around and made eye contact with him as she said, "This is it; we've got him."
xx
10:30 pm
Martin sat on the sofa in Jack's office as John and Anna worked at Jack's desk, both silently leaning in to Jack's computer, their brows furrowed in concentration.
After uncovering the off-shore account under the name of Hugo Wyland's long-deceased younger brother, Vivian and Jack went down to Wyland industries as a last-ditch attempt to get him to talk. They were originally going to take Sam as well, as she was the one who kept the investigation going, but Sean's mother, Elizabeth Wilson, was coming in from Ashton with several other parents who had sick children, and Sam decided instead that she wanted to be there when they arrived. In the meantime, she was working on an addendum to her case report out in the bullpen with Danny and Naomi.
He watched as Sam pushed her chair out and rose from her desk, walking deliberately towards the office. He felt the family quickening of his pulse as she caught his eye and smiled at him, walking to the office door as she let herself in.
"You look busy," she grinned, and the couch dipped as she sat down beside him. "Contributing to the team, I see."
He smiled back and raised his eyebrow. "As always, my job is to sit in the corner and stay out of everyone else's way."
She leaned in to him, and a loose strand of hair fell in front of her face. "Fortunately you do your job very well," she retorted, her body radiating her satisfaction in their success.
He reached for her hand and replied, "Then we make a great team."
"That we do," she nodded.
At that moment, Anna looked up from the desk. "Senator, Agent Spade," she motioned with one hand to the computer screen and inhaled deeply, "Are you ready? Because there's no turning back now; the Times article just went up online. It should only be hours before the Associated Press picks up the story, and by tomorrow morning it should be the front page story on every paper in the country."
"There's really nothing else we can do tonight," John added. "I would suggest that we all try to head home and get some rest because it's going to be a very busy, very early morning for all of us." He paused for a beat and looked down at where Martin and Sam sat side by side, and then added, "Especially for you two."
xx
January 29, 2004
5:30 am
WYLAND INDUSTRIES DUMPS WASTE, LINKED TO CANCER
By Jim Delany, Senior Correspondent
FOR YEARS Wyland Industries has been heralded as one of the leading privately-owned business in charitable giving, philanthropy, and community involvement. However the Ashton-based industry, founded and owned by Hugo Wyland, has been found at the heart of a decade-long conspiracy to cover up the dumping of toxic waste at the site of the foundry. The waste travels downstream into the suburbs, where the children of Ashton frequently play during the long summer months. Of the small Ashton community, 26 children are currently being treated for several different kinds of cancer that are likely linked to the very river where these children often play.
It all started out so innocently for Sean Wilson; he came home one night with a few extra scrapes and bruises after playing in a Little League game. His mother thought nothing of it initially and chalked it up to a near-miss collision at home plate, but Sean's sudden easy bruising gave way to constant fatigue and frequent heavy nosebleeds. After a few weeks, his mother took him to the pediatrician, who referred her immediately to Dr. Yao at St. Andrew's Hospital. Dr. Yao is a pediatric oncologist who specializes in leukemia, cancer of the blood and bone marrow. She ran several tests and finally the diagnosis came back; Sean had Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, a particularly rare and aggressive form of leukemia. Sean fought a long and hard battle, but he succumbed to the disease one year ago. He was only 10 years old.
Sean is not the only Ashton area child who has suffered the same fate. There are current 26 children in this small suburb being treated for various forms of leukemia, lymphoma, and rare brain tumors, and all 26 enjoyed spending their summers playing outside in the park -- and swimming in the river. The physicians at St. Andrew's Hospital suspect that the rare genetic mutations isolated in all 26 of these children can be traced back to the toxins they were exposed to while innocently spending leisure time swimming each summer.
"You don't even think about it," Elizabeth Wilson, Sean's mother, said late yesterday evening. "You see Hugo Wyland in the papers, giving to this charity and that relief fund, and you just assume that he is as good as his word, that he's protecting your community and your family. But it turns out that the truth is only worth the amount of money you're willing to pay for it."
Wilson holds herself with an air of resilience that can only be possessed by a woman who has already suffered so much -- not only did she lose her only son, but when she tried to learn the truth about what happened to him, she encountered road blocks wherever she went. "No one really wanted to hear anything I had to say for a long time."
She took her story to several environmental action groups, and although several helped her file her concerns with the EPA, nothing ever happened until she met a photographer named Brian Owen, better known as a paparazzi linked to countless celebrity exclusives. Owen took a special interest in Sean Wilson and worked tirelessly to get the very photographs that would prove Wyland Industries was intentionally dumping excess waste.
In the end however, it was not until Owen went missing and the FBI became involved that Elizabeth Wilson was able to find a way to have her story heard. The FBI team investigating Owen's disappearance included none other than Agent Samantha Spade, more popularly known as the woman who is involved with New York's popular young Senator, Martin Fitzgerald, the son of the FBI's Deputy Director.
The work of Agent Spade and the rest of her team uncovered the existence of an off-shore trust fund, set up in the name of Edward Wyland, Hugo's younger brother who died at age 3, coincidentally of an advanced of the cancer neuroblastoma. Wyland has been using money from that account to buy favors from some of Washington's most influential politicians, including but not limited to Senator McCloud (R) of Texas, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Joseph Brazynski (D) of Oregon, Congressman Roger Jenkins (D) of the California 31st District, Governor Juanita Bailey (R) of Ohio, and Former Vice President Howard Little (R). These payments date back as early as 13 years ago, and there is no telling as to how many others have been influenced by Wyland's donations.
Martin leaned against the door jamb and watched as Samantha read the Times' front page article, and his own fist clenched tighter around the copy of the article that came across his fax machine in the middle of the night. From where she sat at the kitchen counter with her back turned to him, she seemed to sense his presence and her head whirled around. "Well," she commented as she placed the front page of the New York Times back down on the counter top, "I think we've successfully opened that can of worms."
Martin watched her sitting at his kitchen counter in her bathrobe, newspaper in one hand and coffee mug clasped firmly in the other. She wore his navy blue terry cloth bathrobe that was several sizes too big, and she was the picture of happiness in spite of the hint of dark circles forming under her eyes. In spite of John's warnings the night before, Sam had wanted to stay until Elizabeth Wilson had arrived at the FBI building and had a chance to talk to the reporter at the New York Times who was writing the story. They had just recently awoken when his cell phone rang; Anna was already getting frantic phone calls from a variety of both political allies and foes. She wanted to get him into the office as soon as possible to schedule a conference call with the President and his staff; this had all the makings and potential of a prime time national political scandal.
"You look inordinately pleased with yourself," he replied as he approached the counter and leaned down to kiss her good morning. "I see you've found the article."
"I did," she nodded and set her cup down on the counter top with a soft clinking noise. "I found it to be very complementary, particularly the part where I am 'the woman involved with popular Senator Martin Fitzgerald.'"
Martin rolled his eyes and waved his hands at her air quotes. "If only they knew the truth."
He sat on the stool next to her and stared long and hard at the front page article of the New York Times, complete with photos by Brian Owen himself. He let out a sigh and felt Sam touch his arm gently.
"It's going to be hard, isn't it?" she asked, her eyes narrow and concern etched across her face.
"It is," he answered, reaching for her hand and clasping it in his. "But it was the right thing to do. No matter what happens, I'm glad you came to me with this."
"I am too," she said softly. "We make a good team."
He smiled. "The best."
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Thanks to everyone who has waited so patiently for me to update this. I'm a little faster at getting this up at Destinedto, but I promise to try to catch up here as well as soon as I can. --spyglass