"Would you like coffee or anything?" asked Nickerson once again.
Rick and A.J. shook their heads—they didn't intend to stay long in this depressingly austere room. Nickerson was willing to release some of the 'privileged' information only in a secure location, which meant one of the interrogation rooms at the bureau.
Nickerson sipped coffee from a Styrofoam cup contemplating where and how to begin.
"We have been working on a human trafficking case for some years. About a year or two into the investigation, we started losing some of our best undercover agents. Two were killed execution style, another one was injured so severely, he's permanently handicapped and has since retired. One other was injured but survived with no permanent damage by sheer luck.
"At first, it was a nagging suspicion, but we eventually came to a conclusion that someone in our office was leaking the classified information to the smugglers, but finding the culprit and rock-solid evidence to back it up was tough and slow going. Fighting a crime syndicate is tough enough, and our team is severely shorthanded after losing so many agents.
"Then, as luck would have it, the role of coordinating Joint Task Force with DEA fell into my lap. It turned out that the kingpin behind the DEA's drug smuggling investigation has connection to our human trafficking case and, quite possibly, is one and the same as our guy."
"Ah! Diversification. My brother always tells me not to put all the eggs in one basket when it comes to investment. Isn't that right, A.J.?" Rick's wisecracking was promptly shushed by A.J.
Nickerson shrugged off Rick's remark and continued. "I had to be frank and tell my counterpart in the DEA about the problem we'd had in our bureau. We had a long discussion and came up with an idea to sniff out the informant."
"Wait a minute. Are you trying to tell us this secret message business was just a trick to flush him out?" asked A.J. bewildered.
"Yes. We got this idea while going over the financial data we'd subpoenaed from various banks to investigate the money-laundering scheme. We couldn't rule out six agents on our team as a suspect, and I led them to believe there was another undercover agent from our bureau gathering information within the crime syndicate although the bureau had suspended the undercover work temporarily. In the FBI, only my immediate superior and I knew the true identity of Agent Daniels. We picked three vehicles scheduled for repossession and delivery to three different financial institutions on the same date…"
"And you divvied up the six guys into three pairs and sent them out on separate errands." Rick was getting the picture.
Nickerson nodded. "We planted three totally different messages in the cars up for a repo and told each pair the same story—the message from our undercover was in a certain vehicle, but there was a glitch, and the code for the next rendezvous with the undercover agent must be retrieved at the bank. Of course, we didn't have our own undercover agent, but Agent Daniels had been embedded deep within the syndicate, so if there had been a leak, he would have heard it. We were confident that the leaked information would have revealed which pair had delivered it to the mob. We eventually could have figured out which one of the two was the guilty one."
"But my brother inadvertently intercepted the message from the pickup…" said A.J.
Nickerson shrugged. "Actually, you two did us a favor—you accelerated the whole process. We didn't have to wait for as long as we'd initially planned to solve our problem. As soon as we heard from Agent Daniels that the syndicate had received a call that the message had been taken from the Ford pickup, we knew which team had to be responsible."
"You used us." Rick sounded resentful.
"We had no control over your action, Mr. Simon. And we assigned a surveillance team on you and your brother right away to ensure your safety. We also got the warrant for wiretapping at your home to determine whether you were associated in any way with the traffickers and your whereabouts, but somehow, you eluded our team… I assume that pizza parlor you mentioned over the phone was a code."
"More like a family joke," said A.J. with a tiny smile.
"But we can't divulge the information," said Rick flippantly.
"We just hoped that you'd be able to decipher the message—it wasn't too difficult a code after all."
The look on the Simon brothers' faces prompted Nickerson to say, "You did a fine job considering that you're not code breakers. I'm glad that you were able to crack the code because that's exactly what we wanted from you. We speculated once you figured out the rendezvous message, you would eventually show up at Trans-Global. It was only the matter of time. So, we posted our men around the building waiting. Agent Daniels led us into the warehouse in the nick of time, and you know the rest."
"So, is it over?" asked A.J.
"As for our internal investigation, yes. We have taken Agent DeGroot into custody as well as several felons working for the smuggling operations. The drug and human trafficking cases are still active."
"I sure hope we won't have to help you guys in those cases too," grumbled Rick.
"You have my word, Mr. Simon."
Nickerson's serious expression finally dissolved into a grin.
S&S S&S
When Rick and A.J. emerged from the interrogation room, it was already two in the morning, Saturday. Waiting for a ride back to their set of wheels, they slouched on the bench in the reception area. In the cold hue of the fluorescent lights, they looked haggard and pale.
"Man, I can't wait to get my power wagon back," said Rick tiredly. "Maybe I can patch things up with Trixie and go on a trip after all."
"We just got over a major crisis, and all you think about is getting your truck and girlfriend back?"
"Why not? Life's short. Why dwell on the negatives?"
"Because one can learn a lot from his mistakes, that's why. It's especially true in your case. After what we have gone through, I hope you've learned your lesson, Rick." A.J. sounded like a father lecturing his unruly son.
"I most certainly have," Rick replied earnestly.
"You have?" A.J. couldn't believe his ears.
"Yup. From now on, I'll stick to cigars." Rick deadpanned.