Chapter 14
Sean Moran tossed back a hit of meth, and paused in his pacing to observe the unconscious agent, tied to the chair. He had to admit, it had been a freaking awesome morning.
It had been a shock to see Jason Walsh at the prison. He remembered him from their Philly days; he was an old acquaintance of Dillon's, and Sean knew that they had business dealings. That was nothing compared to the surprise he'd received when Walsh had murmured that he would be getting out, and followed it with the instructions to go to the rear right corner of the yard.
He'd cut off his bracelet and made it out through the slit in the fence, following Ramon through the underbrush in a torrential downpour, exulting in his freedom, in the rain against his skin. They'd made it to a side road where Ramon had his car stashed, and were on their way minutes after the break. He'd been terrified the police would get a roadblock up before they could get off the road to the hospital, but they'd made the highway without incident. Once they hit the north side of LA, Sean had talked Ramon into stopping and scoring some meth, and they had headed immediately to the warehouse, where Ramon said they had been instructed to wait.
At around 1:00, Walsh had called, and given Sean some directions. He told him to use the disposable cell phone provided by Ramon, and to call one of Eppes' agents, and to let them know that he had Don Eppes. As Sean was receiving the instructions, Ramon tensed at the window, then relaxed and went to open the warehouse door, and several men came in, bearing the unconscious agent himself. It was almost too good to be true, and Sean was so excited he could barely keep his mind on Walsh's words. His brother must have set this up, he thought. Dillon – his hero – had got him out of prison, and was getting revenge, just as Sean had craved all these months, almost as badly as he had craved the meth. It was all coming together, and it was so right, so perfect.
In spite of the almost unbearable excitement, Sean managed to do as he was told. He found a recently received number on Eppes' cell phone, and tried it using the disposable cell, getting Agent Granger on the line. Why Walsh wanted them to know Eppes was in their custody, he had no idea, but he managed to convey that idea without letting on who they were. When he was done, he jotted down the numbers in Eppes' cell phone, as Walsh had asked, and gave it to one of Dillon's men, who left with it. The man would drive, Sean knew, somewhere far away; then dump the phone, in case the agents tried to trace it. Now Sean was pacing the warehouse floor, high on meth, high on the thrill of it all. He couldn't wait to see what else his brother had in store.
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The back door to the Craftsman was unlocked, and Megan, David, and Colby filed in, stepping carefully, examining the scene in the kitchen, with heavy hearts. Unmistakable signs of struggle surrounded them, the table pushed out of the position, chairs askew, one of them broken. Don's SUV still sat in the driveway and his weapon lay in its holster on the counter – further confirmation that Sean Moran's cryptic words meant what they insinuated – that he indeed had their SAC. David knelt to examine a splintered chair leg, lying amidst some spattered drops of blood. Two LAPD officers stepped inside behind them, and Megan turned to them and spoke quietly. "Get out and start hitting the surrounding houses. See if anyone saw anything."
Colby face was imbued with a sickly hue. "It must have happened right after I left. Moran had to have been watching the house."
David rose slowly, and looked at him. "You don't remember anything? A vehicle?"
Colby closed his eyes, trying desperately to recollect what was on the street when he left. "Nothing." He opened them. "There was nothing parked on the street, I know that. He must have pulled into a driveway."
The sound of a car door slamming floated in through the back door, and a moment later, Wright appeared at it, stepping quietly inside; his expression troubled. He glanced at the room and his eyes traveled toward the kitchen door. "Anyone else in here?"
Megan shook her head. "No. I sent the LAPD guys out to canvass houses for witnesses."
Wright shot a glance behind him, and then turned back to them. "What I'm about to tell you does not leave this room. I talked to Dave Maxwell after I left you. A week or two ago, the Philadelphia office initiated an investigation into Dillon Moran's holdings and activities in that area. Based on what Dr. Eppes overheard while he was held captive, we had reason to believe that Dillon Moran had a similar scheme going in Philadelphia; in fact, we believed that the meth house operation in LA was modeled after his business in Philadelphia. In addition, Dave Maxwell had unearthed other evidence that perhaps we had one of our own people involved in that scheme. It was not concrete, but when the Philadelphia office initiated their investigation, Maxwell asked them to discreetly investigate the possibility that a Bureau employee was involved."
He scanned each of their faces. "The Philadelphia office hired a consultant to search out the connections, but decided after a couple of days that he was not moving as fast as they would have liked. In the interest of saving time, we brought Dr. Eppes back in – not to do the work, because that would have been a conflict of interest, but to instruct the other consultant on the principles of the construction of a search program for this type of activity in general. Don was also included in the plan, and provided results from your investigation in LA to the Philly office. Somehow, Moran must have become aware of the investigation. Last night, Dr. Eppes and the other consultant were attacked. Fortunately, we intervened in time to keep them from being seriously hurt, in fact the other consultant escaped unharmed, but Dr. Eppes was moderately injured."
The agents exchanged a glance, and Megan spoke. "Don told us something happened, but he led us to believe it was car accident."
Wright's mouth twisted. "Like I said, this has been a confidential investigation. Today, the program finally provided some results. It indicated a Patrick Conaghan, who was Moran's man that handled the illegal business in Philly, like Lenny Angelo did here. It also indicated, as expected, Dillon Moran – and one Bureau person, Jason Walsh."
There was a sharp intake of breath from the three agents, and a surprised mutter from Colby.
Wright took in their reaction with a dour smile. "Moran and Walsh obviously suspect that the investigation is going on, although we believe that they don't know we've made a connection, or that we now have evidence – otherwise they wouldn't be bothered with trying to take out the consultants; they'd be running instead. We have the other consultant in a safe house in Philadelphia, and Dr. Eppes should be on his way back on a Bureau jet by now. Arrest warrants for Moran and Walsh are being requested as we speak. There is no doubt in my mind that they orchestrated the escape of Sean Moran and the kidnapping of Agent Eppes, but we have no evidence. They have been under surveillance all day. Walsh did visit Sean Moran at the state hospital this morning, but he returned to the hotel before the escape occurred. Our men tell us he's been there ever since, and Moran has been playing tennis at his club for the better part of the day. They have alibis for both the prison break and the kidnapping, so we'll need to rely on the warrants from the Philadelphia investigation for an arrest. Once they know we have them on the Philadelphia meth business, I'm hoping they'll give us Don's location as a bargaining chip."
David spoke slowly, his brow furrowed. "But then they would be admitting to kidnapping, in addition."
Megan shook her head. "Not necessarily. They could claim Sean Moran did the kidnapping, and they found out after the fact."
Wright nodded. "That's precisely what we believe – we think they sprang Sean in order for him take the fall for this. Why else would they take that risk, with everything else going on? They're desperate, but they're also smart. If we didn't have the case break in Philly, we'd have nothing to hold them for."
"Desperate enough to kidnap a federal agent – they had to take him for information," Megan said, looking at Wright for confirmation.
Wright frowned, nodding. "That is the only thing we can think of, although Don didn't know the consultants had broken the case yet. He did get the phone number and location of the new safe house last night, but other than that, he has nothing to give them. Even if he did, we've moved the other consultant again, as a precaution, and we'll put Dr. Eppes under wraps as soon as he lands. There is nothing that Don can provide that will help them."
"But they don't know that," said Colby quietly. "What happens when they find out he doesn't have anything?"
"That's why we're moving to pick up Moran and Walsh now, and hold them until the warrants come in," said Wright, his face grim. "I don't like the alternative."
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Jason's poker game broke up at around 2:00 p.m., primarily because he opted out. He had already created his alibi for the Eppes kidnapping, and he knew that Dillon would be heading out to the warehouse, as they had planned. It was time to get on the road.
He stopped by his room and picked up a jacket with a hood and the car keys for the G6, and stepped out, quietly closing his door. He opted for the stairs, and was heading down the stairwell toward the first floor when the elevator doors opened on his floor, disgorging four LAPD officers, on their way to his room. Blissfully unaware that he had just missed being apprehended, Walsh donned his jacket, put up the hood, and slipped out a side entrance, into the mist. He took the precaution of walking two blocks out of his way and doubling around on a circuitous route to make sure he was not being followed, before he made for the garage and the G6.
He called Dillon on the way, and found that Moran had left the gym, had managed to elude his surveillance, and was en route. Better yet was the fact that Jason would get there before Moran; he wanted to be there to soften Dillon's surprise at Sean's presence. He congratulated himself mentally at having Sean Moran make the phone call after the kidnapping. It had done two things: it had established the time of the kidnapping, which solidified his and Dillon's alibis and allowed them to move sooner, and, if the agents recognized the voice on the other end, it further implicated Sean.
As he pulled down the road to the industrial park, he noted with approval that Dillon's site selection was close to perfect. The cluster of buildings was off the beaten path, accessible by an unpopulated road rimmed with nothing but trees. The complex was new, and most of the buildings appeared to be under construction or waiting to be leased. As he entered the industrial park itself, he saw that only one other business had vehicles in front of it, which he surmised would be leaving soon for the weekend – it was 2:30 on a Friday afternoon. In any event, that business was at the other end of the complex, not even within view of the warehouse where they held Eppes – and more importantly, not within earshot.
He pulled into the gravel parking area in front of the building, and the door to the warehouse swung open as he approached. Ramon held it for him, and Walsh's keen eyes swept the room as he entered. The first thing that caught his eyes was Eppes. The agent, now conscious, was tied securely to a chair, and his look of stunned surprise at Jason's appearance gave Walsh a surge of relief. Eppes obviously didn't know that he was involved, which meant that the consultants still had not made that connection – that their programming must not be done. That meant that all of this was worth it – they still had time to find Dr. Eppes and his counterpart, take them out, and destroy their work.
The second thing that Walsh noticed, with disgust, was that Sean Moran was already as high as a kite. He was pacing excitedly, his eyes glittering, and he strode forward as Jason entered, a stream of excited questions tumbling from his mouth. Before Jason could begin to decipher them, Ramon moved to open the door again, and Sean's attention was immediately diverted, as Dillon entered the room.
Sean flew toward his brother, enveloping him in a fierce embrace, which Dillon, in shock, returned as Sean babbled. "I knew you'd get me out of there, man – I knew it! And you got Eppes – you're gonna let me do him, right? And we're gonna get the brother too. You gotta give them to me. What are we doin' – where are we goin' after here? I can do Mexico – I heard-"
"Sean!" exclaimed Dillon sharply, taking him by the shoulders and shaking him a little. "Slow down, take a breath." He looked at Jason, bewildered. "What the hell is this, Walsh?"
Jason smiled, well aware that Eppes was watching them warily. "Let's just say I had an opportunity to do you a favor. I knew how much you hated having him in that place."
Dillon looked at him suspiciously, but didn't pursue the conversation; Jason was sure he didn't care to discuss the issue in front of his brother. Instead he looked at Sean, and murmured, "Already on the stuff, Seanie boy? You couldn't wait even a couple of hours."
Sean's face fell, and he whined, "You don't know what it's like, Dillon. Anyway, I just did it to celebrate." He grinned suddenly, a mercurial change of expression. "I'm gonna go clean after this – you'll see – I'm just partying a little." He looked at Don, and licked his lips. "What are we gonna do with the fed?"
Moran glanced at Walsh, and then moved forward, pacing slowly, deliberately toward Don, stopping in front of him. "That depends on how willing he is to cooperate."
Don stared back at him, his jaw set. When he'd woken a half hour ago, still groggy, his head throbbing, he'd had a hard time piecing coherent thoughts together. Even when his head became clear, the situation hadn't – he couldn't fathom how Sean Moran had pulled off his own escape and a kidnapping – the man didn't have the mental firepower, Don was sure. The appearance of Walsh was a shock, but that and the entrance of Dillon pulled it all together. Dillon and Walsh were in this together, and this was their doing, not Sean's. Walsh – he should have known. All along there were elements to the case that pointed to someone with high level access to government records.
He twisted his bound hands behind him, and Dillon smiled with amusement as he watched.
"We really have only one question, Agent Eppes," he said softly. "We can make this quick. Where is your brother?"
Don returned his gaze, with eyes as dark and hard as agates. "At a math conference in Atlanta."
The smile left Dillon's face, as Jason and Sean stepped up behind him. "Don't be stupid, agent. You will tell us, trust me – it's just a matter of how hard you want to make this. We know you're in on what he's doing, and we know he's in a safe house in Philadelphia. Where is it?"
"I don't know," Don retorted. He turned his head as Moran lifted his arm, but Dillon's backhand still caught him squarely on the side of the face, and he tasted blood, felt it drip out of the corner of his mouth and down his chin.
Dillon bent forward, his face white with anger. "Where is he?"
Don turned his head and smiled, viciously, his eyes locked on Dillon's. "Fuck you, Moran."
Dillon's hand shot out, he grabbed Don by the neck, and drove a fist into his unprotected gut, his chest heaving with anger. "You want to play that game, then fine, Eppes. My brother will be more than happy to have a chance to convince you."
Don gasped, trying to catch his breath, as Dillon stepped back, and Sean moved forward, his eyes gleaming with hate. He barely managed to suck in a breath, before a fist exploded in his solar plexus, making stars whirl in front of him. Through the pain, he clung to one thought. The clock on the warehouse wall read 2:45 p.m. Charlie would be in LA in a few hours, was already in the air – and there was no way he could let them know that. The longer he could hold out, the longer he could keep them occupied, the less chance they would have to find out that his brother would soon be within their reach. He closed his eyes, as Sean's fist found his left eye socket, and lights exploded in his brain. Had to hold out, had to hold out…
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End Chapter 14