Chapter 16 – Stan and Plans
Safe House, Poughkeepsie, NY
Waking alone, Mary trundled downstairs to the kitchen, following the smell of coffee. Marshall was awake, humming cheerfully and working on breakfast. He hands her a cup of coffee, and gestures for her to sit at the small kitchen table. Marshall knew better than to talk to Mary before she had caffeine on board.
She sat, the cup warming her hands, eyes closed. A scraping noise made her open her eyes to see a plate of eggs and bacon in front of her. Handing her a fork, Marshall sat down to his own breakfast, hopping up when the toaster popped. They sat and ate. The sounds of their chewing were soon joined by steps on the stairs signaling Stan's arrival.
"Good morning, Stan my man." Mary glared at Marshall for being obnoxiously upbeat so early in the day. Marshall motioned to the counter where coffee, eggs and bacon waited.
Groggily, Stan grabbed a cup and filled it. Stan thought of Eleanor when he saw the Macchiato flavored creamer he liked. His face looked as sleep rumpled as his suit. Stan filled a plate and joined them at the table.
"We're perfect partners Stan." Mary paused, pointing with her fork. "Marshall can cook and I can eat. Perfect. Right?" Mary did think this was the perfect partnership. She could cook, but Marshall's always tasted better. She'd have to get him to teach her a few of his tricks. Her expression softened as she thought of his bed time 'tricks.'
Stan ignored Mary. "This looks great Marshall. Thanks. What's on the agenda for today?"
The needed to regroup, to put all the information they had into a coherent plan. There were still too many unknowns. They all worried about the leak in the Jersey marshal's office. Stan wondered if it was connected to the mob. Was it focused on Mary? Who was gunning for Mary? He was concerned for the safety of his Inspectors. Stan knew that if Mary was the target, Marshall would be there. He would shield her, take a bullet for her, and do everything in his arsenal to protect her.
While Stan finished eating, Marshall cleared his and Mary's dishes and set up the laptop on the kitchen table. Marshall's memory was good, but this was too important to miss any of the facts they and Eleanor had gathered. Murmuring encouragements to the machine, he booted it up and inserted the flash drive he had used at the Annex.
Finally awake enough to focus, Mary groused over her coffee cup. "You never whisper sweet nothings like that to me"
Without looking up from the screen, Marshall protested, "Like you respond to sweetness."
Marshall had realized long ago that he was the girl in their relationship. He was romantic, preferring thoughtful touches and a slow build up of burning desire. Marshall's love was like a banked fire, the embers, warm and comforting and always there. Mary went from zero to sexy in 60 seconds. It amazed Marshall that she could be so cold and calculating one minute, and jumping his bones the next. Not that he minded.
"Why don't you clean up the kitchen, Sunshine? I'll get this diagnostic running. I want to make sure all the documents created at the Annex are clean." If the leak had compromised the network, a virus or worm could have been inserted into any documents created on Marshall's borrowed computer.
"Makes sense." Stan nodded his approval and produced a flash drive from his pocket.
"Do this one too. Eleanor put everything she found on here." Stan missed Eleanor, but it was imperative he be here for this operation, for Mary. His broader picture of the Marshal Service, the personalities and political agendas might have bearing on the leak. The threat to Mary was real, but the threat the leak posed to the integrity of the Marshal Service was as dangerous and in its own way, critical not only to their plans, but the entire Service.
Program running, Marshall sat back and patted his stomach. "Remind me to thank Eleanor." Mary was glad to see him was fueled for the day. Or the next few hours. It took a lot to keep Marshall going. Especially since he insisted on eating healthy stuff, like salads and vegetables.
As she picked up Stan's plate she took a good look at him. Mary had never seen the Chief so disheveled, worried and tired. "Where's your bag, Stan?"
"In the trunk. I'll get it later." He waved his hand, motioning her concern away.
Mary's hand jittered as she got the car keys. Stan's eyes followed her to the stairs leading to the garage. The next thing he heard was Mary's footsteps scurrying up the stairs. She tossed his bag on the floor. "Here. Go freshen up Daisy." Stan looked up from his coffee regarding her with bemusement. Mary never helped, but she had just done it. Without being asked. This was a big change in the brash blonde's behavior. He'd have to talk to Eleanor about this. Stan handed her his cup and she took it to the sink and began washing dishes.
With Stan out of the kitchen, Marshall went to the sink and put his arms around Mary. Mary relaxed in his embrace, leaning back, pressing their bodies closer. "Great breakfast. Yuummm bacon. Doofus, you know the way to this girl's heart." She sighed, and thought about what she'd just said. She'd never said that to any man.
"You got Stan out of the kitchen just so we could do this." He turned her and began a soul searing kiss, tasting bacon, eggs, coffee and Mary. She pushed him away. "Sneaky, Marshall, but you still have to dry." He caught the towel she tossed. If she was going to hand him the ammunition, he was going to use it. He whapped her on the ass.
"Is that any way to treat your dishwasher?" Mary loved playful Marshall. He knew she needed a moment or two to clear her head. He was just the man to give it to her. She turned back to the sink. "Lemme finish these." He was aware her hands were in water and prepared for a splash, but she just washed.
"Humph, you'd rather have me dry dishes than make out? You're such a girl," he teased.
"Yeah, but I'm your girl." Mary grinned. "Let's save that for later." Mary was impatient, not the kind of person to put things off, especially things that involved mutual gratification. But she understood their current situation. Having Stan in the house and being on the run meant putting her personal needs on the back burner. Reluctantly, Marshall dialed down his own need and finished drying and putting away what they had used. Then he checked the laptop.
The contents of the first flash drive had been verified. Marshall inserted the drive from Stan and went to check the perimeter. Mary checked the garage and looked out the sniper window. It was a square opening in the cement block, with vertical bricks alternating with open spaces. Even in this climate, there was no glass in the openings. The garage required ventilation. Mary thought Marshall would compare the openings to the arrow slits on a castle. Mary whined about Marshall's incessant outpouring of trivia, but couldn't help remembering some of it. Some of it was useful. She realized Marshall without trivia wouldn't be Marshall.
Stan came back into the kitchen in dress slacks and a clean shirt. He looked more awake. The three of them gathered around the laptop on the kitchen table. Stan made notes on a yellow legal tablet. Marshall showed them the results of his threat assessments and contact searches. Officially, Rosco was nowhere to be found. Unofficially, they had the private security video of Rosco and James Shannon. The warden from Evan's prison said Evans was still in his cell. What is going on is between Jeburk, Rosco and James Shannon. Where are they?
The laptop beeped alerting them to a message from Eleanor. Marshall quickly established a secure line. Stan leaned in. "Good morning. What have you got for us?"
"Not much, I'm afraid. No other sightings of any of the principals. The AUSA is still investigating human trafficking at the container yard. After the ambush, all the containers connected to the shell company were searched. They found traces of drugs, but only traces so far. Many of the containers had office furniture."
"Desks?" asked Stan.
"Umm yes."
"Did they open all the drawers and check the depth of the back panels on the desks?"
"I'll check on that. I've run the financials on all the principals and found they were all investors in a firm connected to the Commission."
Despite Eleanor's faith in Marshall's security protocols, old habits die hard. She was careful not to mention any names over an open line. You never knew who could be listening. The 'Commission' was the mob's ruling council.
"There's probably more than one shell company involved. I'll do some more digging."
"Anything on how the Commission knew about the operation at the container yard?"
Marshall interrupted. "I may have a line on that. The Jersey Asset Forfeiture division has the lowest amount of seized assets reported. That doesn't track with the property in the case reports."
"Interesting. I may have a way of checking on that."
Stan brought the session to a close and promised to keeping in touch. Marshall created an encrypted email with the names and numbers for the Asset Forfeiture staff, and sent it to Eleanor. Anything she found could be important.
Mary finished cleaning up the kitchen while Stan checked the perimeter. Marshall disconnected the laptop from the internet and worked. They regrouped before noon to decide what to do next.
"We have enough food for a few days, but we need to do something," Mary was primed for action. All the driving, sleeping and sitting around made her anxious. Marshall and Stan were the planners. The discussion about what they should be doing was interrupted by the ringing of Marshall's blackberry. Mary startled at the sound. She thought he had turned it off so they couldn't be tracked.
"Hello." Marshall listens then mouthed "Ruiz" to the others. The Detective has a tip about the guy who ordered Jinx kidnapping. It confirmed their suspicions about Lamarko Rosco. He's been heard from, but no one admits to seeing him or knowing his whereabouts. Ruiz has passed his photo around to his CIs.
"Thank you Detective. Have you notified Chief Varney of this development?" Marshall inquired.
"No, no, there's no need for you do call him. I'll pass the word. Call or text me anything you get on the kidnapping or the assault on Inspector Shannon."
After a few more uh huhs and I see Marshall hung up.
Mary and Stan are both looking at Marshall and his phone. "I disabled the GPS and changed the SIM card," he assures them. "It's running on a different network. I won't make calls on it, but receiving calls is a risk." At their continued disbelief he adds, "It is possible to trace it, but it wouldn't be easy. We need whatever Ruiz can get us. He doesn't know our location."
Stan sighed and nodded. "It's worth the risk." Mary still looks dubious, but didn't give Marshall any grief. She appreciated his technical know-how and has come to depend on it. It felt funny; wrong somehow to depend on someone for anything. It was quicker, and a whole lot easier just to let Marshall do the techy stuff. She had picked up a few tricks here and there, but Marshall knew the where and the why, not just the how.
Now that the files on the flash drive Stan brought have been checked, Marshall brought up the directory. Mary points to the screen. "What's this one?"
"Looks like the visitor log from Evan's prison." Marshall marveled. "Eleanor, Eleanor, Eleanor. This tis wondrous strange."
Mary squints in irritation, aiming at him. After their time together she recognizes his Shakespeare references. "Just open the file, Doofus."
"Who has been visiting the third member of their merry band?" Marshall muses. Rosco, Evans and Jeburk had all be part of the last heist. The document opens and loads. Two pages. Three. Twenty.
"Go to when Jinx was taken. Go forward from there." Marshall complies and increases the view so they can all see the handwriting clearly. Most of the signatures are on the days designated for visiting.
"There." Mary points to a scrawl on the fourth page they've examined. "That looks like Daddy's handwriting."
"Do you have something from him we can compare?" Stan asks. He knows the blonde Inspector hasn't seen her father for years. Why would she be so familiar with his handwriting? He turns to ask Mary but she's gone. She returns with a folded piece of lined notebook paper.
"Here," she opens the paper and thrusts it next to the screen. "I'm no expert, but look at the way the capital J is written."
Marshall chimes in with his observations. They conclude that the fake name appearing on the log could be that of James Wiley Shannon. When Mary looks up, Stan is holding his burner phone, contacting Eleanor, giving her the alias James Shannon used at the prison.
"Eleanor will run the name and send us a file with whatever she finds," Stan informs them.
Marshall looked to Mary, wondering how she is taking the news. Mary's face is an imperturbable mask. He knows being this close to her father has an emotional impact. He's just not sure what emotion she is feeling. Anger usually comes first.
Eleanor has run the financials on the marshals of the Asset Forfeiture division in Newark. There are two who had a few unusual deposits to their accounts. She has discovered other bank accounts connected to the two. These have had a lot of traffic, funds in and then quickly out to off shore accounts. Is that the leak?
Mary, Stan and Marshall decide to tell Varney about the Forfeiture marshal's bank transactions. Mary still trusts him, but knows anyone can be blackmailed, or coerced by threats to loved ones. Marshall checks on Varney's family. His wife is dead, and his daughter lives in Colorado. Safe, it appears.
Mary picks one of their burner phones to call Varney. She gives him the names of the marshals involved. "Chief, the information comes from a reliable source. You should be able to find the problem yourself. Just do me a favor and check their financials, and all the financials that tie back to them."
Varney knows they are no longer at the hotel near the Marshal office in downtown Newark. He knows better than to ask where they are. "Mary, be careful. Be safe." She is touched by his concern and the caring she hears in his voice. So touched her eyes glisten with moisture. When did I become such a sap?
"Sure, Chief, sure," she tells him and ends the call. Marshall notices the shine in her eyes, but knows better than to say anything. Varney could prove to be a real friend to all of them.
"I don't like this," Stan complains. "I don't know Chief Varney personally. He has a reputation for running a tight ship, but that doesn't mean there isn't a snake under his command."
"Telling Varney could shake loose anyone involved in the attacks," Marshall argues. "If he can find them, he could eliminate the threat to Mary."
Marshall notices that Mary hasn't been paying attention since ending the call. He suspects Mary has a plan of her own. A plan to locate her father and wring any information out of him.
"My dad always knows where I am. He's been keeping track of me for years. All we have to do is get out there where he can spot me. He'll come to me. We know he was seen in Newark, but I doubt he'll stay there. I'd bet he was near my Mom's place in Paramus. He probably has some way of watching it. He'll track me from there, and we'll track him. He isn't expecting three of us."
"Mare, no. You don't know who is after your father. If the mob sees you with him they would have no compunction about hitting both of you. In their books it would be a twofer, a no brainer. Why guess when Eleanor might be able to tell us where he's been?"
"Marshall's right, Mary," Stan agrees. "Finding your father, you going to be with him, would put you in immediate danger. We don't know where Rosco and Jeburk are. They could be with him, or they could be looking to eliminate him. I don't want you caught up in this."
"We have no reason to assume Rosco and Jeburk are together," Mary asserts.
"From what I've seen in his file," Marshall adds, "James Shannon prefers to work alone. He only brings in others to run the job, not plan it."
Mary gives Marshall a doubtful look. When had he read her father's file?
Seeing Mary's attention focused on him, Marshall says, "What? Do you mean to tell me you never checked out your father's record?"
Mary shook her head. "As a family member, I didn't want any suspicion attached to me. If Chief Varney had caught me doing that, what was he going to think? I was planning to help my Dad? I couldn't take that chance." Regardless of whether or not it was true, it was clear the thought worried her.
"All the more reason for you to stay out of this, Kiddo," Stan argued.
"Damn it Stan. Marshall keeps telling me I'm not alone in this. I've got you and him to back me up. Are you going to do it? It would mean the arrest of a federal fugitive," she argued. She acted as if that were the primary reason for going after him. Her adamant insistence made Marshall blink. He had never seen Mary so focused, her anger tight, her expression cold.
Stan stood and paced, rubbing the top of his head. No wonder he doesn't have any hair left. He rubbed it off.
"We need to wait until we hear from Eleanor. When she locates him," testifying to his confidence in Eleanor, "We'll decide on safety protocols." Mary sat back and sighed with relief. They were going to listen to reason. Her reason.