"Thanks Dave, I really appreciate the help." Jack smiled at Steve as he hung up the phone.
"What did you get, Billy Jack?"
"Thanks to my friend at the IRS, I got Nowicki's and Deakins' home addresses." Jack's smile faded a bit. "The bad news is that they both live on the base, so. . . ."
"So getting to see them means going through base security, and you can bet the ISA has already provided my name and picture to base security," Steve finished. "Probably with a 'shoot on sight' order."
Jack nodded. Before he could say anything further, his phone rang again.
"Jack Deveraux," he answered.
Steve listened idly as Jack spoke to yet another contact on the phone. After leaving the meeting with Tarrington, Steve and Jack had returned to Jack's office and mapped out their next moves. Steve knew that his only chance to get some leverage against the ISA was to make contact with the soldiers. But he also knew that any contact he made had to be kept from the ISA's prying eyes. And when the people he was trying to contact lived on a military base. . . .
He had thought about calling Nowicki and Deakins, assuming he could get the phone numbers, but Steve knew that was a last resort. He was sure that Nowicki and Deakins were aware of the charges against Shane and had probably been given very strong and direct orders to keep their mouths shut. If Steve called, there was too much risk that they would just hang up on him and report the call. No, he needed to meet them face-to-face to make sure they would listen to him.
"Thanks for the information," Jack said, signaling the end of another conversation. "If I can ever return the favor, let me know." He hung up the phone and made some quick notes.
"What did you find this time?" Steve asked. It still amazed him that, as much as Jack could be a screw-up, the connections he had established through Harper's political career and the newspaper made him invaluable in the search for information.
"Nothing that good," Jack replied with a shrug. "Just some more background information to add to the file."
"Every little bit helps," Steve said, looking back over his own notes. Over the last few hours, they had managed to compile fairly decent profiles of both men. Deakins' wife was a teacher at the local school. Nowicki had an ex-wife who worked on the base; she was currently married to a supply officer there. Steve suspected there was a rather unpleasant story about that. Unfortunately, despite all the information gathered from various sources, Steve had not yet figured out his way in.
"So what was the background information?" Steve asked.
"Apparently, Deakins' family owns some little wilderness resort in Georgia." Jack shrugged. "The guy I talked to said that they have some kind of big family reunion in the fall every year."
"That must be fun," Steve said with a grin. "They're probably the only people who can understand each other with those accents."
"Come on, Steve," Jack replied. "I know you said he had a thick accent, but it couldn't have been that bad."
"Oh it was bad-" Steve stopped, feeling like he had been hit by a brick. "Wait . . . you said there is a family reunion at the resort every fall?"
"Yeah," Jack said, looking back at his notes.
"So, if Deakins in back in the States this fall, what do you want to bet he'll be attending this year's reunion?" Steve asked, a grin spreading across his face.
"I'd say it's probably pretty good." Jack returned Steve's grin. "That might just be the 'in' you were looking for."
"Maybe," Steve allowed. "But we need to find out when that family reunion might be taking place. And then we need to figure out how to get there without raising any suspicions from our friends."
"Figuring out the week shouldn't be too hard." Jack sat back in his chair. "If it's a big family reunion, then the resort is probably pretty filled up that week. I'll just call and pretend to be interested in holding a family reunion of my own this fall. That should at least tell me what weeks are already booked up."
"That should work." Steve eyed his brother. "You're pretty good at this, you know?"
"I should be," Jack said, grinning. "It's just another form of investigative reporting."
"I guess so." Steve ran a tired hand across his face and checked his watch. It was still fairly early in the evening.
As much as he wanted to call it a day and head home to Kayla and Stephanie, he knew he and Jack needed to keep working for a while longer. The information about the potential family reunion was a good break, but Steve knew that it was no guarantee. He and Jack needed at least one back-up plan and they still needed to find a way to contact Nowicki as well. Steve would just have to make it up to Kayla later.
"Okay, Jack," he said, looking at his brother. "That gives us something useful on Deakins, so let's go to work on Nowicki. What do we have that might help us with him?"
As Jack began digging back through his notes, Steve did the same with his. Silently, he thought, I hope you are having more fun than I am right now, Sweetness.