Chapter 14
Trying to look calm outwardly, Doctor Tracy Needham sat upright, her hands cuffed and secured to the metal bar in the middle of the table. She kept her eyes fixed on one spot on the white wall. She remembered being pulled over by the NYPD. Things after that are confusing in her mind.
"I know my rights; I want my lawyer now. My wife is a captain in the NYPD," she said, knowing the room was wired for sound.
"Oh, She wants to play by the rules; that's refreshing." Laughed Danny as he watched the feed on the screen.
"Remember, by the book, everything is being transmitted and live-streamed to Interpol," Frank said, looking at Danny and Maria.
Maria smirked at her new fiance, "I didn't mean him this time, Maria." Smiled Frank
Maria knew she had lost it with the good doctor when she used her taser on her in the back of the RMP. Her face reddened slightly at the rebuke; she knew she had let her emotional state control her actions. She nodded her acceptance but was not going to apologise; many of her enjoyed the payback.
"Give me a few minutes; wait until after I show her your picture, give it a ten count, then just take the seat next to me," Danny asked; he smiled and kissed his new fiance.
"Danny, we can't…" she tried. Smirking, Danny kissed her again. "Suspended, remember, and you are still missing, remember?"
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Walking into the interrogation room, Danny placed his folder, sat, and smiled at Tracy Needham.
"Ms Needham, or is it Mrs?" He asked.
"Doctor Needham, Detective Reagan," she answered with contempt.
He smiled, getting the reaction he was after; she thought herself superior " We both know you can't practice medicine in prison, Tracey, and you will be spending much of your future incarcerated. Along with your wife, not that you will ever see her or touch her ever again. Was it worth it?" He asked.
Her face remained unmoved; she was good, he thought to himself. She was operating on the premise she had the superior hand and intellect. That might have been so in the clinical world, but this was his sandbox.
Danny opened the top folder, took the pictures from the Reporters SD card, and placed them on the table so the doctor could see them all.
" Thought you had destroyed them?" He asked, " Your job at the Asylum was a masterstroke; who would think of looking for missing people in an institution? It is easy to keep people doped up and silent if they are patients. You can dispose of them at will. People die in institutions all the time, with nobody to hide, just ten pounds of ash that is unidentifiable. Almost perfect.." He smiled, hoping she would hate the little barb.
"I have no idea what you're on about, detective; these are just pictures of me meeting people; there is no context. They are just still pictures." She answered briefly
"This is just a picture, as well," He smiled as he showed her Natalie Scriver's picture from her medical file. "That picture tells me an awful lot, Tracey," He smiled as he heard the door open.
Maria had removed the coverings from her wrists. She wanted the bitch to see what they had done to her. Keeping her face neutral, she sat down, resting her arms on the table, her sutures visible along her wrists.
"This is Detective Maria Baez, not Natalie Scriver. Your wife, Captain Elizabeth Oaks, forced her at gunpoint to comply, threatening her daughter's life. She was drugged, and they did that," He pointed to Maria's wrists, "You fabricated a transfer patient, Natalie Scriver, keeping her secluded and medicated so she couldn't communicate. How many have you done this to? Did you plan on killing her? We know you planned on selling her daughter for adoption; this woman was looking after her," He produced a picture of her and the doctor from his folder.
The two seasoned detectives could both see the cracks starting to appear. She was the weak link. It was time to let her stew and let her mind do some work for them.
" We will take a break for a while. Would you like some water, Tracey?" Maria asked
"Yes, please." She answered
Waiting until the door closed behind them. "Are you alright, Maria?" He asked her, his voice full of concern.
She knew Danniel Reagan could read her like a book, so there was no point in trying to change the subject or lie. "No, not by a long shot," she sighed, her eyes filling with tears, "Eddie is still out there with those bastards, having god knows what done to her," she stopped abruptly and rubbed her wrists against her pants leg." What if they had cut too deep,….I want that IAB bitch to pay. Still, I want to beat the crap out of the bastard that did this," she sniffed raising her arms.
Danny pulled Maria into his chest and gently kissed her forehead, " We will get her back. I am so proud of you, Maria; you are one of the strongest people I know. We will get them, and they will all get what they deserve: a nice cell." He held her and let her cry.
"Thank you," she sniffed after she gathered herself.
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"Thank you, Sid, keep following her. She might still be checking she hasn't got anyone following her; check in again in thirty minutes," Frank told him.
"Anything yet?" Danny asked as he entered the room with Maria
Frank shook his head, "No, she is being cautious. Sid will stay on her just in case, and we have enough to get a special warrant for the asylum Erin is with the special federal judge. Danny and Jamie, you will go with the teams from Interpol and the Coast Guard tactical team. Pick up your FBI raid jacket from Abigail before you leave," Smiled Frank, feeling better now they were on the offensive against the Cabal that threatened New York. " Maria, you are with Abigail and Kasey; you are picking up Simon Barker." Detailed Frank
"Who?" Asked Danny
Frank slid across a picture; it was of Maria on a stretcher being lifted into an ambulance outside her house. Her face paled; this was the two men responsible for slicing open her wrists. Danny placed his hand on her back and gently rubbed her back in support; he could see the emotion on her face as she looked at the two faces of the men responsible for slicing open her wrists.
"As the police commissioner, I can not condone any form of retaliation. As a future grandfather to Elena and your father-in-law…I could disregard a few bumps, as I believe the commissioner is otherwise engaged." Frank smiled at his future daughter-in-law
"Frank, Sid just phoned; Elizabeth Oaks has just met with Kieron Potts, the DEA agent responsible for NYPD checks and controls. What do you want him to do, continue to follow Oaks or follow Potts?" Abigail asked.
"Tell him to stay on Oaks, get CGIS to follow Potts." He answered.
Frank looked despondent. All the checks and controls he had put in place after the Blue Templar had been futile. The DEA agent responsible for the checks was a member of the Cabal. No wonder they could undercut the other suppliers. Their product was free. Available from the NYPD evidence lockers. It was a masterstroke, using confiscated drugs, intercepting them before it is incinerated, and burning a substitute. The NYPD would still be unaware if it hadn't been for the reporter coming to him.
"Dad, it is an ingenious plan; cast suspicion amongst them that they might have another leak. Come on, little brother, let's go get Eddie." Smiled Danny.
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Enjoying the scenery, Margaret Barry chatted with the barge master as she got some fresh air as they sailed along the Hudson. Approaching the dock, they used to access the asylum, she noticed movement and asked for binoculars.
"What!" She gasped as she watched several people ascending the stairs wearing FBI blue jackets, a RIB secured alongside the dock.
"Stay on course, Moeen." She asked the barge master as she watched the FBI agents disappear into the Asylum.
She was in shock; they did not know about any investigation by the FBI into them, "That bitch, that got away," she told herself as she pulled her phone out and dialled.
"Edward, we have a problem; the FBI is raiding the Asylum. I can see them disappearing up the stairs from the dock." She explained when her call was answered.
"What! Are you sure they are FBI agents?" He asked in surprise.
"Yes, all wearing FBI raid jackets; they are going in heavy with an entire tactical team from the river," Mag's answered.
"What exposure have we got from the Asylum? Have you still got Officer Reagan on the barge?" Edward Nutter asked.
She pondered things momentarily before answering, " Nothing that can hurt product sales. My team and Tracy are at risk; Reagan is on the barge with me. It all depends on how much the bitch that got away can tell them. She was catatonic until Reagan interfered; Tracey took the Natalie Scriver file with her to get rid of it in case we got a police visit. We disposed of Trent, the reporter when he died on us. I will disappear down the Sunshine State. I still have three new aliases. This will be a blip, nothing more; we are too well-established," she answered.
Her phone went silent momentarily, "Margaret, I take it when you have finished with Mrs Reagan, she will disappear and never be found again." Edward asked his enforcer,
She smirked as she remembered old times, "I will go old country on her Edward; she will get her very own forty-gallon drum. Her body will be slurry after a few days. She will be immersed in hydrochloric acid. Bury the drum. No one finds Officer Edit Reagan," she answered, "Why didn't we know about the raid?" She enquired, which worried her more than anything.
"I don't know, Mag's. I will make enquiries with our people at the bureau and homeland." Answered Edward.
"You should have let me talk with Lieutenant Best before you had him killed. Are you sure he only spoke to that reporter? You can reach me on my satellite phone. I am ditching this after I end this call," she told him.
She ended the call, snapped her cell phone in half, and tossed the two halves over the side of the barge into the Hudson. Her watch beeped, reminding her it was medicine time. She was injecting her pet police officer every three hours, and she would soon be begging for her next dose of the highly addictive brown powder.
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