Chapter 84
Gage helped Brandon off the bed and into the desk chair. Brandon’s body trembled. He bore the shell-shocked expression of men who get snagged in undercover john operations or pedophiles who walk into news camera lights in suburban juveniles’ homes.
“Anybody else here?” Gage asked Brandon.
“No.”
Gage pointed at the closed bathroom door and Viz started toward it.
“I told you,” Brandon said, “there’s no one here.”
Viz glanced inside, then shook his head. The bathroom was empty.
Gage walked to the dresser and turned down the sound on the television. It was tuned to a news report about the pending confirmation vote.
A monitor on the desk showed an online stock trading Web site.
Flowcharts tacked to the walls tracked the money flow to Pegasus, then to Mann Trust, then to senatorial candidates. Next to them hung oversized spreadsheets titled “Confirmations” and “LM.”
Bookcases of slim binders stood next to the window: fourteen bearing the name Pegasus, eight in the star names, two labeled TIMCO, and dozens of others in the names of Fortune 500 companies.
Gage walked over and pulled the OptiCom binder off the shelf. He leaned against the wall as he thumbed through it.
Finally, Gage said, “I had it backward.”
Brandon didn’t say anything.
“What do you mean?” Viz asked.
“He sold short. He held on to the search warrant long enough to borrow and sell a million shares of OptiCom stock. Then he signed the warrant, Casey kicked in the door and the stock price collapsed. That’s when Brandon bought cheap shares to repay the expensive ones he’d borrowed. He cleared ten million dollars.”
Gage glared down at Brandon. “Is that about right?”
Brandon still didn’t say anything.
“The only question,” Gage said, “is whether you’re going to bring your brother down, too.”
This time, Brandon responded:
“Landon didn’t know anything about it. He didn’t. He thought we were still doing it through insurance.”
“What changed?”
Brandon lowered his head.
“I’m going to find out one way or the other,” Gage said.
Brandon looked up again, his eyes darting about the room. They paused for a second on Viz blocking the doorway, then focused on the window.
Gage stepped in front of it. “Suicide isn’t an option.”
Brandon swallowed hard, then licked his lips.
“We had to stop because of an IRS investigation. But…” He took in a breath. “But Mann Trust was overextended and the bank regulators went after us for not keeping large enough cash reserves. They threatened to shut us down. The whole thing would have collapsed.”
“You mean you own Mann Trust?”
Brandon shrugged. “In a way.”
“You needed a few million dollars and right then a warrant to search a high-tech company came walking into your chambers.”
Brandon didn’t react.
“It’s the star names,” Gage said. “Each one was a predecessor of OptiCom. An agent would arrive with a search warrant, you’d sit on it long enough to make a trade, then cash in.”
“I had no choice.”
Gage shook his head. “You had lots of choices.”
“You don’t understand what was at stake.”
Viz’ cell phone rang. He flipped it open. “What’s up?”
The color drained from his face. “When?”
He clenched his teeth. “I’m on my way.”
He snapped the phone shut. “Socorro’s disappeared.”
Viz stepped toward Brandon, grabbed him by his suit lapels, and lifted him out of the chair. He held Brandon up, feet dangling, then stepped toward the window.
Brandon’s eyes turned wild.
“Gage. Stop him. You’ve got to stop him.”
Viz held Brandon against the curtain. “If anything happens to my sister I’ll break you in two.”
“Viz, put him down.”
Viz lowered Brandon to his feet, then backed away and turned toward Gage.
“Socorro left the ranch at nine o’clock this morning to go shopping in Nogales. She didn’t come back. And she isn’t answering her cell phone.”
Gage could feel fury begin to rage, at Brandon, at Anston, and at himself. Instead of protecting Socorro, he had led her into a trap.
Gage fixed his eyes on Brandon. “Where’s Boots Marnin?”
“Who?”
“Don’t play dumb. Where is he?”
“I… I’ve never heard of anyone named Marnin. I’m telling you the truth.”
Gage pointed at the desk chair and Brandon sat down, then he led Viz into the hallway. “Have you talked to her daughter?”
“Socorro called Sandy yesterday to say she was going shopping in town. Alex Z was watching the video feed this morning and saw her drive away. She was supposed to be back at the ranch by noon.”
Viz glanced toward the elevator. “I better get out there.”
Gage shook his head. “I know some ex-Border Patrol guys in Tucson. They’re tough and know the area.” He searched his cell phone contacts and connected the number. He introduced Viz, then handed him the phone.
Gage returned inside and pointed at Brandon. “I want Anston.”
Brandon slumped in the chair. “No way. He’s insulated himself. The paper trail seems to go to him, but once you look at it, it dead-ends with Palmer and with me. His intelligence training wasn’t wasted. I’m the one who went to the Caymans to first meet with Quinton fifteen years ago.”
Brandon’s eyes darted toward the bookshelf.
“Are we talking about TIMCO now,” Gage said, “or the campaign money?”
“Both.”
Viz walked back into the room.
“I’ve got to e-mail them some photos of Socorro.” Viz looked at Brandon, but spoke to Gage. “You going to be okay with this asshole?”
“Take off. Joe will be here in a few minutes.”
Viz glared at Brandon, now shrunk back in his chair.
“You better hope she’s all right. You’ve got no place to hide where I can’t find you. No place.”
G age worked the fractured door closed after Viz left and then sat down on the bed.
“I thought we’d find a hooker in here,” Gage said.
Brandon shrugged.
“Your wife will be relieved. Maybe she’ll even visit you in prison.”
They both alerted to a knock at the door. Gage stood up, reached under his windbreaker, and rested his hand on his gun. He pulled the door open a crack, peeked through, then opened it the rest of the way and let Casey inside.
Casey surveyed the room. His eyes came to rest on Brandon. Gage filled him in on the scam and about use of
