were gone, I went on to tell her what I thought *should* happen; when I told her about getting the execs out of the office, she smiled, and thanked me. Special Agent Tunisi just sat to the side, quietly, and watched the whole thing happen.
When I was done, Agent Hawkes excused herself and Charlie, saying that she had to get a couple things rolling. She asked if we wanted anything while she was gone, and Lucy and I both expressed an interest in a cup of coffee. A couple minutes later, Charlie brought it in. As he was heading out the door again, he turned to look at Lucy, then me, before saying 'Mr. Andrews, I owe you two an apology. You came in here and were basically handing us a case against a couple of people that we've been after for months, and I was worse than rude. I'm sorry.'
'As long as you learned something from it, Agent Tunisi', I told him.
He smiled, nodded, and went about his business.
A short time later, Agent Hawkes came back in, and sat down before telling us 'Well, we've got a case. We've been after these folks for a while, and you've given them to us on a silver platter. Mr. Andrews, the FBI doesn't know everything, and I'd like to talk with you about what you think the best way of going at this would be.'
'First off, I'd suggest that you get those characters under surveillance.'
'Already done.', she smiled.
'Next, I'd leave them alone until you've had a chance to trace out all the bank accounts they've used. I've got a list of the first layer here; that will get your people started. Me, I'd be tempted to track not only where the money went from these accounts, but what other money was coming into them, as well.'
She told me 'I'd expect they'd do that, but I'll make sure to mention it. What else?'
'I expect the rest of us can keep them distracted while your people do their bank thing, as long as they don't dawdle. I think we – you – have a case now' – 'Oh, we do!', she laughed – 'but there's some more information that I think would add a few more nails to their coffin, at their offices. I simply didn't have the time to collect all of it. Also, I suspect that there are a couple of people that knew something was going on, but not what. If you can get their help, they could probably add to your case, as well.'
She smiled at us, and said 'One thing I've learned: there's no such thing as *too much* evidence. But wouldn't that tip our hand?'
'I don't think so, if you went at it right. If you start at the top and nab the top dogs, then the lower people just have to play dumb, and they're off the hook, for the most part. They won't fight you, they just won't HELP. If you hit them from the bottom, and let them know it's either give up their boss, or share a cell with him, they'll be a LOT more helpful.'
She looked at me appreciatively, and said 'I like the way you think, Mr.
Andrews. I do believe we can arrange that. But what if one of our suspect calls the office?'
'Then the folks in the office do what you tell them to: hearts and minds, after all', I answered.
Agent Hawkes laughed, while Lucy looked confused. Agent Hawkes explained to her 'An old Special Forces line I've heard: get 'em by the balls, and their hearts and minds will follow' – meaning that if we've got a cell waiting for the office people, they'll do about anything to stay out of it. Including lying to their bosses by telling them everything's fine.'
She looked at me again and asked 'Anything else?'
'I think the person you would want to talk to first would be their Information Services supervisor. I think she knows something was going on, didn't like it, but didn't know what to do about it. Give her a chance to say her piece, and I'll bet you'll be glad you did.'
'Do you have any reason for saying that?'
'Just a gut feeling.'
She looked at me speculatively, and said 'I think I can trust your 'gut', Mr.
Andrews. That's it?'
I nodded, and she looked at both Lucy and I before saying 'Okay, here's the bad news. We have reason to believe that there is an organized crime element involved in this, indirectly. We don't expect to keep word about this quiet forever, even though it's been classified. There is a chance that you may come to the attention of that crime element, and they will not be pleased with you.
I can offer you any help you might need until we get this taken care of – you've given us a key that unlocks the door to a LOT of money that's been misplaced, and we don't want to see anything happen to you.'
Lucy looked at me, and I reassured her with a smile before telling Agent Hawkes 'I'm not too worried about me.' – she snorted – 'But it would make me – and Lucy – feel better if there was somebody watching over us,*discretely*. You see, Lucy has a daughter, who's here in town with a friend, and they're staying at the hotel with us. We'd like to avoid alarming them, if we can.'
Agent Hawkes nodded solemnly, and looked at Lucy, asking 'What hotel? What's their room number?'. Lucy told her, and Agent Hawkes got on the phone. A moment later, she told the other person 'Bill? Clara here. We've got a 'go' on Operation Bandit. Yeah, he came through like a prince – we've got these guys *nailed*. One thing, though, is that the woman has a couple kids with her.
Yeah.' She put her hand over the phone, and asked 'Brief description? Ages?'.
Lucy told her, and she went back to the phone, telling 'Bill' the hotel and room number, and went on to tell him 'Okay, here you go. Subject one, female, Robyn with a 'y', thirteen, five-three, dark and dark, slender. Subject two, female, Sandra, fifteen, five-five, light and light, slender. Observe and protect*discretely*. Yeah, Mom knows, so does he. Listen, Bill? Anything happens, and he gets involved, do NOT, I repeat NOT, get in his way; make sure you tell your people, too. Yeah, look at the file, you'll see. Thanks.'
She turned back to us, saying 'They'll have two people watching out for them in less than twenty minutes. We'll have a full crew in less than an hour.'
I nodded, and Lucy accepted my judgment, for the moment. I'd explain to her later that the FBI did a damn fine job of taking care of witnesses.
'Agent Hawkes' – 'Please, call me Clara. I think we're going to be spending time together, and we might as well make it friendly' – 'Fine, call us Dan and Lucy. Clara, what about Lucy, here?'
'We already figured to have some people on her. Plus you, too, I expect.' – I smiled at her, she got the message – 'Dan, do you carry?'
'Not normally. Never wanted to bother getting the permits and all that.'
She frowned slightly, and said, 'For this case, it would make me feel better if you would. Go shopping tonight, and pick something out you like. I'll have a federal permit for you tomorrow morning; give me the receipt, and we'll reimburse you. If it needs anything, we've got a guy here that can take care of it for you real quick like. Vest?'
'I don't own one.'
'Okay, I'll have one waiting for you on your way out. They're a lot lighter and more comfortable now, so wear it, okay?'
I nodded, and she went to the phone again. As she was making arrangements for my vest and permit, I explained to Lucy that I'd be wearing a bulletproof vest when we went out, and carrying a gun. She got a real worried look when I told her that, and was ready to cry by the time Clara got off the phone. Clara saw it, and knew the reason.
'Lucy? I know it's scary. Scares me, too sometimes. But you're doing the right thing. We're the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This isn't the first time we've done this, and it won't be the last. You, and Dan here, are making a case for us that we've been on for months, if not years. We're going to protect you.
AND your daughter, AND her friend. ALL of you are important to us. In fact, the people we assign to protect our witnesses are all volunteers, and have special training; if anything happens, THEY'LL get hurt, not you, not your kids, okay?'
Lucy nodded, and Clara went on 'All the stuff we're talking about, all the plans we're making to protect those girls and you, is
Somewhat mollified, Lucy nodded, and dabbed at her tears. I knew that I was going to be doing some talking
