68
Sin stood next to Frank as Agent Smith walked into the Oval Office and took his place behind the president.
“I was telling President Lancaster and Director Graham before you arrived that I didn’t think the case involving the kidnappings of Becca and Pia was finished. They have agreed to give me a bit more time to try and finish the case.”
While she was talking, Frank moved and stood next to Agent Smith.
“That’s good news,” Smitty said, condonation dripping from his words. “Let me know if I or my agency can be of any help. Now if you’ll excuse us, I have some private matters to discuss with the president.”
“I’m glad you asked if you could be of any help. I have some questions you might be able to shed light on.”
“What might that be?”
“During my investigation, somethings didn’t add up,” Sin said, drumming her pearlescent nails on the Resolute Desk. “How did the kidnappers know Becca and Pia would be in Key West? They had to have someone on the inside feeding them information.”
“This is nothing new. The president and I have been working diligently to find the insider,” Smitty answered.
“Hold that thought and try and stay with me. I know how hard it is for you to focus on one thing, having an entire agency to look after and all.”
Smitty glared at her.
She ignored him and continued. “Following that train of thought, if there was someone on the inside, why? Why would someone close to the president or his daughter let these people know her location? Why put Becca and her roommate in harm’s way?” Sin held up a finger to stop Smitty from talking. “I was able to dig into some phone records to try and help me out.”
“Whose phone records?” Smitty asked.
“All those pertinent to the case, the girls, Savio LaBarbara, Agent Sawyer, the president.”
“Did you have a warrant?”
“No, I didn’t.”
Smitty grinned. “Then any information you gathered is illegal. Even if you were able to uncover the person you were looking for, the evidence wouldn’t be admissible in a court of law. Any novice would know that.”
“That would be true except for the fact that I had the permission of everyone involved.” Sin reached into her pack and produced more paperwork. “Here are the written statements from the girls, Savio, and Agent Sawyer giving me permission to their phone records.”
“What about President Lancaster?”
“When this case began, the president allowed me to clone his phones in an effort to help me solve this case. In turn, that gave me permission to his phone and text records.”
Smitty looked at the president.
“That’s correct,” the president said, his eyes widening with each syllable.
“So, one of those people you mentioned was behind the kidnappings?” Smitty asked.
“I’m glad you asked. I checked everyone, and no one added up. The girls certainly wouldn’t have placed themselves in danger. The president wouldn’t have placed his daughter in danger, not for all the money in the world.”
“What about Pia’s cousin, Savio LaBarbara?”
“Good deduction. That was my train of thought also, but his phone records along with his whereabouts and alibies eliminated him from the pool.”
Smitty tried to look surprised. “What about Agent Smith?”
“I thought he was the one,” Sin said. “You and I both know he likes to gamble. I figured he owed some bookie a ton of money, so he staged the kidnappings to fund his hobby.”
“It looks like you found your inside man,” Smitty said.
“No. No, I didn’t. You see, even though Agent Smith likes to play cards, my in-depth search found that he owed no one anything.”
“It’s a shame all that time and work was for not. Now if you’ll excuse us.”
“Not exactly,” she said, leaning the palms of her hands on the desk. There was one number I wasn’t able to trace. Not directly any way. There was an unknown number that appeared on Savio’s call list as well as in the leader of the Black 6’s phone records.”
“Again,” Smitty said, “it looks like you drew a blank.”
“I don’t like blanks, Agent Smith. “Not in my gun and not in my evidence. They piss me off, make me dig deeper. The deeper I dug, the more shit I uncovered. Shit belonging to you.”
President Lancaster looked over his shoulder towards Smitty. “Smitty, care to explain?”
“There is nothing to explain. You and I both know O’Malley is a loose cannon. That’s why you suspended her. The reason why you asked for her resignation.”
Sin kept her gaze on Smitty while she reached into her bag again, producing more phone and text records and tossed them to the president. “These records belong to Agent Smith. I found it interesting that certain calls from his records paired up exactly to the unknown calls on one other set of phone records.” Sin shifted her attention back to Smitty. “Care to explain your calls and texts to the West Palm Beach number. The number belonging to Onyx, the head of the Black 6 gang?”
Smitty’s jaw tightened. “I don’t have to explain shit. You already said you didn’t have a warrant to any of the phone records you found. I know damn well, I didn’t give you permission to my records.”
“I didn’t need one. Your phone officially belongs to the U.S. government. President Lancaster gave me his permission by executive order to search any and all official phone and text records. Isn’t that right, sir.”
The president scanned the papers she had tossed his way. She could practically hear his teeth grinding.
“I did,” he said.
“To be honest,” she said, “it still didn’t add up, not at first. Why would the president’s closest employee, the one he trusted to keep him safe do anything to harm him or his daughter? But then I thought, if this person was always with him, by his side throughout his day, with him during all his dealings, he would know everything and everybody the president knew. The more I thought, the more the word dealings bugged me.”
“How so?” Smitty said.
Sin watched
