“That won’t be happening,” frowned U-Jin. He looked at the other men, then back at Leopold.
“How would you like to get your first big break?” he asked the unkempt man.
“What do you mean? Mainstream media? It’ll never happen. I don’t look the part, I don’t act the part, and I refuse to hide the truth from the American public.”
“That’s not what I meant. We’re going to create a script, maybe several scripts that will help lead Morris right to us.”
“Are you fucking crazy?” said Leopold. “This guy is a killer. He doesn’t give a shit who you are, as evidenced by him murdering his own lover and step-sister.”
“Don’t worry about that. Why did no one know that Lincoln Morris had a son and step-daughter?” asked Mike.
“He was able to keep it quiet. The son was away at his fancy schools, the step-daughter didn’t have the same last name, it was pretty simple. Morris isn’t exactly an unusual name.
“The trust funds for them were kept in alias names, the property was quietly transferred to them without any fanfare. Remember, you guys killed Morris and told the world his nasty little secrets. Lawrence and Natalia damn sure didn’t want anyone to know they were related to him.
“After that, Lawrence went to work in finance. Bonds, hedge funds, all kinds of shit. He banked more money than you can imagine and he made sure his pretty little step-sister was groomed for what he needed. Somewhere along the way he discovered who killed dear old dad and he made it his mission to find them, find you.
“Natalia was trained and forced to work as a spy in various countries, feeding her brother information, and then forced to work for the bureau. She was giving big lover brother all the secrets and he was making millions on it selling to the Russians, Chinese, Canadians…”
“Canadians? They’re the nice ones,” frowned Sebastian.
“Not if you piss them off,” said Leopold. “Natalia found out from Todd Greene that he suspected Priscilla’s father was the keeper of the REAPER secrets, and all those that followed. She told dear brother and they tried to find it.”
“Why now? They could have taken Priscilla at any point in time and drugged her, searched her apartment, anything,” said Moose.
“Priscilla was a smart cookie, always watching her back. Natalia never visited her home because Priscilla didn’t tell her where she lived. I suggested that she keep that a secret,” he said with a smug expression. “When Lawrence was becoming impatient, he ordered Natalia to find the information. Right about then, one of your boys was suddenly on loan to the bureau, making it seem an easy strike.”
“Except it wasn’t. He didn’t fall for Natalia and her bullshit. Instead, he fell for Priscilla,” said U-Jin.
“No shit?” grinned Leopold. “Hey, tell her I’m happy for her. The kid deserves a happy ending.”
“So, will you help us Leopold?” asked Moose.
“What do I get out of this, other than you don’t kill me?” he asked.
“We don’t randomly kill just because someone refuses to help us,” said Sebastian. He looked around at the motorhome and nodded. “I tell you what, you help us and we help you. We’ll give you evidence of something legitimate, shocking, that you can send out to the world.”
“And,” smiled Mike, “we give you some serious upgrades on this piece of shit.”
“Hey! This is my home,” he frowned. Moose laughed, shaking his head.
“No brother, this is your hovel. We’ll make sure it becomes a home.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“You know, the interesting thing about Leopold is that most of what he’s presented and talked about is fact. Secrets of the JFK assassination, the deaths of those Russian students at the Dyatlov Pass, rigged elections, UFOs, all sorts of things. This guy does his research and has his resources,” said AJ.
“Are you saying you admire this guy?” frowned Ham.
“I didn’t say that. I said that he speaks the truth for the most part. He doesn’t engage in sensationalism unless it’s backed by fact. Yes, he’s a conspiracy theorist. Yes, he sticks his nose into some dangerous places. But I have to hand it to the guy, he does it with backup and he’s risking his life to do it.”
Ham said nothing, nodding at him.
“What’s on the disc from Priscilla’s necklace?” asked Gator.
“Everything,” said Hiro.
“What do you mean, everything?”
