The others all nodded, agreeing with River. Tony had provided them with a lot of information and vowed to help them at every turn to stop Morris. When a phone went off, everyone turned to see who it was.
“Yeah,” said Moose holding the phone out.
“He’s agreed to meet,” said Leopold. “Bastard was pushing to meet with me, and I refused. He said he’ll come up with the location and let me know within twenty-four hours.”
“Perfect,” smirked Moose.
“Hey, you guys do know that this will be a trap, right? I mean, his plan is to kill the man that killed his father and he won’t be showing up alone.”
“Neither will we, Leo. Keep your ears peeled and let us know the meeting location. I feel certain it will be on some deserted road or in an empty warehouse. It’s not our first rodeo either.”
“No, I guess it’s not,” he chuckled. “Hey. I might be able to help you guys.”
“You’ve done enough, Leopold. We’ll be in touch about your home improvement projects.”
“One more thing,” he said sounding nervous. “Would one of you, any of you agree to speak with me with voice alteration? Just a short interview to clear the air about the mysterious men of your group.”
“I don’t think so, Leo but if we ever decide to do that, you’ll be the first one we call.” Moose ended the call, staring at the men as they dug into the leftover Italian food sent back with them from Tony.
“I think I know why that guy was as round as he was tall,” smirked Sebastian. “I don’t know how you eat like this and not weigh five-hundred pounds.”
“We do eat like this!” said Mike. “We don’t eat pasta every day but we damn sure pack down the meals and the calories.”
“That’s true,” smirked Leif. “But I damn sure enjoy the food we eat. All of it!”
U-Jin walked into the living room with his plate of food, staring at his tablet. He took a seat and the others waited, knowing that he had something he wanted to share.
“Our girl, Natalia, sure as hell did some damage,” he said. “She was selling anything and everything to the highest bidder with her brother as her backer. The one thing neither of them ever stepped into was trafficking. Apparently even criminals have a code. Sometimes.”
“Yeah, sometimes,” frowned Mike. “But she was telling our enemies about what was happening within the bureau and the government. And, unless I’m mistaken, Greene was helping her.”
“Yes and no,” said U-Jin. “According to AJ, Greene married his college sweetheart about seven years ago. It was the second marriage for both of them. The woman, Emily, had a little boy from her first marriage. A boy with a rare genetic disorder that was guaranteed to kill him before he reached his teens if the kid didn’t get proper medical care.”
“And Greene helped her with that?” asked River.
“More than that. He claimed that the boy was his, biologically. His biological father agreed to it because he didn’t have decent medical coverage and the mother didn’t work. They were desperate.
“The bureau didn’t question it, which gave him all the benefits of a natural born child, including life insurance.”
“Please tell me that kid got what he needed,” said Marc.
“He did. He’s in college now, attending the American University here in D.C. With Green being killed, he received all the death benefits of a government official.”
“So, what does that have to do with Natalia?” asked River.
“She found out,” said U-Jin. “She threatened to tell the bureau about Greene and his alleged son.”
“Unless?” frowned Wes. They all looked at him with a serious expression. “There’s always an ‘unless’. She threatened him unless what?”
“He looked the other way is my guess,” said U-Jin. “He damn well knew what she was doing and never interfered. As far as the boys back home can tell, they were not involved romantically but Greene looked the other way when it came time. There were repeated attempts at trying to find out about all of us, especially Wes, Patrick, Christopher, and Marc. My guess is they weren’t sure which one of you killed the father.”
“They’re gonna be pissed when they realize it was actually Moose,” smirked Leif.
“The missing volumes from the Jefferson library were believed to be stolen because of information provided by Natalia. Paintings, cars, homes, stocks, cash, just about anything she could get her hands on, was stolen.”
“I don’t get it. There are a lot of fucking people that would have seen this. How did she get access to some of this shit?” asked River.
“Finally a question I can answer completely,” smiled U-Jin. “She was bribing everyone from the speaker of the house to congressmen, generals, admirals, and bureau chiefs.”
