I held Jade’s hand, feeling her palm bloom moist with nervous sweat. As had become my habit, I lifted her hair to inspect her healing wounds. Jade hissed at me and grabbed my hand.
“We’re on camera,” she gritted without moving her lips.
I glanced at the round black camera pointed at my face. “Right.”
Drinking the water, feeling the need to pee, I sat and waited for the big man to arrive. Jade powered up the laptop in preparation, then surfed the net to entertain herself.
The water gone, me needing to pee more than ever, the conference door finally opened.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
The youngish, handsome, FBI guy dressed in a black suit, black tie, and white shirt entered the room. “I’m Special Agent in Charge Ralph Anderson.”
He sat at the table and eyed us expectantly. “What can I do for you?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jade
“I think it’s what we can do for you, Mr. Anderson,” I said, calling up the photos on the keyboard. “Does the name Arnaud DeLario mean anything to you?”
Anderson stiffened slightly. “Yes, it does. Do you know him?”
“I’m his son,” Magnus said quietly. “Magnus DeLario. This is Jade Kinnard. On this laptop right here is the evidence, we’re hoping, that you need to bring him down.”
Anderson leaned back in his chair, studying us. “And just why do you want to bring your father down, Mr. DeLario?”
Magnus took in a deep breath. “Long story short, we’ll add in details later. My father despises Jade’s father. He wanted to extort money from him, had me kidnap Jade. I did. However, Jade escaped, I grew some guts, found her, and helped her.”
“My father wouldn’t have paid the ransom money,” I added. “We, er, don’t get along. Magnus stole keys from Arnaud, and we took pictures of his ledgers.” I gestured toward the computer. “They’re on here. Human trafficking. Drugs. Bribes to government officials. Arms dealing. Are you perhaps interested in talking to us now?”
Rather than answer, Anderson stood, then strode to the door. Opening it, he ordered coffee, donuts, water, and an agentto run a recording device. Flipping his tie, he sat back down and smiled.
“I certainly am.”
Hours passed. We took bathroom breaks. We ate donuts until I never wanted to see another donut again as long as I lived. We talked until our throats were raw. We answered questions. We explained while showing Anderson the photos what they meant.
He made notes, asked more questions, scrolled through the photos we’d taken. Over his shoulder, we pointed out faces that figured prominently in the state’s government with probably trafficked women. We explained about Swanson stopping us, and his motives for taking Arnaud’s money.
“Go easy on him,” Magnus said, munching a donut. “He’s a kid. He did what he did out of desperation.”
“I don’t have much say in that,” Anderson replied. “But I’ll try. Please explain these lists of names and numbers.”
We explained, the recorder taking in our every word. “That’s a city council member,” I said, pointing. “See? He accepted nearly a hundred grand just a few months ago.”
“For what?”
“We don’t know,” I answered. “Maybe to clear titles for land. Maybe Arnaud wanted to build a playground, but the city wouldn’t allow it. Maybe the council dude accepted a bribe simply to cast a vote that benefitted Arnaud.”
Anderson rubbed his chin. “This is gold, right? He’s after you. Wants to kill you?”
“Oh, yeah,” I said with a sigh. “He’s tried. Hasn’t succeeded yet, obviously.”
“Do you need government protection?”
Magnus met my gaze. “That won’t help us, man. Once you take him down, we’ll be okay.”
Anderson flipped through the photos by tapping the mouse pad. “That takes time, my friends. We need court subpoenas, search warrants, witnesses. We can’t march out west and slap the handcuffs on him. Not without a federal judge signing a warrant.”
