“There’s something wrong with it,” Bob said, “I promise. That’s why Jane Chase said they’d have some specialists look at it.” After a moment, he said to Rae, “I’d like to get one of those SAWs for our equipment bag. Remember that dipshit Willardpecking away at us with that .25? Think about stepping out there with a SAW and powdering his whole fuckin’ trailer.”
They both laughed, thinking about it, and Lucas shook his head, and said, “Jesus Christ, guys, try to hold it together, huh?”
—
LUCAS’S PHONE RANG.He took it out of his pocket, looked at the screen, and said, “Speak of the devil and she calls you.”
Lucas put the phone on speaker, and they all bent over it as Chase came up. “We’ve been working through the documents. We can make a strong case against Heracles for illegally exporting these weapons,” she said. “They show end-user certificates issued to approved users—national governments, mostly, along with a few militias in North Africa—but Heracles personnel delivered the weapons to different buyers altogether, including some groups on our FTO lists.”
“What’s an FTO list?” Bob asked.
“FTO is an acronym for Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” Chase said. She said lists were maintained by the State Department.
“What are you going to do?” Lucas asked.
“The documents implicate Heracles, Flamma, and Inter-Core Ballistics, which are all interlocking. The men who actually delivered the weapons are the low-hanging fruit. We can pick them up right now and try to turn them. We plan to do that. Today. We invite you to come along; two of the men implicated are McCoy and Moore, who you want to squeeze for your Smalls investigation.”
“This is dang quick for the FBI—no offense,” Rae said.
“None taken, but you’re right. For us, this is quick,” Chasesaid. “We have a problem. Two of the most critical documents, the clearest cases, will fall under the statute of limitations in a matter of a few weeks. That’s unfortunate, but it is what it is. So, we’re going to pick up McCoy and Moore and three other men today, interview them separately, and use their statements, if any, to launch a raid on Heracles, Flamma, and Inter-Core tomorrow morning. Frankly, we’re planning to use the possibility of a murder charge, those that you’re pursuing, to motivate the men we grab today to make a statement on the gun diversion case. We’re waiting now for warrants for both the arrests and for searches of their apartments.”
Lucas: “Wait—you’re not going to promise them immunity?”
“No. Not at this point anyway, and most likely never,” Chase said. “But these papers open the possibility of putting the whole illegal weapons trade under the microscope. We’re talking about hundreds of possible deaths, maybe thousands, not two.”
“Ah, Jesus,” Lucas said. “Did you talk to Mallard about all of this?”
“Yes, and he’s with us,” Chase said. “He thinks you’re a great guy and all, but he said, and I quote, ‘Get me the guns, and fuck Davenport.’ The f-word was his, not mine.”
Lucas said, “I understand, but I might have to oppose you on some of this.”
“We’ll be talking to your director,” Chase said.
“And I’ll be talking to Senator Smalls,” Lucas said.
Chase said, “Lucas, please, I’m telling you—no, I’maskingyou—if you want to fight us over the process, that’s fine. But please don’t do anything until tomorrow. Please! We’re putting these men under heavy surveillance, and we plan to pick them up after they leave their offices this afternoon or tonight so theycan’t warn the Heracles people. They’ll want to bring their attorneys in, but when we begin questioning them, we’re going to use what we get for the warrants for the raid on Heracles. If you break this whole thing into the open before we get the warrants, there’ll be some bonfires in the Heracles offices tonight. It won’t hurt you to wait a day.”
Lucas thought about that, and said, “Okay. I won’t talk to anyone until after your raids.”
“Thank you. We... thank you. Somebody will call you in an hour or so when we’re ready to launch.”
“Will you be there? For the arrests?”
“I won’t be making the arrests myself. I’ll be observing.”
“See you there,” Lucas said.
—
BOB SAID,“Good, we’re gonna do something. These guys... I don’t think we need to go in heavy. Maybe keep some shit in the truck, but, basically, civilian dress.”
Rae nodded, and Lucas said, “Take your Glock.”
“I take my Glock when I go to bed,” Bob said.
—
TWO HOURS LATER,Chase’s assistant called, and told Lucas that Chase was on her way to monitor a surveillance team that was tracking McCoy in preparation for his arrest. “We believe McCoy will be leaving Heracles around four o’clock, and we will keep him under surveillance until we can pick him up. You’re welcome to observe. She knows you’re also interested in Kerry Moore, but we’ve been unable to locate him. We will serve search warrants on both of their apartments later this evening.”
