Cajun Justice(27)

“No.” His hands came together under his chin, propped up by his elbows on the desk. “I don’t have a lot of time, so let me just cut to the chase. A proverbial line has been drawn in the sand. This has come straight from the director. Because you paid the prostitute—regardless of whether you had sex with her or not—you’re in hot water. It’s like the childhood game of Duck, Duck, Goose. Remember that game?”

“It’s been a while, but yes.”

“Well, you’re it. And the only way for you not to be it is for you to work with our internal affairs investigators and get confessions from the other agents. If I’m going to identify and extract this cancer from our organization, I’ve got to know how malignant and widespread it goes.”

Tomcat—you son of a bitch! What I wouldn’t do to roll back the clock and not pay that woman. I should throw your ass under the bus…

“Permission to speak freely?” Cain asked.

“Of course,” the SAC replied.

“Sir, if I did as you requested, I would never be trusted by my colleagues for the rest of my career. And as you know, trust is paramount in law enforcement. Nobody would ever work with me again, and I would be an outcast. I would be ineffective in my role to protect POTUS. I don’t think our Service is plagued with this cancer you speak of. I think it’s just a very few members who made some very poor decisions.”

“It’s more than a poor decision. They compromised national security! They had foreign nationals in the same room as US government devices.”

That’s quite a stretch, Cain thought. Besides, those devices were encrypted—set to erase themselves if the wrong password were entered three times.

“So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to play ball with us?” the SAC demanded. “My instructions from the top were clear, Agent Lemaire. If you’re not going to assist us, then you are allowed to resign.”

Hearing the demands—practically an ultimatum—from the SAC felt like a sucker punch to the solar plexus. Cain felt numb, but anger tingled deep inside his core.

“Assist you?” Cain asked. “That’s exactly what I did. My actions most likely prevented this from spiraling out of control. Had I not paid that woman”—Cain paused—“on behalf of the Secret Service, the police would have gotten involved and this would have likely resulted in arrests.”

“This is not personal,” the SAC continued. “It’s just business—a business that requires the highest levels of integrity, patriotism, and the trust of the American people and the officials we took an oath to protect with our very bodies, if necessary. There are already members of Congress trying to strip away our mission to protect the president and give it to the damn FBI!” The all-American SAC was starting to lose his patience.

“They always threaten that, sir.” Cain looked to LeRoy, who sat there without saying a word. Why don’t you say something instead of just sitting there? “Congress threatened it after Kennedy was killed, after Reagan was shot, and even after that couple crashed the White House dinner.”

The SAC stood and pounded his desk. “I offered you an opportunity to resign and keep your security clearance—and your honor! I swear—”

Cain interjected, “There’s no honor in resigning this way.”

“Your other choice is getting fired. There’s certainly no honor in that. You’d lose your top secret clearance, and you’d never be accepted in a law enforcement position again!” The vein on the side of the SAC’s temple was now pulsating. He snatched a piece of paper off his desk and tossed it to Cain. “Read it, you arrogant asshole!”

Cain looked at the letter. It has been an honor serving alongside my friends with the United States Secret Service, but after long and careful consideration, I feel my resignation will allow me the stability to pursue my personal aspirations, it read. Cain couldn’t believe they already had a resignation letter typed and prepared for his signature.

“Personal aspirations,” he said aloud. He then looked from the SAC to LeRoy. “What does that even mean? You and everyone else in this building know I have no personal aspirations.”

LeRoy continued to remain quiet. The SAC’s hand was shaking from the confrontation, but he used it to provide Cain with a pen. It was one of those expensive, heavy pens that a CEO would use to sign business deals.

“You can shove that pen up your ass, sir!”

“Get the hell out of my office,” the SAC demanded. He motioned to LeRoy. “Get this ungrateful man out of my office.”

“Gladly,” Cain replied.

Once they were in the hallway, Cain turned to the King. “You could have warned me, LeRoy!”

“Since when do you call me LeRoy?”

“Since you’re no longer my boss, you cowardly son of a bitch. That’s when!” LeRoy looked shocked at Cain’s response. “I walked right into a firestorm and you just sat there like a frog on a stump.”

“Agent Lemaire, my office, now!” LeRoy shouted as Cain turned to walk away. Something in his tone made Cain look back.





Chapter 25



LeRoy nodded toward his office door. Cain went in and LeRoy quietly closed the door behind him. He motioned for Cain to have a seat, but he shook his head in defiance. “I’ll stand,” he said.