Forged in Desire (The Protectors #1)(85)
Special Agent Percy Weaver had been one of them, and he’d confessed as much on the tape. He’d also named the third person involved, Leonard Small, who was a US marshal assigned to the courthouse where Erickson’s trial had been held. According to Weaver, Leonard Small wasn’t aware Weaver had known about him. But for security measures, Weaver had made it his business to know who else might have been working on the wrong side of the law. Small was the only person whose identity Weaver had managed to obtain. He did not know anything about the assassin or Officer Blackshear’s role.
After listening to the tape with the others, Agent Felton had ordered that US Marshal Small be picked up immediately and taken to FBI Headquarters for questioning.
On the tape Weaver had also stated how the assassin was tracking who’d been in the courtroom that day. Security had been stepped up due to the high-profile nature of the case, and additional screening procedures had been implemented. In addition to the standard metal detectors and X-rays, everyone’s hands were swabbed for traces of explosives.
“So, let me make sure I understand all of this,” Jules said, addressing everyone in her office. “They were actually using the swab to apply noninvasive, long-lasting tracking matter onto the person’s skin, specifically, the back of their hands?”
“Yes,” Marcel said, nodding his head. “It’s been rumored such a substance was in development at our headquarters in DC. If that’s true, I want to know how US Marshal Small got his hands on it.”
“If what Weaver said on that tape is true, and I have little doubt that it’s not,” police chief Harkins said, “that means the assassin knows the whereabouts of every single person who was in that courtroom, and probably within a pretty accurate longitude and latitude. So, in essence, it doesn’t matter that people are in hiding since the assassin has the ability to track their locations.”
“Is there no way to get this substance off their hands, since it’s obvious that regular soap and water won’t work?” Jules asked, leaning against her desk.
“I’ve already made a call to our lab to find that out,” Felton said. “I told them this is urgent. We have close to ten people from the courthouse that day who agreed to the private protection we offered. They are at an undisclosed location and are depending on us to keep them alive.”
“Not to mention those who refused police protection,” Detective Ingram tacked on.
“We need to get word out immediately,” Harkins said, pulling out his phone. “Unfortunately, we don’t even know where some of those people are. Some went into hiding and we can’t contact them to tell them the assassin knows their location.”
“The group under police custody is okay for now, since the assassin knows nothing about the package sent to Ms. Sweet,” Dr. Randi Fuller said, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Right now, his main focus is another member of the jury. A woman. She went into hiding, not realizing the assassin can find her.”
Everyone had gotten quiet as they thought about what Dr. Fuller had said. It was Harkins who finally asked, “Do you know who she is, Dr. Fuller?”
Randi shook her head. “No, my mind can’t outright identify her, but from the flashes I’m getting, she’s hiding somewhere in a cabin in the mountains, somewhere near Shenandoah.”
“Aw, hell!” Dalton Granger’s outburst had everyone shifting their gazes to him.
“What’s wrong, Dalton?” Jules asked her husband.
“My brother Jace owns a cabin in the mountains near Shenandoah, and I understand he loaned it out to someone, a bodyguard who’s protecting a woman who was on the jury.”
“We need to know if it’s the same woman, Dalton,” Marcel said. “I assume she’s being protected by one of Roland’s men.” He’d gotten to know Roland Summers and several of his bodyguards last year when Jules’s and Dalton’s lives had been in danger.
Dalton pulled his phone out his jacket. “I’ll find out from Roland right away.”
Marcel chimed in with, “I thought Roland was recuperating from a gunshot wound.”
“He’s supposed to be recuperating. If he’s not at the office, then Stonewall will answer.”
A few moments later Dalton clicked off the phone. “According to Stonewall, the woman being protected is Margo Connelly, and Striker Jennings is her bodyguard. Stonewall will get word to Striker immediately.”
“Margo Connelly?” Harkins asked, frowning. He looked over at Detective Ingram. “Didn’t we foil an intended kidnapping of her just yesterday?”
“Yes, sir, we did.”
“Kidnapping?” Jules asked, looking at Detective Ingram.
“Yes, she’s the Connelly heiress,” Detective Ingram answered. “We were informed of a blackmail plot against her. We used one of our female officers as a double. Turns out the threat of blackmail was a decoy, and they really intended to kidnap her and hold her for ransom. The kidnappers snatched the undercover officer, and when they took her to a warehouse, we made our move. The three men are in jail and a possible fourth has been picked up in New York for questioning. They’ve been turned over to your agency, Felton.”
“Sounds like this Margo Connelly is pretty popular these days,” Felton said, shaking his head while thinking that maybe it was time for him to retire after all. He had suspected something was going on with Weaver but had figured the man was having marital problems or something. Boy, had he been wrong.