Page 151 of Maddy's Justice

“Should we call them?” Agent Diggs asked Carvelli.

“No, we don’t want to spook them either,” Carvelli whispered back so the counterman and his boss could not hear him.

“Good point,” Diggs said. He turned back to the two employees of the heliport and motioned for them to follow him. When they, including Agent Casey, were far enough not to be overheard, Diggs turned to the two men.

“Okay, this is official FBI business. They may be witnesses, that’s all I can tell you. We’ll be back by seven. If you contact them to tell them we’re here, I will arrest you and make sure you are prosecuted by the federal government for obstruction of justice. If they call in, act as if nothing is wrong. If they do call in, call me right away on my cell,” Diggs said handing each his card.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, sure, uh, huh.”

“It’s serious and you don’t want to go to a federal prison,” Casey said. “They are nasty places.”

Both men swallowed hard and croaked something along the lines of “I understand.”

On the way back to the van, Carvelli asked, “Did you put the fear of God into them?”

“Down to their toes,” Casey answered.

FORTY-NINE

The helicopter welcoming party were back in the lobby by seven o’clock. Twenty minutes later, they all hustled to the window to watch the S92 executive helicopter land. The pilots shut down the engine and Carvelli went to the door.

“You want to go out to get them?” Paxton asked.

“Might as well. No need to wait. Go after them and let them know how serious this is,” Carvelli answered.

By the time the door opened for the two men to exit the bird, the five people were waiting for them.

“Can I help you?” the one with the name Kevin stitched into his shirt asked.

The two agents held up their FBI creds and announced themselves.

“We need to ask you a few questions,” Diggs solemnly said.

“Okay,” Kevin said. “Here?”

“Unless you’d rather do it in an interrogation room downtown,” Casey said.

“No. What can we do for you?” the other pilot, Roy said.

“We understand you have made quite a few trips to a private location in Wisconsin,” Diggs began.

“Ah, shit,” Roy said. “I knew sooner or later…”

Kevin shot his partner a nasty look which stopped him from saying anything more.

“You knew what?” Diggs asked.

“Nothing. We don’t know which location you might be referring to,” Kevin said.

“The one you fly James Labelle to,” Carvelli asked.

“Our clients are given confidentiality about their trips,” Kevin said.

“Let’s go,” Agent Case said as she pulled out a pair of hand cuffs. “Turn around.”

“No, wait, wait,” Roy pleaded. “Kevin, I’m not going to jail for this.”

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