Page 104 of Edge of Honor

He was about to knock again when a young woman in her early twenties, with a nose ring and stringy blond hair, opened the door and peeked out.

“Mrs. Russell?” Carolan asked.

The woman nodded.

He tried to look past her, into the house. “Is Mr. Russell home?”

She shook her head. “He’s not here.”

“Mrs. Russell, I’m—”

“I know who you are,” she said, cutting him off. “You’re FBI. Both of you.”

Carolan didn’t need to look at Fields to know that she was just as shocked as he was. Someone had tipped Russell off. Someoneinsidethe Bureau.

“Mrs. Russell, may we come in and speak with you?”

“Haven’t you done enough?” the woman asked.

“Excuse me?”

“You gave us hope. And then you took it away. I can’t think of anything more terrible. We may not matter to people like you, but we care about our child’s life.”

He looked at her. “Mrs. Russell, we are indeed from the FBI, but I want you to understand that this opportunity is one hundred percent real. There is a space available for Jacob in the trial at Children’s National Hospital.” Emphasizing the point, he held up the folder. “It’s conditional, however, on your husband cooperating with us.”

She studied him and then Fields, wanting to believe them, but unsure of whether she should.

“Other lives are at stake, Mrs. Russell. Not just Jacob’s,” said Carolan. “We need to speak with Ricky. It’s urgent.”

“And if he speaks with you, Jacob gets into the trial?”

“Yes, ma’am. You have our word. As long as your husband is honest with us, Jacob is in.”

She stood at the door for several moments, weighing her options. Finally, she stated, “Wait here. I’m going to get my keys. I’ll take you to him.”

As they drove, Tammy Russell answered every single question they asked. She was polite and to the point.

She was on full disability for a medical condition of her own—a back injury she had suffered at her previous job. When asked where Jacob was, Tammy explained that they had dropped him with her mother last night. She wasn’t due to pick him up until later.

Though Carolan and Fields had both seen people who gamed the disability system, Tammy’s situation wasn’t germane to their investigation. They were here for her husband. And as to him, his tattoos, and his associations, she was extremely forthright.

Ricky had been a member of a White nationalist organization known as the Iron Tree. But they had grown more extreme and violent,tooextreme, even for Ricky, who was worried about violating his parole. About six months ago, he had left the organization.

They had been very angry with him for leaving and there had been many threats. It got so bad at one point that Ricky thought they might kill him. Eventually, though, they left him alone. In fact, both Tammy and Ricky thought they had all but forgotten him. Then, late last night, his phone had rung. One of the members of Iron Tree was calling.

The man knew all about Children’s National Hospital and the invitation that had been extended to Jacob. It was a con, he explained—a sting operation set up by the FBI as part of a crackdown on so-called extremist groups.

Not only was the offer not real, but if the Russells showed up for theappointment, they would all be targets of Iron Tree—all three of them,includingJacob.

She had never seen Ricky afraid before. That call, however, had scared him. Not wanting to admit to his boss or her mother that the trial invitation had been fake, they decided to keep it to themselves. Tammy had stayed home watching TV while Ricky had gone to hang out at his cousin’s place.

When asked how the man from Iron Tree had known that the FBI was involved in the offer for Jacob, she had no idea. For that, they were going to have to ask Ricky.

When they arrived at the home of Ricky’s cousin, they agreed to let Tammy go up to the front door and bring Ricky out. And, just to make sure he didn’t do something stupid and try to make a run for it, Fields went around to the rear of the dwelling and kept an eye on the back door. Ricky Russell was their one and only lead at this point and they had no intention of losing him.

To say Ricky was not happy to see his wife would have been an understatement. He was furious that she had not only spoken with the FBI, but had also brought them right to him.

Tammy Russell, however, didn’t care. Her instincts as a mother had fully kicked in. She had listened to Carolan’s pitch and believed that the offer was indeed legitimate. She made it crystal clear that, for Jacob’s sake, she expected Ricky to fully cooperate with them.

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