Page 61 of All Twisted Up
“That’s downtown L.A., right?” Joshua asked.
“Right,” Napoleon said.
I glanced over at my quiet friend who hadn’t said much since they’d arrived. “Okay…and?” I threw up my hands in frustration as I looked back at Judy. “What’s located at 255 East Temple?”
“Headquarters for U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.”
“What thefuck!” I barked out as I glanced at Candy. “The DEA has a…mole?”
“Two of them it looks like…well, there were two separate burner numbers that called Gomez’ phone from the location on Temple Street at different times prior to our joint operation, anyway,” Judy replied.
“Two?” I asked. “I thought you said there was one number trading calls with Gomez.”
Judy sighed then gave me a tiny smile, before patting my hand. “You need to let me finish, Nash. We know one of the burners in question belonged to DEA Special Agent John Sibley who was killed in the building during the operation because we found it on his body. His phone called the phone we found on Gomez’ body.”
“Wow,” Joshua said, looking wide-eyed. “That means he was working with the bad guys…or at least with Gomez.”
“Yes, but there was a second burner from DEA headquarters,” I interjected angrily. It was shocking to learn that there were two bastards on Turley’s team.
“Yes, and that unknown numberalsotraded calls with Sibley,” she said.
We all looked up when Candy cleared his throat.
“Based on what Judy found here, it’s safe to say finding Sibley’s phone on his body and booking it into evidence before the person using the second burner could get to it, was a huge boon to this investigation.”
I nodded as the implications began to sink in. Had we not found the burners on Sibley and Gomez, we wouldn’t have learned that the two had been conversing at all.
“Wait—” Joshua said. “If I understand you correctly, Agent Sibley was working with the cartel but there was someone else from the DEA working with them too?” He pinned me with a look of extreme concern in his eyes.
I nodded.
Joshua screwed up his face. “Okay…this means there are—were—two DEA agents working with Gomez and the cartel.”
“We don’t know who,” I said, pointing to the laptop. “But it’s not looking good for the DEA at the moment.”
“So, for sure it’s a second DEA agent,” Joshua concluded.
“Or simply one of the sicarios hangin’ around the DEA’s buildin’,” Patsy added.
Joshua’s eyes widened. “Okay, that’s scary.”
I wanted to reach out and pull him into my arms, but that couldn’t happen. Not here, anyway.
As Joshua stared at me, I could almost see the gears turning in his brain.
“Someone fucked up big time here,” I said.
Candy nodded. “Look, Mr. Calder. I don’t want you to dwell on the worst. All we know is the phone found with Sibley was used to make calls to more than one burner as well as to the phone we took off Gomez’ body after Patsy killed him.”
“In quite spectacular fashion, I should add,” Napoleon said, smiling fondly at Irish.
“Serves the gobshite right for takin’ a little girl hostage,” Patsy growled.
“We also know that the phone on Gomez’ body was used to call the mystery burner several times the night before our raid and immediately after,” Candy said.
“I can’t believe someone warned that dirtbag Gomez ahead of the operation.” I sat back in the chair, clutching my cooling mug in both hands as I realized the implications. “He was tipped off by one of our own guys.”
“Correction,” Candy said, looking grim. “At least oneDEAguy.”
