Page 17 of Special Agent Murphy

An accidental meeting at a bar on the night when he’d felt as low as a man could get, she’d miraculously appeared and bought him a drink. That night, she admitted to losing her only child to cancer and a few years later, becoming a widow. Not that those life traumas had turned her soft. Cemented in place by all her years as a leader and boss, this woman’s spine had no give. She reeked of discipline and toughness.

He held her stare and gave back the same. Finally, she sighed. “See, that’s why you’re still on my employee register. You have the balls of a stallion and the stamina of a man who knows his worth. I trust you, or I did. There’s something else you’re not telling me about last night. And I doubt you’ll share, since you’re a stubborn jackass. Okay, keep your secrets. But I will share mine. And this stays in this office.”

“Right. Got it.”

“You’re probably already aware that some Russian oligarchs are money laundering by buying up a lot of property in the U.S. and have been doing so for some time. They’re using illicit funds, but if it’s done legally, through proper channels, we can’t do much other than keep track and watch for when they cross the line. Now, we’ve come across some information that there’s political bribery and corruption involved with some of these sales. One is happening in Virginia. And that’s where Draper comes into the picture.”

“Draper, the man you had us watching earlier?”

“Yes.” She went over to her desk and lifted a file folder to retract some papers from inside, then handed them over.” Here’s a picture taken in Chicago last week with him and Oligarch Viktor Baranov seen lunching together. We have very little intelligence on these two, other than two corpses we believe belong to Draper, but we have no proof, or we’d have arrested him.”

“Two dead? Who?”

“One was a snitch who must have pushed some buttons. The other was a reporter that broke the story about the conflict of interest where Russian money made its way through our system illegally. We’re talking hundreds of millions.”

“Understood. But what’s that got to do with Senator Bond?”

“There are plans under way to pass new legislation restricting certain major purchases from out-of-country buyers, Bill 539. This would put an end to any legal way they can launder their illicit funds here. Many of the Senators are coming around to seeing it as a good bill, and it sounds like they might be able to pass it in the Senate.

“And Senator Bond designed this bill.”

“Yes. Him and the Senator from Massachusetts, Linda Nelson, are the key architects. We’ve notified the field office in Boston to put protection on her. Sadly they informed us that Senator Nelson had a freak car accident last night and is in the hospital for a long-term recovery.

“How many others are involved in passing the Bill?”

“Others would support it, but no one had the pull these two have. Without their leadership, it’ll be crushed before they can even get the voting started.

“Senator Bond is one of the leaders.”

“He’s the person who drew up the document. Yes, without him, the Bill will die before it ever reaches the floor.”

“So, the Russians need to end it.”

“Exactly. Which means they take the Senator’s only daughter, blackmail him to stop what he’s doing, and the Bill disappears.”

“Does the Senate Committee Chairman know about this?”

“Who knows what that man is privy to, or what he cares about? All I know is this. Whatever laws they figure on breaking in this state ain’t happening, not while I’m in charge of the Criminal Division. And kidnapping definitely falls under that umbrella.”

“You still haven’t explained why you’re handling this investigation at Headquarters. Why not through normal channels?”

“Again, it’s a need-to-know basis, and Murphy, you don’t need to know why. You just have to keep your mouth shut and do your job.”

“Fine, what do you want from me?”

“It’s a delicate operation. I can trust you. I want you to find that girl and get me all the shit you can dig up on this Draper asshole. Who he’s working for, and what they plan next.”

“And Edwards?”

“Right now, she’ll be busy getting the information about Misti Bond, let her handle the Senator and his wife. That should keep her out of trouble for a while.”

“Okay, fine.”

“And Murphy…”

“Yeah?”

“You deal directly with me.”

Ain’t that just peachy!Yes, ma’am.”

Son of a bitch!

---