Dog Tags

CHAPTER 87

ALMOST GETTING KILLED CAN BE EXHAUSTING, AND I WOULD LOVE TO GET SOME SLEEP. Unfortunately, detectives usually have a lot of questions to ask when they find someone with their head blown open on a kitchen floor. The media have set up camp on the street outside, but they’re easier to avoid.

Even though Pete Stanton is in charge, and therefore we are obviously not under suspicion, the process is very time consuming. This is especially true since two people, Laurie and me, are very much involved. Milo, arguably the key player in the entire incident, escapes unscathed, and he and Tara are in the corner, sleeping together.

When we’ve finally answered everything there is to be answered, and when forensics and the coroner have concluded their respective business, my need for sleep is put on another hold. That’s because Benson and two other FBI agents show up at around two AM to make a long night much longer.

Benson talks to Pete for a while, probably getting an update, and when they’re finished Pete comes over and asks me if I want him to hang around as a buffer. I thank him but say it’s not necessary; I’ve had plenty of experience going one-on-one with Benson.

“You’ve been a busy boy,” Benson says when he comes over to me.

“As have you. Any chance that with Landon and M out of the way, we’re out of bad guys?”

“We’re never out of bad guys,” he says. “You called my office before.”

I nod. “Speaking of bad guys… Jonathan Chaplin is somebody for you to check out. He runs a hedge fund called C and F Investments. Landon was making the investments through that fund, and they were doing it through a bunch of different brokerage houses.”

“Chaplin know what was going on?” he asks.

I nod. “Definitely. But I’ve got something else for you that’s more important.”

“What is it?”

“First we need to make a deal,” I say.

“What a surprise” is his dry response, which I ignore.

“I want your word that an announcement will be made tomorrow stating in no uncertain terms that Billy Zimmerman is innocent. I don’t want people thinking he’s a murderer who was released on a technicality. The truth is he’s been a goddamn hero all his life, and when Erskine got shot he ran at the killer and disarmed him, even though he couldn’t stand Erskine.”

Benson nods. “Fair enough. Done.”

“And I want him taken care of financially.”

“Kiss my ass, Carpenter.”

“That’s what Erskine’s note said… did you write it for him?”

He ignores the question. “You want me to give Zimmerman my pension?”

“I don’t care how it happens. Zimmerman has been sitting in jail for a crime you knew he didn’t commit. Beyond that, the FBI committed jury tampering. I don’t think that was your call; I’ll bet it goes high up to people who will be seriously pissed and embarrassed to have it made public. Well, I’ll go on 60 Minutes to get the story out, if I have to, and you’ll have every reporter in America digging for more.”

“I’ll do what I can,” he says.

“You’ll do better than that.” I’m trying to extract a promise from Benson, though he wouldn’t be above breaking it if it suited him. My threat to go public is my insurance.

“Okay,” he says. “Are you finished now? Or do you want my firstborn?”

“I’m finished.”

“Okay, now here are my terms,” he says. “As long as I deliver on my end, you tell no one about FBI involvement in this case. And you tell me everything you know, right now.”

“Deal. I have reason to believe that the next commodity that Landon was hoping to profit from is natural gas.”

“Why do you say that?” he asks.

“The same companies that profited from the oil and rhodium through C and F are poised to make an even bigger profit on gas.”

“Do you know what they’re planning?”

I shake my head. “No. But with Landon and M gone, I would hope there’s no one else to plan anything.”

“You keep hoping,” Benson says, the implication being that he plans on doing a lot more than that.

Once Benson leaves, Laurie and I get into bed. The implications of what happened here hit me full-bore, and being able to hold her is a substantial comfort. Of course, momentous events are not a requirement for me to enjoy holding Laurie, but tonight it seems even more necessary.

It’s not until the morning that I think to check my phone messages, and I have one from Willie, telling me that he thinks he has seen Jason Greer. My very strong hunch is that he’s imagining things, especially since it now seems very unlikely that the M sighting in Everett was real.

I call Willie back, but his cell phone doesn’t answer. I leave a message expressing my doubts, in gentle terms, and tell him to call me.

Now it’s time to experience the absolute best part of my job. I head down to the prison to get Billy, who is being processed out. I have to wait less than twenty minutes, a blip in prison time, and there he is.

We do a real firm handshake, and he grabs my left arm with his left hand, but we avoid the full-on man-hug. Then we head outside to my car, with him stopping briefly to look up at the sky and take a deep breath. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be cooped up in a cell, so I have no insight as to how it feels to be finally let out of that cell.

But if Billy’s expression is any indication, it must feel great.