In Desperation

22

Phoenix, Arizona

H ackett eyed the clock, then observed the investigators settling into their seats at the table in the large conference room at the FBI’s Phoenix headquarters.

As he waited to lead the case-status meeting, he was stabbed by his recurring concern.

Was there a traitor among them on the cartel payroll?

That question ate at him as he inventoried the walls, covered with photos and plaques from allied police agencies across the country and around the world. None of it meant anything when you were betrayed.

If you were betrayed.

But Hackett had no proof his case had been infiltrated. All he had was his growing unease, underscored by the latest reality: the two corpses found in the Mexican desert were ex-cops from the U.S. Their gruesome murders appeared to be linked to Tilly Martin’s kidnapping by a cartel that had set a deadline for payment of five million dollars.

They were losing time. People at the table were ready.

“Let’s get started,” Hackett said. “We want to update everyone quickly, then get back to our assignments. First we’ll do a roll call of everyone at the table and on the line. My partner, Bonnie Larson, will then bring everyone up to speed. We’ll brainstorm, hit next steps and get back to it.”

The Phoenix P.D.’s Home Invasion and Kidnapping Enforcement Task Force; the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office; the Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were among the agencies supporting the growing investigation.

Also participating was the DHS Border Enforcement Task Forces, which, under an exchange agreement with Mexico, was embedded with Mexican police officers. In addition, there were analysts on the call from the El Paso Intelligence Center, Juarez police, agents from the U.S. working in Juarez and Mexico, and Mexican agents posted to the Mexican Consulate in El Paso.

The roll call ended and pictures of Tilly Martin, Lyle Galviera and other key players, charts and maps emerged on the room’s large monitors, and through a secured encrypted internet channel. Paper rustled as people flipped through a two-page summary. As Larson updated the case, Hackett came back to his fear.

The crime now bled into Mexico, taking on an international scope, requiring more agencies be brought into the loop. Having more players, most of whom were strangers to Hackett, not only increased the risk of corruption, it gave the case a high profile and increasing political pressure.

Prior to the meeting, one of the FBI’s Assistant Special Agents in charge of the Phoenix field office had pulled Hackett aside.

“A few minutes ago, the boss got a call from NHQ. The White House has let the Director know of its interest.” Hackett’s supervisor put his hand on Hackett’s shoulder. “Earl, you can appreciate that we all want this thing cleared ASAP, whatever it takes.”

Now Larson was concluding with a quick summary. To date, they’d received nearly two hundred tips from the public. All were being screened and sorted by Phoenix P.D. and the county, with potential leads flagged for the FBI. Cora’s home in Mesa Mirage was still being processed. Nothing significant had arisen from her computer, phone or bank records. The forensic experts were still analyzing items in the home for latent prints. There were impressions on the duct tape but the quality was subpar and they were still processing it. And crime scene people were still going through Lyle Galviera’s condo and his computer, phone, bank and credit card records.

As Larson finished her update, Hackett elaborated on the facts, suspicions and theories the FBI had gathered and formed from intelligence collected from all agencies and sources so far.

“Among his many longstanding financial troubles, Lyle Galviera had to make a critical two-million-dollar payment in one month or lose his company. So to save his company, he goes into business with Salazar and Johnson, who were tied to Mexican cartels.”

“What do we know about Salazar and Johnson?” a Mexican drug agent asked over the line from the Mexican Consulate in El Paso.

Hackett paused. He hated sharing intelligence.

“John Walker Johnson was ex-U.S. Customs. It was never proven, but it was alleged that in addition to stealing seized property while working the border at Juarez, he received a single three-hundred-thousand-dollar payment by a cartel to allow one truckload of dope to cross. He denied the allegation and resigned. The IRS said it lost the trail of the alleged payment through offshore bank accounts.”

“And Salazar?” the agent asked.

“Octavio Sergio Salazar was an LAPD patrol officer who shot a suspect during an armored car robbery. He left the job after being on leave because of psychological problems. Salazar became despondent, then claimed he never received his full compensation benefits and launched an unsuccessful lawsuit against the city.

“Our intel indicates that Salazar and Johnson met in Arizona through connections, and began dealing with the Norte Cartel.”

“As you know, Agent Hackett, the Norte Cartel is at war with other cartels to expand its U.S. territory,” the Mexican agent said.

“We’re aware. We think that in attempting to set up their own rogue network in the U.S., Salazar and Johnson made the grave error of ripping off the Norte Cartel.

“We believe that when Salazar and Johnson went to Juarez to formally put their network in play, the Norte Cartel executed them and went looking for Galviera and their money. Galviera went underground with the cash. Evidence was found at the crime scene linking Salazar and Johnson to Galviera. And we checked the ESN’s on the prepaid cell phones used by Salazar and Johnson. They were used to call numbers of a prepaid cell phone in Phoenix in the days before Galviera disappeared.”

“So why did the cartel take Tilly Martin?” a Phoenix detective asked.

“We have not yet determined precisely how the cartel located and selected someone close to Galviera. But that is their method. Somehow they learned that Cora was not only his secretary, but his girlfriend. Posing as cops, they grabbed Tilly to pressure Galviera to surface with their cash.”

“How do we know Galviera is not dead?” one investigator asked.

“We think the cartel would have displayed him as a message,” Hackett said. “They’re big on that.”

“This gives us reason to believe Tilly is still alive, too,” a female DEA agent said.

“Yes, it does,” Larson said.

“But for how much longer?” Hackett said. “As we’ve seen with the eyeball incident and the severing of heads in the desert, these guys have turned torture into an art form.”

Another grim-faced veteran DEA agent shot Hackett an icy stare.

“Let’s see if I’ve got this, Earl. We have no leads on where Tilly is?”

“Nothing solid.”

“We have no leads on where Galviera and the money are?”

“No.”

“Tell me something about Cora’s brother, Jack Gannon, the newswire reporter. Didn’t he have some tie to Mexico? How did he get on the desert murder story almost as fast as your team, Earl?” The agent’s gaze went around the room.

“We checked him out. He was on assignment in Mexico at the time of the kidnapping. He’s a well-respected journalist who was nominated for a Pulitzer. He’s broken a few big stories, including that one about a Buffalo cop under suspicion and a threat against the U.S.”

“Well, if that’s the case, if I were you, Earl, I’d be concerned about the things he may know that you don’t.”

The DEA agent had hit a nerve. Hackett knew Gannon had gone to Los Angeles and was concerned Gannon might have information he was not sharing with the FBI. But he’d be damned if he was going to admit it here and now.

“We can’t prevent him, or the press, from investigating this case as a journalist,” Hackett said. “He’s obviously got a stake in it.”

“And what about his sister?” The DEA agent held up the summary. “Your sheet here says she’s a former addict. Hell, that’s got to raise a few red flags.”

Larson noted that checks were done for the drug dealers Cora Martin, aka Cora Gannon, had admitted associations with some fifteen years ago. “The subjects were known by the street names of Deke in Boston and Rasheed in Toronto. Boston P.D. and the Toronto Police Services have found nothing so far,” she said.

“We’re pursuing other avenues of investigation. It would be premature to discuss them now.” Hackett shot a look around the room. “I think that wraps it up at this time.”

The meeting broke up.

Investigators gathered files, notebooks, cell phones and BlackBerries and shuffled from the room, leaving Hackett alone. He ran his hand across his face, chewing on his anxiety, which encompassed his mistrust of Gannon and his suspicion of Cora.

They got clear fingerprints from her. So why did she hesitate to volunteer them at the outset?

As far as they could determine, Cora was never arrested, or charged. So why hesitate to give up her fingerprints?

Every cop knows that at the outset of a crime, everyone connected to it lies, covers up or hides some piece of the truth.

Everyone.

Tilly’s enlarged photo stared at Hackett from the monitor.

Sitting there, it suddenly dissolved into the face of the red-haired medical student, Betsy.

Hackett blinked and saw Tilly’s face again.

Maybe he was exhausted.

All he wanted was to find her alive and arrest the people responsible, because standing over the casket of another innocent victim murdered on his watch was something he could not bear.