Page 26 of Caleb's Cause
“Correct.”
“Okay, what did your boss say?”
“At first, he didn’t say anything. I briefly explained the situation, and gave him the file number. I then told him to not call me unless he thinks you would be in danger. I told him to look into what he could, that I didn’t want the FBI involved, that this was a private matter, but to tell me whether Babcock and Mason were good people or not.”
“Did he get back to you?”
“He did, late last night.”
“And?” Katherine asked after he sipped his coffee and seemed to stall in answering her. She sucked in her breath when he finally did. “Shit.”
“Yeah. Let me start by saying thatyouare safe right where you are. Grayson, my former Director in my old unit looked into the matter, and he’s reached out to Lyle Anderson.”
“Mom.” Katherine stared at Duane in shock, and didn’t realize Caleb had pulled his chair closer to her until he felt his arm go around her. “What about Mom?”
“She’s safe, she’s still trying to gather evidence against Mason. They are talking, and it was strongly suggested that Ilsa take a vacation.”
“What did the FBI find out about Babcock and Mason?” Caleb asked.
“It’s bad. Though neither of them are on the top ten wanted list, which is all over the country, but in Los Angeles county, both of them are on the top fifteen list. I think they came in around number twelve. However, the people they are known to be associated with are in the top ten.”
“What’s that even mean?” Katherine looked at him with a confused scowl.
“Think of it like this,” Laurie spoke for the first time. “Babcock and Mason are bad people, but the people they do business with are worse. Think of a snake.” She looked at Duane and Katherine noticed he gave her a smirk as well as a nod of his head, and Laurie turned back to her. “Okay, from what Duane told us, he’s not keeping anyone in the dark about this. Not with your life on the line. But think of that snake. From what Duane was told by his former boss, Michael Babcock, and some of his friends would be considered the tail of the snake. Oh, the snake represents the business, or rather, the hierarchy of the business.”
“Ah, so Michael and his buddies would be the grunts.”
“Yes, with them being the tail, then that would leave Babcock and Mason in the middle. Not as low on the totem pole as Michael was, but not as high up as the leaders.”
“Let me ask you this, is this snake mob related?”
“Not necessarily mob, but definitely criminal activities have been involved, and they are looking into organized crimes. Grayson believed that with Michael out of the picture, George will mess up. He already did when he showed up at your house with those off-duty police officers and stated they needed to gotake you out. Your mother has it all on camera, and not only did she put a copy in her safe at work, but she gave one to Lyle. He in turn gave that to Grayson.” Duane had taken over the story then. “We’re all hoping that if they can take Mason and Babcock out, then they could get the head of the snake.”
Duane shook his head as he sipped his coffee and looked at her directly. “Director Grayson told me that he was aware, because he won’t share the names with me, I’ll refer to them as the head of the snake, but because he was aware of them, but they kept their heads down, there wasn’t anything they could do. He also told me that since I’m retired, then I’m no longer privy to the information they had other than what he already shared with me.”
“So, they’re criminals, but not bad enough to be on the FBI’s radar?”
“No, they are on the FBI’s radar, it’s just that they’re keeping their heads down and not getting caught. Grayson said they suspected these guys had locals on the payroll. With the home security footage your mother was able to obtain, then they’ve been able to really look into the case. We all feel that you need to stay here, Ilsa will continue to do her job, and see how it plays out with Mason and Babcock.”
“Will you get Mom to safety if it is warranted?”
“Yes, a plan is already in place that she will start packing next Wednesday, and if Mason questions her, she’ll say she’s needed in the New York office to help iron out a case. She already has a ticket to show Mason if he’s suspicious. However, if he looks at it, he’ll see it’s a ticket, but when she get to the airport, she’ll be taken into custody of the FBI and taken to a safe house”
“No,” Katherine said so strongly that she actually shouted it. She shook her head and stared at Duane with wide eyes. “That won’t work.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Think about it. George Babcock wants me to pay for where his son is right now. In his mind, everything is my fault. It doesn’t matter that I was innocent and proved that in a court of law. In his mind, his precious baby boy was done wrong by me.”
“Okay, I follow that.”
“We already know that Babcock showed up at Mom’s house, because Larry lives there, but they didn’t know I was sleeping upstairs, that was how I was able to get away.”
“What are you trying to say?” Caleb asked.
“George Babcock wants me in his possession so he can either teach me a lesson, or kill me after he tortures me for what he believes is all my fault. He’s just sick enough to carry it out. But, he played his hand when, in his anger, he arrived at Mom’s house with those off-duty cops with him. What’s to say that Larry won’t memorize the flight information and go to George, and they have the cops on the same flight, or others working higher up in the organization, waiting for her when she arrives in New York. Shit’s going to hit the fan if she’s not on the flight, nor arrives in New York.” Katherine shook her head sadly and slumped back in her chair. “I don’t know if you could have her taken by the FBI when the plane is in the lay-over airport, or what. The important thing is that Mom gets on that plane. After that, I’m all out of ideas.”
“Shit,” Duane said with a shake of his head. “I can actually see them putting someone on the plane to follow her, or have someone waiting for her when she arrives.”
