Page 34 of Caleb's Cause
“I did,” Duane said with a shake of his head. “You all know that I worked for the FBI for twenty-five years, right?” They all nodded and he sighed heavily as he fixed himself a cup of coffee before making his way to his desk. “Here’s a little background on my time there. I was good at my job. I worked in the narcotics, and vice divisions. I did a lot, I mean, a lot, of undercover work. I could be a junkie on the streets, a homeless person, I blended in with the environment.” He looked around and saw them all nodding. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but the Bureau won’t hire you until you’re twenty-three, then they kick you out at age fifty-seven.”
“Shit, not at sixty-two?”
“No, that’s a rule. In at twenty-three, out at fifty-seven. I am almost forty-nine. I went in at twenty-three, but before that age, I got a degree in Criminal Justice, went through the police academy, and worked two years as a local police officer in Los Angeles county. My entire police career, with the locals, and the Bureau, was in Los Angeles county.”
“Really?” Scott asked in shock.
“Yes, LA county is also the biggest county in the entire nation. There are close to ten million people in that county alone. That means a lot of drugs, and prostitution. That’s why I was undercover a lot. Fast forward to before I retired. We got a new Director. He came in from a different branch. I’m not sure which one, whether it was San Diego, or San Franscico. He took over as director of narcotics when the old one retired. He had only been there for roughly three months, I hadn’t even met him yet because I was living on the streets doing my undercover work, when I was called in off the streets.”
“Was that normal?” Laurie asked as she got up and fixed a cup of tea for herself and Katherine.
“No, it was a policy that if an agent was on the streets, they weren’t called in, or even looked for until there was no contact with their handler for seven days. When it was time for me to meet with my handler, I was in my position with a cup at my feet, he would drop money in it, then squat down to talk. I don’t want to say that I have a photographic memory, but I can look at someone, study their features, and three years down the road, if I see them again, I can recall all the information I had on them.” He looked around again. “I can also recall when I saw them, why I saw them, and the conversation I had with them at last contact.”
“Wow, okay,” Jake said with a nod. “So, why were you called into the office?”
“The new boss, Director Grayson, said that he was buttoning up the department. He strongly, and I mean strongly, suggested that because I had been with the Bureau for almost twenty-five years, and I had ten years left, then I needed to ride a desk for those last ten years. He also strongly suggested that my advanced years could cause any case I closed to come into question because of my advanced years and I might be considered geriatric and have memory problems.”
“What the hell? From being in your mid-forties?” Erin asked in shocked surprise. “Is that why you came here looking for a job?”
“Actually, I came here to see Scott, but I stopped by to see if Jake could give me a job. You were the one that offered it to me.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. So, what happened?”
“Director Grayson wouldn’t even allow me to finish the case I was working on, and told me to take three weeks off to decide if I was going to ride a desk or retire. Those were the only options I was given.”
“Oh shit,” Katherine said in shock as she quickly sat up, and was able to save her cup of hot tea without spilling it. She looked around wildly. “I understand what you said, but these guys need to know what happened before I tell you my thoughts.” She didn’t wait for his answer as she stood and turned so she was looking at everyone.
“Today, Duane, Laurie, Caleb, and I were supposed to meet with his Director Grayson so I could tell him about the trouble I was in. See, after I told these people what I had been through, Duane contacted Grayson to ask if Babcock and Mason were on the Bureau’s watch list.”
“That was a smart move. Were they?” Jake asked.
“Yes, but not at the top. Grayson revealed they were like in the middle of a snake in a criminal organization. It was also revealed that Babcock’s son, the one that caused Katherine’sproblems, and sentenced to life, was the tail of the snake. Grayson said that he hoped if he talked with Katherine, I never gave him her name, nor her gender, but I gave him a file that was the transcript from her trial, and I don’t know whether her name was blacked out or not, but he said Babcock and Mason would or should lead him to the head of the snake.”
“Duane set it up that we would meet for lunch today. The four of us, along with his Director Grayson. We pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and I’m not happy about this, but I lost my shit.” She shook he head and paced. “Does anyone have a secure, untraceable laptop?”
“Here,” Jake said and put it in the center of Tom’s desk. She immediately went to it, and the two of them were able to get into it. She looked up and stared at everyone. “I lost my shit, because I saw George Babcock, Larry Mason, and one of the local cops from back home standing there on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. I told Duane who they were, but he said they were Director Grayson, another undercover agent he had worked with over the years, and I don’t know whether he knew the undercover cop or not?”
“I did not,” Duane said. He pointed to his own laptop. “I had Laurie and Caleb snap pictures. I figured we could use face recognition to compare, because Katherine said the man I knew as the director of narcotics was George Babcock. I also called him to say we couldn’t meet, that something came up. Caleb recorded that call. Here.” He pointed to the laptop, and pressed play. Everyone leaned in as they heard Duane make the phone call and the man answered. When they were done, there was nothing but stunned silence.
“Here,” Katherine said from the other desk. “This is footage from my mother’s home security system. This is the day they, Babcock and the cops came for Larry, telling him they were going to my apartment to get me to teach me a lesson for lying.They didn’t know I was upstairs sleeping.” She played the video, and as clear as day were three of the people from the video from earlier that day.
“Fuck.” Almost everyone said as one, and looked around in shock.
“I think,” Katherine said as she picked up her cooling tea to take a sip. She ignored everyone except for Duane. “I think that Director Grayson had you removed from the streets because you would recognize people, and you’ve been doing your job for so long, that he didn’t want people to talk to you, or to have you stumble over the fact that he might be the head of the snake, not in the middle like we thought. He played his hand when his son was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder of me, and murder of Stephanie.” She looked at the others. “Oh, and there was some charge of perjury. When Stephanie’s family took me to court for wrongful death, Michael Babcock, George’s son, lied through his teeth on the stand, while under oath.”
Everyone sat there in stunned silence.
“This brings up what do we do next?” someone asked.
“I think I know,” Laurie said into that silence, and everyone turned to look at her.
CHAPTER 13
“Honey,”Duane asked when Laurie stood there without saying a word. “What do you think we should do?”
“Contact Agent Haller.”
“Who’s that?” Jake asked as he picked up a pen to take notes.
