Page 19 of Jason's Justice
“Yes. Right now it’s still in a box over at my place, I haven’t unpacked everything yet.”
“Do you think the camera is still in there?” Jason asked. “I know you said it was Mason, but I’d like to see if there’s more information on it.”
“I can dig it out and bring it over here tomorrow.”
“You stated,” Kevin said as he looked at his notes. “The original files from that sex sting are in a locker at the bus terminal in Denver. Do you have copies?”
“Yes, one complete set of copies are in a locker at the bus terminal in Los Angeles, you know, safety in numbers, and I have a copy here. Again, a complete set of transcripts, and video recordings, along with my own thoughts I’d written in the notes I’d taken.”
“Here where?” Jason asked sharply.
“Over in my office here at Erin’s Way. I can get them if you like?”
“No, tomorrow will be good enough. Thank you, and if need be, would you be willing to testify in a court of law about what you stated today?”
“Absolutely. I have nothing to hide, now that I think back on things that happened, I feel that both Mason and Grayson moved me around when I would get too close to something.”
“What makes you say that?”
Duane drew in a deep breath and let it out in a rush. “Remember I said that there were several Johns that werearrested and they pointed a finger at Mason for sex trafficking? Well, I never arrested anyone, but on the streets of LA, there was talk that Grayson was shaking down the larger drug dealers and cutting them deals.”
“What type of deals?”
“Do you have any proof?”
“The proof is in that locker in Denver. Voice recordings.” He shook his head and scrubbed his face. “I didn’t get too deep into anything, I thought I had plenty of time, but I was pushed out shortly after Grayson took control of the department. The people talking weren’t low level drug dealers, they were higher up on the food chain. What I’m about to describe is for everyone in this room, and it’s only for reference purposes.”
“Okay, what’s that really mean?”
“Say there are ten levels of the drug life.” He moved his hand in a cutting motion to indicate the ten levels. “You have the street level where they sell to anyone on the street, or have their regular customers. These would be considered level ten, important, but not that important, and they were a dime a dozen, easily expendable. Then it moves up the chain. The people who started complaining around me were around level six or seven, higher to the top.”
“Why were level tens expendable?” Clark asked in confusion.
“If they stepped on or altered the drugs they were given to sell, they would be taken out. The local police would just chalk it up to another drug deal gone bad. Sure, they’d look into it, but they wouldn’t dig too deep. There were other reasons also.”
“Like?”
“Like they skimmed money or took the drugs for themselves, either selling or using, and not paying for them. In the work I was in, I was a level eight in one organization. I was undercover at that time for four years. It took well over two and a half years to get into my position. At that time, there was a drug war goingon between the different organizations, one gang pointed fingers to another, then yet another gang pointing fingers to another. It took some convincing, but I was able to get my number ten to reach out to the other number ten and set the rumors straight. It turned out that everything was lies, and that’s when statements of someone in the FBI was coming down on them for deals.”
“What type of deals?” Jason asked as he let out a heavy sigh.
“Cut the guys from the FBI in, and if any raids were coming from them, the FBI, or the DEA, or ATF, because firearms were also involved in these deals, then the FBI would give the number tens a twenty-four-hour notice. However, if these gangs and organizations refused to cooperate with the FBI, then they would be subjected to raids left and right. No warnings, no help. They would actually become a target to get them off the streets using any means necessary.”
Not one word was said as everyone sat there and shook their heads at what someone with power could do.
“What type of proof?”
“The recordings are in that locker in Denver. It’s all audio, no video, and no pictures.”
“Can’t you use voice recognition?” someone in the crowd asked.
“We can, but not until we know the names of the players. Right now, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Don’t get me wrong, we will do voice recognition, we’ll use a lab for that, but I’m not going to use an FBI lab, I’ll have to look into where to use an independent one. The hardest part will be getting names to use toward the people talking.” He looked at Duane with a stern look. “I don’t care if they’re street names, if they’re known, then we’ll be able to find them.”
“I have a suggestion,” Laurie spoke and looked between Duane and Jason. “When I went after my ex-husband for attempted murder, someone close to him and his mother, whohelped plot my demise, tried to get one of my former employees to give him insider trading information. I was still back in New York, Duane was here in Colorado. I reached out to him, and I don’t know who gave him the information he sought out, but we were told to contact Agent Haller from the Albany, New York office. He was able to not only take the board member who tried to get the insider trading from my employee, but he was also able to arrest my ex-husband and his mother. The case is still waiting to go to trail, but the culprits are all sitting in jail waiting for that day.” She rubbed her forehead and shook her head. “I guess what I’m asking is if we need to use the FBI for lab work, could we go to Agent Haller?”
“Who told you about Agent Haller, Duane?” Jason asked.
“My former director. The man that retired before Grayson took his place. Grayson wouldn’t answer my calls, and I only had the switchboard information for him. I had my former director’s personal cell phone number.”
