Page 47 of Jason's Justice
“Do not let your officers know that you know they’re on the take. As for the DEA and ATF, there is a case that Manchester worked on where firearms were bought from Grayson’s organization, transferred over state lines, and used in a crime to commit murder. The persons involved are still sitting in jail, and three men here in this room were witnesses to these crimes. When we get Grayson and his team behind bars, I will be returning and taking on that case.”
“But why us?” Agent Alexander from the DEA asked. “I can see us picking up the pieces once the arrests are made, but why before?”
“To let you know what you’re going to have to deal with. There’s only one piece of this puzzle we don’t know for sure yet, we’re hoping once the arrests are made, then it will come to light.”
“What’s that?”
“Is George Grayson the head of the snake that’s operating the guns, drugs, and sex trafficking? Or is he just a pawn. Lyle Anderson and I will be going to the prison to talk with Michael the day we get the warrants signed. The DA will go to the judges the day after tomorrow to see if they can’t get signed. If so, we will be at the prison, so Michael can’t call his father to warn him we’re asking questions.”
“Ah, keep George busy, and you can get your answers.”
“Correct, but, Agent Alexander, you and Agent Davis from ATF are here because your two agencies will be the ones to make the actual arrests. I don’t care if you have to walk into the FBI offices to do it, or pull him out of his home, but since the CIA can’t operate on US soil, and we’re going after the FBI, that leaves your two agencies to be in charge of taking these people down.” Jason turned to Kevin who had brought another board over and lifted a sheet. He revealed eighteen people’s photos when he did so.
“These are the men that will be arrested. Yes, Larry Mason’s there, but as I said, he’s not in the state, and he knows he’ll be arrested. However, we feel that his life is in danger if he is returned to California.” Jason looked at the men in charge of their agencies and shook his head. “Trust me, he’s the one that gave us the information on the network of kidnapping prostitutes and selling them to people overseas. He’s not getting off for his crimes, though he is fully cooperating with us in thisinvestigation. I know you might not like it, but it’s going a long way in getting the information we need.” He paused to look at everyone, then sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Gentlemen, are we all on the same page here?” He breathed easier when they agreed and then he dropped his bombshell. “You have forty-eight hours to get your teams together. As I said, I don’t know where you’re going to make the arrests, but if I were doing it, as soon as I had the warrant in my hand, I’d make a sensational splash.”
“What do you mean by that?” Chief Brant asked.
“We don’t know if Grayson has someone in the courts in his pocket. We already know he has police officers, and other FBI agents. What’s to say he doesn’t have someone in the clerk’s office, or a bailiff or someone who has access to the judge’s chambers? This is just my opinion, but with warrant in hand, my personal sensational splash would be to storm the FBI offices and take him and his cronies into custody in front of everyone. I’m hoping the arresting officers will have body cameras on so they can catch anything he might let slip.” Jason then turned toward the Chief. “I’m trying not to step on your toes here, Chief, but I also think Special Agents Alexander and Davis should have a team ready to storm your departments to take out these men.” He walked over to the board and pointed out the six officers that were documented to be in cahoots with Grayson.
“As much as I want to argue with you, I’m not going to. Do you want me to keep them in-house?”
“No, we don’t want to give them any heads up that this is going down,” Ryan spoke for the first time. “We can’t arrest anyone, but we can be there as backup and even crowd control when and where we’re needed.”
They spent the next couple of hours listing the logistics of what they would do when they executed the arrest warrants, andby the time everyone left around midnight, they all felt like they had a great plan in place.
Four days later,Jason looked at the message on his phone, then with an evil grin, looked at Lyle Anderson and nodded. It had taken a couple of days longer than they anticipated for a judge to sign off on the warrants, and when they got word that today was the day, Jason and Lyle headed toward the men’s prison where Michael Babcock was incarcerated. They walked toward the entrance, and thankfully, they had brought their briefcases with them and retrieved them from the car. Twenty minutes after receiving the message that the warrant had been signed, they watched as Michael Babcock sat down across from them.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded of Lyle, but Jason shook his head at the younger man.
“No, we’ll conduct this conversation. He’s with me, I’m Jason Black, I’m a federal attorney for the United States. We’re here asking you questions about the organization your father is in charge of.”
“The FBI?” Michael asked, and if Jason hadn’t been studying him intently, he wouldn’t have seen the fear in the man’s eyes.
“No, his criminal enterprise, the one where he sells guns, prostitutes, and rips off the drug dealers for his own cut.”
“How did you find out about that?” Michael demanded, then his eyes flared and he actually slapped his hand over his mouth like a little kid would. “I want my lawyer.”
Jason shrugged. “Fine, but know this.” Jason paused until he had Michael’s complete attention. When he had it, he leaned in, and said clearly, “As we speak, your father is beingarrested, along with seventeen other people we know are in his organization. We thought we’d give you the courtesy of coming clean.”
“Will it reduce my sentence?”
“No,” Lyle said firmly. “It also won’t reduce the charges your father and the others are facing. We just thought you’d want to know that your own father might be a bunk mate of yours soon, and we wanted to know if you had anything to add about his organization.”
The emotions flitting across his face were shocking, from fear, to astonishment, then he settled into acceptance. With a heavy sigh, and using both hands to scrub his face, he looked at them. “What do you want to know?”
After asking for his permission to record the conversation, after receiving prior approval from the Warden, Michael talked for the next three hours. He told them everything he knew, and speculated on other things.
Three hours later, Jason and Lyle walked back to their car without saying a word until they were locked inside, only then did they look at each other and grin.
“More ammunition for the upcoming trial,” Jason said, and nodded when Lyle started the car and they headed back toward the city. They stopped at a restaurant about thirty minutes away, and went in to sit down. As they ordered their food, they paused when someone turned up the volume on the TV mounted in the corner. Everyone in the small diner turned to look. They all saw the news clip flipping back and forth from the FBI building to several drug houses, the police station, and several other locations. They heard the commentary that a total of twenty-two people had been arrested. The men exchanged grins, then listened to the patrons complaining that if you couldn’t trust the FBI, then who could you trust?
They took their time with their meal and by the time they made it back to Ilsa’s house, the men had returned.
“One question,” Jason said as he entered the kitchen and saw everyone there. He noticed they still had some paint on their faces, and it made him happy that they had covered up to conceal their identity.
“What’s that?” Ryan asked with a grin.
