Chapter 14 - The Wire
Agent Vance met me in a dimly lit parking garage on the edge of the city.
He was a massive man with tired eyes, holding a manila envelope filled with surveillance photos.
"We’ve been trying to nail Caldwell for six years," Vance said, leaning against the hood of my car.
"He is untouchable. He uses attorney-client privilege and medical privacy laws to shield the syndicate’s operations."
"I have proof he bribed a state judge to grant me custody," I countered.
Vance shook his head. "Photos of a cash handoff are circumstantial in federal court. Caldwell's lawyers will claim it was a private loan."
"We need him on tape confessing to the extortion and the illegal port takeover."
Vance pulled a small, incredibly thin black device from his jacket pocket.
"It’s a micro-transmitter," Vance explained. "We need you to wear this to the board meeting tomorrow."
I stared at the tiny wire, knowing exactly what would happen if Evelyn or Caldwell found it on me.
"If they catch me wearing this, I won't make it out of that building alive," I said.
"My tactical team will be in a van two blocks away," Vance promised. "If things go south, we move in immediately."
I thought about Mia’s sweet, sleepy smile in the hospital room.
I couldn't live the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for Caldwell’s people to demand more.
"How do I get him to confess?" I asked, taking the wire from Vance's hand.
"You have to refuse to hand over the final digital access keys to the port," Vance instructed.
"Make him angry. Make him threaten you and explicitly mention the extortion."
I drove home that night feeling like a dead man walking.
I kissed Mia on the forehead as she slept in her bed, her leg healing perfectly in its new, lightweight cast.
"I am going to end this tomorrow, sweetie," I whispered into the dark room.
May you like
The next morning, I taped the transmitter to my chest, right over my furiously beating heart.
I put on my best suit, walked out the front door, and prepared to face the devil in his own boardroom.
