Path To Revenge
Chapter Three
Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC) Roger Poon of the U.S Marshal’s Office had pushed the investigation hard into the murder of Deputy
Marshal Lily Perkins. He could not get rid of the image of Lily lying in the hospital bed, in a medically-induced coma with horrid burns to her face and arms. She fought valiantly for weeks but never came out of the coma. She was engaged to be married and had her entire life in front of her. SAC Poon thought, How could anyone fire three rockets into a small home on a quiet residential street and strafe it with machine gun fire? Lily saved protected witness Felicia’s life by shoving her into a tornado cellar, just after the machine gun fire started and just before the first rocket blast blew Lily into the backyard.
The FBI had analyzed blood from a drip trail a couple of blocks away where the shooters had torched the Humvee they had used as a firing platform. The DNA results showed the blood belonged to Raul Saladez Montes, age twenty-three. The FBI lab analyst would testify that only one out of seven billion people have that specific DNA profile, seven billion being the approximate world population. Raul’s DNA had been entered into the United States Justice database when he was arrested on a felony drug distribution charge a few years earlier. That case, however, was dismissed when the key civilian witness disappeared.
A task force assigned to investigate Lily’s murder had combed through Topeka hotel records for Lorenzo Boleti, the alias used by Javier EsquelRanchez, a defense witness at the trial for now deceased defendant Hernandez-Lopez. Javier had rented a Volvo at the Topeka airport at the time of the safe house attack and matched the general description of the person ICE Agent Schwartz saw sitting in a car near the attacked home. Agent Schwartz was driving towards the safe house to meet with the
protected witness at the time of the attack. She fired at the Humvee as she approached until she crashed into a pole in an attempt to avoid the 50 caliber machine gun bullets fired at her in response. One of her bullets must have hit Raul.
The task force discovered that Lorenzo Boleti had rented a suite at one of Topeka’s finest hotels the night before the attack. Room service had brought champagne to his suite. Lorenzo paid for everything in cash. The security man at the hotel entrance remembered Lorenzo walking into the lobby that night with a beautiful blonde in a striking dress because it was unusual for an aristocratic looking Latin man to be with a blonde at that hotel. The task force was attempting to track down the blonde.
Now, the investigation had slowed and SAC Poon was ready to accept prosecutor Drummond’s offer of assistance. Poon wrote a memo summarizing the Topeka investigation and emailed it, along with the DNA reports and additional crime scene reports, to the U.S Marshal’s Office in San Diego for Drummond to pick up. Poon did not want to email the material directly to Drummond because he did not know how secure it was. He trusted the encrypted, secure communication between Marshal’s Offices, only.
“Nick, it’s Roger Poon calling. Congratulations again on the convictions and delivering ultimate justice to Luis. Your name is golden around here. The investigation of Lily’s murder has generated a few excellent leads, including a DNA match of the blood trail where the shooters torched the Humvee. But, the investigation has stalled. We need you and your team’s help to run down the shooters and tie in Javier Esquel-Ranchez to the attack.”
“I’ll do anything I can to help. They almost took out my agent and I saw Lily in the hospital. Getting started on this should take my mind off the grand jury inquiry into Luis’ shooting. The DA could present evidence at any time.”
“What are you talking about? A grand jury on you? Are they nuts?’
“I can’t talk about it. The whole world is a little nuts.”
“Okay. I understand. I’ve emailed the DNA results to our San Diego Office. I also sent a memo updating you about the investigation and some additional crime reports you don’t have. I’d appreciate it if you would pick it up. I’m paranoid about security, especially since the Baja Norte Familia orchestrated the Topeka attack from a San Diego jail cell and somehow found the safe house.”
“I know the feeling. You’re preaching to the choir. I’ll also try to figure out how La Familia found Felicia. I’ll keep you updated. I’ll personally pick up the documents.”
“Thanks Nick. I won’t take up any more of your time.”
Sam Lenart sat at his desk at the U.S. Marshal’s Office playing video games. He was so bored. He wanted a line of cocaine so bad. He could not risk it at work. He had money now. A couple of months ago all his money was going up his nose and he was behind in rent for his two-bedroom house in National City. Money was still going up his nose, but he had more of it. A husky male voice had spoken to him on his cellphone six weeks ago. He told Sam he knew where he lived, the dumpy car he drove and where he worked. He asked Sam what the U.S. Marshal’s Office would think about a clerical employee’s affair with cocaine. The caller assured Sam need not worry about losing his job and could earn some large side money if he stayed on the lookout for any materials having to do with an attack on a house in Topeka and injuries to Deputy Marshal Lily Perkins. They agreed that Sam would put an old box on the porch swing in the front of his house if he had information for the caller. Sam got $5,000 upfront. It was left in a used McDonald’s bag on the swing. For each batch of information conveyed, more money. Sam felt uncomfortable about it, but rationalized he would just be giving over a report or two. He couldn’t lose his job.
Deputy Marshal Simmons walked up to Sam’s cubicle and dropped numerous pages on his desk. They were marked confidential. “Stop with the video games and Xerox a copy of these materials for me. Put the originals in a sealed envelope for pick-up at the front desk by California Deputy Attorney General Drummond. Do it now.”
Sam cursed himself for being caught playing video games. “Yes, Sir. Right now, Sir.” He grabbed the papers and trotted over to the Xerox machine. He noticed that the top page was a DNA lab report in Lily Perkins’ case. Sam began to sweat. He looked around. No one was paying attention to him. He put the machine on two Xerox copies instead of one. He grabbed a file folder and put the second copy inside. He labeled it DIET REGIMEN. No one could dispute that he needed to drop a few pounds. Sam turned and started walking over to his desk when Deputy Simmons approached him. “You have my copy?”
“Yes, yes… Sir. Here it is. The original is in the envelope.”
“What do you have in the file folder?”
Sam thought he might faint. Blood drained from his face. He managed to say, “Just some diet stuff, I’m going to take my lunch break. Need to chart calories.”
“Have a good lunch.” Deputy Simmons walked away thinking, Sam looked jumpy. Maybe I was too curt with him about the video games. He seems like a nice young man. Just lazy.
Sam rushed home after work and did a line of cocaine. He felt better— more in control of his life. He moved the materials from the diet file into an envelope. He grabbed an old box from the garage, placed the envelope at the bottom, and put the box on the porch swing. Sam went back inside, thinking about how much extra money he would get.
Path To Revenge
Chapter Three
Special Agent-in-Charge (SAC) Roger Poon of the U.S Marshal’s Office had pushed the investigation hard into the murder of Deputy
Marshal Lily Perkins. He could not get rid of the image of Lily lying in the hospital bed, in a medically-induced coma with horrid burns to her face and arms. She fought valiantly for weeks but never came out of the coma. She was engaged to be married and had her entire life in front of her. SAC Poon thought, How could anyone fire three rockets into a small home on a quiet residential street and strafe it with machine gun fire? Lily saved protected witness Felicia’s life by shoving her into a tornado cellar, just after the machine gun fire started and just before the first rocket blast blew Lily into the backyard.
The FBI had analyzed blood from a drip trail a couple of blocks away where the shooters had torched the Humvee they had used as a firing platform. The DNA results showed the blood belonged to Raul Saladez Montes, age twenty-three. The FBI lab analyst would testify that only one out of seven billion people have that specific DNA profile, seven billion being the approximate world population. Raul’s DNA had been entered into the United States Justice database when he was arrested on a felony drug distribution charge a few years earlier. That case, however, was dismissed when the key civilian witness disappeared.
A task force assigned to investigate Lily’s murder had combed through Topeka hotel records for Lorenzo Boleti, the alias used by Javier EsquelRanchez, a defense witness at the trial for now deceased defendant Hernandez-Lopez. Javier had rented a Volvo at the Topeka airport at the time of the safe house attack and matched the general description of the person ICE Agent Schwartz saw sitting in a car near the attacked home. Agent Schwartz was driving towards the safe house to meet with the
protected witness at the time of the attack. She fired at the Humvee as she approached until she crashed into a pole in an attempt to avoid the 50 caliber machine gun bullets fired at her in response. One of her bullets must have hit Raul.
The task force discovered that Lorenzo Boleti had rented a suite at one of Topeka’s finest hotels the night before the attack. Room service had brought champagne to his suite. Lorenzo paid for everything in cash. The security man at the hotel entrance remembered Lorenzo walking into the lobby that night with a beautiful blonde in a striking dress because it was unusual for an aristocratic looking Latin man to be with a blonde at that hotel. The task force was attempting to track down the blonde.
Now, the investigation had slowed and SAC Poon was ready to accept prosecutor Drummond’s offer of assistance. Poon wrote a memo summarizing the Topeka investigation and emailed it, along with the DNA reports and additional crime scene reports, to the U.S Marshal’s Office in San Diego for Drummond to pick up. Poon did not want to email the material directly to Drummond because he did not know how secure it was. He trusted the encrypted, secure communication between Marshal’s Offices, only.
“Nick, it’s Roger Poon calling. Congratulations again on the convictions and delivering ultimate justice to Luis. Your name is golden around here. The investigation of Lily’s murder has generated a few excellent leads, including a DNA match of the blood trail where the shooters torched the Humvee. But, the investigation has stalled. We need you and your team’s help to run down the shooters and tie in Javier Esquel-Ranchez to the attack.”
“I’ll do anything I can to help. They almost took out my agent and I saw Lily in the hospital. Getting started on this should take my mind off the grand jury inquiry into Luis’ shooting. The DA could present evidence at any time.”
“What are you talking about? A grand jury on you? Are they nuts?’
“I can’t talk about it. The whole world is a little nuts.”
“Okay. I understand. I’ve emailed the DNA results to our San Diego Office. I also sent a memo updating you about the investigation and some additional crime reports you don’t have. I’d appreciate it if you would pick it up. I’m paranoid about security, especially since the Baja Norte Familia orchestrated the Topeka attack from a San Diego jail cell and somehow found the safe house.”
“I know the feeling. You’re preaching to the choir. I’ll also try to figure out how La Familia found Felicia. I’ll keep you updated. I’ll personally pick up the documents.”
“Thanks Nick. I won’t take up any more of your time.”
Sam Lenart sat at his desk at the U.S. Marshal’s Office playing video games. He was so bored. He wanted a line of cocaine so bad. He could not risk it at work. He had money now. A couple of months ago all his money was going up his nose and he was behind in rent for his two-bedroom house in National City. Money was still going up his nose, but he had more of it. A husky male voice had spoken to him on his cellphone six weeks ago. He told Sam he knew where he lived, the dumpy car he drove and where he worked. He asked Sam what the U.S. Marshal’s Office would think about a clerical employee’s affair with cocaine. The caller assured Sam need not worry about losing his job and could earn some large side money if he stayed on the lookout for any materials having to do with an attack on a house in Topeka and injuries to Deputy Marshal Lily Perkins. They agreed that Sam would put an old box on the porch swing in the front of his house if he had information for the caller. Sam got $5,000 upfront. It was left in a used McDonald’s bag on the swing. For each batch of information conveyed, more money. Sam felt uncomfortable about it, but rationalized he would just be giving over a report or two. He couldn’t lose his job.
Deputy Marshal Simmons walked up to Sam’s cubicle and dropped numerous pages on his desk. They were marked confidential. “Stop with the video games and Xerox a copy of these materials for me. Put the originals in a sealed envelope for pick-up at the front desk by California Deputy Attorney General Drummond. Do it now.”
Sam cursed himself for being caught playing video games. “Yes, Sir. Right now, Sir.” He grabbed the papers and trotted over to the Xerox machine. He noticed that the top page was a DNA lab report in Lily Perkins’ case. Sam began to sweat. He looked around. No one was paying attention to him. He put the machine on two Xerox copies instead of one. He grabbed a file folder and put the second copy inside. He labeled it DIET REGIMEN. No one could dispute that he needed to drop a few pounds. Sam turned and started walking over to his desk when Deputy Simmons approached him. “You have my copy?”
“Yes, yes… Sir. Here it is. The original is in the envelope.”
“What do you have in the file folder?”
Sam thought he might faint. Blood drained from his face. He managed to say, “Just some diet stuff, I’m going to take my lunch break. Need to chart calories.”
“Have a good lunch.” Deputy Simmons walked away thinking, Sam looked jumpy. Maybe I was too curt with him about the video games. He seems like a nice young man. Just lazy.
Sam rushed home after work and did a line of cocaine. He felt better— more in control of his life. He moved the materials from the diet file into an envelope. He grabbed an old box from the garage, placed the envelope at the bottom, and put the box on the porch swing. Sam went back inside, thinking about how much extra money he would get.