Page 96 of Billion-Dollar Ransom

“What was the other part?”

“I had a mole of my own,” Nicky Gordon said.

SIX MONTHS LATER

CHAPTER 107

Partial transcript of US House Committee on Oversight and Accountability hearing

MR. ROACHE, CHAIR [Heated]: Isn’t it true, Agent Gordon, that you ignored Bureau protocol just so you could advance your precious career?

SAC GORDON: No, Mr. Chairman.

ROACHE: Then why did you ignore protocol with the Schraeder family kidnappings, putting dozens of lives at risk? The American people demand to know!

GORDON: [Inaudible]

ROACHE: Let the record reflect that the special agent has muttered something profane under her breath.

MR. ASHENBRENNER, RANKING MEMBER: Come on, Howard. Gordon was merely clearing her throat.

ROACHE: She’s avoiding the question!

ASHENBRENNER: And you’re attacking the witness!

GORDON: Apologies, Mr. Chairman. I was indeed clearing my throat. It’s been a long morning.

[Broad laughter in the House Chamber.]

GORDON: Let me start from the beginning. I noticed a disturbing pattern of kidnappings and believed the individuals responsible were gearing up for a much larger crime.

ROACHE: Do you have psychic powers, Agent Gordon?

GORDON: No. But I had a suspect, Rubin Padilla, who I believed was part of this kidnapping ring. I asked an agent with a deep background in undercover work to approach and befriend him as a potential accomplice.

ROACHE: Did you receive official authorization for this operation?

GORDON: Mr. Chairman, that would defeat the purpose of placing an operative in the kidnappers’ organization. Especially since I had good reason to believe the kidnappers had a member of law enforcement in their ranks.

[Laughter.]

ROACHE: So you took it upon yourself to act unilaterally.

GORDON: I took it upon myself to apprehend the kidnappers with the tools at my disposal.

ROACHE: Who is this undercover operative?

GORDON: Her name is Cynthia Parker. We came up together as trainees at Quantico.

ASHENBRENNER: How did this work, Agent Gordon? And please be specific.

GORDON: Of course. Agent Parker spent a year working her way into the ring. First, she gained Padilla’s sympathy with a hard-luck story, and he told her about an easy way to make some cash. This was how she met Ramiro Flores, who was later known as Five.

ROACHE: I’m sorry—Five?

GORDON: All the kidnappers were assigned code numbers, Mr. Chairman. No real names were used. The leader of the ring identified himself as One. So as the Schraeder plot came together, Agent Parker stuck close to Five and was able to share certain details. The kidnapper known as Three met Five in prison. Three was apparently a family man, doing all this for a sick daughter. When Three’s wife was brought into the plot, she became known as Four. They seemed like the perfect pair to take the Schraeder children.

ROACHE: All of these numbers, and I forgot to bring my calculator.