Page 101 of Wild Fever

I glared at him, my jaw tight. I didn't like it, but there was nothing I could do.

I handed Julian to him. He immediately released the handcuffs and let the scumbag go. Julian smiled at me as he walked back to his boat. "Have a great afternoon, gentlemen."

Stratton handed the cuffs back. "I need everything you've got in relation to this case, and I need it now. Do not, and I repeat, do not, continue your investigation or harass the subject in any way."

"That bastard tried to have my partner killed,” JD growled.

"Well, it looks like you're still alive to me."

Jack's face was beet red. His hands balled into fists, and I know he wanted to pummel the guy. I did too.

"All the evidence pertaining to this case is logged in at the department," I said. "You can collect it yourself.”

Special Agent Stratton gave me another long, hard look, then said, "Thanks again for your cooperation."

I looked around at the other suits. No doubt some were with the CIA. This had their signature written all over it.

And just like that, the stooges hopped back into their SUVs and tore out of the parking lot.

Jack fumed, grumbling obscenities under his breath.

"Let it go," I said. "Nothing we can do about it."

"Oh, there are quite a few things we can do about it,” he said, full of anger and determination.

I had ideas myself, but none of them were in our best interest. I needed to heed my own advice and just forget about it.

"I don't get it," Faulkner said. "Why are they protecting that guy?"

I put all the pieces together. "Because it's all by design. STT-X is overbilling, which they are kicking back to the CIA to fund black ops and weapons to ghost projects that haven't gotten funding or congressional approval.”

“You know, we bust our asses out here to put away scumbags, and these guys just let them walk free.” Faulkner just shook his head and walked back to his patrol car.

We were all deflated.

JD and I strolled back to the Porsche, hopped in, and drove back toward theAvventura. Jack bitched the whole way. “Are we just going to let that dirtbag walk?”

I shrugged.

“I mean, he could have an accident.”

I gave him a look.

“Just saying. It would be a shame if that boat of his sank.”

A bad idea popped into my head. It had been there since Stratton handed me the national security letter. I told Jack to stop by the store. We picked up a spare USB drive, then headed over to the Trident. I called Vanessa and let her know we were coming and gave her an update on the situation. She wasn't pleased at all.

At her place, I copied the data onto the USB drive and told her to say nothing of this to anyone. "You need to watch your back.”

She nodded. “What are you going to do?”

I shook my head. "You don't want to know."

We left the Trident, and I called Paris. "You want to break one of the biggest stories of your career?”

66

It was a violation of the gag order and would probably land me in federal prison if caught. I didn't give Paris the USB drive directly, but told her where she could find it. I left it in a dead drop we’d used before.