Two days later Georgia, Jimmy, Paul Kelly, and Erica and Jeffrey Baldwin gathered in Kelly’s office for coffee.
“From the very beginning, Ruth was scheming, manipulating, lying,” Georgia said. “The day of the demonstration, for example, everyone thought Ruth was panicked because Dena was late and Ruth might have to speak instead,” Georgia said. “But what she really was upset about was the timing of the pipe bomb and whether it would explode before Jarvis took his shot.” She took a sip of coffee. “The irony was she wanted nothing more than to take Dena’s place. I should have known, damn it.”
“Whoa, girl,” Kelly said. “You had forty-two thousand potential suspects to check out, remember? Marriotti was just one.”
Georgia shot him a look. “Yeah, but—”
“And don’t forget about the Prairie Rats. They were manipulating Ruth.”
“They came later,” Georgia said. She turned to Erica. “They were hired to settle a score with Carl for failing to move fracking legislation forward. Their timing was lucky; Ruth fell into their lap. She—and your ex—were up against a force that few, including Carl, could resist. They owned Ruth. Not only did they threaten her to make sure Jarvis killed Dena, but they forced her to blow up Jarvis afterwards.”
“They didn’t trust Jarvis to keep his mouth shut?” Erica asked.
“That was part of it. They didn’t want any evidence leading back to them or their employers.”
“Employers like Congressman Jackson Hyde,” Kelly said.
Georgia nodded.
“But Ruth knew everything,” Jeffrey said.
“I’m sure they had plans for her, too,” Georgia said. “Eventually.”
The door to Kelly’s office opened, and Nick LeJeune stuck his head in. “Hello, everyone. Sorry to be late to the party.”
Georgia and Jimmy exchanged glances, both trying not to crack a smile. They were well acquainted with the FBI agent and his unrepentant, but occasionally charming, narcissism. Two other men, presumably agents as well, were with him.
“So glad you could join us, Agent LeJeune,” Kelly said. Introductions were made and LeJeune pulled up a chair and sat on it backward. The other two men stood behind him.
“Couldn’t help but overhear you talking about my favorite new organization,” LeJeune said. “Last I heard, private militias based on political ideology aren’t illegal. But they can be tricky. If they get too ambitious, they might be charged with fomenting a coup.”
“Is that what the Prairie Rats were doing?” Erica asked, wide-eyed.
“Well, lemme put it this way. One of the biggest financiers of the Prairie Rats is a fracking producer, and he just happens to have a horse farm in northern Virginia, not too far from DC. Lots of land, good for training horses. And kidnapping pretty PIs.”
“You bastard.” Georgia seethed. “You knew about Jackson Hyde and the P-Rats. The Bureau knew.”
“We didn’t know, cher. We suspected. But it became a lot more credible after your boy Reince killed Vic Summerfield.”
Reince. One of the thugs in DC. “So they were with the Rats, she said. ”What about Ruth Marriotti?” Georgia asked. “Did you suspect her, too? You went through the tapes from the White Star Hotel, didn’t you?”
LeJeune turned to the agents behind him. “Well?”
They both shrugged.
“You didn’t see her on the tapes?”
Both men shook their heads. LeJeune turned back to Georgia. “Apparently not, cher. That was all your doing,” LeJeune said cheerfully. Georgia knew that his cheerfulness was just a pretense. Those agents were going to be in big trouble once they left Kelly’s office.
“So what you’re saying is that not only did I do your work for you, but you painted a giant target on my back.”
“We don’t see it that way. You are a brave, courageous investigator who gave her all for her country. We’re rounding up the Rats now,” he added. “Thanks to you. You broke them wide-open.”
“They were the ones who followed me.” She paused. “And broke into my apartment,” she said more to herself than to the group. “Hey, wait a minute. What about Remson, Dena’s virtual lover? You had to know about his criminal background and where he works now. Why didn’t you warn me? You let me walk into DataMaster.”
“We’ve had our eye on DataMaster for a while, cher. And now that Remson is—uh—in a vulnerable position, we intend to probe more deeply. Again, thanks to you. We’ll find out what they’ve sold to who, and what the damage is.”
“Christ, I might as well have a badge, I’ve been helping you so much.”
“You should consider it, cher. I’d love to have you on my side.” He winked.
Georgia changed the subject. “You know the person I feel sorry for? Besides the grief you and Jeffrey have had to bear? Jarvis. Everyone was using him, poor guy. He enlists in the army, obeys orders without question, and then when he’s out, realizes he’s lost. He was ripe to be exploited. And they did. The P-Rats, Beef Jerky, and Ruth.”
“Don’t feel too sorry for him,” Jimmy said. “He killed a woman. First-degree murder.”
“I’ve been wondering something,” Erica cut in. “Based on what you’ve explained, do you think he changed his mind at the end? Besides killing Dena, do you think he was persuaded to kill Ruth, too? Or Nicole?”
“Hard to say,” Georgia replied. “He was an expert sharpshooter and was supposed to hit her in the shoulder. Instead he went for what could have been a kill shot. Maybe he missed. Maybe he didn’t. I’m not sure we’ll ever know.” She went quiet for a moment. “But I’m glad Ruth Marriotti will spend the rest of her life in prison trying to figure it out.”
“So, I’ve got another question,” Jeffrey piped up. “If Kitty Jarvis’s boyfriend sent the ‘Beef Jerky’ email, how did he get the encryption key for our system?”
“That’s a good question,” Kelly said.
“Well.” LeJeune’s brow furrowed. “The people who financed the Prairie Rats gave their people whatever intel they needed. Most of it was hacked, and I’d wager their hackers are from that Eastern European country we love to hate. We figure that’s how they worked out Nicole was Ruth Marriotti. So, if Russian hackers worked for the P-Rats, it could have come from them.”
“You can ask him yourself,” Georgia said. “He and Kitty will be back tomorrow.”
Erica nodded. “That leaves just one more question. At least for me. Who was making all those hang-up calls to Dena before she died?”
Silence caromed around the room. Then Jeffrey looked up and said quietly, “I think I know.”