Jake squinted as he came out of FBI headquarters. He rubbed his temples and the bridge of his nose before putting his hand up to shade his eyes from the sun. He looked at the trees that lined the street, and turned away from the sun’s western position to admire a light blue sky. He inhaled deeply and took in a dose of smog and thick humidity. After forty hours of interrogation in dimly lit rooms without windows, nature’s canvass was a pleasant shock to his system.
The white Dodge Caravan was parked at the corner, beyond the steel barrier that lifted vertically from its position flush with the pavement of the street. Al was leaning against the grill of the van, the seat of his jeans cleaning off a thin layer of dead bugs plastered to the flat front of the vehicle.
“Thanks for coming,” Jake said, walking slowly, taking in the sights.
“I guess I was your one allotted phone call,” Al said smiling.
“Yeah. When did you get out?”
“They questioned me for a few hours and let me go pretty quickly. The privilege of professional courtesy. That and the fact I still have a few friends around town. I tried to get you out sooner, Jake. I pulled every string I had and promised a few things I would have never been able to deliver.”
“Thanks for trying.”
“You okay?”
“I will be,” Jake said confidently.
“Didn’t know it was going to turn out the way it did.”
“No shit. Neither did I.”
“Senator Day getting shot wasn’t in the plan.”
“How is he? They mentioned inside that he was hanging in there.”
“Well at least they didn’t keep you completely in the dark.”
“There were a couple of good guys in there. A lot of assholes, but a few nice people.”
“Looks like Senator Day is going to make it. Chalk it up to the good doctors in D.C. having a lot of practice with gunshot wounds. He caught two shots in the chest. A third shot missed and hit a reporter in the leg. The senator is still in Intensive Care, but he’s going to survive. Politically, he may not.”
“I don’t think either of us is sad about that.”
Both men looked down the street toward the Mall.
“So what did they grill you on?” Al asked.
“Everything. Things about the Asian guy, my father, about Senator Day, about Wei Ling. They grilled me on Marilyn’s death.”
“What did you tell them?”
“I told the truth.”
“The whole truth and nothing but the truth?”
“Most of it. Given that the senator had just been shot, they were most interested in what I knew about him. They wanted to know about the girl. What my father knew. They wanted to know why I turned my father over to the FBI for illegal exports, and how he thwarted their raid. They actually started accusing me of trying to blackmail the senator. Then they dropped that threat and moved on.”
“There is a reason for that.”
“They didn’t give me one.”
“The guy who shot the senator left a note in his car implicating the head of Chang Industries, a guy by the name of C.F. Chang. The note implicated him in the attempted murder of Senator Day with the intention of influencing the Overseas Labor Special Committee. The note also implicated him for the murder of an American doctor in Saipan. This C.F. Chang is a big fish, Jake.”
“And the guy who fired the gun?”
“They haven’t found him yet. They have him on tape getting on the Metro at Union Station. Whoever he is, he’s got big balls. The guy admitted to being hired by a well-connected Chinese family to assassinate a U.S. senator. He won’t get far. But he obviously didn’t want to go down alone.”
“I don’t get it, Al.”
“What’s that?”
“If this guy came to the U.S. to kill the senator, then why did they keep Wei Ling captive? What’s the point? Seems like a contradiction.”
“I’m sure the FBI is asking that same question. Or if they aren’t, they will be shortly.”
“Where is Wei Ling?”
“She’s fine. Kate is with her. Amnesty International is giving her the velvet glove treatment. She is staying at the Mayflower. We can stop by and see her anytime. Amnesty International is planning to make you their official Hero-of-the-Month.”
“What about our sleight of hand in the charter terminal in Saipan?”
“Technically, we didn’t break the law,” Al said.
“We bent the hell out of it.”
“Is that what you told them?”
“I told the truth. I told them I went to Saipan to see the girl and couldn’t get into the sweatshop facilities. I told them that when I arrived at the general aviation terminal the girl was there. I asked her if she wanted to come to Washington and she made the decision to come to D.C. voluntarily. I told them I consulted with a State Department representative who happened to be at the airport at the time and that he told me I wasn’t breaking any laws by bringing the girl back to D.C.”
“That’s pretty close to the truth.”
“That is the truth. How could I have known any better? I’m just a student who wants to be an English teacher.”
“Did you use that? It sounds rehearsed…”
Jake looked around. “You better believe I used it.”
“That’s not bad.”
“Thanks. What do you think is going to happen to your friend in Saipan?”
“Technically he didn’t break the law either. He lied, but he followed the letter of the law. Besides, it looks like he will come out of this smelling like a rose. He was on hand to pick up C.F Chang in Saipan. Our friend Tom may even end up with a medal pinned to his chest. Responsible for grabbing a suspect in the attempted assassination of a senator. And the beautiful thing is that we got him on U.S. soil. No red tape with extradition.”
“We got lucky.”
“Yes, we did.”
Jake had beaten around the bush for as long as he could.
“And my father?”
“He’s still in there. But he’s not alone. He’s got the A-Team of lawyers playing hardball. His political connections are rattling cages.”
“What do you think is going to happen to him?”
“I don’t know, Jake. I’m sure they are up his ass with a microscope as we speak. Travel history, phone calls, emails. They are probably still investigating you too.”
“I didn’t do anything. I told them everything I know.”
“There may be some lingering questions about Marilyn. Those two detectives you met when the senator was shot know you were with her the night she died. They have you and the guy who shot the senator on the same tape near the scene where Marilyn died. They are still trying to put the pieces together. And they are under a lot of pressure. They are the only law enforcement officers in the city who were pursuing the guy who tried to kill a senator. They are going to need a good explanation for letting him slip by.”
“Can’t be guilty of something you didn’t do. If they had a case against me, I would still be inside. Regardless.”
“Yes, you would be.”
“So where to?”
“I need something to eat. Been on orange crackers from the vending machine for over a day. Orange crackers and Coke. I need real food. Then we can check on Wei Ling.”
“And Kate?” Al asked.
“What about her?”
“You plan on keeping that promise you made to her father?”
“Not sure yet, Al. But you know how I do like to keep my promises.”
Al smiled as he got behind the wheel. “You’ve kept every one since I’ve met you.”