Matt sat in the conference room on one side of the table. Rebecca Chavez was at the head, a small stack of files in front of her. Chandler, Thornton and Agent Tom Schroder were across from him. Opposite from Chavez was Special Agent Sloane Wagner, designated secretary for the meeting.
The setup was needlessly adversarial, but if that was the way they wanted to play it, so be it.
ASAC Rebecca Chavez had insisted on the meeting, claimed she wanted to “mend fences” with the national office over what she called “a misunderstanding.” Matt had asked that Brian Granderson be present, but Chavez said it wasn’t necessary to bring in her boss, that she was confident they could resolve any problems themselves.
Chavez was in her forties and appeared the consummate professional. Short, neatly styled dark hair, intelligent eyes, impeccable suit, classy jewelry. She’d been with the Bureau for as long as Matt—nearly sixteen years. Her first career had been as an accountant for a major Wall Street firm. Her specialty was white-collar crimes, and she had a solid but unremarkable career. She was known to be meticulous and didn’t make waves.
George Chandler was young for an assistant US attorney, hired two years ago right out of law school. He hadn’t prosecuted any high-profile cases and had been handed the Chen investigation likely because his bosses didn’t see it going anywhere.
And of course Bryce Thornton. Like Matt, he’d joined the Bureau young. Worked himself up to ASAC five years ago after closing a major human-trafficking case. Matt had reviewed his record thoroughly. He did good work, but had more than one reprimand in his file, primarily for animosity toward local law enforcement. Matt had seen that firsthand during his OPR interview. Previously, Chavez covered for him. She smoothed things over with any local agency that complained about Thornton.
Thornton had changed squads multiple times within LA FBI. After digging around, Matt learned that no one liked working with him. Thornton was smart and closed cases; he was also arrogant and condescending.
Tom and Sloane were introduced as agents on Thornton’s squad, here because they would be working any follow-up.
After introductions, Matt said, “I don’t have a lot of time. I need to get to the courthouse. Please explain why I found out only last week that Agent Thornton hasn’t been removed from the Chen investigation.”
“There was no need to remove Bryce, who has been part of the investigation from the beginning,” Rebecca said. “OPR was clear that it was up to the discretion of this office which cases we assign to which agents.”
“And it was also made clear that Agent Thornton, who is still on probation, would not be allowed to work any case that included Detective Kara Quinn.”
“She’s not a detective anymore,” Thornton interjected.
“Detective Quinn is employed by LAPD, on loan to my unit until after the Chen trial,” Matt said. “She’s testifying today, and thus is intricately involved with this case. Any prosecution is going to need Detective Quinn’s assistance and testimony, including federal prosecution.”
He looked pointedly at George Chandler, who appeared uncomfortable.
“Well, yes, most likely,” George said, “but my office is waiting for the outcome of the state case before we decide which path to pursue.”
“The state isn’t prosecuting Chen for human trafficking, that’s what our office is investigating,” Matt said. “It’s a federal crime. Are you telling me that there has been no investigation for the last eight months?”
Thornton opened his mouth, but Rebecca cut him off. “Matt, we didn’t get the case until after LAPD raided Chen’s warehouse. LAPD didn’t consult with us, even after they realized that their suspected labor violations included trafficked workers. We need time to investigate, and witnesses haven’t been cooperative.”
“The primary witness was killed during the police action,” Thornton said.
Matt kept his face as calm as possible. Thornton was referring to Soon Chi Chu, “Sunny,” Kara’s informant, who Chen killed at the beginning of the raid in an effort to get away. Or, as Kara believed, to punish Sunny when he realized she’d been talking to the police.
“Chen killed the witness,” Matt said. “Are you telling me that in eight months you have no other women who are willing to talk?”
“We have some initial statements,” Chandler said, “and we have a dedicated translator and social worker. But the women are scared. They fear for their families still in China. Finding anyone willing to openly cooperate has been challenging, but we’re working on it, including pulling in resources from the State Department to see what recourse we have in bringing families to the US.”
Matt was surprised at the compassion and understanding in Chandler’s tone.
“That’s why what happens today is crucial,” Chandler continued. “My boss, Nina Radinovich, will observe the hearing. If the judge throws out Detective Quinn’s testimony, our case is that much harder. We haven’t been able to trace how Chen brought the women into the country separate from Quinn’s knowledge.”
If Kara’s evidence was thrown out by the court, they would have to build the case from the ground up.
“The best case with clear physical evidence against Chen is the murder charge,” Chavez said. “But everything Detective Quinn obtained while undercover is central to a conviction on all other charges. Thus, we need answers from the hearing today.”
“That doesn’t explain why Agent Thornton is still working this case. In fact, it confirms why he shouldn’t. He has a personal grudge against Detective Quinn, which clouds anything he does with this case. That you didn’t recognize this after the OPR hearing and subsequent reprimand surprises me.”
Chavez bristled. Matt was being deliberately confrontational, frustrated by everything that had been happening with this squad. Chavez acted like Thornton had done nothing wrong.
“I assure you, Agent Costa, that should the FBI decide to prosecute Mr. Chen or anyone else based on the case built by Detective Quinn, Agent Thornton will not be the only agent involved, nor will he be the lead agent. That is going to have to satisfy you. No office appreciates national headquarters coming in and telling them how to manage their personnel.”
“That is not my problem,” Matt said simply. “My office is, in fact, watching this investigation very closely, and if anything goes wrong, you had better know the who, what, where, when and why. You have over five hundred agents in this building alone, and more than a hundred in regional offices under LA control. You should have picked a different agent for this case to avoid the microscope.”
Matt rose. He was done with this conversation. “I didn’t want to come here. You’re the one who insisted on explaining why Agent Thornton was still involved with this case, and as far as I’m concerned, your reasoning is weak.”
Matt took the elevator to the basement, where he would pick up a pool car to use, but first he stepped into a small office across from the elevator. Special Agent in Charge Brian Granderson looked up when Matt entered.
“Good to see you again, Matt,” Brian said and shook his hand, motioning for him to sit at the small conference table. Brian sat across from him. “I have a car set aside for your use as long as you’re in town.”
“I appreciate it,” Matt said. “I dropped the bomb. They all pretty much hate me now, if they didn’t already.”
“You’re doing me as much a favor as I am you,” Brian said. “Your suggestion to recruit Wagner and send her undercover in Chavez’s squad solved my problem with using one of my own people to investigate. Did you have the same assessment I did of Chavez?”
Matt nodded. “She’s defending Thornton, over and above what seems necessary. However, I’m an outsider telling her what to do, and if someone made an accusation about one of my people, I might respond the same way.”
“OPR made it clear that Thornton wasn’t to be involved in any of Detective Quinn’s investigations,” Brian said. “Chavez’s reasons to keep him involved seemed weak, but I let it go because Wagner was already embedded.”
Brian had flown out to DC for a meeting several months ago to discuss Thornton and other problems in his office with Tony Greer and Matt. Matt liked the man. Brian had come to the FBI via the military as a JAG lawyer, then starting as a field agent specializing in labor and employment investigations. Now he was the SAC of personnel.
“I discussed it with Chavez and she’s taking lead,” Brian continued. “Agents Schroder and Wagner are doing field work under her direction, and Thornton is involved only tangentially. There’s nothing in her record to suggest there’s a personal reason she won’t remove Thornton.”
Brian and Matt had discussed the possibility that there was something personal between Chavez and Thornton, but Agent Wagner ruled that out early on. Wagner said that Chavez appeared happily married and devoted to her family, and she could find no evidence that Chavez and Thornton were having an affair.
“Yet you and I both think something is wrong.”
Brian nodded. “Agent Wagner has gone through all of Chavez’s and Thornton’s cases for the last two years, then asked me to request specific files from LAPD, though she didn’t elaborate why. When the files came in, I glanced through them but I didn’t see why she was interested.”
“She mentioned the LAPD cases in one of her reports,” Matt said, “though she didn’t say what about them piqued her interest.”
“Wagner is methodical and reports facts, but at this point, we need more.”
“She may not be comfortable sharing theories, wanting actionable evidence instead,” Matt said.
He had recruited Sloane Wagner out of Quantico specifically to go undercover in LA FBI. In addition to working given assignments, she was investigating Thornton and others in Chavez’s division to determine who had leaked the identities of Colton Fox and Kara Quinn to the press. There was minimal evidence that someone in the FBI had leaked the information—a phone call to a reporter from an unassigned phone the day before Fox and Quinn were exposed. Brian Granderson had his own concerns about Chavez’s division but his internal investigation didn’t yield results, so he was happy to have a neutral party from DC.
“She may not realize she knows something important,” Matt said. “Her reports are clear and concise, but a full debrief is warranted. I can come back tomorrow morning.”
“Not here,” Brian said. “I trust my staff, but no one outside of my AD and your AD know about this investigation. If you’re seen here too often, people may start talking, asking questions that I would rather not answer. Plus, I don’t want to call Agent Wagner up to my office and raise a red flag.”
“We’re staying at the Sheraton downtown.”
Brian made a note on his phone. “It’ll have to be early. I have a director meeting at nine.”
“Seven?”
“Good. I’ll let Agent Wagner know.”
Matt would have to fill Kara in on this aspect of the investigation. Sloane Wagner’s assignment was need-to-know—now Kara needed to know. He hoped she would understand why he kept her out of the loop until now.
“Wagner is good,” Brian continued. “She’ll get answers if there are any to be found. I’d let her stay in LA if she wanted, any division, but once the truth comes out about why she was here in the first place, it might be uncomfortable for her. Are you bringing her onto your team?”
The question surprised Matt. He needed another agent, but hadn’t found the right fit yet. “She’s a rookie. I don’t know that my team would be the best fit for her.”
“She has my recommendation,” Brian said. “She’s calm under pressure and in the four months she’s been here, she has earned two commendations in her file. They’re not easy to come by in this building—there’s both a healthy and unhealthy competition fostered among the agents. She’s quiet, but not silent. She’s intelligent—smarter than most—but doesn’t lord it over anyone. She does a good job whether she’s given grunt work or something challenging. You know her test results at Quantico.”
Matt nodded. “We recruited her primarily because she’s loyal and disciplined—serving in the Marines will do that—and also for her ability to recognize patterns. It’s a skill that is almost impossible to teach.”
“She misses her family,” Brian said suddenly.
“Montana, right?”
He nodded. “One of her brothers came to visit last month. She went home in July for her parents’ wedding anniversary. She has already asked for time off in November. She said any four-day weekend—her family will change their Thanksgiving celebration for her. But then she made a point to say her brother—the one still in the military—is only on leave for a week, which happens to coincide with Thanksgiving.”
“You gave it to her.”
“I told Tony I intended to, but I haven’t told her yet. Do you think this—” he waved his hand to imply the undercover investigation “—will be done by then?”
“I hope so,” Matt said. “To be honest, now that Detective Quinn is in town, I suspect Thornton is going to make a move. He has a personal vendetta against her and I don’t think he can stop himself.”