The rest of the group looked around at each other. “Holy shit,” was all the director could say, his head swaying from side to side.
Masters picked up the phone and spoke into it. “He’s leaving the building now. He’ll know he’s being followed. Make it a short leash, but give him some room. He’s an expert at this stuff, so he’ll take you for a waltz around the city and then try to lose you. Be alert! When he hooks up with Tyler, communicate with me immediately. Keep them under surveillance, but don’t approach them.” He looked over at the A.G., who nodded her assent. Masters hung up the phone and took a deep breath.
“Do you believe Riggs’s story that it’s only one man behind all this?” the director asked, looking nervously at Masters.
“It sounds incredible, but I hope to God it’s true,” said Masters. “I’d rather be dealing with one guy than some worldwide crime syndicate.” The A.G. and director both nodded in agreement.
Berman looked around with questioning eyes. “So what’s the plan here?”
The director cleared his throat heavily and said, “We can’t ever let this come out, you all know that. No matter what happens. No matter who gets hurt. Even if Riggs is successful and we are able to apprehend this person and any others involved in the scheme, then we still face a major problem.”
The A.G. folded her arms across her chest and picked up this line of thought. “Even if we can build a case against him on all the other activities this person will know he has ‘leverage,’ to use Riggs’s term. And he’ll use the same threat Riggs used. Deal with him or he goes public. I can just see his defense lawyer salivating over that one.” She involuntarily shuddered.
“So what you’re saying is this thing can never go to trial,” Berman said. “What then?”
The A.G. ignored the question and instead asked Masters, “You think Riggs is playing straight with us?”
Masters shrugged. “He was one of the best at undercover operations. To do that you have to lie on a regular basis and appear not to be. Truth takes a backseat. Sometimes reality becomes blurred. And old habits die hard.”
“Meaning we can’t completely trust him,” the A.G. said.
Masters looked thoughtful for a moment. “No more than he can trust us.”
“Well,” the director said, “there’s the strong possibility that we won’t bring this guy in alive.” He looked around the room. “Right?”
They all nodded. Masters ventured, “If he’s half as dangerous as Riggs says he is, I’d shoot first and ask no questions later. Then maybe our problem goes away.”
“And what about Riggs and Tyler?” the A.G. asked.
Berman answered, “Well, if we’re going to go that route, you never know who might get caught in the crossfire. I mean none of us wants that to happen, of course,” he quickly added, “but like Riggs’s wife, you know, innocent people sometimes die.”
“Tyler is hardly innocent!” the director said angrily.
“That’s right,” Masters said. “And if Riggs is tying his allegiances to her instead of us, well then he has to accept the consequences. Whatever they may be.”
All of them looked at each other uneasily. Under normal circumstances, none of them would have been remotely contemplating any of this. They had dedicated their lives to apprehending criminals and then seeing them receive a fair trial before a court of law for their offenses. They’re now silently praying that justice wouldn’t happen this time, that instead several human beings would die before a judge or jury ever heard their case, was not sitting well with any of them. However, in this present case, they were all confronted with something much larger than merely hunting down a criminal. Here the truth was far more dangerous.
“Whatever the consequences may be,” the director quietly repeated.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Walking down the street, Riggs looked at his watch. The clock housing was actually a sophisticated recording device; the tiny perforations in the leather strap were the speaker component. The day before, he had spent some time in a well-known “spy shop” four blocks from the FBI building. The technology had certainly gotten better over the years. At least his deal with the government was recorded somewhere other than in his memory. With operations like this, he shouldn’t put too much faith in anyone, no matter which side he was on.