Zach noticed the color drain from Lauren’s face as Susan told her story, Liam letting her speak uninterrupted until she finally sat back, her face flushed.
“Now you, Zach,” Liam said, stunned by what he had heard.
Zach told the tale as he remembered it, standing up and lowering his jeans to show the long scar on his upper thigh when Liam requested, not missing the tip of Lauren’s tongue licking her lips as she looked at him.
“Damn, Zach,” Liam said, shaking his head as he finished. “And now you, Miss Hill. Please tell us your recollection of events.”
“We need to call in some other agents to secure this place,” Lauren said when Krista finally finished her tale.
“I agree,” Liam said, reaching for his phone. “Okay, half a dozen agents should be here within 30 minutes. We’ll have a warrant issued for the arrest of Mr. Quinn Kumms.”
“And what will you charge him with?” Zach asked. “And how will you prove it? It’s our word and supposition against his. No judge in his right mind would issue a warrant on what will be considered to be spurious accusations by any half-intelligent attorney.”
“You have a suggestion?” Liam asked.
“I do,” Zach replied, his eyes glowing with excitement. “Tell me what you think of this,” he said, then explained, finally sitting back as they all looked at him stunned when he finished.
“You’d be putting yourself in danger,” Liam said. “We wouldn’t be able to protect you.”
“I can protect myself,” Zach said, smiling. “Remember? And I don’t think that I have to worry about overt violence in his office. Besides, you’ll be listening and watching. If necessary, you can come to the rescue.”
“I can’t approve this on my own, Zach,” Liam said. “I need to take this upstairs.”
“Make sure your bosses understand that whether they help us or not, I am going to do this,” Zach said. “I am a private citizen and you have no reason or right to hold me or Krista or Susan. We came to you, remember. We’re the ones trying to help. You’ll look like horses’ asses if you don’t help us and we bring him down on our own.”
“No need to make threats, Zach,” Liam said. “I’m just telling you that this is more than I can approve without taking it upstairs. I’m going to take the video with me as soon as the backup team arrives. Lauren will stay with you.”
“How long will you be?” Krista asked.
“A couple, three hours at the least, I’d imagine,” Liam replied. “There are so many divergent ramifications attached to all of this. We have to make sure that we do things correctly so that it doesn’t blow up in our faces when some high-priced lawyer gets involved.”
“Then we’d like some food and something to drink,” Krista said.
“One of the agents will get whatever you like,” Liam assured her. “And I assure you, personally, that you will be safe.”
“Zach, can you trust him?” Krista asked when he had gone and they were all in the bedroom sitting on the bed.
“Absolutely,” Zach replied. “We trained together for almost two years. You get to know a person. Other than the two of you, there’s nobody I trust more, Sheikh Hakeem excepted.”
“Okay, Zach,” Liam said when he returned almost four hours later. “We’re going to play it the way you’ve suggested, but you’re going to have to sign a liability release.”
“I’d almost forgotten that this is a country of chickenshits,” Zach laughed. “Whatever. We need to do this quickly. The hearing is in a week.”
“And I need to contact my attorney, Gerard Smithers,” Susan said.
“If you’ll allow me, Ma’am, we’ll contact him quietly and bring him to you,” Liam said. “We can’t take the chance that there might be surveillance on him. He’s a logical person for you to contact.”
“That’s fine,” Susan said.
“And if I might say so, Ma’am, I am very sorry for your loss,” Liam said. “Very few people were aware of the range of your husband’s philanthropic endeavors. Since his murder, there have been non-stop stories in all of the various media about the things he was doing and attempting to do. His murder is a great loss to humanity.”
“Thank you for saying so, Agent O’Shea,” Susan said. “I can assure you that they are only scratching the surface of what kind of a man my husband was.”
* * * * *
“Susan!” the grey-haired man with the thin silver mustache greeted her, enveloping her in a deep hug. “I am so sorry about David, but also greatly relieved to see you. I had feared the worst.”
“Thank you, Gerard. I owe my very existence to this fine couple,” Susan said, introducing him to Krista and Zach, not noticing the color drain from his face as he shook hands with them.
“You know the hearing is in a week?” Gerard asked.
“That’s why we’re here now,” Susan replied. “Agent O’Shea, can you allow Gerard to see the video you made yesterday? That will save some time and then he can ask us questions afterwards.”
“Certainly,” Liam replied, nodding to Lauren who produced a DVD disk which she loaded and then started, the television filling with their images as they watched the previous day’s storytelling.
“My god!” Gerard said when it finished playing. “It’s just beyond my ability to believe. Quinn?! His own father?”
Gerard spent the next three hours asking them questions, taking meticulous notes, as well as recording it on his iPhone.
“Agent O’Shea,” Gerard asked, “what has the FBI done since learning of this?”
“Other than doing what we feel is necessary to protect our witnesses, we have gotten a wiretap, surveillance, and search warrant on Quinn Kumms’ home and office,” Liam replied.
“Does that include the book store that Mrs. Kumms mentioned with respect to Quinn?” Gerard asked.
“It does,” Liam replied.
“Then I propose that Mr. Gary carry out his plan two days from now,” Gerard suggested. “We must assume that it will result in Mr. Kumms possibly modifying his behavior and that could have an effect on your surveillance efforts. The Trust hearing is in 5 days and I will need that time to prepare. But I must stress that it is of paramount importance that Mr. Quinn not be made aware of the presence of his mother or that she is still alive.”
“I understand,” Liam said, nodding.