If I Should Die_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [128]
Fortunately, the questions were straightforward and related solely to the facts. It took them not much more than an hour to recount the events from when he and Lucy first arrived in Spruce Lake to Bobbie’s death in the mine.
Hart dismissed the secretary. “The official part is over. Off the record, I wanted to tell you that ATF Agent Omar Lewis is on official leave. ATF wasn’t happy about it, but I insisted. He acted with complete and total disregard for your lives, contrary to all training and protocols. I suspect, however, he’ll be back after an internal audit.”
While Sean was still furious about the sniper incident, he’d developed an understanding and even some respect. “When the bad guys win one time too many, sometimes we have to bend the rules to stop them.”
“Bending the rules, yes. Breaking them?” Hart shook her head. “Nevertheless, ATF is livid that they lost Sampson Lowell after more than a year of field work and twice that in research. However, we’re sharing everything we learn from those we arrested and the files we seized. Hopefully they’ll get him next time.”
Lucy asked, “What was in Jon Callahan’s safe deposit box? Was it incriminating against Bobbie Swain as we’d thought?”
Candela nodded. “That and much more. First, all the evidence and files Victoria took from the office were in the box, including the tape of Bobbie Swain’s interview in Miami where she turned on her brother. We’ve sent it to the Behavioral Science Unit at Quantico for further analysis, hoping we can learn something from her performance to help us in the future.”
Lucy said, “She was certainly a unique personality, but she was also a cold-blooded sociopath.”
Noah said, “I’ll get you clearance to review the tapes, Lucy. You’ll probably see something no one else did.”
Sean glanced at Noah, agreeing with the Fed but wondering why he chose to lavish the praise on Lucy now. Then he dismissed his flash of jealousy. It didn’t matter what Noah’s feelings were, if they were professional or personal. Lucy loved Sean, and that was all he needed.
Candela continued. “The box also included a journal Callahan had kept recounting his early drug smuggling days with Paul Swain when they were teenagers. There was a falling out between him and Swain because Callahan had originally gone to law school to become a criminal defense attorney to represent Swain; while in college, Callahan decided to put it all behind him. He lived in Spruce Lake part time in order to keep his eye on things, but he knowingly turned a blind eye to the drug operation. After Swain went to prison, Callahan moved back permanently. But when he realized Bobbie Swain was behind it—and had covertly taken over her brother’s operation—he worked out a deal with Swain to get inside her operation. Swain wanted his sister dead, and Callahan wanted her influence gone.”
“And then she brought in Sampson Lowell,” Lucy said. “Raising the stakes and the danger.”
“Joe Hendrickson learned of the gunrunning plan—Callahan was unclear how—and he went to Callahan to do something. They agreed to contact the ATF, but at the same time Bobbie Swain’s people found out what Hendrickson knew and poisoned him, having the doctor rule it as a heart attack. Callahan went to the ATF to speed up the investigation, and that’s when Omar Lewis was sent undercover to work as the cook at the Lock & Barrel. Only Callahan knew Lewis was law enforcement.”
“I’m still unclear why Jon Callahan brought Agent Sheffield in, and why she didn’t inform your office,” Lucy said.
“The first part is easy—you were absolutely right that Victoria met Callahan while investigating the pirated DVDs in Canada. They started seeing each other romantically. After Joe Hendrickson was murdered, Callahan told her everything. By this time, Lewis was already in place. Victoria thought if she reported what she knew, she’d be called off because it was an undercover ATF operation at that point.”
“And she would have been,” Noah interjected.
Candela nodded. “She still should have filed a report. There was nothing else about her in