House Justice (32 page)

“You’re mistaken. I don’t have—”

“Please. Stop saying that. I didn’t just pick your name out of the phone book. I came here because the FBI has already started to investigate you, and I know this because I work for the Justice Department. But you’re lucky. Do you know why?”

Yuri shook his head slowly, his eyes now reptilian in their coldness. He was no longer in a flirtatious mood.

“You see, the thing about the FBI and the Justice Department is that they’re competent and thorough and have enormous resources, but they tend to move slowly because they want an airtight case before they go to court. They don’t like to lose and be embarrassed. And that’s what’s going on right now. The FBI juggernaut is just starting to move, and it will probably be several months, maybe even a year, before you’re arrested, but eventually you will be. They’ll start with surveillance, watching you, Taylor, and people in Taylor’s company.”

“Am I under surveillance now?”

“Not yet, and I wouldn’t be here if you were. But you soon will be, and while they’re watching you they’ll start talking to people that have left Taylor’s company. They’ll eventually get justification for warrants to tap phones, and finally they’ll get warrants to look at financial records, which is where they’ll get you. The numbers always tell the story. And someplace along the way, they’ll find people to testify against you to avoid being prosecuted. Maybe they’ll turn Taylor himself. So, you have a few months, but in the end, if you don’t do something to protect yourself, they’ll get you. I guarantee it.”

“What do you want?”

“Today, I want twenty-five thousand dollars.”

“Today?”

“Yes. And then I want another ten thousand every time I provide you with more information on the FBI’s investigation. Now, you have
to understand that even with me helping you, you still may be arrested but if you have someone at Justice keeping tabs on things, your chances of staying out of jail will improve. For example, if I was able to tell you that the FBI is talking to certain people, maybe you could convince those people not to talk.”

“I need to see if you’re wearing any recording devices. Take off your clothes.”

Angela laughed. “In your dreams,” she said. “I’m not taking anything off. And you don’t have to say anything. You just need to listen.”

Yuri shook his head irritably. “Ivan!” he yelled.

The big guy with the goatee rushed into the room. His head almost touched the top of the doorway; he was a monster. Angela was going to kick him in the nuts if he tried to get her clothes off, but she had a feeling that wouldn’t stop him for long. She started to stand up to defend herself but then Yuri said, “Get the… the device. See if she’s wearing a wire.”

Ivan came back into the room with a box the size of a digital camera that had a small antenna protruding from the top. He passed the bug detector over her body, including between her legs. He smiled apologetically when he pressed the device against her crotch. When he was finished, he looked at Yuri and shook his head.

“Her purse,” Yuri said.

Ivan took her purse and dumped the contents on a coffee table and the first things that fell out were two identical cell phones.

“See if the cell phones are turned on,” Yuri said, knowing that cell phones can be turned into recording devices.

“They’re off,” Ivan said.

Ivan uncertainly examined the rest of the things that had spilled from her purse: makeup, a brush, her wallet, and a thick envelope. The envelope wasn’t sealed; he opened the flap, saw only paper, and set it aside. Ivan’s brow was furrowed with concern. Angela suspected that he was just bright enough to realize he had no idea how the FBI might disguise a bug. He picked up a lipstick tube, took the top off
it, then, seeing that it contained nothing but lipstick, put the tube down next to the other articles on the table and shook his head at Yuri. Yuri nodded and Ivan left the room.

Yuri studied Angela, apparently trying to decide what to do next. As he was looking, he closed the bathrobe and she was glad he did. The bulge in the Speedo was a distraction. While she waited for him to make up his mind, she began to put her things back into her purse. She left the envelope and one of the cell phones on the table.

“Do you want to know how Conrad Diller was caught?” she asked.

“I already know. A CIA spy saw him in Iran. It said so in the newspaper.”

“That’s not the whole story. The newspaper article was written by a woman named Sandra Whitmore, and she was the one who reported that Diller was in Iran. The spy was killed after Whitmore’s story was released, and that’s when Diller was arrested. But how did the reporter get the information in the first place?”

“I have no idea,” Yuri said. He tried to make it sound as if he didn’t care about Angela’s answer but she could tell that he did. She had his complete attention at this point.

“Well, I do. And that’s another reason why you’re going to give me twenty-five grand. I’ll give you the name of the person who’s responsible for all the troubles you’re about to have, and I’ll also tell you how you can make some money off this person to compensate for what he’s done.”

“Tell me why you’re doing this.”

Angela handed Yuri the envelope. “I filed a lawsuit against Justice for sexual harassment and discrimination, and because of that Justice is trying to fire me, alleging I bungled a case.”

“Sexual harassment?” Yuri said, and smiled slightly. She imagined sexual harassment was not a topic included in the Russian mob’s training program.

“I’ll win the lawsuit eventually and I’ll keep my job, but my career is over. They’ll give me shitty assignments, never promote me again, and destroy my reputation so that I’ll never be able to get a decent
job with a private law firm. So I’m rather annoyed at the Justice Department right now and I need money—a lot of money—since my career has gone down the toilet.

“And you’re not the only guy I’m going to help. I’ve already contacted two other people being investigated by Justice, and I’m going to contact two more in addition to you and make them the same deal: that I’ll keep them informed of progress on their cases in return for a fee.”

Yuri arched an eyebrow as if he might be impressed by her initiative and the magnitude of her scheme, then took the papers out of the envelope. He looked around the room, searching for something, and finally spotted a pair of reading glasses sitting on a window ledge. He put on the glasses and was just starting to read the information on Pamela Walker when a voice said, “Hey, baby, who’s this?”

Angela turned. Standing in the doorway was a young blonde—a
really
young blonde. The girl looked like she was eighteen or nineteen years old. She was wearing a cobalt blue bikini and was absolutely stunning. She made Angela feel like an over-the-hill crone.

“Ah, Heather, my love, you’re up,” Yuri said.

It was two o’clock in the afternoon.

“This is a business associate of mine,” Yuri said to Heather, “and I need to talk to her privately for a few more minutes. Why don’t you go have a little swim until I’m done?”

Heather looked at Angela as if she didn’t like Yuri’s business associates to have such good legs.

“Can I at least get a cup of coffee?” Heather asked. Heather was kind of whiny.

“There’s coffee in the kitchen, darling,” Yuri said. “Now run along, please. We’ll have something to eat as soon as I’m finished here.”

Heather flounced from the room, displaying her best asset: her perfect nineteen-year-old ass.

Yuri finished reading the papers Angela had given him.

“And how do I know that you’re the Pamela Walker mentioned in these documents?”

Angela handed Yuri a driver’s license and a Justice Department identification badge that had her picture on it but identified her as Pamela Walker. “And I’m sure you can find someone in Washington who can verify that I’ve told you the truth about my problems with the Justice Department,” she said.

“I can do that, and I will,” Yuri said. He paused a beat, then added, “Okay. Tell me what else you know.”

“Twenty-five thousand,” Angela said.

“You’re just going to have to trust me on that,” Yuri said. “If what you have to tell me is worth that amount, I’ll give you half the money now and the other half after I’ve checked you out.”

“Trust you? I don’t think so.”

“Pamela, please. If I am who you think I am, you know I could give you the money and then have Ivan take it away from you before you leave. Or, what I could do instead of giving you any money at all is have Ivan persuade you to talk to me. Ivan isn’t a naturally cruel man but he can be quite brutal if necessary. So please. Just talk. And if what you tell me is worth what you’re asking, I’ll pay you. I have that amount of cash here in the house.”

Angela pretended to think this over and finally nodded her head. “Okay. The man who started this was Rulon Tully. Do you know who Tully is?”

“I’ve read about him.”

“Well, Tully hates Marty Taylor.”

“Something about a woman,” Yuri said.

“That’s right. Taylor screwed Tully’s wife, and Tully has never forgiven him. So when Tully found out Diller was trying to sell missile technology to the Iranians from a congressman he owns, he passed the information on to the
Daily News
.”

“And Tully did this hoping to damage Taylor’s company?” Yuri asked.

“Not just to damage his company. He was hoping Taylor would end up in jail. But since Diller has disappeared—an event the FBI thinks you’re responsible for, by the way—that’s not going to happen.”

“So Mr. Tully’s plan failed,” Yuri said.

“Wrong. Mr. Tully’s plan succeeded—but he just doesn’t know it. Because of Diller, as I’ve already explained to you, the FBI is now looking very hard at you and Taylor, and in the end, they’ll get Taylor for being your accomplice and they’ll get you.”

Yuri wasn’t smiling now; he was no longer the laid-back playboy he pretended to be. He looked like the guy he really was: a guy that killed people when they became a problem.

“Okay,” Yuri said. “What else?”

“Rulon Tully isn’t finished with you yet. He’ll eventually try something else to hurt Taylor, which, in turn, will hurt your business. So you have two enemies: the United States government and Rulon Tully, and Tully may actually be the bigger threat because he’s incredibly rich and doesn’t play by the rules.”

“I see,” Yuri said.

“So I figure that what I’ve just told you is worth twenty-five thousand. I’ve told you how Diller was caught and who was responsible, I’ve told you that you’re being investigated by the FBI, and I’ve promised to keep you informed of the investigation in the future. But I’m going to give you one more thing. Inside Rulon Tully’s mansion near Ventura is over six million dollars in artwork. His wine collection is valued at four hundred thousand. He has three classic automobiles, one of them a restored 1937 Pierce-Arrow worth half a million. Jay Leno used to own the car. He also has a big safe in his house and God knows what’s in the safe, but I would assume Tully’s a man that likes to have a good bit of cash on hand. And then, of course, Tully has money all over the place in various bank accounts and you just need the passwords to access those accounts.”

“And your point is?”

“I think you already know my point: if you were to take care of Rulon Tully in the right way, you could pay him back for what he’s done, eliminate him as a future threat, and you could turn a pretty good profit by stealing everything in his house.”

“Ivan!” Yuri yelled, and Angela jumped in her chair.

The big bodyguard lumbered back into the room.

“Get twelve thousand, five hundred from the safe,” Yuri said. Then he said to Angela, “If I find out that you’ve lied to me… well, you know.”

“I haven’t lied,” Angela said.

While they were waiting for Ivan to return with the money, Yuri studied her, then smiled—as if he hadn’t just threatened her life— and said, “I was wondering if you might like to have dinner with me tonight.”

“What about Heather?” Angela asked.

“She’s a lovely girl but sometimes a man likes to be with someone a little more mature—but just as lovely.”

Angela smiled. “Yuri, gorgeous as you are, I’m gonna pass. Even though the Bureau isn’t watching you yet, it’s just not smart to sleep with guys the FBI is going after.”

Before Angela left she handed Yuri one of the two cell phones she had in her purse and gave him a post office box number where he was to send her money. She told him the cell phones were untraceable and, if he needed to talk to her, to call only from the phone she’d given him.

Yuri called a lawyer in D.C. The man had assisted him in the past with an immigration problem and he had contacts in the Justice Department. He asked the lawyer to check out Pamela Walker but he really didn’t expect that he would learn anything more than what Walker had told him.

He had a late lunch with Heather as he had promised but tuned out her childish chatter and focused instead on the Walker woman. If she was who she claimed she was—a disgruntled employee who needed cash—could he use her to keep him informed of the FBI’s progress? Maybe. But could he trust her? Of course not. It also occurred to him that she could be some sort of undercover agent, but if she was an undercover, what she had done didn’t make sense. She
had not tried to insert herself in any way into his organization to get evidence against him, nor had she done anything to get him to admit that he was doing anything incriminating. And she had taken cash from him. Giving her money didn’t cause him a problem, but it could cause
her
one. He could always say that she was blackmailing him, and it would be her word against his, but she was the one who would have to explain what she was doing with money taken from a criminal —an alleged criminal. So, if she was an undercover agent, he couldn’t see how their initial meeting could harm him and, if she was legitimate, an association with her could turn out to be useful.

After lunch, Heather, annoyed because he was ignoring her, went to watch television. He didn’t care. It occurred to him that he really didn’t care for Heather’s company at all, other than in bed, and Pamela Walker had reminded him of the pleasure of being with a woman who was not only beautiful but intelligent.