Irrevocable Trust (Sasha McCandless Legal Thriller Book 6) (3 page)

He dug through a duct-tape wallet with shaking fingers and pulled out a dog-eared business card.

“
Here. Call this Hank Richardson guy,
”
the kid said in a matter-of-fact voice.

“
Why?
”
Vince asked, turning the card over in his fingers and puzzling over the lack of a title or business name on the card. It simply read
Hank Richardson
and listed a telephone number.

The kid choked out the words.
“
He said to call him if anything ever happened to my mom. She
’
s dead, isn
’
t she?
”

CHAPTER FOUR

Leo was cooling his heels at Sasha
’
s office, waiting to see if she could join him for lunch when Hank
’
s text hit his phone:

Need to see you. Just you. Urgent. @ Babs
’
in 10.

Luckily, Babs
’
Place, the newest, hip cocktail bar to join the urban revitalization effort, was a short walk from the office, just across the pedestrian bridge to East Liberty.

Hank was already there, camped out in a booth near the back. It was the ideal spot, with a clear line of sight to the front and far enough away from the bar
’
s only other midday occupants
—
a couple nuzzling one another in the corner, and a guy who looked like a refugee from the set of Mad Men relishing a martini at the end of the bar.

Leo slid into the booth beside Hank. He didn
’
t care how it looked, he had no intention of sitting with his back to the door either.

“
I took the liberty of ordering for you.
”
Hank nodded to the short glass of scotch on the table, then lifted his own whisky glass in a salute.

It really wasn
’
t Leo
’
s style to have drinks in the middle of a weekday, but Hank knew as much, so if he figured an exception was in order, an exception was probably in order.

Leo let the amber liquid coat his throat with a satisfying burn before he spoke.

“
Johnny Walker Blue? Are we celebrating something?
”

Hank examined his glass.
“
We
’
re paying our respects. Seems like that calls for the good stuff.
”

“
Who died?
”

“
Enjoy your drink. I
’
ll tell you in a minute.
”

Leo frowned.
“
Why the cloak and dagger routine?
”

Hank barked out a humorless laugh.
“
We
’
re federal agents, son. If we don
’
t do the cloak and dagger stuff, who will?
”

“
You
’
re a federal agent,
”
he reminded his boss.
“
I
’
m a
…”

What was he? A former air marshal. A former security chief. A current operator for a nameless section of the federal government, so secret that it operated without protection of law.

“
Consultant,
”
Hank supplied.

“
Fine. I
’
m a government consultant. So tell me who
’
s dead. Is it Bricker?
”

“
No such luck. It
’
s Allison Bennett.
”
Hank sighed heavily.

Allison Bennett?
Leo searched his memory, but came up blank.

“
Do I know her?
”

“
Allison Bennett, formerly known as Anna Bricker, was brutally murdered in her North Carolina home.
”

Leo
’
s blood turned to ice in his veins as a chill shot through him.

“
Anna Bricker?
He found her? Are the kids okay? How did he find her?
”

“
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. We don
’
t know that Bricker killed her.
”
Hank held up his hand like a crossing guard.

“
Come on.
”

“
I
’
m serious. Don
’
t jump to conclusions.
”

Leo decided to let that go for now, even though he didn
’
t think it was a huge leap of logic to assume as a starting point that the murdered estranged wife of a vengeful murderer had been killed by her husband. Thinking about husbands and wives led to another line of questioning.

Why are you cutting Sasha and Will out of the loop?
”

“
They don
’
t have the security clearance needed to be privy to this conversation.
”

“
It affects them, too, Hank.
”

“
I
’
m serious, Leo. You do not have permission to share any of the details of this conversation with Sasha.
”

Leo sipped his drink and bit back his response. Hank didn
’
t stand on ceremony. If he didn
’
t want Sasha and Will to know something, there was probably a good reason. That didn
’
t mean he had to like it, though.

Hank pressed on.
“
You need to understand the gravity of this situation.
”

“
I think we all understand the situation, Hank. Jeffrey Bricker
’
s wife
’
s been murdered, and we have no idea how he got to her or where he is. Assuming he did it, of course,
”
he added as an afterthought for the sake of appearance.

“
It
’
s much bigger than that,
”
Hank said.

Leo waited.

“
You realize that WITSEC takes security extremely seriously, right?
”

“
Sure.
”

That was an understatement. Even though he had been a highly-placed federal marshal before his retirement, he
’
d never set foot in the building devoted to WITSEC until he and Hank had accompanied Anna Bricker and her children there for their intake evaluations.

WITSEC
—
known to the general public as the federal Witness Protection Program
—
was, by design, a black box. He doubted there were a hundred people in the entire government who knew the precise location of the orientation center. He wasn
’
t one of them.

He, Hank, Anna, and her six children had been whisked to the center in van with blackout windows. The driver parked in an underground garage and ushered the nine of them into a windowless building. The set up reminded him either of going to a conference at the world
’
s bleakest resort hotel or being confined in a very posh prison. It was a toss-up.

During their time there, the Brickers never encountered another witness in a hallway or conference room. They slept in a two-room suite and spent their days meeting with counselors, agents, psychologists, and prosecutors
—
all of whom were charged with transitioning the family members to their new identities and helping them establish their new lives. Every aspect of the program was devoted to preserving the witnesses
’
anonymity. Only the WITSEC inspector assigned to relocate them would know where they would be placed.

In fact, Leo was never told the Brickers
’
new names or where they
’
d been relocated. As far as he knew, Hank hadn
’
t been told either.

“
Are you even sure it
’
s Anna?
”

Hank nodded glumly.
“
It
’
s not yet confirmed. I
’
m flying down there this afternoon.
”

“
Down where? Why don
’
t you start at the beginning?
”

“
Here
’
s what I know. Anna and her six children were relocated in January 2013. A woman named Allison Bennett was found beaten to death in Sunnyvale, North Carolina, earlier today. The police officer who discovered her body called me directly because the dead woman
’
s oldest son handed him my business card and told him to call me.
”

“
And you think Bennett is Anna Bricker?
”

“
I do. Same initials
—
which is standard operating procedure for WITSEC. They want to make it easy for the witnesses to remember their new names. Also, this woman moved to Sunnyvale in January 2013, according to the officer. And she has six kids. No husband.
”

Leo pulled a face.
“
That
’
s still pretty thin, Hank.
”

“
Maybe. But this kid got my card somewhere, and I don
’
t make a habit of handing it out. But I did give it to Anna
’
s oldest boy, Clay, before we left them at the center.
”

“
You did?
”

“
I told him that he was the man of the family now. I said his mom would have a number to call at WITSEC if she ever felt that they were in danger, but he should feel free to call me if anything ever happened to her.
”

Leo
’
s heart sank.
“
The kid
’
s the right age?
”

“
Officer Fornier said he
’
s sixteen and a half. That
’
s the right age. And his name
’
s Cole. Same initial.
”

“
Coincidences happen,
”
he said even though he didn
’
t believe it.

“
They do,
”
Hank agreed. He drained his glass.
“
But we both know this is no coincidence. And Fornier said the beating was brutal, like it was personal.
”

There was no doubt Bricker was capable of it. This was a man who
’
d shot a sheriff
’
s deputy in the face. A man who hired armed bandits to storm a wedding. A man who
’
d carried the deadliest virus on the planet around in a vial in his duffel bag. A little bludgeoning, face-bashing, and mayhem were right up his alley.

“
So what now?
”

“
I
’
m going to go down there and sit on those kids.
”

“
What?
”

Hank spoke slowly.
“
In more than forty years, no one has ever successfully tracked down a witness in WITSEC. It simply doesn
’
t happen. They pride themselves on that
—
a witness who enters the program and follows the rules is perfectly safe. For life. Well, that perfect record
’
s just been shattered into a million pieces, and it
’
s enough to make a cynic wonder if Bricker had inside help.
”

“
You
’
re not serious.
”

Hank spread his big palms wide.
“
Is it really so crazy?
”

Leo didn
’
t know how to answer that. On the one hand,
yes
, it was insane to think that a WITSEC inspector would dime out the very people he was sworn to protect. On the other hand, how else could Bricker have gotten to his wife?

He dodged the question.
“
What does WITSEC say?
”