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There were a few smirks and nervous laughter as everyone stared at the big man.
“If you know something other than what we have exposed here, now is your time to come clean. It doesn’t mean charges won’t be brought against you, but it does mean it will count for you in court. We have no control over any of that. The feds have this case now.
“Earlier yesterday, every man who was present at the Maison Soleil meeting in New Orleans was arrested. Charlie ran.”
“I don’t believe you,” said a man, leaving his camera off. All they could see was his phone number, but it didn’t matter.
“Little man, and don’t insult me by asking how I know that,” said Tailor. “Any man hiding his face is a little man, in my opinion. You wanna argue about it, come see me. He ran. His own men heard what he did. Raping and killing a twelve-year-old little girl. Killing his own brother, Tom Gates. Killing Richard Baldwin, Ben, and Darren. He killed them.”
“H-how do you know all that?” asked a young officer.
“Magic. We know what the fuck we’re doing, that’s how,” growled Tailor. “Gates won’t win this. He’ll be arrested, and everything you thought you had will be gone. All of it.”
“He’s right,” said an older man, turning on his camera. “I just checked the accounts. There’s nothing there. Charlie already transferred everything. My name is Sam Porter. I was handling some of the books. I’m guilty. Guilty as anyone. Charlie and me were the only ones with access to all the accounts. I checked ‘em religiously every day. He’s moved it all to an account in the Bahamas.”
“We’ll take care of that,” said Rory. “Listen carefully. If you show up at the rally today, it had better be in the name of true law enforcement. If you decide to ride this train wreck out, you’ll be dead by the end of the day. I guarantee it.”
“If. If someone wants to come with me, I need to remove the explosives that were set in the nearby buildings,” said a firefighter. “I’m sorry. I’ll cooperate. I needed the money. It doesn’t matter why now. Let me just make it right by getting everything out of there.”
“I’ll help you, little man,” said Tailor. “Meet me at the D.A.’s office in thirty minutes.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Anyone else have any confessions they’d like to make?” asked Rory. “Alright, then, if you want to voluntarily come in, we’ll be happy to speak with you. Otherwise, we’ll be seeing you soon.”
He ended the call and scooted back in his chair, staring at the others.
“Do you think they’ll come forward?” asked Billy.
“I don’t think they have a choice,” said Rory. “We recorded every face, every phone number, every IP address. We know who they are. More than sixteen hundred men and women were on that call. Anyone who wasn’t is probably getting an earful right now.”
“The rally is supposed to begin at nine. We need to get men in every building, at every corner, in every spot,” said Rory. Billy nodded.
“Let’s go.”
They were surprised but not surprised that Charlie Gates actually showed his face. While he was shaking hands and kissing babies, they could see that he was also shocked that there weren’t more people in attendance. He looked around, trying to find familiar faces.
“A lot of cops here,” said Tailor.
“I think they’re here to see him fall,” said Alec. “Did you get the explosives?”
“Yep. Boy only set a few to detract from whatever Charlie has planned. He’s guilty as shit but I don’t think it would have killed anyone, but it would have started a fire and chaos.”
“That seems to be the flavor of the year for Charlie,” frowned Alec. They watched as he walked through the sparse crowd, looking angry and lost at the same time. He stopped in front of one of the officers.
“Where the fuck is everyone?” he asked the man. The officer stared at him.
“Why don’t you tell us, Charlie? Where is everyone? Did you leave them all behind in New Orleans? Or did you kill them like you killed the others?”
“Wh-what? What are you talking about?” he stammered. “You’re nuts. Get the fuck out of here.”
“Sorry. I’m working.”
“Right this way, Mr. Gates,” said the young woman at the stage.
“Why are there so few people here?” he frowned.
“I’m not sure, sir, but it’s time for your speech.” She pushed him up the stairs, and Charlie had no alternative other than to run up the stairs. Standing at the podium, there was light applause, but nothing like he’d become accustomed to.
