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“You made that point perfectly clear when you sent the welcome wagon to the lake house I was renting,” Bash said sarcastically. Don’t poke the bear, he reminded himself.
“I addressed this with Mr. Lewis. I had nothing to do with an attack. Someone who works for me obviously became over-zealous in the pursuit of your cooperation. I assure you it will be dealt with swiftly.”
“We haven’t even formally met, Mr. Fontana. I found myself climbing out of an upstairs window in the middle of the night. An innocent young woman, a perfect stranger to me who was staying on the same property, had her cottage vandalized, her car window smashed, and was completely terrorized from the experience.” That last part wasn’t exactly true, but it felt more compelling to his argument. “If all of that happened before I agreed to work with you, I can only imagine what calamities an actual collaboration might bring.”
“There is more to this project than I’m in a position to discuss over the phone. I give you my word, if you are not agreeable after I have presented my case, I will back off. I am doing everything in my power to prevent any recurrence of the threats you encountered. At this point, I have nothing but my personal assurance to convince you.”
“Is it safe to assume the men who came after me are no longer in pursuit?” Again, there was silence. It spoke volumes. “What the actual fuck! If you think I’m coming anywhere near you when you still have those gangsters looking for me, you’re out of your mind! We’re done!”
“Please, Mr. Bartoli! Don’t hang up! It’s not my doing, and to be honest, I’m not sure who or why they are focused on you. That’s one of the reasons we need to meet.”
Bash could feel anger oozing from every pore. How could Fontana not know who was after him? The whole thing felt wrong. There was a big piece of the puzzle missing.
“Are you still there, Mr. Bartoli? There is only so much I can say on the phone. My organization has been compromised. I’ll text you tomorrow with a number to call me. Tell me the city you want to meet in, and I’ll come alone. When I get there, the place will be of your choosing. No one in my organization will know where I am.”
“I’m destroying this phone as soon as we hang up. I’ll text you a location.”
The call ended. When he glanced up, Morgan was watching, her face pale.
“This is a total bullshit,” he said.
“I couldn’t help hearing you yelling,” she said. “Where do you want to meet him?”
“You’re assuming I’m going to meet him at all?” Bash said indignantly. “I could have agreed to throw him off.”
She frowned, crinkled her brow, and planted her hands firmly on her hips, just as he would expect her to do when she disciplined one of her preschoolers. It was kind of cute, but he thought better of telling her as much.
“Yes, we are meeting him,” she said firmly. “Let me pull up an online map and take a look.”
They spent 30 minutes looking over possible sites. Bash decided he needed to get an update from Gray before any decision was made.
“I was about to call you,” Gray said. “Just so you know, I’ve worked harder since you left on sabbatical, than when you are actually here.”
“Good to know you’re finally earning your paycheck. Any good news for me?” Bash asked.
“I’ve got you on speaker. Alex, Sam, and I have been working on this all day. Since this involves Morgan too, why don’t you put us on speaker,” Gray suggested.
Morgan joined them. All the necessary introductions were made.
“I’ll start with Morgan,” Alex said. “We needed an attorney who has worked and negotiated deals with the FBI, and I think I’ve found him. Parker Livingston. He has an excellent reputation and is licensed in eight states, including Georgia and California. Since the Dragon Fire Motorcycle Club operates in California, we thought it might be prudent. Livingston is rarely available, but he agreed to a Zoom conference with me. Once he heard the circumstances, his interest was piqued. He agreed to take the case. Bash alluded to Gray that there were some prominent names listed in the ledger. Is that true? It was one of the things that attracted Livingston to the case.”
“Yes,” Morgan confirmed.
Morgan glanced at Bash, surprised he had shared that. “Some political officials are associated with the purchase of drugs and prostitution. According to the letter Morgan’s grandfather left her, Dragon Fire was just getting started in illegal adoptions and human trafficking. There are very detailed notations. Made me wonder if any of the customers were being extorted. None of them would want to be exposed, whether the statute of limitations has expired or not,” Bash said.
“That ledger is dynamite, and you need to get rid of it as soon as possible,” Alex said. “The sooner Livingston gets the FBI involved, the better.”
“If I had somewhere to send it, I could drop it in the mail,” Morgan suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Sam Barrett agreed.
“It’s got to be somewhere that wouldn’t put anyone in harm’s way,” Morgan said. “I couldn’t live with myself if someone got hurt.”
“You didn’t cause any of this, Morgan,” Bash offered supportively.
“What if you took it to the local police station or FBI office?” Gray asked.
“We want to control the turnover,” Alex said quickly. “Morgan needs assurances of protection. Freedom from prosecution should something come to light about her grandfather’s more current activities. Then…”
