As promised, Daniel was waiting for me in the interrogation room when I got back to Headquarters. His feelings towards me were apparent in his voice when he spoke.
“After spending a little time with your old boss, I can see why you had to move halfway across the country.”
“I’m not here to talk about Banks.”
He smirked at me. “Yeah. I bet there’s a lot about her you don’t want Jenna to find out about. No way you worked for that piece for years and never hit it.”
I set my jaw and ignored his obvious goading. “I said I’m not here to talk about her.”
“Then you’re wasting your time, pal, because there isn’t much else I feel like talking to you about.”
“I think there is.”
“Not interested in locker room talk about my sister-in-law either. She never quite did it for me, if you know what I mean.”
Yeah, I knew exactly what he meant and it took every ounce of willpower to keep from reaching across the table and choking the life out of him.
I could tell my silence was only egging him on. “You can spare me the smug agent crap. I may have to put up with you at family dinners as long as my sister-in-law is screwing you, but I sure as hell don’t have to put up with you outside of that.” Daniel’s smile faded. “Get out of here and leave me alone.”
He may be an asshole, but the man was hurting; that much was plain on his face. If I could just get him to push past his hatred of me then we could make some headway. “No one can make you talk to me, but you need to talk to someone. Your silence isn’t helping bring Lana home.” After a beat, I added, “You can hate me, Jenna, even your wife, but I know you love your daughter.”
Daniel relented. “Is there any news on her?”
“Nothing new since the ransom note was delivered.”
“What do you want to know?”
I sighed. There was a lot I wanted to know, but I only had time to start with the most pressing issue. “Why don’t you tell me about the drugs that were hidden in your attic?”
Panic flashed through his green eyes. “Be straight with me about something first. Do I need a lawyer here?”
“It probably wouldn’t hurt.” I paused long enough to run my fingers through my hair and let out a breath. “Of course, it would delay things quite a bit and I don’t think I need to remind you that we’re under a deadline right now. I can’t deny you counsel, but you’re in so much trouble on so many different matters that I doubt even the best attorney could get you off at this point.”
Daniel remained quiet and motioned for me to continue.
“Were you planning to distribute the drugs we found?”
Apparently my question was funny because he laughed.
“No. I’m no drug dealer, just a very low level smuggler.”
I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t respond.
“There was this one night that I was in the captain’s lounge waiting for my plane to be ready. I had just caught a flight out of A.C. so I was in a crummy mood. I’d lost a bundle and I had no idea how I was going to make the vig in time. I might have made some comments to one of the other pilots to that effect. Anyway, he told me about how he and a few other pilots had taken on a few side jobs – that’s what he called it. Side jobs. These guys were taking home a small fortune for their part in the operation and I didn’t have any other options in front of me.”
“Who do you work for?”
“As I’ve said, I’m still lower level so I’m on a need to know basis. So far, my cut has been fairly pathetic in the scheme of things, but I’d already made arrangements to step up my part in the smuggling. I would have had all that I owed plus a little for my trouble by the end of next month.”
“Would these guys have had any reason to take Lana?”
Daniel looked shocked by my question. “I can’t see why they would. They never would’ve let me take on a bigger role if they weren’t happy with me.” He leaned forward and his tone became conspiratorial. “You know that I won’t last two minutes behind bars. What do I need to do to get them to go easy on me? I bet you’ve got some pull with them.”
It was obvious that the conversation was over. Daniel Whitman had gone from a man concerned for his daughter’s well-being to a man concerned only with his own skin. I stood up and fought to hide my disgust. “What happens to you is out of my hands, Daniel. I need to get back out there and see what I can do to get Lana back with Elaine where she belongs.”
© 2011, Sydney Katt. All rights reserved. Unauthorized use of content will result in dragon attacks.
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So…. Daniel thinks that Jackson and Sherry………..’I’ don’t believe it…..say it aint so!!…..please…….
Although I do wonder why Jackson didn’t deny it – not that Daniel probably would have believed him…but still, a denial couldn’t have hurt?…….just for the record………
Mmmm…..I’m now wondering if they will let Daniel go through with his plan, and then the FBI can crack 2 cases at once……win, win?………..
Looking forward to more when you can…xxxxxx
Jackson probably just didn’t see the point in denying it. What’s that famous line – “the lady doth protest too much” – might apply here.
Except, Jackson’s not a lady…