CHAPTER 21
The sun was beginning to rise over the city spreading light into the dark alleys and hidden pathways, sending those using the cover of the night to their safe places until they could feel more confident to continue their activities. A car with a cracked windshield and a large dent in the right fender also ducked from the pending daylight as it quickly pulled into a garage on the south side. The automobile’s occupant got out swiftly and walked away down the street as the garage door closed slowly behind.
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On another side of town those inside a hidden hangout gathered to discuss tactics… their plans were developing well, and the people running this side of it were handing things in their usual efficient manner … no conscience, no regrets, only possible problems to be eliminated in their goal to build of a new, more powerful organized crime family.
Sophia had also been up most of the night. She stared out the window of the upstairs apartment deep in thought. She was supervising all aspect of their involvement closely now. There could be no slip ups, no mistakes… a lot was at stake for her… for her entire organizational plans… she had to make it work… she was thinking that papa would be so proud if he could see her now.
Her father had been a cautious man, and was very thorough in his approach to running the family business. Although he controlled the organization and made the major decisions, it was his two right hand men that were the most public figures. He stayed out of the limelight, and was never really connected to the activities his organization undertook. The problem was he didn’t have any sons to leave his legacy too.
The family was a throwback to the past with a primarily male dominated leadership… women were not considered for positions in the mob, so when he died his two public associates took over control and pushed his daughters out. It had always been a bone of contention for Sophia and her middle sister for years. Being the only sibling with an interest in the old family business, Sophia felt it was hers to inherit… that the control of the organization was stolen from her… the middle sister just wanted what she felt was her just payments for enduring all the trouble.
If he were still alive, he would have to realize now that she had more of him in her than both of her other sisters. It was her careful planning that was going to restore the old glory… her steady and calculated actions that would bring control back home where it belonged. If it all went like she had planned, the Grendandino family would rise once again to a position of power. But this time it would be her, Sophia at the helm, and not two men who were really not part of HER family in the first place.
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He walked into the Chief’s office, shut the door, and sat down in front of the Chief’s desk. He had grabbed the opportunity to get the Chief alone to discuss his idea, and he was going to make the best of it.
Chief Dobbins, I have an idea that I think could help the department and assist the Organized Crime Taskforce I am working on. I would like to suggest that the department hire a consultant with outside ties and street contacts to assist in the investigations. I have found that a lot of police departments use consultants and they seem to be able to provide assistance in getting people to give up information that they won’t give to the police. There’s this guy I know who already seems to know a lot about what’s going on out there, and I think he might be able to help us. His name is Berry Sullivan.
The chief sat silent for a while staring at Dave with a sort of unpleasant look on his face. The Chief scowled a lot and Dave was hoping it was just the usual demeanor that he presented to all his people and not his disapproval of Dave’s idea that was making him look at Dave that way.
So you think a PI can help the department?
Well… yes… he HAS been working as a private investigator… but I believe it has given him a lot of opportunities to make contacts with people we can’t get to. He knows a lot about the people in this city, and he seems to be a straight forward guy that we can trust.
Is that why you have been working with him lately on some of your assignments? Dave was a little surprised that the Chief knew about his contacts with Berry. I know a lot more than you think… I didn’t get to be Chief without learning how to keep up on things that are going on around me.
Here’s the deal, I have already been considering bringing him on as a consultant, and I will agree to putting Berry Sullivan on a three month contract but you have to keep me fully informed on what you two come up with. It’s a two way street Detective Lutz…. I give you something and you get me something… hopefully the depart wins in the end.
Here’s the background files, some details on your consultant, the arrangement with the department, and what I require of you… you can work out the rest between you two. The Chief handed Dave a folder, and then promptly got up and escorted him out of his office. Just before Dave was out of ear shot, the Chief shouted down the hall to him. You better keep this under control… I want to know everything you do, no exceptions… I REALLY MEAN IT!!
Dave sat at his desk going through the information in the folder the Chief had given him. There were consultant release forms, guidelines for information sharing, confidential reports on previous contacts between Barry’s investigative work and the department… Dave was thinking that there was more in there than he really wanted to know regarding Berry…
Along with all the various forms and reports Dave found, there was also a surprising report regarding the Law Enforcement Institute at the university. It indicated that through the Chief, the department was highly involved with the institute and its programs and curriculum. In fact it pointed out that the Chief was an active supporter, and lobbied both local and state governments to help provide funding for the institute’s work.
What wasn’t surprising to Dave was that the institute’s Director, Dianne Cummings, had provided the Chief with a strong positive reference for Berry’s investigative talents. She even said that he was possibly the best investigator she had ever met because of his ability to put all the facts together using only small amounts of initial information.
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Berry’s eyes popped open like one of those dolls with mechanical eyeballs… his mind snapped quickly to the events of the night before… and all the information he had been given… he was in the “Big Time” as they say… this one was not just another case that would pay the bills and keep him busy… it was real serious this time… people were getting hurt and even dying… even though he had gotten very little sleep he was not feeling tired… quite the opposite, he was feeling excited and anxious to get at it.
It didn’t take long for Berry to get into his morning routine. Even though he had missed the news… the silent digits on the wall indicated it was already 8:30 am,,, he dove right into the morning turning on all his gadgets and tuning the TV to the morning talk show channel. He leaned forward toward one specific screen and clicked the mouse to open a folder he was collecting on the case… he had a lot to add to it, and he was hoping that the process of organizing it all would lead him to some answers.
Berry was steeped in information when the phone rang almost startling him out of his concentrated accumulations … Sullivan Investigations… Oh hey Dave, what you got going this morning?
YOU WHAT? I don’t think that was a good idea… I was really intending on keeping our cooperation just between us…
HE DID?
Being careful not to mention their current joint investigation or any real details, Dave told Berry about the Chief’s approval to bring Berry on as a “general” consultant working with Dave, the Chief’s involvement in the Institute, and the reference Dianne had given Berry. For a few seconds there was a period of silence that became almost too uncomfortable for Dave. SO… are you happy or pissed?
A little confused, I always got the impression that the Chief didn’t like me.
He doesn’t like any one… goes around with a scowl on his face all the time… hey, but at least he’s on board with us working together.
So what’s the ne
xt step?
Can you come over here for a few? There’s some paper work that needs to be completed.
There’s always some paper work to be done… guess I better get that out of the way first. See ya in an hour.
Berry hadn’t had time yet to decide whether this was a good or bad thing. He was thinking that there was always the threat of a leak when the entire department was involved, but also that he would have access to a lot more resources like the crime lab…
He decided to reserve his judgment until he could determine how this was going to work. There was a lot at stake, and this move could either make or break it all. He would proceed cautiously and take it one step at a time…
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Michael was scheduled to play Baltimore for the next two days, and he had decided that this was a good time to check in with an old friend he had in DC. He knew he could make the trip and be back in time for the show this evening, but he really didn’t want to have a limo shuffle him back and forth and have a driver know about his comings and goings. He decided to make the trip as a sight-seeing senior.
When the cab pulled up in front of the hotel, Mike handed the cabbie 5 hundred dollar bills and a piece of paper… Take me to this address in DC sonny and wait for me outside… and it’s all yours…
Hey old man, for that kind of cash I’ll take you to Timbuktu… guess you don’t got any luggage, so hop in and off we go.
Although the distance was not that great, the traffic had lengthened the trip to just a little over an hour. It was almost noon when then pulled up at the address he had given the cabbie.
I’m just meetin an old friend I haven’t seen in a while, I’m not planin to eat… they were sitting in front of a small bar and grill… I should only be about 20 minutes… if it costs any more I’ll pay… just stay here until I return.
Mike exited the cab, walked into the bar, sat down in an empty booth towards the back end of the room, and took off his cap laying it on the edge of the table… immediately, a younger looking man in a suit got up from his seat across the room and slid into the other side of the booth opposite Mike.
I wasn’t sure that was you until you did the cap thing… nice sign… NICE disguise… what’s up Michael? His friend wasn’t too surprised to see Michel in his disguise as an old man… he knew that Mike had been doing that for a while to avoid being mobbed when he would go out in public…
Like I said when I called, I was in the area and wanted to catch up with you… it’s been a while.
It has been! I saw you were playing Baltimore… thought about contacting you, but didn’t know how to reach you… glad you called. You want to get something to eat?
Naw, go ahead, I’m watching my weight, you know… the rock star image and all… I can stay and talk for a while… but gotta be back for the show tonight, so I don’t have a whole lot of time anyway.
During the course of the conversation Michael steered towards his main purpose… politics were never very interesting to me… I haven’t followed it much… but I am beginning to become more interested, so fill me in, what’s new in DC from your perspective?
Same ol same ol Mike… both sides are working against the other trying to win as many point as they can… all leading to the next elections 2 years from now. It’s partisan party politics as usual.
I did hear something about possibly a new bill being introduced that would sanction gambling on amateur sports or something like that… now that’s something that interests a rock and roll star like me… Mike smiled a big toothy grin trying to indicate that he was just asking that question to have fun. After all, he really had not heard anything about such a bill, except from Berry... he was just fishing.
That’s interesting… it’s suppose to be a big secret… but I guess it’s not that big of a secret if you know about it. Rumor has it that Senator Taylor is planning to introduce a bill that would make it legal to bet on national amateur sports leagues… but since there aren’t any national amateur sports leagues in existence it seems rather pointless… that’s why it will probably get passed. In my opinion, a lot of pointless legislation gets passed these days.
Michael’s eyes lit up but he tried not to show too much excitement so he wouldn’t tip his hand. Well, if there ever is, it sounds like fun to me… what else am I gonna do with all that money… they both laughed out loud…
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After dealing with the panicked entourage that freaked out when they couldn’t find him, Michael arrived back in his hotel room, and the first thing he did was open his laptop and send a “special” message to Berry, It WAS special… Berry had installed an encryption program based on DOD standards… only Berry’s software had some of its own routines he had added.
In addition to removing the hidden backdoor included in most encryption programs at the request of the NSA and Homeland security, he had added an additional level of encryption so the original encrypted file was also encrypted again.
The genius part of Berry’s software was the message encoder. The user would type a message into the encoder, enter a 256 bit key word, and click on the encrypt action. The encoder would then paint a graphics using the key and encoded message as a basis for drawing the picture. The end result was a real picture that could be transmitted along with a benign message. The receiver could then run the picture through the decoder, and by entering the 256 bit key it would display the original message.
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