“I don’t blame him.” In fact, he’d judge the guy if he wasn’t protective of his wife.
Paula gave a half smile. “I know who you are and the kind of clearance you’ve got. And I appreciate you coming straight to me because I realize that if you thought I was involved with whatever, you’d have just hauled me in for questioning. But I still don’t know who could have accessed my security code other than my superiors. I’m careful about my information. And even if the order was given by me, is it possible it was a glitch? If these guys did bomb—oh, shit. You said the order was given when I was in labor. That was before the bombing.” She scrubbed a hand over her face, clearly exhausted. “Have they been under investigation or something?”
Wesley shrugged, unsure about a lot concerning the four agents at this point. “As far as I can tell, not officially. To me, it looks like someone wanted to kick the four men out of the DEA’s system.” And he wasn’t going to tell Paula why, because she didn’t need to know. “They did it before the bombing and wanted to cover their tracks. But they didn’t want to throw you under the bus. It’s easy enough to prove you had nothing to do with revoking their clearances. What I want to know is who above you could use your access code and who you think had a reason to want Max dead.”
“You think Max . . . Wait, what are you trying to say?”
Wesley knew he was only giving her bits of information, but he couldn’t afford to tell her too much. Not when he didn’t know enough about her. “I have certain evidence that indicates the four men accused of the bombing might be innocent and that whoever is behind the bombing is also behind Max’s death.”
“You think it’s someone in the DEA?” She frowned, her eyebrows pulling together as her husband walked back into the room. She took the bottle before asking her husband to give them privacy.
To Wesley’s surprise the man left the room again, maybe because of the serious look Paula had given him. Because of the nature of his wife’s job he had a midlevel security clearance, so he’d be able to hear certain things and he’d also understand when he needed to make himself scarce.
“I don’t know,” he said. “But a lot of things aren’t adding up and I don’t know who to trust over there. It’s the real reason I came to you. You’ve got an insider’s perspective and according to my analysts, you’re unlikely to be corrupt.”
Her eyebrows rose a fraction, but she didn’t seem surprised by his analysis. She had a good job, and her husband did very well financially according to Wesley’s reports. Money wouldn’t be a motivator for her, and religious reasons were also out given the information he had on her.
“What do you want to know, then?”
“Gut instinct—who do you think benefits the most from Max’s death?”
“I . . .” She shook her head and shifted against the recliner, wincing slightly.
He really hated that he’d come here on her maternity leave, but he had to push. “Someone came to your mind.”
“Yeah, okay, but you’re talking murder. And I’m not saying I don’t think the people I work with are capable of killing someone. But killing in self-defense and flat-out murdering or hiring someone to kill one of the deputy directors is crossing a serious line.” She gave a sharp shake of her head, but he could see in her eyes that she suspected someone. Or maybe not suspected, but believed them capable enough.
Wesley nodded, letting her get her thoughts together.
Suddenly she straightened. “Is this on the record?”
He shook his head. “This whole meeting is off the record.”
She relaxed a fraction. “Fine, off the record, Raul Widom has a lot to gain with Max gone. Agent, good at getting the job done, but he’s such a showboat, loves being the center of attention, getting his face in the news for a win whether he deserves it or not. And . . .” She grimaced, clear disgust on her face. “He’s a sexist of the worst kind. Subtle, tries to hide it, but if I had to work with him, I’d quit. That says a lot because I love my job. Guy doesn’t like women, the kind who thinks no matter her rank, the female should be the one getting the men in a meeting coffee. Probably why he’s been divorced three times.”
Very interesting. Widom, a man moving up the ranks quickly, was on Pankov’s list. “Anyone else come to mind?”
“Yes, maybe. I don’t think he’d have the stones to kill Max and I don’t know that he’d gain anything from it, but Daniel Vane and Max didn’t get along. Personal shit. It’s not like he’ll be able to take Max’s position or anything, though. Guy’s just midlevel and that’s probably all he’ll ever be.” She lifted her shoulders casually. “Still, he comes to mind as having a hard-on for Max.”
“Does either of them have access to your security code?”
“I don’t think so. Widom is technically ranked higher than me, but we’re in different divisions and he doesn’t have enough clearance—that I’m aware of—to have access to my information. But I wouldn’t swear to it.”
“Thank you.” He pulled out a business card that simply had his name and his private number and handed it to her as he stood. “You ever need anything or remember something, call me. This conversation will remain confidential, so if someone hassles you about anything, call me.”
Clear surprise flitted across her face. “Thanks. And thanks for the heads-up about my security breach. I’m going to change my code now. Unless you think I shouldn’t?”
“Change it.”
“I will. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m not going to get up and walk you out.” She winced again, her discomfort clear.
“No problem. I appreciate your time.” Wesley made his way to the front door and found her husband waiting there.
The man nodded politely at him as he opened the door, his manner somewhat less hostile than before.
Once Wesley was back in the SUV, he texted Elliott and Selene, letting them know to focus on both Widom and Vane.
? ? ?
Karen’s fingers clacked over her keyboard as she pulled up another of Raul Widom’s bank accounts.
“You can grab some rest in Wesley’s office,” Selene said quietly from the computer station next to her. She was also working, but she had a headset on and was communicating with others while she clicked away.
Half smiling, Karen didn’t glance over, afraid the worry in her eyes would show. Once they’d arrived, Tucker was escorted away and she wasn’t allowed to see him. She knew where he was, though—in one of the typical holding rooms. She wished she could be with him. “I’m too wired to sleep, but thanks.”
With a critical eye, she started going over Widom’s incoming and outgoing money. There were so many angles to look at right now, trying to figure out who had the means and the motive to set up four DEA agents, kill the deputy director, and plant bombs at the Botanic Garden. It felt like looking for a needle in a stack of needles. But they’d solved more cases with less. “Did Wesley get more intel on this guy?” she continued, wanting to know why they were giving him a bigger focus now. Karen knew her boss had called Selene not long ago and was surprised he hadn’t called to check on her. Maybe he was still pissed about how she’d run with Tucker.
“Yeah. Him and the Vane guy,” Selene said.
“When will he be here?”
“Who? Oh, Wesley? Not long now.” Selene started talking to someone else on her comm then, and Karen gave all her focus to her own task.