Tanner shook his head. “No, it varies, but so far there isn’t a pattern we can see to the amounts, the recipients, the towns, or anything else. Only two, like the principal in Pearland, have been reported by the recipient as a mistake. The rest were flagged by the bank, and that’s what gave us the heads-up.
“But then those same or similar amounts were found in terrorist hands within a week or two. We are tracking down the hows and whys with mixed success, but we need to be able to anticipate and stop the transactions before they happen.”
He shifted in his chair before running one hand through his hair, making the cowlick at his forehead stand up at an odd angle. “The retired farmer had a wife with stage-four cancer, and he was in danger of losing everything. He was barely keeping up with the costs to take care of her. We think he was paid handsomely to be a middleman, and all his wife’s bills were taken care of until the day she died, of somewhat mysterious circumstances, when she drowned in the toilet bowl in her hospital room.”
Dex itched to get his hands on all the new information and see for himself if he could make any sense of it. But then he mentally reined himself in. He had trained for fieldwork because he wanted to broaden his horizons. Which meant he had to trust his team.
Tanner continued. “From what we can put together, we think the bills being blocked in Congress with the bad amendments and the influx of cash are related somehow.”
He studied Dex for a moment. “We aren’t sure how exactly she ties in yet, if at all, but Kathryne Fretwell is a common thread between several of the men we think are involved. That’s where you come in. Those men that she subs for are the ones either adding the so-called poison pills to the bills in question or paying handsomely for lobbyists who are new to the scene in Washington.”
Dex frowned. “I thought lobbyists were generally people who were Washington insiders and then went on to get jobs in the private sector after they held elected office. But these people were unknowns?”
“That’s the odd part. If they were established lobbyists, they wouldn’t raise anyone’s interest, but these people are brand new to the scene. No previous connections in politics at all, but somehow they are gaining access to lots of powerful politicians and Super PACs.”
Dex sat back and propped his right ankle on his left knee. “I’m with you. I’ll find out what I can.”
Tanner scrubbed a hand over his face again. “Shapiro mentioned that you looked like you had heard of The Dungeon before he said the name, and that you weren’t a fan. Has today updated that opinion any?”
Dex sighed. He had heard about The Dungeon before Shapiro mentioned it, and most of it hadn’t been great. Poorly trained and disrespectful Doms. Subs who didn’t know what they were getting into, and didn’t understand they had any power during play sessions.
He took a breath and blew it out slowly before answering. “Let’s just say it’s pretty much as I suspected.”
Tanner’s expression pinched. “Is that going to make it more difficult for you to stay credible there?”
Dex shook his head, remembering what he had wanted to bring up with Tanner. “Not at all, but I would like to see if a few Doms could be brought in from Club Desire.”
Tanner frowned. “Why?”
“It sounds like anytime a good Dom comes into The Dungeon, they get swamped with requests from subs. It would look very suspicious if I’m a visiting Dom here for an undetermined amount of time and I only spend my time with one sub. It might also bring resentment from the other Doms if I start absorbing most of the time with their favorite sub.”
Tanner looked thoughtful.
“I’ll get clearance to read them in. We’ve worked well with Club Desire and Brent Weston in the past. I’m assuming the men you’re suggesting would be discreet and have at least some idea what they are getting into in becoming a visiting Dom at another dungeon.”
Dex stretched his neck from side to side to work out a few stiff muscles. “If you read Brent in and let him introduce the subject, I think that will be the best way to approach this. I would suggest Logan Fisher and Camren Hanson. I know there’s another town house near this one that the agency has set up where they could both stay, if it’s not being used right now. It would be too suspicious if they stayed with me.”
Dex sifted through information inside his head, looking for any holes or possible problems. “It’s common knowledge within the lifestyle that at least Logan and I are closely tied to Club Desire, but that we’ve both been at several other clubs as well. Camren is from back East, so he’s not as well known in the lifestyle.”
He glanced up to read Tanner’s expression, but the man was making notes on the pad in front of him on the desk.