“You’re safe now,” Matt whispered in her ear.
Maybe Jim did care about her in his own twisted way. Or maybe he knew that if he killed her, it would fall back on Rykov. Either way, he had gone out of his way to keep her safe.
She didn’t know how to feel about that. She would have to think on it for a long time.
Dean Hooper said, “Where is the evidence of Hart’s involvement in those murders?”
Jim nodded to his attorney, who slid over a small envelop. “The key and location of my safe deposit box. As an added bonus, the box includes all the payments made between the organization and Tommy Cordell, and an accounting of all the money Hart laundered through his properties. You know about the boat house on River Road. There were more. High priced rents that were paid by organization operatives to the management company, which was cleaned through the holding companies. Hart’s hand-written notes on how to set it up. Oh, and a video of him strangling Mariska. After the incident with Elsa, I had the manager record Hart’s liaison’s, when possible.”
Jim leaned back. “I think we’re through, aren’t we?”
“For now. We may have follow-up questions, and I will remind you that you will need to testify against Travis Hart.”
“My pleasure,” he said. He looked again at the one-way glass. “You did good, Alex. I always suspected that you would be the one to put it all together. If you hadn’t ruined my operation, I might even be proud.”
Alex had no idea what to think of that.
She was extremely relieved that it was over.
***
Dean Hooper let Alex and Matt join him when he went to arrest Travis Hart at his office in the Capitol later that afternoon. “You’ve both earned it,” Dean said.
The U.S. Marshals were with them, as well as a group of FBI agents who had a search warrant for Hart’s legislative offices, home, and campaign. Jim Perry hadn’t given up Sergei Rykov, but in giving up Travis Hart he must have known that Travis had information on Rykov that he might attempt to use for a deal.
Except, Dean already told Alex there would be no deal. “When it was bribery and political corruption, I would consider it. Not for murder.”
Dean led the way into Hart’s office. Hart was on the phone and first looked surprised, then angry, at being interrupted.
The anger quickly turned to fear.
“Travis Hart, you are under arrest for one count of murder in the first degree, two counts of murder in the second degree, one count of attempted murder, multiple counts of racketeering and abuse of power.” Dean slapped the arrest warrant on his desk. “All charges are listed in this warrant.”
“Murder? Murder? I’ve never killed anyone!”
Dean read him his rights.
“I know my rights, I was a prosecutor!” Hart spotted Matt standing near the doors. All color drained from his face. “You.”
“I knew this day would come,” Matt said.
Hart went from pale to beet red. “This whole case is tainted! Matt Elliott is a liar!”
Dean leaned over his desk and said, “We not only have a witness who told us that you habitually abused prostitutes, but we have a video of you strangling a prostitute to death while raping her. Did you think that the people you were in business with wouldn’t protect themselves?” He smiled. “We have it all on tape. You are going down hard, Mr. Hart.”
“It’s a lie. It’s all made up.” But he looked scared.
Served him right.
Dean cuffed him. That’s when Travis Hart saw Alex standing partly behind Matt. At first he didn’t register what it meant, then he shook his head. “This is all because of you, isn’t it? If you weren’t at the hotel, no one would have figured out anything. I told them you should have been shot!”
“I can’t take all the credit,” Alex said, “but I’m happy to take part of it.”
“They’ll come for you,” Hart said. “You’re as good as dead, Alex Morgan.”
Matt stepped forward and raised his fist. Dean stepped between them. “We’ll add threatening a federal agent to the long list of charges,” Dean said.
“What? No fucking way,” Hart said.
Alex just smiled. She’d accepted a position in the FBI, and would be heading to Quantico as soon as her ankle healed, likely by the start of the summer session. Dean called in a favor to ensure that she would be assigned to Sacramento, because he knew how important family was to her. With what she’d sacrificed to help them take down Travis Hart and disband Rykov’s operation, Dean had told her she deserved something good to happen.
“You’ll all pay for this!” Hart shouted as Dean walked him out of the office. “You think anything will stick? I’ll be out faster than you can blink.” He sneered at Matt. “You won’t see me coming, Elliott. I will never forget this.”
Matt glared at him and watched as Hart was escorted from the building. Alex took his hand and they followed. As soon as they stepped out, they saw the press congregating right outside the main doors.