Kaiser actually smiles at this. “The last time you boys had a serious states’ rights problem with Washington, it was 1861. That didn’t work out so well for you. But if you want to push it, we’ll be happy to oblige.”
Ozan looks slowly around at the rest of us, then focuses on the FBI man once more. “You know something, hotshot? The last thing you want to do is make this personal. Especially while you’re living down in New Orleans. That’s our neck of the swamp.”
Kaiser gives me a momentary glance. “Mayor Cage, did you just hear Captain Ozan threaten a special agent of the FBI?”
“I did.”
“And will you testify to that fact in a court of law?”
“I will.”
“Thank you. Captain, I suggest you avail yourself of the opportunity to leave before I have the sheriff jail you.”
Ozan shakes his head as though in disgust at a world turned upside down. Then he turns on his heel and marches away without another word.
“I’ll be goddamned,” Sheriff Dennis marvels. “He looked like a dog shittin’ peach pits. Shakin’ all over. In all my years on the job, I’ve never seen nothing like that.”
Jordan Glass laughs out loud, apparently happy to see her husband shed his girdle of self-control.
Kaiser gives Dennis a wry smile. “It was time to send Forrest Knox a message. And I’d had about enough of Ozan’s dime-store Nazi act.”
I ask, “Did your SAC really request National Security Letters on Knox and Ozan?”
“Not yet. I tacked that on to give Ozan the runs. But after tonight, we’ll get them. Too many people are dead. And I want Knox to know that I know what he is. Maybe that’ll give him pause before killing anybody else.”
Kaiser takes a step toward Walker Dennis and slaps him on the shoulder.
“Sheriff, I look forward to working with you on the Royal case, and I feel sure I can count on the same hospitality you’ve shown us so far. In exchange, I can promise you full Bureau support, should you have any problem with your comrades from the state police.”
Sheriff Dennis gives Kaiser a respectful salute. “I appreciate it, Mr. Kaiser. And I’ll be happy to buy you a drink, first chance we get.”
“I’ll look forward to it.”
Kaiser is playing this about as subtly as a used-car salesman. Sensing that Walker Dennis and I are allies beneath the surface of things, he figures that in the glow of his public spanking of Ozan, Dennis might confide our secrets to him. One look into the sheriff’s eyes tells me Kaiser’s instincts are dead-on. Walker even gives me a questioning look, as though asking for permission. He’s probably thinking how much harder we could hit the Knoxes if we had Kaiser on our side.
Before Walker can speak, I say, “I was just telling John he ought to hit the Double Eagles as hard and fast as he can with the meth stuff, while they’re off balance. Maybe we’d get one to flip on Forrest, to save himself from dying of old age or worse in Angola.”
Kaiser practically whirls on me, frustration in his eyes. “We already went over this, Penn. Give it up, will you? There’s no point.”
Caitlin and Jordan freeze, their eyes darting from Kaiser to me, then back.
“The Double Eagles are tighter than the Mafia about secrecy,” he goes on, looking at Sheriff Dennis. “They’re like Islamic fundamentalists.”
“They can’t all be,” I say evenly. “Not at the street level.”
“Street drones won’t know anything about Forrest. It’s all compartmentalized.”
“Somebody on the street will know about the Double Eagles.”
Kaiser turns back to me. “So what? No Double Eagle is going to talk, not even to save himself a jail term.”
“Glenn Morehouse did.”
“To make peace with God, not to send his war buddies to death row. And even if one decided to cut a deal, Knox would kill him before we could get what we need.”
“What’s going on, guys?” Jordan asks sharply. “What’s wrong?”
“Penn’s worried about his father,” Kaiser says wearily. “Understandably.”
I need to cement Walker’s mistrust of Kaiser once and for all. “Okay, John. If you believe forcing a plea bargain won’t work, then go another way. Direct attack.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Use me to sting Forrest. I can do what you think I did with Brody Royal: offer to keep his name out of the papers in exchange for saving my father. And you can record everything he says.”
“No!” Caitlin snaps, horrified that I’d even consider repeating this disastrous tactic, or offering compromise in her name. “That’s a total nonstarter.”
Kaiser’s shaking his head. “You haven’t heard a word I said. You want to wear a wire on Forrest Knox? He won’t say one incriminating word on tape, but as soon as the heat’s off—he’ll kill you.” The anger bleeds out of Kaiser’s face, and he speaks with exhausted conviction. “This is a dangerous time to be Forrest Knox’s friend, much less his enemy.”
“I’ll bet I can make him talk.”
“Even if Forrest agreed to talk to you,” Kaiser goes on, “he’d never believe you could muzzle Caitlin and her newspaper.”
“And he’d be right,” she says, looking stricken. “I can’t believe this.”
Sheriff Dennis is watching Kaiser with sudden wariness. I only hope Walker has the intestinal fortitude to go ahead with tomorrow’s raids as planned.
“Enough of this,” Kaiser says. “The bottom line is, thanks to that dead state trooper, Forrest can kill your father with no worries at all. And he means to. All he has to do is find him.”
“John!” cries Jordan.
“I’m sorry, Penn,” Kaiser says, sounding as though he means it. “But you’ve got to accept reality. The only good you can accomplish at this point is to find your father and convince him to turn himself in to me. You do anything else—anything related to Forrest Knox—and I’ll have to arrest you.”
Sheriff Dennis’s mouth drops open.
Kaiser nods for emphasis. “I could make an obstruction case right now, and you know it.”