Fatal Secrets Read Online Free PDF

first step. He
did
keep a record of his illegal finances somewhere; Dean would find it. It’s what he did best.
    Having ICE and Homeland Security involved was a problem, but not such a hindrance that Dean couldn’t turn it to his advantage. He needed to make a few calls to neutralize Sonia Knight. She was a hothead who could jeopardize his investigation. Corruption of this magnitude demanded patience and finesse.
    Sam Callahan returned with Sonia’s partner and reported that no one was on the property.
    “No one?” Dean asked.
    “I could have told you that,” Sonia Knight snapped. “We’ve been sitting on this house for two days.”
    Dean wanted to ask why, but that would have to wait. “Did you reach his attorney?” he asked Sam.
    “Left a message at eleven-thirty when we left Barnhardt’s house.”
    “Has his plane landed?”
    “What?” Sonia asked.
    He raised an eyebrow and said rather mockingly, “You didn’t know he was out of town? I’m surprised.”
    She tensed and Dean was almost sorry that he’d rubbed it in, but she’d pissed him off with her not-so-veiled comments about his motivations. He cared more about the people Jones hurt than he wanted to talk about.
    “He didn’t take a commercial flight,” she snapped.
    “He has a private plane. Learjet.”
    “I know that.” But it was clear from her expression that she thought it was still at the airfield. Which made him think she had some bad intel. Or was ICE running with too much work and too few resources, like the FBI?
    “We’re on the same team,” Dean said, extending the olive branch. “I want to compare notes. But right now we need to prepare for his arrival.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s after oh one hundred hours. When did he land?” He’d been told Jones was going to be back between eleven-thirty and midnight, which was why he had delayed arriving by an hour.
    “Twenty minutes ago.”
    Sonia put her finger to her ear, listening. Dean waited, hoping she would share the information without being asked. Any branch of Homeland Security could be dicey to work with, but ICE used to be independent, and while the FBI didn’t have the best relations with their sister agency, Dean had never encountered any problems himself.
    Sonia said, “Jones’s car turned off the highway. ETA four minutes.”
    “You really do have a—” he stopped. An idea occurred to him. “Jones knows who you are.” He said it matter-of-factly.
    “Of course he does, I’ve been in his face enough.”
    “Right now I’m serving a limited warrant for specific financial documentation.”
    “Why would—”
    “I don’t have time to explain, but I’m asking you to trust me. Take your partner and go back to your surveillance post. You’re entrenched right now; we didn’t make your team anywhere on the property.”
    A hint of a cocky smile emerged on her lips. “Of course you didn’t.”
    He gave her an appreciative nod. “You train your people well. I’m asking you to let me serve the subpoena and shake Jones’s confidence. Then we’ll leave, and you monitor comings and goings, see who Jones taps when he’s on the hot seat. Do you have a wiretap?”
    “Do you?”
    “Dean,” Sam Callahan interrupted. “Three minutes.”
    “We’ll meet at the FBI office at noon,” Dean said. “Okay?”
    “We’ll meet at my office at one,” Sonia said. “Full disclosure.”
    He extended his hand to seal the agreement and smiled. “My office. One is fine with me. I have too much paper and equipment to transport downtown, and believe me, you’re going to want to take a look at it.”
    Her hand was soft and cold, but her grip strong. “Don’t disappoint me.” She reached into her pocket and dropped an extra-strong magnet into his hand, then gestured toward the security cameras around the house. “The security office is in a room off the kitchen. The door is unmarked. If you don’t have a warrant for the tapes, you might want to erase