Chapter 33

The holding cell was on a hallway leading from the roll call room to an outside door. I was glad to see that there was an agent standing guard on both ends of the hallway, Yes the local cops were inconvenienced by the hallway to the parking lot being closed. Since their buddies manipulation of the image file from behind the food lion was the reason for our lack of trust. There wasn’t anything I could, or would do for them.

“Hello Mr Commissioner,” I said to the man trying to be as small as possible in the cell.

I had seen that before, often as a matter of fact. Powerful men who had been stripped of their power often reverted to animal like behavior. He was simply trying to be invisible, and hope the threat would go away. He intellectually knew it wouldn’t, but his mind was in a different place.

Mr. Commissioner my name is Ed Rogers. First of all I’m not a cop or a lawyer. What I am is a former policeman, but now I’m just a guy who researches crimes. I try to get to the truth nothing more or less. Of course I wanted to talk to you about Jay Thomas. Then, if you allow me, I’m going to help you work out the best deal possible with the FBI. Frankly a confession is not going to be enough. You are going to have to confess to the other business.”

“Oh by the way we have your I phone. We found it among the evidence recovered from the crime scene behind the Food Lion. We are still looking for the hard drives from you two computers.”

“When we find those, we won’t really need your testimony,” Gray explained “Ed here is brilliant at being able to get inside your head, he will know where the hard drives are by tonight. You might as well tell us and get the brownie points with the FBI.”

“I want to talk to my lawyer,” he said.

“I think you should, but when you do ask yourself whose interest he is going to have in mind, when he sends you to jail with a lot of career criminals. Some of whom still work for the group you were previously involved with. Let me tell you these guys will kill you, and your family without a second thought to stay out of prison themselves.” I suggested.

“I still want to talk to my lawyer,” the commissar demanded.

“Go for it,” I said. “In the meantime we will try to keep you alive.”

“Why are you getting involved,” he asked looking at me directly.

“I’m involved because this is part of JayBird’s story,” I said. “To write a totally believable story we have to know it all. We pick and choose what parts we use, but it should be up to us which ones we use.”

“Then you would be good with me telling you my story and not talking to the FBI. I’d like my side of the story known by someone,” he said.

“If you do that, I won’t have any immunity, so I can be compelled to testify. If you tell me. I could be an anonymous source. But if you don’t testify against the bad guys, you are going to do some serious time, with some seriously bad people.”

“But they can’t protect my grown children unless they uproot their whole lives. I could never do that to them,” he said.

“Let me see what I can work out for you. You are going to have to do some time for Jaybird, even if I can hide your story. Would you go for that,” I asked.

“If you can protect my family, I would do it,” he said. “But I will not testify.”

“Tell me where the hard drives are hidden, so I know you are going to cooperate before I go to bat for you.” I demanded.

He motioned me closer, then he whispered, “There is a plastic bag of computer shit buried under the Crepe Myrtle tree in my front yard. They were not supposed to be there, but a few days. That plan didn’t work out quite right.”

He leaned back then said for everyone to hear, “I have nothing more to say to you until I talk to my lawyer.”

“So what did he say,” Gray asked when we got outside the Sheriff’s office.

“Nothing valuable, but who is asking the FBI agent, or the Rogers Researcher?” I asked.

“You know who is asking. I’m always going to be the FBI agent first,” he said.

“Then let’s meet with your boss, or his boss. Someone who can make a deal,” I suggested. “In the meantime, I’m going back to the Motel and get some sleep.”

I did just what I said I was going to do. After some manipulations I went to bed and slept until 6AM the next morning. I crawled out of bed and dressed for my morning walk.

I shook Joan’s bed to wake her. “You going to walk today, or not?” I asked.

“Yeah give me a minute to brush my teeth,” she said.

I watched her leave her bed dressed only in one of my thermal tee shirts. Yes it made a micro mini dress. I was sure her legs were the tiniest bit chubby and her pubic area was hairless. I said absolutely nothing, since I had no idea what her dad would say. Yes I had seen more of Thia, but it was different with her. I didn’t have to watch what I said around Thia.

When Joan exited the bathroom she was wearing her track suit. She appeared to still be wearing the thermal shirt under the track suit. We rode from the motel to the convenience store where we had purchased coffee every day for the last week. I filled my thermos, Joan carried hers in a Styrofoam cup. I paid with the credit card before I left the store. I was a little surprised to find Gray in the parking lot of the county school campus.

I walked over to his car and asked, “So did you bring the thumbscrews?” I asked.

“The boss’s, boss wants to meet with you this morning,” Gray said. “We are going to set up a secure video link for the call.”