Chapter 14

Once she got over being nervous, Jasmine told them everything, and gave them the rest of what she had. I thought they were going to pass out. Later, after they waded through everything, they sat with me in the library, sipping my scotch. I hated scotch, it was a taste I never acquired. I rarely drank anything, but when I drank whiskey it was always straight rye, on the rocks. I would sip slowly, letting the ice melt and dilute the whiskey. Usually two was all I had.

“You have no idea what you stumbled on to here, Dean. This is going to spread like a computer virus, and get just as ugly. You don’t get away with this level of shit for as long as these guys have unless you’ve got a protector who is WAY up the food chain. Eventually, Homeland, ATF, hell every alphabet agency in the country is going to be involved, including the CIA. They might get to turn a few, and gather good intel for years. As long as we remain in charge, you get full access. And your friend should end up a very wealthy girl, if things play out like we expect.”

Christy grinned. “On a personal note, we can’t tell you what being able to stay here, get into the same bed and sleep the whole night together, means to us. It’s almost like a honeymoon. I hope we didn’t make too much noise. I heard somebody giggle just as we finished a marathon last night.”

“I’m sure no one will say anything,” I said. Mentally I said “MOM! Stop perving, these people are our guests, and I like them.” I felt her fingers on my cheek, and could almost see her grin. Just my luck to buy a house that’s haunted by a ghost that’s also a voyeur.

Jasmine had to go back to work, but as luck would have it, just before they boarded the plane her ‘uncle’ showed up, saying her grandmother had passed, and she was needed at home. Her boss tried to talk her into going, but Jasmine, her nerves so frayed the tears she shed were real, refused. He finally relented if she promised to be on the next plane after the funeral. Of course, both her grandmothers were alive and well, and Uncle Jim escorted her straight to a safe house, under heavy guard.

They had bugged the suite in Paris, state of the art stuff that beat the detectors his guests used to sweep the room twice daily with. Jim and Christy were there as guests while Interpol and French police listened. Christy dug her fingernails into Jim’s arm so hard the bruises and scratches were still there when they got home as the name of a senior Senator and a mid-level Congressman were mentioned, the bad guys debating over how much they deserved for keeping them in the shadows. Jim instinctively pulled away from her when two Cabinet heads were mentioned, or Christy would have broken his arm.

In the end they let everyone go back to their respective countries, tracking every movement, listening to every phone call and conversation. Jasmine called her boss and told him she had inherited her grandmother’s house and estate, and would not be returning. The Feds had it all set up when he checked it out, and they had copies of everything from the death certificate to the will available to ‘hack’. Mr. Moody tired to talk her into coming back, citing their deep connection and feelings for each other, and Jasmine actually seemed sad when she refused.

Jen and I were outside a home three states away before daylight on a February morning, filming as they arrested a man, and taking a short but dynamic statement from the FBI. We had done this deliberately, leaving a false trail to where the leak originated, to protect Jasmine. Agent LaMond looked every bit the professional she was in her severe suit, her hair pulled back into a tight bun, as she issued the statement. We were streaming it live, and soon it got picked up by every network and cable news outlet in the country. We were featured on the national nightly news, with every installment we filmed of the story. The Congressman and the Senator sang like canaries, hoping for reduced sentences, but there is no reduction for treason. They both got thirty years to life, as well as the two Cabinet heads, various undersecretaries, and a few lower level flunkies. The treason insured most of them got to spend their sentence at Fort Leavenworth, and not a camp cupcake. They had to move all of them in less than six months. Even if the inmates were all convicted of crimes, they were all still soldiers, and they took a really dim view of anyone betraying the country and their brothers in arms. The wardens finally figured out the prisoners were all suffering from a malady that caused them to become clumsy and fall down a lot. They fell so many times they stayed bruised constantly.

The businesses had their assets seized by the government, and all the CEO’s were arrested. Most of them got life, and most were divorced as they fought it in court, the women trying to secure a future for their children before the money ran out. The Inspectors who falsified reports were set to a supermax prison, and all but two died the first year. The President ended up firing several of his aides, three department heads besides the ones who were charged, assorted undersecretaries, his press secretary, and his lawyer. Faith in his ability to lead fell to a record low for a sitting President. The next year was an election year, and his campaign had been cranking out the ads, fueled by big business. The ads stopped when the big companies stopped funneling money to him, hurting because of the economic shortfalls the crisis had created, and he soon announced his plans to retire after this term. Jim told me much later that he had come within millimeters of having impeachment proceedings being started.

What happened to Jasmine? Well, Jasmine ended up smelling like a rose, pun intended. Unofficially, Jim recommended a lawyer, a super eagle, who swooped down and protected her interests like she was his only child. She really hadn’t done anything worse than having an affair with a married man, and she had turned everything over when she found it, contacted the FBI, and co-operated fully, so they never pressed charges.

Her blown whistle saved the government almost a billion dollars. Her cut would have been staggering, and the feds were dragging their heels, when Jasmine, through her lawyer, said she would consider a smaller percentage, and her lawyer fees. It was a limited time offer, and they jumped all over it. I asked Jim once how much she got, and he grinned. “Usually in cases like this, lawyers get at least a third, and her lawyer was thrilled to receive eleven million dollars. You do the math.” Wow.

There was a downside. Jasmine would be a tempting target before the trial. Kill the only witness and things will be simpler to defend. Jim thought it a stupid idea. “We already got enough to hang them several times over, and we’re finding more every day. Even if they were to kill her, they would still go to jail. Killing her would change things, and it would be hard to get parole on death row. She’s probably safe, but we’re going to keep an eye on her, at least for a while. The first whiff of danger and we’ll make her disappear.