Chapter 17: The FBI

The next morning, Marissa decided that she couldn’t continue living a dual existence. If her husband found out it would surely end their marriage and it was unlikely that she could keep it from him for very long. She did love him; she just didn’t seem to be able to say no to sex and cocaine. If there was a way out, she sure couldn’t see it now.

Marissa arrived at the airport an hour early. She passed through security and bought a coffee to wait for boarding when a trim, smartly dressed woman sat next to her. “Mrs. Henderson?” the stranger asked.

“Uh, yes.” She didn’t recognize the woman. “Do I know you?”

“My name is Jessica Ferraro, Mrs. Henderson. I’m with the FBI.” She actually pulled out identification and showed it to Marissa.

“Is this about giving the money to the Senator?”

Agent Ferraro nearly said no without thinking, but the wisely said, “Why don’t you tell me about it.”

“They tricked me. Alex and Rocky; they put the envelopes with the money in my things and had me give it to the Senator.”

“Which Senator Mrs. Henderson?”

“Why Senator Dodson, of course; who did you think?”

Jesus, a United States Senator, thought the agent. This is even better than I could have imagined. “I just wanted you to verify it for me. Were there others that I might not know about?”

Tears started to stream down Marissa’s face. The FBI agent looked at her sympathetically and added, “It’s okay, you can tell me.”

Marissa buried her face in her hands. “Oh God!” she exclaimed.

“Mrs. Henderson, I can help you if you tell me everything.”

“If my husband finds out...” she choked.

Ferraro already knew more about her and her husband than Marissa would ever know. The agent could never tell Marissa how Brad was still helping unravel the Montessario’s family finances and the role that she’d played getting Marissa away from Tony Montessario. But the reason she’d approached Marissa today was because of the dinner with Gus Manaford in Las Vegas.

“Like I said, I can help. You know your husband is going to find out eventually and if you cooperate...” she didn’t finish.

“There was a judge.”

“What judge?”

“I never knew his name.”

“That’s okay, you can tell me about him later,” said Ferraro.

“And some guy from the Gaming Commission.” She looked down at her feet. “I, I don’t remember his name either.”

Ferraro knew that the last two were state matters and they could be dealt with later. The FBI had gotten the wiretaps approved for his house yesterday. Now all they had to do was get past his security system to plant them, but still, the Senator, this judge and a commissioner were going to just be frosting on the cake. “Okay,” she said, “but tell me about your date last night.”

Taking a deep breathe, Marissa asked, “Am I in trouble?”

“Not as long as you cooperate with the FBI Mrs. Henderson. But first tell me about last night.” And Marissa told her that she had had dinner with Manaford, but she conveniently left out the sex, but she did tell her about him asking her to visit his Malibu house.

“Okay,” said Ferraro, “now tell me about Senator Dodson.”

Her face getting red, Marissa told her about the two assignations with the Senator and the bribes she’d handed over.

“A schoolgirl named Amy, huh,” said Ferraro, when Marissa had finished. “That must have been a little humiliating.”

Marissa didn’t want to admit that she’d secretly enjoyed it, but thankfully she heard her boarding announcement and said, “It’s time for my flight.”

“Of course. It’s been nice chatting with you Mrs. Henderson. Please don’t tell anyone I’ve talked to you.”

“Of course. I, I must catch my plane.” She got up and hurriedly left.

After Marissa boarded, another agent sat next to Ferraro. “Well, that went well. She’s scared to death.”

“I know. I feel sorry for her. It’s too bad we need her. Pretty interesting about the Senator. We might want a look at his computer for child porn.”

“That will be a big feather in our cap. Bribing a Senator gives us a rather good sword over her head.”

“Well, we have no proof except what she told us. But she might not realize that. Let’s just see how it plays out.”

“Why don’t we fly to San Diego and talk to her again.