Under the Marshal's Protection. Kathleen Tailer
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could very well be the proof the FBI needed to reestablish their case and break up the counterfeiting ring once and for all.
Jessica shifted, frowning. “But Michael could be innocent, right?”
Dominic gave her a small smile at her hopeful tone. He could well understand why Michael’s sister would want to defend him. She loved her brother. It was as simple as that. “We’ll know for sure once we talk to him, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”
Jessica took a deep breath and wrung her hands. “Did anybody get hurt because of the bad medicine?” She stilled, waiting for his answer, looking incredibly afraid of what she would hear next.
“There was a boy who was hospitalized because of the switch, but so far, we’re not aware of any fatalities. We don’t know how much of the counterfeited medicine was distributed though, which is another reason why we need to talk to your brother. We need to find all of the diluted medicine that made it into the market before it does kill someone.”
Jessica sighed with relief, but seemed to still be reeling from the magnitude of what Michael had gotten himself into. She pulled the silver ring off of her right hand and slipped it on to her left. “I doubt my brother could pull something like this off all by himself.”
“I happen to agree with you, and so does the FBI, but like I said, we need to talk to Michael to discover the facts and find out the full extent of his involvement. We think Michael knows a lot of valuable information that could help us with our investigation of Coastal. He could very well end up being our key witness at trial if he cooperates.”
“I can’t believe he would be involved in something like this,” Jessica said quietly, then slumped in her seat as the full implication of the deputy’s words hit her. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily, then her eyes popped back open as a new thought occurred to her. “So why are you looking for him instead of a bail bondsman?”
Dominic shrugged. “The bondsman is probably looking for him too, but we do our own manhunts. Like I said, Michael could easily turn out to be the key witness in the investigation.”
She raised her eyebrow, obviously churning all of this new information over and over in her mind. “Coastal is a legitimate company, right?”
“It appears to be from the outside, but we need to talk to Michael to see just how far inside the conspiracy has spread. Right now, it seems like there are only a few major players that are actually involved with the counterfeiting and distribution.” He paused. “I know hearing all of this must be hard to swallow, but there is a lot more to it that I’m not at liberty to discuss.” Don Levine’s murder weighed heavily on Dominic’s mind. The marshals were convinced that Ross Kelley at Coastal was the mastermind behind the whole scheme, and that Kelley had ordered Levine’s death to protect himself once the counterfeited drugs had been discovered. If Kelley was silencing everyone who could testify against him, then Michael was definitely next on the list.
Dominic was also concerned about the mystery surrounding Levine’s murder. Levine had been under police protection, yet he had still been viciously killed. How had the murderer gotten past the security detail? The case was still being investigated, but no matter what the result, the bottom line was that they needed to find Michael fast, for his sake, and to save their case against Coastal.
Dominic let the silence ensue for a moment, then stopped at a red light and turned toward his passenger. “So when was the last time you saw Michael?”
Jessica looked up and narrowed her eyes, apparently acutely aware that he had finished answering her questions and was now ready with some of his own. “It’s been about a year, I guess.”
The light changed and Dominic turned his eyes back to the road. “That surprises me. I thought you two might be closer than that.”
“We used to be,” Jessica said softly. “Believe it or not, Michael started out as a really good kid.”
“What happened?” He knew a lot of Blake’s background from the file, but it couldn’t hurt to get his sister’s side of things. In fact, he might just learn something important about his quarry.
“What happened is that my parents both died in a terrible accident and I was left to raise Michael. I did my best to give him a Christian home with Christian values. But somewhere during his high school years, I must have messed it up. Michael got in with the wrong crowd and started changing. At first he was just staying out too late, but one thing led to another, and he barely managed to graduate. He became sullen and defiant, and the older he got, the less he included me in his life. Then a few days after his commencement, he packed up his car and moved away from Tallahassee. I’ve heard very little from him since.”
“How many times have you seen him since he moved out?”
Jessica sighed. “Only twice. He would never tell me much about his life or what was going on with him. Now I guess I know why.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then continued. “I wish I’d had some help, you know? Like an uncle or an aunt to go to for help when his life started to get off track.”
“You don’t have any extended family?” Dominic asked, even though he already knew the answer.
“No one.” She bit her bottom lip again and looked away. “Look, Michael has had his share of problems, but even when he turned sullen and secretive, I still always knew he had a good and gentle heart buried down deep inside.”
Dominic didn’t answer her, so she pressed on. “He’s not a bad man, Marshal. You probably hear that all the time, but it’s true. I know it in here.” She tapped her chest for emphasis. “He must have just gotten mixed up in something bad and not known how to get out of it. He would never hurt someone intentionally. It’s just not in him.”
Dominic still didn’t answer, and when she spoke again, her voice took on a desperate plea. “I don’t think Michael can survive in prison, even if he was involved with the counterfeiting. I’ve seen the news, and Hollywood is filled with horror stories of what goes on behind bars.” She paused for breath. “How long would he have to stay in prison if he gets convicted?”
“That all depends on the extent of his involvement and what he can testify to in court,” Dominic answered. “It also depends upon what information he has on that disk. It must be valuable or Coastal wouldn’t be going this far to retrieve it.” He glanced at his passenger and noticed the turmoil that was etched into her face. It was obvious that Michael was in way over his head, and all of a sudden, so was she. This went way beyond teaching history and social science to fifth graders. When she had gotten up this morning, it had probably just been a normal Wednesday. Now her whole life was in shambles and she was filled with fear for herself and her brother. He decided a diversion was in order, and he swung through a drive-thru at the first fast-food restaurant he came across.
“What would you like? Once we get to the safe house, it may be awhile before we can grab something else.”
She shook her head. “I’m not that hungry. I’m not even sure I can eat anything right now.”
Dominic nodded, understanding. Her stomach was probably tied up in knots with worry and stress. “Okay, how about just a chocolate milkshake? That will at least keep you from starving.” He gave her a grin, hoping to reassure her. What woman didn’t like chocolate?
She hesitated but finally nodded, and he ordered the food, then paid and passed her the shake. He watched her carefully as she took her first sip and had to admit that she was handling everything he had told her today with amazing strength. Despite her negative assessment of her parenting skills, by all accounts Jessica had done a great job of taking care of Michael after their parents had died. She was seven years older than her younger brother and had worked hard to meet his needs, keep a job and put herself through school to earn her degree. According to his research, she had been a fifth grade teacher at the local elementary school for a few years, and apparently she raised and trained horses on the side now and then to supplement her income. Everyone spoke highly of her, and even he found himself admiring her and her accomplishments. Her life could not have been