Guardians of the Secret
copyright © 1998 by Cary Shulman
All Rights Reserved
10.
The three were waiting for a call. Tony, Gino and Pasquale. They were sitting around a motel room in Oakland waiting to kill someone. They were killing time playing cards and watching television. Perhaps exacting dull revenge on time that would kill them. Gino was the only one amused by the documentary on organized crime on the tv. Tony finally had had it.
"Can it."
"It's like home movies."
"Organized crime. They're dreaming. Vinie's so organized he needs a compass to find his dick."
The phone rang and Tony answered it. He had a brief conversation and returned to the table.
"She's the one."
"What about the others?"
"Just her, they said. Process of elimination."
"Process of elimination. That's our specialty."
They all laughed. They left the motel and drove to her house in Oakland. They were in good spirits. This was a night on the town. The only real danger they all agreed was the shitty neighborhood. She had a regular schedule and they waited. It got late and cold. Their humor changed. She didn't come home. They made jokes about her sexual preferences.
They tried the next day, but she was out of town and stayed that way. Everett was taking no chances. He was monitoring the mob's wiretapped conversations through contacts he had in government.
* * *
George Hilliard's family was wealthy. His mother was one of the major black fund-raisers for the Republican party. She had savvy and clout. Hilliard had distanced himself from his family to make his own way. But if he had to fall along with Michael and the other agent, she made sure his fall was upwards into the Washington office of the FBI. She saw a future in politics for him. His record as an administrator was not stellar, but with his connections he proved invaluable when he was taken on as a political liaison in the White House staff.
With an election coming up nobody had to tell him to pass along any relevant information and what was relevant political fuel seemed to expand constantly. A paper crossed his desk about a robbery of Allan March's assistant and campaign money and the Mafia. Hilliard began confirming the report. It was a career builder and he wanted to get it right.
Prints were taken off of a handcart. Finding no match in the US, the FBI sent them on to Japan for identification. The Japanese police identified the man as Masao "Kit" Shimizu. He was wanted in Japan in connection with his involvement in the Yakuza. Someone in the National Police Agency also provided the Yakuza with details of the robbery.
copyright © 1998 by Cary Shulman
All Rights Reserved