In Danger of Judgment: A Thriller by David Rabin

Author:David Rabin [Rabin, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Published: 2022-08-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 34

Sunday, May 17, 1987

1:20 p.m.

Bernie finished describing his visit with Johannsen and leaned back in his chair. “What do you think we have right now?”

Marcelle considered it. “Thornton was in cahoots with the Army, training men for wet work the government didn’t want anyone to know about.”

“Agreed.”

“Did you get the feeling Johannsen may have been exaggerating the whole secrecy thing?”

“No way. This guy was on Special Forces A-teams in the bush in Vietnam, and Sam Harrison described him as fearless. He’s not someone who’d scare easily. I have no doubt he wanted to lay waste to Thornton, but even with that much motivation, he still didn’t want to help me. He was genuinely afraid of anyone finding out he’d talked.”

“Then here’s what I think,” Marcelle said. “Whatever Thornton did with the government, he knows things they wish he didn’t know. He’s probably beyond their reach, which means he can blackmail them and they have to play ball with him. That would explain why the feds are protecting him, and Johannsen’s comment explains why he needs it. Am I on the right track?”

“Absolutely. And now we need to do the job that’s right in front of us. As curious as we are about Thornton’s background, we have to put that aside right now and focus on stopping the war he wants to start.”

“Should we tell Mike?”

“I’d vote against it,” Bernie said. “We can’t prove anything yet; we just have deductions we’re drawing. And if we tell him, he’s liable to get mad about the government playing him, mad enough to do something rash like kick John out.”

“And then we’re made,” Marcelle said. “The government knows we know, and we still haven’t accomplished anything.”

“Exactly.”

“Do you think John knows about Thornton, or are they playing him, too?”

“I doubt he knows. He’s a front-line agent, he just does what he’s told. And he’s not a bad guy—he’s weird, but in a way that makes you feel for him. And speaking of John, he’s going to be here soon.”

Marcelle said, “On another subject, you know today’s the third Sunday of the month.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

“I’m going to call Mama B and ask if I can bring something.”

“She always says no.”

“It’s polite to ask, anyway.”

A half-hour later, John arrived for the day’s driving tour. “I’ll meet you back here at five o’clock,” Bernie told Marcelle.

Bernie and John walked to Bernie’s car. “Have you thought about where you want to go?” Bernie asked.

“Officer Larson said Thornton drove around a place called K-Town, which makes me curious about it.”

“It’s a major drug sales area. I’m not surprised he’d want to see it. You want to go there?”

“Please.”

They got in the car and Bernie headed south. “Let me tell you about K-Town,” Bernie said. “There’s a big, north-south street on the West Side called Pulaski. For a mile west of there, the north-south streets start with K, like Karlov, Keeler, Kildare.

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