The Heir Hunter by Chris Larsgaard

Author:Chris Larsgaard [Larsgaard, Chris]
Format: mobi
Tags: Suspense
Publisher: A Dell Book
Published: 2010-01-05T11:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

18

IN THE MANHATTAN office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Edmund Arminger reached for the phone and got his boss in Washington.

“Anything new?” asked Gordon.

“We’ve got a confession from the attorney in Columbia County,” replied Arminger. “Merchant and Associates paid him ten thousand for the Jacobs file, just as we suspected.”

“Have teletypes on Merchant been sent?”

“Every department in fifty states. We’re talking with San Francisco, Des Moines, and New York City and sending our profiles and photographs. I’m glad we’re finally—”

“And you’ve spoken with the newspapers?”

“We’re all set,” replied Arminger. “I’ve spoken with Directors Hampton and Rivera and gotten commitments for half a dozen agents from each of their jurisdictions. We’ll get him.”

Gordon felt a bit irritated. “I’d like you to confer with me before implementing any future tactical maneuvers, Edmund. This has gotten too big to be making rash movements. I don’t give a damn what the situation is—you let me know next time. My neck may be on the line here and if that’s the case, so is yours. Are we clear on that?”

“Very clear,” replied Arminger, after a brief but noticeable pause.

“Good,” said Gordon. “I’ve spoken with the San Francisco Police Department. Seems there was something to that story Merchant gave us. Someone did blow up his apartment. His secretary—woman by the name of Rosemary Penn—was killed.”

“He was telling the truth, then,” said Arminger. “What the hell is going on with all this?”

“Let me tell you about my meeting with the President,” replied Gordon. “And a surprise guest.” The director told Arminger of his discussion in the White House.

“What do you make of it?” asked Arminger.

“Well, Newland’s always had the President’s ear,” said Gordon. “On the surface, it’s simple. The senator’s committee is being jeopardized by the possibility of Jacobs’s true identity being revealed. Neither the President nor Newland wants that to happen. From what I heard, I don’t either. In which case we need to find Merchant and put him away.”

“And is there something beneath the surface?”

Gordon paused for a long four or five seconds. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “The whole damn thing’s an embarrassment. Closing a protected witness file shouldn’t have been so damn difficult, but somehow we managed to screw it up, and now we have Newland to deal with. Committee or not, I don’t like him being privy to our operations.”

Arminger leaned back in his chair, frowning thoughtfully. “You think there’s something else here, Arthur?”

“I didn’t say that. But something doesn’t feel right to me. Nothing I can put my finger on at the moment.”

“So what do we do?”

“We’ll do what we’ve been instructed to do—find Merchant as quick as we can. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do some digging of our own. If there is something more here, we want to make damn sure it doesn’t sneak up and bite us.”

“I agree,” said Arminger. “I have another interesting bit of news out of Sacramento. The signed heir to the Jacobs fortune was murdered earlier today in his home. Merchant’s out of the money.

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