The Manifest

Chapter 28

     Mr. Smith was in his office, working the phones and doing his best to gather the information he needed to make a presentation to Mr. Carlson as soon as he could. Turns out Carlson wasn't very patient today as he came strolling into the office and whipped the door open and closed rather harshly behind him. Smith could tell by the look on his boss' face that things were going for bad to worse too fast for them to keep track of. Carlson took a moment to settle down and then took a seat across from Smith's desk.

     "I just got chewed out from above." Carlson informed him. "They're not happy about this and I can't blame them one bit. What information do you have so far?"

     Smith took a deep breathe and then broke the news, "Everyone who was on the third floor was murdered before the fire started. All shot before the fire was deliberately set. I have no evidence, but I had to ponder a guess I would suspect the mob."

     "Organized Crime?" Carlson asked, as he was eager to hear more about this interesting theory. "What makes you jump to that kind of conclusion?"

     "The money," Smith replied, trying his best to sell this theory, "It could have been hush money that they could have tried to use to shut them up from something they discovered. The police even suspect Edgar Willis because they think he tried to screw Tuck out of his equal share."

     "Do you really believe that?" Carlson asked.

     "Not really," Smith honestly answered, "This was clearly a multi-man hit. You would need at least half a dozen people to pull of this operation quickly and quietly enough to the point where no one else noticed they were even there. This was professional, from start to finish. They really pissed someone off out there to the point where they were willing to kill to take care of the problem."

     "And the fact that Edgar shot at our people?" Carlson asked, still concerned about that fact.

     "Well," Smith said, trying to air some confidence. "The police have their suspicions, so it's fair to say that Edgar has his own suspects as well. I doubt he'll tell anything to the police. Even if he does, I doubt they'll give him the time of day either, especially after the way Ms. Johnson was treated when she tried to tell the same story. I think we hit a lucky break. This could take care of the problem for us."

     "I don't call over a dozen dead people and an agent being fired at lucky!" Carlson snapped as he stood up, "We need to find out who really did this and fast, because the last thing we want Willis to do is add vengeance to the list of reasons why he should look for us and Mrs. Johnson."

     "I'll make it my top priority." Smith said, as he could tell how serious his boss was taking the situation. "Do you plan to relocate Mrs. Johnson?"

     "Not yet," Carlson said, "I doubt Willis has had any time to start his search so her location is probably safe for the moment. Even if he managed to dig something up, there's a good chance it went up in smoke with his office. Without a location to work out of, it might be weeks before he picks up this case again. We'll move her to a new location after things settle down."

     "That sounds wise," Smith concurred, "No need to expose her if we don't have to."

     "Are you sure this is all the information you have right now?" Carlson added, desperate to have as much as possible for his supervisors.

     "I swear this is all I got," Smith insisted. "I'm sorry I didn't have more for you but I'll have a full report ready for you and your superiors by the end of the day."

     "You haven't had much time to work with." Carlson said, easing up a bit on him, "I look forward to reading your completed report."

     Smith watched as the old man walked out of his office. As he sat back down, Smith let out a huge sigh as if the weight of the world seemed to be weighing on his shoulders. He sat back and looked at his report, it was the best he could come up with on such short notice but would be enough to get the big boys off his back for now.

     Smith was sure he would be rid of both of those pests after the events of the previous night, but it turns out some of them managed to make it out alive. Willis also managed to take Ms. Johnson off the street before his people could get to her. Futile efforts, Smith thought to himself as he flipped open his phone. He sent out a text to a friend of his in the field. He told him to contact the men at the station to find out if Willis was still being held by the police. Hopefully the detective would be there long enough for him to pay a little visit.