Shoot Not to Kill Page 20

  Geech smiled, “We kind of like to think we’re the city, here, but I get your drift. We’ll see you in St. Louis, Richard.”

  “Michelle, Colin’s been put on admin leave for a couple weeks while you guys start this case,” Derek said. “His work is important, but your field work has been handed to other site investigators, so there’s no need for him to be working right now..”

  “Thanks,” Michelle said. “So if I may summarize this case, we are still not sure where he is.”

  Geech jumped in before anyone could answer, “Excuse me, Rich, the licensure forms have blocks for identification numbers for physicians. One is a number by the Drug Enforcement Agency, and another is Medicare. Can you track him through those numbers?” Geech asked.

  Rich rubbed his hands together and answered, “Those numbers were run. They all belong to other physicians, all registered in Illinois. Those numbers that were stolen have been changed on the legitimate doctors, and we left the bogus numbers with Bishell. So yes, we can track those numbers. The billing is hopelessly complex and months behind, but the last billing submissions were from a hospital in Valdez, Alaska. These bills are six months old. Geech, you have to get a splash course as an emergency medical technician, EMT, and you may apply for a job that will soon come open in Valdez. It may take months before he rotates through, and I plan to have someone there. If we approach the administrator of the hospital, we’re likely to tip this guy off. One thing that you’ll find in this level, you’ve got two categories of crooks that do interstate commerce in criminal activities. One group is the incredibly lucky and generally pretty blunt and dumb. The other group is made up of those that are just sharp as hell. Clinker seems to belong to this group. We’re getting ahead of ourselves now.”

  “Save you a few weeks, Rich, I’m already an EMT. Not current, but been one for years,” Geech said as he winked at Michelle.

  “Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit. You are a surprise. Record does not show it, how come?” Richard asked.

  “Do it part time at the beach, gives me something to do and play like I’m normal for awhile.”

  “Speaking of not being normal, Derek tells me you are a savant concerning keys,” Rich remarked.

  Geech looked at Derek, smiled, and said, “My affliction preceded me, I see. Yes, I am cursed with the talent to reproduce keys, though I do not keep up with it like I once did.”

  “You will enjoy meeting our key box men in St. Louie; they may have a few surprises for you. More on that later. No local uniforms. Leave your badges here and travel on IDs that are real. We’ll submerge you when you get there. Until then, and Derek, looks like you were straight up, they seem to be perfect for the job,” Richard said as he stood to leave.

  “Just send them back in one piece,” Derek said as he shook Richard’s hand. “Thanks for taking them; it will be good to see what they learn from the pros.”

  “We like to think we were the pros once, but now we like to think we just try hard and do the best we can. Good day.”

  Derek watched the door close and said, “Richard was my boss here twenty-two years ago. He went to the FBI when we lost the first round in an internal sting that eventually succeeded in getting three hundred LA cops fired and several put into jail. Richard was tagged as the guy that fingered the whole thing. You can bet it took some guts to fly into LA today. You’ll like working with him. Michelle, you need to close your books. Geech, you’re already cleared off, you can leave when you want. Those two gals you put on the computer have been so successful that we’re actually setting up an e-John hub. They are working these guys all over the country. Those gals sit down there with a phone book and city map and nab these jerks in Philadelphia, if you can believe that. Courts love it, we’re doing all the work, they just show up with a young kid as bait”

  “Derek, it didn’t take me long to figure out I had two wildcats down there and felt some regret letting them loose on an unsuspecting criminal public of lonely old men. Still, it will make the streets safer for Michelle’s kids.”

  “That it will. You two are doing a good job, but keep your heads down. The FBI will be good to work for, but they don’t like to get their hands dirty. Be careful you don’t get into a situation where you are simply doing their dirty work. They’re all career, and you’ll find they are good at making decisions concerning what other people should be doing while they stand back and keep their hands in their pockets, hiding their careers,” Derek said as he sat back down. “Now scoot. Remember, you have to keep your heads down.”

  Michelle gave Derek a cheek kiss and Geech started to do the same before Derek grabbed his nose and said, “Now get out,” he gruffly said.

  “So are you excited about working with the FBI?” Geech asked as they entered the elevator.

  Michelle looked about her and shook her head. When they left the elevator, Geech said, “Sorry about that. I get nervous in a closed space since I ran into Bishell that first time.”

  “Don’t worry, I always feel that way in an elevator. No, I’m not excited. They look at us as the local constables, kind of like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are treated at the National Fraternal Order of Police, like dress-up kids. We’ll get a dose of it now.”

  Chapter 31

  St. Louis

  The FBI building was somewhat of a disappointment. Housed in the same building as the federal courthouse for security reasons, the office space had been literally chipped out of granite. The office was located in the recessed rooms off the third floor, once housing records. The building was nearly sixty years old, a Work Progress structure. Heating ducts were exposed through ceiling tiles that had been removed for some odd inspection purpose, and the artificial ceiling was low. Lighting from rows of fluorescent lights along the walkway gave a pale, anemic, and impersonal feeling to the whole place. No windows helped complete the dull and dank feeling.

  Geech was waiting when Michelle arrived. “You’re early,” Michelle said.

  “So are you, girl. Supposed to be here by 9:00 am, and here we are at 8:00. Saw a cafeteria when I was on a walkabout. You want to get a quick cup of lousy coffee?” Geech asked.

  “Sure. I had one in the room, but it was pretty stale. Can’t be much worse here.”

  They walked down the center hallway to the stairs. Michelle had never seen a wider staircase. “This looks like something from an old movie. This place is huge,” she said as they arrived in the basement.

  The basement had a very low ceiling, and no attempt had been made to cover the pipes and cables. Cable trays were added last, and in them rested miles and miles of computer cables.

  “Over there. I’ll buy,” Geech said as he pointed around a corner.

  “Thanks. When did you get in town?” Michelle asked as she pushed a button for black coffee.

  “Two days ago. I stayed with an uncle of mine for a couple of days. He works for a company here in town that does contract maintenance for airliners. Said I could land at his place and play with the dogs and kids any time.”

  “That’s cool. You know him well?” Michelle asked as they took a tiny table with mushroom stools, bright orange in the latest 1970s fashion.

  “Yeah, he used to live in LA and took this job a couple years ago. My dad always talks with him, and I get a pretty good bit of family gossip from Dad, so it was easy to come on over. What about you? You just get in last night?” Geech asked as he spilled some of his coffee trying to scoot out of the way for another customer.

  “Yup, Colin was having a good time packing for his trip. He’s taking the kids to an aquarium up in Oregon. I’m supposed to miss going, but I get real tired of those places. Colin is real good about getting those things in for the kids, but they are a bit young for it. I came in last night. You know your schedule yet?”

  “No. Just know to be here today. Suspect we’ll be getting that information soon. How long do you think this will last?” Geech asked.

  “Well, took us three months to put heat on him firs
t round. I suppose it will be a good while, but I’m suspecting the feds will want to get this going quickly, so they can either drop it or wrap it up,” Michelle said as she stirred her coffee.

  Someone leaned over from an adjoining table and said, “Hi folks, you two must be the gumshoes they sent us from Los Angeles. I’m Tony Alton. I’m a local agent here for my tour in the city, and then I am back to the woods. Hey, something I need to tell you is that there’s a pretty strict policy here in this unit. We are not supposed to talk business in any area that is not clean. We can’t sweep the whole building, and you’ll get to know where it is clear. The cafeteria is not swept last time I checked, which was, um, about a minute ago. So, welcome to the puzzle palace, and I hope you still respect us after this is all over.”

  Michelle smiled and said, “Tony, I’m sure we will still be close when this is done. I just hope we don’t embarrass the Los Angeles Police Department too much. What area do you work in, Tony?”

  Tony smiled and said, “We’re still not sure. Well, I’m going back up, you care to follow me to the cave, or do you have your own route back?”

  Geech picked up on the fact that Tony was all business when he said you didn’t talk shop outside the cave. “We’re following you. I only knew one way here, and it was a long one. Thanks.”

  Michelle picked up on what Geech had noted. She added, “Lead on.”

  The return trip was more expeditious. When the three of them turned toward what was now known to be called the cave, Tony sparked up, “I’m just a grunt. Go for this, interview that guy,” talking as if there had been no interval from Michelle’s question.

  They arrived at a central office, and Tony suggested they wait for the morning situational report.

  A middle-aged woman in slacks came up, “Hi, I’m Trudy Benson. I am pleased to welcome you to the group. May I have your identification, please? I hope your agency reminded you not to carry local stuff with you, just personal IDs at this point.”

  “Glad to be here, Trudy,” Geech said. “May I ask who you are?”

  Trudy smiled and looked closer at Michelle, “I may have finally found an assistant. I’m the station chief of internal security, though they treat me more like a secretary. I’ve got to vouch you for the upcoming meeting, and only have about ten minutes to do it. Will you please follow me?”

  Michelle and Geech followed Trudy to a small office. There they were required to place their fingers on a small glass window attached to a computer, as Trudy typed in information from their identifications. They were then photographed with the computer’s attached camera, and given temporary passes.

  “That will do. I’ll take you to the waiting room now, and Tony will be out for you when he gets my call that you’re vouchsafed. Thanks, your regular semi-temporary identifications will be ready when the meeting is over,” Trudy said as she opened the door to a small waiting room.

  It was only a few minutes before Michelle and Geech were called into a larger meeting room. Tony stood as they entered and said, “Folks, Michelle and Geech will be joining us for a period of time. They come to us from the nation’s finest, the LAPD. They are working on a Medicare fraud case and will be using some of the systems here. Michelle, Geech, we’ve been told to treat you as one of us, so please take a seat, and you’ll soon hear from our weekend agents. Then we get a situation report called the ‘sitrep.’ This comes from the operational officer and covers the coming week. And then the party really starts, I get to go global, and I’ll discuss your world today. We usually wrap this by noon.”

  “You were tailing us this morning. That was why you were in the cafeteria?” Michelle asked.

  This statement was greeted with cat-calls and cheers, as the remaining agents had a good time at Tony’s expense. “They know I’m sneaky,” Tony said to the crowd. “I was looking for you, yes. After the meeting, you get your passes and FBI credentials, then we’ll give you the local rules. Meantime, we’re going to see the show begin. Fred, roll it,” Tony called as he turned the meeting over to another agent.

  The meeting seemed to go on for more than two hours, and indeed it did run through lunch. The first issues involved different cases that had been active through the weekend, and the meeting wrapped up as the agents all compared their meeting schedules for the remaining week.

  “OK, that’s all today,” Tony said as he dismissed the meeting, and turned to Michelle and Geech. “Now you’re going to have the pleasure of seeing Trudy again. She’s the security officer here, and she’s reputed to know more about some of us than our significant others. Then we’ll give you two a desk and a terminal. Computer security will follow, and your passwords will be issued. This will chew up the remaining hours of this day, I’m afraid. Tomorrow we’ll have a sitrep from you two for the group. That way we all know what you’re looking into. It is not uncommon for an agent to start a project on something that has caught his or her eye and be several months into the project with taps and judges involved, only to find out there is another agent doing the same investigation. So, once a week we do a lockdown and discuss what we’re doing. That’s tomorrow’s meeting.”

  Geech asked Tony, “Is agent Smith in? He was the one that interviewed us in LA.”

  Tony smiled and said, “One of the risks of being an FBI agent is immediate reassignment, and your wife has to catch up. Richard is now on duty at the office in Jacksonville, Florida, as of last week. He did not even have time to clear out his desk, we had to pack it and send it to him. Some agents get a history of being real good at certain work, and Smith has that. I’m not sure what he’s doing, but I do know he is in real demand.”

  Trudy was indeed efficient. Their identifications were ready, and identified them as employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Medicare Fraud Branch–St. Louis.

  “Hi, you two. Geech, no keys, got it?” she said as they returned to her office. Geech visibly flushed and said, “Got it, see my reputation has reached this office too. No keys.”

  “Got it. Actually we have a lock specialist that is somewhat of a character, Bill Wisk. He will talk locks to anyone that will listen, so you two may hit it off. But for now, you’ll need access to the computers, and that means going to see the secretary out front. She will do the paperwork to get you an account. Passwords are tough, two misses and a lockout in all rooms except the crypt. In the crypt, one miss is a lockin until we get you out. Means you’re locked into the crypt, so be extra careful if you are in the crypt. Then we’ll give you your assignments. Tony has that stuff. We’ll meet with him in the morning. Do you two have any questions?” Trudy asked as she closed her computer down.

  “No, thanks, Trudy,” Michelle said.

  Geech nodded.

  Chapter 32

  Geech and Michelle Assignments

  Michelle stood in front of the group the next morning. For Medicare fraud, they looked pretty long in the tooth. They were interested, asked questions aggressively, and were thorough in their questioning. Tony was the first to ask questions. Tony stood and paced, one hand resting on his belt, and the other hand working his tie. “OK, Michelle, thanks. That was a good presentation, and a good case. We’re mostly lawyers here, and I’m going to act like one now and ask you a lawyer question. What are you planning to charge him with, given you have no weapon, you have no hard collaborating evidence on him, and you have no witnesses?”

  Michelle had feared this question, but had prepared an answer, “We were going to question Dr. Bishell and also search his car and apartment. He was either an extremely careful dude, or he was able to get to both those venues before we were able to sweep them, so it would also suggest that he might have had a second address we did not know of. His accounts were frozen, his family was interviewed, and we set up trip wires all over the Los Angeles area but got nothing. I think if we had been able to bring him in on an arrest warrant, it would have been for aggravated assault, but as you say, we did not even have that much on him. The patient we were with when I dropped my
handcuffs was the first patient with whom we were able to go from ER to surgery and follow Dr. Bishell. We went back to the bars there in the area. I was pretty young on the force, and it was the first time I was really impressed with the degree of distrust of the LAPD. We got very little from anyone we interviewed, and finally essentially gave it up.”

  “So what got you back on the case?” one of the agents asked.

  Michelle nodded and said, “As I said, we had someone doing data searching and pulled in a trail. Our next step at the time was to try and pick up the pattern of the assaults and try to have someone pick up Bishell to follow him. That plan was not in place because we were still thinking we had a high degree of suspicion, but could not authorize a full-time surveillance assignment.”

  Tony had stopped pacing and nodded, “That makes sense. So we have a possible aggravated assault charge, interstate flight, international flight, and fraudulent licensing so far. The proof of his assaults in California will likely be impossible, so that takes the interstates out, leaves us just with falsification of licensure. OK, crew. Any ideas?”