Page 87 of Redemption
“But you have an exit strategy, correct?”
I hold up the other duffel bag. “Indeed.”
“You don’t need to share any further, my friend. I trust that you’ve got everything worked out perfectly.”
I can’t help but smile, because I feel like he’s right. It’s all going perfectly.
“Starting tomorrow at nine a.m., the city of New Orleans will never be the same again.” My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out. “Our ride is here. Thank you for your assistance, Leo. I will always be grateful for your help.”
“And I’ll always be grateful you didn’t kill my nephew. Bon chance, mon ami. Working with you has been a pleasure.”
He holds out his hand, and I shake it.
“The pleasure is mutual. Have a good life, Leo.”
With a grin, Leo replies, “I shall. That is certain.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Mount
The following morning at nine a.m.
“No, I’m in traffic. I haven’t made it to the office. What’s going on?” DuFort’s voice comes through the receiver that we’ve had on high volume since we left Leo’s and made our way back to the safe house.
My New Orleans home was searched from top to bottom, and DuFort was furious that it had already been hit before he and his thugs could pick the crown jewels for themselves. That’s the least of his worries, although he’s just about to find that out.
“No, I haven’t posted anything on social media. Do you really think I have time for that shit?” DuFort says to whoever is on the other end of his phone call.
“What do you mean, I need to check it and see? Hold on.” There’s some crackling, and then he speaks again. “It says I’m logged out. I can’t see anything. Let me put you on speaker. What the hell is going on?”
Another voice comes through the receiver. “There are pictures posted all over your accounts, on multiple platforms. Sir … I don’t know what to think.”
“What the fuck pictures are you talking about? I didn’t post any fucking pictures. Did my wife post something stupid? She loves that social media shit.”
“Uhhh … yeah, there are some pictures of your wife. But, sir … there are kids in the pictures. And your father … and …” The voice on the other end of DuFort’s call sounds equal parts afraid, confused, and disgusted.
“What do you mean, pictures of my wife and my father and kids in them? What the fuck are you talking about? What kind of pictures?”
DuFort’s tone is changing fast. Irritation and annoyance have given way to a thread of fear.
Good. Be afraid. That’s fair, considering what you’ve done to so many.
“It’s not just you, sir. It’s … fuck. I don’t know what to think. There’s shit all over the internet. The judge with the warrant last night, the mayor, the police chief, my buddies, shit … every third name, you know you’re finding out shit you never expected to see. I don’t know what to do, sir. The whole office is freaking out.”
A few beats of silence pass before DuFort erupts.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! That fucking bastard! That fucking bastard! I’m going to fucking kill his wife in front of him while he bleeds to death. FUCK!” Banging intersperses the words, and I can picture DuFort beating his steering wheel as he realizes what I’ve done.
I pulled the trump card. And now, everyone’s going down.
“You’re saying this is real, sir? Oh my God. Those pictures—I think I’m going to be sick.”
A program J wrote over five years ago unleashed nearly twenty hard drives’ worth of compromising information and thousands of photographs that I’ve spent decades collecting. She hasn’t slept all night, as it took nearly twelve hours to finish the final technical steps to flip the dead man’s switch.
Every single instance of a dirty official taking bribes, committing crimes that I knew about, or breaching the public trust in any way has now been shared on their own social media, as well as on the websites and social media accounts of every major media organization in the city, along with the city’s own site and every single branch of law enforcement that operates within it.
Basically, today, the internet has been papered over with the dirty laundry of every single corrupt and crooked official in New Orleans and beyond.
