Page 200 of The Fourth Option
An argument erupted behind Alma over which daughter had custody of a certain doll.
“Duty calls,” she said, disappearing back into the house.
“Did you see Greer’s latest article?” Stanton asked, handing WalkerThe Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate. The headline on the front page read:Sweeping Arrests Shock Crescent City.
Walker had collapsed in the mud after Bates went down. He was transported to Tulane Medical Center while Stanton dealt with the immediate aftermath of the incident on-site. Walker arrived unconscious and in critical condition from a combination of burns, nerve damage, heart arrythmia, broken ribs, lacerations, and severe internal organ damage brought about by direct-contact electrocution.
A week later, when he was downgraded to serious condition, he was visited by a prominent New Orleans defense attorney, former FBI agent, and federal prosecutor, Jon Weis, who advised him to make no statementsto law enforcement without an attorney present, as was his constitutional right. He later spent untold hours answering questions from federal investigators after Weis worked out a deal.
When he was not being questioned by federal agents with the most feared and respected defense attorney in the state by his side, he was visited by a young woman dressed in black accompanied by a service dog named Paladin. She always arrived with a philosophy book under her arm, unearthed from one of New Orleans’s many secondhand bookstores. She had made it her mission to replace his collection lost to the waters of the Mississippi and had become a well-known and welcome fixture in Beckham’s Bookshop, Blue Cyprus Books, Faulkner House Books, Crescent City Books, Arcadian Books & Prints, and Dauphine Street Books. Paladin was especially fond of “Dog Days” events at the Garden District Book Shop. He had been inseparable from Belle as she recovered from the traumatic events at the cabin. Dogs and humans had a way of knowing when they needed each other for healing, support, and companionship.
Walker found a channel on his hospital television playing old Westerns. When he needed a break from the philosophers, he watched reruns of the black-and-white TV show from the late 1950s and early 1960s calledHave Gun—Will Travel. He became quite fond of it.
After improving to fair and finally good condition, with the burns between his legs and around his toe healed and the stitches on his leg and the underside of his jaw removed, Walker was discharged and referred to the New Orleans VA Medical Center for rehabilitation appointments, which he missed regularly.
Derek Matheson was put under surveillance following the revelations at the Travois cabin and what was pieced together from evidence collected by Walker and Belle as federal prosecutors built their case.
Matheson and his longtime bodyguard were arrested in a coordinated sting operation coinciding with the arrest of Salvadoran sugar magnate Fulgencio Vargas when his jet touched down at the New Orleans Lakefront Airport to transport his mother’s body to El Salvador for Catholic services at Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador following her passing at Tulane Medical Center. Instead of a luxury car service, Vargas was met by FBI SWAT and taken into custody. A grand jury had found probable cause of criminal activity and issued a sealed indictment to protect the integrity of the investigation.
Genyra executive Carolyn Boyle met with and was questioned by authorities in the New Orleans Federal Building. They determined that she was not a conspirator in the case against Derek Matheson and Genyra Pharmaceuticals. She became a cooperating witness for federal investigators and was currently under the protection of the U.S. Marshals Service for the remainder of the investigation and follow-on court proceedings.
Also charged was bodyguard Dale Harris, who immediately agreed to turn state’s evidence in exchange for leniency.
Most shocking of all was the arrest of FBI Special Agent in Charge of the New Orleans Field Office August Lloyd. He remained in custody after a federal judge ruled in favor of pretrial confinement. The article noted that Jarrett Stanton had been promoted to acting special agent in charge following Lloyd’s arrest.
Special Agent Jennifer Jimenez was posthumously recognized with the FBI Medal of Valor for her actions. It was presented to her parents along with the FBI Memorial Star by the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Her official photograph was added to the FBI’s Wall of Honor at headquarters and Field Offices next to those of agents killed in the line of duty.
Reporter Evan Greer broke the story in an article that credited aspiring journalist Connor Staub with uncovering a web of corruption whose tentacles touched local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, the pharmaceutical industry, and an international drug lord in El Salvador, an investigation that led to Connor’s death at the hands of a corrupt ring of dirty cops led by Lieutenant Cornelius Bates.
Not yet mentioned in any articles to date was former Navy SEAL and CIA clandestine services officer Chris Walker. He was offered immunity from local, state, and federal crimes thanks to the legal prowess of Jon Weis and the intervention of FBI Special Agent Jarrett Stanton and District Attorney Irene Isaacson. Icy was none too pleased to discover that Lieutenant Cornelius Bates and Fulgencio Vargas had targeted her for assassination for the information she passed to Augie Lloyd and for her failure to play ball even after a significant contribution to her Super PAC. She used the revelation to bolster her “tough on crime and corruption” platform in her campaign for governor. Weighing heavily in Walker’s favor with prosecutors were his service to the country and his actions that saved the lives of Jarrett Stanton and Tulane student andLouisiana native Maribelle Travois. Though he was not mentioned by name, a sub-headline read:Mystery Informant Brings Down International Drug Cartel.
It stated that very little was known about an undercover informant with ties to the military and intelligence services who was instrumental in taking down the drug ring. His identity remained sealed for purposes of national security.
“It is good tea,” Walker admitted, setting the paper to the side.
Since his release from the hospital, he had been spending time with Belle and Gloria, staying in the room above the garage. On nights that Belle worked, he joined Jarrett Stanton and his family. The Stanton kids had taken a liking to the former SEAL who saved their father’s life.
“Your name will come out eventually,” Stanton said.
“I know.”
“Weis owed me a favor,” Stanton said, referring to the attorney who had negotiated Walker’s immunity deal.
“Favors,” Walker whispered.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. What do you think Bates meant when he said we were missing the ‘why’?”
“We might never know for certain but we found out that Nectar had been in the Vargas family for three generations and that for a time he went to school here, same high school as Bates, though Vargas was a year older. They both worked at Nectar in their teens. That could be where the partnership started.”
“That, or he was just stalling for time, hoping the State Police would get there in time to save him. He knew he was dead as soon as you said that J.J. didn’t make it.”
“We might never know.”
“Life is full of unknowns. It’s an undeniable aspect of the human condition.”
“Which philosopher said that?”
