Page 87 of Concrete Evidence
“I don’t trust anyone in the senator’s so-called circle.”
She faced him. “I understand what you’re saying. It’s hard for me to accept Granddad’s vague responses and the excuse of keeping me protected when all of us have been threatened.” She tilted her head. “Has your personal involvement affected your judgment?”
Avery had hit the target. “I’m all right.” Marc punched in Shipley’s number. The man answered on the first ring.
“Senator Elliott told me to expect your call,” Shipley said, his tone cold.
“He told me you could be trusted, but from what I’ve experienced, I’m not so sure.”
“This is bigger than your FBI suit.”
Marc caught Avery’s attention and smiled. He’d calm down for no other reason than the woman before him. “Really? Why agree toa partnership when you intended to lie and mislead Agent Clement and me? The FBI doesn’t appreciate deceit. Are you aware my partner took a bullet meant for my mother in these crimes?”
“This conversation needs to be face-to-face,” Shipley said.
“I agree. I’m at the Brazos River Ranch, and I’ll let security at the gate know to expect you.”
“Agent Wilkins, you’re hot, and I don’t blame you. I’m on the road and will be there in less than an hour. I’ll only talk to you.”
“Why not Avery?”
“She’s too close to the situation.”
Lieutenant Shipley sat across from Marc in Craig’s closed office sipping coffee. Their brief cordial communication had hit the end.
“We’ll talk in my truck.” Marc stood and grabbed his mug. “I’m not taking any chances of a recording device hidden anywhere on this ranch. Neither do I think taking a walk makes sense with the way sound carries.”
“The senator never took these extreme precautions.”
“And look where he’s at now.”
Shipley grasped his mug and his hand jerked. “I get it.”
In his truck, Marc turned on the AC to cool the cab from the grueling heat. When Shipley gazed out at the night surroundings, Marc pressed Record on his phone... just in case.
Shipley rubbed his face. Dramatics? Geared up to lie?
“I need the whole story,” Marc said.
“What has the senator told you?”
“I want to hear your version.”
Shipley repeated almost word for word what the senator had said earlier. “He is safe and working through various channels to bring closure to the problems.”
“He’s not working through the FBI, so is CID on this?”
“Somewhat.”
“I see, which means this is your game. You’re the ‘various channels to bring closure to the problems’? Three men are dead, possibly four if Craig Holcombe has been killed.”
Shipley’s placid features showed a man in control. “I’m not the only person involved. The senator has requested you be given information. I’m complying, but I think it’s a bad idea.”
“Why? Are you any closer to finding the killer? Proving who’s responsible for the faulty dam construction?” Marc took a sip of coffee before he fired with both barrels. Nothing pointed to Shipley, but it was his word against Marc’s. “Is Representative Frank Benton a part of this?” Shipley’s silence confirmed Marc’s suspicions. “Give me what the senator has approved.”
“Abbott, Liam, and the senator came to me for help six weeks ago. They were worried about their families and themselves. Their investigation hadn’t gotten them anywhere. In my opinion, Craig Holcombe is a person of interest in the blackmail and extortion. The cover-up in the dam’s defective structure leads back to him too. The senator couldn’t reconcile himself to Holcombe being rear-deep in it, but since then he’s reconsidered. Especially since Craig’s disappearance. The senator isn’t an idiot when it comes to Buddy and Saundra. The three could be working together, but we have nothing to go on. Surveillance and phone taps are inconclusive.”
Marc set his mug on the dash. “If Senator Elliott is in prison, everything reverts to Avery. Is she viewed as easy to manipulate?”
