Cold Case 8-2: The Company (Not My Creation)

[valrush]

COLD CASE:

THE COMPANY (PART 2)

The search for a retired CIA agent’s killer heats up, literally, when the prime suspect is killed in an explosion. The bombing is quickly linked to a suspected terrorist the agent was following, but Lilly suspects there’s more to the case than meets the eye. While forensics tech Louie finds himself forced to defuse a tense situation, the squad must find the man the victim was following and learn what he knows before the case witnesses are taken out one by one.

Meanwhile, for the first time in her life, Lilly must choose between her work and her family, until Agent Cavanaugh proposes a solution.
The music of REM plays throughout.

PREVIOUSLY ON COLD CASE:

Jeff raised his glass. “To new chapters.”

Jeff’s body lay across the park walkway, barely visible as the moon remained covered by the clouds. His eyes were closed. His shirt and jacket were stained with blood around his chest.

“Victim’s Jeff Royce. He was shot in Summerton Park back in ‘93.” Stillman said. “Guy was a twenty-year field agent for the CIA.”

Bonnie shook her head. “It’s one thing to take a guy like Jeff out of the Company. It’s another to take the Company out of him.”

“Anyway, after he retired, I was so excited cause I thought I was gonna get to see that sight every day.” Jimmy’s smile faded into a slight frown. “Didn’t really work out that way though.

Sharon stepped closer to Jeff. “You know why you married me, Jeff?”

Jeff looked at her, unsure of what to say.

Sharon sighed. “Because I’m the only person in the world you can’t lie to… You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep, to me or to Jimmy.”

“Our boss had one last assignment for Jeff, something off the record. They went so far to put on a big retirement party for him, so everyone we worked with would think he was done.”

“Pretty long ways to go to cover up an assignment.” Scotty said.

“Yeah, it was.” Ethan said.

“He came to me, said he had one last job, off the books, and said he needed someone without formal ties to the agency anymore.”

“He was supposed to be watching someone in his neighborhood.” Lilly said.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, some Middle-Eastern guy, immigrated here in the early nineties.”

Jeff gestured to the other man. “Sharon, this is Omar. He lives across the street.”

“What did you think?” Jeffries asked.

Steve shook his head. “I don’t know. The guy wound up face down in the river before I could find out for sure. Some sort of boating accident, least that’s what they said.”

Cavanaugh’s smile faded slightly. “So you’re still going back to work at Homicide till then?”

“You know me, like to keep busy.”

“Just hoping you won’t forget about us up here.” Cavanaugh said, looking serious. “I mean it, the Bureau needs good people.”

Lilly looked at her father a moment. “Dad, do you think I should take this job?”

“I can’t answer that for you, Lilly.” Paul said, calmly. “It’s your life.”

The woman pulled a photo, that of a teenage girl, out of her purse. “This is my daughter, Rosita. She was killed in 1979. Someone pushed her from a balcony at the house where I was working at the time. I… I was told you solve cases like this.”

Lilly looked at the woman uneasily. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Trejo, I’m working another case right now, and I won’t be available here after that.

Scotty frowned at the text message on his phone as he walked into Homicide. Pausing for a moment, he opened it and looked at the message: I KNOW WHAT YOU DID, SCOTTY VALENS

Scotty narrowed his eyes in disgust and hit DELETE.

“Back in the eighties, one of our field teams raided a terrorist base in Egypt on the border of Libya. Weapons, drugs, money.” Garrison swallowed. “There were some… discrepancies when the money was counted. We couldn’t prove anything…”

“But you think someone took a little off the top.” Vera said.

Ethan shook his head. “We never should’ve gone after Khalid. He wasn’t who we thought he was. Then he wouldn’t have had to go on the run.”

“What do you mean ‘go on run?”” Scotty asked, before his eyes narrowed. “You’re saying Khalid didn’t die in that accident?”

Ethan smiled and shook his head slowly.

Lilly leaned closer. “Ethan we know you were being blackmailed. We need to know by who.”

Ethan looked at the two detectives. “You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourselves into.” He pointed downwards and it was only then that Lilly and Scotty first noticed the wires leading up and down the leg of the chair.

“Tell his family I’m sorry, would you?”

He pushed down on the arm rests and started to lift himself up.

Lilly and Scotty immediately bolted from the walkway and threw themselves to the floor of the walkway. Behind them, a deafening blast hurled the door clear over the railing, followed by a huge cloud of dust…

[valrush]

1

The following story is fictional and
does not depict any actual person or event.

REM
“Superman”


October 1, 1993

Jeff Royce ran the brush over the barbecue grill a bit harder than he meant to. It didn’t matter. He wasn’t even looking at the grill but past the house to a man mowing his lawn across the street.

Picking up the two bags of raked leaves, Jeff walked around to the front edge of the house, and deposited the bags in the cans, never taking his eyes of the man for a moment.

Omar Khalid looked up from his mower and waved a hand as he noticed Jeff. It was a few moments before Jeff thought to wave back.

A middle-aged couple passed by on the sidewalk, giving Jeff a friendly greeting and wave as they did. Three small girls rode by on the bikes, laughing. Though they passed right in front of him, Jeff didn’t see any of them, except Omar, who had gone back to mowing.

Jeff’s staring was only broken when he heard the faint ringing of the phone inside the house. He shook his head, then headed towards the door.

“Hello?” Jeff answered curtly, picking up the phone in the living room.

“So, you got any plans for the weekend?” Ethan said, smirking on the other end.

“I told you not to call me here.”

“Well, you keep ducking me like this, you don’t leave me a lot of choice.”

“Garrison tell you to call me?”

“No, just making sure you’re keeping your eye on the prize.”

Jeff pulled the front room curtains back slightly and stared at Omar, still mowing his lawn.

“I know who I’m supposed to keep an eye on.”

“Good.” Ethan smiled. “Look, one way or another, this should all be over soon. You know I’m just looking out for you, right?”

“Yeah.” Jeff answered, suddenly sounding weary. “Well, since we’re exchanging friendly advice, here’s some from me. We’ve been doing this job too long. Get out and find something else to do before it turns you into something you don’t even recognize.” He sighed. “Or it kills you.”

Ethan said nothing, but Jeff didn’t notice. Instead, his gaze was focused squarely on Omar across the street…

[valrush]

The motel parking lot, nearly empty a half-hour earlier was now a sea of police and emergency vehicles. Sitting at the back of an ambulance, Detective Lilly Rush pushed away the oxygen mask again, before the paramedic holding it shook his head and finally gave up. She turned her head up towards the six-foot wide crater on the second floor that had formerly been the room of Ethan Moore.

Her partner, Scotty Valens, sitting next to her, gestured to the older man walking back over to them.

“CSU’s almost here. So are Vera and Miller” Lieutenant John Stillman said. “Will’s interviewing the guests. Owner said he saw a black van pulling out of the lot about an hour ago, didn’t think it belong to any of the guests.”

Lilly nodded. “Maybe we’ll get lucky with traffic cameras.”

Stillman looked up at the wrecked room, then back at them. “They’re probably gonna bring the FBI in on this.”

Scotty rolled his eyes. “Cause that worked so great the last time they worked a bombing in Philly.”

“We’re gonna need their help on this.” Stillman said. “We’ll talk once the docs clear you both.”

Lilly and Scotty both nodded.

“There’s one more thing. They found this blown halfway across the lot.” Stillman held up a glossy black and white photo with scorch marks at the edge. It showed Jeff and Omar outside somewhere. Jeff had his hand out, apparently conversing with Omar, who was looking around uneasily, allowing the camera to catch his face.

“That’s Omar Khalid, the guy Jeff was supposed to be watching.” Scotty said. “Ethan still had this after all these years?”

“Doesn’t look like they could see him take it.” Lilly said. “Wonder which one of them he was shooting.”

“We still think Ethan was telling the truth?” Stillman asked. “That this guy’s still alive?”

Scotty shrugged. “Guy knew he was about to meet his maker. I don’t think he’d lie about that with his last words.”

“We need to find him, boss.” Lilly said. “Whatever happened to Ethan here, whatever happened to Jeff seventeen years ago,” Lilly pointed to Omar’s face in the picture. “This guy’s the key.”

[valrush]

2

The tall dark-haired man emerged from the SUV a few hours later, a handful of other suited men behind him, and extended a hand to Stillman.

“Lieutenant Stillman,” Agent Ryan Cavanaugh said. “Good to work with you again. I’m up to speed on the report your office sent over.”

Stillman nodded. “You got here fast.”

“Guess access to a jet’s just one of those FBI perks.” Scotty said, approaching them, while casting a long look at Lilly, who was also joining them.

Cavanaugh gave the two a long, uneasy look, particularly at Lilly. “You two okay?”

“Yeah.” Scotty recoiled, but had an amused look on his face, and turned to Lilly again. “Thanks for your concern.”

Cavanaugh looked up at the wrecked motel room. “So are we thinking this Omar Khalid was behind this?”

“We don’t know that yet,” Stillman said, “but we think Ethan Moore was being blackmailed.”

“And now we think the blackmailer decided to shut him up for good?”

“He said somebody threatened his family.” Lilly said. “Somebody didn’t want him talking.”

“The CIA thought Khalid was suspicious enough to have this Jeff Royce guy watch him back in ‘93, then he goes and fakes his death.” Cavanaugh said. “Assuming Ethan was telling the truth, why’d Khalid fake his death if he was innocent?”

Before anyone could answer, they turned to see a car pulled to a stop and out emerged an older, light-haired man, accompanied by a slender forty-something woman, whom Lilly recognized as Bonnie McLaren.

“That’s Jeff old boss at Langley” Scotty said, puzzled, as the two approached them. “Speaking of people gettin’ here fast.”

“Lieutenant Stillman?” The man said with a friendly smile. “Bob Garrison, Director of Special Operations, CIA.”

“A little out of your jurisdiction, Director.” Cavanaugh said, giving Garrison a suspicious look.

Garrison pointed at the FBI agent. “Cavanaugh, isn’t it?” He said as smile looked somewhat more forced. “Anti-terrorism conference in D.C., 2006. We had a… spirited debate on interrogation techniques.”

Cavanaugh gave a condescending smile. “Still not a big fan of torturing suspects.”

Garrison dropped his forced smile. “I didn’t come all this way for an argument.”

“Why are you here?” Stillman asked.

Garrison looked at the others, then back at Stillman. “Can we speak in private?”

Lilly and Scotty rolled their eyes while Cavanaugh frowned. Bonnie simply stood there, looking uncomfortable. After a moment, Stillman nodded and stepped aside with Garrison.

“Cavanaugh was right, Director” Stillman said when they were out of earshot. “You’re a long way from your jurisdiction.”

Garrison sighed. “I want to help however I can. Ethan was one of ours.”

“So was Jeff Royce. It took over a day for my detectives to get five minutes with you to talk about him. Ethan Moore gets killed and you drop everything and get on a plane to Philly before the crime scene’s three hours old?”

Garrison stood there for a moment before responding. “Omar Khalid’s alive.”

Stillman’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know that? Why didn’t you say something to my detectives?”

“I didn’t realize at the time.” Garrison said. “After I talked to your people, I had some questions of my own. I started looking into Ethan’s history. Some of his financial records started raising flags. I started to think maybe Steve Mitchum really wasn’t

the dirty agent in that raid, and maybe Ethan was doing more here than checking up on Jeff. If someone wanted to fake their death, a CIA agent could be pretty handy.”

“So you think Omar blackmailed Ethan into helping him disappear?”

Garrison nodded. “It also gives him motive for taking out Ethan once he started talking to the police.” He looked away for a moment. “And for Jeff’s murder.”

Stillman lowered his head slightly, but kept his gaze on Garrison.

“Jeff wasn’t happy about that assignment by the end, but he was enough of a professional to see it through.” Garrison shook his head. “If Jeff was getting too close, Khalid could’ve gotten Ethan to take him out.”

Stillman looked at Garrison for a moment, then nodded evenly. “Makes sense.”

“Then we need to find him.” Garrison said, nodding in agreement. “I’ll see to it everything we have on Omar Khalid is sent to your office, and I mean everything.”

“I appreciate that, Director.”

Garrison smiled and nodded in approval, then left, while Stillman walked back over to when Lilly, Scotty, and Cavanaugh were. Bonnie was already heading off in Garrison’s direction.

“Director Garrison was just telling me how he thinks Khalid blackmailed Ethan Moore into helping him fake his death, getting him to kill Jeff when he found out, and then killing Ethan when he started talking. Makes perfect sense. He did everything but tie it in a bow.” Stillman’s look darkened. “Find out what really happened.”

Lilly looked over towards Bonnie, who looked back at her for a moment, before quickly turning away and following Garrison.

[valrush]

“We haven’t been able to get a hold of your mother, Jimmy.” Detective Will Jeffries said, placing the coffee cup on the table in front of Jimmy Royce, “or Steve Mitchum since he left.”

“I don’t know where they could be.” The young man shook his head. “Listen, you have to believe me, I had no idea that Omar guy was alive. Everyone said he died in some boat accident.”

“You were following your dad around,” Jeffries said. “He ever say anything about him that seemed suspicious?”

Jimmy’s eyes narrowed. “Dad didn’t really talk about him, but something happened the last time I saw that guy. It was really weird…”

[valrush]

REM
“The One I Love”

Sitting on the back porch, Jimmy frowned as the game on his Gameboy continued to chirp. It wasn’t the Super Nintendo game he wanted, but it would have to do until he’d saved up enough to get it.

He looked up as he saw his father walking around the house, and out across the street to Omar’s house. Smiling, Jimmy turned off the Gameboy and slipped around the other side of the house. He’d gotten a lot more careful since that night his dad had caught him.

After sprinting across the street and around the side of Omar’s house, Jimmy crouched down at the corner and peeked into the backyard, where Jeff was walking towards Omar. Omar was grilling a mid-sized fish on a small, circular barbecue and looked up as he saw Jeff approaching.

“Hello, my friend.” Omar said with a smile. “Those fish we caught at the lake are really cooking up nicely.”

Jeff didn’t smile back. “Well enjoy ‘em while you can.”

Omar shrugged. “Well I guess the weather is getting a bit colder.”

“Yeah.” Jeff said dryly. “Listen, Omar, we need to talk.”

“Is something wrong?”

“You could say.” Jeff frowned. “You know who I used to work for.”

Omar just looked at him, confused.

“Well it turns out they still had some work for me.” Jeff’s look darkened. “There was a reason we moved to this neighborhood. There was someone living here, someone the CIA thinks is very dangerous.”

Omar’s eyes widened at this, but he said nothing.

“I need you to come in with me. We have a lot to talk about.”

Omar recoiled slightly, but his feet remained in place. Jeff’s eyes narrowed.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Omar.”

Omar stood in place for a few moment without saying a word. Suddenly, he reached under the barbecue and flipped it over in Jeff’s direction, and bolted to the front yard. Jeff growled slightly, brushing the bits of hot coal off his front before taking off in a run after Omar.

Jimmy hurried around to the front of the house in time to see Jeff emerge from the corner at the other side. Omar was already in his car with the engine running. Jeff continued towards the car, but Omar was backing out before Jeff could get near him. He instinctively reached for something under his jacket, when he looked around and noticed a large number of bystanders on the street, and pulled his hand away.

Jeff only watched as Omar’s car sped off. He stood there for a moment, before he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Jeff said with a sigh. “He panicked and drove off. You already have the plate number.” Jeff paused briefly as the person on the other end said something. “No, it’s all right. Keep everything else on schedule. Set things up with the doc, I’ll find him. We’ll still need someone to access the records though.” Another pause. “Yeah, we can trust her. I was the one who trained her, remember? Just take care of your end, I’ll take care of mine.”

Still hiding at the corner of the house, Jimmy turned away and swallowed…

[valrush]

“I never saw Omar again after that.” Jimmy said, shaking his head. “A couple of days later, people were saying he died in an accident with his boat.”

“You never told anyone about this?” Jeffries asked.

Jimmy shrugged. “I didn’t think there was a way to do that without getting in trouble. I almost forgot it ever happened.”

“Any idea who your dad was talking to on the phone?”

Jimmy smiled slightly. “No, but I’m pretty sure I know who he was talking about.”

Lilly rapped on the side of the car, pulling the attention of the woman in the back seat away from her laptop.

“Can I help you.” The woman asked, once the window was open.

Lilly gave a friendly smile. “Bonnie McLaren, right?”

“Yes?”

“Sorry, I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier.” Lilly said, still smiling. “Detective Lilly Rush, Philly Homicide. Mind if it sit down?”

Bonnie glanced down at her laptop, then up at Lilly. “Actually, I need to send–“

“It’ll just take a minute.” Lilly said, putting up a hand.

Bonnie sighed and moved over, before Lilly sat down in the car with her.

“So I hear Jeff trained you when he was still with the CIA.”

“Yeah, he did.” Bonnie said, plainly.

“I was just thinking about everything going on in the world then. Must’ve been an interesting time to start out with CIA.”

Bonnie gave Lilly a cool look. “Not always in good way, but yeah, it was.”

Lilly leaned closer. “Bit of a boys’ club?”

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “Sometimes. Jeff was easy to work with though, good teacher.”

“Probably helped you a lot.”

“Yes.” Bonnie looked at her uneasily.

“So if he ever needed your help, you wanna be able to help him.” Lilly said, innocently.

Bonnie looked at her with something short of a scowl. “What are you getting at?”

“This isn’t the first time you followed Bob Garrison to Philly. We checked records. You were in town that week as well.”

Bonnie leaned back. “And what? You think I did something to him?

Lilly shook her head. “I’m just saying if Jeff ever needed help for a mission, you’d wanna help if you could, and he’d want someone he could trust.”

Bonnie looked away. “I’m a senior analyst now. If anyone found out what–“

“I’m not interested in ruining anyone’s career. I just want to know what Jeff was doing.”

Bonnie closed her eyes for a moment. “He didn’t tell me everything. He said it was safer for me that way…”

[valrush]

REM
“Radio Free Europe”


Sitting at the booth in the diner, Bonnie sipped her coffee and smiled at Jeff on the other side of the table.

“So how’ve you been the last few months?” Jeff asked.

Bonnie nodded. “Good, really good. I’m actually trying to decide between assignments right now.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I can either stay at Langley or take a job at one of the field offices. I mean there’s some exciting stuff they’re doing in Germany, but I think I’m more likely to get noticed stateside.”

“Well you’re definitely more likely to get brass’ attention at Langley, but in the long run…” Jeff put up a hand. “You know what? I can’t tell you what to do, Bonnie. It’s your career. I’m just gonna say you’re at the point right now that defines what kind of career that’s gonna be, so find something you can live with.”

Bonnie nodded solemnly. “Okay.”

Jeff sighed for a moment.

Bonnie blushed. “Why do I feel like you called me here for more than just career advice?”

Jeff leaned closer. “Bonnie, I’m working on something here and I could really use your help.”

“Working on something? Are you saying you’re still working for–“

“Yeah. I am.”

Bonnie shook her head. “So what have you been doing here all these months?”

“Look, I can’t get into the details right now, but there’s been a bit of a complication. Now the last thing I want to do is jeopardize your career right when it’s starting, but need someone’s help. Someone who’s still in the Company. I’ll understand if–“

“Okay, I’ll do it.” Bonnie said quickly. “Whatever you need.”

Jeff smirked. “I haven’t even told you what it is.”

“I know you.” Bonnie said. “Whatever it is, I know you know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not so sure I do, but thanks.”

“So how can I help?”

Jeff chuckled. “You always were eager to please.”

Bonnie laughed…

[valrush]

“So what did he want you to do?” Lilly asked.

Bonnie looked at her for a moment, then sighed. “He had me go to the CIA’s field office here in Philly, and hack into the database for the city Medical Examiner’s office. He had me get him any reports on any males thirty to fifty who’d died in the last couple of days.”

“What did he want with those?”

Bonnie shook her head. “I don’t know. He just said he was looking for someone.”

[valrush]

“Still haven’t accounted for all the bomb parts, so some of it might’ve dropped down here.” The short dark-haired man said, leading Scotty and Kat into the first-floor motel room. Directly below Ethan’s room, it now sported a massive hole in the ceiling.

“Be enough to make an ID?” Scotty asked.

The man shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

Kat gave him a smile. “So, Louie, how’s married life treating you?”

Louie Amante smiled back. “Really good. You know Anna’s mom doesn’t even roll her eyes at me anymore.”

Kat looked at Scotty, amused, then back at Louie. “Glad it’s working for you.”

Louie looked up towards the hole, all the way to the wall. “Let’s see, now the fragment would’ve been blown towards the wall, but didn’t penetrate.” His eyes led down to the floor of the ground-level room. “So then it would’ve fallen down somewhere around here.” He flashed a cool look towards Scotty. “You guys don’t think I did this, right?”

Scotty smirked. “You gotta let that go, man.”

“Yeah right.” Louie said unenthusiastically, as he crouched down under a fallen shelf. “So I hear Rush is taking that job with the Feds.”

“Looks that way.” Scotty said as he and Kat crouched down next to Louie.

“Homicide’s not gonna be the same without her.” Louie said before suddenly letting out a groan.

“What is it?” Kat asked.

“Uhhh… you might wanna tell Frannie I think I just found some more of your vic down here.”

Scotty and Kat both winced at this as Louie wedged himself under a small tent of debris.

“Hang on, I think I got something. Looks like a back-up detonator. I think there might be some C4 still attached to this too.”

“Can we get anything off it?” Kat asked.

“Maybe.” Louie said. “This doesn’t really add up though. All the fragments I’ve found said this was something home-made, like you could build in your garage.”

“Makes sense if the guy’s a fugitive terrorist.” Scotty said.

“Yeah, but they said this guy was a demolitions expert, right? This thing looks like it was slapped together. I’m almost amazed it went off. But there’s wiring here that look like some pro did it. It’s almost like someone trying to make it look amateur.”

“Somebody trying to make it look like someone else’s handiwork.” Kat said.

“Guys?” Louie said.

“So maybe we’re lookin’ at the wrong guy.” Scotty added, not hearing Louie..

“Guys?” Louie repeated. “We uhhh… may have a bit of problem here.”

“What kind of problem?” Kat asked, uneasily.

“There’s a lot more here than I thought.” Louie said, swallowing. “There’s a whole second bomb here, and…”

“And what?” Scotty said, not expecting a good answer.

Louie’s breathing got heavier. “I think it’s still armed.”

[valrush]

3

“Come on, Louie, we gotta get outta here.” Scotty said.

“Hang on.” Louie said. “I moved this stuff off of it. This thing’s weight-sensitive. We cover it up again, it might go off.”

“We’ll get Bomb Squad back here.” Kat said.

“There’s no time for that. Just get clear.” Louie said, giving them a sad look.

“We’re not leaving you here, Louie!” Kat said, frowning in thought for a moment. “Can you disarm it?”

Louie looked up at her for a moment, then back at the bomb. “I usually work with bombs after they go off. I…” He paused for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah… yeah, I think so.”

“You think?” Scotty asked.

Louie closed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I can.” His eyes darted over the device. “All right, I know this. It’s a trip mechanism, pressure-activated. I know this.” He looked up at Scotty and Kat. “Hold this stuff.”

As Scotty and Kat held the wreckage up, Louie pulled a small screwdriver from his pocket. “Let’s just hope if they were tryin’ to look low-tech, they didn’t bother with any booby traps.”

Louie turned the screw-driver at the corners of a small panel, until four tiny screws fell out and the panel popped off, revealing a mess of wires inside.

Louie swallowed hard and wiped sweat from his brow. “There’s a bit more wiring in here than I thought.”

Kat’s eyes widened. “Louie?”

Louie looked at the bomb for a moment, then shook his head. “No, I can do this. I ‘m not going out like this, not now. Anna and I were talking about getting another dog.”

Louie’s eyes ran over each wire, before resting on something he recognized. He pulled a pair of wire-cutters from his pocket and reached inside.

“This should be it.” He said.

Scotty could make out a faint snipping sound, then heard Louie release a heavy sigh.

“Okay, we’re good now.” Louie said, sitting up. “You can set that down now.”

“I’ll get Bomb Squad and CSU in here, make sure there’s no more surprises.” Kat said, once she and Scotty had set the wreckage down and stood up.

Scotty nodded. “Maybe we’ll get lucky with prints or DNA.”

As Kat hurried off, Louie looked up nervously at Scotty.

“Maybe we don’t tell Anna about this, huh?” Louie said.

[valrush]

Lilly rapped on the door to Stillman’s office, and Stillman waved her and Detective Nick Vera in.

“FBI lab’s going over the bomb.” Lilly said. “No prints, but they might have some possible DNA.”

“Might have another lead in the mean time.” Vera said. “I checked over Jeff’s phone records again. A few days before Jeff died, he made a phone call to a Dr. Gil Bornstein. Has a dental practice out in the Badlands. Little bit out of his way for a teeth-cleaning.”

“Ethan said that Jeff asked him to find a dentist.” Lilly said.

“But what for?” Stillman asked.

“Did a little digging on Bornstein. Back in the early nineties, the doc was an orthodontist, had a bit of a gambling problem. Lost his job after he got caught dippin’ into the payroll at his practice. Whatever Jeff wanted from this guy, I’m guessing it wasn’t on the up and up.”

Stillman nodded. “Maybe we need to find out what Dr. Bornstein was up to back in the nineties.”

[valrush]

Scotty wrinkled his nose as he looked around the grungy, dimly-lit waiting room of Dr. Gil Bornstein’s dental office.

“Long way from fitting braces for rich kids in Chestnut Hill, huh, Doc?”

The slightly weathered fifty-something man frowned at Scotty and Vera. “I made some mistakes a long time ago. It’s not all bad. I think I’m contributing far more here than I ever did there.”

“Well then it’s good you couldn’t get a job anywhere else, isn’t it?” Vera said.

“Just like you couldn’t pick a winning racehorse.” Scotty said with a smirk.

Bornstein sighed. “Again, it was a long time ago. What do you want from me?”

“Remember a guy named Jeff Royce, guy out in Libertyville called your office back in the day?” Scotty smiled.

Bornstein quickly shook his head. “I’m sorry. That name doesn’t ring a bell.”

“Jeff was CIA. He got your name from another agent just before he was killed.” Vera said. “CIA agent contacts a guy with a past as shady as yours, I’m bettin’ whatever it was about, that’s something you remember.”

“No!” Bornstein said with a firm shrug. “Come on, you can’t seriously expect me to remember a phone call from 1993.”

A grin appeared on Scotty’s face. “Didn’t say it was from 1993.”

Bornstein’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack. He looked at the two detectives for a moment before speaking. “I wanna talk to a lawyer.”

Scotty nodded. “Sure thing.” He pulled out his cell phone and started dialing. “Just gonna make a phone call myself in the meantime.”

“Who are you calling?” Bornstein asked.

“Oh, just this guy I know at the IRS.” Scotty said, nonchalantly. “We found a few discrepancies in your financial records. Gotta have him look it over. Just a formality.”

Vera nodded. “Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. You paid taxes on all your gambling winnings back then, right?”

Bornstein quickly put up his hands. “No wait, wait, wait! I remember him, all right?”

Scotty put his phone away and folded his arms.

Bornstein closed his eyes. “I got indebted to some very bad people back then. They were following me, threatening me, somebody threw a brick through the window here. There was a note attached that said the next one was gonna be a bomb.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how but that man Jeff found me. I met with him and somehow he knew everything about me. He said he could make them leave me alone, but he needed me to do something for him…”

[valrush]

REM
“Orange Crush”


“Where am I?” Bornstein asked, putting his hands out as he stumbled out of the back of the van. “Can I please take this off?”

Jeff walked over and pulled the blindfold off, allowing Bornstein to see the cracked, graffiti-covered interior of the warehouse.

“Take a breath, Gil.” Jeff said, calmly. “You’re perfectly safe.”

“Where am I?”

Jeff sighed. “Well that would really defeat the purpose of the blindfold, now wouldn’t it?” He leaned closer. “Gil, listen to me. I need you to stay focused. This job’s very important and I need you to be calm.”

Bornstein shook his head. “What job?”

Jeff put his hand on Bornstein’s back and started walking him towards what looked like a small office. “Okay, Gil, I know you’re not that naive. Just a little reminder, you racked up a lot of debt with some very bad people.” He gestured to Steve Mitchum, who was waiting inside the office. “Now, I’m not here to judge you, but my friend here’s gone to a lot of trouble to make sure those guys leave you alone, and our understanding was you’d do something for us in return.”

Bornstein looked at Jeff, then Steve. “What do you want me to do?”

Jeff nodded. “I just want you to do what you do best, Gil. Fix some teeth. Now I’m gonna show you your patient, and I’m gonna need you to stay calm.”

It was then that Bornstein notice the slab against the wall. The one with the body covered by a sheet.

Bornstein took a step back. “Oh, my God! Is he dead?”

Jeff walked over and pulled the sheet back slightly, revealed a slightly disheveled middle-aged man underneath. “Yes, Gil. He’s dead. I really can’t sugarcoat that.”

Bornstein shook his head and hurried towards the office before he noticed the strong grip on his arm.

“You’re not going anywhere, Doc.” Steve said in a dull voice.

Jeff put a hand up to Steve, who released Bornstein. “Sorry, Gil, but I can’t let you do that. Now, I’m sorry if this is a bit more than you’re used to, but I’m gonna need you to rise to the occasion here.” Jeff gestured to the body. “Now I can promise you we didn’t kill this man. He was homeless, no family. He drowned in the Schuylkill two nights ago. It was a terrible accident, but nobody’s fault. Now I need you to work on him. There’s an x-ray over there of a set of teeth. I need you to match his as close as possible to the ones on that x-ray. You do this, those leg-breakers go away and you get whatever’s left of your life back.”

Bornstein walked over to the x-ray and picked it up. “Whose teeth are these?”

“I can’t tell you that, Gil.” Jeff said. “Just do this for me and then you can forget this ever happened.”

Bornstein’s eyes narrowed. “And I can just… go back after that?”

Jeff nodded. “And you can just go back after that. You didn’t make a deal with the devil, Gil, but you did make a deal. You should have all the tools you need on the table there. Now get to work. I’d like if you could be done by sun-up.”

Bornstein looked at the body, then the x-ray. “He must be a pretty big deal.”

Jeff folded his arms. “Who?”

Borstein turned around to look at Jeff and Steve. “The guy you want everyone to think is dead.”

Jeff gave a small facial shrug. “Yeah, I suppose he is. Get to work, Gil…”

[valrush]

Bornstein lowered his head. “I did what I could, then they took me home. I never heard from them again after that, but the debt collectors stopped bothering me after that. I’ve been trying to forget ever since.”

“So they were trying to fake someone’s death?” Scotty asked.

Bornstein shrugged. “Why else would you change a dead man’s teeth to look like someone else’s?”

“And you’re sure the other guy’s name was Steve?”

Bornstein nodded. “I overheard them talking while I was working.”

“Okay.” Scotty said. “Stay reachable, Doc.”

Scotty leaned over to Vera as the two walked out of the office. “You remember the Denton job last spring?” He asked quietly.

Vera nodded. “Yeah, P.I. faked that girl’s death, helped her start over somewhere else. That what we’re lookin’ at here?”

“Maybe, but why’s a CIA agent helping a suspected terrorist disappear?”

“I can think of one person to ask.”

[valrush]

Steve Mitchum got out of the truck and frowned as he saw the black SUV pulling up to the cabin. Lilly and Cavanaugh both emerged from the vehicle, neither of them looking friendly.

Steve rolled his eyes. “I’m starting to think you’re one of my ex-wives, the way you keep comin’ around here.”

Lilly glared at him. “Yeah, well I’m getting a little sick of this myself.”

“Agent Cavanaugh, FBI.” Cavanaugh said, showing his badge.

“FBI, huh?” Steve chuckled. “Couldn’t get a real job?”

“If you think pissing me off’s gonna distract me from asking questions, think again.” Cavanaugh said, giving Steve a hard look. “We know you helped Jeff fake Omar Khalid’s death. What we don’t know is why.”

Steve folded his arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, in a bored tone.

“That dentist you guys used is talking.” Cavanaugh said with a smile. “It’s gonna take him about two seconds to pick you out of a line-up.”

“Gonna be a hell of a list of charges.” Lilly added, stepping closer. “Fraud, extortion, kidnaping, harboring and aiding a fugitive.”

“Not to mention treason.” Cavanaugh said. “And we’re talking federal charges here.”

Steve sighed. “You got no idea what you’ve gotten yourselves into here.”

“You’re not the first person to tell me that.” Lilly said, stepping closer.

Steve chuckled again. “So who was? Bob Garrison?”

Lilly shook her head. “Ethan Moore.”

Steve’s smirk dropped slightly. “I heard about that. Couldn’t happen to a nicer fella. I’ll tell you right now though, Omar didn’t do that. Guy’s harmless. Just a poor dumb bastard with bad luck. I saw that myself…”

[valrush]

REM
“World Leader Pretend”


Jeff pointed to the man walking along the dark highway as they pulled closer to him.

“That’s him.” Jeff said. “Make sure nobody driving by can see the van.”

Steve nodded and turned the van into a brush area as Jeff jumped out and rushed over to the man.

“Where are you headed, Omar?”

Omar Khalid spun around as he heard Jeff’s voice.

“We spotted your car about a mile and a half back there.” Jeff said, jerking his thumb behind him. “I told you last week you should fill ‘er up, but you just kept putting it off. Now, please don’t make me chase you down.”

“What do you want from me?”

Jeff put up his hands. “I just wanna talk.”

“Who are you, really?”

Jeff shrugged. “Actually what I told you was pretty much the truth. I’m Jeff Royce, twenty-year CIA vet, moved my family to Philly, grill a mean steak.” His calm smile faded. “It just wasn’t the whole truth. Certain people I work for were concerned about you since you came to this country, thought you had ties to some group called Al-Quaeda.”

Omar frowned at Jeff. “So you think I’m a terrorist? Is that it?”

Jeff shook his head. “I didn’t know what to think. I just did the job, like I always did, no questions asked. I’m starting to think I didn’t get the whole story either.”

“All those months you were pretending to be my friend.” Omar said, the pain starting to show on his face. “I trusted you.”

“And you know what? I trust you.” Jeff said. “My instincts have kept me alive for over twenty years, and they’re all telling me you’re not one of the badguys.”

Omar just looked at him warily.

Steve hurried over to them, a pair of binoculars in his hand.

“Hey,” Steve said, handing the binoculars to Jeff. “We got a problem, coming up the road.”

Jeff looked through the binoculars towards the distance, then turned to a puzzled Omar.

“Get off the road.” Jeff said quickly.

“What?”

Jeff and Steve both grabbed Omar by an arm and pulled him towards the brush.

“We gotta get off the road now!” Jeff said over Omar’s protests.

The two pulled Omar far enough into the brush to be covered from the road, then turned around. After a few moments, a large black van passed by at a casual speed. Omar could make out men inside scanning around the area as they drove past.

“Not the type of thing you usually see on back roads like this, huh?” Steve said, looking at Omar.

“Who are they?”

Jeff lifted his head once he was sure they were gone. “Private security detail my boss uses on occasion. Bunch of former military guys, uses them for messy jobs no one else’ll do. Subtlety’s not exactly their strong suit. That’s probably why he sent me in first to check you out.” He shook his head. “I never told him you took off though. Somebody must’ve tipped him off.”

“Ethan?” Steve asked.

Jeff lowered his head. “It’s gotta be. We’d better keep an eye him.” He turned to Omar. “If those guys caught up with you, no one would’ve ever seen you again. Now some very dangerous men are after you right now. Now if you’re not what they say you are, then the question is what’s all this about? Why did you run? Why did my boss do everything short of ordering me to put a bullet in your head?”

Omar just looked at him for a moment, before turning away. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Jeff leaned closer. “Try me…”

[valrush]

“He wouldn’t say what his story was till we got him out of there, and even then, he’d only talk to Jeff. Whatever it was, Jeff was seeing red afterwards. Said we had to keep Omar safe until the time was right to tell people.”

“That’s why you changed the dental records,” Cavanaugh said. “Made it look like he was dead.”

Steve nodded.

“So what happened to Jeff?” Lilly asked.

“I don’t know. Someone must’ve gotten wise somehow. Whether they got him to talk first or not, I couldn’t say.”

“So where’s Omar now?” Cavanaugh asked.

Steve shook his head. “I don’t know. That’s the God’s honest truth. That was Jeff’s part of it.”

“And you have no idea where he is?” Cavanaugh asked, skeptically.

Steve frowned impatiently. “No, I just told–” He stopped as he noticed car pulling to a stop at the cabin, and pointed to the woman getting out. “Maybe she does.”

“Sharon?” Lilly asked as she and Cavanaugh turned around.

Sharon Royce looked at the two of them sadly. “You know, don’t you? About Omar?”

“What do you know about him?” Cavanaugh asked.

“I know he didn’t do what they’re saying he did.” Sharon said. “Please, you have to protect him.”

“We need to find him first.” Lilly said.

Sharon nodded. “I can tell you where he is, but you have to keep him safe, otherwise my husband died for nothing.”

[valrush]

4

In the interview room, Vera placed the cup of coffee down in front of Sharon, as he and Kat sat down.

“All right, we’ve got people looking for Omar where you said.” Kat said. “We still have some questions though. We still don’t know what happened to Jeff.”

Sharon nodded solemnly. “I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t risk putting Omar in danger. I have a pretty good idea though. Jeff’s boss Bob Garrison didn’t trust him to finish the job. He sent in some of his private security to take him out. We got a taste of them first hand.”

“They came after you?” Vera said.

Sharon sighed. “Jeff was already putting together a plan when they came to Omar’s house. I wasn’t sure about everything he was doing, but after I saw what kind of people were after Omar, I understood…”

[valrush]

Cold Case Soundtrack: "Saving Sammy" 

Sharon looked out the window at the dark street, then headed into Omar’s living room where Omar was listening to Jeff and Steve.

“I checked out the body your girl Bonnie got us.” Steve said. “Should do. What about the dentist?”

“We’re picking him up ten tonight.” Jeff said. “I got a warehouse set up we can use.”

Steve shook his head. “I just hope he was worth the trouble.”

Jeff turned to Omar. “I’m setting up a new identity for you. It’ll take another day or two but I’ll have a new place to live lined up for you, someplace safe.”

“Where?” Omar asked, looking puzzled.

Jeff smiled and patted Omar on the arm. “The last place they’d ever think to look.”

Omar looked at him for a moment. “I still don’t know why you’re doing all this, risking everything you have, just for me.”

Jeff sighed. “Same reason I joined the Company all those years ago, and the service before that; I wanted to protect American lives.”

Omar smiled slightly, then turned to Steve, who just shrugged.

“Me, I just didn’t have anything better to do.”

Jeff chuckled slightly, and turned back to Omar. “Anyways, we’re still gonna need you to testify about what you told me about one day. Until then, we gotta keep you safe.”

“Yeah, so-” Steve turned as he caught the glare out the window of the headlights from a large dark van pulling to a stop on the street. “Hey, we got company.”

Jeff frowned. “They must’ve doubled back.” Jeff quickly turned to Steve. “Go out the back. Take Omar to your place. We’ll call you in an hour. If you don’t hear from us, stick to the plan.”

Steve looked at Jeff. “What are you gonna do?”

“My job. Trust me.”

Steve shook his head and led an uneasy Omar out towards the back door. “Sure hope you know what you’re doing.” He said quietly.

“So do I.” Jeff said, watching a pair of men in dark uniforms moved in towards the house.

“Jeff?” Sharon asked, holding Jeff’s arm.

Jeff turned to his wife and smiled. “You remember Germany?”

Sharon smiled back. “How could I forget?”

Sharon hurried off, while Jeff turned towards the door. He could make out the sound of a lock being picked, then folded his arms as the door opened as a pair of a flashlights and handguns were pointed at his face.

“Looking for someone?” Jeff asked with a bored look on his face.

“Agent Royce?” The lead mercenary, a dark-haired man with a cold stare, said. “Where’s the house’s occupant?”

Jeff frowned. “He’s being dealt with. It’s not your concern.”

“We have orders to take the suspect into custody.” The dark haired man said.

“Yeah, I’ll bet you do.” Jeff said, narrowing his eyes. “Moreno, isn’t it? I know all about you guys. I don’t need any help, especially from a bunch of cowboys like you. This isn’t Desert Storm. This job needs a scalpel, not a damn chainsaw. Until I hear otherwise, this is my assignment.”

“Not anymore.” Moreno said. “Now I’ll have to ask you to remove yourself from the premises.”

“I don’t take orders from you.”

Moreno and the other mercenary raised their weapons.

“This is your last warning, Agent Royce.” Moreno said. “Exit the house immediately.”

Jeff uncrossed his arms and shrugged. “Okay, have it your way.”

As his arms dropped to his sides, Jeff shook his right had slightly. An instant later, he saw a quick pair of muzzle flashes in the corner of his eye, and made out two muffled shots of a silenced weapon. The two grunting mercenaries dropped the guns from their now bleeding hands. In a swift move, Jeff threw a quick punch into Moreno’s nose, then an elbow into the nose of the other man, knocking both of them to their knees.

Jeff kicked away one gun, then scooped up the other and trained it on the two mercenaries. He grinned proudly as he watched Sharon walk back into the room, holding her own silenced weapon on the two men.

“I don’t think you’ve met my wife Sharon. Met her when I stopped by the base in Germany where she was serving her tour. Instructor for advanced weapons training.” He gave her a sly smile. “Still the best shot I know.”

Sharon smiled back, then turned back to the mercenaries. “I think it’s time you both left.”

“I’d listen to her if I was you.” Jeff said. “You’ll be on the floor before you can call for backup.”

Moreno and the other mercenary stood up slowly and glared at Jeff and Sharon.

“This isn’t over.” Moreno hissed.

Jeff snorted. “It never is. Now get out.”

Jeff and Sharon watched the two men walk slowly back towards the van, cradling their injured hands. As the van drove off, Sharon put her hand on Jeff’s shoulder and sighed…