The Judge took a quick scan of the articles. The first one by Montgomery involved a review of the voting irregularities in Florida post 2000. In Montgomery’s view, despite efforts in some counties, many areas in Florida remained susceptible to voting issues because modernized voting machines had not been put in place. Two other articles authored by Montgomery reviewed voting irregularities in Ohio in 2004.
“So our boys are interested in campaign finance and voter fraud, they show up last night in Kentucky and Connolly’s boys are shooting at them when they’re discovered.” The Judge raised an eyebrow. “So what the hell did they see?”
“I didn’t get a chance to see myself, Judge,” Wire answered. “I didn’t have a chance to get into position before all hell broke loose. All I have is the photos. I can easily identify Connolly but the rest will take a while. Sorry, I wish I had more.”
The Judge took out one of his cigars and lit it, not caring about the fact the building was no smoking. He was the Judge, who was going to stop him. He took a deep drag on the cigar and blew smoke into the air. He shook his head: “Fucking Connolly, what is he up to now?”
Wire shook his head. “He’s a snake.”
“He’d fuck one if you held it straight,” Dixon railed as he took a drag on his cigar. “However, we know why you were in Kentucky last night, but we need to figure out what drew Montgomery and Stroudt there, what they saw and what Connolly was up to. Maybe its election fraud or maybe it’s something else. Whatever it was it was enough for the security people to open fire.”
“And those two were not a safety concern,” Wire replied.
“That’s right, Dara,” the Judge replied, gesturing with his cigar. “They saw something, something not meant to be seen and we need to find out what that was and right quick, kiddo.”
“I’m on it,” Wire answered as she pushed herself up out of the guest chair.
“What’s your next step?” the Judge asked.
“Fly back to Washington and see if I can track either Stroudt or Montgomery down there. See if either of them went back home. I have a 6:08 a.m. flight to DC to find out.”
The Judge picked up his phone, “Not soon enough, Dara. I want you starting at 6:00 a.m. there, not here. I’m going to get you back there tonight.”
* * *
McRyan and Lich were back at the St. Paul Department of Public Safety and Mac’s first order of business once he reached his desk was to call Delta Airlines regarding the boarding pass.
“I’ll call if I need anything further,” Mac said politely. “Yes, I have your direct number. Thanks much.”
Mac moved his mouse and opened up an e-mail. He clicked print twice and walked over to the printer. “So our Delta passenger is in fact Jason Stroudt and he hails from Alexandria.” Mac took a print-off of Stroudt’s flight information and handed it to Lich.
“Alexandria. So he’s from lake country. That makes him somewhat local then,” Lich said.
“Negative, Ghostrider,” Mac answered as he walked back to the printer. “His current address is Alexandria, in the great Commonwealth of Virginia.” Mac took off another copy, this time of Stroudt’s Virginia driver’s license.
“Virginia? Really?” Lich said, looking at the document quizzically. “What the hell is a guy from Alexandria, Virginia, doing at The Snelling?”
“The better question is: what is a guy who lives in Virginia, but flew in this morning from St. Louis, now doing dead at The Snelling in St. Paul?” Mac asked as he walked over to his chair and plumped himself down, exhaled and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is something a little different than the usual from The Snelling.”
“When did he get to St. Louis?”
“Good question, Dicky Boy,” Mac answered, turning to his computer. “I asked Delta about that but Stroudt hadn’t been on another Delta flight in two years. So he got to St. Louis by some means other than Delta. We have to look into that to see if we can construct a timeline for his last couple of days.”
“What does Mr. Stroudt do for a living?” Lich asked.
“I don’t know yet. The contact at Delta sent me an e-mail with payment information for Stroudt.” Mac opened the e-mail and scanned the information. “He booked his flight under a corporate credit card for a TCP Enterprises with a Washington DC address. You take this information and start