In Plain Sight (Sisterhood #25) - Fern Michaels Page 0,30
digits and waited.
“Federal Bureau of Investigation.”
“Well, good morning, Allison. I’d like to speak to Director Sparrow ASAP. You know who this is, right?”
“Yes, ma’am. Hold please for Director Sparrow.”
“Good morning, Director. Nice day, isn’t it.”
“Couldn’t be better. What can I do for you on this bright summer day?”
“I’m having a bit of a problem at the moment. The same problem we spoke about a few days ago when my partner and I briefed you. I am right now, this minute, in the conference room of In the Know talking to Mr. Joel Goodwin, who has been really helpful. He has been very cooperative, so please remember that. I’d like to keep it that way. There is a gentleman in his office named Lincoln Moss, who is threatening the very cooperative Mr. Goodwin. He is promising a full-blown tax audit, closing down the paper, ruining his wife’s reputation, and having his kids thrown out of their respective schools. I’d like you to personally assure Mr. Goodwin that none of that will happen, so he will continue to cooperate with us. Can you do that, Mr. Director?”
“Of course. Mr. Goodwin, can you hear me?” Not waiting for a response, Sparrow kept speaking. “I want to assure you that you have the full weight of the Bureau behind you. Just do what our agent tells you, and you are golden. Thanks for the heads-up, Agent.”
“My pleasure, Mr. Director,” Kathryn said as she ended the call.
Kathryn reached for the coffee cup that had suddenly materialized. She drank it in two long swallows. “You happy now, Mr. Goodwin?” He nodded. The color was coming back to his cheeks.
Pam Warren poked her head in the door, and said, “Mr. Moss said to . . . ah . . . tell you if you aren’t in your office in two seconds, he will make a call to the IRS. He also called you a . . . pipsqueak.”
Goodwin took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “Tell Mr. Moss the pipsqueak said to sit on a pointy stick and twirl around. I’ll get there when I get there, or he can leave anytime he wants since he didn’t have an appointment in the first place. Tell him to make his call if that will make his day. Make sure you give him the message verbatim.”
Pam Warren looked like she would rather go two rounds with a two-headed cobra than tell that to Lincoln Moss. She swallowed hard and left to deliver Goodwin’s message.
“Okay, Mr. Goodwin, we’re on the same page here. Just so you know, Mr. Moss will follow through because he is a bully. So I’m going to call Director Sparrow again when I get out to my car and have him alert Mr. Sangelli at the IRS. Now what do you have for me?”
“Jane Petrie’s cell-phone number and the pensione where she’s staying in France.”
“Good! Good! I do love your spirit of cooperation. I think we’re done here. I’ll be in touch. Just don’t take any sudden trips, Mr. Goodwin. If you do, we will find you. Don’t let that ego-driven bastard in your office scare or intimidate you. He puts his pants on the same way you do.” In spite of himself, Goodwin laughed out loud. “Now, is there a way to get out of here without Moss’s seeing me?”
Goodwin pointed to the door at the end of the room. “It will put you in a side hall, take the steps to the end of the hall, and you’ll come out at the parking lot. Is that where you’re parked?”
“No, I’m parked across the street in the Taco Bell lot.”
Goodwin thought that was funny, too. He laughed again. “I get it, that’s where your stakeout is. Smart.”
Goodwin waited a full five minutes after Kathryn left before he felt ready to return to his office. He sucked in his stomach, straightened up, and marched down the hall to his private office. Now that he had the FBI watching his back, he felt like he was King of the Walk. He blasted into his office like he owned it, which he did. “Are we done here, Mr. Moss, or do you plan to threaten me some more?”
Moss narrowed his eyes. Something had happened while the man was out of the room. He hated it when he didn’t have all the facts at his fingertips. And this guy was suddenly too cocky. Before he’d left the room, he’d been in a world of stress.