Cheating Justice (The Justice Team) by Misty Evans, Adrienne Giordano Page B

the taskforce Tommy had been working for, had flagged a guy as a straw buyer but hadn’t picked him up or confiscated the weapon…
    “Oh, shit,” Mitch said.

Chapter Nine

    The rattling air conditioner kicked off, leaving the room in silence.
    Mitch uncrossed his arms and grabbed onto the windowsill to steady himself. Couldn’t be .
    His breath jammed in his chest. He forced air into his lungs, his brain running at warp speed. “Tommy was killed by a gun the ATF let walk. A gun that should have been confiscated by Tommy’s taskforce before it could be used illegally. How the fuck did that happen?”
    “Hold on,” Caroline said. “Tommy was found with a bunch of weapons. Maybe he had confiscated them and was going to arrest the straw buyer.”
    “Or,” Brice added, “he was using his undercover status to work with the straw buyer to follow the guns to the big fish, the gun runner Ethan told us about. Balboa. There was another taskforce a few years ago that tried a similar thing. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.”
    Caroline frowned. “Or…” She hesitated and glanced at Mitch. “Tommy really was dirty and using the straw buyer to cover his tracks while he sold the guns to Balboa or one of his rivals.”
    Silence fell again. Mitch drilled her with a look that conveyed all the pent up anger raging in his body. How many times did he have to insist Tommy wasn’t a dirty agent? “That’s what they want it to look like, Caroline. It’s the perfect setup.”
    She took his hand and squeezed it. “Agreed.” Releasing him, she moved to sit in front of the laptop. “We need a list of higher-ups who would have seen this report and want it kept under wraps.”
    Of course she wanted to make a list. “What good will that do?”
    “We’re taking this information to the New Mexico Attorney General. At least we’ll start with him. He needs to investigate this operation, and maybe the Justice Department does too.”
    “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Brice started backing up. “If someone’s covering this up, there’s got to be a legitimate reason.”
    “Legitimate?” Mitch hollered. “You of all people, Brice, recognize a conspiracy when you see it. Tommy was killed with a gun ATF knew was purchased by a straw buyer and they let that gun walk. Wake up and smell the conspiracy! They don’t want an official investigation that would make all parties involved look like idiots.”
    “Don’t forget the press and bloggers like our Brice here,” Caroline said. “They’d have a field day with this.” Her fingers typed furiously. “Okay, since this was a joint taskforce between ATF and the FBI, the New Mexico ATF director and the head of the New Mexico Bureau office had to okay letting guns walk. They had to know. Who else?”
    Brice shook his head, but gave up arguing. “DEA. They might be involved because of the drug cartels and the guns they ship across the border. Balboa probably moves drugs as well as weapons. And the top prosecutors in the border states had to sign off.”
    “There’s no way that many entities knew about this operation and no one raised a red flag about letting guns walk,” Mitch said, finally understanding Caroline’s need for the list. “But this might prove someone set up Tommy, and if they did, all these state level people are shitting bricks. There’s a cover-up here, and it starts with them. Kemp Rodgers told me the prez will invoke Executive Privilege if the White House is subpoenaed. This cover-up goes all the way to the top.”
    Mitch glanced out the window, checking the parking lot. He felt antsy, unnerved. Too many months on the run and now this. Who exactly was involved with Tommy’s death? Who had pulled the trigger, and why were they making it look like Tommy was a traitor? Was it the same person responsible for Kemp’s murder? “Why kill Kemp? He didn’t know any more than I did.”
    Caroline stopped typing. “Maybe he did, or someone believed he did. Either way, they know