over on his silent partner. If he went into witness protection, he’d take up where he left off. The Feds can’t allow that. We need his sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole.” Samson watched his partner pace around the living room of the small apartment, swinging his golf club.
“I know he’ll never give up his partner,” Alton said. “What I don’t understand is why he’d rather die than turn over the Sierra syndicate. They were his competition.”
David Martín had been sentenced to death for murdering a DEA informant and his gang. The informant had infiltrated the Sierra organization and copied account records, pipeline routes, business connections, and other information the DEA needed to bring the syndicate down.
Alton carried a straight-backed chair from the dinette area into the living room. “Who is Martín protecting and why? And what’s the purpose in giving us free rein if they won’t let us truly have free rein? Do they want us to break these syndicates or not? Hell! This is my career riding on this case. We have to bring Sierra down.”
Samson understood Alton’s frustration. Their team was given the “freedom” to bypass much of the strict structure and red tape of government agencies, but what good had it done them? “You know there’s no such thing as total freedom. I agree with the chief on this call. Offering witness protection to the head of the largest drug syndicate is out of the question. Sorry to sound politically correct, but we need to think outside the box.”
He trained his warm brown eyes on Alton’s cold blue ones. They’d been best friends since preschool, yet were as different as a monsoon and a drought. “What if he doesn’t have a silent partner? What if he didn’t obtain the information?”
Alton waved him off. “Martín never said he didn’t have the information.”
“Would we have believed him if he had? Would we believe him if he said he was the only leader? What if he doesn’t have a bargaining chip?”
“So you think he’s been dickin’ us around this whole time?”
“I don’t know. I’m throwing every possibility out there. After he was taken out of commission, his organization hiccupped, then continued with business as usual. His silent partner must have run things for a while. Otherwise, there would have been a struggle for power. Yeah, he definitely has a silent partner.” He ran his hands over his cleanly shaven head, and then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Lately something else has been needling me. Why didn’t the witness to the murders have a fatal accident before the trial? No one had ever lived to testify against David Martín. The man testified, then died in a car accident an hour later.”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing, man. I think his silent partner double-crossed him, but that brings us back to square one. I sure as hell wouldn’t die for someone who double-crossed me.”
“We need more time.”
“They won’t commute his sentence unless he gives up his partner or Sierra. Hell, you’re the lawyer. How can we have his sentence commuted?”
“Good question.”
“Well, something’s got to change. I’m too close to let this slip by.”
Drifting into his own world, Samson looked around the one bedroom flat. Boy, has my life changed . He went from having a promising career and beautiful home to an all-consuming job and somewhere to sleep. The worn-out, tacky tan furniture was even part of the rental agreement. Three years had passed since the divorce. Tired of punishing himself, he wanted to live again, practice law again, and take control of his life again. But, he couldn’t bail out on Alton.
After Samson left his law firm, Alton kept him from shutting himself off from the world and convinced him to join the DEA. Alton had been there to kick sense into him when he needed kicking. The change of pace had worked wonders initially. Being a DEA agent was exciting and kept
Tamara Veitch, Rene DeFazio