“Thank you, Ruby,” Ryan said. “Could you get us into a conference room, please?”
“Sure,” she said. “Follow me.” Everyone got up and followed Ruby to a room with a table and several chairs. Ryan saw the camera in the corner of the room.
“Could you make sure we get this on video?” he asked Ruby.
“I’ll take care of it myself,” Ruby said. Thomas and Ryan took two chairs on one side of the table as Trudy and Ginger sat in chairs on the opposite side of the table. Jake Callender came into the room a few minutes later and set his briefcase on the table before sitting down next to Ginger.
“So, what the hell is going on? I was told there was an emergency with my clients,” Jake said. “And who the hell are you?” he asked Thomas.
“I’m Special Agent Jackson, Homefront Security Task Force, Mr. Callender. I have questions for your clients, and they refused to speak to me without your presence,” Thomas said.
“Why is the federal government involved in a local matter?” Jake asked.
“It’s not,” Thomas said. “But it is a somewhat related matter. In light of the fact that we saved your clients’ lives, I think they owe me a few answers.”
“What do you mean, saved their lives?” Jake asked.
“Your clients had poison capsules embedded under their skin, next to their carotid artery. One good slap, and they would have been dead before their bodies hit the floor,” Thomas said. Jake’s eyes grew wide as he looked at Thomas. “You didn’t know?”
“Why would I know about something like that?” Jake asked, indignant that Thomas would even ask such a thing. Thomas said nothing but gave Jake a knowing smile before turning back to Ginger.
“Is it true you were a paid contractor for the Mutual Marital Assurance Society, Ms. Rodgers?” he asked. Ginger looked down at the table before saying anything.
“Yes,” she said quietly.
“Wait, what’s the Mutual Marital Assurance Society?” Jake asked. Thomas smiled before opening his briefcase. He pulled out an old letter and put it in front of Jake. Jake’s eyes grew wide, and the color drained from his face.
“How… How did you get that?” he asked.
“I kept it,” Thomas said. “Don’t you remember?” Confused, Ryan looked between the two men before grabbing the letter off the table. It was wrinkled and torn and looked like it had been pulled out of a garbage can and taped back together. He read the letter and looked at Thomas.
“This looks like some kind of an invoice. For $1,600.00,” he said. “And a demand for Mr. Callender to contact them for an interview.” Thomas nodded his head.
“That’s exactly what it is,” he said. “They would send those to the husbands they targeted every month until the husbands would give in and respond. You see, our Mr. Callender there had a very close and personal experience with MMAS. Didn’t you, Mr. Callender?” Jake looked down before responding.
“Yes, I did. That was years ago,” he said.
“Yes, it was. Would you mind telling Sheriff Caldwell who it was who helped you out of that mess?”
“It was you, Agent Jackson,” Jake finally said.
“That’s right. In fact, I still have a scar from the bullet I took for you,” Thomas said. Ryan looked at the two men wondering what had happened. “I’ll tell you about it later, Sheriff. In private,” Thomas said. “The bottom line is that Jake here knows what kind of people we’re dealing with, and he knows firsthand what they’re capable of. Don’t you, Counselor?”