Deadly Lode (Trace Brandon Book 1) (28 page)

C
hapter
17

A
call came into FBI headquarters in Washington, DC.

“
FBI,
A
gent Thompson speaking.
”

“
Agent Thompson, this is Chief Constable Peter Rand with the Vancouver, BC
,
P
olice
D
epartment. Is
S
pecial
A
gent Beau Monroe available?
”

“
Hold one minute please.
”

Monroe punched the blinking light and picked up the receiver.
“
This is
S
pecial
A
gent Beau Monroe.
”

“
Agent Monroe, this is Chief Constable Peter Rand. We spoke a week or so ago with regards to a homicide here in Vancouver.
”

“
Yes,
sir
. The victim
who
was killed by exposure to VX.
”

“
We
’
re at pretty much of a dead end up here
. I was hoping maybe your investigation might
have
turned something up?
”

“
Well, as I mentioned in our previous conversation, your case got moved to near the top of the totem pole.
Anytime
something as deadly as
VX is involved
,
it get
’
s
the FBI’s
undivided attention.
”

“
Any leads
, Agent Monroe
?
”

“
Well, whoever pulled this off is a very sophisticated customer. Most likely a chemist gone
rog
u
e
, so to speak.

“
Our thoughts as well
,” Rand replied.

“
We
’
ve been running our databases
,
looking for a chemistry type
who might fit the profile.
Also,
we
’
ve got
three unsolved
homicides
,
all of which
involved sophisticated poison
s
.
We
’
re going back through those case files
,
looking for leads.
”

“
Any of the open cases involve VX?
”
Rand asked.

“
No
,
sir
. B
ut the
y
’
re
not run of the mill
,
either
. One involved
a
synthetic
replication of poison tree frog toxin,
Allopumiliotoxin
-
267A
.
”

“
Bloody hell, the name
’
s enough to kill you,
”
Rand said
,
with a chuckle.

“
Yes
, sir
,
it
’
s a mouthful
. B
ut
like VX,
it
’
s a form of
neurotoxin. It attacks the heart rather than causing complete muscle paralysis
,
as with VX.
”

“
Both neurotoxins, huh
?
Well,
Agent Monroe,
it
’
s a lead of sorts.
The killer could be
e
x-m
ilitary
with chemical weapons experience? Or
someone who
worked
at a university or research facility?
”

“
Our line of thinking
too. We
’
re reviewing records of
people
known to
have worked on nerve agents
,
either in the
m
ilitary
,
or in the private sector. Possibly a
disgruntled employee, someone with personal problems, history of depression, that sort of thing.
”

“
The three open cases
,
any of the victims have a criminal history?
”
Rand asked.

“
We believe the man killed by the synthetic tree frog poison had a
m
ob connection. Of the other two, one we
’
re
pretty sure was a KGB hit. The third looked like a drug deal gone bad. The joint the victim was smoking at the time of death was laced with
r
ic
i
n
,
”
Monroe said, with a chuckle.

“
Any of this ring any bells?
”
Agent Monroe asked.

“
Possibly the
m
ob connection
,” Rand replied
.
“
Our
victim was a
well-known
gambler both in the
Vancouver
penny stock market and at the
crap
tables in Vegas. I
’
ll have my team dig deeper into his recent stock dealings and check into his gambling situation.
”

“
What about William Thorn
ton
?
”
Constable Rand asked.
“
T
he man Rosenburg killed
during an attempted
robbery?
”

“
As Thorn
ton
was an American citizen killed in a foreign country
,
w
e checked
him out thoroughly.
Turns out h
e
was the right
-
hand man
for
one
Cyrus McSweeny
.
Cyrus
operates out of Spokane and
is well known to law enforcement
. B
ut this is way out of his league. He
’
s basically a penny stock promoter,
a
pump and dump artist.
He
did five years for income tax evasion
but
no
other
convictions
. Neither one of them fit the profile.
And to be frank,
Constable
Rand,
we
’
re
a bit skeptical of the attempted robbery alibi Rosenburg
p
ut forth.
”

“
How so?
”

“
Well, as I said, Thorn
ton
doesn
’
t fit the profile.
He wasn
’
t above using a little muscle
,
but
he wasn
’
t a killer.
We think it
’
s more likely Rosenburg was into Cyrus
for some serious
cash
,
a
nd
he
sent
Thorn
ton
to collect
.
The one common
denominator
seems to be
Montana Creek Mining Corp.
”

“
Rosenburg
’
s statement claimed Thorn
ton
tried to steal his shares of Montana Creek Mining before he shot him
,
”
Constable Rand replied
.

“
We did some checking
,
and it turns out
at least one company
controlled by McSweeny
i
s
also
a shareholder
in Montana Creek Mining.
”

“
What
’
s the name and domicile of the company?
”
Rand asked.

“
Twisp River Resou
rces, based in Vancouver. Malcolm Trueblood is the CEO
, b
ut the company is a w
holly owned subsidiary of Carib International
, a
Cayman Island company we suspect is owned by Cyrus.
”

“
So you think
there is some kind of connection between McSweeny
, Montana Creek Mining
,
and Rosenburg
’
s
death
?
”
Rand asked.

“
Not Montana Creek per se
,
b
ut
with some of
the
company
’
s
shareholders.
We haven
’
t put it all together yet
, but
we will.
”
Monroe said, firmly.

“
I see. Well, you
’
ve been a big help
,
A
gent Monroe.
We
’
ll dig into Mr. Trueblood and Twisp River
,
as well as Montana Creek Mining. Please keep me updated on your end
,
and
I
’
ll
do likewise.
”

A
few days later, Thorny
’
s PI buddy in Co
e
ur d
’
Alene
called
Cyrus.

“
Mr. McSweeny, this is Doug Masters over in Co
e
ur d
’
Alene, Idaho.
I worked for Bill Thorn
ton
on occasion.
Have you got a minute?
”

“
Sure, Doug. What
’
s up?
”

“
First off, I just wanted to thank you for taking care of Thorny and his family the way you did. He and I go way back
,
and, well, it was mighty good of you.
”

“
Thanks, Doug. As you probably know, Thorny and I were pretty tight
too,
for nearly thirty years.
”

“
Yes,
sir
, I did.
”

“
So what else is on your mind, Doug?
”

“
I am sure Thorny told you of our arrangement with the gal at Mineral Valley Labs
.
”

Cyrus took a deep breath
.
“
Y
es, is there a problem?
”

“
Oh
,
no,
sir
. It
’
s just with Thorny gone, she
’
s not sure where to send her reports.
”

“
I see.
Have her fax them to this number
,
”
Cyrus replied, giving
Doug
the
fax number of a Spokane mail store. One
he used for sensitive materials.

“
Got it. She says she has some new results. I
’
ll have her send them out today.
”

A shiver went up Cyrus
’
s
back
.
“
N
ew results?
”

“
Yes
,
sir
.
”