Chapter 8 - The Interrogation of Julian's Men
The two fixers, whose real names were Vance and Miller, sat in separate interrogation rooms back at the federal building. They were tough, professional intimators used to bullying corporate whistleblowers and frightened spouses, but they had never faced a RICO-level federal intimidation charge.
I walked into Miller’s room first, carrying a stack of printed bank transfers and communications intercepted from their encrypted messaging app. I sat down without saying a word, sliding a single sheet of paper across the table. It was a draft of a federal indictment for Conspiracy to Commit Witness Tampering, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of twenty years in a federal penitentiary.
"Here is your situation, Mr. Miller," I said calmly. "Arthur Sterling paid your boss fifty thousand dollars to locate and intimidate a federal witness. You crossed state lines carrying an unregistered firearm to execute that contract. That makes you a mercenary in a federal obstruction case."
Miller swallowed hard, his eyes scanning the twenty-year penalty highlighted in yellow marker. "I was just doing surveillance. I didn't know she was a federal witness."
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"Ignorance of witness status isn't a legal defense when you're carrying a suppressed Glock into a medical clinic," I replied, leaning back. "Your partner is in the next room right now. Whoever gives us the direct financial link to Arthur Sterling first gets the cooperation plea. The other one gets the full twenty years. Clock starts now."
I didn't even have to wait ten minutes. Miller broke, detailing exactly how Arthur had arranged the payment through a clean lawyer's trust account from inside the detention center.
