Andrea was too stunned to take the envelope. Esther was literally offering everything they needed to stop Wexler and Nardo.
“As long as I am capable, the government will have my full cooperation.” Now that she had made up her mind, Esther seemed eager to get it over with. She returned the envelope to the briefcase and waited for Andrea to take it all away.
There was nothing more to be said.
Andrea’s hands had started to shake. She felt sweaty and cold at the same time. She clutched the briefcase to her chest. The weight was heavier this time. Alice Poulsen’s restless soul was inside. Star Bonaire’s shaky future. Esther Vaughn’s undeserved peaceful death.
The Marshals nodded to Andrea as she left Franklin Vaughn’s room. Only when she had reached the end of the corridor did Andrea let herself acknowledge what she was holding.
Evidence of Wexler and Nardo’s crimes.
Enough to put them in prison. Enough to shut down the farm.
The elation finally came. Her brain was dizzy with it. Adrenaline sharpened everything to a point. She was jogging as she turned the corner, her head swiveling in search of Bible. She saw him near the elevators talking to Mike. They were both leaning against the high counter of the nurses’ station. Bible cradled his bandaged hand. Compton was a few feet away typing on her phone.
“Andy?” Mike saw her first. “What’s wrong?”
Andrea could barely speak. Her hands almost slipped on the briefcase. She stumbled the last few feet to reach them.
“Andy?” Mike took the briefcase. “Are you okay?”
“I’m—” She had to stop to take a breath. “The judge wrote the death threats to herself.”
Compton looked up from her phone. Bible’s jaw was clenched, but he said nothing.
“She—” Andrea had to stop again. She took another breath. She placed her hand to her chest, coaxing her heart to slow. “The judge was being blackmailed by Wexler. For decades. Since Judith was a baby. Wexler told her that he was the father, but I don’t know. He could be lying. But it doesn’t matter because we’ve—we’ve got them. Both of them. Nardo was in on it, too.”
“Oliver, take me through this.” Compton had knelt on the floor with the briefcase so she could go through the contents. “What am I looking at here?”
“The laptop. Franklin Vaughn recorded everything. There’s enough in there to send Wexler and Fontaine to prison for fraud, at least.” Andrea was on her knees, too. She found the envelope that had been meant for Bible. “Esther outlined—everything is outlined in here. She said she built a case for us. That both Wexler and Fontaine were implicated.”
Compton was silent as her eyes scanned the bullet-pointed pages. Her head started shaking when she got to the last item. “Son of a fucking bitch. She practically wrote the warrant applications for us. Leonard—”
They all looked up at Bible. His jaw was still set.
Compton stood up. She pressed her hand to the side of his face. “Put it in the trash, baby. Take it out tomorrow. All right?”
Bible gave a curt nod, but the look of betrayal did not go away. “She give us enough?”
“She did.” Compton searched for Mike, who was plugging the laptop into an outlet behind the nurses’ station. “Mike, you’re seconded to me for the duration. Chain of custody starts now. We need to do this by the book. Upload those videos to DOJ. I want search warrants for the farm. Arrest warrants for Wexler and Fontaine. We need to do this tonight. I’ve got some Marshals in the area I can pull in for surveillance on the farm. We’ve gotta make sure Wexler and Fontaine don’t bolt before we can scoop them up. Men like that always have an escape plan. Can Stilton be trusted?”
The question had been directed at Bible. He shook his head, but said, “Unknown.”
“All right, we’ll leave Stilton on the bench until the arrests are made. Fontaine was carrying concealed. We have to assume they’re armed. I’ll call down the strike team from Baltimore. We don’t want this turning into a hostage situation. Priority one is securing those girls, right?”
Compton was waiting for Bible.
He said, “Right.”
“Good,” she said. “I’ll have ambulances at the ready in case anyone chooses to leave. They’ll be taken to Johns Hopkins. Hopefully, there’s a way to break Wexler’s hold on them. Same with Fontaine. If Esther’s right, he’s staring down Big Boy Prison. He’ll want a deal to turn against Wexler. We’ll transfer him to Baltimore, give him time to sweat it out. Bible, I’ll need you to take the lead on Fontaine. Give him twenty-four hours in a holding cell and he’ll be ready to talk.”
“No, ma’am,” Bible said. “I want Wexler, and I want him tonight.”
Compton asked, “Why?”
“We’re never gonna have him this scared again,” Bible said. “We yank him out of bed, pop him into Stilton’s holding cell, go at him hard, get him to confess. That’s the quickest way to get this over and done with.”
“Or we throw him into holding, he shits himself, asks for a lawyer, and we see him at trial in three years,” Compton said. “We only get one bite at this apple. If we give Wexler some time on the ride to Baltimore, he might start thinking he can talk his way out of this big misunderstanding. That’s what we want, right? We want him talking to us, explaining things.”
“He’s a psychopath,” Bible said. “You give him time to regroup, he’s gonna come up with a plan.”
“I hear you.” Compton turned to Mike. “You’re on the team. What do you think—push Wexler tonight or give him some time?”
“My gut says tonight. And not that you asked, but I don’t want Fontaine to get a deal.” Mike shrugged. “Why go after Renfield when you can drive a stake through Dracula’s heart?”
Andrea felt herself nodding. She didn’t want Nardo to get away with anything, either. Renfield was almost too accurate a description. Nardo wasn’t only Dean’s acolyte. He literally procured victims for his malevolent master.
“Oliver.” Compton had turned to Andrea. “Chime in.”
Andrea could only share what she knew to be true. “Nardo will lawyer up. That’s what he always does. If the plan is to get him to turn on Wexler, I don’t think that will happen until his back is against the wall. And maybe not even then. He’s a nihilist.”
“Okay, take Fontaine off the board,” Compton said. “What’s the best way to go at Wexler?”
“He only makes mistakes when he’s angry.” Andrea had seen Wexler out of control. She had also seen him less than ten minutes later when he was bragging about single-handedly ushering in the organic farming movement. “If you give him time to calm down, he’ll use it to find a way out.”
“All right, decision made,” Compton said. “Bible, you and Oliver will take Wexler tonight. We’ll snatch him up at the farm and take him directly to Stilton’s shop. Fontaine will go to Baltimore. Oliver, go back to the motel and get a shower. Once we have Wexler in custody, we’ll swing by on our way to the police station. Plan for three hours. Be ready in two.”