Page 130
Marquez steps closer to the door.
“Tell him there is also a conflict of interest.”
Price doesn’t repeat it.
He doesn’t need to.
Kessler must have heard her.
The phone goes quiet.
Then Price knocks again.
“Agent Marquez, Deputy Director Kessler wants to speak with you.”
“Put him on speaker.”
“He wants a secure video connection.”
“No.”
Marquez’s refusal is immediate.
“He can speak over the recorded Coast Guard line.”
“I don’t think he’ll agree to that.”
“Then he has nothing to say to me.”
A muffled argument follows.
Price’s footsteps move away.
Keating orders an officer to activate the room’s recording system.
“Every word from this point forward is preserved.”
Thomas lowers himself into a chair.
“He’ll try to frighten them.”
“Price’s team?” Ivy asks.
“Anyone who questions him.”
“You sound certain,” Mom says.
“I watched Kessler convince Daniel that no one would believe him over a federal agent. He knew exactly how much power his badge gave him. Now he has more power.”
“He won’t have that power forever,” Marquez says.
Thomas looks at her. “You don’t know the people protecting him.”
“No. But now I know where to start looking.”
Her phone vibrates.
She reads the message, then turns the screen toward Keating.
