CHAPTER TWELVE

“I demand that you allow me to leave this facility!” said Mansur with a petulant tone.

“And I demand that you sit your ass down before I tie you to the chair. I believe you may be charged in the case of Sergeant Hunt, should he decide to press charges against you and Mr. Wentz,” said the colonel.

“I believe I would, sir,” said Hunt. He turned to the five individuals new to the room and nodded. “I don’t know who you are but thank you. I knew I was innocent of all claims that woman made. I just couldn’t understand why the equipment wasn’t working when we’d never had issues with it before.”

“Let me help you to understand,” said Georgie. “Peter Wentz tried to destroy his ex-wife’s relationship with her boyfriend, a D.C. patrol officer. When the charges were brought against him, Mr. Mansur’s firm took notice and decided to do a little pro-bono work as long as Mr. Wentz did something for them. This had nothing to do with you and everything to do with Wentz and Mr. Mansur’s son’s ex-fiancée.”

Hunt turned toward Wentz and Mansur, a scowl that would have made most men cringe covering his face.

“You were ready to send me to prison? For what?” he snapped. “I deserve to know.”

Mansur turned away, not wanting to say anything. But Wentz was weak and frightened. He knew he’d fucked with the wrong equipment and the wrong people.

“It was his idea. I was prepared to pay my fines, lose my job, whatever.”

“Shut up,” said Mansur.

“Mr. Mansur, I believe, as an attorney, you are aware that Mr. Wentz has the right to speak in his own defense,” said Georgie. “I, for one, would like to hear what he has to say. Continue, Mr. Wentz.”

“I don’t know how, but he knew that I’d been arrested. Next thing I knew he was knocking on my door offering free legal services as long as I did something for him.” Mansur squirmed, slowly closing his notebook, his hand gently resting on the top. “We get stuff through here all the time that’s put out by G.R.I.P. I thought it would be easy to hack into. I was wrong.”

“Damn right you were,” frowned Sophia Ann. “In case you missed the fine print, Mr. Wentz, you tampered with, destroyed, and attempted to reverse engineer patented, copyrighted materials. We will be charging you and Mr. Mansur as an accomplice.”

“I’ve done nothing,” said Mansur.

“Bullshit!” yelled Wentz. “I won’t fall for you. You wanted that pathetic piece of shit you call a son to be able to track his ex because he thinks she destroyed his life. She reported him to the cops like they should have. His son killed a woman and her unborn twins in a hit-and-run. It was a murder for hire.”

“Shut up!” screamed Mansur.

“A murder for hire,” frowned Georgie. “Your son intended to kill Mrs. Samson.”

Mansur’s head popped up, surprised that she knew the names of the victims. He stared at the group around the table and then stood as if expecting they would allow him to leave.

“Not so fast, Mr. Mansur,” said the colonel. “You have committed multiple crimes, and you’ve been bold enough to do it within the Pentagon. I find that ballsy and stupid all at the same time. You will be placed under arrest by our military police and Pentagon security.”

“I’ll get out,” he said with confidence.

“You won’t get out any time soon,” said Georgie. “We’ll be filing charges as well. Of course, if you’d like to tell us where your son is, that could provide an excuse for leniency.”

“My son is innocent,” he said in a disbelieving tone.

“You know that he isn’t,” said Carl. “We all know that he isn’t.”

“Khloe Jones needs to show her face and meet with my son. She’s the cowardly one at this point. All he wants is a chance to tell his side of the story.” Georgie laughed so loud the entire room jumped.

“Cowardly? I think a man who kills a pregnant woman and runs is far more cowardly than a woman who leaves behind an alcoholic, violent killer of an ex. Ms. Jones is safe and happy in her new life. She has no reason to face your son. If he desires to prove his innocence, then have him step forward and tell his side of the story.”

“He won’t get a fair trial, you know that.”

“I know that because he ran, people will see him different. Had he stayed when he could have told his story years ago, the public might think differently of him,” said Georgie.

The MPs stepped into the room, securing Wentz and Mansur in handcuffs. As they left the room, Mansur turned to them.

“I’ll be out within the hour,” he smirked. “You won’t ever find my son.”

“Add harboring a fugitive to the list of charges,” smirked Georgie, nodding at Jill. “That should tie Mr. Mansur up for a few weeks. I’ll bet there are a few folks behind bars that would love to get their hands on you.”

Mansur stopped in his tracks, then started to speak and changed his mind. As he left with the MPs, Georgie smiled at Jill.

“He’ll be screaming for help by Tuesday,” smiled the woman.

“We need him to be screaming for his son,” said Aiden.

“Excuse me, sirs, ma’ams,” said Hunt.

“Sergeant, I’m so sorry. You’re free to go,” said Jill.

“Well, I think I might be of help to you. You see, I knew that the equipment should have worked, and I was so confident about it I wore a new device each time we met here.” Sophia Ann smiled at him.

“Thank you for having such confidence in our equipment,” she smiled.

“Yes, ma’am. My point is that I had it on the entire time we were in this room. If I’m not mistaken, you can track the conversations that I recorded over the last few days, including a conversation that Mr. Mansur was having in the hallway with someone.”

“Dude, you are so on our good side right now,” laughed Ham. He slapped the younger man on the back, laughing, and he choked, coughing it was so hard. “Sorry, brother. Don’t know my own strength sometimes.”

“It’s all good, sir.” He took off the device and handed it to Sophia Ann, who immediately went to work on the recordings. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Hunt? When do you get out?” asked Carl.

“A little over a year, sir.”

“Call us when you do. If you’re interested,” said Carl.

“Interested? Sir, I’d have to be deaf, dumb, blind, and stupid not to be interested. I am more than interested.” The colonel laughed, shaking his head at the group.

“Captain Morgan? Nice job. Let’s meet tomorrow if the weather allows us to get into the office. For now, get home before you’re socked in here.”

“Yes, sir,” she nodded.

Morgan walked the team back to their exit and waited for them to button their coats.

“Be safe driving out there. It’s a mess,” she said, smiling.

“I can’t thank you enough, Jill,” said Georgie, hugging the other woman. “If you ever need us, don’t hesitate to call. We could always use another lawyer on our team.”

“Don’t screw with me, Georgie,” she laughed. “I could use a change of scenery, and my contract ends in June.”

“Then come and see us soon,” she said, hugging the other woman.

“Thanks for everything, Morgan,” grinned Ham. “Come see us, and you can babysit the triplets.”

“Pre-teen terrors? No thanks. I’ll stick to criminals,” she grinned. “Be safe out there, everyone.” Carl grinned at her, shaking his head.

“That’s always our intent, rarely our outcome.”