Goon - 19. Chapter 19

It was warm in the small, very plain room and Micah relaxed as much as he could in the cold, hard metal chair. The orange jumpsuit they made him wear was too tight across the shoulders, but he didn’t care all that much. It showed off his body quite well, and in the past three days he’d had plenty of opportunity to work back into his exercise routine within the small, isolated room of the juvenile detention facility.

Now they were back to the local FBI office, and in the small whitewashed interrogation room with its metal chairs, clinking chain restraints, and the obligatory one-way window where they could watch him. They’d done this for the two previous days, and today it had gone on for a bit longer. Leaving him in the room, chained to the chair, unable to do more than flex his muscles as he sat was supposed to be a ‘softening’ technique to get him to talk, but it had little effect on him so far.

The sound of the door opening got him to turn his head and he kept the smile off of his face as the older FBI agent came in to the room. Agent Donahue was an experienced agent. That was easy to tell from his demeanor. He’d also been Micah’s sole interrogator, spending two hours the first day trying to build a rapport with Micah and failing utterly.

“Micah Jason Jericho, do you know why you are here?” Agent Donahue said as he tossed a relatively thin file down on the table and sat in the chair opposite him. Micah turned his head to look straight forward, fixed his eyes on a point behind the agent, about eye level to the people watching from behind the one-way glass and he answered the question.

“FBI agents interrupted my boyfriend and I in the middle of a great round of sex and slapped handcuffs on me.” Micah said, allowing a little smile to appear on his face. That had been Corey’s idea. They’d even checked to make sure getting caught having sex wouldn’t be something either of them could be charged with as a crime. Lupo Security had stopped the agents at the front gate, and forced them to wait while the lawyers verified the warrants were real. That had given Micah and Corey plenty of time to get upstairs, stretch Micah’s lubed ass out, and then for him to sit on Corey in the middle of Corey’s bed.

The look on the agents’ faces just as they entered was priceless, and a fond memory for Micah.

“You should be careful about committing crimes when you know the FBI is coming to arrest you for murder.” Agent Donahue said.

“You should know better than to threaten a minor about crimes when no crime was committed.” Micah said, the chains on his hands rattling as he shrugged.

“For the record, you have been advised of your Miranda rights, correct?” Agent Donahue asked.

“Yes, I have.” Micah stated. “I refuse to answer any more questions until my attorney is present.”

“Micah my boy, you really don’t need an attorney.” Agent Donahue said kindly. “I told you, I think this is a crock of shit they’ve piled on you. If the pilot was helping to kidnap you and refused to set the helicopter down, your shooting him was justified.”

“I request my attorney be present for any continued questioning.” Micah stated.

“That’s the problem, you see.” Donahue switched tactics again. “No attorney is willing to represent you. They see you as damaged goods, especially with your real father rotting in jail for a similar crime.”

“I request my attorney be present for any continued questioning.” Micah said calmly, having been through this before, although the bit about his natural father was new, and he’d almost been tempted to respond, but that would be dangerous. He knew to answer no questions about the real reason why he was here, or the fabricated reason. Going on about the sex thing was borderline, but he always tried to open these ‘conversations’ by making them think he’d talk. Sure, they should have figured out the pattern by now, but it was still some fun in all this. “His name is Jefferson William Davis the Third. You can reach him at his office line at 404-555-5155 or on his cell phone at 404-555-5222.”

“He hasn’t returned any of our calls.” Agent Donahue stated and Micah smiled.

“Please, Agent Donahue, do not think me stupid enough to accept your lie.” Micah said with another grin. “I am curious about what lie you told to keep me from being present for my hearing that is required within 48 hours.”

“You are on suicide watch and under psychiatric evaluation.” Agent Donahue said. “We did contact your mother and step-father, but they refused to come down here to see you. It appears they are as afraid of you as they are afraid of your father.”

“Damn that almost hurts.” Micah said after he couldn’t control the wince that crossed his face or the dip in his smile. “A year ago I would have actually believed that statement.”

“Let’s talk about the events that occurred on the…” Agent Donahue went back to his questioning and Micah basically tuned him out until the man stopped talking.

“I wish my attorney, Jefferson Davis to be present for any further questioning.” Micah said and then he grunted. “I wonder if he really is related to the man who was President of the Confederacy?”

“He is.” Donahue griped as he picked up the file while standing up and walking out of the room. Following past patterns, they would have uniformed guards come in and unchain him from the chair before escorting him back to the waiting van.

After two hours he was still flexing the muscles of his body to keep them from getting too relaxed and there was no sign of the guards. When the door opened he got a surprise to see two big men in black private security outfits walk in to the room. They had automatic rifles across the front of their vests, and wore patches that identified them as belonging to De. That gave him a clue as to the identity of the woman wearing a dark business suit that came in a moment later.

“Do you know who I am?” The older woman asked. Her skin was well cared for, and Micah thought he could detect hints of some plastic surgery around her eyes, and her lustrous brown hair had to come from a bottle, but the overall effect was a stunning woman well into her middle age. She was also fit, without a hint of fat on her body.

“I do not know.” Micah said flatly.

“Can you guess?” She asked.

“I can guess.” Micah answered with a little half-smile and she frowned.

“I was warned you were an irritating young man.” She snapped at him.

“That is a phrase I’ve heard a lot of over the years, Mrs. Kilgore.” Micah answered without changing his expression.

“Things would have been so much easier if you hadn’t gotten yourself involved in business that you had no right being involved with.” She snapped again.

“Ma’am, there are probably recording devices in here.” Micah warned her. “Do you really want to discuss these matters where others might learn of them? I doubt the world would like to know that you’ve had a sixteen year old kidnap victim arrested on false charges, or that you were behind the original kidnapping.”

“Oh please, the FBI agents you are dealing with are fully aware of what is going on here.” She snapped at him. “They have turned off the recorders and sent the real Atlanta agents home for a short vacation. Do yourself a favor. When Donahue comes back, admit to murdering the pilot. You will be sentenced as an adult and spend the rest of your life in prison, but we’ll make sure it’s a nice prison, not one of the bad ones. Keep your mouth shut there and you’ll be able to live a long life.”

“No thank you.” Micah said calmly.

“You should know your pretty little boyfriend is also under arrest for conspiracy and abetting murder.” She told him. “If you both cooperate, you will be in prison together, maybe even cell mates where you can have your perverted fun with each other. Poor Senator Howard, I’m afraid the calls for his resignation are already mounting and he’s not even out of the hospital yet. It seems his citizens aren’t happy with a man who has a perverted homosexual for a son, and a murderer for his son’s boyfriend.”

“How convenient.” Micah said.

“Did you know there’s a video tape of you trying to steal things from a Catholic school store?” She asked with a tsking sound. “Even the Catholics are riled up over you.”

“That tape sure has come in convenient over the years.” Micah said with a sigh as he closed his eyes for a moment. It was hard to maintain his calm when her words were having exactly the desired effect on him. Corey in prison was bad enough, but the fate of the Senator, being brought down because of him was even worse. Only, there was a voice in his head that sounded a lot like Mrs. Howard reminding him that it wasn’t his fault, that it was this woman across from him that was doing all this.

“So what public excuse are you giving for showing up here and talking to me?” Micah asked.

“I’m not here and won’t ever be recorded as being here.” She said flatly. “The message I received told me a lot about you. Trasker of that future pulled up your entire file and transmitted it with his warnings about Howard’s taking over the project and how we were dissolved and then rendered powerless by that Supreme Court. We’ve made sure that will never happen now, and it’s on to just cleaning up a few loose ends.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t just send people to kill me.” Micah said.

“That was the original intent, after you’d been convinced to tell us everything you knew.” She said with a shrug. “Now though, it is unnecessary and we have to work within some of the legal framework. Just don’t expect to live long in prison if you don’t cooperate with us. It won’t be too difficult to find someone willing to eliminate you in a federal facility. Until then we will just keep you from having any contact with anyone not in our employ.”

“It’s going to be hard to have a trial for me when I’m not there and my attorney’s not representing me.” Micah countered.

“I’m afraid Jefferson Davis will be too busy arranging his own legal defense to help with yours.” She said with a shake of her head. “Fortunately for you, I have a friend who is an attorney and will represent you. He can tell the court that you have declined your right to be present during the trial. I promise the judge won’t mind and since the media will be banned from the courtroom, they won’t know any better. After all, you are going to be tried as a minor, and there are rules to protect minors. Too bad you won’t live to see your twenty-first birthday.”

“Let me guess, you arranged for Senator Howard’s accident, the one that killed Judge Englefield.” Micah said with a frown.

“We’d hoped we’d manage to kill both of them, but at least the more dangerous one didn’t survive.” She said with a theatric sigh. “Howard we can deal with in the realm of politics and scandals. Before the New Year has even started he’ll be forced to resign and live out the rest of his life in political obscurity with his youngest son in prison.”

“You know, if I didn’t already dislike you, I’d be tempted to hate you.” Micah said with a frown on his face. “It’s not bad enough for you to go around killing people and trying to have me kidnapped but you have to take out the people I care about? Why?”

“This isn’t personal.” She said flatly. “We won’t stand for De to be dissolved, for whatever reason, and we sure as hell will not stand to have our companies lose their legal rights. We cannot let that Supreme Court decision happen. Therefore we will take out those responsible and we will take over the government long enough to put more of our people in place in key agencies. Enough of them have been rooted out over the last few years that we will need to make sure the bureaucracy is full of our people instead of just enough in key positions.”

“That seems like quite a conspiracy.” Micah stated and she frowned at him.

“Don’t try to sound smarter than you are, boy.” She snapped at him. “You’re just a hired goon like those two standing over there. You’re nobody and if you ever thought you were more, it is time to disabuse you of that notion. Now, consider your options carefully. You have two minutes to decide your fate.”

“If I am nobody, why am I being given a choice?” Micah asked. “Why not just give me orders and expect me to obey them?”

“You have been resistant to orders from Agent Donahue.” She stated.

“But you’re the boss, aren’t you?” Micah asked.

“I’m the one who will be handling this issue, yes.” She agreed. “I have people I answer to as well, though.”

“Ah, so you’re not the boss of bosses.” Micah said with a hint of sadness.

“I’m the boss you need to worry about.” She snapped. “The committee is nothing of your concern. Now decide. Will you cooperate or do we do this the hard way?”

“Why should I cooperate if the only thing I get out of it is a minimum security prison?” Micah asked. “The Howards gave me forty million and a cute bubble butt to fuck.”

“What?” The look of shock on her face was priceless, and Micah let a little bit of a smile show on his face.

“Don’t tell me you fell for that little falling in love routine that was for the public.” Micah said with scorn in his voice. “I mean, c’mon, the kid’s a decent cocksucker, and he’s got a nice ass to fuck, but the real clincher of the deal was the forty million I got in that trust fund. I had no idea I’d get a sweeter deal going back in time like this, but it’s been worth the effort. Last time all I got was a bum rap, a get out of jail free card, and half a million in a numbered Swiss account.”

“Your loyalty to the Howards was out of money?” She asked with a hint of disbelief.

“Don’t forget the piece of ass.” Micah said with a grin. “I hate having to work for a living, and being a goon for the rest of my life wasn’t looking really good. Spending time in jail isn’t looking good either.”

“Are you saying if I offer you money, and someone to have sex with, you’ll work for me?” She asked with a frown.

“I’m sure I can find a decent piece of ass without your help.” Micah answered confidently. “You’ve already seen what I can do. Your man, the one who identified himself as Burke was good, but I still got him in the end.”

“Not before he managed to kill the pilot.” She snapped.

“The red-head was being squeamish.” Micah shrugged.

“I will have to discuss this with others.” She said with a frown as she stood up. “If we agree that we can use you, what do you have to offer?”

“There are things in my head you don’t know, and that can still help.” Micah started his offer with that, hoping it was vague enough. “More than that, there are a few skeletons rattling in the Howard closets that will help you. All I want is another forty million and a one way pass out of the country. Let me settle somewhere else and I’ll be out of your hair forever, once I’ve given you everything I know.”

“Just like that?” She asked and Micah nodded. “I don’t know if we will want you to leave the country.”

“Then I get to settle in a big city and enjoy my money.” Micah said with a very direct look.

“I thought you cared about the Howards.” She replied with a little smile.

“So did they.” Micah said with an answering grin. She nodded before walking out of the room with her goons right behind her. To his surprise, one of the uniformed correctional officers came in about five minutes later and unchained him without saying a word. Micah grinned at the reflective one-way glass and rubbed his wrists where the shackles had been a little tight.

“You’re a downright bastard.” Agent Donahue said as he walked in with a large coffee and several muffins, including Micah’s favorite apple cinnamon. Micah just smiled at him as he took the coffee and began to munch on the muffin. It looked like Kilgore was going to take his offer seriously.

“Thanks for the food.” Micah said. “It’s good. So how did they get you to work for them?”

“I made the mistake of not reporting something I saw that happened overseas.” Donahue grunted, surprising Micah with his forthright answer. “At least I’m not betraying people for money.”

“I learned the hard way that doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing isn’t the best thing to do.” Micah said with a shrug and the man frowned as he tried to unravel the statement. “If you’re going to betray your principles and beliefs, it’s better to do it for money than to be blackmailed into doing it. At least this way you get rich.”

“I’ve interrogated you for the last three days.” Donahue stated. “I was quite certain that you were holding back because you believed you were in the right.”

“They are in the right, not Kilgore, but I was just holding out for the right offer, and the right person to be able to make me that offer.” Micah said flatly. “I am curious about a few things, though.”

“Like what?” Donahue asked as he crossed his arms. “The recorders aren’t turned on right now.”

“I know that.” Micah said with a grin. “What I’m curious about are those fake ID’s the kidnappers had. They looked like the real thing.”

“They were the real thing.” Donahue said with a grunt. “They blackmailed me into working for them, but there are several people in the FBI who do it for money, or because they’re just loyal to them for whatever reason. Those ID’s were produced by the same people that make real FBI badges. Same thing with how we got assigned to your case, and the evidence got shifted around. They had us investigating the whole thing and the medical people are theirs as well. It was they who falsified the report on the pilot’s body saying it was a bullet from your gun that killed him when it was really the .38 that was found on the scene.”

“So they can easily make it be the gun that Corey had and blame him for the murder instead of me.” Micah said with a nod. “That’s good. He can go to prison and I’ll stay free, maybe testify that it was him that shot the guys and I was forced to go along.”

“That is one way to shape the story.” Donahue looked completely unhappy at that prospect and Micah almost felt sorry for him. He was being forced into betraying his principles, and Micah suspected the agent might know how that felt. “It might even hold up if presented in the right kangaroo court. It’d have to be a different one than here, though. That damn judge isn’t in their pocket and keeps making trouble. We just got an order an hour ago to have you in court for a hearing later this afternoon.”

“Then I’ll be getting my money.” Micah predicted with a smile. “If it’s a judge they don’t control, it’d be too great a risk to let me talk.”

“Kid, you don’t know the fire you’re playing with here.” Donahue snapped. “Do you think these people will hesitate to have you killed on your way there? I watched you talking to that woman. They tried to have a US Senator killed!”

“They’ve done more than that.” Micah said with a shrug. “The thing is, they understand business, and this is a business transaction. My loyalty is up for sale, and right now they can be the highest bidder.”

“You don’t think they’ll worry about someone coming along and outbidding them?” Donahue snapped. “People like me they are certain about so I’m not a danger to them. You, well you’re a danger if you trade loyalties so easily.”

“I’m not that stupid, Donahue.” Micah snapped. “There’s a time to stay bought just like there’s a time to let yourself be bought out. The Howards are too nice and lack the cruelty of people like Kilgore. They’ll go down and go down hard, but Kilgore and her type would make sure that if they go down, I’ll go down with them. The Howards won’t do that, so it’s safe to sell them out. Crossing Kilgore though, now that would be a good way to end up dead, so I’ll just stay bought and in her pocket.”

“How the hell did a kid your age get so cynical?” Donahue asked in disbelief.

“You’d be surprised at how nasty military boarding schools can be at times.” Micah said with a sarcastic tone. “I learned real quick to watch who had the power and who didn’t. Then I put myself on the right side. In there, the red-haired slut was the best way to do that.”

“You really are a mercenary, aren’t you?” Donahue shook his head. “People like you make me sick.”

“Just be sick in another room.” Micah said as he finished up the muffin. “These were really good and I’d hate to smell vomit in here.”

“I’d wish you luck, but I don’t think you deserve it.” Donahue said as he stood up and left the room. Micah just shook his head and kept his smile to himself for the moment.

“Hello again.” Kilgore said as she came back into the room and Micah nodded at her before she sat down. “Did you enjoy the food?”

“Yes, the food in lock down sucks big time.” Micah answered.

“Donahue thinks you are a disgusting creature only interested in who can pay you the most.” She said with a little laugh.

“Poor guy.” Micah shrugged. “I’m heartbroken to break his good opinion of me.”

“We’ll give you twenty million and you can live in New York.” She said as he face switched into ‘business’ mode. “You will have to testify against the Howard boy according to the script we give you. We also need to neutralize the other Howard boy as well.”

“Charge him with statuary rape and having sex with a minor under eighteen.” Micah suggested with a shrug. “I’ll testify he and Corey took turns having sex with me all summer and that their mother and father paid me off with expensive gifts to keep me silent.”

“You are an inventive young man.” She said with a smile. “If you can convince Donahue like you did over the last few days, I believe we might be able to do business after all.”

“I broke down and told Donahue the truth, and those men who were in the helicopter really were FBI.” Micah suggested. “They were investigating a series of allegations about Corey’s sexual predations at Huntsville. He’s been known to force several young men into sex with him, not just me. I can give you a list of names too, and phone records where Senator Howard called me to get me to force them to stay silent.”

“This would ruin him politically, forever, and get him locked away, as well as his wife and both of his children.” She nodded.

“Forty million and New York is fine.” Micah said grimly. “Not a penny less. You’ll be in the White House instead of Howard and you’ll be able to keep Trasker’s project a secret.”

“That would be helpful.” She agreed. “The key thing is how we can trust you.”

“Put a couple of goons like those guys on me so that if I get out of hand, you can have me taken care of right away.” Micah said with a shrug. “I won’t try to slip away from them or hide from them. If I do, you assume I’ve gone rogue and you have me taken out. They better not be squeamish about ‘guy on guy’ sex though. I’m not going to be celibate.”

“You are disgusting.” She said with a frown and a shiver.

“Yes, but I’m yours for the right price.” Micah offered with a leer and she shivered again.

“How did you ever fool the Howards?” She demanded.

“That’s the thing about guys like me.” Micah stated. “I’m not all that smart. I know that, and so do other people, but then they start to dismiss whatever brains I do have and the next thing you know, they’ve forgotten I can do more than grunt and follow simple instructions.”

“I like your suggestions about the sexual charges.” She said after studying him for another long pause. “If those work, I think we can offer you the other twenty million. What about your family in Wyoming?”

“Keep them as far away from me as possible.” Micah said with a shiver. “I can’t stand them.”

“Your little brother seems quite taken with you.” She countered.

“Yeah, well, that’s his problem.” Micah said. “Like I just said, people underestimate me. I know how to act. I couldn’t stand spending time with them, any of them. That kid is a little whiny brat.”

“I see.” She laughed. “Maybe you should consider a career in Hollywood.”

“I thought people like you didn’t have much to do with Hollywood.” Micah said, showing some interest at that idea.

“You don’t know everything, Mr. Jericho.” She said smugly. “We have quite a few contacts throughout Hollywood. Don’t forget, Ronald Reagan was an actor.”

“Oh yeah.” Micah said with a frown. “Well, maybe L.A. instead of New York, but I’ve always wanted to see New York.”

“With forty million you can have apartments in both places.” She said with a laugh as she stood up, holding out her hand. “Are we agreed then? Twenty million now and twenty million after all of the Howards are in jail. You work for me and do what I tell you, when I tell you.”

“This is going to be so good.” Micah said as he reached out and shook her hand. She winced at the strength of his grip, but the interrogation room’s door slamming open drew her attention. Micah could see her two goons from earlier already up against the wall and a tall African-American man walking into the room. He had a wide grin on his face and was buttoning up his suit jacket as he looked at Micah.

“Well done, Mr. Jericho.” The man’s deep voice held a great deal of mirth. “You really are a good actor.”

“Thank you, Marshal.” Micah said with a grin as he released the woman’s hand.

“What is going on here?” Linda Kilgore demanded. “Who are you?”

“Ma’am, I am Zacharia Mason with the United States Marshal Service.” Agent Mason said in a grim voice. “What is going on here is that I am placing you under arrest for the attempted murder of Senator Howard, the murder of Judge Englefield, as well as a number of other charges that will be filed later.”

“What?” She almost shrieked and her eyes focused on Micah. “Surely you’re not going to believe whatever this boy has told you!”

“He won’t have to.” Micah said, reaching up to pull down his t-shirt. The wire that had been put on him this morning was quite visible and her face blanched. “You forgot in subverting the United States government that it is the Marshal Service that is tasked with protecting public officials, and can operate independently of other federal agencies.”

“You won’t get away with this.” She said viciously, but Micah just smiled as Agent Mason began to read the Miranda rights to her and she was handcuffed. He knew he wasn’t quite free yet, but he was going to be getting back to Corey soon enough.