Cassandra (Fells Point Private Investigator Series) Read online

  Cassandra

  By

  Denise Irwin

  Previous Books

  Non-Fiction

  The Pink Chestnut

  Fiction

  The Fells Point PI Series

  Johnny

  Alison

  Bartholomew

  Dedicated

  To

  Cassandra Carson

  Chapter One

  October 2001

  FBI Agent Cassandra Henson was in the middle of the tedious task of running background checks for a new defense contractor in Boston, when her boss interrupted her. Joe Schuman, Director of the Bureau’s Boston office stepped into her office cubical and asked, “Cassie when you get a free moment can I see you in my office?”

  Grateful for a break from the monotonous background checks, she told him, “Sure Joe, I’m free now if you need to see me. Just let me grab a cup of coffee. Can I get you one?”

  “If there’s any decaf, I’ll take it. My doc said I’m getting to old for coffee.” He chuckled. “Imagine that, I’m now a cop who can’t drink caffeinated coffee.”

  Cassie chortled, “Does that include donuts?

  “Yeah, no more donuts either.”

  “Gosh Joe, no coffee, no donuts, that’s pretty cruel. How does your doc expect a cop to work without the essentials?” She giggled, “If there’s no decaf, it’ll only take me a minute to run a pot through.”

  Cassie had to scrounge around the office kitchen to find a bag of decaf. While she watched the coffee drip into the glass pot, she wondered who would replace Joe when he retired. He was her first boss and she’d grown attached to him. Joe had put in his twenty years of service with the Bureau, so he was looking forward to his retirement. He’d told her often that every grey hair on his head was the result of worrying about his agents.

  While Schuman had worked hard to achieve his status of Director in the Boston office, he was a family man. Photos covered every horizontal surface in his office, along with those that hung on every inch of the walls. In 1999, this six-foot tall cop openly wept at the birth of his granddaughter, whom he tends to dote on. He refers to the photos as his Family Tree. In contrast, Cassie’s father worked long hours late into the night as a stockbroker. He rarely had dinner with his family and spent little time with his children. Joe left the office at a decent hour to spend time with his family.

  Cassie smiled at she entered his office with two cups in her hands, “Boss, this is your lucky day; I found the last bag of decaf.” She handed him his cup and then sat in the chair across from him. Joe’s position warranted that he have a corner office overlooking Scollay Square. His maple wood desk was three times the size of an agent’s cubby steel desk.

  “So, what’s up?”

  Schuman set his cup down on the desk blotter. Cassie thought he looked concerned or worried when he told her, “Hell, I hate asking you to do this, but the Director was so pleased with the job you did in Vegas, he’s asking that you to head up a team in Atlantic City. He’s heard rumblings on the wire that someone is threatening casino owners if the owner doesn’t join some group who wants the casino to launder money.”

  While she asked him, “Joe what do we know so far?” She wondered about that worried look on his face.

  “Not much. He believes it’s either a local group or some organization from across the pond, specifically Italy.”

  She shrugged her shoulder, “Sure, I’ll go, but I gotta ask with post 9/11, can you spare me?”

  “No I can’t; however, I don’t think I have a choice. I told the Assistant Director when he called that I couldn’t spare you at this time; however, he was adamant that the case be assigned specifically to you.”

  “Joe, you look worried about something. Are you going to tell me I’m going to work alone, without a partner?”

  “Cassie, I wouldn’t ever have you work alone. There’s an agent coming in from Oregon to partner with you.”

  “Okay, what do you know about this agent from Oregon?”

  “Nothing, fucking nothing, other than the Assistant Director told me he wanted this agent to work with you.”

  “Did you tell him that I was only half of the Vegas job? I worked with Private Investigator Marksman. The case was successful because of both of us, not just me.”

  “Cassie, trust me, I went that route, but the Assistant Director was adamant about this guy from Oregon.”

  “Do you know anything about this Oregon agent? I mean, what the fuck does some guy in Oregon know about money laundering? Do you at least have this guy’s name?”

  Joe shuffled through a stack of papers on his desk. “I wrote it down. I think it was Bruce something or other. Here it is, Bruce Grossman. He’s 28 years old. That’s it. That’s all I have on him.”

  “Joe, that ain’t much to go on. Can we pull up his profile on your computer? I’d like to get a look at this agent.”

  “According to the Assistant Director, Grossman’s profile has been classified as Top Secret, access is granted on a need to know basis. He told me that I didn’t need to know. He was working on a case that required that his profile was only accessible to the boys in D.C. Someone brought him back to the States, to work on this one.”

  “So, are you saying I’m going to be working with James Bond?”

  In a firm, serious voice, Schuman answered her, “Cassie, the Assistant Director is my boss, and he told me he wants this Grossman on the job. Apparently, Grossman worked his way through college working in casinos. The Assistant Director thinks that qualifies his working the case.”

  Cassie shook her head, “Joe, I’ve worked for you for a long time, this stinks and you know it. That’s why you have a worried look on your face. You know nothing about an agent that you’re sending me off to work with.”

  Schuman knew she was right, but he was in a bind. Unfortunately, he was not at liberty to share with his agent just what that bind was.

  “Look, when the Bureau’s Director gives me a directive, it is my job to carry out that directive.”

  Cassie wasn’t happy with that answer, but she knew her boss was right. Chain of command was important if you wanted to stay employed with the Bureau, which meant Schuman had handed her a directive to work with some yokel, neither of them knew anything about. She’d worked with assholes in the past, and Joe knew it. She had to put her trust in Joe’s directive, he’d never let her down in the past and it wasn’t likely that he’d let her down on this case.

  “Will I get to meet him first?”

  “Yes, that was the only requirement Washington approved. He’s flying into Boston tomorrow. Bring Brutus with you to the office tomorrow morning. Your mutt is a good judge of character.”

  “Thanks for that Joe. I guess we’ll know more tomorrow.”

  Cassie Henson and her Rottweiler, Brutus, had undergone canine training together. He was now her partner in investigating cases. If he couldn’t go with her, she wasn’t going. Brutus had saved her life in a Vegas case. As she left Joe’s office, she was feeling anxious about this case before it began. Something that she couldn’t put her finger on smelled like rotting fish that left a foul taste in her mouth.

  When Cassie and Brutus arrived at work Tuesday morning, she found a young man sitting at the table in the office kitchenette. She assumed he was the new agent she’d be working with, so before speaking with him, she went about making coffee giving her a chance to get a good look at him. Brutus was not permitted in the kitchen, so he sat quietly just outside the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she sized this young man up. He was shorter than the average male agent was. Cassie estimated that he stood about five
-foot eight-inches tall. He had thin greasy straight blonde hair that looked as if it could use a good washing. He wore a cheap suit and his worn out shoes were notable. If Cassie asked to see the soles of his worn out unpolished shoes, she was certain that she’d find holes where his socks stuck through. She found it hard to believe that this person sitting here could possibly be an FBI Agent.

  Cassie suddenly realized she was assuming that the man sitting in the kitchen was her new partner. It could very well be that he’s just some guy waiting to talk with one of the other agents. She told herself that she was getting too paranoid about working with someone she didn’t know.

  She chided herself. Where the hell had her manners gone?

  “Good morning, I’m Agent Henson can I help you with something?”

  “Agent Henson, I’m Agent Bruce Grossman. I just flew in this morning. I’ve be asked to work with a Boston Agent. There wasn’t anyone in the office when I came in, so I thought I’d wait in the kitchen.” Grossman chuckled. “I figured that the first place a cop headed was the kitchen for coffee. I grabbed a box of donuts at the airport. They’re on the counter.”

  Oh my fucking word. I’ll be working with this agent. Cassie calmed down a bit and told herself it was too early to judge him. He might turn out to be a valuable partner. She shrugged off her early dislike for him.

  “Well Agent Grossman, I’m sure those donuts won’t last long in the kitchen so thank you for bringing them with you. Can I offer you a cup of coffee and one of your donuts?”

  “Please. I take my coffee black.”

  Cassie poured Grossman a cup of coffee and then set the donut box on the table. “I believe you’re looking for me.” She put her hand out to shake his hand as a sign of welcome. When Grossman did not take her welcome gesture, she blew it off as some germ phobia.

  Grossman gruffly asked her, “Are you planning to bring that dog that’s sitting near the door?”

  Cassie smiled at him. “Yes. Brutus goes everywhere I go. He’s my partner. You’ll find that he’s well behaved.”

  Bruce glared at her, “I’m sorry to tell you that he will not be joining us.”

  In a condescending voice, she told him, “I see. Well then, Agent Grossman, neither will I. I just told Joe Schuman; if Brutus doesn’t come with me, I’m not working on this case. Brutus has accompanied me on my undercover work. I’m not about to leave him, so if you insist that he not work with me that translates into, if there’s no Brutus, there’s no Cassie.”

  One of her coworkers excused himself as he ducked into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. He shot out of the kitchenette like a bullet.

  Director Shuman had been standing outside the door listening to their conversation. It pained him to think about the conversation that he’d need to have with Cassie when he heard her speak in a condescending voice to the person who would be her partner in the investigation. When she spoke to Grossman, she talked down to him as if he were some grade school child. Joe was not at all pleased with his agent’s elitist attitude this morning. Regardless of her personal feelings for the agent, Joe expected his agents to behave professionally. He walked into the kitchen to meet Agent Grossman.

  “Agent Grossman, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Joe Shuman.”

  “Director Shuman it’s a pleasure to meet you. Agent Henson just told me she’s planning to bring her dog. I was just explaining to your agent, that I don’t want her to bring some mutt on this investigation.”

  “Well Bruce, I’m sorry if we caught you off guard with the dog. Brutus is a member of the Bureau’s canine division. He is Agent Henson’s partner. I certainly don’t want to get this investigation to start on a bad note, but if you insist she can’t bring her dog with her, I’ll need to make a call to Washington for approval.”

  Grossman immediately backed down. “Fine then, but remember I’m the lead in this case.”

  Cassie looked to Joe to respond.

  “That’s what I’ve been told. Cassie will follow your lead. She knows what she’s doing, so I would advise you that as the lead, you should draw on her resources.”

  “Of course I intend to use them to the fullest.” Grossman looked at Cassie’s chest with a smirk on his face that turned Cassie’s stomach to ice. What in God’s name, did Grossman mean with that statement?

  Grossman sneered at her when he asked Schuman, “When do we leave? I’m anxious to get this job going.”

  “Bruce, while the Marshals are preparing Cassie’s new ID, I’d like to take a moment for the three of us to discuss how this investigation will unfold. I have no intention of sending one of my field agents out to work on an investigation without a solid operational plan.”

  Grossman indignantly stated, “Fine.”

  Cassie had worked with Schuman long enough to know his anger was just below the boiling point. She was secretly hoping that Grossman pissed him off and Joe could pull her from the case.

  “Bruce, I understand you were chosen for this case as a result of your work history in Atlantic City. The New Jersey Bureau rented a fully furnished house where the two of you will live for the duration of this investigation. I have a list of casinos that reported they received threats by unknown persons to launder money. Each of you will obtain jobs in the casino business preferably with one of the targeted casinos or a delivery business that delivers products to one of the targeted casinos. We need evidence that will stand up in Court as to who is behind the threats. Am I making myself clear?”

  “Yes Director Schuman, you are with one exception. I still own the house I grew up in; my uncle, who is the Assistant Director in Washington, DC, thought it worked better since I grew up in Atlantic City. People there know me. If I were to move into a different house, it would raise a great deal of suspicion.”

  “I was not made aware of that.”

  “My uncle told me the details of this case were on a Need to Know Basis. It may very well be that he didn’t think you needed to know.”

  Cassie was speechless, she’d never heard such a thing as a need to know basis by Washington. She looked at Joe for some indication of what he was thinking, but there was nothing. He sat at the table with a poker face.

  “Bruce, can you please give Joe and me a moment to speak?”

  He sneered at her, “Of course I can, as long as you promise not to talk about me behind my back.”

  Cassie smiled at him, “Bruce, Joe, and I need to review what I’ve been working on so another agent can pick up where I left off.”

  “That sounds reasonable; so, I’ll take a walk around the building.”

  When he left the room, Cassie closed the door and looked at her boss, “Joe, what the fuck is going on here? I’ve got a really bad feeling about this guy. Did you look at his clothes? Tell me what the hell this need to know basis thing is, and did I just hear him refer to the Assistant Director as his uncle?”

  “Cassie, based on what I was told, Grossman’s profile was removed from the database when he did some undercover work in Iran. I don’t know what that means. The Assistant Director said they are going to send him back once this case is closed. You know my cell phone number, so, if this thing goes to hell in a hand basket, call me and I’ll send in the Calvary. Washington has my back against the wall. The Bureau is after a big fish and they believe you can catch it. Can you work with me on this one? Have I ever let you down?”

  She had to admit he had never left her ass swinging alone in the breeze. “Joe, his clothes are all wrong.”

  “Come on Cassie, maybe he’s getting into his undercover role. I don’t know much about him, but I do know that Washington believes that you can get the job done. I can’t agree more with you that this guy appears to be an asshole, but we’ve worked with a lot of assholes in the past, haven’t we? Cassie, Grossman’s just an egomaniac. Don’t think for a minute that I’d ever allow anyone to put your life at risk”

  Cassie’s head had spun out of control. Joe was probably right. If Grossman was an egomaniac, she cou
ld adjust her thinking and behavior to deal with it. Knowing that Joe had supported her on Brutus, she felt a bit better. She told herself that the sooner they finished the investigation the sooner she’d get home. Her mother always told her, ‘Hold your friends close. Hold your enemies closer.’ If Cassie believed herself to be professional, she needed to behave professionally. She told herself, this was just another investigation in a long line of investigations.

  When Grossman returned from his walk, Cassie’s attitude did a one-eighty. “Bruce, thank you for giving Joe and me a few minutes to review the workload I’m leaving behind.”

  “You’re welcome Cassie. Joe, are we all set?”

  “I’m just waiting for the Marshal’s Office to give me Cassie’s new ID. We’ve procured a car, which is sitting in the garage. Cassie is tomorrow too early for you?”

  “No, it’s not. I just need to pack my clothes and grab Brutus’ food. Agent Grossman what time do you want me to meet you?”

  When Grossman couldn’t tell her, Joe stepped in. “I’m going to let the two of you work out the schedule. I’ll go over to the Marshal’s office and collect Cassie’s new ID.”

  In the painful silence of the kitchenette, Cassie conceded to herself that she needed to change her attitude. If Grossman wanted to lead, as far as she was concerned, he could lead. Was her ego becoming a problem? She admitted to herself that it was more than a little possibility, which meant she needed to do her best as an investigator following his lead. If Grossman asked for her advice, she’d tell him honestly, what she thought. If he didn’t, she would manage herself appropriately, which meant to her, she’d probably end up eating a lot of crow. She'd been put in a position she didn't like, but what the hell, she told herself, she’d do just fine at keeping her opinions to herself.

  Cassie smiled sweetly at this piece of human waste standing before her. “So Bruce, what time would you like to leave in the morning?”