Vengeance: A Reece Culver Thriller - Book 1 by Bryan Koepke Read Free Book Online

them in the rearview mirror.
    “We’re worse than G-men. Now mind your damn business, and take us were we want to go,” Crystal said, smiling at George. The cab pulled up to the curb in front of the FBI building, and Crystal stepped out. George reached over the seat to pay and joined her on the curb.
    “Are you having a bad day or something?” he asked, following Crystal into the lobby. She stopped, looking at the interior of the building. George caught up with her.
    “I’m fine, I just hate this town. It’s either six hundred degrees outside or raining cats and dogs.”
    “St. Louis is a fine town. Besides, a few days here will help you appreciate what we have back in Denver.”
    They went to the counter and signed in. The clerk asked to see two forms of official identification. Crystal looked at the man and he pointed to a posting of acceptable credentials. She read the list - “US Passport, Birth Certificate, Voters Registration Card, US Government ID badge, Social Security Card”.
    “Here use this,” George said sliding his Denver federal center Id badge and Social Security card toward the clerk. Crystal reached into her coat and found her badge and after a quick search located a Voters Registration card in her purse. The clerk signed them in and told them that Special agent Stephen Cox was waiting for them in the Dovetail conference room on the forth floor.
    Crystal and George stepped off the elevator each wearing blue and white visitors badges. George recognized Cox’s secretary Rhonda, and they followed her into a large room with a conference table, and fourteen blue chairs. At one end there was a computer desk beside a gray steel file cabinet with a red and white magnet in the center of the top drawer that read, “Classified.” Crystal took a seat next to George, who sat across from a stocky man with bushy gray hair and thick glasses, reminding her of Theodore Roosevelt. At the head of the table sat Special Agent Cox, the District Commander of the St. Louis FBI Organized Crime Task Force. He had a blond buzz cut and a gaunt face that she knew was a artifact left over from his days as a long distance runner. On the opposite side of the table sat three other men.
    “I’d like to thank everyone for coming to this meeting. I wanted to get all of you together so we all have the latest information. I’d like to go around the room and introduce everyone. On my right is St. Louis Chief Detective Mike Mobley,” Cox said referring to the man who resembled Teddy Roosevelt. “Across from him is George Kendall which all of you are acquainted with, and his assistant Crystal Thomas. Across from Crystal is Jim Messerman from the Tulsa branch of the FBI. Agent Messerman is an expert in illegal gambling operations, to his left we have Detective Ed Stevens from the Tulsa Police Department, and finally Nathan Hawk, our St. Louis–based federal prosecutor,” Agent Cox said.
    Hawk and Stevens looked like garden variety businessmen dressed in inexpensive blue suits that might have come from Sears or Pennys. Agent Messerman had deep set black eyes, high cheek bones, and jet black hair that he wore parted to one side. His business suit had a sheen to it making it looker more expensive than the others.
    “I brought you all here today to bring you up to speed on some new information we’ve obtained. During the past year Agent Messerman has infiltrated the operations of Sam Shanks, and we now have a dependable informant.”
    His secretary Rhonda dimmed the lights, and the projector screen at one end of the room lit up with a photograph of an elderly man. Crystal looked over, and saw her boss sneering at agent Cox in the dark.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, this is a picture of our latest asset, Owen Roberts,” Agent Cox said, motioning to Rhonda. The secretary carried in a large blue plastic tray covered in muffins, donuts, and tall cups of Starbucks coffee. Crystal smiled at Mike Mobley as his eyes followed the tray of food.