Additionally, TJ ordered some Fiverr gigs. Fiverr is a web based service where you can hire people to perform various services for five bucks. In this instance, he arranged for the YouTube url to be tweeted to over a hundred thousand followers with the hash tag, 'Federal Agents Go Rogue'.
To add insult to injury, the names of the agents were annotated to the video thanks to the information provided by Detective McKee at the church.
Charles Parker shook his head and said, "Oh, shit." Miss Moore looked as though she was about to burst at the seams.
The unnamed man in the corner said, "You don't know the trouble that you've caused."
"Then you shouldn't have fucked with me." I turned and left the room.
August 1975 New York City
"There was nothing unusual about my childhood, Doc."
It had taken weeks for Price to find a therapist beyond his social circles. He was highly skeptical. Patient confidentiality and all that crap. He didn't buy it for a minute. People talk.
"Price, we have to start somewhere. The homosexual thing, personally, I don't consider that a problem. Young men, very young men, boys even, that's another story." Doctor Abraham Baron Cohen M.D., Ph. D., was a Jewish, liberal, progressive, Manhattan East Side therapist. Heavy hooded eyes, hooked nose, ruddy complexion, combined with a penetrating stare.
The dinner with Simon Jones had scared the living daylights out of Price. Initially, he had no idea what course to take. For several nights sleep failed to come to him. Sophia, his wife, was concerned that something terrible was happening. Price assured her that it was merely the pressures from work.
"What can I tell you? My boyhood in many ways was near idyllic. I did well in school, ran with a popular crowd, played football, and did a stint with the school plays. I'm the oldest of four; I have two brothers and a baby sister. We got along okay."
A few days passed and he gathered his wits about him. Jones had given him a name. Someone to vouch for him. He called his cousin who worked with a large international bank. "Jeremy, I'm looking into someone's background. I was told to contact this guy, LaVache, Jean Pierre LaVache. French financier if I'm not mistaken."
His cousin got back to him two days later. "You're absolutely right. LaVache is a financier, lives in France. Does huge international deals. I spoke to a few people that have dealt with him, both personally and professionally. The guy’s reputation is golden."
Doctor Baron-Cohen interrupted his thoughts. "What about your father?"
"You could say that he was a little distant. He wasn't particularly difficult or mean for that matter. Not a warm person."
The next step was to contact this LaVache. It was unfortunate, but in person was out of the question. A phone conversation was his only option. "Mr. LaVache, my name is Alexander Koch. One of the Deputy Directors at the Guggenheim in Manhattan."
"Yes, Monsieur Koch, how may I be of assistance?"
"We have some mutual acquaintances. They speak highly of you. The purpose of this call is a character reference for Simon Jones. Please keep in mind that anything that you share will be kept in strict confidence."
"He is an escroc, a crook."
For a moment Price was speechless. Then, "Anything else Mr. LaVache."
"Oui. He is the most trustworthy man that I know. His word is his bond. Also, in a business arrangement, Simon will go out of his way to protect his associates. He is fidele to the extreme. Is there anything else Monsieur?"
"No. You have put my mind at ease. If I can ever be of assistance, feel free to call upon me. Thank you for your time, Mr. LaVache."
Price opened his eyes and peered at the ceiling. "The fact is that I had very little contact with either my mother or father growing up. There was a lot of money in the family. Both of my parents were usually involved in one thing or another."
Price agonized for days about what he should do. The people that he was familiar with in the business world were absolute whores. They wouldn't think twice about jeopardizing some grandmother's pension fund in order to make a buck. Now, here he was considering working with a professional thief.
Doctor Cohen broke into his reverie. "How did this make you feel?"
"It didn't make me feel anything. It was the only life that I knew. The only life that any of my friends had."
In the end, Price opted to trust Simon Jones. He weighed all of the options including going to the police. The conclusion was that would only end in disaster. His secret would come out. The truth, he admitted to himself, was that he liked Simon. As odd as it sounded, even to him, Jones had integrity. Maybe something about that old adage about 'Honor among thieves'.
He decided to take Jones' suggestion to heart. Price loved his family; Sophia was wonderful; he adored his children. Why throw it all away on some perversion. Yes, he would get some help. Maybe this could work out after all.
"One last question for today, Price."
"Yes, Doctor."
"When did you become interested in young men?"
My big discovery
Larry met me in the foyer and I thanked him for his help.
"No problem, P. Do me a favor, though. Be careful, you don't want to mess with these people. They play dirty."
"So do I. Send me the bill." I thought for a moment. "Did you get pictures of them, including Mr. No Name?"
Larry's computer is rigged with high tech surveillance equipment. "Sure did."
"Send them to TJ."
I'm walking down the stairs. Uncle Moe is right there beside me.
"I see you managed to give TJ my instructions."
"Aye, lad. Trust everything went according to plan."
"Too early to say, Uncle. We'll just have to wait and see." I stepped out into the cool evening air. Overcast. Might rain.
It was more than a couple of hours. More like six. Nevertheless, Kelly was parked outside waiting for me.
"Waiting long?"
"Not really. TJ called about half an hour ago. What's the next move?"
"Connor."
Back home Kelly made some sandwiches. I grabbed two Bass Ales from the fridge. Set the laptop up on the kitchen table. Put a CD into the player. Kato spun in a few circles and sat at my feet.
It was time to get Connor involved. I was playing catch up and the only way to get in front of this situation was to learn the identities of the players.
Louis Armstrong's 'It's A Wonderful Life' started playing. I could hear rain hitting the roof.
The first step was to upload the surveillance videos, from both my home and City Hall to my Amazon S3 account. Amazon Simple Storage Service, hence the S3, allows for the storing and retrieving of data at anytime from anywhere.
Next, I set up a temporary wall at droneme. com. These walls require no registration and cease to exist after a prearranged period of time. My wall was set up with the tag ‘picker’ and was set to expire after twenty-four hours. I posted the url where the videos were stored on the Amazon S3 account.
I also posted the following message: 'identify players asap include aka'. Although I already had the names of the two feds, I was asking my brother to follow up with all known associates. Plus, I was looking forward to discovering who No Name was.
Conner checks the anonymous wall at least once per day. Hopefully, he could use his network to uncover what the hell was going on.
We started in on the sandwiches. I filled Kelly in what I just did. She said, "Tell me how you learned about your brother."
Up until now I've been reluctant to talk about him. What the hell. I relay the story about the solicitor in London calling me, being met at the airport by a very well dressed chauffeur, arriving at 150 Piccadilly and my introduction into the world of fine cigars.