Mark backed away slightly. “Mr. Harrison? Don’t mess with him, Fawkes. Scares the shit out of me.”
Fawkes laughed. “Boot camp marine man? Yeah, but right now, I got his balls in a vice. Oh, man. My stepdad's gonna love seeing where his money went! The tuition? All the fees? It’s all transferred. It goes from the school account to this one. And look whose it is!”
“Wait,” said Violetta. “Mr. Harrison is stealing?”
“What’s stealing? Dumbass parents send them the money. Fix us and all that. He already stole it. But that’s not how the world works. I’ve seen my stepdad with his money. Taxes and shit. You have to do it right or the FEDs come down on you. You can go to jail, even. Mr. Harrison’s gonna be in a world of hurt if this gets out — which it’s going to!”
“Don’t!” said Violetta. “Fawkes, don’t. He’ll do something. The man is messed up or something.”
“Yeah,” said Mark. “Look man, this was fun, but I don’t want to end up somewhere worse than this. You get him in trouble, then what’s he gonna to do?”
Fawkes froze a moment in thought, a half-smirk on his face.
“Excellent points, friends. But it’s a crime to let this go. So, there’s only one option left. And I think it’s a much, much better option.”
“Get the hell out of here?” said Mark.
“No. Blackmail.”
SACKER Deposition 1
CBD: Will you please identify yourself for the record?
MR. SACKER: Tyrell Sacker, Detective, NYPD.
CBD: And your background? How long have you been with the NYPD?
MR. SACKER: Four years. I signed up after my Iraq tour. Promoted to detective two years ago, detective second-grade this year. Military service and cracking cases clears a lot of paperwork.
CBD: Congratulations to you, Mr. Sacker. Can you tell us how you came to know the defendant, Mr. Savas?
MR. SACKER: Professional interactions. I served as the point of contact between FBI and the NYPD on the kidnappings and murders by Anonymous.
CBD: How did that come to be?
MR. SACKER: I was on site at the bank kidnapping of Mitchell O'Kelly. Agent Cohen from Intel 1 led the FBI team. I worked with her and her division from that point on.
CBD: You worked exclusively with Intel 1? No other agencies at FBI?
MR. SACKER: That’s right.
CBD: Why is this? Why only Intel 1?
MR. SACKER: I’m not sure. With all the chaos, it was just easier to set up a clear protocol to pipe information back and forth between the agencies. Things seemed to fall into place. You know, it was all getting crazy and manpower was being sucked up for a hundred security cases and events. Ladner, my captain, barely had time to go for a piss. The setup was working, so why fix it?
CBD: So you were exclusively shuttling information from NYPD on the events to Intel 1?
MR. SACKER: That’s right.
CBD: Do you know whether they shared this information with other divisions?
MR. SACKER: I assume so.
CBD: But you have no evidence for that?
MR. SACKER: No. But why wouldn’t they?
CBD: Please take a look at these photographs. In your interactions with the FBI, did you ever come across either this man or this woman?
MR. SACKER: No. I don’t think so. Who are they?
CBD: Known terrorists. Francisco Lopez and Sara Houston. You might know them better as the Priest and the Whore.
MR. SACKER: [INAUDIBLE] Why would they be with the FBI?
[REDACTED]: I’ll be frank with you, Detective. You have been summoned to this tribunal to help us figure out some highly irregular actions on the part of the Intel 1 division led by Mr. Savas. It is for some of these actions that he is the subject of this inquiry.
MR. SACKER: Irregular?
[REDACTED]: Illegal. Treasonous.
MR. SACKER: No. I don’t believe that. These were good people. I didn't work day to day with them, but I interacted with them enough to see their dedication. Look, I don’t know what was going on, but they aren’t traitors.
[REDACTED]: But as you noted, you were not closely involved with them. You need to understand the seriousness of this inquiry, and the consequences for not being completely forthcoming.
MR. SACKER: What does that mean?
CBD: The site in Connecticut — how was NYPD involved?
MR. SACKER: That was a coordination between New York and local police, as well as FBI. Most of the victims were from the city financial district. We had been filling our offices with new case files on their disappearances. We had a pretty big stake in it. FBI helped bring some of us on board in Bridgeport.
[REDACTED]: But neither you nor the local police handled any evidence?
MR. SACKER: No, it was local and NYC FBI forensics teams. Mostly the New York guys, I think. They were much better equipped to do the work.
[REDACTED]: So NYPD never saw any of the alleged evidence?
MR. SACKER: Alleged?
[REDACTED]: Can you answer the question, please.
MR. SACKER: No. Like I said, the evidence was all handled by FBI. They kept us updated on the results.
CBD: You mean the Intel 1 division?
MR. SACKER: I don’t know whose forensics team was involved. I think the results were handled by that division, yes.
CBD: But Cohen kept you informed?
MR. SACKER: She did. I mean, with everything going down, it wasn’t like I had her piping information to me on an hourly basis! But all things considered, they were pretty good about keeping us in the loop.
[REDACTED]: But you knew nothing about the fugitives Lopez and Houston?
MR. SACKER: No, I didn’t.
[REDACTED]: Or about the Intel 1 division hacking into governmental agencies?
MR. SACKER: Sorry, what?
[REDACTED]: Or about the disappearances of the fugitives and the head of their cybercrimes division after these hacking events?
MR. SACKER: No! What are you talking about?
[REDACTED]: Would you characterize all the NYPD interactions with FBI in this case in a similar fashion?
MR. SACKER: I’m not following you.
[REDACTED]: The raid on the Anonymous group. The capture of the hackers. The hit on the warehouses and ship. NYPD had involvement, but is it not true that all evidence, all prisoners, all aspects of the case were tightly control by Intel 1?
MR. SACKER: Yes, but—
[REDACTED]: And in all of this, you would describe John Savas as masterminding all the activities at FBI during this crisis?
MR. SACKER: He was head of the division. I don’t think masterminding is a good word, but he—
[REDACTED]: Thank you, Mr. Sacker. We appreciate your time in this inquiry.