Secret Indiscretions (Sue Thomas FBEye)

Chapter Five

Due to summer road repairs and constructions, they arrived later than anticipated at the safe house. After spending the night and day driving with little sleep in between, they were tired and somewhat impatient. Jack and Bobby didn't particularly cared if they interrupted Pratt's supper, but the unsavoury character did, and refused to answer any question until after dessert. Only then, did he look at Carlos' picture.

"What if I know him, not that I do," he added with a smirk.

"Listen, Lester." Jack cornered him in the kitchen. "We know Forrester is protecting you, and frankly I don't care about you. I only want Carlos."

"And what's in for me?" he asked, shrugging complacently.

"Let me put it in terms you'll understand. You tell me what I want to know, I'll forget I ever talked to you." He glared at Pratt. "You don't, and I tie you to Carlos, your little deal won't be worth the paper it's written on," Jack swore.

"He cannot do that, can he?" Lester looked at Forrester. "You promised me a clean start."

"Technically, he could haunt you down for previous felony not related to the crime you are testifying in," Forrester informed him, not that he would let the FBI ruin his case.

"Then what if I decide not to testify?" he threatened.

"Then we're putting you under arrest, mate," Bobby said, taking his handcuffs from his pocket and advancing towards Pratt. "You have the right to remain silent, everything..."

"Okay." He lifted his hands up. "I will tell them about Carlos, but they don't stick anything on me, or I'm not talking," he said, looking straight at Forrester who exchanged a warning look with the agents.

"Then I suggest you tell the truth," Jack warned.

"Yah, well, it won't take long... Can you give me space?" Lester made his way to the table to sit.

"We're listening, mate."

"Like I said I don't know much. Carlos approached me a couple months ago. I didn't know him and was leery at first. You can never be too careful, you know."

Jack and Bobby glanced at each other in disbelief but remained silent.

"He got my name through a friend of a friend of a..."

"We get the idea, mate."

"Anyway, he had counterfeit money. Damned good imitation," he boasted, whistling at the memory. "Not sure how he got around some of the security features, but he did."

"So you bought it from him?" Jack assumed.

"Heck, no. I'm not into that business," he said, vehemently denying it. "He wanted contacts, so I introduced him to some people. He was very suspicious, not liking to use the same distribution network twice. So he kept me busy, coming to town weekly."

"And in exchange he gave you a hefty commission," finished Jack.

"I wouldn't say hefty, but it wasn't too bad. Hey, I needed to make a living," he protested when Jack and Bobby exchanged another look.

"We want the name of those contacts," Jack insisted, a pen in hand.

Each name that came out of Pratt's mouth was well known, and had already been investigated as potential distributor. Except they never found any evidence against them.

"What do you know about Carlos? Is it his real name?" continued Jack.

"Yes. He dropped his wallet once. I saw his name on his credit card. Carlos San... something." He racked his brain. "Or maybe Lan... something. He's Canadian. I know that for sure, because he mentioned where he was from once."