The Gilded Sanctum Read online

  Walker was envious that Mark was still working for the FBI, still solving crimes. He would read about him every once in a while in the newspaper. In recent years, in no small reaction to the public’s increased interest in missing persons cases, the FBI had updated its response protocol for missing children. Today, Lewis was part of the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) Team, which brought together federal, state, and local authorities for the quickest possible response to a child disappearance.

  These teams also coordinated with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which assisted the FBI with over 20,000 cases of missing children each year, most of those endangered runaways. NCMEC’s nationwide database was adrift with missing kids — disappearances never solved, children never found. Over 450,000 children were reported missing every year in the United States.

  It was a grim statistic, but the vast majority of those were family-related abductions or runaways. Only about 100 were referred to as stranger abductions, meaning a child had been taken by an unknown person. It was a small percentage, but just half of those were ever returned alive, so the odds of success were literally fifty-fifty. However, with the increasing ubiquity of cell phones and easy access to social media, today’s children were much more susceptible to predators. It was no longer just a stranger grabbing a child from a neighborhood street or waterfront park. Today’s world was much more dangerous.

  Walker approached the bench where Lewis was sitting. Mark Lewis, a black man, was in his mid-50’s now, but still looked good for his age. Always working out to maintain his athletic build, his chest was well-toned and his abdomen, even while sitting, was flat. His collared shirt revealed arms taut with muscles, and his closely trimmed black hair matched his dark sunglasses. He stared out at the water.

  “Great day to be in the park,” Walker chuckled.

  Lewis turned and smiled. “Indeed.”

  “So what brings you here? Just wanted to be out of the office on this beautiful day?” Walker asked jokingly.

  “How’s Nicole?” Lewis asked, ignoring Walker’s question.

  Walker sat down next to Lewis and looked straight ahead toward the Potomac River, boats meandering through the calm waters. “You know. Same. Haven’t actually spoken with her in a few weeks.”

  Lewis turned to his friend. “I’m sorry.”

  Walker shook his head. “Don’t be. It is what it is.”

  “Yeah, I guess it is.”

  “So what brings you here, Mark?” Walker inquired again of his friend.

  Lewis let out a long sigh. “What are you doing, Ryan?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What are you doing at Washington Academy?”

  “How did you know?” Walker asked, surprised.

  “Long story”

  “I have time.”

  Lewis chuckled and looked back toward the water. “I’m serious. Why are you there?”

  Walker took a long pause, considering his response. “Just some investigation for a client.”

  “Lorenzo Arcuri? His missing daughter?”

  Walker shook his head in disgust. He could feel the anger swelling up inside of him, so he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. How did Lewis know so much? He didn’t care to hear the answer.

  “I really gotta hand it to you guys. The FBI is relentless.” Walker took another deep breath, and then asked, “What do you need from me? You said it was urgent.”

  “I brought you here to warn you.”

  “Warn me? Of what?”

  “To stay as far away as you can from Washington Academy.”

  “What?”

  “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into here, buddy. No idea.”

  “Listen, my friend, I do appreciate the concern, but I can take care of myself.” Walker started to rise from the bench to leave.

  Lewis reached out and grabbed Walker by the arm. “They call it the gilded sanctum. Did you know that?”

  Walker paused, looking down at Lewis holding his arm. He pulled away, cocked his head, and smirked. “What?”

  “That’s what we call Washington Academy...the gilded sanctum.”

  “Catchy.”

  “It’s not catchy. It’s true. You just need to get underneath that thin layer of brilliance to see the truth.”

  “Scratch away the gold plating to reveal its secrets, huh?”

  “You’re a history buff, right? You remember the Gilded Age at the turn of the twentieth century? To the outside world, America looked phenomenal — industries were booming, factories were churning, and money was being made by the truckload — but beneath that glossy exterior was another world — one of greed and poverty and corruption.”

  “You know your history, Lewis.”

  “Just doing my research,” Lewis smirked, staring back out at the water. “But that’s Washington Academy, Ryan. That’s what you’re dealing with here. Beneath that shiny veneer is something very sinister.”

  Walker stared at Lewis for several beats before responding. “Well I have to say, for the FBI, that’s a pretty bold statement. Do you have any proof of that?”

  Lewis turned his body to face Walker, and Walker returned the gesture by tilting his head to listen. “All I can say is that Washington Academy has been the subject of an open inquiry for the past two years.”

  “On what grounds?”

  “You name it. White-collar crime, racketeering, public corruption, organized crime; the list goes on and on. You have no idea what we suspect them of being capable of. You really think you could be intimately involved with the elites of this country, both legal and illegal, and not try to pull some favor, make some deal, or have some hidden agenda? If you think about it, it’s actually the perfect cover — a private school for kids, with its hands in the pockets of the top one percent of this country.”

  “Interesting play. You can’t get anyone to talk to you? Anyone on the inside?”

  “Believe me, we’ve tried.” Lewis shrugged. “We’ve talked to every one of the security personnel multiple times over several years. They’ve been well-trained. Standard responses. Nothing more. I’m sure the weak ones are weeded out quickly, and they wouldn’t know anything anyway. You obviously have to prove yourself before you’re given any important information. It’s like a military operation in there.”

  “Yeah, I’ve seen it first—hand.”

  “You’ve been to their underground bunker?”

  “Good name for it. That’s where I was when you called.”

  Lewis leaned in. “Then you know what I mean. That academy has more cameras than most small cities. With that kind of security apparatus, nothing happens there without them knowing about it. Someone knows what happened to Arcuri’s daughter, just not the faculty or students.”

  “Why don’t you get a warrant — seize the footage?”

  “No probable cause. No reason to believe they’re hiding something. And it wouldn't matter anyway — it’s all digital, so whatever was on there can be altered or erased with no record. They’re all professionals in there. They can cover their tracks better than we can find it. A lot of former law enforcement in there. Castillo is former CID.”

  “I learned that today.”

  “Then you also know that he can do whatever he wants with that footage. We’d have more luck identifying the second gunman on the grassy knoll than finding any images Castillo didn’t want us to see. He could even make it look like you took Arcuri’s daughter.”

  “That’s not funny.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be funny. I’m serious. That’s why you need to be careful. Like I said, someone on that campus knows exactly what happened, but they can make it look like whatever they want.”

  “I don’t believe the FBI can’t do anything!” Walker was incredulous.

  Lewis chuckled. “That academy’s been a fixture in Washington, D.C. for 200 years. You know how many of our CEOs and politicians went to school there? You know how many of their ki
ds go to school there now? Lots of well-connected families. No judge is willing to pull the trigger because if we’re wrong, there will be hell to pay. We need something more, something concrete, but we haven’t found it. Yet.”

  Walker hesitated. “You need someone on the inside.”

  Lewis smiled. “You could say that.”

  “They’ve given me complete access to the entire campus for three days.”

  “Complete access? Three days? Are you kidding me?”

  “I know,” Walker smiled back. “Special invitation. Arcuri must have given a shitload of money to that school.”

  Lewis crossed his arms. “I’m sure.”

  Walker carefully considered his next move for a long moment before his unusual request. “I need to see the case file on the academy. Everything you have.”

  “You know I can’t do that, Ryan. That’s my job we’re talking about.”

  “You have to give me something. Anything. I need to know what you guys have, so I know where to look. I’m your man on the ground, your eyes and ears inside those walls.”

  Lewis sat up and looked around, making visual contact with the other FBI agents still lurking in the background. “I’ll see what I can do, but no guarantees.”

  “That’s all I’m asking for. I know how the system works.”

  “You’re asking for a lot, my friend. But you’re right, we need to get inside, and right now, you’re our only link.”

  Walker agreed. “So, what’s your theory?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “What’s your theory?”

  “We have no theory, “Lewis said with resignation as he settled back on the bench again.

  “Come on, Mark, I know you guys better than that. Remember, I was one of you guys. You have to have a theory, at least a working one.”

  Lewis was silent.

  “You think she found out something? Discovered the corruption?”

  “Perhaps,” Lewis said after a long pause.

  “You think it goes all the way to the top.”

  “Without a doubt.”

  “Okay, what’s the theory?”

  Lewis was silent again, staring forward, until finally he said, “Trafficking”

  “Sex trafficking?” Walker asked.

  “Yes. Think about it. Beautiful girl. No evidence that she ran away, was abducted, or killed. Private school is covering up the disappearance with some altered video footage and a predetermined storyline. Girl’s father is head of one of the largest criminal syndicates in the country. You think he wants the extra attention from the cops? No, he prefers it stays quiet, and the school is more than happy to oblige. No publicity. No AMBER Alerts. No community searches. Just a former FBI agent with a troubled past.”

  Walker lowered his head.

  “I’m sorry,” Lewis said. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “It’s alright. But it does make sense.”

  “I know. And it makes you wonder if there have been others. More girls. How many over the years that have never been reported to us? How many that have simply disappeared?”

  Walker asked, “Any evidence of this?”

  “No, like I said, that school is a fortress, and we can’t yet convince a judge for a warrant to search records or the like without some kind of probable cause. We simply don’t have enough for a warrant.” A slight pause. “But he did give us surveillance,” Lewis added, with a smile.

  “Surveillance?” Walker laughed. “Outside of the campus only, I imagine? Watch who’s coming and going?”

  Lewis returned the smile. “Yes.”

  “That’s how you knew I was there?” Walker realized.

  “Yes.”

  “Wow. I really hate you guys,” Walker said, shaking his head.

  Lewis placed his hand on Walker’s arm again and leaned in closer. “Seriously, my friend, we haven’t built enough of a case to do anything just yet, but something strange is happening in there. This school deals with all kinds of criminals, and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they had their own illegal enterprise running like clockwork underneath that gilded exterior.”

  Walker placed his hand atop Lewis’s. “Understood.” And rose from the bench.

  “Be careful, my friend,” Lewis pleaded.

  Walker nodded and walked away.

  Chapter 8

  The FBI case file on Washington Academy was laying neatly on the passenger seat when Walker returned to his vehicle. He stared at it for several moments, admiring the FBI seal, the red lines which outlined the otherwise ordinary manila folder, and the word ‘confidential’ stamped on the cover. It was about an inch thick.

  Son of a bitch, he thought. Lewis came through after all, having one of the agents put the file on his seat while the two talked. Those agents weren’t concerned about Lewis’s safety after all; they were there to protect them. Neither he nor Lewis would put anything past Castillo, so his long-time partner obviously wasn’t going to let anything happen to the only break he had in years. He now had an agent — albeit a former one — on the inside, and his quick glance to the other agents in the park, Walker now realized, had signaled to them that he was indeed going to help them.

  He assumed Lewis wasn’t thrilled about depending on Walker to provide the break in an investigation that had spanned several years, but it was obviously his only shot, so Lewis was going to take it. Also, he was positive that Lewis hadn’t consulted his superiors about the unorthodox suggestion of enlisting the assistance of a former agent, especially this one, because they would have torpedoed the idea immediately. To anyone still at the Bureau, Walker was damaged goods. Whatever the circumstances, it really didn't matter to Walker. He needed a break — just like Lewis — and if the FBI provided it, so be it.

  Walker glanced at his watch. He was scheduled to meet Castillo in an hour for the tour of the residence hall where Amanda lived as well as interviews with the roommate and boyfriend. It was clear from his initial glance at Castillo’s case file on Amanda that she had lots of friends and was very popular on campus, but although many people had seen her that day, the roommate and boyfriend were the last ones to see her, which catapulted them to the top of the interview list. The dormitory room was also Amanda’s last known location, so it was the natural place to start their investigation.

  He now had the FBI’s case file for WA in addition to Castillo’s file, so he would try and review both before meeting with Castillo, giving him a slight advantage over the security chief. Walker currently had no reason to trust Castillo, and so corroborating what he provided in his file on Amanda with any intelligence contained in the FBI folder would be crucial to staying one step ahead of him. Being able to essentially control the flow of pertinent information, Castillo could give Walker only what he wanted when he wanted, seriously hampering his investigation. Based on what he could glean from the FBI’s file, Walker would now have a slight edge. Thanks Lewis.

  Walker also wasn’t sure if Castillo would have actually put something of value in that file. He and Ellis had two days to figure out how to approach this situation, determine how to best handle Arcuri’s request for a private investigator. Based on what Walker knew about the former CID agent so far, he exuded thoroughness, so he doubted Castillo didn’t at least have an idea of what had happened. Or how to handle any potential outside interference. Was Castillo covering for Ellis? Or were they both involved in some way?

  Perhaps this was all just a charade, their plan all along to simply placate Arcuri, play Walker, and pretend they had done all they could to assist the investigation. But in reality, Castillo would simply keep a close eye on Walker for the three days, ensuring that he came up empty-handed, so they could all go back behind the walls of their gilded sanctum and hide the real truths beyond those thick, opaque doors.

  It made sense. Walker mused about Castillo's likely reaction when Ellis had told him they were hosting a private investigator. The security chief was probably mad as hell that someone was going to be investigatin
g him and his operation. Castillo obviously didn’t appreciate the extra set of eyes on his campus. He — and his camera system — were the only sets of eyes that were needed on this campus, Walker was sure he had told Ellis.

  But now, Walker could match wits with Castillo. Keep him off balance. Go in his own direction and not be guided by a person with a vested interest in maintaining the veil of privacy that had been stretched over the campus. Perhaps Castillo would make a mistake or tip his hand, but Walker simply couldn’t allow him to get in the way. Missing person cases were difficult enough without any additional, man-made obstacles placed in your way.

  Based on law enforcement protocols, missing person cases were divided into several categories, based on the circumstances surrounding the disappearance. The first category was known as catastrophic missing in which a person was the supposed victim of a natural disaster or another type of catastrophe. Unless there had been a hurricane or earthquake Walker didn’t know about, that obviously wasn’t the case here.

  Lost was the second type of missing person in which a child had wandered away and his or her whereabouts were unknown. In this scenario, Amanda may have gotten lost or confused, was high on drugs or alcohol, or had stumbled down a rocky hillside or fallen into a river. Any of those situations were possible here, and only an investigation would uncover the truth. Video evidence would probably exist for one of these outcomes, but Walker doubted he could trust Castillo to turn over any related footage, so of course, this was a huge impediment to his entire inquiry.

  The third kind of missing person was an abduction, including a parent or family member, which happened extremely frequently and probably accounted for the vast majority of all missing child cases. Stranger abductions were far less frequent, yet typically garnered much more media attention because of the fear factor for parents and the ratings spike for news outlets.