Free QB1 by Pete Bowen Page A

murder? Holy
shit, Herb! We’re in unchartered territory here. This really breaks
new ground for even you, Special Agent Nelson. I’ve seen some
fucked up shit from you, but…wow! Now ordinarily, I could just let
this go because I know, its just Herbie being Herbie. But, you’re
freaking me out here. And knowing you like I do, you’re about to
leak this fucked up fairy tale to the press and ruin the life of an
innocent woman and set back this investigation where it may never
get solved. Here is what I have to do. I’m going out beyond the
fence and wait till every network has a close up of my face and
announce that an FBI Special Agent, Herbert Nelson, a man with a
personal grudge against me has concocted a story of an affair
between the wife of Tony Reilly and myself and has gone as far as
implicating us in his murder. All this despite the fact that he
doesn’t have a shred of evidence. I’m going to make a
recommendation that given the importance of this case that the
Federal Bureau of Investigation immediately re-examine the
personnel assigned to this case in order that we can move forward
and find the people responsible for the death of Tony Reilly. So…
my question to you Herbie, you dumb motherfucker, is do you want to
be cleaning urinals in the Fargo office by the end of the week or
do you want to try and figure out who killed Tony Reilly?”
     
    Chapter 13
     
    The meeting turned around after the little
shitstorm between Nelson and me. All the law enforcement agencies
had input and there was no evidence or any progress to speak of. No
one knew where Tony Reilly had been for the last month. There were
no leads on the terror implications of the killing. San Francisco
and the League were working on a reward for information leading to
solving the crime which would be announced. What it came down to
was despite a tremendous amount of investigative manpower, no one
had anything.
    After the meeting, Oscar Tierney brought
Nelson and the other FBI Agent who turned out to be his new
superior back to his office for a meeting with the three of us.
Oscar read Nelson the riot act. He promised a call to the Director
of the FBI. He warned him that if he heard of anything in the press
about Elizabeth and my involvement in the killing, he would join me
in denouncing the FBI as ridiculous. Nelson mumbled something about
having to run down every lead, but Tierney stopped him. “You think
long and hard before you go public with that bullshit Agent
Nelson,” and then threw them out of his office. That left the two
of us sitting there alone.
    “I certainly hope you two didn’t kill Tony.”
He grinned at me.
    “He’s an idiot, Mr. Tierney.” We sat there in
silence for a minute.
    “What do you suggest? I have no confidence
that anyone in that meeting is going to figure this out,” said
Tierney.
    “I’m not sure about the terror angle and that
seems to be where everyone is heading. I think you have to figure
out where Tony was for last month and who knew it. I think I’d
start with his friends and teammates. Someone knows something about
where he’s been. I’d like to talk to his friends on the team.”
    Tierney called his secretary on the intercom
and said, “Susie get me the contact list for the team. He turned
back to me, “Start with Cochran, Isackson and Benson. Also, touch
base with Coach Warren.” The center, the quarterback and the star
middle linebacker were probably a good place to start. “I’ll call
them and tell them you’ll be over to see them tonight. They all
live in the area. Charlie Warren should be in his office waiting
for you.” I took the list and told Tierney I would keep him
informed and appreciated his support.
    “Mr. Tierney, if this business with me being
implicated in the murder heats up, all you need to do is say the
word and I’ll end our relationship. I won’t let it become a
distraction. There was nothing going on between Liz and me.”
    “Tom,” he took my hand and looked me