Free The Senator: A Blake Jordan Thriller by Ken Fite Page B

to the senator but CPD used it as the excuse to get him out before things could escalate.”
    “What was his problem with Keller?” Reed shook his head slowly.
    “No idea. That’s all we have.”
    I thought about my conversations with the senator over the past year. I wasn’t able to make it out to see him announce his candidacy, but my dad had. Neither of them had mentioned an arrest taking place that night. But things were a little bit different in Chicago. In a city where over 2,500 people are shot to death each year, a single arrest of someone being disorderly in a crowd wouldn’t stand out. We had grown numb to the violence in this city. Still, I had a hard time picturing an imam worship leader getting arrested.
    “How exactly is Nazir connected to the Jihadi Coalition?”
    “I told you, Blake – we don’t know. I’ve never heard of the guy before now. He’s in one of Homeland’s databases for some reason. We can look into it.” I glanced back at the TV and shook my head.
    “I need someone on this right now,” I demanded. I knew that crimes were usually solved within the first forty-eight hours, after that the trail tends to grow cold. I worried that if we didn’t jump on every lead we had, including the imam, what his issues with Senator Keller was, the JC connection and Nazir’s involvement, our chances of getting Jim Keller back would be gone.
    “We’re going to need to act fast,” I said. “The Bureau always seems to be one step ahead of us.” Jami turned to me.
    “I’ll see what I can find on Nazir and I’ll look into the connection to the JC.” I stood to leave. As I was about to reach for the door, it opened on its own and Morgan Lennox walked in.
    “The FBI just left David Mitchell’s apartment.”

Chapter 27
    After he got his laptop set up, David Mitchell grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down on the couch where he had been questioned just a few minutes before. He was enjoying all of the attention that he was getting. First, The Mitchell Wire was blowing up. Since he returned home and broke the story on Senator Keller, he had seen more Web traffic than ever before. Now, his name and Website were being mentioned all over social media. He felt like a rock star, finally receiving the recognition he felt he always deserved. And soon, his picture would be strewn across every news channel and Website when the media found out that the FBI had dropped by.
    And if the media needed a gentle nudge, Mitchell would be more than happy to spoof another anonymous email with the sender’s address forged, just like the two emails he had sent to his own news tips email address just in case he got a visit from someone like the FBI. Insurance , he thought to himself.
    Mitchell sat on the couch thinking about his next move. He had more information to release. He could publish an update to his story on The Mitchell Wire about the direction the black van was seen going in. Hell, he could publish the actual address of the warehouse right now if he wanted to.
    The thought of Senator Keller being trapped in that dingy warehouse being tortured gave him a thrill. He didn’t want Jim Keller killed, he needed him kept alive or the whole plan would fall apart.
    But what exactly was his plan? Mitchell wasn’t quite sure, so he created a rough outline in his mind.
    He sipped his Budweiser slowly, knowing that he couldn’t hold onto the information for too long. The authorities had visited his apartment sooner than he thought they would, so he figured they might actually have more intel than he had. And if that was the case, they might find Jim Keller before the night was over. The last thing he wanted to do was sit on what he knew and watch the story resolve without having the chance to play a bigger part in it. This might be his only opportunity to finally make a name for himself.
    Still, David Mitchell was enjoying the ride. He couldn’t help but think of an analogy like most writers and journalists did