Note:
Thanks to Volunteer_ for the editing help and some good feedback and ideas.
All characters in the story are at least eighteen years of age.
Chapter 1 - Kate gets recruited
Kate was looking forward to another rewarding day of teaching geometry to her high school students. She dressed in her usual school teacher attire. This consisted of loose-fitting sweaters or dresses, with minimal makeup and her hair worn up in some fashion. She'd learned that high-school-aged boys had enough distractions and she did her best not to be another one.
To start the day, she enjoyed a rare sit-down breakfast with her eighteen-year-old daughter, Kristin. Kate enjoyed cooking for her family, especially since they had renovated the kitchen last year. Her husband Michael had been doing pretty well at the accounting firm the last few years.
She cooked bacon and eggs with pancakes for Kristin and oatmeal with sliced fruit for herself. She had to work hard to maintain her figure these days.
Kristin was dressed for school in a revealing outfit as usual. She wore a short denim skirt, with a white form-fitting top that revealed far too much of her ample cleavage, as far as Kate was concerned.
Aside from the provocative dress, Kristin was almost the spitting image of Kate at that age. Kristin is a few inches shorter, at 5'4" but has all the same curves. Kristin styles her blonde hair a little longer, and a lot wilder, befitting her adventurous spirit. Kate had recently spotted her daughter's pierced belly button. This was a little shocking at first, but she was now an adult. Kate resisted the urge to be the judgmental, lecturing parent. Truthfully, she knew her daughter was extremely responsible and she couldn't be prouder of her. After all, she was a freshman at UNLV, studying to become a doctor someday.
Kate was walking out the front door, when her phone buzzed from somewhere within the depths of her purse. She made a quick U-turn back to the kitchen. Miraculously, she found her iPhone before the call went to voicemail.
"Wait!... What?" Kate asked, smiling in disbelief at the obvious prankster. "Arrested. You must be talking about a different Michael."
The smile slowly faded as the caller continued, eventually convincing Kate that this was no joke. Kate listened, in a growing state of alarm, for what seemed like several minutes. Afterward, she set the phone down on the black quartz countertop, and used both hands to steady herself.
"Mom, are you okay?" Kristin asked, sensing her mother's angst. She rushed over and dutifully guided her mother into a seat at the kitchen table.
This made no sense. How could Michael be involved in money laundering? Kate knew he worked for some important clients. His business had been very successful, especially the past few years, but drug cartels? Michael? No way.
Michael was the most honest man she had ever known. In their twenty years of marriage, she couldn't even think of a time he'd told a lie. At least not a meaningful one, something other than praising her obviously dry pot roast.
Kate's head was spinning. She needed to leave, to go to Michael, but she did not want her daughter to hear any of these lies. "Kristin, honey, you need to get to school. I don't want you to be late," she said. "Really, I'm feeling much better now. I'm sure there is some mistake."
"No way, Mom! Dad's been fucking arrested and you think I give a shit about my classes today?" Kristin said, her facial expression reinforcing that that wasn't going to happen.
"Okay, fine. Let's just go," Kate relented, as she usually did when it came to standoffs with her daughter.
Kristin drove them to the federal building downtown, where the agent had instructed Kate to go. On the way, Kate explained what little she actually knew, which was only that Michael had been arrested, accused of money laundering in a 'broader conspiracy', whatever that meant, and was being held in federal custody awaiting arraignment.
"Assistant Special Agent in Charge Harris will see you now," the handsome, young receptionist said, gesturing toward the open door.
"The what?" Kate asked.
"Yes, that is a mouthful," he acknowledged warmly, "ASAC for short. Agent Harris will see you now."
The office was spacious and richly furnished, with a large mahogany desk and several seating areas. There was a picture wall, with apparently important people smiling and shaking hands, alongside several certificates and degrees.
"Hello, Mrs. Lucas," ASAC Jack Harris greeted, shaking Kate's hand. "I'm Jack. I'm afraid I can only speak with you. I'm going to have to ask this lovely young lady to wait out in the reception area."
"Anything you have to say, you can say to both of us," Kristin objected. "I want to know what evidence you have that my dad is involved in something like this."
"I don't blame you, kid," the special agent patronized, "but it's protocol. I can only speak to the spouse or legal partner about this matter. This is a complex case, with lots of parties involved."
"Kristin, honey, it's okay," Kate said, attempting to comfort her daughter, "I'll speak to agent Harris and then we'll go find your dad, okay?" This seemed to work, or Kristin got the idea that this was not a battle she could win. She raised a hand in surrender and retreated back out of the office.
"Jack, please, call me Jack," the agent said, once he'd closed the office door. "Have a seat, Mrs. Lucas." Jack said, extending his arm toward a plush, brown leather sofa. Kate sat down on the edge of the cushion; hands folded in her lap. Jack then eased his large frame into a leather chair set across from Kate.
Jack was not a bad looking man. He appeared to be in his mid-forties. He was tall and muscular, with a few extra pounds around the middle, typical of a successful man of his age.
"Please, call me Kate."
"First...Kate, I need you turn off your cell phone. I need to see it power down. This conversation must stay between you and me."
Kate wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. She fished her phone out of her purse and powered it off, angled where they could both watch the screen fade to black.
"Good... Kate, it seems you and your husband Michael are in a bit of trouble. You may or may not be aware of this, but Michael has been cooking the books for a Mexican Drug Cartel for several years."
"No, I'm not aware! That's crazy! Michael would never do such a thing," Kate said. She could feel her lower lip beginning to quiver. Her eyes blinked rapidly as she attempted to hold back the tears that were now inevitable. "Please," Kate pleaded, "this has to be a big mistake."
"I wish that were the case. I really do. You're a very attractive woman, Kate, and I'm sure you're a good person," the agent said. Kate wasn't sure what her attractiveness had to do with anything. Unbeknownst to Kate, this part of Jack's statement was true. Jack knew what a good person Kate was from his extensive background check. This was one reason she found herself sitting here right now. That and the fact that she was a total knockout, with big, natural tits and a perfect, well-sculpted ass. You would never know it from her frumpy school teacher garb. Luckily, Jack had first seen Kate at the gym. She had been flattering a pair of those body-hugging yoga pants all the hottie's workout in these days. When he later learned her husband was a target of his team's investigation, it was like manna from heaven.
"That's the worst part of this job," Jack continued. "Watching good people like yourself getting mixed up in things beyond their control. We have evidence of banking transactions, performed by Michael, that prove his involvement. We have emails and recorded phone calls from your husband's firm, confirming the interactions with the cartel. Your husband and several other members of his firm have been working for the cartel for years."
"That can't be. Michael would never go along with anything like that. I know it," Kate choked out. Her tears were now streaming down her cheeks. Jack leaned forward, extending a box of Kleenex and Kate took several.
"I'm afraid he is. I have agents searching your house as we speak, executing a search warrant. If they find what I expect they will find, we are going to charge both you and your husband, since you share a joint account. We are going to seize all your assets and you are looking at time in prison. It will be a very long stretch for your husband, I'm sorry to say."
Kate found these latest revelations shocking. She was fully crying now as the prospects of her life shattering into a million pieces seemed all but certain. She didn't know where to begin comprehending the loss. The idea of spending years in prison. Losing everything they own. Not seeing their children. The humiliation from the destruction of their reputations, which would be irreparable.
Jack moved to the sofa beside Kate and put his arm around her shoulder as she continued sobbing. "Please, don't cry, Kate."
She should hate this man, or want to punch him, but at the moment, she was reduced to taking any consolation she could get. She leaned into Jack's broad chest and sobbed harder than she had ever in her life.
"There may be another way out of this, Kate, for all of us. A way to make this all go away. If you're willing to do your part," Jack finally offered, hoisting the long-prepared lifeline.
After another pause to let that sink in, "This has been too much for one person to take in at once. Let's talk later. Go home and get some rest. I'll text you the address of a private place where we can meet and talk tonight. You are to tell no one about anything that's happened today or about our conversation. Don't try to see Michael or contact an attorney. If you do, there won't be another way. Do you understand?"
"Yes...Uh, I think I understand. Thank you, Jack. Thank you for helping us," Kate squeaked between sobs.
Jack handed her a few more tissues. "Take a moment to collect yourself and walk out of here like everything is going to be okay because it is. Don't go directly home. I've instructed my agents to leave everything as they found it so your daughter shouldn't even know they were there. They will be gone in an hour."
Kate did just that, buoyed by some new hope, that she instinctively knew was too good to be true. She was somehow able to navigate the remaining pitfalls of the insane morning. She assured Kristin that Michael's firm had attorneys diligently working on his release. Unfortunately, they would not be able to visit Michael until after the arraignment, which was scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. Kate was able to convince her oldest daughter, Ally, a sophomore, living in a dorm room at UCLA, to remain at school. She promised that they would call her with updates tomorrow, after the arraignment.
