The Voting Machine

Benefit of the Doubt

I was left all alone. I'd lost track of time since they brought me in. Through the door I could hear the frantic commotion of the station at the end of the corridor: radios, cell phones, television sets, and the voices of agents shouting in an open room. We were in the middle of a national security crisis, one of the biggest threats the Las Vegas FBI office had ever faced.

I poked my head through the door into the hallway. No one ever told me I had to stay in the room. Even if I got in trouble for leaving, what were they going to do? They obviously needed me.

The special agent in charge clearly trusted me more than his fellow agent from the LA office.

I crept down the corridor, toward the far end where it opened into the station's common work area. The next room in the hallway had a widescreen TV playing with the sound on mute.

The cable news channel had a breaking video feed of Middle Eastern men in skullcaps and baggy pants. They were being led out of a mosque in handcuffs by a team of agents, including Polk and Decatur.

The arrest happened within the past hour. I knew the place. It was in Sunrise Manor, a suburb east of Las Vegas. It was the only mosque I'd ever visited.

The camera honed in on the lead suspect. His head was lowered and his cuffed hands raised in an attempt to shield his face from the camera. I recognized him anyway. The news ticker scrolling across the bottom of the screen revealed his name, Abdul Shahabi.

"What are you doing out here?" a voice called out from behind me. "You're not supposed to be out here."

It was Agent Weisbein.

"Nobody told me I couldn't leave the room." I pointed at the TV. "What's going on? Those Muslims over in Sunrise Manor killed Zeke and David? You think they're connected to the Messengers of God?"

"We had reason enough to bring them in, didn't we?"

"I know Abdul Shahabi," I said. "I can't believe he'd be mixed up in some terrorist plot. He's just a normal guy."

"The best killers always seem like normal guys, Temo. That's because they believe what they're doing is right. No one suspected the 9-11 hijackers when they came to this country. We let them study in our flight schools. We taught them how to pilot a commercial airplane."

"You sound like you've already made up your mind about Shahabi. You really have evidence? He supported our campaign. Why would he kill David?"

Weisbein led me back into the interview room and shut the door.

"Temo, I don't think you understand the stakes here. A lot of people don't. They still don't get it. Even after everything that's happened in this country. They don't think we have enemies. The people who hate you the most, they're the ones who want your trust and friendship. They need you to like them, so they can assimilate. They know when you let down your guard they can do the most damage.

"I spent a lot of time in Israel growing up. I'd go there once a year to visit my grandma. She was a Holocaust survivor, a sweet, simple lady who worked hard every day of her life. She ran a little bookshop in the center of Tel Aviv, riding the bus into town from her shabby apartment every day, just scraping out a humble living. One day I got the call in my college dorm room. A suicide bomber blew up her bus on the way to work during morning rush hour. That was it. She was gone that fast."

"I am sorry about that, Alex." I used his first name, hoping he would see me in a different light if I made it personal.

"I am not asking you to be sorry, Temo. I am asking you to try to comprehend the reality we face. There are tribes of people out there who are mentally programmed to hate and destroy us. You can't give these people the benefit of the doubt. There's no room for mistakes. Here in the US, we aren't used to living with the consequences of our mistakes. We're used to getting a free pass. Well, we're not going to keep getting a free pass forever. We're not going to keep getting lucky."

"Agent Weisbein, I didn't mean to question your judgment. I know the pressure you're all under to solve this. You really care about this investigation," I said. "I really admire that. It seems very personal."

"Of course it's personal," Weisbein muttered. "I wish he'd let me do more."

"Who? Agent Stevens? I can tell he doesn't trust you guys from LA."

We both knew it was a fact.

"Why is that, Alex?"

"It's because of what's going on between you and your partner and Teresa, isn't it?" I prodded. "Stevens knows something isn't right there."

"Don't lump me together with them. I am not like Harvey. I would never betray my wife and family like that. For a woman like Teresa? I don't care how pretty she is, that woman is a snake."

"What do you care if they have something going on? It's their personal life, right? It doesn't affect you."

"It's not their romance that concerns me. It's what they're doing professionally, their side job after hours. Harvey would never take on work like that unless Teresa put him up to it."

"What kind of work are they doing on the side?"

"What do you care?"

"I just want to know, that's all."

Alex grinned. "Yeah, but why do you want to know?" he said. "You're looking for some kind of leverage aren't you?"

"Why would I need that?"

"Come on, Temo. You've got to be a little worried about Teresa's role in this investigation. You know how she can influence things. You really think she's got your best interest at heart? She'd throw you under the bus in a minute if it was going to help her position as a government informant."

Now I was getting paranoid. What had she told the other agents? Did she tell them about Annabelle and me?

"You're right. I am a little worried. Everyone tells me I am not a suspect and I have nothing to be concerned about."

"You're too smart to believe that. You've been down that road before with the Torrance police back in LA."

"Exactly."

"I get it, Temo. You want to help. You're just not sure who you can trust. You know you can't trust Teresa, unless you happen to be a guy who's under her spell like my poor partner."

"Then help me, Alex. Give me that leverage. I need to know what's going on between all of you agents. I am not going to use it to hurt anyone. I just need to protect myself."

"First you have to help me, Temo. I am in the same boat as you. I just want to protect myself. I just want to get back in the good graces of the special agent in charge so I can work on this case. I am tired of being tarred with the same brush as my partner and his girlfriend."

"So how do you want me to help you?"

"I want to know all about Abdul Shahabi," Weisbein said. "Shahabi is the key to this thing. He has the money and the means and the sophistication. I know what he was doing before he came to this country."

"I still can't believe he's involved."

"You don't have to. Just tell me what you know. Then I'll tell you what Teresa and Harvey are up to. And trust me; it's something you will need to know if you want to get through this investigation."

So I told the agent how I came to know Abdul Shahabi.