by Thomas Bloom
Well I had to go out in the middle of night and get a car. We had a call a few days ago for an old lady that had a stroke in her home. Her daughter discovered her and she ended up in the hospital in a coma. We checked her house and there was a nice car in the garage with the keys hanging on a peg by the door. What a set up. I borrowed the car. It was only a few blocks from the station so I just parked my truck a block of so away, rode the car over to the station and then walked back. Leaving a car with the doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition is dumb but no one steals cars sitting on sheriff’s department property. This pretty much ties up the loose ends. I think the time is here to resign the department and go enjoy my money down south. Adios Pleasant Harbor.
Chapter Seventy Four
Dusty was stumped. There were no marks on the cell doors or the rear door. None of the other officers on duty had seen anything. There was no sense in interrogating the other prisoners. They could tell you nothing or anything. It was obviously an inside job but who and why? When they were dealing with the triple murder they had found his office bugged. An inside job they had decided. He had a traitor in his midst and no way to find him or her, although he felt sure it was a man. Whoever it was had never left a trace. There has to be a way to smoke this guy out, he thought. One thing, he thought. This pretty much eliminates anyone other than an officer. The janitors and the civilian employees did not have access to the cell block.
Dusty called every department along the most direct route from Pleasant Harbor to Chicago. He just told them to try to watch for a car with three Hispanics. It was the longest of long shots but he had to take it. He also called Tamourini and asked her to check with her Chicago people to see if there was any word that the escapees had shown up. “They won’t ever show up,” she said. “If they get out of the area they will be on their way to Mexico.”
“Any ideas?” Dusty asked.
“Yeah, don’t assume they’ll do the obvious. They’ve constantly shown themselves to be clever and resourceful. Assume the first thing they did was pick up a throwaway and call their friends in Chicago. They have to know you have an APB out on them. Maybe they’re holed up in town. I’d check every motel within 20 miles and anyplace else you or anyone else can think of.”
“Good advice. I’ll work on it. As always, thanks for your help. While I have you what have you developed on the Arabs.”
“There are some national security issues involved and most of it is under wraps, at least for a while. We’ve developed a lot of information and we’re just starting to get something from the one guy we captured. I’m sorry. I just can’t say anything more at this time.”
“No problem, I’m not on the need to know list. I’m sure I’ll read about it someday.”
“Look Dusty, we really owe you one. I’ll fill you in sometime but just not today. Oh, and on taking over the prosecution of the Mexicans, I’m still waiting to hear from legal.”
“Okay, good luck and thanks for your input.”
Think, Dusty, think. If they didn’t run where in the hell would they go in Potawatomie County? He’d cover the motels but too obvious. Then it hit him. Roberto. Of course, he’d lived here all his life and he was now bonded to the Mexicans. But how to see in his head? Of course, his mother. She knew what he knew. He grabbed his hat and was out the door. On the way he called Amanda. “Do you want to make this a joint call?”
“I’ll meet you there.”
They had to knock on the door several times before Mrs. Jiminez answered.
“What you want? I don’t know where my son.” That told them that she had seen the news reports about the jail escape.
“We know that. But maybe you can help us find him and keep him from being hurt.”
“How I do that?”
“We think your son and the two Mexicans are hiding in this area. We need to know if you can think of any place Roberto might have taken them to stay out of sight.”
“I know nothing. They could be anyplace.”
“Well we’ve watched all the main roads and were checking all the hotels and motels but we’ve had no luck. If they are here they must be someplace hidden and out of the way.”
“I know nothing.”
“Well thank you for your time. Remember, Roberto is with some very vicious men. If he has helped them hide they could kill him themselves just so they don’t have to worry about him changing his mind and turning them in. Here’s my card. If you think of anything please call.”
Amanda had been quite up to now. She leaned forward and looked Mrs. Jiminez in the eye. “We are both mothers with a son. I know you love your son as much as I love mine. Roberto needs help. He has a mental problem and we can help him get treatment. But if he stays with these men then one way or the other he is going to be hurt. Please help us and help Roberto.”
Mrs. Jiminez stared at Amanda for a long time. “Many years ago Roberto and some friends had a place they call ‘cabin on the river.’ They went there to fish and drink beer and just be men. I not know where. Roberto said had no electric or water. Just pump and outhouse and they had lanterns. I think that is where he might go.”
“Thank you madam, thank you very much.”
“Okay,” Amada said as they walked down the drive. “Between this county and Washington County we have fifty miles of river front. Where do we start?”
“We start with Gabby.”
“Who the hell is Gabby?”
“A very old guy who lives in a shack by the river. We’ve picked him up several times for poaching, fishing out of season and DWI. He’s not a problem. Says he doesn’t mind being in jail. It’s the only time he gets three squares a day, has a warm place to sleep and someone does his wash for him. He’s a disabled Vietnam vet with what is probably a PTSD problem. But the thing is he’s spent the last forty years on the river. He knows every inch of it.”
“Okay, how do we find him?”
“Well, let’s start with his shack. Why don’t you ride with me?”
A half hour later, after a lot of country road and a ride down an old two track dirt road they were staring at a beat up shack. “We’re in luck,” Dusty said. “There’s smoke coming out of the chimney and a truck in the drive. Let me go first. He knows me.”
Dusty banged hard on the door. “Gabby, this is Sheriff Donovan. You’re not in any trouble I just want to talk to you for a minute. We need some information.”
A minute or so later the door creaked open. Gabby had a full head of grey hair and a long grey beard. He was a little stooped but otherwise looked fit. “What do you want Sheriff? I ain’t done anything.”
“I know that Gabby. I just need to ask you a couple of questions.” I have another officer with me. Captain Stevens with the Pleasant Harbor police department. Can we talk?”
“Let me get a coat and come outside. It’s pretty messy in here”
Dusty explained to Gabby what they were looking for. The man thought a minute and then said “is there a reward for this?”
“Not officially,” Dusty said. “But if you help us its worth a hundred dollars.”
“Okay,” Gabby said. “About five miles downstream, other side, there’s what used to be an old fishing camp. Don’t know who owns it. I used to see some guys camping out there occasionally. One of them looked Mexican. Haven’t seen them in some time but I think that might be what you’re looking for. Can I have the hundred?”
“Sorry Gabby. First we have to check it out. If it’s good info then I’ll be back with your money. In the meantime, if you think of anything else call me.” He gave Gabby his card.
“Hell, I’ve got no phone.”
“Then drive down to the convenience store and use the payphone. Just dial 911. It’s free.”
“So now what,” Amanda asked as they drove back to town.
“Let’s go to the county clerk’s office and get a plat map of property on the river. Maybe we can narrow it down. If the river wasn’t frozen over we could make a water reconnaissance. The ic
e is not solid enough for snowmobiles. What do you think?”
“I’ve got an idea. I’ve got an old high school friend who runs a flight school at the Muskegon airport. Let’s get the plat maps and then see if she’ll give us a low level tour of the river. If we see anything suspicious we can mark it on the map and then follow up on the ground. Plus, that will tell us who owns the property.”
“She?” Dusty asked.
“Yeah, she did time in the Air Force. She flew cargo planes. That was before they would let women fly combat. When she came out she started this school. We still stay in touch. I think she’ll help us.”
The next morning Dusty and Amanda pulled up in front of the Western Michigan Flight School and Aircraft Rental on the edge of the Muskegon Airport. Jennifer Logan was a slight, good looking blond wearing dirty coveralls.
“Dusty, this is my old friend Jenny. Jenny meet Sheriff Dusty Donovan, now my husband.”
“Congratulations. I heard you guys had hooked. Excuse the grease on my hands and face. I’ve been doing some repairs. Let me get this straight. You want to make a low level pass along the south side of the Kenesaw River east of town and we’re looking for an old shack. Is that right?”
“You’ve got it,” Amanda said. We’re looking for some people we think may be holed up there. But we can’t alert them so we can only make one pass. It can’t be tree top level. I’d say no lower than five hundred feet.”
“We’ll that’s good because five hundred feet is the minimum legal altitude. I was going to take the plane I’ve been working on up for a test ride so we can kill two birds with one stone.”
“Is it fixed?” Dusty asked. He was not crazy about flying and had never been in a small plane.
“We’ll find out,” she said. “If not, I’ve had training in forced landings.”
When she saw the look on Dusty’s face she laughed. “Look, I’ve got ten thousand hours in my log book. I never fly anything unless I think it’s in first class shape. Anyway, what I was working on was the cabin heater. The worst that can happen is that we freeze our asses off. It’s a Cessna 172. It’s old but it’s in good shape. Not to worry.”
A half hour later they started their run down the river. It was a clear calm day and Dusty’s apprehension had eased considerably. Plus the cabin heater was working. Jenny obviously knew how to fly an airplane. They had been at three thousand feet and Jenny pulled back on the throttle and started a descent. She leveled off and settled in on an east bound path along the north bank. Dusty set in the right rear seat with a pair of binoculars and Amanda set in the right front seat with binoculars and with several plat maps open on her lap.
“Okay, see that curve, Dusty said. “That’s the start of our run. We’re just east of the city limits. They both had their binoculars up and were focused on the far shore. After a few minutes Dusty said “there, old shack with some smoke coming out of the chimney. Car in the yard. Can you mark it?”
“Got it.”
They saw one other possibility but it looked newer and had a power line running to it. They marked it just in case. There were also some newer homes and cabins along the shore but they ignored those.
After they landed Dusty said to Jessy, “I apologize for being concerned. I don’t like flying and that’s the first time I’ve ever been in a small plane. Actually, by the time we landed I was kind of enjoying it. It helps to have a first rate pilot.” He shook her hand.
“No problem,” she said. “Hey, Amanda, stay in touch, okay?”
“No problem. Thank you so much for your help. We’ll let you know if anything comes of it.”
By that afternoon they were back in the City Clerk’s office. “Who owns this plot here?” Amanda said, pointing to a big check mark on her map.
The clerk checked his computer and said “John and Amelia Wallace. Their address is 14250 Riverside drive. Don’t know anything about them. The taxes are current.”
A half hour later they knocked on the Wallace’s door. It was opened by a frail looking woman holding a cane. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Wallace, I’m Dusty Donovan the Sheriff here and this is Amanda Stevens the Chief of Police of Pleasant Harbor. There is no problem but we just need to ask you a few questions. May we come in?”
“What is this about? My husband is not well. He’s napping right now.”
“We only need a few minutes. If you can answer our questions we will not disturb your husband.”
“Come in but please be as quite as you can.”
“Thank you,” Dusty said. “What we need to know is whether you own the old shack that’s down by the river on the other side of the road?”
“I guess we own it. We used to farm both sides of the road but when my husband got older we just planted on this side. Then, since he had a stroke about a year ago, we stopped farming altogether. We just live on our social now. Why do you want to know about the shack? We didn’t build it and have never used it. It was there when we bought the property.”
“We think it may be occupied by some escaped felons. How long since you or your husband have been there?”
“Oh, it’s been years. We did have a problem some time ago with guys just coming in off the river and using it but they really never did any damage. We just didn’t like them being there. Frankly, we wouldn’t care if the place just burned down. It would keep people off the property.”
“So if there was someone there now you wouldn’t know about it?”
“No, of course not.”
“Okay, just so you know. You may see some police cars coming onto the property in the next day or two. Don’t worry, it’s us. If anything happens it will be down there and not up here but just in case do not open your door to anyone who is not in uniform. Here’s my card. Call me if you have any questions or if you have any information.”
As they drove away, Amanda asked “where do we go now? Do we handle this ourselves or ask for help?”
“Look,” Dusty said. “We can’t call the State Police or the FBI every time we have a problem. We have no more than three guys who have one weapon. If we plan it right there’s no reason we can’t either take them out or take them back into custody. But we have to move fast. There’s no doubt they have contacted their people in Chicago. They could show up at any minute. We need to find out how they got the gun and the key. If they’re in there then Roberto went with them. If so, he’s made his choice and he’ll have to live or die with it. Let’s go back and plan our attack. I’d suggest dawn tomorrow. They’ll be at their lowest level of alert then.”
They decided on taking eight officers in addition to themselves. Any more would risk getting in each other’s way or someone getting hurt in a crossfire. In addition, they would station two cars on the highway leading to the access road, one in each direction in case the Mexicans from Chicago showed up. They had been told to observe but not to engage. Finally, they would have a fire engine and an ambulance stationed just a mile or so away.
In addition to a sidearm and an AK-47 each officer would be in full body armor. Everyone involved had shoulder radios for communication. Both Dusty and Amanda would have a bullhorn. They would park their cars just off the road and approach by foot. Six of the officers would form a line to one side of the house and two would station themselves in the rear towards the other side of the house. This would eliminate any chance of someone being wounded by crossfire and allow them to cover every door and window.
They were in place by 6:00 AM but decided to wait a few more minutes for full light. The cabin was dark and quiet. The car was still in the driveway. All the officers had taken some kind of cover behind a tree, a log or one of several wood piles.
At 6:30 Dusty went on the bullhorn. “This is the police. You are surrounded. We want you to come out now with your hands in the air.” He waited a few seconds and then repeated the command. He thought he saw one of the window shades flicker a bit. Apparently he had their attention.
Suddenly the front door swung open. “Game time,” Amand
a said. Roberto appeared in the doorway with one of the Mexicans holding one arm around his throat and with his other hand holding a pistol to Roberto’s temple. “We leave now,” the Mexican said. “If you shoot at us then this man dies.”
“Shit,” Dusty said. He spoke into his shoulder mike. “Hold your fire. If they get into the car and start to leave be prepared to shoot out the tires.”
The Mexican in the lead started edging toward the car with Roberto in his grip. The other Mexican followed directly behind. Suddenly Roberto doubled over at the waist and threw the man behind him over his back. The Mexican lost his balance and lost his grip on Roberto. As he fell he twisted and fired one shot at Roberto who immediately collapsed. He then turned and started to fire in the direction of the police. Suddenly Dusty heard a gun go off in his ear and the Mexican’s head snapped back and he went down. The other Mexican grabbed the weapon but before he could bring it to bear there was another report in Dusty’s ear and blood spattered from the side of the Mexican’s head and he doubled over and fell face down. Amanda stood with her AK-47 still at her shoulder.
When they ran to the scene it was obvious that all three men were dead. The shot at Roberto had entered under his chin and exited through the top of his head.
