Relic: The Morelville Mysteries - Book 1

by Anne Hagan

  “What now?” I said with a chuckle.

  Her tone was instantly sobering. “Shots fired at your house Sheriff. Patrol is on the way.”

  I yelled, “En-route” and then floored the gas. I dodged other cars, blaring Kris’s car horn as I went. It was after 8:00 PM by then and finally getting dark after what had really been a beautiful spring day. I was driving recklessly but the only thing I could think about was my family.

  When I arrived at my home, two of our patrol cars and a “Statie” were already on the scene. A department deputy was holding off a crowd of my neighbors who were intent on getting a look at what was going on. I could hear sirens screaming toward us. I charged past my deputy and into the house.

  I entered through the side door off the driveway. I ran through the kitchen and the living room to the crowd gathered in the family room at the very front of the house. My twin sister was lying on the floor looking pale but conscious. The State Patrolman was holding a compress over her chest on the upper right. I went a little woozy at the sight of all of the blood that was visible.

  I shook my head to clear it and looked around the room. The front picture window was shattered. Someone had apparently shot Kris right through it. The kids were in a corner of the room with one of our next door neighbors; “Miss Karen”, as they called her. Both kids were sobbing. I moved toward them.

  As I went to Beth and Cole, an ambulance screamed into the driveway. Beth shrieked. I took a hold of her, held her and tried to calm her. A patrol deputy went to the door to direct the paramedics. They came in and immediately began working on Kris.

  I needed to get the kids out of there. I looked at Karen and caught her gaze. I looked quickly at both of the kids and then tipped my head toward the door. She nodded that she understood. We started moving the kids out together.

  When we were out of the chaos of the family room I stopped for a moment. The waterworks from Beth finally subsided and that’s when the questions began.

  “Aunt Mel, who would shoot my mother?” came from Beth.

  “Why did this happen?” came simultaneously from Cole.

  “Guys, I don’t know but I’ll get to the bottom of it, I promise. Right now, we need to get your mom to the hospital.” I do know who did this. Sally has escalated out of control! She mistook Kris for me after I left the house in Kris’s car. Damn it! Why didn’t I unload that bike and take the truck? When I find her, she’s going to fry for this!

  I turned to Karen, “Can you take them to your house for a bit, while I try to get a hold of our parents?” Our mom and dad, Faye and Jesse, lived a few miles outside of Morelville on our small family farm. The house Kris and I and the kids were living in was the house mom grew up in and lived in until she married our dad.

  Beth cried out, “I’m going to the hospital with mom!”

  Karen jumped in, “Now sweetie, we can decide who all should go over there and when, as soon as your grandpa and grandma get here. It’ll be okay.”

  “I’ll go in the squad with your mom. I won’t leave her side.” I turned to Karen. “The officers in there will want a statement from you. They’re not going to let me process a crime scene in my own home.”

  “No problem. I’ll talk to them later. I’ll take the kids now and let that officer by the door know where to find me when they need me.”

  I smiled weakly at her and croaked out my thanks. She waved me off, corralled the kids and was gone moments after speaking briefly with the deputy.

  I stepped back into the family room and found a corner in my sister’s line of vision. I wanted her to know I was there but I knew better than to be in the way of the paramedics or the officers in charge of the scene. Like me, moments before to Karen, she smiled weakly at me. Her action brought little relief to my sense of guilt over what had happened.

  My duty cell rang. “Sheriff Crane.”

  “It’s Holly. What’s happening? I’ve got a security detail on standby. Do you want me to send them over now?”

  “My sister’s been shot. I think someone mistook her for me. They’re getting her stabilized and then she’ll be transported to Genesis. Patrol is over here and a State Cop. I’m assuming State will have to handle the investigation. I’ll get with him once I see to my sister and we’ll figure those details out. The kids will go to the farm so no worries there. No security needed right now but I’m going to need someone to cover a window while I go in the bus with Kris.”

  “Gotcha, and done. Keep me posted and be careful Sheriff. We don’t need any more people shooting at you!”

  “Aye ma’am!”

 

  Chapter 12 – Cases Collide

  Mel

  Saturday evening drug out and turned into a very long Sunday. Kris had surgery to remove bullet fragments lodged in her shoulder and neck. She was still in the hospital but she was recovering.

  I made a statement for the state officer when he showed up at Genesis. I gave him what little information I had about Sally. I also sketched the counterfeit investigation out for him but I didn’t have much to go on other than that we had two guys in custody that were obviously from out of town and minimal involvement in the whole mess, so far, by locals.

  ###

 

  Agent Webb was chatting up Holly when I walked into my office on Monday morning. He tipped his head toward me. “Sheriff. I missed you Saturday night. Figured you’d want to sit in on that. Holly tells me you had an emergency at home. Anything I can do to help?”

  “I really did want to sit in. I appreciate the offer of your help but, so far, everything is under control. Were you able to get anything out of Johnson?” I motioned him into my office.

  Following behind me and taking a seat in front of my desk, he said, “Johnson said he got the twenty at a convenience store near his house. I followed up there. It’s likely he got it there. He didn’t have anything else that was counterfeit on him so I didn’t hold him.”

  “Now, Stearman, Dawes and Quinn are a different story entirely. Dawes and Quinn are Gangster Demons gang affiliated out of Chicago.” We served warrants on both of their last known addresses and we found stacks of bills at Dawes residence. He’s involved, for sure.”

  “Is there a Zanesville or Morelville connection?”

  “That’s probably Stearman, at a minimum. The bills you took from him are counterfeits. We’re hoping to use him for leverage against the other two. Quinn works as a truck driver for a company the Gang Task Force in Chicago tells us is a front business for the Demons. Bills have been found in several states that match what we found in Chicago and what has been found here. He may be responsible for moving and passing a lot of the fakes. I’m waiting on back up and then I’m headed back to Washington later today. They’ll all go with me in my custody.”

  “Has anyone talked?”

  “No, not yet. They will for a deal though. This money is coming out of a high end printing operation. There will be lots of jail time on the table.”

  “Dawes took a couple of shots at me. Keep that in mind for your interrogation.”

  “Oh, he’s going to do time in Ohio for that if he ever gets out of Federal Prison. I’ll see to the extradition back for that!”

  “Well, I’m glad to hear that this is just about all wrapped up. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

  “Will do. I really wish you were in Illinois.”

  At my quizzical expression he said, “Dawes has a younger brother that’s an inmate at Stateville. He worked for the same freight company as Quinn. Since he’s already locked up on unrelated charges, he might be motivated to talk to get a reduced sentence.”

  “Anyway, it’s worth a shot with the kid brother but I need to get back to D.C. to set up an op to stop the flow of this money. I don’t know when I can get to Sta
teville but someone should go ASAP. Even if he won’t talk, we might be able to use his sentence as leverage with DeWayne. If the older brother thinks he can make life in prison easier for the younger brother, he may be more forthcoming.”

  I thought of Dana and the prison hit she was investigating at Stateville. “I’ve been involved in a case with a Customs Agent that’s working on something that also has to do with inmates at Stateville. I don’t know all of the details but, given events around here, it’s starting to look like we might have two investigations headed in the same direction. It’s almost too eerie to be a coincidence.”

  “Weirder things have happened.”

  “Let me get in touch with Agent Rossi and touch base. What’s DeWayne’s younger brother’s name?”

  “DeShawn Dawes.”

  I wrote it down and tried not to smile. Webb stood up and extended his hand.

  “Sheriff, it’s been a pleasure working with such a professional team. I appreciate all your help.”

  “I’ll be in touch once I track Rossi down or, I can have her call you?” It was more a question than a statement.

  “Either way is fine Sheriff. Hopefully we can all help each out.”

  He showed himself out. I intended to keep my promise and call Dana but my first order of business was tracking down Sally. She’d gone too far and couldn’t be allowed to continue.

  I was wrong for not taking Sally seriously. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. I was going to use every tool and do everything in my power as Sheriff to find her and put her away so she couldn’t hurt me or my family again.

  I booted my computer and started combing databases for information about Sally Loring. Once I had some addresses and a potential vehicle, a white Dodge Durango 4X4, to use as reference points, I put out an APB on her and then I got Holly working on getting an arrest warrant.

  Little did I know that my actions were being followed closely by a certain Federal Agent currently tied to a computer in Cleveland. That is, I didn’t know until my duty cell phone rang as I was getting into a vehicle to go out and run down some of those addresses.

  “Sheriff Crane.”

  “Mel, it’s Dana.”

  Silence hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Dana broke it.

  “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “No.”

  “Let me rephrase the question. What the hell is happening?” Her voice was rising. “Why did you put an APB out on Sally Loring?”

  I sighed. “Dana, Sally shot my sister Saturday night at our house in some sort of drive by or she may have even been up close to the house. She wasn’t real close though because she apparently thought Kris was me. I was out on a call.”

  “Is your sister…okay?”

  “She had surgery late Saturday night. She’s still in the hospital but she’s recovering.”

  “You’re sure this was Sally?”

  “Who else would it be Dana?”

  “You tell me. What’s going on with your counterfeit investigation?”

  “We have three guys in custody here. Webb, the Secret Service Agent that’s here, served warrants on their homes and hit the mother lode at one of them. Custody is being transferred to him today and he’s taking them all back to D.C. for interrogation.”

  “Wow! Is that all? There has to be more! What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Two of the guys in custody here are members of a gang. They’re not local. They’re out of Chicago. Somehow, they’re affiliated with the printing of the counterfeit money and the transport and distribution of it.”

  I paused and then I jumped back in. “Dana, there may be ties to your case. I spoke with Webb this morning and started putting two and two together. I didn’t tell him anything concrete but he asked me to get in touch with you. I was going to call but… well, I need to find Sally.”

  Dana interrupted. “Mel, do you have a security detail on your house?”

  “Why?”

  “Really? Mel, think about it! Do you really believe Sally is your shooter? I don’t! I think you’ve become a gang target because of your investigation. And, if your hunch is correct, it may go a hell of a lot deeper than that and really be tied in with mine after all.”

  “No one’s there… at the house. The kids are staying with my folks. I’ve spent all my time at the hospital since Kris was shot.”

  “Track down Sally and do what you have to do there to prove things one way or another. I’m en route. Put some deputies on stakeout around your place.”

  “You don’t need to come down here. I can handle the security…”

  “It’s not about that.” Exasperated, Dana hung up.

  Chapter 13 – Stalkers and Smugglers, Oh My!

  It was shaping up to be a slow duty day for law officers in Muskingum County. There just wasn’t much going on. The Zanesville PD and my sheriff’s deputies were all over the place combing side streets and alleys looking for Sally’s vehicle. Sally could be anywhere in the county or out of it, of course but, from what I knew of her, she tended to stick to a pretty close radius around places she was familiar with. I didn’t think finding her would be difficult. I was right.

  Dispatch relayed a radio call from Zanesville PD to me. The Durango had been spotted parked on a residential street on the eastern edge of the city limits. No one was inside. A ZPD officer was keeping an eye on it from a distance.

  None of the addresses in the vicinity of the vehicle matched any of the ones I’d found in a database search. We’d be playing a waiting game. I headed in that direction anyway.

  I positioned my County SUV at the opposite end of the street from the cruiser of the Zanesville PD officer. Sally’s Durango was facing my direction. If she pulled out and headed my way, I could cut her off. It was a risk, if she was the shooter who got Kris. She wouldn’t mistake me this time in full uniform and a county vehicle. It was far riskier though to send a deputy to search her vehicle in broad daylight if she was armed, given that we didn’t know her exact location on the street.

  We didn’t have to wait long. Twenty minutes after I settled in, Sally emerged from a house across the street from her vehicle. She was carrying a small dog with her. She unlocked the truck and moved to place the dog inside. I radioed patrol and my deputies in the area to move in.

  The Zanesville PD officer pulled out from a couple blocks down behind the Durango and moved up the narrow street towards it. I pulled out and drove for it head on, stopping just short of it, positioning my SUV to block her exit.

  Sally stepped down from the still open door of her truck and looked straight at me. I drew my service weapon and exited my truck in one smooth, well-practiced motion. The patrol officer did the same from behind her.

  “Keep your hands where I can see them. You’re under arrest.”

  “Mel, it’s me, Sally. You know me. You’re making some kind of mistake.”

  “No mistake. Step away from the vehicle and lay down on the ground.”

  She moved toward me gesturing with her hands. “Mel, it’s meeee!”

  I aimed my weapon directly at her. “Stop!”

  Sally gave me a puzzled look and continued to come toward me.

  The Zanesville patrol officer reached into his car for his mike. His voice boomed over his PA system, “Sally Loring, get on the ground!”

  Startled, Sally swung around to find him standing, partially shielded behind the door of his cruiser with his service weapon aimed at her too. She whimpered and dropped to the ground. The little dog yipped from the truck at his now prone owner who was babbling non-stop that she hadn’t done anything. I moved in, reached down and cuffed her and then instructed her to get to her knees.

  The Zanesville PD officer helped me get her up o
ff the ground. I leaned her against the hood of her truck and searched her. One of my deputies moved in and began searching her truck for the weapon she used to shoot Kris. After a thorough search, he came up empty.

  “You can’t do this! I didn’t do anything wrong! I have rights! Why is he searching my truck? That’s unlawful! I’m going to sue all of you for this! Stop! My dog needs me! Can’t you see that?”

  Sally went on and on while I read her rights to her and while my deputy loaded her into the back of his cruiser. I instructed him to take her to the station and put her in a holding cell until we could work out jurisdiction for interrogation on the shooting. One of my deputies would probably have to do it because state would ultimately hand it back, rather than take it on. I’d likely be cautioned against doing it myself due to the conflict of interest but you can damn well bet I’d be listening in!

  Once Sally was safely in a cruiser and my officers were clearing her vehicle, a bystander stepped forward and explained that she was Sally’s cousin. She and Sally had been visiting with her ill mother. Sally was leaving but she was staying on for a few days. She asked what the problem was. I explained that Sally was part of an official police investigation and that was all I could release.

  She said to me, “My mother just loves her little dog. Do you think it would be all right if I kept it with us while you hold Sally?”

  The dog was a problem and here was a solution. I thanked the woman and then I went and got the pooch out of the vehicle and handed it to her. He seemed happy to see her. I radioed my deputy and advised him to let his passenger know her cousin would care for her dog. Sally was still yelling in the background.

 

  I watched and listened from behind the two-way mirror as deputies Spence and Treadway questioned Sally. She complained and fidgeted non-stop. She was really giving them the run around but they stuck with their questioning, trying to break her down.

  Spence was giving Sally the business about my sister’s shooting.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about! I didn’t do that! I wouldn’t shoot Kris!”

  Eventually, after relentless questioning, Sally admitted to stalking me, to the photographs and to trespassing to get my boxer briefs. She refused to own up to the shooting though and she never swayed from her story. She couldn’t, however, provide an alibi though for the time of the shooting on Saturday evening. She claimed she was at home, with her little dog, watching television. She also couldn’t name a single witness to corroborate that story.