by Dale Mayer
He looked at Angela in surprise. “What? You mean, your friends?”
“Hardly,” she said cheerfully. “Not when they’re criminals and when they’ve put themselves on separate sides of a legal issue. But now that’s not up to me. That’s for the prosecutors to resolve. And I don’t really care how you feel about this. If you won’t come calmly and quietly, you’ll be resisting arrest, so do your worst.”
He backed up several steps, his hands up to ward off Bonaparte’s approach. “He’ll just beat me up.”
“He’s never beaten up anybody who didn’t need it,” she said quite cheerfully. Her phone buzzed just then, and she nodded in satisfaction and said, “Oh, good, we have the warrant in hand now.”
“I want to read it,” Ronnie shouted.
“Well, you could,” she said, “if you went to the station. But, at the moment, we’re more concerned about securing our prisoner,” she said, with a hard look at him.
“What are the charges?”
“Well, I don’t have the complete list at hand right now,” she said, “but we’ll start with embezzling, kidnapping, coercion, threats, and any number of other things. We might even get ourselves worked up to murder.”
At that, he stopped and stared.
She nodded quietly. “In case you haven’t figured it out,” she said, “the game is up.”
“It’s not up,” he said in a mean, vindictive voice. “It’s only just started.”
“Says you,” she said in a bored tone, and, at that, Bonaparte moved so damn fast that Ronnie didn’t have a chance to do anything.
“Pretty damn sure if we check that vehicle hidden in the tree line, we can probably match it to the Hummer from my dash cam that tried to run us off the road too,” Bonaparte said. “Was that an employee of yours? Or just a friend?”
The guy looked at him. “What’s the matter? You don’t even know how to drive?”
“Depends,” Angela said, “if driving also means trying to run people off the road. I mean, we’ll have to see about an attempted murder charge there—of a sheriff and her deputy.” She watched as Bonaparte quickly handcuffed Ronnie and sat him down in a chair. She asked Bonaparte, “Do you want to run him back to the jail?”
“Really could use a few more deputies,” he said, looking at her.
She nodded. “I know, but I need him back in the jail and separated from the others.”
“Fine,” he said. “But I don’t really like the idea of you staying here alone.”
She grinned at him. “Glad to know you care,” she said cheerfully. “But, on the other hand, I am the sheriff,” and, with that, was a very quiet reminder of who was the boss.
He looked at her sideways, gave a clipped nod, and said, “Point to you.” He walked over and stood Ronnie back up on his feet, then together they led Ronnie out to the truck and loaded him in the back. “I’ll take him down and be right back.”
“You do that,” she said, then stood there with her hands on her hips, waiting for them to disappear, before heading back inside. She pulled up the warrant on her phone and quickly read through it. When she found it included all electronics, she whooped and turned around to get started, only to find herself facing a handgun pointed right at her. She didn’t recognize his face or know his name, but the shape of his body matched the man who shot into her house. And she could never mistake the look on his face, filled with sheer and utter hatred. She looked at him. “Are you going to pull that trigger?”
“Hell, yes, I’ll pull that trigger,” he said, “and there’s not a damn person in the world who can stop me.”
Without even thinking, she quickly raised her right leg hard and kicked his gun arm, the gun firing into the ceiling, then she followed it up with a hard right, a move her father had taught her a long time ago. While his head snapped back, her leg shot out to hook his legs and to pull them out from under him. He slammed down hard, flat on his back on the hardwood floor, and lay still. She pulled out her phone, called Bonaparte, and said, “Better get back here.”
She checked the man over, but he was unconscious. She could already hear the truck racing up the driveway to the front door. Even though it had been just a few minutes, he probably hadn’t even made it out of the gate yet. Bonaparte ran into the house, stopped when he saw the guy on the ground and the handgun on the floor beside him. “Shit,” he said.
“Yeah,” she replied. “We didn’t check the building first. That’s my fault.”
“This is the guy who shot into the house?”
“Looks like it to me. He’s the one carrying the rifle, that you picked up.”
“Well, damn,” he said. “Who the hell is he?”
“Don’t know yet,” she said, then reached down and pulled a wallet from the prone man’s pocket. “Looks like it’s either a brother or a cousin,” she said. “Same last name.” She held it out for him.
“Might be an uncle or older brother or something, based on his age,” he said.
“That’s quite possible,” she said, looking down at him, and sighed. “We’ll have to get his head checked out.”
“Maybe I’ll bring our prisoner in and see if he can ID him.”
“Or maybe just mention that you’ve got to call for an ambulance for an old man who attacked the sheriff, and maybe Ronnie’ll start talking all over himself.”
Bonaparte looked at her and nodded. “You know what? I think that’s a damn good idea. Time to go poke the rattler.” With that, he turned to head back outside.
She wanted to join him, but, at the same time, no way would she leave this guy injured and on the floor. Just too many chances of another rattler coming back to life.
Bonaparte pulled up short and turned around, while she stood here. He took one look, shook his head, and said, “You keep him here, and I’ll go check out the rest of the house, before I head outside.” She nodded and waited while he did a full search, then came back and asked, “Did you call somebody for him?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got an ambulance coming.”
“But you have nobody to stand watch at the hospital,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Man, it sucks being shorthanded.”
“That it does.”
The ambulance came in not very long afterward. And once they had the prisoner collected, she warned them that he was her prisoner and needed to be kept at the hospital under guard. She handcuffed him to the gurney railing. She said, “I’ll get a guard and have him there as soon as you’re at the hospital.”
Once they left, Bonaparte turned to her and said, “Who have you got to use for a guard?”
She said, “I’ll have to hire somebody private.” She pulled out her phone and called someone she’d used in the past.
When Jerry answered, his tone was genial and bright. “Hey, Sheriff. Have you got work for me?”
“I do, if you’re looking for some and if I can trust you.”
Immediately there was silence on the other end. “Wow, I’ve never had that asked of me before,” he said.
“Things are a little different these days,” she said grimly. “We’re under a bit of a siege right now.”
“Oh, I know,” he said. “I was hoping you might bring me in to help out, but you didn’t.”
“Partly because I already have somebody else, but we’re really short-staffed, so I need you too.”
“Right. So,” he said, “what do you want me to do?” She quickly explained the situation, and he said, “I’ll be at the hospital in a few minutes. I’m already getting changed.”
“He doesn’t leave at all. Got it?”
“Got it,” he said.
“And nobody takes him away. Not lawyers or anybody else,” she said.
“Got it, Sheriff,” he said. “He won’t get away.”
“Good,” she said, “because somebody turned my prisoners out of the jail cell once already today, so I’m not taking any chances.”
After a moment of silence on the other end
, he exploded. “What?”
“You heard me,” she said, “so I’m counting on you to make sure this guy doesn’t leave.”
“I got this,” he said. “And I’m looking for full-time work, by the way. Anytime you need me, I can drop my part-time gigs and be there. And, Sheriff, you can trust me.”
“I’ll keep it in mind, Jerry. Thank you.” After she was off the phone, Bonaparte looked at her, and she nodded. “He’s decent. I was thinking about bringing him on as a deputy before. And then this all blew up and …”
“And you didn’t know who you could trust anymore.”
“Exactly, and I didn’t want to put anybody in a position they weren’t comfortable with,” she added.
“Well, that’s fine and dandy,” he said, “but not good when we’ve got this situation.”
“I know, and I almost asked Levi for more help.”
“Not a bad idea,” he said. “We can always call him and get more help coming.”
“We’ll see what it’s like after this,” she said. “I really hate to impact him any more than I have to. He’s already been very generous with supplying you.”
“Well, I’m hardly a parts department, and neither is Levi,” he said. “We come because people need us.”
“And it’s appreciated very much,” she said, then looked at him. “Can you take the prisoner to the jail now?”
“Yep, I got it,” he said. “now that I’ve searched the place, you should be fine. Also there’s no dog in residence today.”
“Okay but remember, it’s not for you to look after me,” she said gently.
He stood straight, bringing himself up to his full height, and said, “Well, whether it is or not isn’t the issue,” he said. “I will never ever let somebody handle something alone if it’s obvious they need help.” And, with that, he turned and walked out.
*
Bonaparte thought about her words as he drove to the station. She obviously had been alone for a little too long. Or maybe she had deputies that she hadn’t felt she could actually count on. If they were young kids, that would explain it too, especially if they were still trying to figure out what was right and wrong within their own manhood. Bonaparte had no doubts how to handle life. But, if he’d been nineteen or twenty, or even a little older, that could be a different story. He pulled into the station not long afterward, opened up the back door to his truck, and helped out his prisoner. The glaring man didn’t say a word, as Bonaparte walked Ronnie inside the station and down to the jail.
As soon as he got there, the other deputy hopped up, looked at him in surprise, and said, “Another one, huh?”
Bonaparte nodded and said, “Yeah, and one more headed to the hospital. We still need to pick up Frank as well.”
“Jesus,” he said, “you guys are picking them up all over the place.”
“Well, you keep hold of this one. Let’s put him opposite his buddy. They quickly unlocked the cell and moved him in with Johnny. Bonaparte removed the handcuffs and then locked the cell back up. “Make sure nobody comes in or out,” he warned.
“Got it,” the deputy said. He looked at the five of them and shook his head. “Unless you’re expecting somebody to break them out.”
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised,” he said, “but hopefully not in the next ten minutes.”
At that, the deputy rolled his eyes. “I might just call in some friends,” he said.
“If you feel you need some backup, then let me know now,” he said, “because we can’t afford to have these guys walk again.”
“They’re not walking,” he said. “I’ve got some buddies not too far away, in case I need help.”
“Yeah, but which side of this war are they on?”
He looked at him in surprise and said, “You know what? That’s a damn fine question. I’ll find out. If you come back, and they’re sitting here, drinking coffee with me, then you’ll know they’re on our side.”
“Just make sure that you don’t just think they’re on your side, but, when we walk in, we’re the ones who get attacked.”
He winced at that. “Well, I wouldn’t have believed that, but you’re right. Let me think about that.” He asked, “Where are you heading next?”
“Back to support the sheriff. She’s got a warrant on these guys in the one house for now.”
“What do we expect to find?”
“Quite possibly proof of murder.”
He stared at him in shock. “Wow, who knew this town was so full of trouble.”
“Yeah, it’s a hell of a mess,” he said. “You been around here long?”
“Nope, not very long at all. She’s a good sheriff. I know most of the guys in my station hold her in high respect. My sheriff definitely does. I thought the townsfolk here did too,” he said.
“Well, something rotten has been going on here for a little while,” Bonaparte said, “but I don’t know if it’s really the town or if it’s all tied up with these guys here,” he said, with a head tilt toward the jail cell behind him.
“You’re probably right there.”
“But still, there’s got to be a reason for the weakness in the first place.”
“Just people,” the deputy said gently. “Just people.”
Bonaparte thought about that, as he raced back toward the property where Angela was. He hated to leave her alone, but he had to honor the fact that she was a sheriff in her own right and fully capable of handling most of these situations. He had worked with many female law enforcement officers over the years, but, for whatever reason, this one was getting to him. Not in a bad way, in a good way. Maybe too good. He really liked who she was. And he was always a big champion of the underdog.
But, of course, Levi’s words still rang in his head, as he thought about the matchmaking angle. In a way Bonaparte with Angela was a good match. She was definitely Bonaparte’s kind of person. She was also tall, slim, fit, and sexy as hell. She had that little dimple in her left cheek that he couldn’t stop staring at. She held herself with strong shoulders and a straight back and stared at the world calmly but head-on. He had to admire that.
Even when she was under the gun, like she was now, she wasn’t folding. She stood up for the cause and for the job she’d taken on. Again, something he couldn’t do anything but respect. Then he realized he was trying to find faults in order to not fall head over heels. It had been a long time since he’d had a relationship, … at least one that he wanted long-term. But that seemed to be where he was heading right now, which was just the weirdest thing. Still, he pulled up to the gate, happy to see it remained wide open. Parking in front of the house, he took three big steps inside and called out for her.
“Angela? Where are you?”
He heard her faint voice responding upstairs. He raced up and found her standing in the middle of the master bedroom. “Have you found anything?”
“No,” she said. “Nothing in the office downstairs. No electronics, no laptops, no nothing.” He grimaced. She nodded. “I know, right? It’s got to be here somewhere. I just don’t know where.”
“And you’ve checked the night tables and all the usual places in here?”
“I have,” she said, “and there’s nothing, but now I’m intrigued by this wall.”
He studied the wall, wondering what she was getting at.
“It feels like it’s short.”
“What do you mean by short?” he asked.
“I’ve been through the rest of the house, and it just seems like that wall is off,” she said, pointing to the wall she faced, “like it should have been pushed out another six feet.”
He walked closer, studied it, and nodded, as he ran his hands over the paneling. “I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a panic room was on the other side.”
“Considering the money they put into this place, I could see that as well,” she said, “although I wouldn’t necessarily have put it in the master bedroom.”
“I would,” he said. “A lot of guys retreat t
o their bedrooms when it comes to this kind of stuff, so, in a way, it makes total sense.” He kept at it, carefully running his hands over the surface of the wall, and it didn’t take him long before his fingers felt a faint ridge. He hooked his fingernail into it and followed it up to the top. He looked at her, and she nodded, then stepped forward.
“Look. The pattern is off here too.” She reached out a palm and pressed gently. Almost instantly the section snapped closed and pushed in, then popped out.
He pulled it open and whistled. “Now this is more like it.” The two of them stepped into what looked like a very intense high-security room. Not only were security cameras all around but also laptops and workstations.
“Do you think it’s just for him in here?” she asked, “I’m puzzled because it’s way bigger than the six feet I thought it would be.”
“Well, this room certainly could handle more than one person, so it’s probably mostly for him and his buddies.”
“That would make sense too. Maybe this is the only room like this. Or do you think we have another one at Johnny’s place?”
“You know what? I suspect this will be the control center. And maybe a backup hidden room is at Johnny’s house.”
“Good to note,” she said. “If we can just get through this stuff here, it’ll be huge for my case.”
“The only thing,” he said, “and please don’t take this wrong. But do you want to bring in Denver for this?”
“I’ve already thought of that,” she said, “and I spoke to one of the council members earlier. He told me that some of them know about a file that Denver has already opened up on this crew.”
Bonaparte nodded. “Which means that you can do what you want, but chances are Denver will take it over anyway.”
“It’s still my jurisdiction, my case,” she said, glaring at him.
He held up his hands. “I know, and I’m happy to take all this back to the station and go through it myself. And, if we need any more hackers,” he said, “you know Levi’s got you covered there.”
She nodded slowly. “I think the first thing is to confiscate all of this and take it in for evidence.”
“Yet you don’t have anybody to do that for you, do you?”
