“What’s up, Walt?”
“Paul, I’ve got bad news. Someone just tried to ice me in the parking lot of the Valley Market in Junction. I’m in the security office right now, having them pull tape of the hit.”
“Jesus, Walt, you haven’t been out of the hospital a full day yet and you’ve had that badge for less than four hours. For the love of Christ, what pile of dog shit did you step in?”
“Yeah, well, I badged my way in so you’re going to hear about it.”
“Fuck me, Walt, you’re not a cop. You can’t just go waving that around, are you hearing me on this? I gave that to you as a form of goodwill. I never thought you’d use it,” he whined.
“Too late for that now.”
“Please tell me you didn’t shoot anyone. That gun belongs to the department.”
“Least of your worries. You got to get me righteous with this badge.”
“Whoa now, hold on. I can’t just put you on the payroll just because you say so.”
“Paul, don’t fuck around with me now! This is the second time in less than a week someone has tried to kill me. I don’t have a lot of time here before the real cops show up. After I get a plate or something more, you gotta get it out on the wire before they either dump it or leave town.”
“No, you have to stay there and give a statement to the Junction PD. I’ll make sure that when they call in you’re covered, but after that, you high-tail it back here and give me that gun and badge.”
“No can do, Paul. After I get the plate, I’m out of here.”
“Walt! You’re not hearing me. You know how much trouble I’m going to be in if it gets out I gave you a loaded gun and a badge?”
“First off, it wasn’t loaded. Second, you told Marcie this badge made me legit if I had to protect myself. It’s way too late in the game for cold feet.”
“Speaking of Officer Reynolds, where is she?”
“Last time I saw her, she was walking back into her garage.”
“Shit Walt, you made her a party to your crime?”
“Paul, I’m pretty sure the hitters followed me from her house, so you need to send a detail over there in case they double back for her. That’s where your focus should be right now.”
“Fuck, are you just now telling me all this?”
“Sorry, slipped my mind. Thought it was the Federal Bureau of Idiots. Will you make sure she’s alright?”
“Fuck, Walt! You got any other dark fucking clouds hanging around I should know about? The last thing I need is a bolt of lightning from Thor himself hitting me in the ass.”
“Pretty sure that’s it.”
“Well, yeah, I’ll go over there myself. You know, as long as you’re sure,” came his snarky reply.
“Don’t mess around with this. Take a couple of guys with you. Whoever is behind this is playing for keeps.”
“Yeah, alright. But if you’re not coming in, what are your plans? You know, in case the FBI or CNN should ask.”
“Find Ronald and put an end to it.”
“Ronald? What’s he got to do with this?”
“Can’t talk now, call you back later.” Then I hung up the phone. I felt a little bad about putting him in a pinch but at the moment I didn’t have time to dwell on it. If I was here when the real cops showed up, then I was toast. I walked back over to the door and waved at the camera, but Jason either didn’t see me or he was ignoring me. I pounded on the door with my fist. The door buzzed and I opened it and went inside.
I found Jason standing next to a printer. I could hear the whirls of the printer starting to spit out copies.
“Find anything?” I asked.
“Yeah, actually I did. Plates and faces.”
“Good quality?”
“See for yourself.” He handed me four copies. The first showed the driver’s face in profile. In the second, he had grabbed the front plate and also the rear plate. In the third, I could see the driver’s face in full view. The last showed a dark object pointing out of the rear passenger side window, with me falling to the pavement.
“Thanks, this is just what I need. Andy come back with my phone?”
“Not yet, but let me call over there and see.” He had just started to punch in a number on the desk phone when Andy arrived with my phone and a short humorless woman I took to be in her late thirties. Her hair was pulled back into a bun. Her dark pants suit gave off the image of a woman who was to be taken seriously. Her Valley Market ID badge told me her name was Linda.
“You get my phone, Andy?” I asked.
He stared at me, but didn’t answer. The woman named Linda said, “I’m told you were the victim of an incident in our parking lot?”
“You could say that.”
“Meaning what?”
I nodded my head toward Jason. “He just pulled the images for me. See for yourself,” I said as I handed them to her.
She took a minute to look them over and then said, “All these show are you falling to the ground.”
“Naw, he’s on the square, Linda. You watch the tape and you can see the bullets hit his car.”
Her gaze turned to Jason. “I’ll deal with you in a minute. Can I see some ID please?”
“Sure,” I said. I pulled my badge out, flashed her the tin and then started to put it away.
“May I see it please?”
I hesitated and then handed it over to her. She took it, opened it up and then looked at me. “Where’s your ID?”
I smiled. “Just started actually. Boss hasn’t gotten it made yet, but you can call him if you’d like.”
“This badge is for Fruita.”
“Yes it is, but that has no bearing on the fact I was almost murdered in your parking lot.”
“That remains to be seen by the Junction PD, who will be here soon.”
“Linda, I have a hard lead on the shooters, so I need to get moving so we can find whoever tried to take me out. You’ll understand if I don’t stick around?”
“I used to be a cop myself, so you can knock off whatever bullshit you’re pedaling.”
I raised my hands in surrender. “Good, then you know I’ve got to get on this right away. Call Fruita and ask for Paul. He’s the CO of the department.”
She nodded. “I know Paul so that’s won’t be a problem. But let me ask you this, what were you doing here?”
“Buying a phone.”
“So this isn’t part of an investigation?”
“It is now.”
“You look like a homeless cretin who’s had his ass kicked. Not the typical cop Paul likes to hire.”
“Yeah, well this happened the other night,” I said, pointing at my neck and showing her my hand.
“You were the guy who got garroted down in Fruita?”
“I wasn’t garroted, I was attempted garroted.”
“So what happened?”
“I was watching earthworms fuck and slipped on a banana peel.”
“Hard to believe my panties aren’t soaked right now,” she said, deadpan. “News said Marcie was the only cop on site.”
“Yeah, the news,” I scoffed. “You know Marcie too?”
She nodded and then reached around me for the phone on the desk. Without saying anything, she picked it up and dialed a number. “Yeah, this is Linda over at Valley Market. Could you put me through to Paul please?”
‘Shit!’ I thought. I was hoping to get out of here before I was locked up in the back of squad car, but now it looked like I was going to be stuck.
“Paul, it’s Linda, there’s a guy standing in front of me who looks like he lives under a bridge and just got his ass kicked. He claims to be one of yours. ID says his name is Walt Walker.”
We locked eyes. I didn’t know what Paul was going to say, but I was hoping with his ass hanging out he would give me at least enough cover to be cut loose. She nodded and then her eyes softened a bit. “Whatever you need, Paul. And I’ll make sure I tell him. Uh huh, thanks.” She disconnected the call and hung up t
he phone.
“Well, you check out. Sorry, but you understand I can’t just let anyone in here – badge or not. Especially when they look like you.”
“Wouldn’t be doing your job if you didn’t.”
“He told me to tell you to make sure Junction PD gets the pictures before you leave.”
“How about this – you make a copy and give it to them for me? I need to get moving if I have any hope of catching this guy?”
She thought about it and then nodded. “Deal.”
“My phone?”
“Andy, give him the phone. Jason, reprint these, will you?”
Andy gave me the phone and Jason fired up the printer once again. When he was finished, he returned my copies to me. Thanking him and Linda, I headed for the door.
“Officer?” she said.
Turning back, I looked at her. “Yeah?”
“There’s way more to this than what you’re saying and for your sake, I hope you’re clean. But for what it’s worth, good hunting. Try working on not getting your ass kicked.”
I nodded and then headed back out to the Jeep that Marcie had loaned me. ‘Everyone’s a comedian,’ I thought.
***
Ronald drove east towards the Tillman State wildlife area. His mind floated out towards the numerous possibilities he faced. He was pretty sure the voice on the phone was sending him into a trap, which was fine because he knew the risks. At the same time, the only reason he had agreed to meet in the first place was that the location was known to him and he felt fairly confident in his abilities to see around the corners of any set-up or ambush.
The Tillman refuge was located on the eastern edge of Grand Junction, next to the Colorado River. During the spring months, the river would climb out of its banks and flood the refuge for weeks at a time. It was a small plot of land surrounded by a housing development to the north and farmland to the south. As a boy, that piece of geography had been little more than swampland that nobody wanted. Over the years though, the money had poured into the valley by the truckload, from all of the coastal states. People who had tired of the hurricanes or high-priced real estate had cashed in their lottery tickets and moved out west.
Ronald and Walt had spent time on the banks of the Colorado River as kids growing up. Both of them had floated the river from the foot of Grand Mesa to the shores of Utah. However, a lot had changed since then. Now, he was going to have to scout the area to see where the trap lay before he could reveal himself to the voice on the phone.
He drove East on US 6 until he got to G Road. Then he drove casually through the subdivision looking for a house that had a good defensive position. After that, he drove over to 38 Road and then over to F ¼ Road. After he had scouted the area for the better part of an hour, Ronald decided he needed to find himself a good vantage point on the ground, where he could properly survey the area. He noticed a dog park on the other side of the river which would allow him to easily blend into the area and locate where his adversary had set up to look for him.
He knew two things. First, the perch he was looking for would have to be high enough to overlook the refuge. Second and more importantly, he would have to have a clear line of sight with which to fire upon the target. He needed an easy egress with multiple outs.
It took him another forty-five minutes to get back to the dog park and narrow down a list of places where his foe might be holed up and looking for him. Ronald felt pretty good. He knew where his adversary was located. Sitting on top of a small hill on the northern side of the river was a nice single family home. What made it unique was the roof, or rather what was a part of the roof. The builder had incorporated a room with a large window that overlooked both the river to the south and the Book Cliffs to the north. This gave whoever was in that room an unobstructed view of all the ingress and egress of the Refuge. It made it particularly easy for whoever was inside to identify the trespass of his fellow man onto the property, especially in the middle of the week, when everyone was either at work or in school.
Leaning against a tree, he looked at the house through a pair of small binoculars. He couldn’t see anyone because the windows had been covered in dark tinting. Taking his phone out, Ronald sent a text to the anonymous messenger.
‘Your balls must have shriveled up into tic-tacs, ‘cos I’m here and ur not.’
Ronald hit send and then watched the house. He wished his view included the front yard and the garage, but at this distance all he could see was the roof. He checked his phone for a message – nothing. He waited another minute and was about to give up when his phone chirped.
‘If you were here, I would know it, tough guy.’
‘What, just ‘cos you can’t see me from your ivory perch it means I’m not here? Shows how much you don’t know about this game.’ Ronald typed his reply and then hit send. He looked through his glasses at the house.
Pete read the incoming text message. He smirked to himself. The great Ronald wasn’t as good as advertised, he thought to himself. More importantly, he now had the upper hand. He watched Ronald put the binoculars to his eyes and look towards the house where Ronald believed Pete was located. He had to give him credit. He was, after all, half right. The house Ronald was watching was a safe house Pete had procured some time ago, but it wasn’t where he was located. The problem with dinosaurs like Ronald was that they were stuck in a Cold War era way of thinking. But not Pete. No sir, he was a man of the times.
The safe house was wired from the roof to the basement with sound and video equipment, all of which was uploaded to a private server he controlled. Hell, he could have stayed at his desk and done this, but Pete wanted to prove once and for all that he was the superior hunter. But he wasn’t stupid. The live feed from the high-powered camera was sent wirelessly to a small store-bought router. The signal from that router sent a wireless signal out two-hundred feet, which was just strong enough to beam to the house next door.
This is where Pete was set up. His goal was to see if he could entice Ronald to enter the house, whereupon Pete would render him unconscious with knockout gas that would be pumped across the house via the ventilation system. After that, Pete planned on taping the torture and death of Fritz Washington’s worst nightmare.
The house next door had three bedrooms and two baths. The downstairs living room had a couch and a TV, which accounted for all of the furniture in the house. The bedrooms were equipped with blow-up mattresses and sleeping bags. This was the true safe house. What didn’t show up on the plans was the tunnel he had installed that connected the two houses together. So people saw you enter the first house, but not the second. This was the point. It was his version of the rope a dope.
‘So u think u found me, huh?’ Pete responded.
‘Open that window and find out.’
‘Tell u what, how ’bout u come on up and we’ll talk about how you’re gonna die instead?’
Ronald looked at his phone and wondered about the response he had gotten. Something was off, but he wasn’t sure what. Instinctively, he stepped behind the tree and then crouched down. He had thought his approach had been made without his being observed, but now he was second-guessing himself. Taking his phone out, he fired off another text message. ‘Not today. Maybe later on we’ll meet on neutral ground.’
His phone chirped almost instantly. ‘Coward! But at least you now recognize ur not nearly as good as u think u are.’
Ronald started to put the phone away when it chirped again. He removed it from his back pocket and read the new text: ‘Tick tock, your timing sucks. Bye-bye.’
Ronald dove head first into the dirt and then began to roll to his right, seeking the shelter of a large red sandstone rock. He waited, but nothing happened. Looking around now for signs of surveillance and not finding any, his cheeks burned with embarrassment. He had never considered for a moment he had lost a step, but it was now clear he had. His phone chirped again, but this time he ignored it and instead, combat crawled towards the edge of the river.
> Pete watched him dive out of view and laughed out loud. This was just too perfect. He had Ronald on the run and scared. He wished Jenny was here to see this. More importantly, he wished Fritz were here to see how wrong he had been to negate Pete’s skills and prowess when it came to dealing with the likes of Ronald Jacobs. He panned the camera left and then to the right, looking for Ronald’s head to pop up out of the brush. After a minute or two, he scanned back over to the truck he had arrived in, but didn’t find him there either. Next, he panned out to get a broader look at that side of the river but was unable to locate him. Pete knew he had to be in the area. In fact, when he had seen Ronald dive for cover, he had expected him to pop back up as soon as he realized a bullet or an explosive wasn’t inbound. When he didn’t reappear, Pete began to wonder if he had somehow missed him or if he was still on the ground somewhere.
Forty-five minutes later, he still hadn’t found him. Pete wasn’t exactly panic-stricken, but his concern over not finding him was beginning to eat at him. He got up from the couch and walked over to the windows. He peeked through the blinds facing the driveway and then moved around the house until he had checked all the windows. Satisfied his imagination hadn’t gotten the better of him, he sat back down on the couch and began his search for Jacobs anew.
It took Ronald ninety minutes to make it down to the river, cross it, and then make his way over to the house where he was certain his target was waiting. Before he had crossed the river, he had taken off his backpack and put his phone, guns, ammo, wallet and money inside waterproof containers that he kept inside his backpack for occasions just like this one. The good news for Ronald was the sun set early this time of year. By the time he had made it out of the water, the sun was well on its way to slipping below the horizon.
The water had been frigid and had gone straight through him to his core. By the time he had made it out of the water, he was near hypothermia. He dug into the sand until he had made a hole deep enough for him to crawl inside. When that was done, he pulled the sand on top of him to soak up the moisture from his clothes and also draw it away from his skin. When he was sure his clothes were dry enough, he came out of the hole he had dug and began his march toward the house.
On The Devil's Side of Heaven Page 28
