Unconscionable, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 3

by William Manchee

  Chapter 36

  Payback

  When the Candy Kane kidnapping broke, Detective Alice Longoria volunteered to be the DPD liaison to the FBI. She had been stymied in her investigation of the Martha Collins murder when Rich and Erica Coleman disappeared. Besides being an interesting case, she thought since the victim was Matt Coleman’s girlfriend that working the kidnapping might give her an opportunity to get a lead on Rich Coleman’s whereabouts.

  After Candy had been rescued and Esteban Corvallis, a.k.a. Cork, had been arrested for the kidnapping of Candy Kane and the attempted murder of Matt Coleman, the only remaining task was to find out who had hired him. One of Matt Coleman’s contacts had supplied the identity of the hit man and whoever it was had even managed to provide an address. Longoria wondered if Matt’s contact could also help them find out who had paid for the hit and kidnapping. One day she stopped by Matt’s office and asked him.

  “Okay. I’ll call my guy. I’ve already paid him a hundred grand for helping me recover Candy, so I’m sure he won’t mind snooping around a little bit more for me.”

  “That was incredibly generous of you,” Longoria said.

  “Well, I couldn’t let anything happen to Candy.”

  Matt put his phone on speaker and called Eduardo.

  “Eduardo, Matt here.”

  “Hey my man, what’s up?”

  “I’ve got Detective Longoria here with me.”

  There was silence. “Okay. Hi, Detective.”

  “Eduardo. What’s your last name?” Longoria asked.

  “Just Eduardo. I don’t use a last name.”

  “The detective wanted to thank you again for helping get Candy back alive,” Matt explained.

  “Not a problem. I have been well paid for my assistance and I’m enjoying the fruits of my labor immensely.”

  “What did you buy?” Matt asked.

  “A monster truck. Gonna start racing.”

  Matt laughed. “A monster truck?”

  “Right. You should come out and watch me race, man.”

  “Yeah. Sounds like a blast. . . . Hey, I’ve been talking to ah, . . . people, and apparently these assassins like Cork often have a broker or middle man who handles the contracts and the money. Can you check around and see if Cork has a guy like that?”

  “Sure. Shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll ask around.”

  “Great. Good luck at the races.”

  “Oh, ah . . . Eduardo,” Detective Longoria said. “I could use someone like you as a CI. We’d pay top dollar and you could stack up some bonus points in case anybody in your crew got in trouble.”

  Eduardo laughed. “No thanks, senorita. I only help my friends, and I wouldn’t do it for money. I would have helped Matt gratis, but he insisted on paying me, so what the fuck, right?”

  Detective Longoria frowned. “All right. Just thought I’d ask.”

  “Thanks Eduardo, catch you later,” Matt said.

  Matt pushed the disconnect and looked over at Detective Longoria angrily. “Why in the hell did you do that? That was insulting.”

  “Sorry,” Longoria said. “Just thought . . .”

  Detective Longoria couldn’t believe Eduardo had blown a hundred grand on a monster truck. A hundred grand was more than her annual salary. She imagined what she would buy with a hundred grand but then caught herself. She wondered how else she could find Cork’s manager, so she asked Matt if he had any ideas.

  “Sally Sterns, Samantha’s receptionist. She doesn’t like Samantha much, so she might be inclined to talk. Let me call someone and see if she knows how we might contact her without alerting Samantha. We can’t call her direct because all the calls at RMS are monitored and recorded.”

  Matt dialed Shelly’s number with the phone on speaker.

  “Hello?”

  “Shelly?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is Matt. I’ve got Detective Longoria here with me. Does your friend Sally ever hang out somewhere after work where the detective and I could meet with her?”

  “She goes for happy hour at Friday’s every Thursday night. I’m sure you can catch her there.”

  “Oh. Perfect. Thanks for the info. How have you been doing?”

  “Fine. I got a new job as customer service representative for an online computer retailer.”

  “Good. That sounds less dangerous than your work at RMS.”

  “Yeah. Tell me about it. Now I can sleep at night.”

  “Listen, the FBI is working this case with Detective Longoria, so I’m sure she would put in a good word for you to the FBI if you can help out in any way.”

  “Sure, anything I can do just let me know.”

  “Yes, of course,” Detective Longoria assured her.

  Matt hung up and put the phone in his pocket.

  “I’d like the FBI to put the screws to Samantha and RMS,” Matt said. “They’ve broken a lot of laws and now have tried to kill me and Candy to try to keep it covered up. Shelly can provide you with plenty of evidence to shut them down. I’d suggest you get the FBI to cut a deal with her to make that happen.”

  “What kind of deal?” Longoria asked warily.

  “Just immunity. She was going to quit RMS when she found out about their illegal activity, but I asked her to stay on to provide me information. She was invaluable in getting a settlement with them.”

  “Okay. I’ll talk to Agents Rule and Ramirez about it. I doubt they’d have a problem with it.”

  “Good,” Matt said.

   

   

  The following Thursday Matt and Detective Longoria walked into Friday’s on Greenville Avenue a few minutes before happy hour began. They took a booth that gave them a good vantage point of the front entrance to the restaurant. Matt ordered a cup of coffee and Longoria got a Diet Coke. Fifteen minutes later Matt saw Sally come in with several other women. After they were situated and had downed their first drink, Matt strolled by and feigned surprise at seeing her.

  “Sally! Hey. Nice to see you.”

  Sally crinkled her nose a moment until recognition came. “Ah. Matt, right?”

  “Yeah. How are you?”

  “Fine, now that I have escaped the evil headquarters of the Queen Bee.”

  Matt laughed. “I trust none of your companions escaped with you.”

  Sally shook her head. “No. These are old friends from NAS. They were smarter than I was when the split up came along.”

  Matt nodded. “I see. Hey, if you have a minute I have some news I know you’ll want to hear and someone I want you to meet. It will just take a minute.”

  Sally’s eyes widened. “Really? Is it classified or can my friends listen in?”

  “Well, it’s classified for now, but you can fill them in later when the time is right.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right back, girls,” she said and followed Matt back to his booth. She sat down next to him and smiled at Detective Longoria. Matt introduced them.

  “So, what’s the big news?” Sally asked.

  “Well, Detective Longoria believes Samantha might have ordered the hit on me and my girlfriend.”

  Sally nodded, not seeming to be shocked by the idea. “So, what makes you think that?”

  Longoria leaned forward. “Well, from what Matt tells me, she had the greatest motive to want him out of the picture. He was about to expose her illegal activity when Candy was kidnapped and he was forced to prematurely settle the case.”

  “I wondered about that. She was scared to death Matt was going to hammer RMS, but then all of a sudden it was over.”

  “Right,” Matt said. “So, what we need from you is help in finding out who she hired to do the hit.”

  “I’m afraid I wouldn’t know. She doesn’t confide in me.”

  “Right. I didn’t figure you would know anything consciously but you may still have valuable information.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Well, she would have had to pay the assassin’s handler a large sum
of money. It would have probably been wire transferred to an offshore account.”

  Sally thought a moment and then said, “She uses North Dallas Bank for her wire transfers. She’s got quite a few different accounts there. I know because I disburse the mail and I’ve seen the statements come in.”

  “Has she got her statements for last month yet?”

  “No. They start coming in about the fifth of the month. She must get six or eight different ones.”

  “Okay. I’ll have the FBI look into it,” Longoria said.

  “You’re working with the FBI?”

  “Yes. They have jurisdiction over kidnapping cases so they’re leading the investigation.”

  “So, is Samantha going to be arrested?”

  “I don’t know,” Longoria replied. “There’s not enough evidence yet to prove she hired the kidnapper, but we are working hard to get it.”

  “Good. I hope she goes down for it.”

  “So, you’ll help us get the evidence we need to do that?” Longoria asked.

  “Oh, yes. That would be a dream come true.”

  They all laughed.

  “Can you call me later with the names on those bank accounts and the numbers?”

  “Sure, you got a card?”

  “Yes,” Longoria said and dug a card out of her purse.

  “It won’t be until the fifth of the month. I don’t have access to them except for a few hours from when I get the mail and Samantha picks it up.”

  “How are you going to get the account numbers from sealed envelopes?” Matt asked.

  Sally smiled. “Leave that to me. I had a big sister and I’m an expert at steaming open envelopes.”

  They all laughed as they got up and said their good-byes. Longoria thanked Matt for his help and went back to her car. Before she started the engine she called Special Agent Ramirez.

  “Agent. This is Detective Longoria.”

  “Oh. Hi, Detective. What can I do for you?”

  “I’ve got a couple of leads for you. Can we meet?”

  The next morning Longoria, Rule, and Ramirez met for breakfast at Denny’s off LBJ Freeway in North Dallas. The waitress brought them coffee and took their orders.

  “So, why are you working this case?” Rule asked irritably. “You know you don’t have jurisdiction.”

  “I know, and I’m not trying to tread on your territory, but I’ve been using this kidnapping as an excuse to spend time with Matt Coleman. I’m hoping I might get a lead on his father’s whereabouts.”

  “Hmm,” Rule grunted. “So, why are we meeting now?”

  “Excuse Ralph,” Ramirez said, shaking his head. “He’s a little grumpy before he has his first cup of coffee.”

  “It’s all right. . . . Anyway, I suggested to Matt that he get his friend Eduardo to check into who might have been brokering Cork’s hits.”

  “What makes you think he had someone handling his hits?”

  “Well, Matt thought so. He didn’t say why, but I suspect he’s been talking to his father.”

  “Right,” Ramirez agreed. “His father’s been around the block a few times. I understood he parlayed $50,000 into a million dollars in less than a year.”

  “Right. So, anyway Eduardo said he would check into it.”

  “Good. So, let us know how that works out,” Rule said skeptically.

  “That’s not all,” Longoria quickly added, now getting annoyed at Rule’s attitude.”

  “Drink your coffee, for godsakes,” Ramirez said. “Sorry, Detective. Go on.”

  Longoria took a deep breath. “Anyway, Matt thinks Samantha Jones ordered the hit on him, and he took me to meet the receptionist at RMS, Sally Sterns. She hates Samantha and agreed to cooperate with you guys. In fact, in a few days she’s going to call me with the names of a half dozen or so companies that Samantha and RMS control.”

  “We already have all that,” Rule spat.

  “She’s giving banking information and account numbers, too,” Longoria added.

  Agent Rule raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

  “Yes, so if you can be bothered, I wanted to pass that information on to you. Matt thinks there may have been a wire transfer from one of the accounts to pay Cork for the kidnapping and the hit.”

  “That’s excellent,” Ramirez said. “Call me the minute you get that information and we’ll check it out.”

  “Good. I’ll do that,” Longoria said and sat back.

  The waitress brought their orders and they all began eating. Longoria wasn’t pleased with the FBI’s attitude. In fact, she’d suddenly lost her appetite. Ramirez, noting that she wasn’t eating, sighed.

  “Listen, Detective. We appreciate your help on this investigation. In fact, I for one welcome it. Our supervisor gave us a good chewing out for not making as much progress as he had expected. You’d think the fact that we captured Cork would make him happy, but he wants the person who ordered the hit.”

  Longoria leaned forward. “Well, maybe I can help you get him off your back.”

  “How’s that?” Ramirez asked.

  “You know Coleman was investigating RMS and was about to expose not only considerable fraudulent activity but also some serious criminal conspiracies.”

  Ramirez nodded. “He mentioned that when he talked to us.”

  “Well, did he tell you he had a mole in RMS who knows the intimate details of what was going on and is prepared to testify in exchange for immunity?”

  “Seriously?” Rule said, now keenly interested.

  “Yes, he called her, a Shelly Simms, and she’s agreed to cooperate. Apparently she knows a lot about RMS and a company called CDR and their principals Ross, Rubio, and Stafford. CDR is nothing short of a forgery mill, from what I understand.”

  “Is that right?” Ramirez said. “I’ve heard about them. That would be nice to take down one of those operations.”

  “So, can I tell Matt you’re in?”

  “Let us check with the US attorney’s office and we we’ll get back with you.”

  “Okay. Let me know.”

  When Longoria got back to the office she was surprised to have a phone message from Joe Weston. She wondered what he could want. She’d tried to talk to him several times, but each time he’d refused, citing advice of counsel. She wondered what had changed. He picked up on the second ring.

  “Hello.”

  “Joe Weston?”

  “Yes.”

  “Detective Longoria returning your call.”

  “Oh hi, Detective. Thanks for returning my call.”

  “No problem. Does your attorney know you’ve called me?”

  “Yes. He advised me against it, but I just can’t do this anymore.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Not over the phone. Can I come to your office?”

  “Sure. You know where it is?”

  “Yes. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

  Longoria hung up the phone, wondering what was up. Had Coleman contacted Weston? Is he finally going to do the right thing and help them bring him in? she wondered. Thirty minutes later he walked into her office. He looked pale and disheveled, like he hadn’t slept in a while. She cleared off a chair for him to sit in.

  “Are you all right? You don’t look so good.”

  “I haven’t been able to sleep ever since someone kidnapped Matt Coleman’s girlfriend and then tried to kill him.”

  Longoria nodded. “Right. Well, that’s understandable. You were friends with his father.”

  Weston sighed heavily, tears welling in his eyes. “Yes, and he needed his father and mother, but because of me he didn’t have them.”

  “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

  “Because I’m a coward, they’ve had to run to God knows where to keep from being prosecuted for something they didn’t do.”

  “You’re telling me neither one of them killed Martha Collins?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.”

&nb
sp; “So, do you know who did it, then?”

  “Yes . . . It was me! I killed Martha Collins.”

  Longoria’s mouth opened. She tried to say something but nothing came out. Finally she said, “Okay, let’s go into an interview room and you can tell me all about it.”

  Longoria ushered Joe Weston into an empty interview room and then went to get Lt. Edmonton. When she related Joe’s confession he came to watch the interview. A moment later she took a seat opposite Joe.

  “So, Mr. Weston. I must advise you that you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be used against you in a court of law should you be charged with a criminal act. You have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand your rights?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you have an attorney but you are choosing not to have him present for this interview, is that correct?”

  “Yes. I don’t need an attorney.”

  “Okay, then. Why don’t you tell us about the night Martha Collins was murdered.”

  Joe took a deep breath and began his confession. “Martha Collins had called Peter, Rich’s boss, looking for Erica. Peter in turn called me and asked me if Rich and Erica had returned from Barbados yet.

  “I was surprised by the call, because their affair was supposed to be secret. Peter shouldn’t have known they were on vacation together. I asked him what made him think they were together, and he told me he had just returned from Barbados himself and knew they were having an affair.

  “This upset me because I’d known for a long time about the affair and actually handled Erica’s trust account. If Peter found out about the very risky trades we had been making, he would have had a stroke and probably filed a complaint against me with the SEC.

  “Peter told me that Aunt Martha was looking for Erica and was on her way over to her apartment. I knew of Aunt Martha’s reputation and feared she would likely try to break in if Erica wasn’t home, so I decided to try to intercept her.

  “Unfortunately, when I got there she was already inside and had called the police. When the police came she talked with them awhile and then they left. Continuing to watch, I saw her take several boxes of records out of the apartment and load them into her car. I knew the brokerage statements were most likely in one of the boxes and if she went through them she’d discover the risky trades Rich was making.

  “I assumed she’d already figured out the two of them were living together. The situation was unbearable. I had to do something but wasn’t sure what it should be. When Aunt Martha drove away I followed her all the way back to her motel.

  “After she’d moved everything from the trunk of her car to the motel room, I decided to knock on her door and confront her. I thought perhaps I could reason with her and get her to voluntarily return Rich’s records. Unfortunately, she was belligerent and completely irrational. The more I tried to reason with her, the more intransigent she became. Finally, I got so frustrated I decided to just go inside and take the records from her.

  “So, I forced my way inside and tried to haul off the biggest of the three boxes full of files and records. That’s when she began hitting me and screaming bloody murder. When she realized I was too strong for her, she said she was going to call the police and tell them I had tried to rape her.

  “That really scared me. I’d heard of men’s lives being torn apart by a false accusation of rape. And I wouldn’t be able to explain what I was doing in her motel room without incriminating myself as well as Rich, so I couldn’t let her make that call.

  “I grabbed her arm and wrestled the phone away from her, but she began screaming. I knew it was just a matter of time before one of the neighbors would call the police, so I pushed her onto the bed and put a pillow over her mouth to shut her up. I wasn’t trying to kill her, just stop the screaming, but I guess I held the pillow over her face too long and she quit breathing.

  “When I realized she was dead, I became panicky and didn’t know what to do. Finally, I decided just to leave. I didn’t think anyone had seen me come, but as I was driving away I saw Rich drive up. I watched him go to Martha’s room and knock. A moment later he tried the door and found it unlocked. I cursed myself for not making sure it was locked when I left.

  “I didn’t know what to do. Should I go in and explain to Rich what had happened or just pretend I’d never been there? But before I could do anything I saw Erica drive up in her car. After she went into the motel room I decided I’d better go in and explain what had happened. But when I got to the door Erica was standing over Rich’s limp body looking rather bewildered.

  “She explained she had walked in and seen a man standing over Martha’s lifeless body. Instinctively she had grabbed a lamp and hit him over the head, not realizing it was Rich.

  “She was frantic that Rich would be accused of murder and said she couldn’t let that happen. That’s when we concocted our plan to take Rich away from the crime scene so he wouldn’t be implicated in Aunt Martha’s murder.”

  “Wow! That’s quite a story,” Detective Longoria said. “It must have been very difficult for you to keep such a dark secret all these years.”

  Joe sighed. “Yes, you have no idea. Many times I tried to muster the courage to come forward, but just couldn’t do it. I hated myself for it but rationalized that it was all Rich and Erica’s fault and not mine.”

  “Yes. That makes sense. You were just trying to be a good friend and got dragged into Rich and Erica’s mess.”

  “Right, but I didn’t mean to kill Aunt Martha and had I come clean in the beginning, it probably would have been better for everyone.”

  “Probably so,” Detective Longoria agreed as she got up and took out her handcuffs.

  The next day Detective Longoria watched as Lt. Edmonton held a news conference. He announced Joe Weston’s confession for the murder of Martha Collins and told the media gathered for the press conference that all charges against Rich Coleman had been dropped. Someone asked him if Rich Coleman would get his bond money that had been forfeited returned, but Lt. Edmonton said he didn’t know. Longoria felt relieved that the Martha Collins case was finally solved and happy that Rich Coleman had turned out to be innocent. She didn’t know him that well, but she had become fond of Matt and figured his dad must be a nice guy, too.

  The next day Special Agent Ramirez called and said the US attorney had agreed to the deal Matt had proposed and that they were anxious to get their investigation of Samantha Jones and RMS under way. Detective Longoria said that was good news and she’d tell Matt right away and set up a meeting. After she hung up she called Matt.

  “So, when will your father be coming home?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. As soon as they find out the charges have been dropped,” Matt replied excitedly. “I can’t believe Joe decided to confess.”

  “Actually, it was Candy’s kidnapping and the attempt on your life that finally made him crack.”

  “Really? Wow. Joe’s a good guy. He’s been like an uncle to me. I hate to see him go to jail.”

  “Well, he got a free pass for twenty-five years. It could have been worse.”

  “Well, that’s true.”

  “So, the FBI has agreed to immunity for Shelly, and they’re launching an investigation into RMS.”

  “Oh. Awesome! I’m glad to hear it.”

  “So, they want to meet with you and Shelly as soon as possible.”

  “Okay, tomorrow afternoon, maybe?”

  “That will be fine, I’m sure. Do you know where their office is?”

  “Sure, in the federal building downtown, right?”

  “Right. Two o’clock p.m. See you then.”

  “Thanks, Detective,” Matt said and hung up.

  Detective Longoria hung up the phone and then took a deep breath. She was excited about the new investigation and working with the FBI. Now that she had delivered them a couple of key witnesses and helped them expand their investigation to RMS, t
heir attitude about her had changed dramatically. She didn’t know how long it would last, but for now it felt good.