Vendetta

by C. M. Sutter

  “Got it.” Clayton spun on his heels and crossed the bull pen to the side hallway.

  “What would the sheriff’s office do without you, Amber?”

  I gave Jack a grin. “I’ve had a couple of great teachers. Even if the transcripts come in now, it’s still going to be time-consuming to listen to all of them. Finding out who picked up Warren from prison could expedite the connection between the Lynches and Warren Ricks.”

  Jack looked as if his enthusiasm was renewed. He rose from his seat and entered the bull pen with me. “How’s the hotel and motel search going, Adam?”

  Billings checked the list. “Between Clayton and me, we’ve called all eleven mom-and-pop motels in the county and two of the local large chain hotels. I even checked the Washington House rentals they have upstairs.”

  “Anything?”

  “Nope. Single guys have come and gone, but nobody matching Warren’s description is registered right now at any we’ve checked.”

  “He could be moving from one to another,” Kate said. “It would be harder to track him that way.”

  “But he doesn’t know we’re on to him,” I said.

  Jack tipped his chin. “He’s trying to stay under the radar. Keep at it. Kate, give Adam a hand with that.”

  “You bet.” Kate scooted her chair next to Adam’s desk so they could divide the remaining list.

  Jack returned to his office and made the call to USP Atlanta. I heard the conversation through his open door.

  “This is Lieutenant Jack Steele calling from the Washburn County, Wisconsin, sheriff’s office. I need to speak with the person who was sending the audio transcripts to my email. Yes, inmate Anthony Lynch and the recorded phone calls for the last three months. The warrant for those transcripts was filed several days ago, delivered this morning, and was supposed to be in my possession an hour ago. You already know that.” Jack raked his hair. “Yeah, I’ll hold, but make it fast.”

  I held up my coffee cup and caught Jack’s attention. He nodded. I went to the coffee station, filled his cup, and took it to his office. He whispered a thank-you and rolled his eyes. Jack hated being placed on hold.

  “Yes, I’m still here. Another half hour? Why?” Jack groaned and fisted his eye socket. “Fine, transfer me to the person who handles the prison’s surveillance department. Yes, I’ll wait.”

  Jack placed his hand over the receiver and asked me to call downstairs to see how the search for the Lynch and Ross vehicles was going.

  I returned to my desk and called Clayton’s cell. “Hey, Chad, do you guys have anything for us yet? Jack still hasn’t gotten the transcripts or the prison records. He’s getting impatient. Sure, hang on.” I grabbed my notepad and scribbled down the few vehicles and plate numbers they had already found. Lea owned a 2002 Silver Suzuki Vitara with the Georgia plate number RKC4827. “Got it. Give me the next one.” They had the car and plate number belonging to James too. They were still searching for a vehicle or two that belonged to Mark Lynch, the cousin, or his wife. “Sure, go ahead with the Ross vehicle. Uh-huh, a burgundy 1998 Mercury Grand Marquis, plate number ENH2035. Yep, got it. Thanks, Chad. Keep me posted.” I tore the slip of paper out of my notepad and took it into Jack’s office. He was still on hold. “Here’s what they have so far, boss.”

  Jack nodded a thanks, clicked on Speakerphone, and placed the receiver on the base. He rubbed the crook of his neck. “Damn waiting is giving me a stiff neck and shoulder.” Seconds later, somebody picked up on the other end.

  “This is Tom Littleton in Security. How can I help you, Lieutenant Steele?”

  “Finally.” Jack sat forward and pulled out a pen and paper. “Tom, I need you to pull up the inmate exit and pickup area for the day Warren Ricks was released from your facility. I believe it was within the last four weeks.”

  “Sure, no problem, Lieutenant. I can just type in his name to find the date and time he was released back into the civilized world. Give me a second here.”

  Jack waited. This time he didn’t seem as frustrated. Hopefully, in a few minutes we’d have some answers. He sipped coffee as he doodled on the sheet of paper in front of him.

  Tom returned to the call a few minutes later. “Lieutenant, are you there?”

  “Yes, go ahead.”

  “Okay, I found the footage of Warren’s release. He was discharged from the prison on December eighteenth at two twenty-seven p.m. On the footage in front of me, it shows him walking to a dark-blue late-model sedan. The vehicle is parked parallel to the cameras, a deliberate act we often see to hide the plate numbers of the vehicles picking up released inmates.”

  “Damn it. Can you tell the make and model of the vehicle?”

  “The person parked pretty far out into the lot, another attempt at giving us not much more than vehicle color and style of car.”

  “Okay, can you get that footage over to me right away? Our guys in the tech department might be able to work with it.”

  “Sure can, Lieutenant. All I need is an email address.”

  Chapter 49

  After completing his task, Warren drove away from the side street he had parked on. Sitting a half block away from the sheriff’s office during shift change, he could see every person who entered and exited the parking lot and what car they drove. With his eagle’s-eye view, he had jotted down every make, model, and color of vehicle in the lot.

  Back at his rented room, Warren pressed the Start button until his prepaid phone came to life. He had to make a quick update call to Lea, and she wouldn’t be happy that the hit hadn’t been completed yet.

  The longer Warren was in North Bend, the easier it would be for people to recognize him and remember seeing him around town. The Lynches didn’t want or need any blowback if something went awry and Warren was caught in the act of murder.

  He waited until Lea picked up the ringing phone on her end. She barked into it, clearly displeased. “You haven’t called for two days.”

  “Yeah, I know, Mrs. Lynch. I’m trying to keep this phone turned off as much as possible. It can’t be tracked that way.”

  “Does somebody suspect you of something?”

  “Not to my knowledge, but the job isn’t done yet either. I’ll be here for a few more days.” Warren took a gulp of tepid coffee to wet his dry mouth. “This isn’t my first hit, but that damn Monroe bitch and Kate Pierce are the luckiest women I’ve ever come across. Every time I’m ready to put an end to their pathetic lives, somebody steps in and interrupts my plan.” Warren heard Lea snarl.

  “Get it done. You don’t need a plan. Just stick the knife in their guts or give them a bullet to the head.”

  “I will if you want me to go back to prison and name you as the person fronting this project and Tony as the person who thought up the plan.”

  “Don’t talk sass to me, mister. There’s plenty of money waiting for you on this end. Either do it or find somebody else to support your ass for the next year. Don’t call me again until the job is finished and you have photo proof of it.”

  Lea hung up abruptly and left Warren staring at the phone in his hand. He swiped the screen to end the call then turned off the phone and threw it across the bed.

  “You stupid bitch. I’ll get this done—you just wait and see.”

  Chapter 50

  “Amber, get Clayton back on the phone.” Jack pushed the chair away from his desk and headed toward me. “A dark-blue, late-model sedan was waiting for Warren when he was released from prison. Of course, the car was parked far enough away so the cameras couldn’t pick up the make, model, plate number, or get a visual of the person behind the wheel. We need that car found now!”

  I gave him a nod and dialed Clayton’s cell. “Chad, a dark-blue sedan picked up Warren on his release day. We have nothing to go on, though. The driver parked too far out in the lot, but the video guy is sending the file to Jack. We’ll forward it to Todd as soon as it comes through. Hopefully, he can enhance it enough to get a make on the car or catch a glimpse of t
he license plate as they drove away.”

  “Sure, we’ll be waiting for it. We’ll have to expand our parameters a bit. We haven’t come across a dark-blue sedan owned by any Lynch or Ross family members.”

  I hung up the phone and gave Jack a shrug. “It’s a waiting game, boss.”

  “Then as long as you’re waiting, call every liquor store in town and find out who sells Scottish Ale, particularly Belhaven. Maybe we can catch Warren on video buying some and narrow down the area of town he’s hiding in.”

  “Not a bad idea.” I enlisted Kate’s help now that she and Billings had exhausted their search of the hotels and motels in the county. None of them had anyone registered who fit Warren’s description.

  Seconds later, Jack shot across the bull pen and out to the hallway. Kate raised her brows in question. “Where the hell is he off to in such a hurry?”

  “If the video file came in, he’s probably headed down to Tech. He’ll want to see if Todd can do anything to enhance it. Come on. Let’s get started on the liquor stores. I’ll call the ones on the north side of town, and you can take the ones on the south.”

  Billings pushed back his chair and stood, then rolled his neck. “We have a lot of irons in the fire. Maybe we need to focus on one task at a time.”

  I snickered. “Are you going to be the one to mention that to Jack?”

  “Humph—you have a point. Let’s work in the conference room. I’ll jot down what we’ve done and what still needs to happen. We have to get some order around here.”

  Kate and I agreed and followed Adam into the conference room. With a marker in hand, he drew a line down the center of the whiteboard, leaving what was already written there.

  “Okay, the hotels and motels have been checked out.” He wrote that the task was complete with zero results. “Next?”

  “We’re waiting for the transcripts and prison files to show up in Jack’s in-box. Once those transcripts come in, we all need to pitch in and listen to them. The prison files aren’t that important, just more evidence to show Warren’s criminal background. Same with the Baton Rouge police files on him that should arrive tomorrow. They establish his history but don’t really aid in finding him.”

  Billings wrote down that information. “So the most important thing that can help us now in proving the Lynch family hired him as a hit man are the transcripts, if there is anything incriminating on them. But it’s even more important to find out who picked him up from prison.”

  “That’s exactly right. When we interrogate the people involved, they may cough up the description of the vehicle Warren is using and reveal where he’s staying. I’m sure they’re keeping in touch even if it’s just a few short updates every so often. If the Lynch family is behind this, they’re going to want to hear about Warren’s progress.”

  Kate powered up her laptop and said she was going to get the locations and phone numbers of the liquor stores on the south side of North Bend. I did the same with the ones on the north side of town. Between all of them, there were only six.

  I never realized how few liquor stores were in our immediate area. “Hold on here. Six liquor stores can be handled by one of us, but I never thought about the grocery stores.”

  Billings took a seat. “Let’s divide those up too and get this knocked out as fast as we can. It’ll be one less thing to worry about later.”

  Kate called the liquor stores and found out only two of the six sold Belhaven. Four sold Scottish Ale. She asked them to pull up all the receipts for the last ten days where Scottish Ale was sold, particularly Belhaven. She gave them her phone number and hung up. “More waiting. Okay, how about the grocery stores?”

  Billings and I had started on the four grocery stores in town. Two were big chain stores and carried the same products, one didn’t have a liquor license at all, and the last, a privately owned market, was located on the west side of town. We began the process of elimination with each of us taking one store. The duplicate stores would have the same items in their beer department, but we still had to find out if they carried Scottish Ale and if any had been sold recently.

  After a half hour of being put on hold, we’d learned that the privately owned store was the only one that sold Belhaven. Kate checked her email for responses from the liquor stores, and she had a hit. Two four-packs of Belhaven were sold two nights ago at Frank’s Beer and Booze, located on West Washington Street.

  “Got a hit at Beer and Booze,” she said.

  Billings wrote that down. “That’s on the west side of town, right?”

  “It is.”

  I tapped my pen on the table. “That’s interesting because the private market sold some too, and they’re also on the west side of town. We need to find out if they have parking lot cameras as well as cameras facing the cashiers.”

  Jack and Clayton entered the conference room and looked discouraged.

  “I was wondering where everyone went,” Jack said. “We have zilch on the blue sedan. There isn’t one registered to anybody from the Lynch or Ross families, and Todd couldn’t get a better image to come up on the make or model of the car either. The person behind the wheel knew how to stay out of the camera’s range.”

  “We might have something better,” Billings said.

  Jack and Chad plopped down in two chairs just inside the door. Jack nodded. “Go ahead. Anything is better than what we have right now.”

  “We’ve located one grocery store and one liquor store that carry Belhaven. They’ve each had sales in the last few days, and they’re both located on the west side of town.”

  “That could be a significant lead. Do they have surveillance cameras?” Clayton asked.

  “That’s what I’m about to find out,” Kate said as she picked up the phone.

  We watched as she made the first call to Beer and Booze. She set the conference room phone to Speakerphone.

  “Hello, this is Detective Kate Pierce calling from the Washburn County Sheriff’s Office.”

  “Hello, Detective. This is Frank Kindman, the owner of Frank’s Beer and Booze. I’m the person who sent you the email. You were inquiring about our sales of Belhaven?”

  “That’s correct, Frank. What we need to know is if you have video surveillance outside the liquor store as well as at the counter.”

  “We do not. Our only camera pans the inside of the store, and it’s taped over daily.”

  I rolled my eyes. What we thought was good luck was quickly fading. We couldn’t even check the cashier’s video from two days back to see if it was actually Warren buying the Belhaven.

  Kate thanked him and hung up the phone. “We still have one more shot at this.” She dialed Upton’s, the small privately owned market. She introduced herself as she had on the previous call and asked if the store had cameras in their parking lot as well as inside. The manager, Betty Crandall, told us they did have video surveillance both indoors and out. I held my breath as Kate asked the next question.

  “How long do you keep the videos before they’re taped over?”

  “It’s all digital and stored in the cloud. We don’t tape over anything.”

  Jack spoke up since the call was still on Speakerphone. “Ma’am, this is Lieutenant Jack Steele speaking. We’re going to need to take a look at those videos going back possibly a week. How soon can you get them up and ready for us?”

  “How soon can you be here?”

  Jack checked his watch. “Give us ten minutes.”

  Chapter 51

  Jack sent Kate and me to Upton’s. We were the ones who had seen Warren up close and personal and would recognize him on the surveillance tapes right away. The guys stayed behind to start listening to the transcripts, which had finally arrived in Jack’s in-box fifteen minutes ago.

  The drive to Upton’s took only ten minutes. With any luck, this would be the lead we badly needed. We’d see Warren on the store surveillance tapes and learn the make and model of his car. I tried to sound optimistic as I explained to Kate the process w
e should use. “We’ll check the counter tapes first. If we see him, we’ll switch over to the parking lot camera and follow him outside, and if we’re lucky, street-facing cameras will show us which direction he turned when he left the parking lot. We’ll corner that sucker soon enough. Warren Ricks is about to go down.”

  “You seem pretty sure about seeing him here,” Kate said as we crossed the store parking lot. “You think he’s the only person in town who drinks Belhaven?”

  “No, Jade does too.” I gave Kate a quick wink. “Come on. Be positive. He could have stopped in for snacks too, not just beer. That would definitely tell us that he’s holed up someplace nearby.”

  When we crossed the threshold, a bell above our heads dinged. I had been in that store only a few times over the last few years since Jade and I moved to the south side of town. It was quaint, but they supplied the usual necessities, and their fresh produce and meat were better than that of the chain stores. Their wine choices even topped the local liquor store’s selections. Kate and I approached the white-haired woman behind the customer service counter. She looked to be in her late sixties and was very pretty. She wore a crisp white blouse with black slacks, and a pair of aqua glasses hung from a lanyard around her neck.

  “Hello, we’re the detectives from the sheriff’s office. Are you Betty?”

  She gave us a pleasant smile. “I am.” She stuck out her hand to shake ours. “Upton’s Market certainly appreciates your service to the community.”

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Kate said.

  Betty cocked her head toward the rear of the store. “The video room is back there, Detectives. I’ll show you how everything works and then leave you to it.”

  I motioned for her to lead the way. “That’d be great. Thanks.”

  Kate and I followed Betty to a nice-sized clean office, which was not what we were used to seeing in such places. We typically found a back room with a mix of office space, a video surveillance and computer station, and a shelf of cleaning and bathroom supplies squeezed into an area the size of a closet.