The Grey Man- Partners

by JL Curtis

  “That would be my guess. Although Hector said Covington never debriefed her at all. He tried to hang her out to dry, but Edwards was senior and when he recovered, his testimony was that he initiated the original contact. Covington’s gone, right?”

  The old man grimaced, “Yeah, gone from here, but he’s apparently in DC. He’d sucked up to people high enough in the DHS organization they pulled him out before Hector could get his ass fired.”

  “Shit.”

  “No kidding. Hector’s got all his folks watching unofficially for more OTMs like that. Officially, he said he’s been told hands off. Just like the whole holding for deportation thing. He said they caught one guy for the fifth time at El Paso a couple of weeks ago. He was deported less than a week earlier, and had already made it back. They can’t hold him but forty-eight hours, then they have to kick him to the curb, because his deportation hearing isn’t for six months.” The old man sighed, “This crap has gone on too long. And too many criminals are getting by, no thanks to DHS.”

  Bucky growled, “Heard that. Damn you, John, you know you’re putting me in one hell of a spot. I’m betting your info is probably dead on. The question is, will the heavies allow anything to be done about it or will they wait until there is physical evidence in the form of a smokin’ hole in the ground. It’s sure as hell not like the old days, when we could have gone after this at our level and just back briefed the bosses…”

  ***

  Bucky pulled back into the office, and he and the old man walked back into the classroom. The old man ran the trainees through the camera systems and brought up the live crossing video. He saw Spears seemingly meandering around the lines, vaguely looking in cars, trucks and smiling at the male drivers.

  The old man caught her giving the high sign to the checker on truck lane one, as she moved over to the next lane. He called out what was going on to the students, and had the video backed up to the high sign. During a give and take with the class, the old man asked them to pick up what cued Spears.

  Finally, Agent Young said, “Captain, I think she picked up on the ethnicity of the driver in the white truck. Or maybe she heard something.

  The old man nodded, “She goes on break in ten minutes. We’ll get her in here and see what piqued her interest.” Looking down at the crib sheet of attendees, he saw that Lucy Young was a former army MP.

  ***

  Spears was surprised when the shift supervisor said, “Hey, they want you over at training. Apparently somebody was looking over your shoulder.”

  She shrugged, “Is that good or bad?”

  The supervisor answered, “Dunno, I try my best to stay away from there. Too many heavy hitters tend to show up over there. I know technically you don’t belong to us anymore, but I’d still be careful.”

  “Thanks! I’ll try to not upset any applecart’s.”

  The supervisor chuckled, “Good luck with that. If you need to be over there a while, text me on the supervisor phone, then take your break afterward, okay?”

  Spears threw him a mock salute, saying in a credible German accent, “Vill do, Herr Commandant!”

  Spears walked slowly over to the main building complex thinking, Hard to believe I only came through here a year ago. Now I’m back, but I’m not… really… I guess DEA is trying to figure out what to do with me, but at least now I’m not sitting on the border with multiple targets pinned to my back. Lemme see, eight years ago I went into the Air Force, four years there, two deployments to the Sandbox, but now they just call it Downrange, then two and a half years with DHS, Ugh… Lateral to CBP, and now DEA. Guess I suck at actually holding a job.

  Pulling the door open, she climbed the stairs to the training area with one last thought; I’m beginning to think I suck at life, too. As she walked down the hallway, she noted the students appeared to be on a break, so she eased into the classroom. Seeing the old man standing at the podium, she brightened, “Captain Cronin!”

  The old man turned, “Spears, good to see you! Hope you don’t mind if I pick your brain about what cued you to that truck earlier.” She nodded as the class trooped back in.

  After the class settled in, the old man ran the camera back to the sequence where Spears had given the high sign to the supervisor. “Okay folks; let’s watch this one more time. Then we’ll get what Agent Spears actually saw.

  After two minutes of video, he stopped the replay, “Anybody want to take a guess at what Agent Spears saw?”

  After about five minutes of discussions and ideas, the old man finally said, “Okay, now that we have a list of things, let’s find out what actually did cue Agent Spears.” Pointing to Spears he said, “Over to you.”

  Spears said, “Can you run it back to the start of the sequence please?” The old man did so, then started it. Spears pointed to one of the trucks pulling in, “There is a watch list for certain trucking companies, and certain trucks if you will. There are also watch lists for individuals. I guess what I’m saying is there are a lot of lists, some of them are pretty static, but others tend to update regularly. What cued me was initially the truck, because I thought it matched one of the watch lists, but then I realized what I had actually cued on was the driver.”

  Bumping the video forward, she continued, “He looked right if anyone knows what I mean, like I recognized him, but didn’t. But the gut feeling was that I should say something. That’s what I did, then hauled ass into the office and went through the watch lists. He was on it, but with a beard and moustache.”

  The old man said, “Ah yes, the infamous gut feeling.” Nodding to Spears, he continued, “If you stay in this business long enough, or law enforcement in general, you’re going to develop those gut feelings. The question is, what will you do with them? Spears did the right thing, and I see quite a few of you nodding. How many ex-military?”

  Almost all of the class raised their hands, “How many with one or more combat tours?” Probably three-quarters of the hands stayed up. “How many of you had those gut feelings or hunches in combat?” About half the hands stayed up that time.

  The old man walked back to the podium, “Folks, those hunches can save your lives down here. You absorb so much information that it’s almost like you have a separate computer running in your head after a while, constantly comparing the conditions, people and things around you with all that information. Learn to trust them. And let’s give a round of applause to Agent Spears and let her get back to work.”

  The class did so as Bucky walked to the front of the class and the old man and Spears headed for the door.

  ***

  Out in the break area, the old man caught Spears up on what he’d been told about Covington, as they chatted about inconsequential things. As he stood up to leave, Spears impulsively hugged him saying, “I never got to really thank you for saving my life. But thank you.”

  Stunned, the old man didn’t even have a chance to react before Spears trotted off toward the incoming lanes.

  Plotting and Scheming

  Jesse and Felicia laughed as they headed out the door, leaving Aaron and Matt to babysit Jace and Boo Boo. “Free as a bird! And not a care in the world,” Jesse said as she unlocked the GTO.

  Felicia laughingly said, “Unless you count Jace, Boo Boo and Matt and Aaron. Nope not a care…”

  Jesse said, “Hey now, don’t trash my mood before we even start shopping! Then I’d have to do vengeance shopping, which wouldn’t be pretty!”

  Felicia shuddered dramatically as she dropped into the seat and buckled herself in, ‘Um, just out of curiosity, where are we going?”

  Jesse glanced over as she pulled out of the parking lot, “Well, I need to run by the PD, then we’re free until I pick up the steaks at three. I thought we’d make a little road trip down to Fashion Valley Mall.”

  “Okay! I’m game!” Felicia replied. “Wake me up when we get there!”

  Jesse wheeled into the PD, and started to say something, but realized Felicia actually was asleep. Jesse remembered t
hat there was some morning sickness hitting her, and eased out of the car, pushing the door gently closed. Walking into the department, she asked the dispatcher, “Lieutenant Ortega in this morning?”

  The dispatcher nodded and buzzed her through the door. Smiling, Jesse didn’t quite skip, but was happy as she made her way back to the lieutenant’s office, “Morning LT!”

  Ortiz looked up with a smile, “Morning Jesse, I was just reviewing the last set of grant applications. I can’t believe you managed to get this all done in three days! It would have taken me three months, and still been wrong!”

  Jesse blushed, “I’ve done a bunch of these, and once you get started, it’s actually pretty much a cut and paste.”

  Ortega nodded, “But where is the one for the up armored vehicle?”

  Jesse put her hands on her hips and glared at him, “I know you want one, but dammit LT, those things are money pits! And to make it worse, their use is actually tracked by DOD. Didn’t you read the memo I did about the estimate of fifty-eight thousand dollars in annual maintenance?”

  Ortega nodded, “But that figure can’t be right, didn’t you misplace a decimal point? Isn’t it really fifty-eight hundred?”

  Jesse wanted to stamp her foot, but refrained, “No, I didn’t misplace it. Those damn things take a ton of maintenance, and due to their weight, you’re not going to get them serviced at a car dealer or a regular truck dealer. You’re talking heavy equipment or semi-tractor dealers, and their cost per hour is ridiculous. Also you have very limited time frames for changing filters and stuff, since they are built to military standards, and I quote, must be maintained to DOD standards, unquote. In other words, the stuff the military has people to do, we’d have to pay for. I’m sorry LT, but it’s just not cost effective.”

  “But…”

  Jesse held up her hand, “I’ve gone back through the records, the last time there was a possible use for one was, well, something over ten years ago. Besides you have an entire base full of Marines right down the road.”

  Ortega finally hung his head in defeat, “I understand, but it sure would be nice. But fiscally, if your numbers are right, that’s one and a half patrol units a year.” Picking up the stack he said, “So as far as you’re concerned, these are all good to go?”

  Jesse nodded, “All you and the chief have to do is sign on the dotted line, and submit them. They need to go out by close of business Monday, just to be on the safe side.”

  Ortega said, “Okay Jesse, I can do that. Now get out of here and enjoy your Saturday!”

  Jesse smiled, “I will, and you try to get some family time too, okay?”

  “I will,” Ortega replied.

  ***

  Pulling into the Fashion Valley Mall, Jesse looked for a good ground level parking place, but couldn’t find one. Finally giving up, she pulled into the parking garage by Macy’s and looked carefully around, “Damn, I don’t really like this.”

  Felicia shrugged, “It’s San Diego. Parking is a premium down here. We could always valet park.”

  Jesse shook her head, “Oh hell no! I did that once, and it cost an arm and a damn leg, plus we had to wait twenty minutes to get the car back. We’ll take our chances. C’mon, onward and upward, there are clothes to be bought, and nails to be done!”

  Felicia just shook her head, “You’re really nuts, you know that?”

  Jesse looked at Felicia over the top of the car as they got out, “Whatever do you mean?”

  “You are joking, right?”

  Jesse laughed, “Yeah, I’m joking. It’s just that sometimes I revert to my inner child. I can’t really do that with Aaron, he doesn’t get it. But Jace loves it!”

  After an hour of walking and shopping, they decided to stop for lunch. Ending up at the sushi bar, they grabbed a quick round of nigari and some sashimi, then started trying to find the nail salon. They finally realized they were at the opposite end of the mall, and started the long hike to the far end. “Want to drop the bags off?” Jesse asked.

  Felicia replied, “No, that’d just about guarantee your car would get broken into, and we’d be here for hours doing paperwork! Besides, this is good exercise!”

  Jesse rolled her eyes at Felicia, “You and your two little bags say that. My four bags…”

  Felicia glanced up and said, “Oh, there’s the nail place. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve had a manicure.” Walking in, they were surprised to get immediate service, and were soon ensconced at nail tables as the manicurists did their magic.

  Coming out an hour later Jesse asked, “Anything else you want to do today?”

  “Honestly, I’m a little tired. I’ve never been pregnant so I’m not real sure how I’m supposed to feel. I guess I’ll probably be hungry by the time we get back to the apartment though.

  “Good enough. Now if we can find our way out of the maze back to the car…” Fifteen minutes later, they finally found the car and Jesse looked carefully around before she unlocked the trunk, flipped her bags in and turned toward the elevators. “Get your bags in the trunk and let’s get out of here. These damn garages give me the creeps.”

  Felicia quickly put her bags in the trunk and closed it, saying, “Done. I used to never think about it, but now you’re worrying me.”

  As they got in the car, Jesse hit the door locks and shrugged, “I just don’t like enclosed spaces. Especially places where I can be trapped. Part of that is my Texas upbringing, and part of it is my law enforcement training. It’s about staying aware of my surroundings.”

  “Isn’t that a little paranoid? I mean, we should be fairly safe here, right?”

  Jesse backed quickly out of the spot and headed for the exit; as she did, she saw four males by the elevator. Pointing she said, “If those four were bad guys, we would have been in trouble if we’d taken our time.”

  “But…”

  “No, I don’t know they were bad guys, but you tell me why four adolescent males are hanging around an elevator in a parking garage.”

  As they hit the street, Felicia visibly relaxed into the seat, “I don’t have a good answer. I guess I’ve trusted people too much.”

  Jesse took 163 north to the 805, and headed back to Carlsbad, letting her mind roam as she drove smoothly through traffic. Felicia looked over, “Jesse, I don’t know if you knew this, but Matt is coming up for orders. He thinks they probably are going to move him to the east coast. Camp… Lejeune I think…”

  It took Jesse a minute to catch up, “East coast? I thought Matt was going to stay here?”

  “Apparently not. According to Matt, nothing here matches his rank and MOS in the right time frame. He thinks they are going to send him back to a… what did he call it, RCT[16] or a support battalion, to a reconnaissance company.” Felicia said.

  “So he’s going back into a combat outfit then?”

  Felicia sighed, “I think so. And this will all happen about the time I’m due! I don’t know what to say or do…”

  Jesse reached over and clasped Felicia’s hand, “Well, we can reach out to the ‘Lenes. They’ve got contacts everywhere, and they can also give you, hell, both of us advice.”

  ***

  Jesse pulled into Darlene’s driveway and parked, poking Felicia, “Hey, up and at ‘em.”

  Felicia looked up muzzily, “Where are we?”

  “Darlene’s house. No time like the present to get answers, and I needed to stop by and pick up some paperwork from her. C’mon.”

  Jesse hopped out of the car as Felicia stretched and slowly followed. Darlene met them in the garage, “To what do I owe this honor?”

  Jesse grinned, “The paperwork?”

  Darlene ducked her head, “Oh yeah. Come on in. Mike’s out gallivanting around somewhere. How is married life treating you Felicia?”

  Felicia grinned ruefully, “Pregnant! And everything that entails.”

  Darlene winced, “Oh, morning sickness? Sit, sit. Y’all want anything to drink?”

  Jes
se said, “I could go for a coke.”

  Felicia asked, “Bathroom? And a coke sounds good.”

  Darlene was pouring a coke and said, “Down the hall on the right. Second door. Lemme go get that paperwork Jesse.” She pushed the glass across the island as she headed down the hall behind Felicia.

  Felicia was back and enjoying her coke before Darlene finally returned, “Sorry, I had it all put together, but I just couldn’t find where I put it.” She said as she handed the bundle of papers to Jesse with a grin.

  Jesse rolled her eyes, and said, “Felicia is thinking Matt is going to Lejeune for orders. She needs some advice.”

  “Oh honey, Lejeune sucks. It’s the middle of nowhere. Does he know whether he’s going to a line outfit or where?”

  Felicia said, “He thinks an RCT or a support battalion, to a reconnaissance company. He thinks he’ll probably be in charge of the snipers.”

  Darlene made a face, “Oh lovely. And you’re due when? Wait a minute, when is Matt thinking that he’s going to get orders?”

  Felicia shrugged, “Probably six months. That’s what he was guessing. He doesn’t know when he’ll actually have to report though.”

  “Oh yeah, the old saw. Needs of the Corps. That doesn’t help a whole hell of a lot. They may want him immediately or three or six months later. From what I remember, they’ve got new senior enlisted housing; so on base should be pretty good. You don’t want to be out on the economy there. There isn’t squat for rentals, and they’re all high. Matter of fact, they’re all exactly at the BAQ/BAH rates.”

  Darlene poured herself a glass of water, “What we’ll do, as soon as you find out, is get Marlene involved and we’ll get things smoothed for you. Well, as smooth as it gets in the Corps. Which means about as smooth as a dirt road in Georgia.”

  Felicia looked at her quizzically, “Dirt road in Georgia?”

  Darlene leaned across the island and laid a hand on Felicia’s arm, “Honey, what I’m telling you is it’s never going to be easy. It will be bumpy, lots of twists and turns, and a lot of unseen potholes. Consider yourself lucky if Matt is actually here to help you move.”