Old Growth & Ivy (The Spook Hills Trilogy Book 1)

by Menard, Jayne

  A company named CCE Mining Interests owned those three blocks of land with the same style fictitious names of officers as were used in the money laundering. They were getting warmer, but they still needed some definitive tie of the Fuentes brothers to the CCE ventures or the money laundering companies or the drug operations. Steve wanted several solid links as hard proof that would hold up in court. He hoped the photograph match turned out positive.

  Brian started looking for maps of the mineshafts and tunnels to see where they might run on the properties. The mines could supply one or more back doors for Astuto. Steve was pleased with Brian's initiative and deductive thinking. He was happy too with Moll's work trailing the man who was likely one of the twins. He stayed cool and should not have drawn attention to himself. Steve looked around the room. He had a great team to work with -- they had honed their skills until they were best of the best.

  Steve was pleased with Ivy's work too. She had moved them onto a new line of thinking about the hired killers that Astuto had sent after them. Her mind worked differently than theirs. She was equally logical, yet she sometimes saw different possibilities. He was glad she was part of the team and not solely because he loved her.

  Chapter 22

  On Sunday, Steve, Ivy, Brian, Moll and Mathew took a much-needed short break and went over to the nearby Domaine Drouhin vineyard for a wine tasting. There in the tasting room helping with the guests and pouring wine was the dark-haired young woman Mathew had seen that one day on a bicycle. She wore a simple red dress and a cardigan sweater -- to his mind she looked both classic and classy. Mathew talked with her for a time until the tasting area became so busy she had to return to work. This time he was close enough to see that she wore a wedding ring. It turned out she was the niece of a neighboring vineyard owner and had what Mathew could only call an arrogant drunk of a husband who was there drinking wine. They lived in California where he was a professor at UCLA, but they were up for a long weekend to celebrate her uncle's birthday. When she was in the area, she helped at various vineyards.

  Finding this attractive woman only to discover she was not available was maddening to Mathew. He sensed that under her demure demeanor, she was intelligent, caring and hardworking. Her name was Callie Straun, but born Callie Lindquist. Her uncle was the man who steered them to the land that was now Spook Hills. Something about her resonated with Mathew. She had a darling little girl of about 8, with the same long dark shiny hair. If only Callie were divorced or even separated, he would pursue her. He told himself to be encouraged at finding her since it might mean he could find someone else equally attractive to him.

  Mathew turned his attention to a nearby conversation where Steve was talking with the vineyard tasting room staff. He heard Steve mention the nuances of the 2010 Laurene wine, but noting how young it was. He asked about the types of barrels used, what percentage of them were new, what types of yeasts went into in the fermentation and numerous other questions. Most of that information was on their website, but Steve was trying learn what more he could at the event.

  Steve's great mind remained like a sponge -- he retained every fact he learned about wines, how they were processed and what the growing conditions were for the grapes (even, if he could get it, the original source of the vines). He kept a quick index of specific characteristics of vineyards, their wines and critical attributes in an Excel spreadsheet, which he planned one day to turn into a wine-tracking database. At some point Mathew knew that Steve would distill all the data he was collecting into patterns and the creative side would find a way to take that information and make it productive.

  Ivy fit in wherever she went simply by smiling in her charming way. Moll and Brian moved from group to group, trying to find out if any of the younger women were single. So much kept going on hold, while they tried to solve the case of the Fuentes brothers. Ivy and Steve's marriage, Brian and Moll's business startup and his finding a social life each had a lower priority as they tried to progress their case. The situation frustrated the hell out of each of them. When the five of them were standing together again, he decided to introduce the topic of where he would live.

  "I'm thinking about buying a condo in the Pearl District so I can start a social life this winter," he said by way of introduction.

  Steve experienced a pang of regret. "I thought you would live at Spook Hills for a time."

  "I will most of the time but as soon as this case is resolved, I need to get busy searching for my Ivy." He raised his glass to her. Steve nodded in understanding.

  Brian turned to Ivy and asked a bit apprehensively, "What are your plans for the Portland house?"

  "When you and Moll move out, it will go on the market."

  "What if we want to stay?" he asked quickly. “Would you sell it to us? Maybe Mathew will want a share of it too."

  "I would take a share in that house," Mathew said eagerly. "Having healed there, it feels like a real home to me. Be a great alternative to a condo."

  Moll was nodding. "We'll buy whatever you don't want of your stuff, though I may need to trade out that single bed I've been snoozing solo in. Hopefully soon, I will have someone to rub along with now and then."

  Ivy was a bit dumbfounded by the offer on her house. She knew the men were waiting for an answer. She glanced at Steve. He kept his expression neutral. The decision was hers. "Sure. Great solution. We'll work out a deal. I do want some things from there. I have a list."

  The three younger men laughed and Mathew said, "Of course you do."

  "What do you mean?" Ivy asked perplexedly.

  "You couldn't be involved with the Big Guy and not have lists. Disorganization, sloppiness, and carelessness are simply not tolerated. However I suspect you had those licked before you met Steve.”

  Ivy nodded and held out her hand. "Com'on, let's make the house sale official."

  They did a four way shake on the deal. Mathew felt that for the first couple of months, Steve and Ivy should have the new house at Spook Hills to themselves. He would move back to the vineyard by spring and use the Portland place as a pied à terre on weekends or whenever. The house's proximity to both uptown and downtown Portland would give him easy access to gathering places for attractive women between 25 and 40. Brian and Moll were eager to help in the search, which meant they wanted to find dates for themselves. They had already identified a few possible venues like the Art Museum where a Museum after Hours series provided a gathering place for professionals interested in supporting the arts. That was as good a place to start as any and likely better than most for the three of them.

  Mathew wished he could have Steve's luck – by chance meet the woman for him. He was so fortunate to have found Ivy, as if the magic between them drew them to together at that point in their lives. Sure beat the bar scene, but then Steve did his share of that earlier in his life. Even with the rocky road Ivy and Steve were bouncing down because of the Fuentes, their love continued to deepen and become stronger as their knowledge of each other expanded.

  Mathew thought of Ivy as one in a million and maybe even one in ten or a hundred million. She was so right for Steve -- kind enough to spoil him, yet intriguing enough to keep him fascinated by her. The miracle was that she loved him. Steve was changing because of his relationship with Ivy and was becoming more balanced, more fun and more overtly caring. Mathew glanced across the wine tasting room at the woman named Callie Straun, his eyes meeting hers for a moment. She smiled and for that moment he stood transfixed as if they were the only two people in the room.

  ***

  The following Tuesday, Steve violated his own rule by taking a stroll alone up to the little walnut grove. It was right before lunch and he needed to think. They were getting close to moving against Astuto, but he wanted multiple definitive links that would stand-up in trial when it came to that. Based on the photographic evidence, they could arrest whichever twin it was as he traveled into or out of the country the next time he used a known false passport, but that would still leave on
e to two brothers free. Steve's goal was to catch at least two of the brothers together, preferably at that house near Madrid, New Mexico.

  The agent sent to pick up Moll's things and sell off the pickup reported that it did not appear as if anything had been disturbed. The agent scanned the apartment and the truck for bugs and tracking devices. They came up clean. Steve hoped that meant their surveillance went undetected.

  Mathew found about twelve companies that were buying or leasing black FJ Cruisers, but three were rental companies, which they ruled out for now. Eight of remaining nine were likely legit companies, using the Cruisers for construction, tour guiding, and local rentals. One was more interesting. That company operated out of Miami and Los Angeles and could be one of Astuto's own companies, judging by its name and officers. Steve was sending one of the retired agents who helped with Operation Spook Hills to do local research and surveillance.

  Steve let his gaze wander down the rows of young vines, now dropping their leaves for winter, enjoying the orderly way they contoured with the curve of the hill. His gazed at the coastal range of low mountains in the distance. How could they link the Fuentes factually to the shootings, the drugs, the money laundering and all those bogus companies? Collectively, they had to be smarter than the Fuentes. The brothers were clever, but not insuperable. Maybe they needed a big map of everything they had or suspected on the Fuentes to make the connections. What did Mathew say the other day, one of his many Latin expressions? Steve turned to walk back down to the house, searching his memory. Oh yes, it was Causa Latet, Vis est Notissima, The Cause is Hidden, but its Force is well Known.

  Steve discovered that right after he retired, his boss had the request terminated that obtained electronic copies of the bank account transactions on the suspected Fuentes money laundering accounts. After conferring with the Chief, the request was reinstated that morning, with the data now flowing directly to Steve through secure bank data sites. The Chief found it interesting that Steve's old boss had so quickly cutoff the flow of the records to the FBI. Steve planned to add any new transactions to an historic copy of the database that contained the transactions up to the point when the data stopped coming in. Brian and Moll were using the software they developed for their nascent business to comb through the bank data, trying to find new patterns. They found multiple short bursts of activity, showing that the Fuentes were still doing money laundering, but in a random way. The money involved was transferred to countries where the banks can refuse to cooperate in supplying their records during investigations, most notably Ecuador, Turkey, Algeria and Ethiopia.

  On a daily basis, they were reviewing long distance surveillance photos on the house where the Fuentes brother went. Other than his departure two days later, no one showed up, except that several times a week, a FEDEX or UPS truck made its way up the rough driveway to the front door. Unfortunately the driver left whatever package or packages were to be delivered inside of a Spanish-style portico, which blocked views from a satellite shot of whoever opened the door to collect the package. They requested delivery information from FEDEX and UPS for the last five years to trace the sources of the packages. Steve saw this as a fertile endeavor since it might be one of the ways that the Fuentes moved cash money.

  Even though they were traveling to visit one of their prospective clients, Brian and Moll were already building the database to house and analyze the UPS/FEDEX delivery information, beating Steve to it. Instead of making him feel useless, he took pride in their resourcefulness. Before he departed, Brian had obtained available records of the mines in the area of the Fuentes properties. Ivy took over doing additional research. As he walked back into the barn, she looked over at him.

  "Steve," she said, pushing herself upright in her chair. "Is it possible that that the Fuentes created an underground bank where they are stashing cash?"

  Steve nodded. That thought had occurred to him as well.

  "I'm researching how to determine if the mine shafts and tunnels are still intact. Maybe we can use geological soundings to check for hollow spaces."

  "Interesting thought. We would have to be careful not to draw any attention to the area, but we also might be able to use the tunnels to enter Astuto's house, trapping him."

  "Won't he have security and explosive devices in place?"

  "Likely. We’ll need a specialized team skilled in counter-surveillance. Do more research on the geological soundings and then let's talk again."

  Ivy squared her shoulders and went back to staring at her laptop. Geological soundings were definitely a learning experience for her. Movies and TV did such a compressed portrayal of FBI work. They failed to provide a picture of how tedious it is, how much time the research takes, how many roadblocks are in the way, and how many false paths ate up time. Movies only concentrated on the high points, squashing all the action into what seems like a few short days. Since they were limiting how much they tapped into resources at the Bureau, their work was particularly slow going. Ivy was trying to understand how to trace mineshafts and tunnels with technology that was outside her base of expertise. Databases, analytical applications, and audit systems were all things she understood. However, seismic soundings and the use of robotic technology to map out mineshafts were new to her.

  She felt so fortunate to see Steve in this role. He was a great leader with many natural management skills in his repertoire. He gave each member of the team a good deal of leeway. He challenged each of them while suiting the tasks to their talents, like letting Brian and Moll run with the data analysis and putting Ivy and Mathew on research.

  Ivy's thoughts wandered away from the case. The work on the house was progressing well, with the painters starting work downstairs. Ivy was envisioning a Christmas wedding with the party held indoors. In the center of the lower garden, they planted as large a noble fir as they thought would take root, which Ivy planned to keep decorated with small white lights year round, adding and replacing strands as needed.

  She was exercising daily to keep her anxiety at bay. Mathew was right when he told her that being part of the operation was less stressful than she might have expected -- Operation Spook Hills taught her that. Nonetheless the continuing worry about when the next strike might happen was taking its toll. On the bright side, she was aware that Steve was secretly planning a trip to Europe for the holidays. Ivy caught him closing a document on his laptop called something like "Holiday Europe -- 2013". She pretended to have been looking elsewhere to let him surprise her. How pleasant were these interludes where they could dream, plan, and hope for another life! Without them, she feared they each might despair. They could see this new life in front of them – one that they each seriously wanted and perhaps desperately needed. Yet the threat and danger of the Fuentes brothers lay between them and their goals.

  Chapter 23

  Brian and Moll were briefing Steve, Mathew and Ivy the next morning on their analysis of the FEDEX and UPS data. At first their findings took a backseat to showing off the software they developed. Their slick browser-based interface displayed the data like Steve's models, but they dressed it up with color-coding and a stylized dashboard, creating a sophisticated interface that made the data instantly accessible. It also had an artificial intelligence engine built into it that helped in finding patterns and cataloging results. The software used a brilliant color scheme with galactic shades of deep blues, bright turquoise and neon yellows. Whenever a given task would take time in a very large database, a variety of options were given to the user to present partial results as they became available or to start a totally different process while the first one was working.

  "Chief, check out these major trends in the deliveries to the Fuentes," Brian said trying to contain his excitement.

  Ivy wheeled her chair over to see the projection more clearly and was sitting next to Steve, disturbing his concentration with her proximity. Having her close and smelling the delicate natural scents that she wore distracted him. Today she softly exuded cloves and orange
s.

  Using an electronic pointer, Moll started talking and indicating areas of the screen. "For a man living alone and isolated like Eduardo, getting deliveries takes some of the pressure off his brothers -- and he has a lot of stuff delivered. First we made a table of shippers that we flagged as likely legal, like Dell, Amazon, Saks, and so on. We took out the shipment transactions from those shippers and any return boxes back to those shippers, placing them in a separate table."

  "Next we sorted the remaining transactions by count," Brian chimed in. "Many were onesies, twosies and we pushed those into another table for later research if needed."

  Moll picked it back up sounding far more polished than usual. "Then we sought patterns in the remaining data with repeating deliveries. Ninety percent of them were from four companies named in the Fuentes style. You see them here, highlighted in turquoise. For the past three years, two to six times a month at random times, overnight packages were delivered to the Fuentes home from four companies located in Las Vegas, Miami, Corpus Christi and Reno."

  "Any pattern to the size or weight of the packages?" Steve asked.

  "Good question," answered Brian. "All are standard large UPS or FEDEX boxes that always stay well under the required 20-pound limit. We estimate that if they were shipping dollars in twenties that they could send around $25,000 in a box or in hundreds around $125,000."