The Grey Man: -Vignettes-

by JL Curtis

  “You must be Major Wilson, Company E, right?” Billy replied. “I hope your daughter is recovering, and Major, I’ve known John for way too many years. In fact, in a few cases I helped John bury the bodies, so that wasn’t actually a rhetorical question…”

  The old man laughed, and Jesse looked at them both with a strange expression. Shaking his head in amazement, the major said, “I can’t believe you just said that to three officers of the law, much less while these two are under arrest for murder! Sounds like I need to arrest your ass, too, Mr. Moore!”

  Billy stuck out his hands and said, “Oh please do!” Then he dropped into a serious mien, “Judge Cotton is waiting on us in chambers, and he’s already pissed so let’s not keep him waiting, if you don’t mind.”

  The old man said, “Dare I ask?”

  Billy just shook his head and opened the door for everyone. As they trooped down the hall, Billy gave the old man a careful/slow handsign and pointed ahead. The old man nodded and gave him a thumb’s up.

  They filed into the Judge’s chambers, and took seats facing the desk. Judge Cotton looked over his glasses and stubbed his cigar in an ashtray already overflowing with cigar butts.

  Glaring at all of them, he started in. “Miz Jesse, you close your ears for a minute, I need to cuss these assholes out.” Pointing at the major he added, “Hack, what the hell is going on, and where are these gahdam papers? And Jose and Clay, what the hell is going on in this county that you’re not telling me?”

  The major handed over both the warrants and the Judge proceeded to read them with assorted snuffs, coughs and mumbles under his breath. Finally he looked up and asked, “Was anybody in this damn county aware that this shit was going on?”

  A chorus of no’s and shaking of heads followed, with Major Wilson starting to vent, but the Judge held up his hand to stop him: “So you’re telling me you had no idea, no advanced notice, nothing? Correct?”

  “Nothing.”

  “No.”

  “No idea, thought it was being handled in Austin.”

  The judge looked over at Billy Moore. “Billy, I notice you haven’t asked to see the warrants, so I’m going to assume you somehow got your hands on them, and no I’m not asking… I don’t want to know or have to hold you in contempt. I see that Gumby Gillory was the turkey they got to sign this one out, but I’ve never heard of this guy Deal. Anybody else ever heard of him?”

  Another round of head shakes, and Jesse finally spoke up. “Judge Cotton, none of those officers were Texans either, they were all from up North.”

  Nodding, he looked down at the warrants again. “John, I don’t think they meant for you to be taken into custody here, I think they meant to haul you back to Dallas and dump you in a federal holding tank. The way this warrant is written is screwy, to put it mildly, and I don’t know of another judge who’d sign something like this without a lot more detail.” Glancing at Billy, he continued. “Since there is no requirement or request for bail, I’m assuming you are requesting a bail hearing for your clients, correct Mr. Moore?”

  Billy stood up and began pacing. “Judge, this is all happening three days after this whole incident occurred, after both the sheriff and the Rangers from Austin have deemed it a good shoot and from what I hear, there is pretty good evidence that these guys were not only drug runners, they were going to Chicago to set up a distribution center. The leader seems to have been a known drug runner and lieutenant in the Cartel. They tried to murder the major’s daughter without a single reason other than her uniform. The official report is not even released yet, and here we have a federal warrant out of a different jurisdiction for weapons and arrest of four people for murder? This would be nol prossed by any competent prosecutor with two brain cells to rub together based on evidence at the scene, but now we have a new regime, er… administration and it appears they are coming after people who are fighting the drug industry under color of racial profiling. Everybody in this room except you and I were at that scene, either as participants or investigators, so I’ll throw my clients on the mercy of the Court and request bail an…”

  Judge Cotton stopped Billy with a glare. “Okay, enough already. Sheriff, your recommendation?”

  “Judge, hell, I authorized them to shoot,” Sheriff Rodriguez replied. “I’ll sign their bond myself.”

  The Judge turned to Clay. “You?”

  “Far as I’m concerned, Jesse shot in self-defense, they’d already shot her and Aaron before the first round was returned. We found fifty-two cases for 7.62 by 39 in the front yard and thirty-two in the backyard. All John and the Marine Matt did were take shots to save the hostage’s lives. This is pure BS.”

  “Major?”

  “RoR[20] em, I can’t think of many people in this area that are less of a risk than these two.”

  Judge Cotton turned to the old man and Jesse. “Based on the recommendations of knowledgeable law enforcement officials, and pursuant to the laws of Texas and Pecos County, you two are released on recognizance. And, Billy, you better hope I win at poker tonight, or the next time I see you I’ll have your guts for garters. Now all of you get the hell outta my office.”

  Jesse, in a low voice said, “Thank you, Judge. I don’t understand what’s happening here.”

  He turned to her and said gently, “Mizz Jesse, I think they are going to try to steamroll y’all, but they don’t understand who they are dealing with. Not just with you two, but with Billy. You’re gonna be alright. You got good people around you.”

  She nodded and followed the others back to the parking lot.

  23 Heads Up

  Jesse bolted from the Suburban as soon as they pulled in the yard, running in and grabbing the clean phone from her nightstand. She quickly searched through and hit the pre-programmed number for Aaron, but got no answer. Frustrated, she then tried Matt’s number with the same results. She was debating whether to try Aaron or Matt’s regular phones, when she remembered Francisco’s friend was driving Aaron’s truck. Going into the kitchen, she asked Francisco, “Can you please call Felix, and find out where they are and tell Matt to turn on the other phone? We need to let them know what’s happened here.”

  Francisco agreed, and quickly got Felix on the line, in round about Spanish, he determined they were at least two hours from Pendleton, and told Felix to get on the radio to Matt to turn on the other phone and for Matt to call Jesse.

  Ten anxious minutes went by until Jesse’s phone rang, and as she snatched it up, she realized she didn’t really know how to tell Matt what had happened without giving too much away. Thankfully, Matt was on the ball. “You wanted me to call, am I to assume you had visitors?”

  “Uh, yes, we did, pretty much as expected.”

  “Just y’all or all of us expected to be there?”

  “All of us.”

  “Did they know we’re on vacation?”

  “Ah… No they didn’t.”

  “Do they know where we’re camping?”

  “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure.”

  “Okay, I think we’ll be at the campground in another couple of hours. I’ll let the other campers know to expect guests, probably tomorrow.”

  Jesse smiled finally. “I think that would be a good idea!”

  “Okay, bye now,” Matt replied. “Phone will stay on as long as we need it.”

  “Okay, bye.”

  Meanwhile, in the loaned SUVs, Myers and the rest of the FPS team continued their drive back to Ft. Bliss and their ride back to Dallas. Myers fumed in the first SUV about how to spin what had happened, and realized he was pretty much screwed. He’d kicked Spears and Bronson and McClintock to the other SUV while he, Thompson and Warren rode in relative comfort and plotted a way to blame the others.

  In the second SUV, Spears rode behind Hearn who was driving and shared the back seat with McClintock and Bronson. Thankfully, Bronson was in the middle, but she still had the window cracked to keep from smelling McClintock’s piss stained trousers. Bronson was comp
laining about his headache, and Turner finally turned to Spears. “Okay, what in the hell went on out front? We were ready to take the place, I thought, until you called us off.”

  Spears laid out what she’d seen, and what she’d noticed after they got in the house, and more importantly, what was sitting in the gun safe. She also told the others she was going to request a transfer tomorrow, and going on vacation for a while because she was damn sure they all almost died tonight. McClintock chimed in that he still didn’t know how many were outside, and nobody had ever come in. Bronson still had no idea what happened to him, but between him and McClintock they managed to confuse the time line enough to think there were at least two or possibly more people out in the dark with them.

  When the tac team finally got back to Ft. Bliss, they went quietly to the ramp, climbed on the helo and flew back to Dallas in total silence.

  ***

  Back at the house, Jesse was feeling much better about what had happened, she wondered where everyone went. Then heard the TV volume go up; turning and going into the living room she realized everybody had congregated in front of the TV as the 10PM news broadcast from the Houston station came on, and she also noticed Billy Moore sitting in the corner with the phone to his ear nodding. “We’ve got it on now. Thanks, yeah we’ll check both channels.”

  The breaking news roller came across the screen, and the male news anchor derisively known as “Big Hair” came on in his usual ZOMG, the world is ending voice. “Breaking out of Dallas, but impacting our listening area, two Deputy Sheriffs in Pecos County and two Marines are in custody tonight suspected of murder in the deaths of four Hispanics in rural Pecos County on Sunday. According to the US Attorney’s office in Dallas, numerous questions surrounding the shootings have forced the US Attorney’s office to take these people into custody. They are Captain John Cronin and Deputy Jesse Cronin, father and son; and two Marines whose connection with the Cronins is not known at this time. The Marines are a Gunnery Sergeant and Staff Sergeant, current duty stations unknown. We are expecting a press conference tomorrow morning in Dallas and our reporter will report from there live!”

  Billy quickly switched to the El Paso channel, and caught the female anchor known as “Little Hair” breathlessly exclaimed, “Cronin and Deputy Jesse Cronin, father and son; and two Marines whose connection with the Cronins is not known at this time. The Marines are a Gunnery Sergeant and Staff Sergeant, current duty stations unknown. Miguel Ramirez will be reporting live from Dallas in the morning with more details, and we have called the Pecos County Sheriff’s office, but there was no response as of press time.”

  Turning the volume down, Billy snorted. “Well, we know which playbook those two are using, and both of them have a hard on for any LEOs caught doing anything. I’m going to go call the sheriff and hope he caught the broadcast. He better be ready for the shit to hit the fan tomorrow morning.”

  “Why do they both dislike LEOs so much Billy?” Jesse asked. “That doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

  Billy laughed. “Well, Big Hair no longer has a driver’s license, since his multiple drunken driving arrests, so he now has a paid driver, which is coming out of his salary from the station, and Little Hair has her license suspended for multiple speeding tickets and she’s on a restricted home to work only license. Of course both of them blame law enforcement, not their own bad habits.”

  Turning to the old man, he asked, “John can I use your office for a while, I need to get things set up for tomorrow morning when the US Attorney or his minions come a callin’ to try to transfer you to federal custody. And I’d recommend y’all all go to bed; from here on out, this is all my baby.”

  The old man nodded. “Billy, you are free to use anything you need, you know where the bed is, the bathroom is, and breakfast is at 5 AM. And going to bed does seem like the best approach. And thanks. We all appreciate what you’re doing for us.”

  Billy grinned. “Oh, you haven’t seen the bill yet, John.”

  The old man shook his head and shooed everybody out.

  ***

  In California, Matt and Felix were an hour out of Pendleton when Matt decided to take a break, trade in some coffee and get a refill. They’d cut off from I-10 onto I-15, figuring if there were any BOLOs out for them they would probably be on I-10 and I-5 primarily, especially if DHS and or CPB were involved, they patrolled I-5 much more religiously than I-15 for some reason. Seeing a pay phone, Matt got $3 in change and called the Command Duty Officer’s office, after identifying himself, the CDO[21] personally came on the line and told Matt they were waiting for him to come directly in and Colonel Nelson had a driver standing by to take Felix to a local hotel for the night and to San Diego for the flight back to Midland tomorrow morning.

  Matt replied, “Sir, we’ll be there in an hour, is Staff Sergeant Miller on base yet?”

  The CDO informed him that he was and was being taken care of; he also reiterated for Matt not to go by his leased apartment but to come directly to base and the quicker the better.

  Matt hung up and briefed Felix on what he’d been told. Felix agreed and they got back on the road. An hour and ten minutes later they rolled up to the main gate at Camp Pendleton and were immediately waved through. Matt was handed a map and told to report directly to the CDO and Felix was to follow him with no deviations. Arriving at the headquarters building, Matt and Felix parked in front of the building and walked up to the main doors. They were met by a staff sergeant, who escorted them to the head, then to the CDO’s office. The Captain, who was standing the duty, met them at the door and welcomed Matt and Felix into the office and pointed to seats. Matt and Felix after almost seventeen hours on the road elected to stand, to the amusement of the CDO. Finally, the CDO got down to business.

  “Gunny, here’s the skinny, I don’t know what you’ve done, but it’s rattled cages all the way to the big man in the corner office, so here’s the drill. You will be considered as reporting aboard as of now, on staff as of now, and you will report to the Transient Quarters immediately after leaving here. You will not talk to anyone, pass go or collect $200. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” Matt replied. “Wilco. I do have weapons that need to be secured at the Armory Sir.”

  Pointing at Felix, the CDO said, “Sir, many thanks for your assistance in moving SSGT Miller’s vehicle from Texas to here, and after you follow the Gunny over to the Transient Quarters, SSGT Almond here will take you to the Holiday Inn outside the gate; he will also pick you up in the morning at 0600 and transport you to the San Diego airport. Do you need any funds tonight or in the morning?”

  “No sir,” Felix replied. “I have money and Senor John gave me enough money for food and hotel and I have the reservation number for my flight back to Texas tomorrow. I would like to know of Senor Aaron’s condition so that I may pass that back to the people at home who are concerned about him, if I may.”

  The CDO thought for a second, and then dialed the hospital. He got the floor nurse, spoke for a minute, listened for a bit and then hung up. “Sir, you may tell those who need to know that SSGT Miller is resting comfortably, and there are no complications that either the nurse or the doctors are aware of, and he is expected to make a full recovery.”

  Felix nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

  The CDO looked at Matt. “After you secure your weapons, you will return directly to the Transient Quarters. Tomorrow morning after you grab a bite to eat, again speaking to no one, you will report back here to Colonel Pearson the JAG at oh eight hundred. Clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” Matt replied.

  Making a shooing motion, the CDO said, “Okay, duty done, y’all get out of here. Almond, you know what to do.”

  Amid the “Yes, sirs,” everyone departed with Almond leading them to the Transient Quarters. Parking in the back, Felix unloaded his bag, and walked over to Matt.

  Matt shook Felix’s hand. “Felix, I owe you a debt of thanks for driving Aaron’s truck out here, especially pushing through, I k
now this has been one helluva trip and both Aaron and I owe you a big one!”

  Felix nodded. “Thank you for allowing me to help you my friend. I wish you and Aaron only the best. Please come back and see us if you can, you know you will be welcome.” With that, Felix turned and walked to the duty van, hopped in and SSGT Almond drove him to the Holiday Inn.

  Matt made a quick run to the Armory, checked in both his guns and Aarons and drove back to quarters. Unloaded his bag from the truck and making sure he had both sets of keys, humped the bag up to the back door of the quarters. Checking in, he got his room and after a quick shower, crashed.

  24 Lawyer Up

  The old man walked into the kitchen and saw Billy sitting at the table with the house phone to his ear, and an empty cup of coffee at his elbow. The table was half covered with yellow sheets of paper with notes all over them. Pouring himself a cup, he held up the pot. Billy nodded and the old man brought the coffee pot over and refilled Billy’s cup. Billy scribbled a few more notes saying, “Okay be at the sheriff’s office at zero eight hundred, prepared to go live. Thanks Willie!”

  Hanging up and banging on the table, Billy started laughing. “Oh, we’re gonna have some fun this morning!”

  Juanita and Francisco had come in without either of them noticing. “What kind of fun Senor Billy? And I hope you’re going to clean up that mess before I serve breakfast?” Juanita asked.

  Bill, still chuckling, started picking up papers. “Oh, you’ll have to wait and see. I’ve got Little Hair set up with a live press conference with Jose at zero eight hundred, and Willie’s bringing an independent crew that’s going to feed live to Fox. John, I need you and Jesse to stay here and not answer the phone unless I call on a clean phone. Juanita, Francisco, if you answer you have no idea where either of them are, got it?”

  Juanita cocked her head. “Yes, Senor Billy, but… Oh, I get it…” Francisco just smiled and nodded. Juanita turned briskly to the fridge. “Bacon, eggs, hash browns and biscuits work for everybody?”