DEAD AIM - Angie Bartoni Case File #3 (Angie Bartoni Case Files Book 1)

by Marshall Huffman

“What the hell are you doing on my property?”

  I already had my gun drawn and aimed at the middle of his chest.

  “IPD. Put down the shotgun. Now.”

  “IPD? You ain’t got no right to be on my property,” he said failing to put the gun down.

  “I will put a bullet hole in your chest big enough to drive a truck through if you don’t put the gun down. I won’t ask again.”

  “You cops. No wonder everyone hates you,” he said but placed the gun on the steps.

  “Dan. Get the gun and then back away. Don’t cross my line of fire. If he even moves wrong I’m going to drill his ass,” I said.

  “Cops,” the guy muttered.

  Dan got the shotgun and moved back to where I stood.

  “I’m Detective Bartoni and this is Detective Roberts. Are you Mr. James Pointer?”

  “Why?”

  “You know, I’ve about had it with your attitude. You'd better rethink your position here. One more smart word and I’ll haul you down to the station.”

  “Ha. You and that runt? You two think you can take me down? That I would like to see. Hell, I’ll give you fifty bucks if you can do it,” he said grinning.

  Oooh. That really put a wrinkle in my panties. I pulled out my Taser and zap, the next thing you know he is on the ground looking like he is playing Twister without the dots.

  “Okay Dan, cuff this jerk and let’s take him down to the station.”

  “Man. I can’t believe you did that. I didn’t even see you draw.”

  “Fastest Taser in the west. Well, west side of Indy.”

  ~~

  Mr. Pointer sat in our ‘interview Room’. I love politically correct things like that. Interview Room. What? Is the guy trying to get a job as a criminal? We interview them before they get the job or what?

  I walked in and sat down across from him and just looked at him for a few seconds.

  “What?” he finally said.

  “Guess you owe me fifty bucks.”

  “How cute. Never would have gotten the job done without your toys.”

  “You didn’t say how. Enough of that crap. Why didn’t you just say you were James Pointer? Why make a big deal out of it?”

  “I hate authority. It’s nothing personal. I just don’t like people that think they have the upper hand over me.”

  “You ever in the military?”

  “Almost made it through boot camp before they threw me out.”

  I just shook my head. What do you say to someone like that?

  “Why is your Blazer registered with the IUPUI campus police?”

  “I take a couple of night classes,” he said.

  It must have shown on my face because he said, “What? Look I may not be a very nice guy but I’m not stupid. I graduated from Michigan State. I’m just brushing up on a few things.”

  “Okay. You may be educated but you were definitely stupid earlier today. How in the world did you think that was going to end? I could have shot you when you didn’t put the shotgun down when I told you to. Me, I call that stupid.”

  “Maybe. I might have gotten you first.”

  “See, now that’s even dumber. You shoot a cop and you can kiss your butt goodbye. Talk about ending badly.”

  “Look, we could debate that all day. What do you want with me?”

  “We are investigating a murder that took place at IUPUI a couple of days ago.”

  “Yeah, everyone in class was talking about it. Bad stuff. Totally uncool.”

  “The thing is; a witness saw the vehicle involved.”

  “A Blazer, right?”

  “Red Blazer,” I told him.

  “And you think I have something to do with this?”

  “Where were you Saturday night between 10:00 p.m. and Sunday morning?”

  He did the neck pulling thing for a few seconds. He was either trying to think up a lie or wrap his fuzzy brain around where he was.

  “I went to a couple of bars. Played a little pool. Won ten bucks. Came home around 1:00 a.m. and went to bed.”

  “What bars?”

  “Jake’s Place and Sliders. Played pool at Sliders.”

  “Anyone that can vouch for you at those places?”

  “Well, Jake can for sure. The place only had about ten people in it and he bent my ear about how bad business was. Maybe the bartender at Sliders. The guy I played pool with but I don’t have a clue what his name is. Brent, Benny, something like that. It started with a ‘B’ I’m pretty sure.”

  “What time did you leave Jake’s?” I asked.

  “Around 11:00, maybe a little later.”

  “These your keys?” I said, sliding the set we found over to him.

  “Nope,” he said without touching them.

  “How do you know for sure?”

  “You know what your keys look like? If we put ten set of keys on the table could you pick yours out. I would imagine so. Those aren’t mine.”

  “You know Mr. Pointer, we could have had this same conversation at your place and it would have taken maybe ten minutes. Instead you have been here for almost three hours and I haven’t decided if I’m going to hold you while I check out your story. I could keep you overnight. Was being a jerk worth all of this?”

  “Can’t help who I am.”

  I just shook my head and walked out leaving him sitting at the table. Guys like that never learn.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “Master Ashton, what a nice surprise. I’m sure your mother will be happy to see you. If I had known you were coming I would have had Alberta make you that seven-layer chocolate cake you love so much.”

  “No big deal Natta. I just stopped by for a few minutes.”

  “Goodness. It’s been what? Two months?”

  “Three actually. Where is mother?”

  “I believe she is in the greenhouse. She was going to thin out some of her roses.”

  “Thanks. I’ll just pop out and see her.”

  “She will be so thrilled you’re here,” the maid said.

  Terrence walked through the ridiculously huge house. They had more help living on the grounds than actually family. Even when there was only the three of them, they had six service people. Natta had raised him more than is parents ever did. They were always off visiting some other country while he stayed home.

  He stepped into the humid hot house and felt a wave of moist warm heat wash over him. How his mother could stand to be in here for hours was a mystery to him.

  “Mother?”

  “Is that you Terrence?”

  “Yes mother.”

  “Come on back. I’m in the rose section.”

  He had to laugh. The greenhouse was at least three thousand square feet, bigger than most people’s houses. Just another case of his father’s oversized ego.

  “Terrence, how nice to see you,” his mother said as she looked up from her beloved roses.

  “Nice to see you mother,” Terrence said.

  They did a little air kiss. His mother was sixty-nine but looked eighty. Her mouth was lined from years of smoking. Her hair was thinning and totally gray. She was not an attractive woman.

  “To what do we owe this pleasure?

  “I was just going by and thought I would pop in for a few minutes.”

  She didn’t reply but went back to work on her roses.

  “It’s okay to do that, isn’t it?”

  Still no reply came.

  “Mother.”

  “Yes dear?”

  “What?”

  “Well, I’m not sure where you would be going to be just passing by. That seems rather unlikely. So the question is, why are you really here?” she asked, standing with her hands on her hips.

  “I need to see father.”

  “Your father. It must be serious for you to want to talk to him.”

  “Mom,” he whined.

  “No. Don’t mom me. The only time you even speak to your father is when you are in some kind of trouble. I don’t want to know abo
ut it. Bentley is upstairs on the third floor in his office. You do remember where it is don’t you?”

  “Yes mother. Nice to see you too,” Terrance said and made the long walk to see Bentley Ashton the third.

  ~~

  “You kicked him loose,” Dan stated when I came back from the captain's office.

  “I did. I talked to Jake at his bar and he said that Pointer was there until around twelve-thirty. The bartender at sliders said he left there around one o’clock. He lied about the money. He lost twenty bucks to the guy he was playing pool with.”

  “Guess he was trying to impress us,” Dan replied.

  “I would be more impressed if he cleaned up his yard and painted that hovel he lives in. We still have more Blazers to check out. Who is next?”

  “Perry Tilton.

  “Shall we?” I said.

  “We shall.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Professor Hilton sat in his office going over his plan one more time. He was absolutely sure that Benton Ashton would not let his son Terrence go to jail. He chuckled to himself as he flipped through the shots on the back of his camera.

  He was looking forward to Monday. All his problems would magically disappear. While he made a reasonably good income from the University and the royalty stream from his three books, he needed more.

  Between his young intern and his gambling, he had been forced to use most of his savings. Dora, his intern, was starting to demand more luxuries. Ones that he couldn’t really afford. The latest discussion had been over her wanting a new car. He simply could not afford to buy her one at this time but she didn’t seem to care.

  He knew he was going to have to give in at some point. She had managed to put herself in control of the situation by hinting that she would hate for the University officials to find out about their relationship. Obviously that could cost him his position.

  He was betting his future on Bentley Ashton III coming through with the capital he needed. After all, what was three-hundred thousand to a man like that? He could hardly afford the publicity that would result from the pictures of young Mr. Ashton getting into the wrong hands.

  He smiled as he removed the SD card. It was his ticket out of debt.

  ~~

  “Father.”

  Bentley looked up from his desk. Like everything else in the house it was massive. His room had sixteen foot ceilings and bookcases lined two of the walls. A huge oil painting of him overlooked his desk.

  “Father. I just dropped in to see how you were doing.”

  “Terrence. That doesn’t sound like you. You never just drop in. You must have something on your mind.”

  “Father. Can’t I just stop by and check in on you and mother?”

  “Oh heavens yes. But that’s not why you’re here is it?” Bentley said, placing his reading glassed on the desk.

  “Look Dad...”

  “Ah, now it’s Dad. That alone tells me you are in some sort of trouble. Honestly Terrence, how stupid do you think I am?”

  “Alright. I do have a slight problem.”

  “Terrence, you never have slight problems. Somehow you always manage to get into major problems. I believe we had this conversation the last time you were here. I said at that time I wasn’t going to bail you out of any more of your problems.”

  “This is different,” Terrence moaned.

  “Ah, now the dramatics start. The ‘woe is me’ routine. Terrence, I know every word to that song and frankly, I am tired of hearing it. The only time you want to see me is when you need my help. Other than that, you could care less about me; that is until I die and then you are hoping I will leave everything to you.”

  “That’s not true. Of course I care. We just have different views about things,” Terrence replied.

  “Yes, we do. Now yours seems to have landed you in a precarious predicament. Terrence, I am simply not going to bail you out of your situation again. If you gotten some girl pregnant again you are just going to have to either do the right thing or take care of it on your own. I am not paying off another woman for you.”

  “I know. I know. Father, it’s a bit more serious than that this time.”

  His father pushed back his chair and stood up. The last two times his son had come to ‘see how he was doing’ it had cost him a hundred thousand dollars. If this was a bit more serious it had to be really bad.

  “Terrence. I don’t know what you have gotten yourself into but I am not going to hand any more money over to you to pay off some stupid gold digger. It is not your gold they are digging, it’s mine. I’m the one that has worked for it and all you have managed to do is throw it away. I simply will not help you out this time.”

  “I think you had better hear me out. This isn’t just about me. It concerns you and mother as well,” Terrence replied.

  “What? What are you talking about? Your mother and I are not a part of your problems. What you do is not a concern to us.”

  “You’re wrong Father. This time it is a concern. Actually it's a concern to the whole Ashton Empire.”

  “Oh my heavens. Terrence, what have you gotten yourself into this time?

  “We may want to close the doors for this Father.”

  “Go on, close them,” his father said, waving with his hand.

  Ashton shut the ten foot high doors and came back and sat on the couch. His father came around to the front of the desk and sat down beside him.

  “Terrence. What in the world have you done this time? Getting two different women pregnant isn’t enough for you? You have to do something more?”

  “It’s complicated. Let me explain,” Terrence replied.

  “Oh heavens yes. I’m sure this will be really something,” Bentley Ashton III replied.

  Terrence spent the next forty-five minutes telling his father of the problem he now faced.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “Well,” I moaned, “That was a total bust. We have checked them all and we have essentially nothing.”

  “The captain is going to have a kitten when we tell him we are back at square one.”

  “Got any fresh ideas?” I asked.

  “Hey, I’m just a rookie at this. You get the big bucks for having all the answers,” Roberts shot back.

  “Then I guess I am due for a pay cut.”

  We were stopped at a light when a GMC Serra pulled up next to us. I looked over, not really paying much attention until I noticed it was red. I sat up.

  “Hey. What about it being a GMC Serra instead of a Blazer? At night they don’t look a whole lot different,” I said.

  “It’s worth a try. I guess we could check with Captain Cox and see if they have any red GMCs registered,” Dan replied.

  “Let’s do it. It may be nothing but what have we got to lose?”

  One of the hardest things for a cop to do is give up going in one direction and starting on another. It’s something about the way we are wired. We get the bit between our teeth and it's darn hard to let go and head off in another venue. Still, this was one of those times. We had pretty much played out this hand, it was time to fold and get new cards.

  ~~

  “My God Terrence. How could you be so...so stupid? What in the world were you thinking? Were you thinking?” his father said walking around the room like a tiger trapped in a cage.

  “I didn’t plan it. It just sort of happened. I didn’t go out with that in mind,” Terrence replied, trying to defend his actions.

  “I’m not sure you even have a mind. Did you think you could just get away with it?”

  “I didn’t think about that at the time. She was there, I was there. It just happened.”

  “And now I either bail you out once again or you end up in prison and our name is dragged through the slime and mud. You are so irresponsible it’s hard to imagine that you are my son. What a total imbecil.”

  “I’m sorry to be such a big disappointment to you.”

  “Yes. Yes you are. You have everything you want and yet
you are totally oblivious to your responsibilities to the Ashton family. You don’t seem to care about any of us. It is always about you. I am sickened by your behavior.”

  “Then I should just go to jail.”

  “Ah, if it were only that simple. That is so typical of you. You haven’t given one thought about what this would mean to your mother or your grandfather. Not once did it enter your mind how the backlash would affect them.”

  “Then what do you want me to do?”

  “Honestly? I just don’t know. It appears that once again I will be forced to step in and clean up another of your messes. Let me tell you one thing Terrence. After this you are on your own. I am washing my hands of you. I do not want to see you back again at this house. You have a few things here. I will have them packed and brought to wherever you like. After that I will no longer consider you my son. Now go. I will clean up this mess for you but never again,” his father said, opening the door.

  Terrence stood slowly and walked to the door.

  “I’m sorry I am such a big disappointment to you father. This is just who I am. You have never been able to accept me for me. You want me to be just like you and I’m not, nor do I want to be. Goodbye father.”

  “Goodbye Terrence, I wish you well,” his father said and closed the door.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  “You’re in luck. We only have three GMCs like that. Two red and one maroon. Seems like ninety percent are either black or white. Damn few other colors.”

  “Thanks captain. And all three that are registered are on campus?”

  “Yes they are. They are all fairly close together. One at the Town Houses, one at the Montgomery House and the maroon one is at the Warthin House. All are pretty close to the river, not that it means much.”

  “At this point, everything is worth looking into. We are out of options,” I told him.

  “Not to be a fly in the ointment, but even this is pretty slim. By now everyone on campus knows you have been checking out vehicles. They are going to have some kind of cover story if they are very smart.”

  “I know but...” I said shrugging my shoulders.

  ~~