by Misty Malone
John had trouble sleeping that night. He was anxious to see if anyone would show up at Joe's house. He had a gut feeling about this. He knew Brad Barstow knew all the FBI agents better than he did, but something just didn't add up. Finally, after tossing and turning for hours, he gave up and went to the kitchen to make some coffee and think. Something was bothering him and he didn't know if it was just his gut feeling about this or if he was missing something. Maybe an early morning cup of coffee and thinking in a quiet house would help.
He was surprised to see Brad sitting in the kitchen, coffee in hand. "Brad, what are you doing here?"
"I was off duty at midnight, but I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep yet. I have a feeling someone's going to show up at Decker's house either tonight or early tomorrow, and I wanted to be here to talk to you about it when I got word of it, so I stayed. I tried sleeping in the extra room, but I couldn't. What are you doing out here this early?"
"Apparently we have the same feeling. I couldn't sleep, either. I thought maybe I'm missing something, and an early cup of coffee might help me see it."
As they were talking, Brad's phone rang. He motioned for John to follow and he headed to the office as he answered his phone. John followed him to the office and closed the door. "Lieutenant, John's here with me. I'm going to put you on speaker."
Lieutenant Berry said, "Good morning, John. Up rather early, aren't you?"
"Couldn't sleep. I've had a gut feeling something was going to happen. Has it?"
"Yes, it has," the lieutenant answered. "John, your idea worked. One of our agents showed up. Do you want to guess who it was?"
John paused just a second before guessing, "Agent Larry Kline?"
Brad looked at him curiously, with a look of doubt on his face. But the lieutenant answered, "How did you have that figured out, John? What did we miss?"
Brad asked, "Seriously? Larry showed up?"
"I was shocked, too, Brad. John, what did you pick up on?"
"Nothing big," he answered honestly. "But one night at the other house Kelli had a nightmare and she screamed. Agent Ryan instantly went to check doors and windows while Kline went to the girls' bedroom. Cal and I went there, as well. Kline asked what happened and waited for an answer, but he never went to the window or moved the girls. They were not far from the window at the time. I pulled both of them over to the side while we talked, and was a little surprised that he hadn't. I just assumed FBI protocol is different than our police department's. My first thought was the window, and getting them away from it."
Brad looked shocked. "No, same protocol, John. Larry just didn't follow it." He thought a couple seconds and asked, "Is that why you suggested we include the three of them in this sting?"
"Yes. I assumed it was just a difference in protocol, but I realized that although you know these agents better than I do and have confidence in them, I don't know these guys nearly well enough to have that same level of confidence. I figured if we include them in it and no one bites, I'll feel better about having them here."
"I like the way you think, John. I'm glad you suggested it," the lieutenant said.
"So has he said anything, admitted being part of the group?" John asked hopefully.
"Unfortunately, no," Lieutenant Berry answered. "He insists he was just curious and wanted to see his house before the team gets in there and tears it apart."
"What's your take on his story?" John asked.
"Not buying a word of it. Especially now, after hearing about his failure to follow protocol," the lieutenant answered.
"You know, that night it was just almost like he wasn't worried."
Brad offered, "He probably wasn't. What happens now?"
John quickly said, "I think while you have Kline in custody, you need to get a search warrant for his place."
The lieutenant said, "That's a good idea, John, but we didn't find anything at Decker's house. I suppose we could have missed something."
"Or maybe Joe already got rid of it. Remember, he escaped the scene."
"We had agents at his house as soon as we realized he was missing, but you're right. He could have gone there first, before we knew he was missing, and gotten whatever evidence he didn't want us to find," the lieutenant said, thinking out loud.
"That was my thought," John said.
"I'll get on the search warrant right away," the lieutenant said. "Any other ideas?"
"That's all I've got," John said.
"Not really," Brad said. "He's denying any involvement at all?"
"He's denying everything."
Brad asked, "Are they going to keep questioning him, try and trip him up?"
"We are, but we don't have much to go on," the lieutenant said.
"Do you suppose we'd get any response from him if we told him what all we've learned so far, but throw in something not true? If we get a reaction from him it would at least tell us we're on the right track, that he is indeed part of it."
"It would be good to have that reassurance. Just list off things, throw in something wrong, and then ask him something. The right reaction would tell us a lot. Good idea, Brad. I'll pass that along to the interrogators."
* * * * *
Brad kept John informed all morning. With further questioning they felt sure Larry Kline was involved, but they didn't have anything solid. They had, however, gotten a search warrant and agents were on their way over.
After lunch Lieutenant Berry showed up at the house. "Brad and John, can we talk in the office, please?" When they were in the office with the door closed he opened his briefcase. "I want to show you what we found at Kline's place."
He took out a group of papers and laid them on the desk. "Look them over and let me know what you think." Brad and John each picked up a few of the papers and started looking through them. They switched papers and kept reading.
Brad looked up at Lieutenant Berry and said, "This is crazy."
Lieutenant Berry nodded. "That was my first thought."
Brad said, "So, correct me if I'm wrong here, on any of this. According to this page, it lists all the people involved in this theft ring, and tells what part each person plays."
Lieutenant Berry said, "I was shocked to see that. You would think policemen, of all people, would never put any of this in writing. This is evidence, proof of their guilt."
John agreed. "I thought that, too. But then when I read it all, they've obviously gotten away with quite a bit over the years. That one sheet shows all the thefts they've pulled off, and how Chief Nelson's brother-in-law, the gemologist, was able to make them into new jewelry so it couldn't be traced. The fact that it was sold through a jewelry company set up solely for this shows just how much they've gotten away with. I think that started giving them a false sense of security, making them think they could get away with anything. If you feel and think that way you wouldn't worry so much about putting it on paper, since you wouldn't expect to ever get caught anyway."
"John, I think that is exactly what's happened here," Lieutenant Berry said. "They have plans, according to these, that I don't believe ever would have worked, but I think you're right, they've gotten away with so much, they thought this would work, too."
Brad said, "Okay, so according to these notes, Larry Kline and Officer Decker were the ring leaders."
John added, "They basically have their plan written down here. They told everyone that the plan, if anyone was ever arrested, was to deny everything and say nothing because they wouldn't have any evidence to prove anything. The two of them, on the other hand, planned on telling everything, who all was involved, and answer anything they asked in order to get lighter sentences. What they weren't planning on admitting is that they were the ones in charge. They had purposely made it look like Detective Moss was, having him sign the papers with the judge, making sure he was the one who testified, and other such things."
Brad added, "They were looking out for only themselves. That one paper spells out evidence that proves every single one of them
guilty of at least one thing."
Lieutenant Berry said, "It even tells how they found the two thieves. Being in law enforcement, they knew which ones were best, and those are the ones they went after, enlisting them as soon as they were released from prison. Then they had Detective Moss get Jason Wilson out early so they'd have a way to bring the stolen stones and jewelry into town without risking anyone being caught with them. I had no idea they were pulling off thefts all across the country, though. I thought it was just thefts here locally. I never connected them to thefts two or three thousand miles away. That explained their need for bringing them in through the shoes. Stolen jewels traveling by shoebox is much safer than having them travel with someone in a car. What if the car was involved in an accident? By plane or train would be out of the question the way they x-ray luggage these days. Having the guy on the payroll at the shoe warehouse two thousand miles from here gave them another area to concentrate the thefts on."
John added, "And the cases here that Moss worked on and said he found a connection out west, that was all a hoax. It was just a way for him to get away from here and go out there to investigate some possible targets."
"They were pretty smart about it. He probably convinced the police department he needed to check out a lead that never existed, and the police department would then pay for his trip out there," Brad said.
"It was probably pretty easy to get the trip approved since Chief Nelson was in on it, too," John deducted.
They were all deep in thought for a little while, until John said, "But I still can't believe their plan for getting the other one out of jail if either of them got caught. Did they really think it would work?"
"Like you said, John, they got away with all this so far, so they probably started feeling a false sense of security, like they could get away with anything," Lieutenant Berry said.
"Like any plan they came up with would work," Brad added.
"I guess," John said, "but this just sounds so far fetched. Maybe I'm misunderstanding it. Tell me where I'm missing something here. The way I read it they have evidence that prove two men broke into two different schools and stole computers and lab equipment, but they didn't do anything with the evidence. The same two guys got caught stealing from a third school and went to prison for a couple years. When they got out they quit doing that. Decker and Kline have the evidence, each man has some of it, that will prove who did it. They plan on giving the two thieves the perfect opportunity to break into another school and do it again. They've found a school out in the country, hidden away off the main road, and they plan on having these two men 'overhear' a conversation that talks about how this isolated school just got a big grant for equipment and bought a bunch of new computers and new science lab equipment."
"That's the way I read it, too," Brad said. "They figured they're thieves, they wouldn't be able to pass up a perfect opportunity like that. Then when they take the bait, whichever of the two was still free, in this case it would be Kline, would go to the judge and say he recognized the theft as similar to these old ones, and he talked to Decker, who worked on the old cases. He would claim he was sure he could solve the case if they let him out of jail early so they could work the case together. They felt sure the judge would agree, and Decker would be out, free again."
"That was their plan," the lieutenant said.
"It wouldn't have worked," John stated. "There are too many what-ifs. What if the two thieves didn't take the bait? What if the judge said no to letting him out early, which I think is likely. Judges don't generally tend to go easy on cops gone bad, and with good reason. They're out there to protect the public. They should be, and usually are, held to a higher standard. A judge isn't going to let him out early just to try to help solve a theft in a school."
Lieutenant Berry said, "I think it's like you said, John. They were cocky, thinking they could get away with anything. If we hadn't made the connection with Kline and picked him up, too, I think they would have honestly been surprised when Kline wasn't able to get Decker out pretty quickly."
The other two nodded. John said, "They thought they could get away with anything, even murder."
No one said anything, and John added, "If they were planning on getting Decker out early, they obviously were planning on killing me and the other three, and not getting caught."
"Obviously," Brad said.
They were all deep in thought, until John asked, "Does Decker know you have Kline?"
"Not that I know of, yet," the lieutenant answered.
"Can I be there when he finds out?" John asked. "He was planning on killing me, after all. I'd love to see the look on his face."
"I think I can arrange that," the lieutenant said. "I think, according to these documents, you guys are safe now. Is there any particular way you want to tell Decker?"
"How about telling Decker we've got a new roommate for him. Then take Kline in and let Decker see him, but then take him on past his cell. We definitely don't want them in the same cell, or even close enough to talk. But I would love to see the look on Joe's face when he sees Kline in cuffs."
"I'll arrange that," the lieutenant promised. "I'll have them hold Kline at our offices until you get to the jail. Then once we transport him to the county jail, I'll let you take him from there. You deserve that much satisfaction from both of them, at least."
"Thank you, I appreciate that," John said.
"No problem. Now, while I take this evidence back and formally charge my agent, are you ready to tell the others you're all free to get on with your lives? Oh, and we did like you asked. After we got everything we needed, and plenty of pictures of Alana's apartment, I sent someone in and put it all back in some order. I'm sure there's some things not where she kept them, but it looks like an apartment now, not like a cyclone went through."
"Thank you. I really didn't want her to see it like that."
"I understand. I can tell you two are close. Good luck."
"Thanks! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some wonderful news to deliver! Thanks for bringing all that over to let me see it."
"You're welcome. Thank you for your help in this case!"
Five minutes later, John had assembled Cal and Kelli and Alana and said, "I wanted to fill you all in on the latest news. Lieutenant Berry said we should seriously think about—" He paused, looking at each of them and the dread on their faces, and smiled big as he finished, "going home and getting on with our lives! They've got them all now and we're free to go home!" Seeing the stunned look on his friends' faces, he said, "Unless you'd all rather stay here another few days?"
"Oh, no, I'm good with going home!" Kelli quickly said.
"I'm more than ready to go home, too," Cal said.
Alana was in John's arms, crying. "Let's go home! Can I call and make an appointment to take my driving test?"
All four of them laughed when they heard that. Brad, who had come into the room as well, looked from Alana to John, confused.
John answered, "Yes, honey, you can try taking your driving test again." With a serious expression on his face he added, "But you need to drive some with me first, just to be sure you haven't forgotten everything you've learned. But when you get your license, no driving to any more shoe sales at Newjangles!"
Everyone laughed, including Brad.
"If anyone's interested, I can drop you guys off wherever you want, whenever you're ready."
"Let's go, I'm ready," Kelli said, getting up from Cal's lap and heading for the door.
"I'm right behind you," Alana said.
The guys laughed, and Cal said, "I do have a few clothes I brought along for John and myself. Let me grab those and I'll be ready."
"Everything we used and wore is the FBI's so we don't have anything to take. I do want to thank you, Brad, or whoever furnished the toothbrushes and combs and brushes and things, along with all the clothes and swimsuits we used."
"That's all part of the safe house," Brad answered. "We try to keep them stocked with everything
to keep anyone comfortable who comes here in a rush, like you guys did."
"And we appreciate it," John confirmed. "I'll go help Cal get our things together so we can go."
Alana looked at Kelli, and asked Brad, "Do you know where our clothes are that we wore to the first safe house? We need to put them back on so we can return these clothes we're wearing."
"I have no idea," Brad answered. "They've probably been put up so they wouldn't get lost, maybe somewhere at the first house. I'll find them and have them returned to you. In the meantime, consider the clothes you're wearing a gift to you from the FBI, for your help in solving this case."
"We can give them back after we wash them," Kelli offered.
"Don't worry about it," Brad insisted. "They can be your souvenirs of your time in the safe houses."
"Thank you," Alana said. "If it's okay with you, while we wait for the guys, Kelli and I are going outside. We've wanted fresh air for, for—well, I think forever!" The girls giggled as they hurried outside.
When John and Cal went outside ten minutes later they stopped a moment to watch the girls. They were looking toward the sky with their arms outreached, soaking up the sun. John went to Alana, saying, "Hey, girls, save some of that sun for us. We missed it, too, you know."
They all walked around outside for a few minutes, enjoying the sun and fresh air before getting in the car to go home. John told Brad, "My car should still be at Cal's, so if you want to just take us there, we'll get the girls home."
Once they got to Cal's house, they sat outside talking for a little while, mostly just enjoying the outside again. Eventually John said, "Well, honey, I better get you home. I told Lieutenant Berry I'd be at the jail in an hour.
"Okay," Alana said, "but I'm not sure if I'm staying there tonight. I might stay with Kelli. It depends how bad my apartment looks."
"Well, let's go see."
"I'm going to take Kelli home now, too, Alana. If you don't feel comfortable staying there come on over to her place. We'll be there," Cal said.
"Thank you both. I'll call you, Kelli, and let you know how bad it is once we get there."
When they got to Alana's apartment, he had his arm around her waist as she went inside. She looked around, then looked at John. "I thought they said they ransacked this, looking for the ruby."
