Dog Gone Lies (Pacheco & Chino Mysteries Book 1)

by Ted Clifton

  Wednesday

  When Ray let Happy out for his morning rounds, there was Tyee sitting on the porch.

  “Come in, just put the coffee on.”

  “Thanks.”

  They discussed their plans for the day. Ray said he’d found a note on the door indicating that the new phone line would be installed that day, so Ray wouldn’t have to run down to Big Jack’s to use the phone anymore. As soon as Ray got the new number, he would let everyone know. They also talked about Tyee’s trip to Albuquerque that day and how long Tyee should stay.

  “My plan is to talk to Agent Sanchez or Crawford today and fill them in on what’s happened. Not sure how quickly they’ll be able to provide security for Monica, but one way or another there’ll be some backup for you by tomorrow.”

  Either there would be some support from the Feds or Ray would be there himself. Ray said he would let Big Jack know about any developments in case he couldn’t get ahold of Tyee.

  “Sounds good. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  Monica entered with a smile and a friendly greeting, although she still seemed very subdued. Ray got her a cup of coffee and told her the basic idea of the plan for the day. He said she and Tyee should leave in the next thirty minutes or so and that he would call Mike and let him know they were on their way. One question was what to do about the cars. Monica’s Subaru was still at the Firestone store. He thought it might be best to get her car and take that to Albuquerque, but pointed out that he wasn’t sure if the sheriff had placed a hold on the car or not.

  They agreed that it made everything easier if they could get Monica’s car, leaving Ray with his Jeep. They got everything ready and everyone into the Jeep, heading out toward T or C. Mr. Lopez was thrilled to see Monica. He told her that he’d heard she’d disappeared and had been very worried. She assured him that much of what happened had just been a misunderstanding, downplaying any drama. She settled her bill using some travelers checks she still had and retrieved her car. She agreed to let Tyee drive, and they transferred her belongings and some things for Tyee from the Jeep to the Subaru.

  They talked about the personal things she had left at the Hot Springs Inn. Ray said he believed they’d had been taken by the sheriff’s department and he thought it would be a major delay to try and get the stuff. She said she didn’t want to deal with anyone right now, so she would retrieve her things some other time. Ray agreed that that was best. He didn’t know what Martinez might do—he might even hold Monica as a material witness to murder. Ray didn’t want to deal with Martinez right now. Since there weren’t any charges or anyone looking for Monica, Ray would just plead ignorance if something came up later.

  After Monica and Tyee left for Albuquerque, Ray and Happy went to Big Jack’s. Going around back, Ray found Big Jack on the dock helping a customer fuel up his boat. Ray waved and went into the computer room to call Mike. Mike was pleased that Monica would be there that day and thanked Ray for everything he was doing.

  Then Ray checked the messages on the phone. There was one from Crawford, asking him to call any time. Ray returned the call.

  “Agent Crawford.”

  “Ben, this is Ray in T or C. How are you today?”

  “Good Ray, thanks for calling me back. Just wanted to touch base with you regarding the missing woman. I’ve received some information that makes me question some of the things about her son’s death. You need to be careful, and make sure if you find her that she’s protected—my instincts say she’s at risk. Also, you should know that Agent Myers, who heads the Albuquerque office, had some pretty harsh things to say about you—he says you’ve overstepped your authority. Matter of fact, if it was left up to him he might arrest you for obstruction of justice.”

  “Well, I know he doesn’t like me—that goes back to many years ago when I think I embarrassed him. But as far as obstruction, I have no idea what he’s talking about. I went into his office a few days ago to ask if he knew anything he could share with the family regarding Ed Jackson’s death. He basically threw me out. Acted like I’d asked him something out of line—he didn’t seem to be completely rational.”

  “Ray, I’m going to look into this. Maybe you should avoid Agent Myers for a while.”

  “No issues there. I’d been told that he was heading a multiagency task force and that he gave the order for Ed Jackson to be arrested by the Albuquerque Police. All I wanted was some insight into what might have happened to Ed—he seemed to be mad before I even walked in.”

  “Probably just stress of the job stuff. Don’t have anything definitive on Big Jack yet, but I’ll call as soon as I hear.”

  “Ben, regarding the missing woman. Monica Jackson’s been found. She was a witness to a woman being shot by some thugs, probably associated in some way with her son. They had kidnapped Monica and another woman who just happened to be there and got caught up in this mess. It was the other woman who was shot. Monica managed to get into one of the cars and take off. She’s been hiding ever since. Right now she’s headed to Albuquerque with my associate Tyee. I was wondering if there was any way you could arrange for some security for her.”

  “Well that is interesting news. Not sure about the security, but let me see what I can do. I’m glad she’s alive.”

  They said their goodbyes and hung up.

  Ray decided he was going to Albuquerque. He didn’t completely understand what Crawford had been hinting at during their phone call, but it was clear that Monica was still at risk. He went out into the store, found Big Jack, and told him that he’d decided to go to Albuquerque immediately. He related the tone of his conversation with Crawford and said it made him concerned for Monica and Tyee. He said he’d call Big Jack once he got to Monica’s son’s house.

  Ray went back to the cabin, gathered some things, and tossed them in the Jeep. He got Happy some food and water for the trip, and with Happy in the back of the Jeep they headed out.

  Once Ray got to Albuquerque he stopped at a convenience store and called Luke Jackson, Monica’s son. He explained to Luke who he was and asked him for directions to the house. Luke asked Ray where he was and then said it would take Ray about fifteen minutes to get to his place and provided clear directions. Ray hung up and headed out. When he found Luke’s house, he was alarmed to see a police car out front.

  Ray and Happy went to the front door and rang the bell. Tyee answered the door and stepped out onto the porch.

  “Hey, did they call the police on you?”

  “White man thinks he’s funny, Indian knows better.”

  “Yep, you’re a wise Indian. Everything okay here?”

  “Think so, Ray. The police officer just showed up about an hour ago. Said he was here to provide security for Ms. Jackson. I asked who sent him and he said it was Detective Taylor, our good buddy from the other day. Not sure what that’s about—thought maybe you had something to do with it.”

  “Not directly. I talked to Crawford and asked if he could arrange something—maybe this is it. If it is, then I don’t know how he knew where she was. I told him she’d been found and was headed to Albuquerque with you. Everything about this makes me nervous, because we don’t know who’s involved. How’s Monica?”

  “She seems mostly worried about Mike. He doesn’t seem to be doing well. She and her son were talking about admitting him to a hospital. She’ll be pleased to see her dog again. I went with her to her house to see about the other dogs. That was quite a scene—there are a lot of them. If Mike goes to the hospital, I’m sure she’ll want to go home so she can take care of the animals.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure she would, and maybe that’s okay, but I have an uneasy feeling that this thing isn’t over.”

  Ray and Tyee talked some more about what they might do to provide security and whether the police would provide extended protection for Monica when she went home since she lived outside the Albuquerque jurisdiction. As they were talking, Monica appeared at the door.

  She greeted Ray, then began h
ugging and rubbing Happy, who was very excited to see her, and bouncing around like a windup toy. Happy’s excitement made everyone smile, despite the circumstances.

  “Ray, I’m glad you’re here. I know you think there’s still some risk to me, but I need to go home and take care of my dogs. My neighbor’s been helping, but he’s elderly and he just can’t manage anymore. Just feeding and watering them once a day is wearing him out. Plus, my son and I think Mike should be in a hospital. He seems to be declining. In the last twelve hours he’s gotten noticeably worse. I’m sorry to be a bother to you and Tyee; I just need to take care of things.”

  “Monica, you do what you think is right. You’re not a bother. We’ll adjust—that’s what we were talking about. Tyee was filling me in on the fact that you needed to be at your house to take care of the dogs. I’m going to make some calls and see if we can get some other security, but what I want you to do is what you think is right—we won’t go away until we’re sure you’re safe.”

  Monica started to cry. Ray hated that—he never knew what he should do when someone cried. Monica solved the problem by reaching out and giving him a hug.

  They went inside. Ray introduced himself to the police officer, a very nice young man who was taking his responsibilities very seriously. Ray immediately liked him. Then he saw Mike and was shocked at how much the man had gone downhill in such a short time. He talked to Monica about it, but she didn’t know what was causing it. It seemed like he’d just given up and was ready to die. Monica was very emotional—she wasn’t as bad as Mike was, but she seemed to have aged noticeably in just a few days. The whole atmosphere made Ray want to go fishing and then spend the night with Sue—he didn’t want to deal with death.

  Monica called an ambulance for Mike, who would be taken to St. Anthony’s Hospital downtown. Monica and Luke agreed on a schedule of who would go to the hospital and when.

  Ray called the State of New Mexico Attorney’s General office and asked to speak to Tony Garcia. Tony was the AG. He and Ray went back many years—and he owed Ray.

  “Ray, it’s great to hear from you. Are you in Santa Fe? Can you come by? It would be great to see you.”

  It was good to hear such a friendly voice. Tony and Ray’s friendship went back to the time when Tony was the Attorney for Dona Ana County and Ray was the sheriff. They had formed one of the best working relationships Ray had ever experienced. He greatly respected Tony and the work he’d done to make life better for everyone in the county. Ray had also helped him out of a couple of spots that would have been embarrassing. They were good friends.

  “I wish I was able to see you—I’d like that. Right now I’m in Albuquerque working on a matter for some friends.”

  Ray gave Tony the short version of what had happened over the last few weeks. He left out most of the parts involving the FBI because he was still unsure who was who when it came to the Feds. He didn’t want to get Tony involved in anything that might put him in a bad place with the “fire-breathing” Feds.

  “Ray, I knew you couldn’t retire and just go fishing. You’re the best law enforcement person I’ve ever met, and you can’t just sit in a rocking chair when there are people in need. I think it’s great that you’re working again.”

  “Well thanks, Tony. Not sure what it’s going to be in the future, but I did form a company with a couple of partners to take on some investigative business, so we’ll see how it works out.”

  “You need some protection in Bosque Farms,” Tony said. “That’s Bernalillo County, so that would be Sheriff Romero. You may not know him Ray—he was just elected a few months ago and he’s fairly new to law enforcement. He’s a good man, though, and he’s trying to clean up a bunch of messes he inherited. I’ve worked closely with him over the last month or so. I’ve even talked about you and about our working relationship in Dona Ana, how that was great for both of us in terms of getting things done. Let me give him a call and tell him briefly what’s going on. I’ll tell him that you’ll be calling sometime today—does that work?”

  “That’s great, Tony. I owe you one on this.”

  “Well, I think I owe you more than one, so don’t worry about it. When you get a chance in a few weeks, give me a call and let’s get together and talk about what you’re doing now.”

  They agreed. Ray got the number for the Bernalillo sheriff’s office and hung up. The sheriff might not want to contribute any manpower to this deal, but Ray had a feeling getting a call from Tony would be persuasive. He was also sure that it would be only for a few days. Something was going to happen—one way or another—he could feel it.

  Monica had left right after the ambulance had gone. She was going to the hospital to get Mike checked in, then to her house to take care of her dogs. The plan was that Ray and Tyee would be at her house more or less by the time she arrived. Ray informed the police officer that Monica was leaving to go to the hospital and that they no longer needed security. The officer didn’t seem pleased, but he said he’d let Detective Taylor know and he left.

  Ray and Tyee, along with Happy, got into the Jeep and headed out.

  “How about lunch—Indians do eat fast food, right?”

  “You’re treading close to offensive, Mr. Sheriff.”

  Ray was partial to What-a-Burger’s green chili cheese burger. It was appropriate food for a teenager—probably life-threatening food for an old codger like him. But all this talk about declining health had the opposite effect on Ray to what might be expected—he wanted to have a cheese burger, just like back when he was only middle-aged.

  After consuming a whole day’s worth of calories, they headed south toward Monica’s house. They got back on I-25 and went about ten miles south of Albuquerque, then took the Bosque exit. This was an area with many small farms. It had a rural feel, with a slow pace that felt very different from the urban Albuquerque they had just left. Following Monica’s directions, they had no trouble finding her place.

  It was a small house with a couple of outbuildings, one of which was obviously a large kennel. There was a large fenced-in area where the dogs could go outside, and many of them were out there watching as Ray and Tyee pulled into the yard. When they opened the doors, Happy jumped out and the dogs went nuts. Maybe they were greeting their returning king or something, but whatever it was it created a great deal of excitement for Happy and the other dogs. Happy ran up and down the fence line with the other dogs, barking and jumping.

  Before Ray or Tyee could figure out how to get into the fenced yard, Monica drove up. She smiled at the obvious delight of the dogs. She unlocked a gate and let Happy join the others.

  “They haven’t seen their leader in a while–they’re very excited. I’ll come out in a minute and feed and water them. For now just let them play. Please, come inside and I’ll get us something to drink.”

  Monica was looking beat again. Dealing with the death of her son, the threat to her life, and Mike in the hospital, all while taking care of her dogs, was exacting a major toll. She fixed tea.

  Ray asked to use the phone and called the Bernalillo sheriff. He talked to Sheriff Romero and found him ready to provide whatever they needed. Ray said he would like to have a presence at the house. If a deputy could park out front for a couple of days, that would take care of it. If the threat extended beyond two days, Ray would make other arrangements. The sheriff said a deputy would be there within the hour. They agreed that they needed to meet one another and that they would make an effort for that to happen within a few weeks.

  Ray discussed the new arrangement with Monica and Tyee. Monica seemed to be verging on disinterest, and he could see that to her the threat was becoming less real as time passed. She couldn’t deal with everything going on and also deal with the threat, and Ray understood. The threat wasn’t specific—the guy next door with a gun—that’s real. Some mysterious bad guys were just not real enough to keep you afraid. Of course, the bad guys knew this—just wait a few weeks and all the defenses will have come down.


  Monica said she was going to clean up a little before taking care of the dogs. Ray and Tyee went outside to talk.

  “Ray, do you think all of this is because of the L.A. Mexican Mafia trying to get back the drug or fake document money they think Monica has?”

  “You know, I think that’s the issue—I don’t believe it’s the Mexican Mafia. We know there are bad people who call themselves the Mexican Mafia—Big Jack can attest to the fact that they are real—but to be in New Mexico and be expending so much energy to recover, what? Thousands of dollars? It can’t be millions with someone like Ed. That would be absurd. So why would L.A. thugs go to that much effort to recover what would have to be an insignificant amount to them? Ed was a small time crook, mostly supporting his personal drug and drinking habits. There’s no way, based on what we know, that he was handling big deals. It was all small time stuff, so why kill him? And go after his mother? Something is missing.”

  “There’s something more sinister going on here,” Tyee said, and Ray was sure he was right—this felt almost personal.

  Thursday

  “Ray, thank god I finally tracked you down. We’ve got a big problem. Clayton was arrested by the FBI and is in jail in Cruces. They’re looking for you, too.” Big Jack had spent several hours trying to find out where Ray and Tyee were. He’d called the last place he knew, which was Luke Jackson’s house, and had left a message, but no one had returned the call. Monica Jackson’s number was unlisted, and Big Jack didn’t have it. But while searching in Tyee’s notes, he’d found Betty Adams’ number. He’d explained that he was a friend of Ray’s and he thought Ray might be at Monica’s. Betty was concerned at first about giving out Monica’s number, but Big Jack convinced her it was the right thing to do.

  “What! Arrested him for what?”

  “Cindy told me it was for obstruction of justice—they claim he was interfering with an ongoing FBI-DEA investigation. She also said that they asked where you lived and said you’d be charged with the same thing. Nobody came by here, so I don’t know if they went to your cabin or not. Cindy said the guy in charge was an Agent Myers who acted like a complete asshole—yelling at everybody and treating Sheriff Martinez like he was a moron—of course, why shouldn’t he? Anyway she said she’s not a hundred percent sure, but for some reason she thinks they took him to the jail in Las Cruces. She heard Martinez say he didn’t want him locked up in T or C. What the hell’s happening Ray?”