by Anne Hagan
I thought of Dana and the prison hit she was investigating at Stateville. “I’ve been involved in a case with a Customs Agent that’s working on something that also has to do with inmates at Stateville. I don’t know all of the details but, given events around here, it’s starting to look like we might have two investigations headed in the same direction. It’s almost too eerie to be a coincidence.”
“Weirder things have happened.”
“Let me get in touch with Agent Rossi and touch base. What’s DeWayne’s younger brother’s name?”
“DeShawn Dawes.”
I wrote it down and tried not to smile. Webb stood up and extended his hand.
“Sheriff, it’s been a pleasure working with such a professional team. I appreciate all your help.”
“I’ll be in touch once I track Rossi down or, I can have her call you?” It was more a question than a statement.
“Either way is fine Sheriff. Hopefully we can all help each out.”
He showed himself out. I intended to keep my promise and call Dana but my first order of business was tracking down Sally. She’d gone too far and couldn’t be allowed to continue.
I was wrong for not taking Sally seriously. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. I was going to use every tool and do everything in my power as Sheriff to find her and put her away so she couldn’t hurt me or my family again.
I booted my computer and started combing databases for information about Sally Loring. Once I had some addresses and a potential vehicle, a white Dodge Durango 4X4, to use as reference points, I put out an APB on her and then I got Holly working on getting an arrest warrant.
Little did I know that my actions were being followed closely by a certain Federal Agent currently tied to a computer in Cleveland. That is, I didn’t know until my duty cell phone rang as I was getting into a vehicle to go out and run down some of those addresses.
“Sheriff Crane.”
“Mel, it’s Dana.”
Silence hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Dana broke it.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“No.”
“Let me rephrase the question. What the hell is happening?” Her voice was rising. “Why did you put an APB out on Sally Loring?”
I sighed. “Dana, Sally shot my sister Saturday night at our house in some sort of drive by or she may have even been up close to the house. She wasn’t real close though because she apparently thought Kris was me. I was out on a call.”
“Is your sister...okay?”
“She had surgery late Saturday night. She’s still in the hospital but she’s recovering.”
“You’re sure this was Sally?”
“Who else would it be Dana?”
“You tell me. What’s going on with your counterfeit investigation?”
“We have three guys in custody here. Webb, the Secret Service Agent that’s here, served warrants on their homes and hit the mother lode at one of them. Custody is being transferred to him today and he’s taking them all back to D.C. for interrogation.”
“Wow! Is that all? There has to be more! What aren’t you telling me?”
“Two of the guys in custody here are members of a gang. They’re not local. They’re out of Chicago. Somehow, they’re affiliated with the printing of the counterfeit money and the transport and distribution of it.”
I paused and then I jumped back in. “Dana, there may be ties to your case. I spoke with Webb this morning and started putting two and two together. I didn’t tell him anything concrete but he asked me to get in touch with you. I was going to call but... well, I need to find Sally.”
Dana interrupted. “Mel, do you have a security detail on your house?”
“Why?”
“Really? Mel, think about it! Do you really believe Sally is your shooter? I don’t! I think you’ve become a gang target because of your investigation. And, if your hunch is correct, it may go a hell of a lot deeper than that and really be tied in with mine after all.”
“No one’s there... at the house. The kids are staying with my folks. I’ve spent all my time at the hospital since Kris was shot.”
“Track down Sally and do what you have to do there to prove things one way or another. I’m en route. Put some deputies on stakeout around your place.”
“You don’t need to come down here. I can handle the security...”
“It’s not about that.” Exasperated, Dana hung up.
Chapter 13 – Stalkers and Smugglers, Oh My!
It was shaping up to be a slow duty day for law officers in Muskingum County. There just wasn’t much going on. The Zanesville PD and my sheriff’s deputies were all over the place combing side streets and alleys looking for Sally’s vehicle. Sally could be anywhere in the county or out of it, of course but, from what I knew of her, she tended to stick to a pretty close radius around places she was familiar with. I didn’t think finding her would be difficult. I was right.
Dispatch relayed a radio call from Zanesville PD to me. The Durango had been spotted parked on a residential street on the eastern edge of the city limits. No one was inside. A ZPD officer was keeping an eye on it from a distance.
None of the addresses in the vicinity of the vehicle matched any of the ones I’d found in a database search. We’d be playing a waiting game. I headed in that direction anyway.
I positioned my County SUV at the opposite end of the street from the cruiser of the Zanesville PD officer. Sally’s Durango was facing my direction. If she pulled out and headed my way, I could cut her off. It was a risk, if she was the shooter who got Kris. She wouldn’t mistake me this time in full uniform and a county vehicle. It was far riskier though to send a deputy to search her vehicle in broad daylight if she was armed, given that we didn’t know her exact location on the street.
We didn’t have to wait long. Twenty minutes after I settled in, Sally emerged from a house across the street from her vehicle. She was carrying a small dog with her. She unlocked the truck and moved to place the dog inside. I radioed patrol and my deputies in the area to move in.
The Zanesville PD officer pulled out from a couple blocks down behind the Durango and moved up the narrow street towards it. I pulled out and drove for it head on, stopping just short of it, positioning my SUV to block her exit.
Sally stepped down from the still open door of her truck and looked straight at me. I drew my service weapon and exited my truck in one smooth, well-practiced motion. The patrol officer did the same from behind her.
“Keep your hands where I can see them. You’re under arrest.”
“Mel, it’s me, Sally. You know me. You’re making some kind of mistake.”
“No mistake. Step away from the vehicle and lay down on the ground.”
She moved toward me gesturing with her hands. “Mel, it’s meeee!”
I aimed my weapon directly at her. “Stop!”
Sally gave me a puzzled look and continued to come toward me.
The Zanesville patrol officer reached into his car for his mike. His voice boomed over his PA system, “Sally Loring, get on the ground!”
Startled, Sally swung around to find him standing, partially shielded behind the door of his cruiser with his service weapon aimed at her too. She whimpered and dropped to the ground. The little dog yipped from the truck at his now prone owner who was babbling non-stop that she hadn’t done anything. I moved in, reached down and cuffed her and then instructed her to get to her knees.
The Zanesville PD officer helped me get her up off the ground. I leaned her against the hood of her truck and searched her. One of my deputies moved in and began searching her truck for the weapon she used to shoot Kris. After a thorough search, he came up empty.
“You can’t do this! I didn’t do anything wrong! I have rights! Why is he searching my truck? That’s unlawful! I’m going to sue all of you for this! Stop! My dog needs me! Can’t you see that?”
Sally went on and on while I read her ri
ghts to her and while my deputy loaded her into the back of his cruiser. I instructed him to take her to the station and put her in a holding cell until we could work out jurisdiction for interrogation on the shooting. One of my deputies would probably have to do it because state would ultimately hand it back, rather than take it on. I’d likely be cautioned against doing it myself due to the conflict of interest but you can damn well bet I’d be listening in!
Once Sally was safely in a cruiser and my officers were clearing her vehicle, a bystander stepped forward and explained that she was Sally’s cousin. She and Sally had been visiting with her ill mother. Sally was leaving but she was staying on for a few days. She asked what the problem was. I explained that Sally was part of an official police investigation and that was all I could release.
She said to me, “My mother just loves her little dog. Do you think it would be all right if I kept it with us while you hold Sally?”
The dog was a problem and here was a solution. I thanked the woman and then I went and got the pooch out of the vehicle and handed it to her. He seemed happy to see her. I radioed my deputy and advised him to let his passenger know her cousin would care for her dog. Sally was still yelling in the background.
I watched and listened from behind the two-way mirror as deputies Spence and Treadway questioned Sally. She complained and fidgeted non-stop. She was really giving them the run around but they stuck with their questioning, trying to break her down.
Spence was giving Sally the business about my sister’s shooting.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about! I didn’t do that! I wouldn’t shoot Kris!”
Eventually, after relentless questioning, Sally admitted to stalking me, to the photographs and to trespassing to get my boxer briefs. She refused to own up to the shooting though and she never swayed from her story. She couldn’t, however, provide an alibi though for the time of the shooting on Saturday evening. She claimed she was at home, with her little dog, watching television. She also couldn’t name a single witness to corroborate that story.
She’s not as stupid as I thought. She’s not going to admit that she’s so obsessed with me that she was trying to kill me so no one else could have me. We have to find her gun!
Holly stuck her head in the room. “Sheriff, I hate to interrupt, but you have a visitor who’s insistent on seeing you; an Agent Rossi?”
Dana, damn it! I just don’t need this right now. “Put her in my office. She can cool her heels in there for a few minutes.”
“Not to get into your business Me... Sheriff, but she’s hopping mad about something. You might not want to keep her waiting too long.”
I shook my head, got up and followed Holly out. She tried to hide a smirk.
Here goes nothing!
I walked into my office and I jumped right in before Dana could speak. “You, you didn’t have to come down here. We can certainly handle security ourselves Dana. It’s not necessary now anyway. We caught Sally. Everything is under control now. She’s admitted to stalking me.”
Dana shook her head and sneered at me. “Did she admit to attempted murder?”
“Not yet, but we’ll get her.”
“Did you find the gun?”
Damn her! “No. Not yet. We executed a vehicle search when we took her into custody. A warrant is being executed on her residence.”
“Mel, listen to me. You’re not going to find anything there but cameras and photographs. Pictures are the only things she’s shooting. She’s not the one you want.”
“You’re awful sure of yourself. What have you got to prove that she isn’t the shooter?”
Dana sighed. “Look, let’s drop the hostilities. I’m very sorry about the other day and, if you like, later we can talk about that. Right now, if we can, I’d like to try and put our personal feelings aside and focus on work.”
I blew out a breath and started at her for several seconds. My gut told me she might be right about Sally. “Okay.”
“You told me on the phone that your counterfeiting case may be tied to my smuggling case. If that’s true, you may have had a shooter gunning to murder you who is related to our cases. Kris being shot probably has nothing to do with Sally.”
I shook my head. “You may be right.”
“So, fill me in. What do you have?”
“I’ve already given you the basics.”
“Humor me, please.”
“We arrested three guys here; a local and the two Chicago gangbangers I mentioned on the phone. The local guy was getting counterfeit cash to spread around from the gang. We don’t know how the local; a white, small town, small time dealer is tied to a predominately black, urban gang, the Gangster Demons. Maybe he’s their local connection for everything, but that doesn’t seem very likely.
“I’m not an expert on gang make up and culture but I do know some things about them. They’re one gang that’s a little bit different from what you typically think of as a “street” gang.”
“Well, then maybe our local’s involvement really is possible. Who knows! Anyway, the Secret Service staged raids on the residences of all three men. At the home of one of the Chicago gangbangers, DeWayne Dawes, they found a lot of high print quality, counterfeit money. He’s definitely involved in that whole investigation.”
“The other Chicago man, Bryant Quinn, didn’t have any money or other counterfeiting evidence at his residence. The Service though has been able to establish with the Chicago Gang Task Force that he works as a truck driver for a front company for the Demons.”
Dana leaned forward, all ears. “I can see where this is going. He could be transporting money, merchandise...” She trailed off.
“It gets better. Dawes has a younger brother that’s an inmate at Stateville, DeShawn.”
“Lots of Chicago area gangbangers are inmates at Stateville.”
“DeShawn Dawes also drove a truck for the same front company that Quinn does.”
“Oh, wow... Small world...”
“Isn’t it?”
Dana sat back, thinking. “So, DeShawn could be the inmate who passed the hit order to Vincent, who killed the other inmate.”
“It’s possible. Did you ever get a hold of that lawyer?”
“No. He’s not returning my calls. I think it’s time that I pay him a visit and follow that lead wherever it takes me, for one.”
“Well, while you’re in Chicago, what do you say to a chat with a man locked up at Stateville?”
“What, and help the Secret Service with their case? I’m sure that idea is their doing.”
“And possibly help yourself, with yours. Webb thinks DeWayne will talk to help out his baby brother with his time. Maybe little brother will do some talking too if he thinks it will help his big brother.”
It was quiet for a long time as we both sat, lost in thought, pondering the whole mess of this case. Finally, Dana leaned forward in her chair and said, very quietly, “We need to talk, but not here.” She read the expression on my face and, realizing I thought she meant about something personal, she quickly added, “It’s about the case.”
I played dumb to test her. “Which case?”
“Ours. They’re the same Mel. They have to be. Where can we go where we’ll be out of harm’s way?” She was still whispering.
Realizing that she was very serious, I got up and moved around the desk. I crouched beside her chair and whispered, “I know just the place. Let me do a couple of things here. What are you driving?”
“My car. I drove down from Cleveland.”
“Where’s it parked?”
“In a visitor’s spot in your lot.”
“Go down to your car and hang out, looking busy for a few minutes. Watch for a small, green Ford Ranger pickup to go by the lot with a man in a ball cap driving. Pull out and follow it. I’ll be along not long after.”
Dana looked skeptical.
“Trust me. I’ll get out of here okay and we’ll be safe to talk where we’re going.”
; “Okay.”
Once Dana was out of my office, I called my dad’s cell. As I suspected, he and mom were at the hospital sitting with Kris. The kids were in school.
“Hi dad. How’s she doing?”
“Better.”
My dad was a man of few words. He only had a cell because mom wanted to be able to get a hold of him if she needed to.
“Has the doctor been in yet?”
“Yup.”
“And?”
“Got a therapist comin’ in, in a little bit.”
“A physical therapist?”
“That’s what I said.”
There wasn’t any point in arguing the point with him. “Any word on her release?”
“Maybe tonight.”
“Dad, I need a small favor.” I already knew he would do it. “Will you go out and get in the Ranger and drive it by the station and then out to the farm? Someone will follow you there from the lot at the station. I’ll be not far behind.”
“You want me to leave now?”
“That would be best dad.”
“Okay.” He didn’t ask any other questions. I knew he wouldn’t.
“Thanks dad. See you in a bit.”
He hung up.
Chapter 14 – A Meeting of the Minds
Sometimes I go right from work to a ball game or school event for the kids. I try to keep a couple of changes of clothes in my closet at work. The practice served me well now as I quickly changed out of my uniform and put on jeans and a T-shirt. I added a ball cap that was in there gathering dust since I rarely wear a hat when I’m off duty.
I told Holly I needed to do some undercover recon work and I borrowed her truck. She knew I’d take good care of it and, like my dad, she didn’t ask questions either.
I knew the route my unassuming father would take to lead Dana to get back to the farm from Zanesville; the most direct one. That was fine with me. Dana didn’t seem to be a target... so far. On the other hand, I was beginning to believe I really was. To keep suspicion off of dad and Dana, in case my “disguise” and vehicle switch didn’t fool anyone, I decided to go a different, slightly longer route than dad would take, cross country.
