by Anne Hagan
“Will you tell me what happened out there?”
She stared at me hard. I didn’t waver and I wasn’t going to let her off the hook. “Mel, please?”
“I did what I said I was going to do. I got some information that may even be helpful. The bad thing is I got the heebie-jeebies’ just being inside my own house and, as it turns out, with good reason. I stopped there in between parts of my plan. Sometime after I left there, someone entered and laid in wait for me. When I went back, some sort of sixth sense told me something was wrong, someone was there, so I did a little covert looking, saw movement and got the hell out of there without entering. I didn’t go in until I had backup but, by then, whoever was there was gone.”
“Oh Mel; I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault Dana. I’m a big girl. I’m a cop, for God’s sake. I knew the risks when I set out. It’s just a blow to my mind that I was so wrong about their intentions. I really thought they would lay low now!”
“I know. I sort of did too. Regardless, you can’t go back there.”
“No, you’re right.”
“You can stay with me...”
“And how do I do that? Do I have an armored escort?” Her frustration was palpable.
“We’ll figure something out.”
She sat back in her chair and then, abruptly, leaned forward. “Why did you want me back here?”
It was my turn to be frustrated and angry. “We ran into a major snag trying to set up surveillance. Someone beat us to the punch and had been using the same land we intended to use!”
“Who?”
“Dammed if I know! You tell me; did the Amish farmer say anything about anyone else being there?”
“No...”
“Did you ask?”
“Well no...but...”
“Look, Mel...” I paused and took a deep breath. It’s not her fault. I can’t pin this on her. “I know it’s not your fault. Whoever was there, the farmer probably knew nothing about. We just need to find out who else is watching the Chappell farm and take them out of the mix.”
“What a bloomin’ mess!”
“Tell me about it! Anyway, the guys are waiting in the conference room for a discussion of Plan B. Will you be joining us?”
“Yes, of course, but not right away. I have to file a report on today’s incident. I’ll go down to the squad room and do that now. There’s not much to tell. I’ll be up in about a half hour.”
“Aye, Chief!” Dana snapped off a half salute.
“Cute, but it’s ‘Sheriff’!”
“Whatever...”
Ron was in the conference room when I stepped back in there. I didn’t relish working a plan of only aerial surveillance because choppers going back and forth overhead were bound to draw attention but I couldn’t risk putting any men on Chappell land – especially if someone else was there watching the same things we were.
“Sheriff Crane will be joining us in just a bit gentlemen. She has some new info to share but I’ll wait for her on that.” Because I forgot to ask her what she found out in my concern and my anger... “The bigger news is that she’s still being targeted. Someone entered her home and laid in wait for her. The unsub escaped before he could be captured.”
Tim whistled low. “So, should we be putting surveillance on her house?”
“No. It’s too risky for her to go back there or to travel anywhere in that area.”
“Probably too risky for her to be outside of this building too,” Jason chimed in.
“Yes. Exactly. It is. We still need her knowledge so we need to have her here but there is one thing to consider; this building isn’t set up as housing for anyone but detainees. She can stay at the hotel with us but we have to figure out how to get her back and forth, unobserved.”
“I’m flying in and out of the muni airport that’s across town now, but there are several helipads nearby here,” Ron offered. If you can sneak her out daily and get her to one close by that we can get use of, I can fly her back to Cambridge with me. I can bring her back in the morning to the same pad, if necessary, too.”
“Good thinking. One of her deputies can take her in a squad leaving from right inside this building. No one will ever know she’s leaving and they can’t get to her in the air. Let’s work on that.”
“I’ll get on it when we’re finished here boss.”
“Thanks Phil.”
“Now, as for the surveillance, what are you guys thinking?”
“Dana, we have to get men on the ground.” Tim spoke and everyone else nodded. “We have to get a good look at what’s going on, on that farm. We’ve got to build our case.”
Jason asked, “Speaking of maybe building our case; any word from Gene?”
“No. I don’t have any idea how the interrogation is going at this point and we can’t count on this lawyer knowing much or, even if he does, spilling the beans.” I took a sip of water and continued. “My concern, from what Phil has seen, is that we’re not alone out there. The problem is, we don’t know who else is out there watching and when and, given that it’s not local law enforcement – obviously – that it’s probably a rival gang or locals looking to move in on the action. Hell, for all we know, Mel’s predicament might be the result of a rival gang not wanting her to find what they’re trying to take!”
“There isn’t really any indication of that... of a rival gang, is there?” The question came from Tim. I shot him a look and shrugged.
“That’s just it. We don’t even know what we don’t know.” I shook my head. As I was about to speak again, my cell vibrated on the table in front of me. I looked at the number and looked up in astonishment. I raised my finger to my lips cautioning the men gathered in the room to be quiet. “It’s my informant.”
Tim got up and stepped to the door in case Holly or Mel should appear. I answered the phone and, simultaneously, bumped my volume way up. I didn’t want to put him on speaker and spook him but I was hoping the team would be able to hear him.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Brice.”
“What’s up?”
“Hey, I uh... well, I got an extra job today.”
“Yeah?” I was trying not to sound too eager.
“Unloading a truck and breaking down pallet loads for other trucks.”
“Hot merchandise?”
“Probably. ‘Dunno.”
“Any idea where it came from?”
“Nope. Didn’t get to see no paperwork. Truck what come in had Michigan plates.”
“Any more coming?”
“Forman says there’ll be more work when he paid me cash money when we was finished. Didn’t say when.”
“Where you calling from?”
“I’m at home. My girl ain’t here yet.”
“Gotcha. I appreciate the info.”
“No problem.” He hung up.
Tim returned to his chair. I looked around at the team. “Everyone heard?”
There were nods all around.
Tim spoke, “If he’ll corroborate, we have enough to go ahead now with the subpoena requests. I can send them on their way.”
“I’m not that far with him yet and I don’t know how much I can trust him, unfortunately. Still, we can probably establish reasonable suspicion and get a judge to go for it.”
Holly walked into the room. “Gene is on line two. Would you like me to set it up for you?”
“Please. Thanks!”
The phone was still on the conference table from our morning chat. I looked at the wall clock. It was nearly 5:00 PM our local time. He’d only been in Chicago a few hours. I’ll bet he didn’t get anything out of him or the guy lawyered up!
Holly pushed a couple of buttons and nodded.
“Gene, it’s Dana. The team is here too.”
Gene cut right to the chase, “Jonathan Joseph carried the hit order Dana.”
Chapter 28 - Reset
Smiles lit up the room.
“Are you serious?” I was
dumbfounded at the speed with which Gene had extracted a confession. “You are some kind of interrogator!”
“I can’t take any of the credit. This guy broke fast and easy. He demanded his attorney and that guy showed before I even got there. He demanded a deal for his story as soon as I walked into the room. He says he was a gang pawn and he wants into witness protection.”
I thought of Freestyle. “That’s going around with this case.”
“Don’t I know it!”
“So, what’s his story?”
“He says he owed the Demons. They claim he botched a defense of a high profile gang member. His, and I quote, retribution, was to carry the hit order to Vincent. It went direct from him.”
“So, why was he running?”
“Says Vincent showed up at his offices when he was working late a few nights or so ago and told him they’re both expendable now and that there was a hit order out on him. Then, Vincent left. Joseph didn’t believe what he told him at first but then later, lying in bed, he “saw the light.” I’m quoting him. He got up, went back to the office and he started packing.”
I chuckled. “What the hell did he think he could do; just move his practice somewhere else and continue?”
Gene laughed too. “That’s just it. This guy isn’t the sharpest tack in the box. Frankly, I don’t know how he got through law school! Anyway, something spooked him back at the office and he bolted, leaving pretty much everything he was packing behind.”
“We need that office sealed and we need the entire contents.”
“One step ahead of you there, rookie!” Gene laughed. “We’re just on a break right now. I called the field office and set them about getting a search warrant before I called you.”
“Good deal,” I said, “but, let me ask, how much more do you think he knows Gene? I mean, inner dealings, names... the department stuff Mel asked about?”
“Unfortunately, not much about the inner workings of the gang. He says he just did the occasional low level criminal defense cases which contradicts what he told me about why he carried the hit order. But, that’s not the important thing. Get this...”
“Yes?”
“He does know Delores Chappell and he is aware of her role as a crew chief for the gang. He’s actually holding copies of financial ledgers for her that he’ll turn over for evidence in exchange for his plea deal.”
“Wow!” I was again rendered speechless. I just let that sink in for a few seconds. “How... wh...?”
“I’m still fuzzy on all of that but the gist I’m getting is that they’re somehow distant cousins and she spent time in Chicago with his family when she was young...” He trailed off. “How that translates to her being involved with a gang or if he is more involved himself than he’s letting on, I haven’t gotten out of him yet.”
“That’s probably enough Gene, to nail all of this to the wall!” As I said that, Mel strode into the room. I waved her into a chair. “Sheriff Crane has joined us Gene. Any info for her?”
“Nadda. If there’s any police department involvement, Joseph isn’t aware of it. As I said though, he seems to know a little more than he’s letting on but he doesn’t appear to be big in the organization or even necessarily a member of it himself. I’ll keep working on his ties to the gang, to Delores and I’ll keep trying to find out what else he knows.”
“Good deal Gene. Keep us posted.”
“Will do. Out.”
Everybody started talking at once except for Mel. She was giving me a “what did I miss” look. I waved my hand in the air to silence everyone and then I briefly sketched the conversation with Gene for Mel.
“Delores is really Relic? Wow, wow, wow...”
I was watching the same range of emotions cross Mel’s face that I’m sure had crossed mine a few minutes before. “Yes. She is. And, Holly was really onto something. She does keep a set of books for something, possibly this business. She keeps a set of copies of them with Jonathan Joseph which he is turning over for evidence.”
“Unreal.”
“Mel, you told me earlier that you learned something today that might be useful information. What was that?”
“I don’t know how valuable it is now but what I found out is that Delores... Relic, collects rare and valuable U.S. currency coins and whole series of U.S. coins. It’s a pretty expensive hobby and she is, as far as I know, drawing only a small pension and Social Security. I’m pretty sure she hasn’t received any sort of inheritance yet though there may be a draw off of the family properties if the books she’s doing are for them.”
“I doubt those ledgers Holly saw are for the farming business since she’s sending copies to a lawyer in Chicago for safekeeping,” Tim offered and then he continued, “I just wonder how often she updates the copies in Chicago?”
“What I think needs to happen is that we go ahead and take possession of what Joseph has and we also get a federal judge to sign a search warrant for her home under RICO. We need to get in there and seize the other set before they’re destroyed. Matching them could make or break our case.” I looked at Tim as he typed madly on his laptop.
“I’ll get on the search warrant. I’d already forwarded the request for a subpoena of personal financials. I was holding the one for the farm operation financials. Should I let that go forward?”
“Yes. We’ll also need a search warrant for the dairy farm. And that topic brings us back to our original reason for this meeting. We need a surveillance plan B and, obviously, with warrants being issued and our target date a few days away, we need to get moving now! Thoughts?”
Phil stood up and walked to the map. “Like Tim said, we have to get on the ground. We need to be on that farm to at least observe around the clock, search warrants or no. We’re losing time. Here’s where I propose we go in and set up...”
By the end of the meeting, Phil and Jason were on their way out the door. They would prepare and then take the overnight watch shift. Ron would be available for air support. An order for agent reinforcements for surveillance and movement had gone out to the Columbus office. There’s going to be a raid soon if we can nail a few details and the delivery time of this shipment down!
I turned to Ron, “I need you to work on the helipad issue since Phil is occupied.” He nodded.
Mel looked puzzled, “What helipad issue?”
“I want him to find one close by that we can have one of your deputies sneak you to and then he will fly you to Cambridge.”
“Um, okay...”
I looked at her. She looked like her piebald deer, caught in the headlights. “You’re not afraid to fly are you?”
“No... I’ve just, well... I’ve never been in a chopper before.”
“Relax Sheriff. I’ll take good care of you and you’re going to love it. That’s a promise!”
“Er, thanks...”
I turned to Mel. “We’re going to be here a while yet. Gene’s going back into session with Joseph and his attorney and Tim is chasing down warrants and subpoenas. I need to assist him with that. I also need to stay available while the Columbus office puts a surveillance and raid team together for me.”
“I’ll be in my office. There’s plenty of paperwork for me to do.”
###
Mel
“Sheriff Crane, it’s Agent Webb. Sorry it took a couple of days to get back to you. Truthfully, I didn’t think I’d catch you at the office so late. So, how can I help you?”
Hmm, how do I approach this? “Thanks for the call back.” I was stalling. “I appreciate it. Really, I’m just trying to tie up so loose ends on this end and...”
He interrupted me, “What sort of loose ends Sheriff? Remember, this is a federal investigation now.” His tone changed in a hurry!
“I know, I know.” I was trying to sound relaxed. “I’m just finishing off some routine paperwork is all and, well, for my own sense of closure...”
“You wanted to know how things were proceeding?”
“Yes; exactly.”
He didn’t waste any breath as he rapidly shifted the conversation to a different track. “That Customs Agent buddy of yours went to see DeShawn Dawes at Stateville.”
I bristled but I tried to keep my cool. “Is that a question?”
“No. She and I talked and I know that she was working on getting access to see him. I also know that she did go but, funny thing is, she never reported their conversation back to me.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“She’s impeding a federal investigation.”
He sure likes to throw that term around! “Maybe you should get in touch with her...”
“We’ll see. Do you know anything that I should know Sheriff?”
Well this all just backfired in my face! “No, I don’t believe that I do.”
“We’ll just see about that too. Have a good evening Sheriff.” He hung up.
“Wow! He’s not the nice guy I thought he was!” I said out loud, to no one in particular.
“Who?”
Dana’s question startled me. I looked over to find her standing in my doorway. “Agent Webb. He was returning my call, so to speak.”
“It didn’t go well, I take it?”
“No. He knows you went to Stateville to see Dawes and he’s pissed off that you didn’t report back to him with what you found out.”
“Is that right?” Her tone was dripping with sarcasm.
“He says you’re impeding a federal investigation.”
Dana crossed her arms and affected a lean back pose right where she stood. “Agent Webb can kiss my ass. His federal investigation doesn’t take precedence over my federal investigation!”
“Alrighty then, there Slick. You go!”
Dana laughed.
“How’s that “federal investigation” of yours coming, anyway?”
“I’m calling it a night but, unfortunately, I’m going to have to monitor the phone all night. Things are moving fast now... finally!” She eyed me closely.
“If you’d rather I stayed here...?”
“Why would I want you to do that? I was thinking the opposite and, actually, I came to tell you that your “ride” just left. He’ll meet you at the helipad at Genesis in half an hour if you can wrap up and get over there.”
