NOTHING TO LOSE - Angie Bartoni Case File # 5 (ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILES)

by Marshall Huffman

  “Well, that is certainly one theory. Unfortunately, I feel in this case that the Pan-Am target is too tempting to pass up. If the pamphlet had been found in plain sight I might agree with you but...well it wasn’t was it?” he said smiling.

  “And I’m telling you that if you put everything into trying to protect the Pan-Am games you are going to end up looking foolish. He simply isn’t interested in the games. He has something else in mind,” I said firmly.

  “Yes, well thank you for the briefing. I believe we can take it from here.”

  I just looked at him a minute. What the hell. Getting into a spitting contest with a twit like him was a total waste of time. He had all the answers. All he did was make sure I was involved in the briefing so he could show his ‘concern’ for local input.

  I heard him say something but I couldn’t make it out. I know it had to be derogatory because his minions laughed. What an asswipe.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Pete returned to the farm and paid the cab driver.

  “Is it done?” Belk asked.

  “It’s in place. We will have to set it off by remote control unless you know the exact time,” Pete said.

  “No way to know that. Even my source doesn’t know it yet. He will call as soon as the announcement is made.”

  “And you trust him?” Pete asked.

  “I have no choice at this point. He knows I will kill him and his entire family if he doesn’t come through.”

  “We should move again. We can’t do anything more here,” Pete suggested.

  “Why? There is no reason to move again. We need to keep our heads down for the next two days then we are out of here. At least until the next time. I still have a little score to settle with Detective Bartoni. I don’t intend to let her go.”

  “Yeah, you do, but that is personal and I don’t do personal,” Pete said and started to walk off.

  “Wait. You said you took a taxi back here?” Belk suddenly asked.

  “Don’t fret. I took a cab to close to the city limits. Changed cabs and took another one a few miles further on and then got one to bring me here.”

  “I still don’t like it.”

  “Then you can go next time and try to figure out how to get back. Richard, it’s done. They have no idea what is going to happen. Don’t get paranoid on me now. All we have to do is keep our heads down until it’s time. Besides you just said we had no reason to move again.”

  “Yeah.”

  **

  “Anything on the dump truck?” I asked Eric.

  “A company called Pave Masters reported it stolen two days ago. They sent over a video of the guy stealing it. Facial recognition matches it up as Pete Anderson.”

  “How did he get it?”

  “Cut the fence, hotwired it and drove off right through the gate.”

  “I need to see that video,” I said.

  “Coming right up.”

  A few minutes later I was watching the monitor as Pete got out of a cab. He walked down the street and then circled back. It did the same thing going the other way before he started cutting the fence. A few minutes later he slipped through the fence. I could see him leaning under the dash with his feet hanging out of the door.

  The truck roared to life. He jumped in and drove it straight through the gate, knocking it off its hinges. A few seconds later he was out of the picture frame.

  “He came by cab. We need to know where he was picked up. Can you get on that?” I asked.

  “Probably. I can enhance the pixs and get the cab number or plate number. Let me work on it,” he said, turning to do what he did best.

  I couldn’t do much until he found the information so I went back to my desk. My phone rang as soon as I sat down.

  “Detective Bartoni.”

  “Detective. This is Doctor Warman, Ben Warman. I wanted to let you know that I was releasing Detective Roberts in a few minutes. His GCS is back to fourteen. I would like to see it at fifteen but like you, he insists on ‘getting back into it’ as he so eloquently put it. It seems to be a general theme with Detectives.”

  “We are a hardy lot. Thanks for letting me know. Anything special I should do for him?”

  “Take it easy on him. I would like to see him work a limited schedule but I know that isn’t about to happen. Just no blows to the head or it could cause permanent damage,” Ben said.

  “I’ll do my best to keep him on limited service,” I assured him“

  “Alright. I’ll discharge him,” he replied.

  “Thanks doctor.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said.

  I thought he was going to say something else but he hung up. It was probably better that he did.

  **

  I am not, by any measure, a sentimental person but I have to say I had never been so happy to see someone as Dan when his ugly head popped up. It was all I could do to not ‘mother’ him.

  “So, finally got off your butt and decided to do some work,” I said.

  “Yeah, I know. I missed you too. So, what’s going on? Probably not much since I haven’t been here to cover for you,” he shot back.

  Damn it was good to have him back.

  “Well we have a new big shot from Homeland. A guy named Thompson. He already has it solved so that means we have a hell of a lot of work to do before Belk kills half the population in the city.”

  “Geez, not another one of those. Where do they get these guys? Is there a ‘Pricks-R-Us’ store?”

  “Evidently. Anyway they are pretty sure the target is the Pan-Am Games.”

  “Which means you immediately doubt it.”

  “Well, that’s one way of looking at it. Actually they could be right but the truth is, Belk is pointing us to that direction for a reason. I think he has something else in mind,” I told him.

  “That and you want to be the one to put the bastard away. I heard about your house and TR from Dr. Warman. Nice guy. Seems to know a lot about you,” he said smiling.

  “Don’t start in on me or you’ll end up back in the broken head ward.”

  “It isn’t broken. Just dinged a little.”

  “Well it will be if you start down that road.”

  “Got it. So what do you think Belk is really up to?”

  “That is the real question. I don’t know but I’ll bet you a dollar to a pack of coconut donuts it’s really big and will do the maximum damage.”

  “What does the captain think?”

  “That I’m on the wrong track.”

  “Then we have a hell of a lot of work to do. How can I help?” Dan asked.

  I sat and filled him in on what I knew, what I was working on and we just brainstormed for well over three hours before we decided to call it a night. Man, I was happy to have him back.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Eric was waiting for me when I got in the next morning. I was pretty sure I looked like hell. I can never sleep on a strange pillow. They always seem to be too fluffy or too flat.

  “I have the cab driver. We brought him in a few minutes ago. He can’t tell us much but I thought you might want to talk to him before Thompson found out he was here.”

  “He doesn’t know?”

  “I guess I forgot to tell him,” he said smiling.

  “Good man,” I replied.

  The cab driver was, surprise, surprise, an American that could speak...wait for it...ENGLISH. I didn’t even know such a thing existed.

  “What can you tell me about the guy you dropped off near the Pave Masters site?”

  “American, six foot, maybe one hundred and seventy or eighty. Salt and pepper hair, mole on the side his nose. Brown eyes. Maybe a two or three day old beard. Didn’t talk much and watched out the back of the cab almost as much as he did the front.”

  “Geez. You’re pretty observant.”

  “What the hell else have I got to do when they don’t want to talk.”

  “So he didn’t say much?”

  “Nothing. Just the addre
ss. Didn’t say a thing when he got out of the cab either. Just paid and took off,” the driver told me.

  “Is this the man?” I said showing him a picture of Pete Anderson.”

  “Oh yeah. That’s him. You know what else is strange. I picked him up from another cab he had just gotten out of.”

  “Really? You know that how?”

  “Well. Jason, my good buddy had just dropped him off. He heard me call in the fare and called me to ask what was up with that. I told him I would call later and tell him.”

  “So your friend picked him up and dropped him off. You then picked him up and dropped him at Master Pavers. Is that about it?”

  “That’s not about it. That is it. Jason and I talked about it later and thought something was funny but then we get a lot of strange people.”

  “We need to find out where he picked up the guy.”

  “Here,” he said, handing over an paper with the address written on it.

  “He is sure?”

  “Sure he’s sure. It’s a Mickie D’s.”

  “So we need to find out how he got to the McDonalds.”

  “Good luck with that. Most of the cabs that work on the outskirts aren’t very good at keeping records if you know what I mean. A lot of the money never makes it to the books.”

  “We’ll get the information. Thank you for coming in. You have really helped us.”

  “Glad to do my part.”

  “Don’t find many like him,” Dan said when he left.

  “You mean cab drivers that speak English or ones that are willing to help?”

  “Both.”

  **

  It took Eric hours of hunting to finally locate the company that had picked up Peter Anderson. It was traced back to area out in the country. Anderson had paid a premium to have the driver pick him up.

  The unfortunate part was that all we had was a general location. Where the driver picked him up, there was no actual house number. Anderson has just indicated he would be at the intersection of E 500 South and S 650 East.

  That essentially meant that he could have come from several different locations. There were too many possibilities for Dan and me to handle on our own. We need help.

  I knocked on the captain's door and he did his usual “Come”.

  “Captain. We may have a line on where Belk and Anderson are holed up.”

  “What? When did this happen?”

  “Just now. That’s why we are here. We need help and we need it fast. The games are tomorrow and we need to move on this immediately.”

  “Get Thompson and I’ll call SWAT and the bomb squad,” he said jumping up and picking up the phone.

  “Hold it captain. We can’t all rush in there like a pack of angry wilde beasts. We need to take them alive and put a stop to this. I just need help from the Sheriff’s office in that area.”

  “No way Bartoni. This is Thompson’s show. I have to have him in on it.”

  “Captain, don’t do this. I know what I’m doing. Leave this to Dan and me. We can get the bastard and bring him in. I just need a few good deputies.”

  “Bartoni do you know what you’re asking?”

  “Yeah I do. I’m asking you to trust me. Are you saying you can’t do that?”

  “No but...”

  “No buts captain. Either you do or you don’t.”

  He looked at me for a long time before speaking again.

  “Get the hell out of here but this meeting never took place. I don’t know anything about this,”

  “Well that certainly is a vote of confidence,” I said, starting out the door.

  “It is whether you realize it or not. If I knew about it I would be obligated to stop you and report it immediately to Thompson. That’s why I don’t know anything about it. It’s not to CYA but to give you a chance to get it done,” the captain said with a rather hurt expression.

  “You’re right. Thanks. I apologize.”

  “Don’t. Just get them and stop this before it’s too late,” he replied.

  I felt kind of like someone who had been in a big argument trying to make a point then suddenly realized I was dead wrong. Not good Bartoni.

  **

  “We are running out of time. Did you hear from your source yet?”

  “No. He is as good as dead. It doesn’t matter. I have an automatic detonator set for 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. Even if we don’t get everyone, it will still do a hell of a lot of damage. Let’s face it. A few minutes one way or the other isn’t going to matter much.”

  “Do you have an override on it?”

  “What the hell for? It’s going to go off no matter what they do. I have it rigged seven ways for Sunday. They can send in their best bomb squad and it won’t matter in the end.”

  “Then I guess it’s time for me to get us some transportation out of here.”

  “No. Not yet. I want to know everything. We stay put until it blows over. Besides I still have a couple of people to take care of.”

  “Belk, I’m for going now,” Pete said.

  “Hey, do what you want but I’m staying. You can leave anytime you want. I’m not holding you here,” Belk said.

  “Just like that.”

  “Hey, you want to go, I sure the hell am not going to stop you.”

  “Alright Richard. I think if you were smart you would get out of here right now but it’s your call.”

  “Yes it is.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “What do you think?” I asked the Sheriff.

  “It would be a good place to hide out. Plenty of cover. Off the road and it has been abandoned for at least three years. Any car coming down the drive would be immediately spotted. I sure would consider it.”

  “It could be booby-trapped.”

  “I don’t know. That would be difficult. There are lots of animals around here. I doubt they would want many explosions taking place. It would cause people to ask questions and from what you have told me, that is the last thing they want.”

  “Still. He is good at killing.”

  “I understand and I will pass the word but we will only have one shot at this. If he gets away I doubt you will ever find him.”

  “Until he kills again.”

  “Yeah, there is that.”

  “Let’s get everyone together and go over our plan once more,” I said.

  I was a hell of a lot more worried about what Belk was up to than the Sheriff. I had seen his work first hand and I didn’t want to see it again anytime soon, no, make that ever.

  **

  We all met back at the Sheriff’s car. He had set up roadblocks coming and going. No one was going to get into or out of the area.

  The meeting, held in the hot sun, lasted thirty long minutes as we went over every contingency we could think of. Finally we could stall no longer. Actually they were ready but now I was getting cold feet. I didn’t want to have the death of the Sheriff’s deputies on my hands because I overlooked something.

  Dan, the Sheriff, and I waited another thirty minutes while the place was surrounded. It was time. I picked up the bullhorn and started walking down the road to the house. Dan was by my side but as soon as I could see the house I stopped.

  “Dan, you go no further.”

  “Oh hell. Don’t go all soft on me.”

  “I mean it. You stay here. Not one foot further. That is an order this time. Sorry.”

  “Come on Angie. I’m fine. I’m a big boy.”

  “That may be but you are staying put. I mean it.”

  “Oh for...”

  “Stop. I don’t want to hear it,” I said more forcefully than I intended.

  I just didn’t want something else to happen to him. He wasn’t even supposed to be on full duty.

  I walked a few feet further and looked back. Dan stuck his tongue out at me. I almost laughed but fought it off. I walked to within fifty yards of the house.

  “Belk, Andrews. We know you are in there. The place is surrounded. They have orders to shoot either o
f you on sight. You have exactly one minute to come out with your hands up and empty. After that we will burn you out and shoot you like the yellow dogs you are.”

  Wow. Not totally professional but I wanted to convey a message that there would be no give and take. It would be my way or they would be shot.

  “That you Bartoni?” a voice came from inside the house.

  “You know damn well it is you sick bastard.”

  “That’s not a nice way to talk to an old friend. I guess you are just looking for a reason to put a couple of bullets in me.”

  “You bet. Now quit pissing around and come out. Hands in the air, palms forward. If I even think you are trying to pull something I’ll shoot you. Got it?”

  “Yeah. I get it. I’m coming out.”

  A few seconds later Belk stepped out onto the porch. He had his hands in the air and I could see his palms.

  “Stop. Don’t move.”

  “Stoppin’ boss,” he said in his best chain gang voice.

  “Come down the stairs. Stop at the bottom. Drop to your knees then lay face down, arms out. Do it exactly as I say.”

  He stepped down to the bottom and did exactly as I had ordered. So far so good. I still didn’t trust the bastard. I waited until I had counted to thirty before I walked closer. If he had explosives on, I would be a gonner in a few more yards.

  “Roll over on your back. Open your jacket and take your arms out of it.”

  “I can’t do that lying down,” he said.

  “I suggest you find a way or you’re going to lose a kneecap,” I shouted.

  Damn. I was making this all up as I went along. I didn’t really know if this would prove anything or not but I did make sense to me...sort of.

  Amazingly enough he found a way to roll over and get his jacket off. I could see nothing that looked suspicious.

  “Okay, get back up on your knees and put your hands on your head,” I ordered.

  I looked back over my shoulder and saw Dan edging forward. I waved for him to come on up to where I was standing.