by John Foxjohn
Andy strode forward and both agents grabbed an arm, heaving the dispatcher to her feet. On her feet and her breath returning, Spalding told them in no uncertain terms what she planned to do to both of them when they removed the cuffs.
Some of those things Melissa wasn’t sure were biologically possible, but looking at the woman, she believed Spalding would try, and Melissa didn’t want to give her another chance. She’d gotten lucky the first time.
Escorting Spalding to the rented car, Melissa encountered another problem that hadn’t occurred to her before she handcuffed the woman. A squad car had a rack to keep prisoners out of reach from the arresting officers. This one had nothing. If both sat in the front seat and Spalding stepped over her cuffs, she could choke one of them to death before the other could do anything other than kill her. She turned to Andy, and from his perplexed expression, knew he had the same idea. Melissa, her grip fastened on Spalding’s arms, asked, “How should we handle this?”
“Let’s try this. You drive and we put her in the front seat. I can sit behind her.”
Not sure she liked that idea, Melissa smoothed her hair with her free hand, but she couldn’t come up with a better alternative. The thought of the enraged mammoth in the front seat with her left her chest tight. At last, she nodded. She looked up at Spalding. “We gave you the chance to do this the easy way and you chose the other. Now, we can sit you in the front seat and you behave yourself—”
“Or what, Bitch?”
Melissa’s smile wasn’t friendly. “Or we can place a handcuff on each hand and foot, truss you up like a pig going to slaughter and throw your big ass in the back seat. I can assure you that won’t be the most comfortable position, and if I just happen to hit bumps or some big pot holes on the way, you’ll have more pain than you’ve ever experienced in your life.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
CHAPTER 26
Melissa breathed a relieved sigh when a conciliatory expression reached Spalding’s face. She didn’t want any more trouble this morning.
They had an uneventful drive to the police station, and Melissa parked in the back. Spalding didn’t say a word on the way, which was OK. Now, the prisoner was fine, but what would happen when they got her out of the car? At least they could get help at the police department, and if she decided to fight, they might need all the help they could get.
A patrolman going out, eyes wide, held the door open for the two agents and their prisoner. Inside, Melissa told the astonished booking sergeant they needed to place Spalding in an interrogation room and talk to David Mason.
At last, the sergeant got some words out. “The two of you brought her in?”
“Just us,” Melissa said.
He scratched his cheek. “She came willingly?”
Andy put his hands on hips. “Not at first, but we convinced her.”
The sergeant never looked at Melissa, but reappraised Andy. After he made a call, he nodded, indicating Andy. “You can sit with her in room six, but the chief wants to speak with Melissa in his office.”
Melissa left Andy and trudged down the hall. She’d met the chief the first time after they killed Whistlam. Her meeting hadn’t gone well. From David, she knew he was a retired good ole boy from the bureau and figured he had a prejudice against women as agents. After her first contact with him, his words and assumption that she’d screwed up didn’t do anything to change her mind. If she’d been a man, she figured he’d slap her on the back, tell her great job of getting the scuzeball off the street, but since she was a woman, she’d screwed it up. She could imagine what he wanted now, but at least David would be with her.
When the secretary escorted her in, the chief sat behind his desk, face buried in papers. She groaned when she discovered that David wasn’t there. What’d she screw up this time?
Spears glanced up and indicated a seat. She sat and crossed her arms. Spears rose and rounded the desk, sitting on the corner.
Days flew by before he spoke and Melissa fidgeted in her seat, crossing her knee.
“I bet that one wasn’t easy to bring in.”
His words and friendly tone startled Melissa. “No, sir. She didn’t want to come at first.”
He chuckled. “I can imagine. Most men in this town are scared to death of her. The county commissioners delayed Mason. He called to ask me to relay a message to you. Wanted you to hold the woman until he got back. Do you want some coffee?”
She did, but didn’t want to say so. She didn’t figure the chief had called her to his office to tell her that. She waited for the hammer to fall.
Melissa’s eyes widened in surprise when the chief said, “I owe you an apology. My reaction the night of Whistlam’s death was not as good as I would have hoped. After I had time to think things over, look at things, I realized that you handled things well. As well as I would have in your situation.”
She didn’t know what to say. This was the last thing she expected, and she realized his sincerity. She wondered how much of the change in the chief’s attitude had to do with David. She didn’t know what the two of them had talked about when David sent the team away. Finally, she mumbled a thank you, and added a sir on the end.
He tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair for a few moments before he continued. “You must be in a hard position. I don’t know Mason well, but from talking to him, what I have heard, and what Beeker told me about him, he must trust you a lot to put you in the position he did.”
His words coincided with her thoughts about how David trusted her, but she had to be careful responding to Spears’ statement. This guy was sharp, and she couldn’t allow her feelings for David to come through. No one, not even David, knew and she had to keep it that way. She smiled, but took a deep breath. “I appreciate what you said, chief. I hope David trusts me. I’ve worked hard to get here.”
He nodded, and to her relief, didn’t comment on this and didn’t seem to be reading anything into it.
“I haven’t had a chance to meet with Mason this morning so I will ask you, what’re you two doing about the leak inside your team?”
If he’d slapped her, she wouldn’t’ve been more stunned. She and David spent a lot of time talking about the investigation. She’d believed she knew every aspect, but she didn’t. What else had he kept from her, and why did he keep this?
Did he suspect her of leaking information?
She blurted out, “What leak in our team?”
Spears raised an eyebrow and tugged on an ear. “I thought he’d told you.”
In a small voice, she replied, “We haven’t had much of a chance to talk. He was in Houston and had to rush back, and then he planned what is going on today.” She said the words, but didn’t believe them. They had talked and David chose not to confide in her.
In a daze, she listened as Spears told her about the phone call that alerted Whistlam right before they hit, and the first call that tipped him when they almost had him, and his assumption that someone in the know tipped the killer.
She rose to leave, her stomach tied in knots. She had to get by herself. Couldn’t let anyone see her like this.
She almost ran to the restroom, yanked open a stall, and sat on the toilet. David suspected she leaked information to the killers. If he didn’t suspect her, he’d have told her about it. Tears flooded her eyes, her lips quivered, and she became ill.
She threw open the toilet seat and on her knees heaved her life into the bowl. A hand on her shoulder startled her.
“Are you OK?” a woman Melissa didn’t know asked.
She nodded and mumbled, “Something I ate.”
The woman smiled and turned to leave. How long she knelt in front of the bowl, she didn’t know. A hand swept across her hair, getting it out of her face. She turned to thank the woman she thought had left. Instead, her mouth fell so far open she hurt her jaw.
* * * *
Melissa, too stunned to speak, could only shake her head, tears streaming down
her face. David knelt beside her. Surely, she was having a nightmare and all this wasn’t true. David believed in her and he wasn’t kneeling beside her in the women’s restroom with her face a mess and vomit on her mouth. Please God! Tell me I dreamed this.
When he rose, she realized she hadn’t dreamed it. She remained on the floor. Water poured in a sink next to the stall and moments later, he placed a wet napkin on her face. She covered her face with the napkin more from shame than a need.
When he helped her up, she buried her face in his chest, too ashamed to look at him. Her shame switched to rage. She jerked her head up and beat his chest with both fists. He didn’t move or say anything. She slapped him, leaving a print on the side of his confused face. Still he didn’t move. She slapped with the other hand, but he caught her wrist, stopping the blow.
“The first one I might have deserved. Not sure about the second one.”
Her eyes blazed hatred for a moment and she wanted to kick his balls around his ears, but she realized she couldn’t do that. She nodded and he let go and stepped back.
“What’re you doing in the women’s restroom?” was all she could think to ask.
He took her by the hand to lead her out. “While I was talking to the chief, a woman came in and said you ran in here sick, so I came to get you.”
She didn’t understand. “Get me?”
When they left the bathroom, her embarrassment returned. She’d run into the men’s restroom.
Concerned, David said, “I need to talk to Spalding right away. We need to have us a little talk, too.”
Her blue eyes flashed. “Damn right we need to talk.”
David nodded, but said, “Yes, but later, boss.” He prefaced his words with a forced smile. “Clean yourself and meet me at the interrogation room.”
David, with his hands jammed in his pockets, turned and strolled off. He met Andy outside the room where Spalding waited. David glanced through the one-way glass at the woman, his eyes getting big. “How the heck did y’all bring her in?”
Andy shrugged. “Don’t look at me. She kicked my butt. Melissa brought her in by herself.”
Unconsciously, David rubbed the side of his face, thinking how lucky he’d been that his assistant only slapped him. “Wow! She is big.”
“She packs a wallop, too. How’re we going to handle this?”
David’s lips puckered as he thought. “Do you think the police department has an elephant gun on hand?” He scratched his head. He’d figured the dispatcher, who had gained the least in this mess, had as much to lose as the others, would talk. He wasn’t all that sure about the woman sitting in that room with a glare on her face that would sidetrack a freight train onto a dirt road.
Andy rubbed his mouth. “Don’t know about the gun, but she demanded to call a lawyer, the sheriff, FBI, and probably the CIA. Has told me some things she plans to do with my balls that I didn’t know were possible. Then she said she was going to get mad and put me in some real pain.” A grin flashed on the agent’s face. “And you’re the boss.”
David tore his stare from the woman to his smirking agent. “As the boss, you know I could send you in there without Melissa.”
“Hey. That’s not funny.”
David, serious again, asked if the room had audio and video set up. When Andy told him it did, he nodded and told him he’d go in by himself since the woman obviously loved Andy.
As David turned away, Andy indicated with one finger that David was number one.
When David opened the door, the yelling started and kept on. He pulled out a chair across from her and crossed his ankles, Ignoring her demands and threats. He took out his spiral notebook and she became quiet for a moment. When she resumed, he removed his pen and listed things he needed to do. While he wrote, she informed him of things she planned he didn’t think possible, either.
“Mother fucker! Are you listening to me?”
David glanced up. “Nope.” He dropped his gaze and continued to write until she became quiet again. He set his notebook aside. “You ready to talk or do you want to continue on your tirade?”
“I want to talk to the person in charge.”
David’s eyes widened. “Why didn’t you say that to start with? Would have saved us all some time.”
Her eyes changed with suspicion. “You’ll let me?”
“Of course. It just so happens I am the person in charge around here.”
“Then I want to file charges on that skinny ass red headed bitch that sucker-punched me.”
“From what I hear, you resisted and she put you down fair and square.”
“That’s a lie. She could never take me unless she surprised me.”
David leaned back in his seat. “For the record, my name is David Mason. I am the supervisor for the Federal Bureau of Investigation Behavioral Science Unit.” He flashed his badge and set it on the table so she could see it. He wished they’d picked another name for the team. That one was hard to get out in one breath.
He reached into his shirt pocket, brought out a Miranda card and read her rights. She sat silent until he asked her if she understood them.
“Damn right I do and I want a lawyer right this minute.”
David rubbed his mouth, and rested his elbow on the table, chin on his fisted thumb. He’d played this game before—most of the time he succeeded. He needed to now. “That’s your right, of course, but I want to tell you first, I don’t make deals with attorneys in the room.”
Her eyes became suspicious again. “What deals?”
He prided himself on his ability to read people in an interrogation room. He’d read her right. The ones who continued to demand a lawyer he never got anywhere with, but the ones who wanted to talk, forgot about the lawyer, he could work with. He needed to make her forget about the lawyer. He rubbed his palms together and laid his case out to her. He was lucky in one regard. She was a dispatcher, not law enforcement and he hoped she wouldn’t recognize the fertilizer in with the facts.
“You can’t prove any of that.”
He shook his head. “Unfortunately for you, I can. You see, I have the sheriff department tapes. As you know, they record all incoming calls and all calls sent out on the radio.”
Her lips twitched and her breath caught. He had her, but he wished he’d gotten the dang tapes. He’d delayed that because he didn’t want to give what he had away. He needed to do it soon before someone erased or lost them.
“What kind of deal can I get?”
He had to pretend he was on her side. He outlined all the charges that would be brought, emphasizing he had enough for a conviction right now. He assured her he didn’t believe she was the one who profited by the illegal acts, but she would be the one who paid for them. Her mouth dropped and she sputtered when he told her how much he thought the four men had made through all this.
“Those sorry bastards. I never got a red cent. Not one. Are you sure they made that much?”
David nodded. “Maybe more.”
When she slumped in her chair, he rose. “I’m getting ready to leave. When I walk out that door,” he pointed in that direction, “I’m either calling in a stenographer to take your statement, or your request for a lawyer. If a lawyer shows up, we have talked for the last time. What’s it going to be?”
With her face buried in her hands, she mumbled, “Stenographer.”
An hour later with David leading the questions, he had a full statement. What the sheriff either didn’t know, or didn’t care about, was that his pissed off dispatcher knew all, including banks and names where they kept money, and where they’d hidden documents. It always amazed him how people who listened could find out things from people who thought they were superior in intelligence.
David strolled out as all his agents, along with the police chief, his investigators, and several others David didn’t know, waited.
His big boyish grin flashed for the first time. He rubbed his hands together. “Time to go to work. I need to talk to the county j
udge and the attorney general.”
CHAPTER 27
David’s call to the officials didn’t take long because he’d spoken to them beforehand. He gathered his agents and the detectives the chief let him have. “Morgan, you and Geer,” David indicated a large blond detective, will execute a search warrant on the chief deputy’s home.” David handed him the federal warrant. “If he is home, arrest him.” David turned to Andy, who stood next to the investigator David teamed him with. “Andy, you have the sheriff’s home. Same goes as with Morgan. John, you’re going to Post’s house, and Melvin, you get Bevins.”
David handed them the warrants. “If they’re home, arrest them and after the search, bring them to the Lufkin police station.”
He paused a moment to catch his breath and figure out how he was going to say what he needed to. “I want the agents in this room to understand something. You’re in charge of this search, that’s a fact. However, each one of you will have an experienced police investigator with you, and several veteran police officers. These people have run hundreds of these warrant searches. You are to listen to them. That is why they’re with you. Are there any questions on that?”
David’s gaze traveled around the room and he got a nod from each agent. “If you make an arrest, they are to be brought back to the station. No one is to attempt to interrogate them, question them, or in any way communicate with them. All you can tell them is they’re under arrest and we will read the charges to them at the station. I want to make sure they’re all separated, and have no contact with anyone, especially each other.”
Again, everyone nodded. “Chief Spears, Melissa and I will hit the sheriff’s department. I suspect most of the ones we need to arrest will be there. This is also where the bulk of the search and seizure of records and evidence will take place. It should take us longer than the rest of you. When you get through, have anything you find tagged and brought to the station. I want everyone to come to the sheriff’s department. Everyone but John. I want John to stay at the police department and take charge of our prisoners. Does everyone understand?”
