Chapter 22
Jason took a deep breath as he got out of his car in front of the office for Quality One Lumber Company. It was a cool autumn day and he wished he were fishing rather than going to work. He walked inside and smiled at the bookkeeper as he went by her desk.
"Good morning, Mr. Robinson," she said.
"Good morning."
As he approached his office his secretary stood up and smiled. "Good morning, Mr. Robinson. Can I get you a cup of coffee?"
"Yes, thank you," he said as he walked by. He went into his office and sat down. After a minute his secretary showed up with a cup of coffee. He smiled and said, "I've got to go to Fort Worth today. If we get any calls for personnel references just take a message. I'll deal with them when I get back."
"I could take care of them for you. I used to do that before you bought the company."
"It's all right, Margie. I prefer to handle it myself. You know, nowadays with so much EEOC litigation you've got to be very careful what you say to people who call for references."
"I guess you're right. How long will you be gone?"
"Most of the day. It's a long drive to Fort Worth."
Margie left the room and Jason opened his briefcase. He began fumbling through the mail he had picked up from the UPS Store and several other private mailbox companies they used. He looked at his watch and then locked the mail back up in his briefcase. As he was about to leave, Margie came on over the intercom.
"Personnel inquiry on line two."
Jason pushed the button and replied, "Thanks." He picked up the phone and said, "Hello."
"Hi, this is Jenny at MidSouth Bank. I need to verify employment?"
"Sure, who is it?"
"Michael Madsen."
"Yes, he works here."
"When did his employment start?"
"Ah. When does it say?"
"August?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right."
Jason pulled out a blank employment form. He wrote down the name Michael Madsen. He put down the address of the UPS Store, 2923 Troup Highway, #101, Tyler, Texas.
"What's his annual salary?"
"$26,000 per year."
"Okay, thanks."
"No problem."
Matt unlocked a drawer and pulled out a brown expanding file. He put the employment form under "M" and then locked the file back in his drawer. Then he got up, picked up his briefcase, and walked out of his office.
It was a beautiful day and Jason enjoyed the drive to Fort Worth. He drove along Highway 121 until he got to the Belknap exit and took it to Tandy Center. He parked in the mall garage and then walked to A-1 Pawn & Loan Co. As he opened the door, a bell rang announcing his arrival. He walked in and gazed at the racks and racks of junk for sale. A young girl was sitting behind the counter chewing gum and reading a romance novel. He went over to her and said, "Is Wally here?"
She looked up and gave Jason a once over. Then she stood up and said, "Wait a minute."
Jason nodded and then turned to take a second look at the merchandise that cluttered the store. After a couple minutes a short fat man in a T-shirt walked in the room.
"You looking for Wally?"
"Yes, I was referred by Eduardo Gomez. He said you might be able to help me out."
"Eduardo, what's he doing these days?"
"Serving time at Texarkana."
"Oh, I wondered why he hadn't been around lately. How’s his momma?”
Jason frowned. “His momma?”
“Yes, anyone who knows Eduardo would know his mother’s name, right?”
“Ah . . . Yes, Rosa, I think.”
Wally smiled. “Yes, quite a woman, Rosa. Come on back to my office."
Wally turned and walked in the back room. Jason followed him cautiously. The back room was more cluttered than the front and had a musty smell. After they entered Wally's room, he closed the door.
"So what do you need?"
"A group of friends and I will need to leave the country and disappear in the next few months. There'll be a lot of people looking for us. We've got to have foolproof identities."
"Up to something big, eh? Well, that shouldn't be a problem, but it will cost you. How many in your group?"
"Four or five, I think."
"We don't give group rates," he chuckled.
Jason shrugged. "How much will it be?"
"Five thousand apiece, fifteen if you want a new look."
"Five thousand is fine. We don't have time for plastic surgery."
"Well, then I'll need you and your friends to come by and give me your vital statistics and get your pictures taken."
"I can give you whatever information you need for all of us and you can take my photo, but my friends aren't available right now so I'll have to provide you with their photos."
"Well I don't recommend that. The quality of the photograph is important. Do you have pictures with the negatives?"
"I don't know. Maybe. I'll see what I can do."
"Well, check and see. Otherwise, just bring me some good quality photos. I guess that will have to do. . . . I'll need half up front and half on delivery."
"How long will it take?" Jason asked.
"Three weeks."
Jason opened his briefcase and counted out the cash required. Wally smiled, took the money and stood up. He pointed to a blank wall and nodded for Jason to stand in front of it. Jason went over to the wall and put his feet on some tape marks on the floor. Wally went to a camera mounted on a tripod and looked in the viewfinder. He pushed a button and the flash went off. He waited a few seconds and took another shot. When he was finished taking pictures, he wrote down the rest of the information he needed for the new passports and IDs.
"Okay. Just get me your friends' pictures and I'll take care of your order. Check back in about three weeks. "
When Jason got back to the office there was a message from Bill. He was back and wanted to meet. Jason called him and suggested they meet at a bar just outside of Tyler around seven.
At seven Bill arrived at the Red Rose Cantina. He went inside and looked for Jason but didn't see him so he took a seat at the bar. Finally, at seven-fifteen, Bill arrived and joined Jason at the bar.
"How was your trip?" Jason asked.
"Wonderful." Bill replied.
"Then you found what you were looking for?"
"Yeah, and I fell in love."
"Oh God. Who is she?"
"A cop. Can you believe it?"
"Another cop? Wasn't your last love a cop?"
"Yeah, so what?"
"Well, you should have learned."
"She's different, and besides, I'm in the security business now, so we shouldn't have the conflicts my ex and I had."
"I hope you're right. . . . So, how’s our witness?"
Bill told him the details of his meeting with Roxanne and what he had learned about Frank Hill.
"Perfect. Being Frank Hill’s personal secretary for a lot of years, she can authenticate the Day-Timer and implicate Mr. Hill in Martha’s murder."
"Exactly. So what’s our next move?"
"I’m not sure. I’ve got to talk to Matt and Rich and see where they want to go from here."
“Do you have enough to go back to the senator?”
“Maybe. . . . How is Matt?”
"He's doing good. He's leading a Bible study group."
Bill laughed. "You've got to be kidding?"
"No, I'm serious. He's going to make everybody in the jail a devout Christian."
Bill shook his head. "Boy, is he full of surprises."
"Yeah, I don't know exactly what he's up to but I can bet Frank Hill won't like it."
"What do you know?"
"I can't tell you exactly, but the heat's going to come down on him hard and fast. A lot of people will be after him and anyone he's been associated with."
Bill grimaced. "How much time does he have left?"
"About nine months, so we are running out of time. Matt is
hell-bent on getting revenge and the only way he’ll back off is if you can nail Frank Hill and MidSouth Bank before he’s let out of prison.”
Bill shook his head and said, "Okay, I understand."
"Good. Call me if you have any news."
After a few more drinks and friendly banter, Jason left and went back to his office. He looked at all the unprocessed mail and wondered what to do about it. He needed help, but who could he trust? Suddenly he had an idea. He picked up the phone and dialed information. The operator gave him the number of Cheryl Mason. Lori's sister certainly could be trusted and would love to nail her sister's murderers. He dialed her number.
"Oh, hi, Jason. I haven't talked to you in a while. What have you been up to?"
"Matt and I are figuring out how to get a little revenge on the men who killed Lynn and Lori."
"Good. How's it going?"
"Well, it's complicated and dangerous but if you're interested I could meet you tonight and explain it to you."
"I'm definitely interested in nailing that son of a bitch. Where do you want to meet?"
"I'm in Tyler. I'll meet you halfway. There's a Catfish King restaurant outside of Terrell. I'll meet you there at 8:30, okay?"
"I'll be there."
Matt had told Jason not to get anybody else involved, but there was just too much work for him to do. He figured Matt would be mad but he'd get over it when he found out it was Lori's sister who was going to help. At their meeting, Jason explained what was going on, and Cheryl insisted she be allowed to help. The following morning Cheryl reported for work.
"Every morning you need to go to the mail boxes and pull out all the mail for the personnel office. Take it to the house. When you're done processing it, come to the office. In the afternoon you can process personnel files."
"What mail will be coming in?"
"Advertisements, solicitations, and credit card applications. Lots of credit card applications."
“What do I do with them?"
“You apply for every card you can."
“Who are these people?"
“Most of them are inmates at Texarkana, but there will also be some other people in the Washington, D.C. area. I can't tell you any more for your own protection. You'll also have to take any phone calls that come in from the banks and credit card companies."
"How long will I be doing this?"
"In about nine months we'll be ready to move."
"What happens then?"
"Hopefully you’ll be able to watch Frank Hill’s demise.”
“Will I be in any danger?”
“Nobody knows you are involved, so I doubt you’d have anything to worry about. But if they did find out they might come after you and then you’d have to disappear. I’ll make sure you get a nice severance package in case that happens.”
"All right. Whatever it takes to get those bastards."
Plastic Gods, A Rich Coleman Novel Vol 2 Page 38
