[Morning at the Police Department Office]
“Hiya Team,” I said as I walked into the County Police Station that Monday morning.
My name is Matt Beecher and for my sins, I’m the Sheriff of Custer County.
“I trust that you all didn’t get took drunk at the Custer County Fair at the weekend?”
There were collective mumbles from the five officers who’d arrived for duty just in front of me.
“Good. Well this is another week and that means we have another week of traffic tickets to give our citizens. We gotta keep our roads safe.”
Then I smelt the air.
I turned to one of the officers.
“Walt! How many times have I told you to get rid of the sheepskin jacket? It still reeks of afterbirth no matter how many times you get it cleaned. And just because your first name is Walt, your last name is never gonna be Longmire. You don’t have the
brains to become sheriff and we sure ain’t in Wyoming, now are we?”
Walt went red in the face.
“But Matt?”
“Don’t Matt me. Just because you are my brother does not mean you can call me by my first name during working hours. It is Sheriff. Understand?”
Walt didn’t answer.
“Now go and get rid of that coat once and for all. If you don’t I’ll arrest you on charges of being a public nuisance brother of mine or not, I can’t have you offending members of the Public and people who will be looking to re-elect me this time next year. Got it?”
The Sheriff had made that statement in such a tone that left the others in no doubt that he meant it.
The offending coat had been used to wrap up a newly born baby her a few weeks earlier. A minor traffic accident had caused the mother to go into labour and give birth before the ambulance could arrive. The mother had named her son Walt after the police officer but the coat still ranked to high heaven despite at least three attempts at cleaning it.
To make matters worse, Walt had given the new mother a traffic ticket for leaving her car in a place that might cause an obstruction. I’d ripped the ticket up and had to apologise for my over-zealous brother.
The memory of that event made me say something else to the team.
“Despite it being a Monday, Mrs Schultz will be coming into town today to get her hair done. It is her friend Maudy’s Eightieth on Wednesday and the girls are going out to Lunch. We all know that Mrs Schultz shouldn’t be driving but coming into town is the one time she gets out of her home in the week. Her son Ron is taking the ladies out on Wednesday so we don’t have to worry about their erratic driving. Ron is also going to use this opportunity to get his mother to give up driving and move into ‘The Gables’ where Maudy already lives. So, our collective blind eyes will only have to be blind for one more week. Unless… Well you know the rules. As long as she does not hit anyone or anything she can drive.”
There were some mutterings from the group of Officers but no one said anything outright.
I turned to look at my brother again.
“Walt, since you are not going to give up that thing you are wearing easily, you can do phone duty this week and every week until you get rid of it.”
Then Matt turned to the one woman present.
“Sue-Ellen, I’d like you to be out with Tom on Highway 1. Billy-Joe and Stan, I’d like you to spend the day at the stockyards.”
Billy-Joe and Stan let out a collective groan. That duty not well liked.
“I have it in good authority that the Circle ‘K’ is sending a lot of steers to market this week. We have to make sure that they aren’t packing too many steers into each truck. Even one over the new limit and you can give them a $1000 fine as mandated by the State Congress Critters for each beast over the limit. I know that the Circle ‘K’ won’t appreciate getting any fines but I made it clear to Old Man Sanders at the county show that we are simply doing as we are told and following the law. He promised to make sure that they complied but it is our duty to make sure that they are not breaking the law.”
“What are you going to be doing Sheriff?” asked my brother slightly sarcastically.
“I shall be doing some home security talks to a number of old folk. Unless you want to do it once you get rid of that coat? Then you can do it instead of me?”
He muttered something under his breath but nothing out loud.
As my team dispersed and got on with their assigned tasks, I thought back to my time before coming home and standing for election as Sheriff. Being an MP in the US Army was a far simpler existence. I followed orders and gave them to my team. Now I had the responsibility of coming up with the orders in the first place. Being the boss was not always easy but thankfully our county was very law abiding. I looked at the two cell doors that were closed and had been for the past nine months. It would give me a sense of pride if we could go for a whole year without arresting anyone. Our motto was ‘Be Prepared’. Yes, that was taken by the scouts but by heading off problems before they could escalate out of hand was far better than arresting people for the slightest offense. That was the way my brother wanted to work. Arrest someone and ask questions later. He often chastised me for not arresting people.
As I drove out of town to my first lecture, I wondered if I would have the nerve to fire Walt if he didn’t toe my very exacting line. I knew that the others had had more than enough of him so come the day I would ask him for his badge I wouldn’t get and resistance from them.
It had been another quiet but good week. We’d made our quota of money from traffic violations. These were mostly from out of state truckers using our county back-roads to avoid going through the State Weigh Station when they left our fair state and entered Colorado. The previous year, I’d managed to stretch our equipment budget far enough so that we could buy a set of portable scales. They were paying for themselves many times over now. Thankfully for us, 50% of the income from the tickets was fed back into our budget. It gave me a lot of pleasure to report that we were self-funding and had been for the last two years. That certainly pleased the mostly GOP voting residents of the county apart, from those who had to pay for our services through fines.
The downside of the week was that if anything, my brother was acting more and more like his small screen hero, Walt Longmire. The smelly coat was still hanging in the office.
Seeing him with his feet up on the desk reading a magazine about NASCAR was the last straw.
“Walt? Don’t you have some filing to do?” I remarked and pointed at the pile of files just to the left of his big left foot.
“Those? Sue-Ellen can deal with them next week.”
“No. You are going to do it now. We are an equal opportunity department. When I say do some filing you are to do it. Understand!”
He looked at me with those huge baby blue eyes. Then he looked at the clock. It said a little before 5pm.
“It is time to knock off. Fancy a beer at Harry’s Place?”
I stopped in mid stride and glared at my brother.
“Walt!”
He didn’t move. The smile or was it a smirk remained plastered all over his face.
“Walt, you do that filing or you are out of here and out of a job.”
“You can’t fire me. I’m family. Besides, Ma will tan your behind.”
“That’s where you are wrong little brother. Ma’s had enough of your backchat and general idleness. When was the last time you mucked out the horses? One of them is yours by the way. If I fire you, you are out of the house as well. I spoke with Ma last night about it. So, what is it to be?”
He just looked at me obviously hoping that I’d back down. I was not going to give him the pleasure.
“That’s it then. You are fired. Give me your badge and gun. I’ll take you home so that you can pack a few things then my idiot brother, you are on your own.”
He still didn’t move a muscle.
“I’m serious or do I have to arrest you first?”
Slowly, he took his gun out of its holster and after unloading it handed it to me handle first. Then he gave me his badge before standing up. Then he said,
“I take it that it is a no, for a beer then?”
It took all my willpower not to sock him right on the chin there and then.
“Get out of here. You are not welcome here any longer.”
He left me alone to lockup purposely leaving that smelly coat behind as a present for me to dispose of.
It didn’t take me long to find a solution to the smell. I located an old body bag in the supplies closet and after putting the coat into it and sealing it tight, I left to go home where the first thing I was planning on doing was burning the bag and its contents.
My mother was not exactly overjoyed to have ‘that coat’ back at home again, but she calmed down when I explained that I was going to cremate it and scatter the ashes into the wind.
My dear brother Walt hadn’t waited for me to take him home so by the time I arrived, he was long gone. Ma had been resolute in her decision to evict him if (and when) he lost his job in the Police Department. No amount of pleading on his part would change her mind. She said to me that her parting words for him were, “If you are so keen to be a County Sheriff in Wyoming then why don’t you head on over there and see how you get on?”
I let out a little chuckle when she told me about her encounter with my brother. I gave her a hug and said,
“Don’t worry Ma, Walt is a grown man and it is about time he had to stand on his own two feet. Leaving home and enlisting in the Service made me grow up pretty fast.”
Ma replied,
“It is not his feet that I am worried about. Why any woman in her right mind would let him into her life is beyond me.”
She was right. Walt was a Ladies man. He went through women like they were going out of fashion.
“Don’t worry Ma, some gullible soul will take pity on him.”
“That’s exactly why I am worried.”
We both chuckled.
My team of officers was assembled in the office for my weekly briefing.
“As you all know, Walt no longer works for the department. Until I can hire a replacement each of us will have to pull a double shift, every three days. I expect that the overtime will come in useful but I am expecting all of us to pull together.”
I looked at Sue-Ellen.
“Sue-Ellen, I know you may have childcare problems but Ma is willing to help out if she can and at no cost to you I might add.”
Her sad face suddenly gained a smile.
“Thanks boss. I’ll see your Ma later to sort out a few things.”
“Great.”
There was a silence so I carried on.
“I will be advertising for Walt’s replacement. I’d like Sue-Ellen to help with the interviews if that is ok with the rest of you?”
No one disagreed so I carried on once more.
“Ok. You all have your assignments for today. I’ll be here trying to put together an advert for the job.”
A few minutes later the office was quiet again.
“Hello. County Police Department, Sheriff Matt Beecher speaking. How may I help?”
“Oh, hello Mac. What are you stuffing today?”
“Oh! I see. Where are you exactly?”
“The pond on the Bar K ranch near the junction of Cedar Creek Road and County Road 34? Does old man Cummings know you are on his land? You know how sensitive he is to even pre-arranged visitors.”
“Ok. Got that. So, what’s the problem?"
As the man on the other end of the phone told him what he was looking at, I sat down at my desk with a look that said that all the world’s troubles had suddenly landed on my broad shoulders.
“Are you sure it is a body? Not a bit off a fallen tree?”
“I understand. Don’t go near it and don’t disturb any tracks around the pond. We’ll be there as soon as we can. I’ll need to track down Doc Adams first.”
“Is he? Thanks for the tip off.”
The two officers that were currently in the office were looking at me for some guidance. The word ‘body’ had certainly pricked up their senses.
“Sue-Ellen, can you get onto the Receptionist at the County Hospital and tell them that we need Doc Adams pronto in his capacity as Police Surgeon. We need him at a possible crime scene on the Bar-K ranch.”
When you get in touch with him, contact the duty ME and give him a heads up. Also, the lab and get them primed for evidence processing.”
“Are you assuming that it is a murder then?” asked Tom.
“Better to get the troops on call now than trying to explain why we need them later.”
I got into my Patrol SUV with a heavy heart. If Mac said that it was a body then I was inclined to believe him. The location was not one that you would choose if you were going to top yourself. He hadn’t mentioned a vehicle in the vicinity so the odds were stacking up that this was a murder.
As I headed out to the scene, I tried to remember the last time there had been a murder in the county. If my memory served me right, it would have been around 1946 when a GI came home from his time as a POW in WW2 and found his wife shacked up with a draft dodger. The GI had walked free because 12 good men decided that the dodger deserved what he’d got. Then a month later the ex-GI was found hanged from a tree with suicide note but no means to have gotten himself strung up in the first place. No one was ever arrested let alone convicted for that crime.
I arrived at the crime scene to find Mac a.k.a. Bruce Mackay, the local Taxidermist rooted to the spot. He’d taken my advice literally, which was no bad thing.
“Hi Mac,” I said as I got out of the Patrol Car and walked towards him.
“Hi Sheriff.
“Why don’t we take it from the top so that there can be no confusion later.”
He nodded.
“First off, what are you doing on this property? We all know that old man Cummings is a stickler for prosecuting trespassers.”
“It’s ok Sheriff, I did a bit of work for him a few years ago. You know how much of a skinflint he is so we came to an arrangement. He lets me come onto his land from time to time if there are any specific items I might need for a current project. If there is then we come to some agreement over payment.”
I knew what Mac meant.
“So, what drew you to this particular bit of his forty odd square miles?”
“Them!” he replied pointing at an assortment of Crows and Buzzards that were in the vicinity. “Them’s a sure-fire sign that something has or is about to die.”
I could not find fault with his logic.
“I came over here and saw something floating in the water. I took a closer look and then called you. I haven’t moved since.”
“Where’s your truck?”
He pointed at a couple of decrepit buildings about 400yds away.
“Have you have driven close to the pond?”
“No Sir.”
“Good. Stay right where you are, I’m going to circle the Pond and look for evidence.”
Mac smiled.
“I can save you the trouble Sheriff, there are drag marks on the other side and some tracks leading off to the North. I believe there is a gate there that leads onto Dry Gulch Lane. You can see them from here.”
“I can at that but I do need to look over the whole area just to be sure. I really don’t want to miss anything critical to the case at this stage. The ‘early-bird and all that’.
I walked slowly around the pond. At the moment I estimated that it covered almost 4 acres but could get a lot bigger. I passed the spot where it was evident that something had been dragged into the pond. There were two sets of tire tracks. One coming from the gate that I’d used to enter the property and the other leading away to the north. I took that to be the exit route due to the copious amounts of wheel-spin debris in the mud that were easy to see.
I’d just moved on when I heard a truck heading our way. Any hopes that it was Doc Adams were immediately dashed when I saw the monster F-350 that was heading right for me. The only person in the county with one of these was the landowner, Mr {high and mighty} Joseph Cummings. Joe was of the opinion his land was his and only his to enjoy. Since he’d bought the spread he only allowed a few ranch hands onto the property. Everyone else was soon dispatched once they’d seen the business end of a shotgun.
I was between the oncoming truck and the drag marks. The last thing I wanted was his truck to obliterate them before we could examine them. I stood my ground. The truck came to a halt about 6 feet away from me.
The cab door opened and Joseph (no one ever called him Joe to his face) emerged.
“What are you doing trespassing on my land?”
“This is a crime scene Mr Cummings.”
“No, it’s not. This is my land and I say who comes and goes. You need to leave now before I call my lawyer.”
“Go on call your Lawyer. When you do so, please remind him of County By-law 2012-18-56. This gives an officer of the law the right to declare a crime scene anywhere they like. Until that scene is released by the said officer then the property owner or other party has no rights of access to the crime scene.”
Joe looked as if he was about to explode. He went back into the cab of the truck and I could see him on the phone. It was clearly not a hands-free one. I made a mental note to keep tabs on him when driving around the area. The State had recently outlawed the use of non-hands-free cell-phones. The fine starts at $2500. I would love to stick one of those fines onto him but sadly as he was on his own land I couldn’t.
After some obviously heated discussion he slammed the phone down and reversed the monster truck around and headed off back the way he’d come narrowly missing a pickup containing the Doc and Sue-Ellen who were coming the other way. Tom wasn’t far behind them.
We quickly set about processing the crime scene. Tom led the way because he had been on a crime scene-processing course in Denver the previous spring. This would be good practice for him.
I taped off the area where the body had been extracted from the pickup and let Tom get to work.
The doc donned some waders and went and rescued the body from the pond. When it was ashore, he went through a preliminary examination. He didn’t need to ask if we knew who it was. It was Sandy Thompson. She’d appeared in town in early spring and got a job at Harry’s Store. She also worked four evenings a week in his bar which was adjacent to the store. Harry had let her live in a trailer out on Black Hills Road. Knowing the victim made it all the sadder.
“What’s the cause of death doc?” I asked once the preliminary examination was over.
“I think it was asphyxiation. There seems to be something in her mouth.”
“Well?”
“You want me to take it out now?”
“Anything that could give us a clue to the perp is vital.”
“Fair enough.”
He proceeded to force open her mouth. She was in Full Rigour so that gave us a window for the Time of Death.
Then I heard Doc Adams swear an oath. I’d never heard a bad word leave his lips so this piqued my interest.
“What is it Doc?”
“Look for yourself.”
It didn’t take a genius to see what had choked her. It was a man’s penis.
“The testicles are lodged in her throat.”
I resisted the temptation to throw up and asked.
“Who’s are they? If anyone from around here had presented themselves at an Emergency room missing their balls we would have known about it by now. Or are we looking for another body somewhere?”
The Doc looked up her skirt. A blood stain in the crotch area was clearly noticeable.
“Hers.”
It took a second or so for what he’d just said to register.
“So… she was a he?”
“It seems that way.
“Being in the water has shrunk her skin and I can see the tell tale signs of quite a bit of plastic surgery on her face and neck. I’ll know more when we do the full PM.”
Then I made a decision.
“Listen up people, I want all of you to keep the fact that Sandy was not who she seemed to be quiet. The less people who know about her sexuality the better for the time being. Lets’ investigate this as if she was really a woman. That’s the least she deserves. Any questions?”
None of those present disagreed with my order. They were too stunned by what was unravelling before our very eyes. Either in the Store or at the Bar, she had all at one time or another served us. None of us had even an inkling of her past.
She’d seemed a jolly young woman and had been adamant that she was not interested in dating any of the men. She’d also denied that she was batting for the other side. I respected her stand. Far too young women in my opinion got themselves knocked up far too early in their life. Plus, far too many of the men that did the knocking up refused to take responsibility for what they’d done. I’d seen enough of that in the Army to last a lifetime.
The Doc brought my wandering mind back to reality.
“Sheriff, can you give me a hand to get her into the body bag? Sue-Ellen still looks a bit green around the gills and Tom hasn’t finished taking impressions yet.
“Sure thing.”
We loaded her body into my Sheriff’s SUV. I was going to take her body to the next county where they had the facilities to do the PM. The Doc was going to go with me. Before we left, I gave my instructions to Sue-Ellen and Tom.
“When you finish up here, please leave the crime scene tape in place and take a good number of pictures of the overall scene.
We don’t want to miss anything. If I know a certain landowner, he’ll have 500 head grazing here before morning just to make a point.”
“Sue-Ellen, I'd like you to go and get a statement from Harry and also get access to her trailer. Her car is nowhere to be seen so I presume it is somewhere around town. We need to locate it. Get her fingerprints from her trailer and get them off to the FBI. She may have been reported as a missing person in her former life. This is a hate crime. As such they will be more than willing to help out just in case it is some white supremacists were involved.”
“Tom can you, setup a Murder Room? Please use my office. Keep the door shut all the time. As I said, the less people who know the truth about this the better.”
I looked at my watch. It was now quite dark.
“Get as much as you can do done today and then get off home and try to get some sleep. We start our murder hunt tomorrow morning. Briefing at 8am sharp. You too Doc.”
“It will be nice to have a break from dressing Maudy’s Ulcers.”
Maudy’s very vocal complaints about her legs were well known in town.
“Tom, you take the lead. Start with the crime scene.”
No sooner had the words ‘crime scene’ leave my lips when we were interrupted by ‘T Dan Davis’, our local ambulance chaser of a lawyer.
“Sheriff. I need to talk to you on a matter of utmost importance,” he announced as he barged straight into my office.
I didn’t answer but led him forcibly outside.
“There is no need to be such a bully,” cried the lawyer.
“Yes, there is when you burst into an office where key details of a murder case are on show. For all I know, you could be the murderer.”
He knew that he’d done wrong but still carried on with the reason he’d come into the office in the first place.
“I want to make sure that you fully understand that if you or any of your officers go onto my clients property without permission from the landowner or a court order then he won’t be responsible for his actions.”
“Ah. I was wondering about that. Did you advise your client that a crime scene is more important legally than any act of trespass.”
“I did but my client said that there was no crime scene left now so the matter is moot.”
“Moot? Who the hell does he think he is? I will be visiting the crime scene later to gather evidence of his wilful obstruction of justice. That is a matter for the States Attorney as you are no doubt aware. State Police will accompany me. If your client has a beef with them he keeps telling us that he knows the Governor so he can take it up personally. If by some chance your client points a firearm at me or any of the State Police Officers then, I won’t be responsible for their actions. Please go and make sure that your client understands that 100%. Now? Anything else?”
The ego freak that was Tracey Dan Davis slunk out of the office leaving us alone. To make sure, I locked the door to prevent more interruptions and went back to the briefing.
Tracey and I had been at school together. He was the class 'creep' who would lie and scheme his way to the top. He'd left town to go off to college and it had been a big surprise to many in town when he'd returned from Wall St and hung his shingle in our very out of the way county. I still hadn't forgiven him for going to the Prom with Louise Young even though we'd been dating for almost 6 months. He was still a slime-ball no matter what good he did around town.
Tom was just finishing up as I returned.
“Thanks Tom. Comments people?” I asked.
Sue-Ellen was first.
“Who do we know who pesters women in pairs and drives a pickup and lives in the direction the truck took off in?”
I smiled. We all knew the prime suspects, Jeb and Seth Clancy. Sadly, they lived just over the state line in Colorado. They were not the brightest people to inhabit this plant.
“Can we put them in Harry’s place last night? Also have we found the missing car yet?”
“I’ll get Harry’s statement first thing,” said Tom, “he knows I’m coming over but does not know why at the moment.”
“Good. Lets’ find that car pronto. There might be more evidence on it.”
The meeting broke up and I sat down at my desk making a mental list of things to do.
I’d hardly started on the first when my phone rang.
“Sheriff Matt Beecher speaking.”
“Oh. Yes. We are investigating a sex crime that is also a murder. Do you have an update of the search we put out last night?”
“You do? That’s good. Can you send it to me?”
“Thanks. We owe you guys one for getting results for us so quickly.”
I hung up and tried to remember where I was before the phone call came in.
I couldn’t remember so I went in search of Sue-Ellen to give her the good news.
“We know where our victim grew up and her real name,” I announced.
“Was that the Feds on the phone?”
“Yes, it was.”
“I thought a much. I could smell their obnoxious odour from here.”
I knew that her family had had more than one run in with the FBI in the past. A past that went back to the days of J. Edgar and Prohibition.
Then she looked at me expectantly.
“Her or rather his birth name was Troy Spencer and comes from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Feds are sending me his full details. Apparently, he was reported missing two days after his 18th birthday some 6 years ago. Troy was arrested for some minor vandalism when he was sixteen. Apparently, someone had called him out as being gay at school so he painted their car Pink in retaliation.
That brought a smile to all of us.
“Did you find any documentation at her trailer?”
“Yes. She changed her name in Vegas two years ago. I also found close to twenty grand in a locked box in the Oven. Two guesses what that was for? There were also doctor’s records from LA and Vegas where some of her surgery was done.”
It didn’t take a genius to guess that the money was for her final bit of surgery. The one that will make her dream of becoming a woman come true.
“Rather sad really. She was such a nice person,” remarked Sue-Ellen.
“It is easy to guess what happened. Two drunken men who couldn’t take ‘No’ for an answer suddenly found out why she said No all the time. They couldn’t accept this slight to their manhood so they took action,” she added without prompting.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna become a lawyer? That was a very good opening for a trial!”
She smiled briefly.
“Who is going to tell the family?”
“The South Carolina State Police have agreed to do it for us. They may not want her body back given what she’s had done since she left home.”
“Did the PM estimate how much she’d spent on all that work? My guess is around ten ‘G’s.”
“His estimate is rather more than that. Her breast and other implants have serial numbers so they will be traced so we should have something in a day or so but the general consensus last night was that it was good work and good plastic work does not come cheap.”
“But how did she end up here? In this off the beaten track neck the woods?”
“That is a mystery and one we may well solve in time. Meanwhile we have some obvious suspects there might be another reason for her murder and specifically how brutal it was.”
Tom came back to me just after lunchtime with more news.
“The tire tracks didn’t make sense to me. There was just too much distance between the tires to be a normal six-wheeled pick up.”
“I don’t follow.”
“I could not understand it so I’ve been out to the Circle K. Their foreman, Jess Butler drives a six-wheeled pickup. Here are the pictures of his tire tracks.”
I chuckled.
“He has a bit of a short temper. How did you get him to co-operate.”
Tom didn’t reply right away.
“I showed him the pictures of the tire tracks from the crime scene. I said that I knew they weren’t from his truck but wanted to use him to compare tracks.”
“And?”
“He wasn’t happy but agreed to let me take the pictures as long as I destroyed them after the case was over.”
I didn’t answer that. They were evidence and would remain as part of the case file no matter what have been promised.
Tom put the latest set of pictures up on the wall so that I could see the difference.
The difference was obvious. There was a larger spacing between the pair of tires on the crime scenes pictures than on the new pictures.
“What does that tell us?” I asked.
“I called my contact at the Colorado Police Crime Lab. They think it is an after-market conversion of a four to a six-wheeled truck. The bodywork could get in the way unless the spacers are used to offset the outer tires so they are totally outside the existing wheel arches.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to modify the bodywork?”
“Yes, it could but if the truck is leased then that might not be allowed.”
“Ah. I get it.”
I looked at Tom.
“What?”
“Have you inquired about our suspects truck?”
“That is my next job. I really don’t want to tip them off.”
“Why don’t you change out of your uniform and take a ride on that new Harley of yours over the state line and see if you can find the truck? Sort of incognito like. Just look and don’t touch."
Tom smiled.
“Are you really ok with that boss? We know how you like to do things properly.”
“Anything goes when it comes to finding the killer. Well anything legal that is. If you happen to take some pictures of the suspects truck then… well it would be nice but as I said, look, if safe take some pictures otherwise do nothing but look. Understood?”
Tom’s grin told me that I’d said the right thing.
With Tom out of the way and the station quiet, I closed up and went over to Harry’s diner for some Coffee.
“Good Morning Sheriff. The usual?” said Harry as I walked through the door.
“Yes, please Harry.”
I sat down at a booth instead of at the counter as I normally did.
Hank brought me my Coffee and sat down opposite me.
“Sheriff, I would like to pay for the Funeral. She was a good worker. Always polite and with a smile on her face.”
“Hank, there is something you should know,” I said quietly.
“Oh that. She told me the day after she started working for me.”
“Really?”
He nodded his head.
“I checked her Social Security Number to prove that she was over 21. It didn’t check out properly so I asked her. She told me what she was … and how she was saving to take the final step. She was nice. Everyone liked her. Such a shame and not good for business.”
I understood.
Hank saw my hesitation.
“Sheriff, I had hoped that she would stay on here after her operation.”
I looked at him in the eye.
“You liked her, didn’t you?”
He nodded.
“Ever since my ancestors came to this country from China to work on the Railroad we have been cooking for other people. My great, great grandfather settled her more than a century ago cooked for the Saloon. Prohibition came and the Saloon became a Café and my Grandfather took it over. Over the years we have seen people come and go. Our business slowly expanded and passed from father to son or daughter.”
Then he paused.
“Until now. My son Joe decided that he wanted to earn the big bucks as a fancy lawyer in Salt Lake. My daughter Suzi is going to be a fine surgeon but won’t be back from Chicago anytime soon. I saw a possible successor in… in Sandy. I know that she liked working here. Well she did until the other night.”
I could see the sadness in his face.
“Henry Chang, you are a good man. The whole town knows that.”
“It shouldn’t have happened. I left her to close up when I should have done it myself. Those two….”
“Hank, don’t go blaming yourself. We don’t know who did it.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Really? I have a good idea.
“We have two suspects but we need proof.”
Hank nodded.
“I’m still gonna pay for her Funeral.”
“Her family is back east.”
He looked me earnestly.
“Do you think that they will want her back? Will they want to bury her as a him? I’d like to think that she’d want to stay here where she was clearly happy.”
I couldn’t agree more.
“Well Tracey? What is it? Is it more complaints from a certain client?”
His face said that her was here on serious business.
“No. It is about the last Will and Testament of your Murder Victim.”
This was a bolt out of the blue.
“She left a Will?”
He nodded.
“She had me draw it up a month or so back.”
“Just in case something happened to her.”
“I…”
I stopped before I possibly said the wrong thing.
“Did she leave any instructions for her Funeral? Her family is back East.”
“Yes. She was most insistent that she would not be sent back to her family. She had some problems with them a few years ago. I don’t know what they were, she wouldn’t say.”
I breathed a sigh of relief.
“When are you going to read the Will?”
“When I can get everyone together. Probably after her funeral. Do you have any idea when her body will be released?”
“The ME says, the day after tomorrow.”
“Good. I’ll instruct Slater and Mansell to collect her body when it is released.”
He was either a good liar, well aren’t lawyers trained to do that or he genuinely didn’t know about Sandy’s past. I wasn’t going to ask him.
Once he’d gone I sat quietly with my eyes closed thinking about Sandy. In all my encounters with her she’d been friendly and polite even cracking a few jokes with the customers in Harry’s bar.
This is when I felt the loss. The feelings I was experiencing were nothing like I’d ever had before. I tried to recall how I’d felt when one of my MP’s had been killed. This was far more intense that anything I’d ever felt before. Someone who was trying hard to be themselves and to make a life for themselves had been cruelly struck down before… before she could reach that goal.
Ma noticed that I wasn’t really with it within a couple of minutes of me arriving home that evening.
“She meant something to you, didn’t she?”
“I’m not sure. Sandy was trying to build a new life. Her death is just a horrible waste.”
Ma smiled back at me.
“Did you fancy her then?”
I shook my head.
“No. She was just a nice pleasant woman.”
Ma’s look told me ‘yeah right, pull the other one’.
“No Ma. I didn’t even think about asking her out on a date. She was just a nice person and she shouldn’t have been murdered. That’s it. Can't I be sad at the loss of someone who was building herself a life in our community?”
“It gets better,” he said calmly.
“An hour after I’d driven past their place I was having some coffee at the truck stop on the Interstate when who should drive up in the very same truck but the Clancy brothers.”
Tom pinned up some more pictures.
“Their truck shows some damage on the right front. The damage is consistent with hitting the gate as they exited Joe Cummings property. These were all taken from the public highway. As you can see, everything is in plain sight.”
Another picture showed the damaged field gate.
Everyone’s eyes were on me.
“What? It is still all circumstantial. I can’t go to the States Attorney with that. She’ll laugh in my face in an instant.”
I looked at my officers. One by one they nodded their head.
“We need that truck,” said Sue-Ellen.
There was no disagreement with that.
“I think I can help here,” said Tom.
We all turned to look at him.
“One of the brothers is sweet on one of the staff at the Truck Stop. I heard one of them say ‘see you tomorrow’ as they left the Coffee Shop.”
Tom and Sue-Ellen were in a borrowed pickup at the back of the Truck Stop. They were pretending to fix a problem with the engine.
Half an hour later the Clancy’s drove up in their truck. I afforded myself a little smile.
The brothers parked up and disappeared into the Truck Stop.
Tom calmly walked over to their truck and leaned over the tailgate. He had a spray of luminol in his hand. Thirty seconds later, he gave a thumbs up. He’d obviously found human blood in the back of the truck.
I walked into the Truck Stop slightly nervously. Tom and Sue-Ellen were covering the exits in case the suspects decided to flee.
I approached the two brothers. They were sitting in a booth with a woman.
“Good afternoon. I am arresting you both on suspicion of the murder of Sandy Thompson. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you might say can and may be used against you in a court of law; You have the right to have an attorney present before and during the questioning, You, have the right, if you cannot afford the services of an attorney, to have one appointed, at public expense.”
They just sat there with their mouths open.
The girl was first to speak.
“What do you mean? Murder?”
I smiled at her.
“Sandy was the server at Harry’s Bar. She was found brutally murdered a couple of days ago. We have found evidence of human blood in the back of your truck that is parked in plain sight outside this very establishment.”
She looked at Seth.
“Seth? Tell me that he’s wrong?”
Both Jeb and Seth said nothing so I pulled out two pairs of handcuffs and formally put them on the brothers. At least they had enough working brain-cells to realise that they should not resist the arrest.
Tom had joined me at the table. We each escorted a brother out of the building.
The Rev’d Harris conducted the funeral. We, as in the Police Department turned up en-masse as did a good proportion of the customers of Harry’s Bar and a many of the customers to his store. This made this sad occasion a bit more bearable however the promise of a free Beer after the service was probably the reason but nevertheless, it was pretty impressive.
Harry gave the eulogy. He came over as an adoptive father which brought a little tear to my eye.
[the next day]
“This is the last will and testament of Sandy Thompson,” said T. Dan.
A small group of us were gathered in his office.
He cleared his throat.
“The people of this town have made me very welcome. For that I am eternally greatful. If you are reading this then obviously, I’m no longer here. Whatever I have should be sold and given in equal measures to the Omaha Women’s Shelter and the Local Wildlife Refuge. I spent a lot of time there enjoying its peace and solitude on my days off. Nothing of my estate is to go to my family. They wanted to have nothing to do with me after I’d came out to them.”
T. Dan looked up and closed the file.
“She was very specific in her wishes and that all of you were to be here. She didn’t have much but I will gladly handle the selling off of whatever she has ‘pro-bono’”.
I smiled back at him.
“I’m glad you have said that Tracey. We found out the other day from her brother that she has a Life Insurance Policy worth a cool half million that is going to pay out. I’ll give you the details of the policy later today. I think both beneficiaries will be happy to receive such a nice donation. It appears that her parents carried on with the payment despite what had gone on between them.”
Tracey smiled. This was about the first time I’d ever seen him smile.
“Nothing is as simple as it at first appears.”
The brothers had been given a life sentence with a minimum of twenty-five years for their crimes.
Neither of them had taken the stand so no one was any the wiser as to the real reason why they had killed her. It didn’t matter to us. We all knew the reason.
I felt that was just but no amount of jail time would bring back Sandy and her infectious laugh. Such a waste of a life.
[The end]
[Authors note]
It is pretty obvious that a few elements in this story were inspired by the TV show ‘Longmire’. But the plots for this and some other stories are all my own work and most of them popped into my mind during a drive from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Lakeview, Oregon over two long days much of it spent driving along I-80 in torrential rain around 16-17 May 2015.
I’d already decided that the vast open spaces the western part of the USA was a suitable place for a story.
Setting the story in the Police Department is most certainly cribbed from the show but it is not set in Wyoming (Although Longmire was filmed in New Mexico…). Its exact location is possibly somewhere in Western Nebraska. Many thanks to the writer of Longmire for providing me (via the TV show) an insight into how a rural Police operation runs. That also allowed all those ideas come together in my mind and get it down on paper.
I have two further episodes completed and another in progress. If any readers have ideas for other stories please let me know.
Once the murderers of Sandy Thompson had been dealt with by the courts I had no excuse not to find my brother Walt’s replacement. I had to admit to my team that I had been putting it off but they all appreciated the extra money that they were getting in overtime. However, we all knew that we could not carry on ‘one man down’ indefinitely.
To kick the recruitment, process off, I used some of the money that we’d saved in salary since I’d fired Walt to pay for a specialist recruitment agency in Denver to find us some suitable candidates.
Even so, it was almost another month and Halloween was fast approaching before I received details of the first batch of candidates. The agency reported that even getting responses to the advert was proving difficult. It appeared that we were too far from just about anywhere or anything for most people. While that suited the people already here perfectly I knew that this was going to be a stumbling block in my quest to find a new Deputy. They had struggled to get candidates for us. They admitted that they had even tried to get some of the unsuccessful candidates for a deputy chief in a famous Colorado Ski Resort to apply here but even that hadn’t worked.
As I went through the various candidates resumes my heart sank deeper and deeper into gloom. Out of more than twenty candidates only four came up as even worth inviting to come for an interview.
I sat on them for another day before reviewing my choices once again. In the end, I had to get a second opinion.
“Sue Ellen, could you come into my office for a moment please.”
“Sure thing Sheriff,” came her reply.
“What’s up?”
“Can you take a look at these resumes?”
I handed her eight pages to read.
She scanned them looking for obvious howlers and then read each one carefully before saying.
“Why us?” she commented as she handed me one of the resume’s.
“That’s what I thought,” I replied as I saw which one she’d handed back to me.
“Why should anyone give up a Detective’s job on the NYPD to come out to the back of beyond and start working as a standard County Deputy?”
“Hey, not so hard on us grunts ok?”
“You know what I mean. So? What do you think?”
Sue-Ellen handed me back the remainder of the resumes and said,
“How many former Army MP’s are there in the NYPD, and do any of them owe you a favour?”
I smiled back. Sue-Ellen might have been Blonde, shapely and very buxom but there was no pulling the wool over her eyes. She was sharp and could read people as easily as reading the newspaper.
“So, you think that she’s worth interviewing then?”
“Do we have to pay for her airfare?”
“Well, we have enough in the kitty. The Mayor has given me a fairly decent budget but we have to get the right person. He was clear than I was to not make any mistakes or my re-election next year won’t be a formality. Well, that was what he hinted.”
“Then speak to her on the phone or call in a few favours and if everything seems ok then get her out here.”
“Yes boss…” I said grinning to Sue-Ellen.
I’d let it be known that she was my preferred successor as Sherriff. I knew in my own mind that I’d serve at most another two terms before calling it a day. By then she’d be ready to take over.
“Someday Matt but not yet,” she replied grinning.
[the next day]
By lunchtime, I’d called the four officers I’d shortlisted. Two had already found other positions so we were down to two. The agency had run the advert again even on the West Coast this time but so far it had not received any expressions of interest.
I called the remaining two candidates back and invited them to come in for an interview.
[a week later]
“Listen up team,” I said at the end of my usual Monday morning briefing.
“We have two candidates coming in this week for interview. Who wants to be my sidekick?”
The team all seemed to glance at Sue-Ellen.
“Sheriff, we think that Sue-Ellen should do the interviews with you. Just for balance so to speak,” said Billy-Joe.
“Are you ok with this Sue-Ellen?”
“I guess so,” she replied slightly reluctantly.
“Ok. The first one will be here on Wednesday. The second is coming Thursday. I’ll circulate their resumes. Any specific questions that you want us to ask please let us know in advance.”
I have tried to run a democratic and happy department. Giving the others a say would help morale.
[Wednesday]
“Hi, am I at the right place for the Interview?”
The owner of the voice was a 40yr old man with receding hair. That was all we could see of him as he stuck his head around the door to the office.
“Yes. Please come on in.”
Steve Lawrence was actually 42 years old, divorced and currently a State Trooper in Nevada. He was also fat and balding and now that I’d seen him face to face, there was no way in hell that I would recommend him for the job. He was a heart attack waiting to happen. Still now that he was here, we had to go through the motions of the interview. What irked me more than anything that the picture he’d attached to his resume showed him as he looked at least 20 years ago.
At the end of the allotted 30 minutes, I said to him,
“Thanks for coming today Steve. We have another candidate to interview tomorrow. Then we’ll make our decision.”
“I haven’t got the job have I?”
I resisted looking at Sue-Ellen before answering him.
“We have yet to make up our minds. As I said at the outset, we will do that by the weekend.”
“Thanks for being honest with me.”
Then he left.
I looked at Sue-Ellen.
“That was hard. I never want to do that again. Why do people lie on their resume? They will get found out sooner or later,” remarked Sue-Ellen.
I couldn’t disagree with that sentiment in any shape or form.
“Have you had anything back from your contact in the NYPD?” asked Sue-Ellen.
“Yes. It came in just before Steve Lawrence turned up. Let me print out a copy of the email and you can decide for yourself.”
“That sounds ominous?”
I smiled.
“Let me just say that there is a lot more to Ms Fitzpatrick than meets the eye.”
“What? Did she lie on her resume?”
“No. Everything she put down is factually correct.”
“So what’s the problem?”
I sighed.
“Read it for yourself.”
I gave her the printout and went out on patrol before she could talk to me about it.
[The following day]
“Thanks for coming this far Kelly. We do appreciate it,” I said as our second candidate, Kelly Fitzpatrick sat down in my office.
“It really was not a problem Sheriff,” came her reply.
Kelly was certainly more that I’d imagined. She wasn’t tall by my standards but there was something about her that rattled something in me. I had to fight them otherwise we would not get onto the serious stuff that we needed to cover in the next hour.
“You resume is certainly impressive so my first question is why do you want to leave the NYPD?”
She let out a small chuckle.
“To be honest with you Sheriff, I left the NYPD almost a month ago. I had already sent that version of my resume off just before I left them. My reasons for leaving are all down to my family. There has been at least one of my family in the NYPD or the FDNY for at least the last one hundred and seventy years. We came over from Cork in the 1840’s. My Great-great-great something, Sean Fitzpatrick signed up with the local Police simply because he’d been a constable in the Cork Police before jumping on a ship for New York.”
She took a deep breath.
“Sheriff, again, let me be perfectly honest with you, I am transgendered. I was born a male and christened Patrick O’Hanlon. Fitzpatrick is my grandmothers name. I transitioned last year while I was still with the Police Department. My family are very, very Catholic and couldn’t accept what I’ve done so they made life very hard for me in the NYPD. When I transitioned I had to transfer to IAD in order to keep safe. Even though IAD are off limits from my family but they made life hard for me outside the force. In the end, I had to leave both the NYPD and New York in order to keep my sanity. That was just over three weeks ago, I quit the force loaded up my car and headed west along I-80 and here I am.”
I grinned and looked at Sue-Ellen. She was smiling.
“Thank you for telling us that. We already knew a good deal about your past. You might like to read this email,” said Sue-Ellen as she handed
Kelly the printout I’d given her the previous day.
Kelly read it with eyes bulging.
“This ‘Ace’? Am I supposed to know him?”
“Yes. You know him quite well. He was my Commanding Officer when I was an Army MP. He was called ‘Ace’ because his name was the same as a well known tennis player of the time. You know him as Richard Krayjeck.”
We could see the penny drop.
“But… he was my Captain in IAD!”
“The very one and the same.”
Then I added,
“As you can see, he does not have a bad word to say about you. He echoes your statement about your family. Only the two of us know all about your family problems in the Police Force.”
With that, she visibly relaxed.
Towards the end of the interview I asked,
“Do you have any questions for us?
Kelly hesitated for a second or so before asking,
“You don’t have a problem with me being Transgendered?”
I let out a small laugh before I regained my composure.
“Kelly, we had a rather unfortunate incident here last March where a very nice woman was murdered because she hadn’t that the Gender Reassignment operation and two drunken locals wouldn’t take no for an answer. Her name was Sandy and… well was well liked around these parts. No one knew about her little secret. She was saving up for her final step before her life was so cruelly ended.”
Before she could ask what happened, Sue-Ellen added for me,
“The two men that killed her will be spending at least the next twenty-five years to life in Federal Prison for their troubles.”
Kelly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Should we offer you the job, it would be totally up to you if you tell anyone else about your past. We don’t feel the need to tell anyone else do we Sue-Ellen?”
“We certainly don’t Sheriff.”
Once Kelly had left, I sat down and tried to think. Sue-Ellen came back carrying two coffees from Harry’s Diner.
“You look as if you could do with this,” she said grinning as she gave me the drink.
“Thanks. That was hard.”
She nodded.
“When are you going to tell her?”
“What do you mean?”
She laughed again.
“I know you too well Matt. I think you decided that she was the one as soon as you saw her. In fact, I wouldn’t put it past you to actually fancy our new Officer?”
“No…. Well…. No….”
“Matt. As I said, I know you far too well. That’s why I told you many times in High School that we should never date. I know what you are going to do before you do.”
Sue-Ellen was a gazillion percent right in her reading of me. She’d always had this knack or more accurately a ‘fluence’ over me. That’s why we’d remained friends all this time while she’d been through three husbands and three children and she still had a bit of a soft spot for me in a motherly sort of way.
She didn’t wait for me to answer but disappeared to do something or other in the main office.
I sat brooding over my coffee for a good half hour. She was right of course. I had to offer her the job. There was no reason not to do so. She was if anything over qualified for the job but for some reason that didn’t even cross my mind. I wanted her as part of the team.
Just before 5pm, I closed up the station and started on my way home.
I’d just left town on the direct way to my home, which is also the shortest route from town to the Interstate when I came upon a ‘U-Haul’ trailer and a car that was hitched to it, parked by the side of the road. I pulled up behind it and switched on my Police Strobe lights as a warning to other drivers before getting out of my cruiser and seeing what the problem was.
I got a huge surprise when I saw Kelly under the hood of a 10yr old Toyota. The engine was running but only just.
“Well, hello again Kelly,” I said calmly.
She almost banged her head on the hood due to the surprise of seeing someone standing just a few feet from her. She quickly recovered her composure and stood up to face me.
“It suddenly lost all power and made a banging noise,” she exclaimed.
I didn’t need to examine the engine to know what was wrong.
“I think you have blown a head-gasket.”
Her shoulders sagged.
“Never mind,” I said.
“I’ll get Barney SWA who is our local mechanic to take a look at it tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“It is late and if it is a head gasket another one won’t get here any sooner.”
“But…”
“Did you have to be somewhere tonight?”
She thought for a bit before saying,
“Probably a Motel on the Interstate. I saw a couple when I turned off earlier today.”
“Well, you aren’t gonna make any of them in this tonight. Why don’t I tow your trailer to my place as it is only a mile or so up the road then I’ll come back and tow you there as well.”
“Where am I going to stay the night?”
I smiled.
“With us, if Ma has anything to say about it. My brother’s old room is empty.”
“I can’t impose on you like that.”
“Are you refusing our country hospitality? This isn’t the big Apple you know. Here abouts folks rally round in times of need. Why only just last month, Ricky Allen had a barn burn down. The next weekend, twenty people turned up to help him rebuild it.”
Kelly stood there pondering what to do. In the end, I decided for her.
“I’ll uncouple the trailer and get that moved first. I won’t be long.”
A few minutes later I’d hitched up the trailer to my cruiser and was towing it down the road. Kelly looked forlorn in the rear view mirror. My guess was that in the past she’d taken a lot of stick from her family others as well so, she was now enjoying being her own woman and now some man comes along and takes over leaving her in his wake. I afforded myself a little smile. Ma would soon see her right. Of that, there was no doubt.
I’d hardly gotten onto our property when the front door that was only used for guests, opened and there stood Ma with her arms crossed. Her expression said it all.
“Hi Ma. You know I said that we were interviewing another candidate today, well her car died just down the road. I’m going back to tow it and her here right now.”
“Another one for Dinner and Bed and Breakfast I assume?”
I smiled.
“I know you still cook as if Walt is here so there should be more than enough to go around.”
Her eyes narrowed as if to say, ‘how dare you take me for granted. I could still tan your hide if I needed too, Sheriff or not’.
Still smiling at the telling off I’d just received, I got back into my cruiser and went to rescue Kelly and her car.
By the time I’d gotten both vehicles and Kelly to my home, it was getting dark. The end of October was just over a week away and there was already a distinct chill in the air as the sun set ever earlier each day.
As I detached the tow rope from her car I said to her,
“We can leave your car there. I’ll call Barney SWA in the morning. What he doesn’t know about cars is not worth knowing.”
Kelly just nodded as she took her handbag and an overnight bag from her car.
“You go in and find Ma. She’ll be in the kitchen. I have a couple of chores to do before dinner.”
I turned on my heel and disappeared around the side of the house and headed for the stables. The chores I needed to do was to round up and stable my two horses, Sue and Jake. They were as ever pleased to see me but that was probably because I held their feed buckets in my hand. One shake of them and they’d follow me anywhere.
I looked at the empty stall next door with some sadness. Walt’s horse, Delilah had been there until a week before. She’d suddenly died one night. She was fifteen so it wasn’t that much of a surprise. I knew that Sue and Jake missed her after all, Delilah was their mother.
With them safely bedded down for the night, I went into the house by the side door. The kitchen was empty but I could hear voices coming from upstairs. I smiled. Ma’s bark was far worse than her bite and a damsel in distress what a chance for Ma to be… well Ma.
I used the downstairs bathroom to wash-up and remove my belt, radio and most of the other paraphernalia that law enforcement is required to carry at all times these days. I hung my belt up on the hook in the bathroom and went to find the women.
I met them coming down the stairs.
It was obvious from her expression that Ma was in her element and loving every minute of having another female about the house for the first time in years.
“Just in time,” said Ma and before I could even start to reply she added,
“You can make yourself useful and open that bottle of wine that I won at the county fair on Labor Day.”
I sighed. The wine was very, very cheap. I’d had my fair share of gut-rot wine while I was in the service. This wine was right up there with the best ‘vin de gut-rot’ served anywhere on the planet. I had to act and fast.
“Why don’t we serve our guest some of cousin Cletus’s Cider?”
Ma smiled at me.
“Make sure I only have one glass then. You know how strong he makes it.”
“Sure Ma.”
Dinner was very pleasant. Lots of gentle conversation and a little Cider all made for a very nice evening. I could sense our guest starting to relax and enjoy herself.
At dead on 9pm, Ma stood up and announced,
“I’m off to my bed. I’ll leave you two young’uns to do the dishes.”
With that, she disappeared down the corridor to her room.
Kelly looked at little bemused.
I smiled and said,
“That means Ma likes you. If she didn’t then I’d have been told to do them myself. If she likes you then as far as she’s concerned, you are one of the family and the family helps with the chores around here.”
All Kelly could do was say,
“Sorry. But…”
I waited patiently for her to continue.
“She read me within 10 seconds of me walking in the door. She said, ‘Ah, you are like that one who got herself murdered a few months back. You take good care of yourself you hear!’. That was it. From then on she treated me as a woman and as a member of the family.”
“And you got a little confused?”
She nodded.
“Don’t worry about Ma. The only time you need to worry is when she says nothing. Then a storm is about to hit and that’s for sure.”
Once we’d done the dishes and put everything away I said,
“The job’s yours if you want it. If you do, then I’ll take you and introduce you to J.T. Mitchell who is the one and only certified Realtor in the County.”
Kelly was just hanging up a towel just stopped in mid action. Then she turned and looked at me.
“Are you sure? What about your Mother?”
I laughed,
“Ma isn’t my real Mother. You might have guessed that from the age difference. She’s actually my Grandmother. The last time we heard of my real Ma was more than 5 years ago and she was married to some rich dude in Vegas or maybe it was Reno but I can’t really remember. Anyway, she left right after the birth of my brother Walt. That left Ma to bring up the two of us. If you are wondering if she’ll tell everyone about you, no she won’t. That’s for you to do if and when you decide to do so. That is if you still want to now, that you have seen a bit of life here in this part of our country.”
“Y… Yes, I’ll take the job but I’m sure that it will be hard to adjust after New York.”
“Adjusting to life here is easy. Everything here runs at about half the pace of a Snapping Turtle crossing the road in a hurry. Going the other way is the problem. I did it once. Never again.”
We did the dishes together. As I washed them I explained what ‘Snapping Turtles’ were, and why the always seem to cross the road right in front of you when you are in a hurry. Kelly laughed and shook her head at the same time.
“I’ll order the new one plus the other bits I’ll need as soon as I tow it back to my shop. If I get the order in by midday, UPS should deliver it all tomorrow afternoon. Then I’ll need a day to do the work unless the head needs skimming,” he explained.
Kelly looked suitably baffled although I doubted if she really was. Kudos to her.
“How much will this all cost me?” she asked quietly.
“Are you going to take the job?” asked Barney.
“What does that have to do with it?”
“Law Enforcement get a twenty percent discount on all shop work. We gotta keep the upholders of law and order mobile haven’t we? That’s all.”
“Kelly has accepted my offer of a job.”
“That’s good so the final cost should be around four hundred give or take a couple of twenties.”
Kelly’s face lit up.
“Ok, that’s a deal.”
“Barney, aren’t you missing something?”
He looked at me, gave a little shrug and then smiled back at her.
“If you come with me when I tow your car, I’ll let you borrow one of the cars on my lot until yours is ready.”
Kelly looked at him and then at me before saying,
“I’m not asking for charity you know?”
Barney grinned back at her.
“No special favours. I let all of my customers drive one of my old clunkers when theirs is in the shop. People in these parts can’t get around much without wheels. This isn’t the big city with a bus service to all parts of town. The last one left here at least twenty years ago. So? Are you game?”
“Ok, but I only drive a manual shift,” came her immediate reply.
“I’d noticed that. You’d better get used to Automatics. That’s all we drive around here. You’d better get Matt here to give you a course in driving an All-Wheel-Drive Truck because as soon as Winter sets in that all that anyone with any sense around here drives. Especially if you get one with traction control.”
I watched her take this in. Then she looked at me with a puzzled look on her face.
“Barney’s right. Half the roads in the county are dirt and when there is snow and ice around it can be fun to drive them especially if you have to be somewhere in a hurry."
Kelly arrived back an hour later driving a 2012 Silverado.
“Well? Can you drive that thing?”
“Barney gave me a good lot of instructions. That will get me going. As for the rest, then I’ll have to learn on the job, now won’t I?”
I let out a small laugh.
“Barney was very coy about his obvious relationship with you. All he’d say was, ‘let Matt tell you’. So what about it Boss?”
“Very well but first we have some police work to do. We received a report of some rustlers from the ‘Lazy-T’ Ranch. Up for it?”
“You bet, but I don’t have a uniform.”
“You aren’t officially on the job yet. I have to submit your acceptance to the Police Oversight Team, or POTTY Committee. When they have approved it you will get an official start date and a form to submit for requisitioning a uniform and a gun and other items of kit. So look, learn and don’t get in the way, understand?”
“I’m not some rookie straight out of the Academy you know?”
“Sorry Kelly, but out here, you are just that, a rookie. We do things differently to the NYPD. My advice is to just take your time and see how we do things. My Brother tried to do things by the book. He only succeeded in getting people’s back’s up. To a lot of people in the county, his departure was a cause for rejoice and thanking God in their prayers. We do a lot of looking the other way at times because we all have to live in the community. We can’t just disappear to a different part of the city at the end of our shift. If someone deserves a charge or a ticket then they get it. Don’t rush into things. We don’t have a Captain or a DA pressing for charges to be laid ten minutes into an investigation. Do your job and do it properly."
“That bad eh?” she replied smiling.
I smiled.
“It remains to be seen. I’ll let you make up your own mind on the matter.”
We climbed into my Police SUV and headed off.
“Barney is a strange guy,” said Kelly as we hit the main road.
“He’s strange all right. He’s a full bloodied Lakota Sioux but he wants nothing to with his people. He has no time for all that tribal stuff. He grows on you and he’s a good guy. One that I was glad to have at my back more than once. Let’s change the subject ok?”
She said nothing so I did it for us.
“Rustling can be a problem here. Most farmers let their steers run on the range for months at the time….”
[Two weeks Later]
“Listen up everybody. As you all know, Kelly is joining us officially today. So make her welcome and see that she eases into her role. You have all worked with her at some point over the last two weeks so she won’t be a complete newbie on how we tackle Law Enforcement in these parts. You can also learn a thing or two from her given her experience and record in the NYPD. But… most of all, please be gentle on her until she really knows the ropes. Us Country Folk can be a bit… shall we say awkward towards City Folk at times. Don’t let the locals go too far with their cold shoulders ok? Any questions?”
“Who will she be partnering with?” asked Tom.
“Kelly will be a bit of a floater for a couple of weeks. Like before, she’ll work with all of you. Then if a team starts to develop then we can work from there. Until now we have largely been operating individually but I want to try pairing us up until the freeze sets in. So for this week, she’ll be with you Tom. You can take the north of the County. Sue-Ellen and I will deal with the south.”
I turned to look at the remaining two officers.
“Billy-Joe, you are on Office Duty this week. It is about time you did it.”
The aforementioned Billy-Joe groaned.
“That leaves you Stan. Town Patrol. That way you can be close by if Mary-Joe comes a hollering when her water breaks so you have to take her to the Hospital.”
“Thanks boss, I know that Mary-Joe will appreciate me being close by at this time.”
“The downside is that it is time for a crime-prevention visit to the High School. They are expecting you tomorrow at 10am.”
This time it was Stan’s turn to groan. No one liked that particular duty but it had to be done.
“Careful with that!” said Kelly for the hundredth time as a phalanx of willing volunteers helped unload her U-Haul trailer and take her stuff into the house that she was renting.
Soon there was only one thing left to move. So one in town really had any idea about how to move a ‘baby-grand’ piano or even if it would fit through the door way to her new home.
In the end, the Parker twins who had a combined I.Q. of around 100 on a good day but had hearts of gold just lifted the thing up and carried onto the house.
As the sun was setting, a barbeque was set alight and beers were cracked open to celebrate a job well done. The finale of the evening was for Kelly to play a little Country Music on the Piano. Everyone went home happy. It was just as well because when they woke up the next day, a light dusting of snow was carpeting Custer County.
Fall was over and winter was gently reminding us that it was here in all but name.
[A week before Christmas]
I was alone in the Station catching up on some paperwork when I had an unexpected visitor.
“Hi Ma! This is an unexpected pleasure.”
“Cut the crap Matt Beecher. You know as well as I do that I told you that I would be calling by today to ask Kelly to come over for Dinner on Christmas Day.”
Bummer! I thought to myself. She had mentioned something about that when I saw her over a hurriedly grabbed breakfast. I’d been up a good part of the night helping the State Troopers out deal with a multi-truck crash on the Interstate. Two 18-wheelers had fishtailed on some ice at the same time. The result was a nice mess but thankfully none of the drivers had been badly hurt.
“Sorry Ma. I was probably still half asleep. I didn’t get home till nearly four.”
“I know. You crashed about in the bathroom for what seemed an age.”
“Sorry.”
“Well?”
I knew that she was asking where Kelly was.
“Kelly is over on route 10. There were a couple of reports of cattle on the loose.”
“When is she expected back? You know I only come into town once or twice a week. I don’t know what I’ll do when you tell me that I’m a danger on the road.”
I let out a small chuckle.
“You are nowhere near as bad a driver as Maudy was. Thankfully she finally saw sense and moved into Green Pastures.”
Ma gave me a dirty look.
“Are you suggesting that I’m past it and that I should move into the place where they are all waiting for God to come calling?”
I couldn’t help myself from letting out a little snigger.
“You are, aren’t you?”
“No Ma. You know that it will be your decision. You just used an unfortunate set of words. There used to be a TV series called ‘Waiting for God’. It was about a bunch of elderly people living in a retirement home.”
“What? Why would anybody be interested in that?”
“It was a comedy show. I saw it on cable when I was posted to Germany in the Service. I think it came from England. The residents of this Retirement Home were not going to take getting old gracefully. They got up to all sorts of mischief. At times, they acted like little kids again.”
“Well, it is not on any of my channels,” she replied indignantly.
Then she looked at the clock.
“I must be getting back otherwise I’ll miss my programs”.
To my mind watching the 100th re-run of ‘The Golden Girls’ or ‘Jeopardy’ was not even worth getting out of bed for let alone rushing home for. But Ma was of that age so I shouldn’t decry her enjoyment.
“Ok. I’ll be sure to ask Kelly as soon as I see her.”
“Good. But be sure you do just that. I don’t want her spending her first Christmas with us in her own. Understand!”
“I get it. But what if she has plans?”
“Then get her to break them. I’m cooking for three and Walt isn’t invited.”
I laughed.
“The last I heard he was off to somewhere hot for the Winter with his fairy god mother.”
Ma gave a shudder.
“He’s no toy boy. Never in a million years.”
“No matter Ma. He won’t be welcome at home this Christmas.”
“But Kelly will be. Go it?”
“Yes Ma.”
Kelly was as ever, her modest self when I asked her about Christmas Day.
“I was going to volunteer for Duty. Then everyone else can be with their families.”
“And so can you.”
She looked at me with a puzzled expression of her face.
“Have you forgotten that Ma made it very clear that you were part of our family?”
“Yes… but… I thought she was being polite?”
“Polite my ass. Ma only ever says that when she really means it. Besides, I’d kinda like it if you came over.”
Kelly looked at me awkwardly.
“Sheriff?
“Matt please.”
“Matt please, are you sort of asking me on a date?”
I was stuck. I wanted to get to know her a lot more. I’d sort of painted myself into a corner.
“Ma is asking you to share our hospitality over the Holiday, and I’m asking as well. Is this so wrong?”
I hoped that I’d dodged her question.
She grinned back at me.
“Matt. I’d be pleased to come to your place for dinner on the 25th. “
Then she grinned.
“There is only one proviso.”
“What?”
“Don’t ever serve me any more of that Cider. It took me a whole week to get that stuff out of my system. I’ll bring some wine. Harry at the store will put me right.”
“Deal,” I responded smiling.
I went home happy that night. Happy in the knowledge that my good news would get Ma off my back.
I was in the office catching up on some paperwork when my phone rang., I could see that it was Kelly. I wondered why she hadn’t called on the radio because she was on town patrol today.
“Hello Kelly. What’s up?”
“You are where? What are you doing there?”
“Oh. I see.”
“Yes. I’d like to meet them. I’ll be there in ten.”
I hung up the phone and sat for a few seconds.
Kelly was calling from the town cemetery. She’d met a couple of strangers who apparently were the parents of Sandy Thompson. Then it hit me. Today was the first anniversary of her death. A small shiver ran down my spine.
It was close to fifteen minutes before I arrived at the Cemetery. When I left the office I found that I was blocked in by a pickup that was also parked right in front of a fire hydrant. I simply pushed the offending vehicle out of the way with my Bronco and gave it two tickets. One for parking illegally and the other for having an outdated licence plate. I could have had it towed but I was needed elsewhere so they got off lucky on that count.
But, I knew that I’d get a lot of grief from the owner, Jeb Carter who by chance ran the local paper but it would be an order of magnitude less than what he’d give me if I let him off.
As I got out of my SVU, a cold gust of wind caught my coat. It was getting colder by the day. I looked towards the north west and realised that it would not be long before it snowed again and by the looks of it, we were in for a lot more than a dusting of the white stuff.
I saw Kelly and two people standing by Sandy’s grave. I walked towards them zipping up my coat as I walked.
“Sheriff Matt, I’d like you to meet Jerry and Nancy Thompson. They are Sandy’s parents.”
I let a small smile come onto my face. I’d always hated situations like this in the Army. This was worse. I’d found that a small smile often helped in these situations.
“I am very pleased to meet you both.”
I suck out my hand in greeting.
“I only wish that it could have been in better circumstances.”
Jerry looked at his wife who was close to tears.
“I am too,” he said quietly.
“I was putting some flowers on her grave when Jerry and Nancy arrived,” said Kelly.
That simple statement momentarily stunned me. Then it suddenly made sense.
“At least we know that our S… Daughter has not been forgotten,” said Nancy.
“She was well liked in the town. More than one hundred people turned out to her funeral.”
Nancy looked at me with a startled expression on her face.
“Did they know… About her?”
“Folk around here generally take people as they see them. Sandy was kind and considerate to everyone she met. She was going to be made
manager of the store and bar once she’d had … Well, completed her transition.”
This visibly shocked her parents.
“We had no idea… No idea at all,” said Jerry.
“You can be proud of her. She’d found a home where she was accepted without question. She became a part of this town by being herself.”
“Even when it came out that… she was a man?” asked Nancy.
“Even then. People here only knew her as Sandy. No one deserved to die like that. When those two were sentenced to a very long time in Prison, many people here said a few prayers on her behalf. The Sermon that week in Church was on the subject of Acceptance. I am sure you could write one yourself.”
This put Jerry on the spot. I knew that he was a preacher in a church that was generally not very accepting to LGBT people.
“I know what you mean. We debated coming here many times this past year. If we could not have found forgiveness in our hearts, we would not have come all this way to… well to be here on this day of all days.”
I smiled at the two of them.
“I for one am very glad to see you.”
Then Kelly chimed in.
“I never knew her but, by all accounts she was a fine person.”
“But… why are you putting flowers on the grave of someone you never met?” asked Nancy.
“Shh… Can’t you see why?” said her husband.
Nancy looked at Kelly who smiled back at them.
Then she gave a small nod.
Just then the first snowflake decided to land on Nancy’s dark coat.
“If you don’t mind me saying, it is time for you two good people to hit the road. I think that we are in for a lot of snow in the next few hours,” I suggested as I looked up at the sky.
“We had hoped to stay…,” said Nancy.
“Come on Dear. The Sheriff is only trying to help. You know how you hate driving in snow.”
Kelly chimed in,
“If you want to stay, I have a spare room. You would be very welcome at our Church service tomorrow. Several people have told me that Sandy was a regular attendee.”
This visibly shook her parents.
“We never knew. We both thought that she’d lost her faith when… when she left home,” said her father.
Nancy looked at her husband with soft eyes and said,
“Why don’t we stay so that we can thank the people of the town properly?”
“If you are sure that it won’t be too much trouble for you?”
“And you will be more than welcome to come to my place for Lunch. Ma always cooks enough to feed six.”
They looked at each other. Nancy gave a small nod to her husband.
[Two days later]
“They seemed to get some sort of closure from being here,” said Kelly as they watch Sandy’s parents drive away. Thankfully, the snow that had threatened did not amount to much and the roads were clear.
“They did that. “
“Boss…”
I looked at her.
“Did you give me this job to make up for not saving Sandy?”
“Whatever gave you that idea?”
“It was just a thought that came into my mind talking to Nancy last night.”
I looked at her and smiled.
“If you want to see the resumes of the other applicants you are more than welcome. You were by far the best person for the job and I won't let anyone say otherwise.”
“Phyllis Jenks said something about us after Church on Sunday. She wondered when you were going to ask me out.”
“Phyllis Jenks should mind her own business. How would she like it if I spread the word about her and Mike Parks?”
Kelly let out a little giggle.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“Are you going to ask me out?”
This was the moment I’d been dreading.
“I’d like too but there is a problem.”
“You being my Boss?”
I nodded.
“I looked at the rules and there is nothing in them about what the NYPD calls fraternisation between members of the same squad.”
“That’s as maybe but I have to stand for re-election in November.”
“Retire and look after the farm. I’ve seen those plans you have.”
“What! Ma showed you? She shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why. She wants you to be happy and running the farm is in your heart.”
I looked at the floor and nodded back to her.
“Then there wouldn’t be a problem with us…?”
“There is another one before your grand plan for me can come to fruition.”
“Ma?”
I nodded.
“She has told me more times than I care to remember that she’s not going into a retirement home until she turns seventy and that my Deputy is not yet.”
“Ok, I get the hint. Back to work.”
“Yes. Before people start to talk….”
I laughed.
[The End of this Episode]
[Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend]
The town was quiet that day. The next county was having its fair. This was the first of the season so a lot of the townspeople had decided to head on over there to enjoy themselves.
I was in the office doing some of the never ending stream of paperwork that a Sheriff seems to attract almost every day of the week when the front door burst open and a man in his 50’s burst in.
“Can I help you Sir?” I asked trying to put a smile on this rude interruption to my work.
“You dammed better be able to help me,” came his gruff reply.
The accent told me right away that was from New York but with strong Irish undertones.
“Where is he? That scumbag nephew of mine who seems to think putting on a skirt can escape from his family.”
I knew in an instant that he was actually referring to Kelly.
“I take it you are referring to Deputy Kelly Fitzpatrick.”
“That’s not right.”
“Well, that’s her legal name. It tallies with the name on her passport and other documents.”
“They are all fake. She’s having you on. She is really a he!”
I smiled.
“Who are you by the way?”
“I am the new head of the family. Donal Ronan O’Gara is my name and I come from God’s own County, County Galway but I have been in the FDNY for the past twenty-five years.”
“I’m Sheriff of this County. Matt Beecher is my name.”
Now that we had been introduced I could answer his statement about Kelly.
“I knew that Kelly had legally become a Woman. Her medical would have revealed if that wasn’t correct. As far as we are concerned Kelly is a woman.”
I carried on before he could reply.
“What is it you want with her?”
“He stole a lot of money from the family. Money that should have gone to other members of the family.”
The smile that was on my face disappeared in an instant.
“That is a pretty serious accusation you are levying at one of my Deputies. What facts do you have to back them up?”
He didn’t answer.
“I was chosen to be head of the family so that I could return to them what is rightfully theirs.”
“And what might that be?”
“Five point five Million Dollars.”
The amount stunned me.
“Are you saying that she stole it?”
“Yes. Yes, he did.”
“How?”
“By forcing his Grandmother to change her will.”
At that, my heart sank.
That was just not like the Kelly I had come to know these past six months.
“Why do you say that?”
“Why else would she give most of her money to my Charity and some to my bastard nephew. That is not what OUR family is all about.”
“I see. A bit out of character then?”
“Dammed right it was. So, where is he?”
Then I realised what had been troubling me about him. He was carrying a concealed weapon.
“Let me take some notes and then I’ll ask my Deputy when she reports for duty in the morning.”
“He’s not here?”
“She has the weekend off. I have no idea where she is.”
I did but I was not going to tell him. I reached into my desk drawer and pulled out my Glock 9mm.
“Now Sir, I want you to slowly remove that weapon you are carrying and place it on the desk in front of you.”
“Why? I have a right to bear arms.”
“Sir, that is indeed correct but not inside a Police Station. There is a notice on the door that you came through instructing you to declare each and every weapon when they come inside. You didn’t so… I need that weapon and then I’ll arrest you for carrying a concealed weapon without a permit in this state and for carrying a firearm in a prohibited place according to the law.”
The look he gave me was a look of death.
Very slowly he took his pistol out of the shoulder harness and put it on the desk. All the time he was staring at the business end of my Glock.
“Good. Now turn slowly and walk over to that door.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“To the cells.”
“I want a lawyer.”
“In due course one will be provided. But, first I must do my duty and put you in the cells. Then I’ll process you. Then we can see about a lawyer but I have to remind you that this is a Holiday weekend, so don’t expect so see one in an hour.”
“I am not saying anything.”
“That is your right but first, the Cells. If you please?”
I marched him into the back of the Station where our three cells were located.
Once the door was closed and locked behind him, I said,
“Right, your belt, shoulder holster and shoes. I am sure that you know the routine?”
After a disapproving grunt he complied with my requests.
“Thanks.”
“Do I need to read you your rights or do you know them?”
“I know them. I’m not answering any questions until I see my lawyer.”
“That’s good to know.”
“What am I being charged with?”
“Carrying a concealed weapon inside a Police Station. There is both a state and county law on the subject. The exact numbers will be on the charge sheet which I will prepare for your lawyer.”
He nodded. It was obvious that he knew the ropes.
“I have to process you. Fingerprints, mugshot and DNA swab. Any objections?”
He didn’t answer.
“I’ll have to wait for the deputy on duty to come in. He is our fingerprint expert. He will be here at the end of his shift shortly.”
All I got was a glare for an answer.
Back at my desk, I went through his belongings and itemised them. Once he’d signed the sheet I left him alone to stew for a while. I knew that Tom would not be back for at least an hour. I pondered calling him, but in the end I decided against it.
After looking at the mountain of still unfinished paperwork I sighed and pushed it aside and started filling out the charge sheet for my unwelcome guest.
However, my mind wasn’t on the task. I kept thinking of Kelly. I knew I had to do something about my relationship with her sooner rather than later.
Several times, I reached for my phone to call her but resisted. She was over in the next county at their fair. It was her first experience of such an event which even included an amateur Rodeo. I wanted her to experience it all on her own. Phoning her now would be a real downer to what I was hoping would be a very enjoyable day out for her.
By the time I’d finished the charge sheet, Tom had called in to say that he was returning at the end of his shift. This spurred me into action to call Sue-Ellen and explain to her about the prisoner.
“Can you take the night shift tonight?” I asked.
“That’s great. What time are they due back?”
“Ok. If you cover from nine, I’ll be on duty till them. Thanks Sue-Ellen.”
“What idiot has parked their car over three spaces?” where his first words after he’d come into the office.
“It belongs to our prisoner.”
“Prisoner?”
“Came in here asking for Kelly carrying a concealed 9mm.”
Tom smiled.
“Oh dear.”
“Exactly.”
Then I added,
“Can you go move the car to the pound and give it a search? If he has one weapon, then there might well be more.”
“Sure thing boss.”
As he turned to leave I stopped him.
“You’d better glove up and if you find anything give me a call on my phone. No use broadcasting the fact that we have a guest.”
He smiled back at me.
“Sure thing Boss.”
Less than 10 minutes later, my phone beeped.
I saw that it was from Tom. The SMS had a picture attached. As I saw it, a shudder went down my spine. It was almost as if I was back in Iraq manning a road checkpoint. There was a veritable arsenal in the trunk.
I joined Tom outside to view the evidence.
“The Mak-10 is loaded. The 45 has hollow point ammo and there is about 1500 extra rounds for the Glock and the Mak.”
“So, we have him on the loaded Mak. Anything else?”
Tom grinned.
“I saved the best to last.”
He went to the front passenger door and opened it.
“I noticed that the panel was loose.”
With a huge smile, he pulled it off to reveal at a cache of explosives.”
“This guy comes well prepared.”
I just nodded. All this weaponry made me worried. It was clear that he’d come here with the clear intent not leaving empty handed. Thankfully, he was locked up all nice and safe.
“Carry on with searching the car but something is not right. It just does not jell correctly.”
“Boss?”
“If he wanted to kill Kelly just one gun would have done it. Why everything else? Why was the Mak loaded? Did he fear someone here or on the journey?”
“What does he say?”
“He lawyered up right away.”
Tom laughed.
“You explained that there are no lawyers available?”
“I did. He didn’t care.”
“Boss. That makes no sense.”
"I agree. But what is?”
After a second or so’s silence I added,
“Carry on pulling the car apart. I have a hunch that there is at least one more surprise waiting for us. What do you think?”
Tom looked at me with a wry smile and nodded his head.
“This sure beats having to go to the In-Laws for a BBQ.”
I left him to pull the Beemer apart. I was a little unsure if he could put it back together again but we’d cross that bridge later.
The whole thing was a mystery and a mess and just didn’t make sense. The only person who could make some sense of it all I really didn’t want to call.
Tom dragged me back to reality when he came bounding into the office clutching a large package.
“Guess what I found inside the back seat.”
“Drugs or Money?”
“The latter,” replied Tom carefully opening the package.
At least forty bundles of $50 bills fell onto my desk.
“Fifty G’s?” asked Tom.
“Closer to a Hundred.”
I picked up a bundle and flicked through it.
“Brand new with consecutive serial numbers. A Pay-off or stolen? What do you think?”
Tom grinned as he fished out a slip of paper and read it.
“Neither. According to this bank slip it was withdrawn from a Bank in Islip on Long Island last Friday.”
I almost snatched the slip from him and read it with bulging eyes.
“If this is legal then why is he really here?”
“I don’t know so why don’t you call her?”
“Her?”
“Kelly….” Then he added,
“Boss, can I talk man to man for a moment?”
Before I could think I said,
“Yes.”
“Bo... Matt, we all know that you are sweet on her. Why else have you gone to almost any length to avoid going on patrol with her these last months? When she comes into the Office your eyes go all soppy. Am I barking up the wrong tree?”
I knew he was right.
“Yes. Well, No…” I replied in little more than a whisper.
“So why haven’t you asked her out?”
I was lost for words.
“She told us you know.”
“Told you what?”
Tom sighed.
“Sometimes Matt you are real stupid. Kelly told us about her past and everything.”
“I didn’t know.”
“That’s because it does not matter to us. She is a very good deputy and a decent person. We aren’t in some redneck backwater you know.
What more do you need eh?”
I couldn’t answer that. Instead I turned my attention to matters in hand.
“Something just does not feel right. Here we have a prisoner who has not been demanding a lawyer and seems quite content to sit there in a cell. Why? What’s wrong with that?”
“I agree. Why did he some waltzing into the Station like that? He could have asked just about anyone where Kelly lived.”
“Call her then. He claims that they are related so what if there is some history?”
I sighed.
“Yeah, you are right.”
Tom smiled at me.
“Good. While you do that, I’ll put the car back together as best I can. Then I’ll be off home.”
“Thanks Tom.”
He just grinned back at me.
“Hi Boss.”
“Good evening Kelly. I take it that you had a good time at the Show?”
“Yes. It was great. Well it was until I got some unwelcome attention.”
“Oh who from?”
“A certain State Trooper.”
“Oh, you mean Harvey?”
“Yes. Him,” she replied sternly.
“But why is he called Harvey? That isn’t his name.”
I grinned back at her.
“His name is Stewart James. Swap them around and you have James Stewart. Jimmy Stewart starred in a play and a film called Harvey. It was about a Rabbit.”
“No wonder he hates people calling him that to his face.”
“He threw a baseball at Coach once because he was called that for missing a catch in a crucial match at High School. Thankfully, he missed. I hope he wasn’t too… well, you know?”
“A couple of elbows in the ribs put him his place.”
I grinned back at her.
“What was it you wanted that you couldn’t talk about on the phone?”
The grin disappeared from my face in an instant.
“Go take a look through the peep hole into Cell no 1. Don’t say anything just look and then come back here.”
Kelly looked at me with a distinctly puzzled look. When I didn’t add anything, she gave a slight shrug of her shoulders before doing what I’d asked of her.
It didn’t take her long to return with a look of pure hatred on her face.
“What’s Lol doing here?”
“Lol?”
“Lol is Lawrence Monaghan. Loan shark enforcer, bookie debt collector and general thug.”
I had to laugh.
“What’s so funny? He’s a shit!”
I passed over the ID he’d presented.
“He came in here claiming to be head of your family and asking, no demanding to see you about a property of your Gran’s. Then I saw that he was carrying a concealed piece so I arrested him.”
Kelly’s mouth was doing the dying fish impression.
“But he didn’t resist. Tom then found that lot in his car,” I said pointing at the pile of weapons on the table at the side of the office.
“What was he driving?”
“A white 5 Series Beemer with a gold roof. Why?”
“Oh shit. We are in trouble, big trouble.”
“Why?”
“If my memory serves me right, it belongs to Viktor Lysenko. Lysenko is an enforcer for the Brighton Beach Russian Mob. They will be after him and they won’t take prisoners.”
That remark stunned me into silence.
A chill had suddenly come over the whole place.
“So, he’s on the run?”
“It appears so. But why would he come here and let me arrest him without a struggle?”
Kelly smiled.
“Because we offer a safe haven?”
That thought hadn’t crossed my mind but it made perfect sense.
“There is a hundred large over there. This must be his flight stash.”
Kelly shook her head.
“No why?”
“Rumour has it that he’s been skimming some of his collections off the top for years. It is probably in the Caymans or some other tax haven.”
“And didn’t anyone stop it?”
Kelly laughed.
“Lol had a reputation for getting blood out of a stone. If the alternative was getting nothing, then getting most of what was owed is better than nothing.”
“I get it.”
I thought for a few seconds.
“What should we do? I’m asking because this is not the sort of thing we normally experience around here.”
“I know and that’s why I love it here.”
"‘Do you think Lol is on the run?” I asked.
“What? From Viktor?”
I nodded.
“Why don’t we go and ask him? Can I do the honours? I have an idea?”
I grinned.
“Why not. You know him and he was after you or rather your Gran’s house.”
“Oh. That. It sold last month. My guess is that he wanted to extort some money from me in return for not telling my family where I am.”
“Don’t they know where you are?”
She nodded.
“Just my cousin Dermot. He’s gay but firmly in the closet. His sister knows as well but I told her that if she told on me, I’d out Dermot.”
“Blackmail eh?”
“Just normal for a large family. Secrets and Lies everywhere you care to look.”
Kelly thought for a minute.
“I really don’t want all the press attention we’ll get if we involve the Feds as we should. I have an idea that might get him out of our head but leaving most of his stash of stuff here.”
I looked at her. I could tell that she was serious about the press and her standing in the community.
“I’m all ears.”
[half an hour later]
“Well hello Lol. Long-time no see eh?” said Kelly.
Lol looked at us and smiled.
“Well, here he is, the family outcast,” he said glaring at me.
“That’s strange coming from someone who never knew his father. Didn’t he get blown up in Belfast trying to bomb a British Army barracks only to have it go off right outside a Catholic School?”
He glared back at the two of us.
“Touché.”
“So, Lol, what gives? It seems that you didn’t put up much resistance to being arrested? You didn’t come halfway across the country just to see me with some fantasy about getting the money from a house that my Granny is supposed to own?”
He glared at Kelly again.
“You don’t know do you?”
“Know what?”
“Your beloved grandmother was into all sorts of schemes in the 1950’s.”
“Well, my grandfather was no use once he took a bullet in the skull on St Patricks Day in 1957.”
He nodded.
“She was one very rich lady. She owned a Brownstone on the Lower East Side. Once she died, it was sold for a cool five million."
This was obviously not a surprise to Kelly. Well, she feigned the news brilliantly.
“The street was saying that all the money went to you. So, when things went pear shaped I figured I’d head out of the city. This was as good a place as any. I needed a grubstake so… here I am.”
“In a very hot car? Are you stupid,” asked Kelly.
Lol grinned.
“I didn’t graduate from the Bronx school of hot wiring for nothing. I disabled the GPS and the tracker before I got off Staten Island.”
“You were with Victor’s wife?” asked Kelly.
“Yeah. My bit on the side for the last six months.”
“You must have known that you’d get found out. Was it worth the risk?”
“You bet. She’s an animal in bed,” he replied with a huge grin on his face.
“But you got out?”
“Victor texted his wife when we were in his bed to say that he was going to take her out for a surprise lunch. I just about had enough time to get dressed and slip out the side when he came in the front. My wheels were several streets away so I took his car because he’d left the keys in it and hot-footed it towards the Verrazano and I-80. That was almost a week ago.
I grinned.
“You didn’t think to look in the door panels or the back seat now did you?” I said slightly gleefully.
As sudden realisation that he’d goofed spread over his face.
“How much?”
“Almost a hundred big ones and six blocks of C4.”
“Shit!”
“Yes Shit. You could be sunning yourself in Cancun as we speak. Instead, here you are locked up facing at least a 10 stretch for what eh?”
“Ok. Ok. I get it, I’m up shit creek.”
I looked at Kelly and gave her a nod.
“However, we want to keep a nice quiet life. So, we are prepared to let you go but without a very hot car, its contents or your illegal firearms. Don’t you know that it is illegal in this state to possess a firearm with the serial numbers filed off? Then there is the little matter of the loaded Mak-10’s.”
“They were in the trunk when I took the car. You won’t find my prints on them.
“They were in your possession and as they say possession is nine tenths of the law but in your case, it is at least a ten stretch in a Federal Pen but Viktor will make sure that you never see ten days let alone ten years.”
His face dropped.
“Where would I go? And how?”
I laughed as I said,
“We have an old pick-up in the pound. It is due to go for scrap but I am sure that it could be diverted to get you out of here. I’m sure it will let you get to Denver but there again, once you go over the state line, you are no longer our responsibility.”
Lol glared at me for a long second. Then he realised that I was serious.
Then Kelly piped in,
“We’d give you a sum of money that would get you out of the country but…”
She paused for effect.
“The conditions are fairly simple.”
“Firstly, you don’t come back here ever. Secondly, you never mention that you have met me here. If what you say about my Gran and the Brownstone is true I’d expect a few members of my family would want some if not all of it. As I don't have it, then they can ask all they like.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I put the feds onto you. The FBI really don’t like moving illegal weapons Interstate. Then there are the money and the ATF will want their slice of the action for the explosives. All in all, Lol, you are in deep shit. It could even be life if the weapons can be traced back to a murder or two? You know as well as I the line of business that Viktor is in…”
“So what is it to be?” I asked.
“Why are you doing this?”
I looked at Kelly and gave her a small nod.
“This is my home now. It is nice and peaceful here and I really don’t want any people from back home spoiling the peace. You could say that I was run out of ‘Dodge’ by my family and I don’t want anything to do with anyone from back east. The whole of the Bronx can disappear into the East River for all I’m concerned.”
Lol didn’t say anything but his eyes flicked between Kelly and myself. Then a smile started to appear on his face.
“You two are an item, aren’t you?”
We both said ‘No’ instantly.
“Pull the other one. I can see the signs,” said Lol.
Then he put up his hand to stop us saying anything.
“I’ll take the deal. I know far too much. They’d get me even if I was alive long enough to get into WITSEC.”
“Thanks,” he replied slightly grudgingly.
Then he turned to Kelly.
“Look, I said a lot of bad things about you back there. I realise now that you are being yourself and have made a home here. I get the feeling that this deal is all your idea. Well thank you for that.”
I saw Kelly give him a little smile as he got into the Pickup.
As Lol disappeared westwards I looked at Kelly.
She was giving me a funny look.
“Out with it?” I said.
“Do you fancy me?”
Well, I asked for it. I should have expected it. Kelly never beat about the bush.
“Do you want the political answer or the truth?”
She laughed.
“How about both?”
“Ok. The Politically correct answer is No.”
“and the other one?”
I didn’t answer her but I leaned over and kissed her. Just a little peck on the lips. I hoped it was enough.
“Is that it?”
So, I kissed her again. This time it was a proper kiss.
Kelly came into my office early the next morning.
“I was thinking last night.”
“About Lol?”
“Sort of. I now realise how this place works and how different it is from… from before. What we did with Lol probably broke a dozen laws and…”
“And we should be sent to jail as well?”
Kelly nodded.
“We took a load of illegal guns off the street. Isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t that better for the public good? Lol is a what I call a chancer. The way he stole that car tells me that. It also means that the chances are that he’ll meet a sticky end sometime in the future but to put him away with some nasty people after him would probably hasten his demise. He does not deserve a shank in Prison.”
Kelly said nothing.
“So, Deputy Kelly, did we do the right thing?”
“Yes Sheriff, I think we did.”
Then she added,
“In the long run, I think we did.”
“What is going to happen to those guns, money and especially the car? We can’t very well put them through the evidence system as I’m guessing here that there is no formal record of Lol being here?”
I thought for a long second.
“I’m not sure. I tried to come up with a solution to that problem myself.”
“Well?”
“I don’t know. That is the honest truth. We can’t keep the money. The guns are easy. I’ll take them to the cemetery and get them put into a grave that is about to be used. They’ll be off the streets and out of sight for the foreseeable future. That leaves the car.”
“If this was New York, hot cars have been known to be delivered to a ‘chop shop’. They’ll strip it and dispose of the rest in a matter of days. I’ve not seen anything resembling a ‘chop shop’ here. Rather hard to hide something like that out here.”
I smiled back at her.
“The car is also easy. Barney SWA knows people who know people who will… well get rid of the car. If I slip him a ‘C’ note, he’ll take it off our hands no questions asked. After all the parts for a two-year old BMW M5 are worth quite a bit.”
“Will it come back on us?”
I shook my head.
“No chance. Also, these people are on the Reservation.”
“Eh? I thought that Barney didn’t want anything to do with his people on the ‘Res’?”
“He doesn’t unless it is business.”
“That leaves the money?”
“I was wondering if an anonymous donation to a few local charities might be in order?”
“Kelly smiled back at me.”
“What about that Pickup?”
“Another ‘C’ note and Barney will make it appear in all records that it went through him for crushing.”
“Problem solved then?”
“Not quite,” I said quietly.
“What’s left to wrap up?”
“Not really wrap up. I was wondering when you were going to tell me that you were a Millionairess?”
Kelly grinned back at me.
“I’m not. What Lol said was basically true. The Brownstone sold for more money that I could spend even if I tried so I gave it away. Most of it went to the relatives of the emergency services who died in 9/11. My donation is there as a matter of public record. The rest went to a wildlife preserve on Long Island.”
After a slight pause.
“That good enough for you?”
I grinned.
“More than enough. Thanks for telling me. I was scared that you might be off to sunnier climes with all that money in the bank.”
“Sorry Matt, I kind of like it here so I’m staying,” she replied with a nice smile on her face.
“In that case, do you want to come over for Dinner tonight? Ma will be playing bingo at the Community Center.”
Kelly smiled.
“Why don’t you come to me and…?”
[End of this Episode]
[Labor Day Weekend]
Things were as usual pretty quiet in Custer County. I’d given everyone but Kelly and myself the weekend off to be with their families.
As was the norm for Holiday Weekends, I was busy catching up on some paperwork while Kelly was busy sorting her garden out but was only a phone call away should the need arise.
Even Harry Wong’s store and bar were quiet as the station clock slowly ticked its way round yet another hour. Hardly a car was moving outside and the later summer heat was tempered but a slight breeze. Sadly, I could hear the odd rumble of thunder in the distance.
I was sure that a lot of BBQ plans would be going to get ruined if the forecast storms came in our direction.
Just before 5pm the CB Radio burst into life. Since the advent of cellular phones, the use of CB had decreased considerably, but a good few truckers still used them especially since using a non-hands-free phone was made illegal in many states.
“Calling the County Bears, come in please. This is ‘Big Brown Daddy’.”
I picked up the microphone and switched it to send.
“Sheriff Matt Harker here. What is your problem ‘Big Brown Daddy’?”
“Hiya Sheriff. Just to let you know that there are some cows on Cedar Creek Lane. Just two at the moment but it looks like more will be following them. It seems that the grass is really greener on the other side of the fence.”
“Many thanks Big Brown Daddy. We will get onto right away. Safe Trucking.”
I knew that the owner of the ‘Big Brown Daddy’ handle was a local named Bill Brown who was a former Linebacker and father of twins hence his handle. He lived in the next county and was probably on his way home for the weekend after a long haul. I could trust the report so I called Kelly.
Less than twenty minutes later we were on the way to Cedar Creek Lane to investigate.
My heart sank when I realised that the errant beasts belonged to Joe Cummings.
“They belong to Joe Cummings. He won’t welcome a visit from us,” I remarked.
“Why?”
“He does not like visitors especially those in uniform.”
“Ah. Perhaps I should do the honours this time? He might not be so anti police when he sees that it is a woman?”
I chuckled.
“The last time Sue-Ellen went to see him she got a right telling off but you are more than welcome to have a go. But first let us get these beasts back in the field. Are you up for a little cow herding with your cruiser?”
Kelly grinned back at me.
“I’ll try everything once. You know me Boss.”
I did at that.
Some thirty minutes later the Cows were back in the field and I was stringing the hole in the fence with some baler twine. It would have to do as a temporary fix until after the holiday.
“Can you call me on your cell before you go and see Joe Cummings. I’ll record the whole conversation so if his lawyer gets uppity we can use the recording to keep him quiet.”
“Is he that bad?”
“Yeah. Ever since he bought the place some years back he’s been a virtual recluse. He only keeps the cows because there is a covenant on the land. He uses the Parker Twins to manage them and you know how bright they are.”
“Sure, thing boss. Where will you be?”
“Right here keeping an eye on those cows. Those critters aren’t as stupid as most people think.”
Kelly grinned as she climbed back into her cruiser and took off to see Joe Cummings.
[The following is what the Sheriff heard over the phone].
“Good afternoon Mr Cummings. I’m Officer Kelly…”.
“I know very well who you are.” Interrupted Mr Cummings.
“Can’t you read? The signs clearly say Keep Out. No Trespassers. That especially means the Police. I do not appreciate your blatant flouting of the laws of Trespass. Perhaps you should go back to the Station and read up on them before breaking them so easily?”
“My Cummings, I am here on official business.”
“Then it should be conducted through my lawyer. I am sure that this has been made more than clear to your Sheriff many, many times and in writing?”
“Sir, according to the notice pinned on his office door, your lawyer is away for the weekend and this is urgent. That is why I am here right now.”
“So, what is so urgent that it can’t wait until Tuesday? Or do I have to show you the business end of my Shotgun to get you off my property?”
“Sir, I am here to report that some of your cows broke through the fence and onto Cedar Creek Lane. They present a danger to traffic. The Sheriff and I have herded them back into the field but the fence needs fixing.”
“So, call my Ranch Manager. That is his job to fix not mine.”
“Mr Cummings, in case you hadn’t noticed, it is Labor Day weekend. Your Ranch Manager and his brother are off at biggest Rodeo of the season in the next but one county. They are your cows and ultimately their wellbeing is your responsibility. You have been officially notified of their escape. If they break out again then you could be liable for charges and be summoned to appear before Judge Holmes. Do you understand?”
“Of course, I understand. Now get the hell off my land. The next time I see you here I will not be so understanding. In future speak to my lawyer first. Got it?”
“Yes Sir. I understand.”
I heard the sounds of Kelly beating a retreat to her car. She kept the call open until she was off his land.
“Got all that Boss?”
“Yes. You did everything by the book. Well done. You can go home now.”
Then I added,
“I’ll be over around 7pm ok?”
“Of course,” came her cheery reply.
I closed the call and sat right where I was hoping that Joe Cummings would venture out to see where his cows had broken through.
My wait was fruitless so just after 6:30pm I gave up and headed back to town fully expecting to hear the lawyer on the phone before the evening was out or that the Cows had escaped again.
Kelly wasn’t her normal self that evening.
“What’s wrong? You seem pre-occupied with something tonight?”
“I’m not sure. I need to do some thinking and some investigation before I can tell anyone. I don’t want to look a complete jerk you know.”
I smiled.
“You could never be that but I’ll wait but my guess that it has something to do with Joe Cummings.”
She nodded.
“But I want to be sure before I say something.”
“Ok but don’t hold onto it for too long ok? I’m here to help if I can.”
“I know and thanks. Did you say that it was 2009 when he bought that spread?”
“Around about then. I was away in the Army but I remember Ma telling me that the place had been sold at last. It had been on the market for a couple of years but no one wanted to buy it with the covenants about raising beef around their neck. As a result, and with the aid of Tracy Davis he managed to know a good deal more off the already reduced price. Why?”
Kelly smiled back in a way that said ‘you ain’t gonna get any more outta me like that’.
“Tracy, has he always been the only Lawyer in town?”
“Nah. He went off to some fancy Law School back east. The next thing we heard from him was that he’d bought out Old Man Tomkins, who’d run the practice since he came back from Vietnam in seventy-three. This was around mid 2008 if my memory serves me right. The rumour is that he paid cash for it and that the cash was a payoff from his job back east. One of them jobs where they pay you a whole year’s salary just to get rid. Some people have all the luck.”
“Thanks Matt. That is very good information. I promise to tell you my theory as soon as I’ve done some more research.”
Then she paused and added,
“If you don’t mind, I’d rather be alone tonight.”
“Sure. I understand,” I said as I stood up and gave her a peck on the cheeks.
I say some sort of normality because Kelly was still pre-occupied with whatever had been sparked when she’d met Joseph Cummings at the weekend. I knew better than to press her on the matter. She could flare up quite dramatically when backed into a corner.
On the following Thursday morning, just after I’d sent the troops off on patrol she returned to the station with a concerned look on her face.
“Boss, I think we need to talk about Joe Cummings,” was her matter of fact request.
“Sure, come on into my office and you can unload whatever has been consuming you these past few days.”
Kelly sat down and pulled out a folder. She opened it and handed me a sheet of paper. I knew in a second what it was.
“This is a New York State Supreme Court wanted Poster. It is for one Alec Barratt,” she pronounced.
“The photo on that posted bears a striking resemblance to Joe Cummings,” she added.
I looked at it and yes it did look a lot like Joe.
She wasn’t finished yet. Not by a long chalk if the number of pages in the folder.
“Alec Barratt was a senior official in the division of Smithson Brothers dealing with Sub-Prime loans to Fannie-Mae and Freddie-Mac.”
The memories of the turmoil from those days in 2008 came flooding back. I was stationed near DC at the time. A good number of soldiers, sailors and airmen suddenly found themselves with a major housing problem and there were a lot of foreclosures.
“He disappeared on 17th September 2008, exactly one day before both Smithson’s and Lehman’s collapsed. Smithson’s was a tiny outfit compared to Lehman’s but it was large enough to have collapsed with debits close to one billion. He is alleged to have taken nearly $50M with him on the way out of the door via some dodgy transfers to the Caymans and other places made the day before the collapse. This is why the New York DA wants to question him.”
“Are you sure about this identification?”
She smiled.
“I wasn’t until last night when the last bit of the jigsaw fell into place.”
I waited for her to continue.
“I spent several hours going through all the news reports in the WSJ of the time of the Lehman collapse and for the previous year. In October 2008, I found this small item.”
She handed me a screen capture to read.
“It was announced today that T. Dan Davies currently special council to Alec Barratt at Smithson Brothers will be leaving his post to return home to be with his sick mother.”
“Tracy’s mother is alive and well as we both know only too well,” I remarked not fully understanding the contents of the piece.
“That’s not the important bit. The important bit is that Tracy worked for Alec at Smithson’s before it went belly up. My theory is that he was getting out early in order to prepare a bolt hole for the two of them should the shit hit the fan later on. Then I found this picture from a few days later in one of the gossip columns.”
She handed me another screenshot.
The picture told the real story.
It was taken at a NYC restaurant on Halloween 2008. Tracey and Alec were obviously enjoying a romantic dinner together before Tracey left town. They were holding hands.
“Could it be that Tracy is gay and Alec’s lover?”
“That’s how I read it. It explains a lot does it not?”
I considered things for a minute.
“This is all circumstantial. It will be torn to shreds in a minute in court and you know it.”
“But it is something to work on. What if you call your friend in the FBI? Could you call in a favour and find out if either of them have been paying taxes and if so under what names?
The old Al Capone opening gambit.”
I looked at Kelly and my admiration of her went up a good number of notches.
“No. This is your baby. You run with it but I suggest that things are kept very far under the radar until there is some proof. How do we really know that Alec is Joe?”
Kelly looked a bit coy.
“Ok, what have you done?”
“I went to Joe’s place and took his fingerprints from the door to his truck.”
“Oh dear. You know that is illegal. We can’t use it and you know it.”
“But… can’t we just find out if Joe is really Alec so that we won’t be wasting our time if he isn’t?”
“Don’t you realise what will happen if…”
I looked at her sternly.
“You haven’t tried to run the prints yet have you?”
“No. Why?”
“If there is a match then the FBI and god knows what other three letter agencies would be on their way here right now if there was a match. All sorts of alarms would be set off in DC, NYC and god knows where else.”
“So, what shall we do?”
I thought for a moment before answering.
“As I said, this is your baby. You can take your theory and go to Omaha and speak to the FBI personally. I don’t hold out much hope and please don’t let on about the fingerprints. We have to do this legally. If Joe really does turn out to be Alec then he had more than enough money to put out a hit on you.”
“He wouldn’t. Would he?”
“There is no telling what he’ll do. A cornered rat and all that.”
I took a deep breath.
“What I’m trying to say is be careful. All this is totally outside what this Police Department is geared up for. This is not the Big Apple. We don’t have a SWAT team on call just around the corner like you did back east. We are out on our own here. So, we have to be careful, and extra careful.”
Kelly got up and came around my side of the desk. Then she kissed me gently.
“You care. That’s so nice…”
“It is not about caring. It is wanting to keep all my people safe and able to do their jobs when this is all over. We have not had a death in service for a lawman since 1902 and I don’t want one on my watch. Got it?”
Kelly looked sad.
“Ok. Boss message understood.”
“May I suggest that you put this folder in your bottom drawer and sit on it for a couple of days. Don’t forget we have to be out in force at the Lions Dinner tonight.”
Kelly sighed,
“Talk about bringing a girl down to earth with a bump eh?”
I smiled.
“That’s the spirit. Keep on digging. If there is something we can use to prove that Joe is Alec that does not involve breaking the law, then go for it. Ok?”
“Yes boss. Message understood.”
[Three days later]
“Matt, I have an idea about where I can get Joe’s fingerprints without breaking the law,” said Sue-Ellen as she came bounding into my office.
“Yes… And what might that be?”
“The papers he signed to buy his ranch. Won’t they have his prints on it?”
“Ah. I see. A public document. A document that has no rights to privacy. I like it.”
“Can I go over to the land registry then?”
I knew that it would be useless to even try to stop her. The building was just across the street from my office.
“Ok but be circumspect. Concoct a story about looking for irregularities in a number of land deals. Pretend to look at around half a dozen. You never know who will gossip to someone else and before long we have a certain lawyer on our backs again.”
Sue-Ellen grinned.
“That’s the reason why you are Sheriff and not me!”
“Pah. You and I both know that you’d make a good Sheriff. Your problem is that you are scared of trying this seat out for size.”
“So, when are you gonna retire then?”
I smiled.
“The lure of spending my time riding and fishing is getting harder to refuse especially when we get cases like this.”
She looked at me slyly.
“Are you sure that it’s not your involvement with a certain deputy?”
“I really do not know what you are talking about?” I replied grinning.
She just rolled her eyes at me and left me alone again. Ten minutes later Sue-Ellen and Kelly disappeared off to the Land Registry. I was happy that they were working well together.
My heart skipped a beat when I saw him driving with his phone cradled in his shoulder.
“Got him!” I said to myself as I leapt into action.
Grabbing my hat and gun, I raced out of the Station and down the street where he was just pulling up.
I ran in front of the truck and quickly used my phone to capture him still on the phone.
He saw me and his face went beetroot red.
“How dare you photograph me,” he shouted from the open window of the truck.
“Sir, would you please step down from the vehicle,” I said firmly.
“I will do no such thing until you tell me what law I have broken?”
“Sir, I have reason to suspect that you were driving a motor vehicle on public roads and at the same time using a cell phone without hands-free equipment. Now Sir, I will ask you once again to step down from the vehicle.”
The red face went even redder.
“I’m going to call my lawyer right now. I will not step down.”
“Sir!”
I put my hand on my gun.
“Sir! If you do not step down immediately I will be forced to arrest you on the spot. Do not attempt to use that phone as it is evidence in the criminal case against you.”
By now a small crowd had gathered.
He sat there getting angrier and angrier.
I stepped forward with one hand still on my gun and tried to open the truck door.
It didn’t move.
“Sir! Please unlock the door and step down this instant. Otherwise I will be forced to take steps to disable your vehicle.”
“Yeah! Try it. This thing will roll over anything you put in front of it!”
I pulled my gun out of the holster and chambered a round.
“Last chance. Step down right now.”
He gunned the motor and started to move.
The crowd scattered as I put two rounds into the front left tire. Then I put two more into the rear tire.
The truck immediately started to list. This didn’t stop him. He kept it moving.
Sadly, for him, he wasn’t paying full attention to what was in front of him. He ran smack into the rear of a UPS delivery truck.
He tried to reverse but by now both tires were almost flat. I climbed up onto the step and put my gun up against his head.
“Sir! I insist that you stop this vehicle. If you don’t the next shot will be to disable you as I judge that you are a danger to the citizens of the town. What’s it to be then?”
He turned his head and looked up the barrel of my gun.
Reluctantly, he switched off the engine and with my gun still trained on him, he opened the door and climbed down.
“You won’t get away with this. Do you realize how much those tires cost? I’ll sue you personally and I’ll win. My lawyer will make sure of that.”
“Sir, I am arresting you for refusing the legitimate instructions of a Police Officer, using a mobile telephonic device while driving a vehicle in contradiction of State Law, not wearing a seat belt again contrary to State Law, resisting arrest and for dangerous and reckless driving. Anything you say may be used in evidence against you in a court of law. You are entitled to an attorney. If you cannot afford one the state will provide one. Do you understand these rights as I have said them to you?”
“You won’t get any of those charges to stick!” he said triumphantly.
“Do you understand those rights as I have said them to you?”
“Yes. Now will you let me call my lawyer?”
“You will get your one phone call as provided by the law when I take you to the Police Station. Now I am going to put these handcuffs on you. This is standard procedure.”
“You can’t do this to me! I am a prominent landowner in this county. I know people.”
“Sir! I am merely doing my job according to the book of rules that we have to follow.” I said slightly gleefully as I ratcheted the cuffs home probably a bit too tightly.
I looked up and saw several people were filming the proceedings on their phones.
As I held Joe tightly, I said to them,
“If any of you would like to submit the footage you have taken to the Police Department then we would be very appreciative. Especially if you have footage of the crash.”
“Is there a reward?” came a shout from behind me.
“If the evidence you submit leads to the conviction of the suspect then yes we would pay an award.”
I escorted Joe to the station. The UPS driver was scratching his head wondering what had happened. I’d managed to slip a card onto his seat before we headed for the Police Station so I reckoned that we’d be seeing him pretty soon.
“I demand to speak to my lawyer,” he said more and more urgently as I locked him into one of the two cells we had at the station.
“When I sort out the removal of your truck and start processing you I will let you speak to your lawyer. Until then sit down and try to calm down before you have a coronary.”
He glared at me.
“You won’t get away with this. I’ll see you in ruins. I know people who can make things happen to other people. Mark my words, you won’t get away with this.”
“Sir, I am following the law and recording everything you say. You might like to remember that before you say anything else that you later come to regret in court. Making threats against an Officer of the Law is a serious matter.”
He glared at me again but thankfully didn’t say anything.
“I’m going to start the paperwork then I’ll call your lawyer. I think that it would be better all around, if I have specific charges to talk about with your lawyer rather than mythical offences don’t you agree?”
I got another stiff glare back from Joe. I smiled as I locked the cell door and retreated into my office to start drawing up the charges once I’d bagged his phone as evidence.
I’d nearly finished when three people burst into my office. The first two were Kelly and Sue-Ellen. They were closely followed by Tracy Davis.
“Sit down Mr Davis. If you would wait just a minute or two, then I’ll have all the charges documented for you to read.”
“What charges? My client is innocent of everything and you and your idiot police department are going to be on the end of a really huge wrongful arrest suit unless you release my client immediately.”
“Innocent? Failing to stop when directed to by a Police Officer? He crashed into the back of the UPS truck.”
“Only after you shot out his tires! You had no cause to even ask my client to stop!” protested Tracy.
“Mr Davis, as I said, I will have all the charges fully documented within a couple of minutes.
Then and only then will I start to discuss them with you.”
I turned to Sue-Ellen.
“Sue-Ellen, can you go and see if any of the bystanders with mobile phones are interested in helping the police. Although I fully expect that the whole thing is already on the Internet where Mr Davis can see it for himself.”
She grinned back.
“Sure, thing boss.”
Then I addressed Kelly.
“Kelly, I’d like you to start processing the prisoner. Please refrain from violating his rights by talking about his crimes without his lawyer present. You are to follow standard procedure to the letter.”
I turned to his lawyer.
“Is that good enough for you Mr Davis? I have given specific instructions not to violate the rights of your client.”
He just grunted so I nodded at Kelly who left with a smile on her face.
The next few minutes were difficult. I could sense that Tracy wanted to get himself and his client out of her in as little time as possible. He was busy on his phone doing something. I had my suspicions but wasn’t sure but it didn’t matter because his client wasn’t going anywhere for at least the next twelve hours. All the county judges and magistrates were away at a conference and would be back until very late tonight.
I finished writing up the charges and after making copies of the charge sheet, I handed them to Tracy.
The virtual steam erupting from his head only seemed to get worse as he read the list and the reasons for the charge.
“All this because my client was using a cell-phone while driving?”
“Yes. The State legislature passed the law last session. Fines start from $2500.”
I smiled.
“When asked your client to get down from his vehicle, he refused. I asked again and he refused. This time he tried to flee the scene so I put two shots in two of his tyres. Rather open and shut if you ask me.”
There was a light knock on my door.
“Come.”
Kelly entered the room.
“I have processed the prisoner and taken his mugshot, fingerprints and also a DNA sample as required by State Law.”
She handed me a set if evidence bags. I examined them. They were all correctly labelled.
I passed them to the lawyer.
“My Davis, can you please examine the evidence bags and confirm that my officer has filled them out correctly. I don’t want any challenges later on about incorrect chain of control of the evidence.”
He hardly glanced at them before returning them to me.
“Very good Mr Davis. You may speak to your client. The officer will show you to his holding cell.”
“I know the way.”
“Mr Davis! I am doing this by the book. I want to make sure that no high-falluting sweet talking lawyer can challenge the procedure I am following in court. Got it?”
He didn’t respond beyond another glare.
“Deputy, please escort Mr Davis to the cells so that he can speak with his client. May I remind you that such discussions are confidential and they must be left to speak in private.”
“Yes boss,” replied a grinning Kelly.
Once the door was closed, I picked up the phone and called the regional FBI HQ.
“Special Agent Jackson please,” I said when it was answered.
“This is Sheriff Matt Beecher from Custer County”.
To my annoyance, I was put on hold for what seemed an eternity.
Eventually, I was put through.
“Hi Bob. Long time, no speak eh?”
I laughed as he reminded me that I owed him several beers.
“Well, you know where we are if you want to drop by…”
“Yes. I’d like you to do me another favour. I have a set of prints that I’d like run through the federal system, especially those wanted for questioning but it has to be kept very quiet.
There is no telling who in DC the suspects have in their pockets.”
I laughed again.
“Yes Bob. You know me too well. I do have a good idea who it is but I’m going to leave that surprise to you. If my suspicions are correct, there will be a lot of backslapping heading your way. Just don’t forget who gave you the tip eh?”
“Yes, you can have all the glory. I’m just a small-town lawman and want to keep it that way.”
It was Bob’s turn to laugh.
“Sure. Give my best to Sissy and my God children and tell her that I haven’t forgotten that it is her big year this year.”
I hung up the phone with a smile. Bob and I went back to my time as an Army MP. Bob was my Navy opposite number so our paths crossed more often that we’d liked. We’d both tried to date Sissy when we were posted to San Diego. In the end, she chose Bob but I knew she’d made the right choice so there were no hard feelings on my part. I’d even been best man at their wedding.
Half an hour later I faxed the prints off to the FBI and busied myself with some paperwork while the FBI did their thing.
A few minutes later, I had an idea and made a call to the state bar association. They were able to answer my question after a couple of minutes. I hung up the phone and let out a ‘Gotcha!’ quietly.
While I was waiting for the FBI to respond, I did a little searching of my own. The results brought a wry smile to my face.
“Hi Bob. Well?”
“They did eh? Now there’s a surprise. Go on put me out of my misery.”
I listened intently.
“Thanks for confirming the Identity. It confirms that we have the right person in custody.”
“How did I know? One of my Deputies used to be an officer in the NYPD and recognised him from there.”
I sighed as Bob outlined what would happen next.
“Yeah, I know. Lots of paperwork. There always is when the you Feds are involved.”
“His Lawyer? He is about to get arrested on a charge of aiding a fugitive. Can you check to see if there any warrants out for a Tracy Dan Davis. He was assistant to our suspect before the collapse. My suspicion is that the two conspired to avoid justice. The lawyer will also be charged with operating a legal practice without a state license or membership of the State Bar Association which for some reason is the law here.”
“Why? We have given that a lot of thought. All I can think of is that they are hiding in almost plain sight waiting for the statute of limitations of their crimes to expire. Then they’d be home free but I also have to wonder if either of them have paid their dues to the IRS since 2008. The old Al Capone gambit we covered in MP school if you recall.”
“Yes. They won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Get the evidence in front of the judge sooner rather than later eh?”
I hung up and sat still in my office with a smile on my face.
Less than five minutes later, my phone dinged with a text message.
“T Dan Davies wanted in NYC. Go get em!”
Kelly had done good, really good.
I walked out of my office. Kelly looked at me slightly concerned.
I could tell that she was anxious to know what the FBI had said.
“Is Tracy still in with his client?” I said trying to deflect the obvious question that she was itching to answer.
“She nodded. Did they…”
“Yes, we have the Master and the Servant,” I replied as I stepped towards the door that separated off the two cells from the main office.
I’d taken two steps when I stopped.
“Why don’t you do the honours eh? You deserve it.”
A huge grin spread over Kelly’s face as I escorted her to the door.
We were about to open the door then it opened in front of us and Tracy stepped out of the cell and into the corridor.
“Ah. The very people I want to speak to. I demand that my client is released on his own recognisance without delay. He has a very good explanation for everything that happened today.”
I grinned and nodded to Kelly.
“Tracy Davis, you are under arrest for aiding a fugitive from justice. You are also wanted for questioning in NYC. Do I need to read you your rights? I can if you don’t know them?”
He stopped dead in his tracks. The smile that was on his face disappeared in an instant.
This body language was one of resignation. His only reaction was to pull the door closed behind him.
“Can we do some sort of deal over this?”
Kelly looked at me for guidance.
“You will have to wait for the Feds to arrive. They will probably be taking you to their HQ in Omaha or Denver and then onto New York to face the Federal Prosecutor. Then there is the IRS. I’d fully expect that they’ll want their pound of flesh. And, if you survive that, the victims of your little scheme will want to sue the both of you until there is nothing left.”
I could see that the reality of the situation was starting to hit home.
“You will also be charged with operating a Legal Practice without a state license and not being a member of the state bar association.”
“But….”
“Your New York license is no good here. For some reason, you failed to apply for a local one or register with the state bar association.”
Tracy’s demeanour was one of a beaten man. The bravado he’d shown when he’d arrived at the Police Station was long gone. This pleased me because I never did like him. He was always a wily kid at school. No mud would ever stick to his back. In our Senior year, he was awarded the title ‘The one most likely to succeed’. It was only later that it turned out that he’d bribed many of those eligible to vote into casting theirs for him.
“It was all his idea. He knew the end was coming and got me to leave and come back here to find a place to hide out until things died down and the statute of limitations ran out.”
“Tracy, remember your rights,” I said trying to get him to shut up.
“Let me get both of you new Lawyers,” I offered.
He shook his head.
“It can wait until we get processed by the FBI. Should I tell him?”
“No. You are a prisoner remember?”
“Kelly, the cuffs please. I’ll inform our other prisoner of his new situation.”
In an instant Kelly had her cuffs on him. The grin on her face told me that she was enjoying herself.
I had to suppress a grin as I went into the room where our other prisoner was locked up.
“Hello Sam, or should I say Mr Alec Barratt, formerly of Park Avenue West, of New York City.”
He put his face in his hands and mumbled,
“Has that idiot Tracy ratted me out? I’ll make him pay dearly for violating confidentially.”
“I’m afraid not. He didn’t need to ‘rat you out’ as you so eloquently put it. He will soon be joining you in custody. You were recognised by one of my deputies who was in New York when your little get rich quick Ponzi Scheme collapsed.”
He just shook his head and said, “We were so close to getting away with it.”
“But you didn’t. The game is up. Now it is time to pay your dues.”
He nodded his head. The angry man that had defended his privacy was nowhere to be seen.
A Team of agents from the FBI arrived a little over four hours later. Neither of our prisoners objected to being transported to the state capital so they were on their way within an hour.
I was glad to see the back of them.
Six of the FBI team executed warrants to search Tracy’s Office and Home as well as the Ranch. They were going to be with us for a couple of days. Thankfully they’d brought their own command post trailer with them so they weren’t under our feet all the time.
That couldn’t be said for the phalanx of media trucks that turned up about an hour after the prisoners had left.
I took Kelly to one side and said,
“Kelly, I think you should keep out of sight. You know only too well what those leeches could do if they latch onto your past.”
She reluctantly nodded her agreement.
“Where should I go?”
“Change out of uniform and slip out the back and head for my place. It is not the sort of place those newshounds will invade at the drop of a hat or they might have to get their feet dirty. Besides Ma will give them a going over with that buckshot loaded shotgun she keeps by the back door. They won’t forget the episode if they come anywhere near her.”
Kelly didn’t say anything except to give me a brief kiss.
“I’ll be home later. The press mob will want to file copy for their 11pm news broadcast on the East Coast. That is four hours away. Once that deadline has past I’d expect them to gravitate to Harry’s Bar for the evening. They will probably all be gone by tomorrow. Another day, another story to cover.”
She nodded.
We kissed again. This time it was a longer embrace.
“Do you regret taking up with me?” asked Kelly when we’d done kissing.
“Not in the slightest. I wouldn’t be standing here with my arms around you if I regretted getting involved with you.”
Then I smiled and looked her in the eyes for several seconds before saying,
“Besides, Ma approves of you. I’d be plain crazy to go against her.”
We both laughed.
The Town Mayor started a campaign to get that resolved ASAP after all it was election year. That was not something I relished but it looked like I’d get re-elected without much of a fight if any. The Mayor was having to fight a proper campaign as Harry Wong had decided that it was time that the incumbent had to put forward some real policies rather than get through on more of the same as before.
It would not surprise me if Harry actually won on election night.
[The End of this episode].
“Right people, listen up,” I said as I addressed my small team of Deputies.
“I don’t have to tell your that it is Halloween Tomorrow. As usual we need to have a visible presence on all roads into town. Record the license plate of every vehicle that comes into town from 3pm until 8pm. Ma will be manning the phones and will call any incidents in over the radio.”
“Why the change in plan Boss?” asked Tom.
“The State Police have seen some suspicious SUV’s in a few places at various locations up and down the Interstate. Typically loitering outside schools. With almost every child in the county out and about tonight… well it is an ideal time to kidnap or worse.”
“What about the kids who live outside town?”
“Most of them will be transported to their ‘Trick or Treat’ venues by an adult. It is inside town that we have to on the lookout. A lot of the kids will be on foot and that makes snatching them a whole lot easier.”
“What sort of car should we be on the lookout for?” asked Sue-Ellen.
“All cars and that includes local plates but pay particular attention to Panel Vans and SUV’s with blacked out windows.”
I need not have worried. Halloween passed off without serious incident unless you call some teens shoving potatoes up the exhaust pipes of cars that were parked at the School during a PTA meeting serious.
Thanksgiving was next and I hoped that it didn’t snow just before everyone manages to get home and eat some Turkey.
I was sitting in my car on the other side of the county watching a repair gang finish repairing a culvert. It had gotten blocked and caused a lot of flooding in the area. I was determined to make sure that we would not get a repeat this winter.
The gang was just clearing up and all that remained was for the inspector to arrive and for us to agree that the work was complete when my radio crackled into life.
“Sheriff here,” I said in response to the call from Sue-Ellen.
n
“Sheriff, Tommy Burke just called. He said that a plane was circling over the old Cummings place and that something had been thrown out of the plane.”
I sighed. That place was a thorn in our side. Since he’d been arrested the place had been cleared and all the contents sold off. The place was as far as I knew, still up for sale. The trouble was that it was basically a fugly huge McMansion that would have not looked out of place in Beverly Hills but here? I had a mental bet with myself that anyone buying it would simply knock the thing down and start again it was that bad, if it didn’t fall down before it was sold. The County Engineer had already tried to condemn it but the State Bean Counters wouldn’t allow it. If the state condemned it then the state would have to pay for the demolition and carry the charge until such time as a buyer for the place was found and then the lien would have to be settled. Spending money like this was not on the agenda for the State.
“Understood Sue-Ellen. Can you get Kelly and Tom to investigate? I’m at Silver Creek and it will take me more than an hour to get there.”
“Has the Culvert been fixed?”
“I’m waiting for the County Inspector right now. He needs to give it the once over.”
Sue Ellen laughed.
“I can see his truck from here. It has been parked outside the bank for the best part of an hour. I don’t think that the inspection will be happening any time soon.”
“It looks like it. I’ll make sure the guys here finish up and I’ll make my way to the Cummings Place but get Kelly and Tom to investigate. It might be nothing but we have to be sure.”
“Ok Sheriff. I’ll get onto Kelly right away. Out.”
“Sheriff Out.”
I sat back in the car and sighed.
“That Cummings place. Sometimes I wish that it would just disappear into the earth and never come back.”
Half an hour later, I left the culvert work site. The repairs looked pretty good but we’d have to wait until the real winter rains or even the spring thaw to find out for sure. The Inspection would have to wait for another day…
I was halfway back to town when the radio came to life.
“Sheriff, Kelly here,”
“Hello Kelly, are you at the Cummings place?”
“We have just arrived. It looks like the chain lock on the main gate has been shot off.”
My heart sank. That place was living up to its reputation.
“Understood. Proceed with Caution.”
Then I added,
“No, make that extreme caution. We have no idea if the people who broke in are still inside.”
“Understood Sheriff.”
After getting Sue-Ellen to go off in support of Kelly and Tom, I put my foot down and headed for the ‘Old Cummings place’.
I was close to the place when I saw two Police SUV’s parked in the middle of a field along with another truck.
I hurried through the main gate and into the large field where the vehicles were parked.
“Hiya Team. What have you found?”
The smile disappeared from my face when I saw a small parachute and what looked like flour on the ground.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Yes boss. It’s Cocaine.”
“Fuck!”
“Eh?”
“This means getting the DEA Involved. You remember that edict that came out of the State House last month? Any large-scale drug finds are to be referred to the DEA.”
“Oh yeah, I remember it now. I never thought that… Drugs especially hard drugs are just not an issue here.”
“Pot is a bit of a problem with it being legal in Colorado but yes hard drugs are not a problem here… until now that is.”
“Why here? Well apart from the obvious that no one lives here?”
“My guess is the Interstate. You can be in Denver in a few hours and there is next to no civil traffic below twenty thousand feet in the county. From memory, anyone flying below about three thousand feet will be off the Radar.”
“How do you know that?” asked Kelly.
I thought for a moment.
“About six months before you came here, I attended a DEA seminar over in Fort Collins on the subject of drug trafficking. They’d recently busted a Mexican gang that was flying drugs into North Texas and Oklahoma. This has all the signs of being the same modus operandi. In that case, they hauled the shipments out on Trucks using I-40.”
“Thanks Boss. I get you now. We are in a similar situation here with the Interstate and all that.”
“Got that it in one.”
I thought for a moment and then said,
“I’m going back to the office to call the Feds.”
Kelly smiled.
“Will you be done by Dinner?”
“That my dear is the question I’d like answering before I made the call.”
I smiled.
“There is rain forecast for tonight. Can you cover the evidence up with a tarp and dig the edges in so that no rain can contaminate the evidence? I don’t want the DEA calling us ignorant country folk or worse…”
My team laughed.
Back in the office, I fixed myself a large cup of coffee before I sat down and made the call to the DEA. Of all the Federal Agencies we came into contact with, these were the worst and the most territorial of them all apart from Homeland. They were just awful to deal with. As I saw it, their training consisted entirely of learning how to be a ‘bull in a china shop’.
“Agent Webster please,” I said when the call was answered.
“Sheriff Matt Beecher of Custer County.”
“I’ll hold.”
Some thirty seconds later I was put through to the Agent.
“Agent Webster? This is Sheriff Matt Beecher from Custer County. I want to report a suspect landing point for some drugs.”
“We found a used parachute and a load of white powder on the ground. One of my Officers tasted it and it is high quality Cocaine.”
“Yes, there is an Interstate close by. Around five miles with a truckstop and motel.”
“I’ll send you some pictures but we have preserved the scene.”
“Oh… I would have thought that you would want to investigate the scene?”
“I understand. I’ll write everything up and bag the evidence. If you need it, you know where it is.”
“Thanks…”
I hung up and sat wondering what the hell had just happened. They didn’t want to know about the crime scene or the evidence. Still, we or more importantly, I had to cover my ass in case things went pear shaped.
“Why don’t they want to know?”
“I honestly don’t know. Perhaps they have something big going on and can’t spare the resource? We will make sure that our backsides are covered. We bag the evidence and write everything up. Then I send a copy to our friends at the FBI and also to the State Police. We know how the FBI love getting one over on the DEA if the opportunity arises. Keeping the State boys in on the loop might help connect a few dots if there are other cases like this that we don’t know about. We have to keep the chain of evidence intact just in case. Any questions?”
“You seem to have got it covered Boss,” said Tom.
“Kelly?”
“I’m still not sure why the DEA basically couldn’t be bothered to investigate this incident?”
“Ours is not to reason why; Ours is but to do or die…” I replied.
“Eh?” said Tom.
I laughed.
“I quoted a line from the Poem, ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson. It is about the folly of following orders blindly. In this case we do the right thing and let them stew. We are not privy to why they are so disinterested in our little county. There is a chance that they might change their minds so we need to be squeaky clean if they do.”
“I get you Boss. CYA?”
“Indeed and lets’ make that covering gold plated. So, lets’ get on with it?
An hour or so later, all our ‘I’s had been dotted and the ‘t’s crossed. Kelly collated all the information and made sure that we had four copies of everything.
“I’ve put one copy into an envelope for the FBI. The second copy is for the State Police and the third are for our records but what is the last one for?”
I smiled.
“Insurance. If the DEA come barging in and seize our records we won’t have any evidence of our own to take them to task if they get the wrong end of the stick. That copy is for Ma. She has somewhere where she hides all sort of things. I’ll give it to her tonight.”
Then I thought for a moment.
“On second thoughts, why don’t you give it to her?”
Kelly looked at me and smiled.
“I take it that you want me to as Ma to let me in on where she hides things?”
“Me? No chance,” I replied with a grin on my face.
Kelly gathered up the evidence and disappeared with two copies. She would drop the copies for the FBI and State Police off at the local FedEx Collection Point and then head home.
I filed the final copy and sighed. It had been a long day.
I was sitting in the car having just issued the tickets to the driver and told him that we were impounding his truck and trailer. The driver was not a happy bunny to say the least.
I had called Barney SWA on the Radio and he was on his way to tow the trailer back to our ‘impound yard’ and then return for the Pickup.
“What about me?” said the driver who was protesting his innocence.
“There is a motel over there and they have a phone. I suggest that you call someone over in Colorado and get them to come and pick you up. We don’t run a taxi service unless you do something that would make me arrest you?”
“No… No, I don’t want that. What will happen to my truck and trailer?”
“They will be towed to the county impound. The address is on your tickets. If… if by some chance you do not return with a valid license or with someone who does in thirty days we will sell your vehicles at auction in the state capital. Do you understand this?”
“Yeah, I get you.”
“Good. Now the keys please?”
“Eh?”
“As I am impounding your truck and the trailer, I need the keys.”
“No way sunshine. The keys stay with me.”
“Mr Phelps, I will give you one more opportunity. Please hand over the keys to both vehicles or I will be forced to arrest you for obstruction. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“Yeah but I’m not letting you have the keys.”
I sighed. Tom was standing right behind the suspect. He nodded. He was ready to act when required.
“Art Phelps, I am arresting you on a charge of obstruction of Justice. You have the right to remain silent.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know my rights. I did pre-law at Stanford.”
Tom moved in and cuffed Mr Phelps.
He frisked him and produced two sets of keys.
“This what you want Boss?”
I smiled.
“Why don’t you go and give them the once over. We’ll watch. We obviously do not want Mr Phelps here accusing us of planting evidence now do we?”
Phelps gave me a dirty look. That told me that he did have something to hide.
“Sir? Is there anything that we should be careful of in the trailer?”
He didn’t answer.
“Tom, can you start with the trailer but be careful. We don’t know what is inside. The paperwork might say one thing but the reality could be another thing entirely”
“Sure, thing Boss.”
Tom went to the back of the trailer. I marched the suspect to a position where we could see what was going on inside.
“Ok Tom, open her up.”
Tom opened the two large doors.
“Well, well… What do we have here?”
Inside the trailer, there were two Ferrari’s. Both had California license plates.
“Are they yours Mr Phelps?”
He didn’t answer.
“I suspect they have been stolen but that is just a suspicion. At this point in time, I don’t have any proof but... you do understand Mr Phelps that I have to assume until proven that they are indeed stolen. Do you understand that?”
He didn’t answer but I saw his body stiffen a bit.
“Tom, can you see if there are any papers or a bill of lading in the truck?”
“Shall I close this up?”
“Please. We will do a thorough search back at the impound yard.”
Tom closed up the trailer and then searched the truck.
“There is no documentation in the truck, boss. Just a load of fast food trash. This might be of interest though.”
He came over and presented me with a fast food bag.
“See the address.”
I smiled when I read it.
“Ventura?”
I turned to the suspect.
“You are a long way from home. Been on the road for what two if not three days then?”
He didn’t answer.
I knew that there was a lot more to this than there appeared. There was a lot of value inside that trailer.
I made sure that the trailer was parked in our impound yard in such a way so that anyone trying to steal it back would have to move a complete Semi rig out of the way first. It was also surrounded by other vehicles so getting to it would not be just a matter of cutting the chain link fence and hitching up the trailer and driving off into the sunset.
While I put a couple of very large ‘Denver Boots’ on the wheels, I had Tom go over the cars in fine detail. He found the VIN numbers and for once, the engine and chassis numbers tallied. He took a lot of photos for evidence purposes. We just finished when it started to rain. By the look of the clouds, the newly repaired culvert was going to get a good test in the next few hours which was ideal if… it held up.
Back in the Office Tom and I set about tracking down the cars. It didn’t take us long to find that both Ferrari’s had been reported stolen from Malibu four days ago. The classic Red Dino was worth around half a million and the 458 was worth about the same simply because it had only one hundred miles on the clock.
As much as I’d love to keep them… I had to make a call to the local PD in California.
“Hi, this is Sheriff Matt Beecher from Custer County. I’d like to speak to the officer involved with the case of the two stolen Ferrari’s.”
“Yes… I’ll hold.”
Muzak played.
And played. Eventually, it was answered.
“Hi… This is Sheriff Matt Beecher from …” I was interrupted.
“I can assure you that this is NOT a hoax. A trailer with both cars inside is sitting in my impound yard.”
“I was not aware of the reward but as an officer of the law, I cannot accept one.”
I was getting nowhere.
“Look, this is not a hoax. Put me through to the Sheriff. I you don’t then I’ll go to the Highway Patrol.”
I knew that a local PD would not want the State ‘solving’ their case.
Fifteen Seconds later, another voice came on the line.
“Hello Sheriff. As I was explaining to the other person on the phone just now, I am ninety-nine percent sure that those two stolen Ferrari’s are inside a trailer that is in my impound yard right now.”
“Yes, we have the driver in Custody. He got a bit shirty when we decided to impound his truck and trailer because the trailer was overweight.”
“His name is Samuel John Phelps. His driving license gives and address in Durango, Colorado. The licence has expired which was why we were originally going to impound the rig.”
“Yes, we have a set of photos. I can email them to you within the hour. What’s your email address?”
I wrote down the address and repeated it back to him.
“Thanks Sheriff. I’ll get my Officer to send them off right away.”
“Mr Phelps? At the moment he’s looking at charges of obstruction of Justice, driving with an expired license and an overweight trailer.”
“Normally, we’d take him to Clark County which is next door to us. That’s where the nearest Courthouse is. It is too late to get him there today so we are going to have to keep him in the cells until tomorrow.”
“No, he has not asked for a lawyer yet but we have not begun to question him. If he does then that is going to have to wait because we don’t have any lawyers in the county. We are pretty law abiding around here.”
“Oh! I see. I’ll make sure that we hold off for a couple of hours.”
I glanced at the clock. It showed 6:04pm.
“It will soon be time to get him some dinner anyway.”
“Thanks Sheriff. I’ll be here waiting for your call. My numbers will be in the email.”
I put the phone down. I was glad that eventually I’d gotten through to someone with at least two brain cells. I wondered if the PD in Malibu had been receiving a lot of hoax calls? A fifty grand reward could very well cause that sort of thing.
I went in search of Tom who was finishing up his report.
“I’ve just spoken to the Chief of Police in Malibu. Can you send the relevant pictures to this email address? If you include my contract details as well then you can get off home. I’ll stay here for the first shift tonight. Kelly can take over from me at Midnight.”
“Our guest will be staying over then?”
“He will. I’ll draw up the charge sheet for tomorrow. Sue Ellen and I can take him over to Court in Clark County.”
Tom groaned.
“I know that means desk duty tomorrow but it is your turn is it not?”
I pointed at the rota that was on the noticeboard.
Tom didn’t answer. Like most officers he hated desk duty. In reality that meant doing the filing, cleaning out the cells if they’d been occupied and generally doing housework around the station. We needed someone here between 8:00am and 6:00pm which are the advertised opening hours of the office.
I left Tom and went to the back of the Office where our three cells were located.
Mr Phelps gave me a dirty look as I came towards his cell.
“Lawyer!” he said.
“Ok, your request is noted. We don’t have any lawyers in town so it won’t be until we go over to Clark County tomorrow to see the judge that you will be able to converse with one. We will make time available to do that before you see the judge. Do you understand this?”
He nodded his head.
“Now that you have asked for a lawyer, I am not allowed to question you regarding the case or the charges that you might face. However, I do have to ask you what you would like for Dinner. We have a Diner close by that we use when we have guests overnight.”
A small smile appeared on his face and then disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.
“Steak? Is that ok?”
“With all the trimmings?”
“Yes. Rare.”
“Good. I’ll get it sent over in about an hour. I’ll be here until Midnight when one of my deputies will take over until the morning.”
I left him to stew. He seemed resigned to spending the night as our guest. I did wonder what he’d say to Judge Horowitz in the morning. I shrugged my shoulders. That wasn’t my problem.
I was surprised to see Tom still sitting at his desk.
“Shouldn’t you be on your way home?”
“Yes but…”
I knew that look of old.
“On the off chance, I called the Colorado DMV. There was still someone there and they were able to do a search. His license is fake. The address in Durango is fake as well. It is the address of the local Home Depot store.”
I sighed. More charges inevitably meant a lot more work for us.
Then Tom dropped another bombshell.
“This this just arrived back from California,” he said as he turned his display so that I could read it.
I read the email with increasing credulity. The owner of the two Ferrari’s was declining to press charges and was not pursuing an insurance claim for their theft.
As far as vehicle theft and transportation goes, Mr Phelps did not have a crime to answer for.
“Thanks Tom. I’ll get confirmation of this from the Malibu Chief of Police before letting Mr Phelps know the good news and the bad news. You get off home now ok!”
He didn’t need anymore hints and left me alone in the Office.
I phoned over the order of Steak to Harry’s Bar and added some Meat Loaf for myself. While I waited, I phoned Kelly and let her know the bad news about coming in after Midnight. Ma was not best pleased as she’d prepared a meal for me at home but knew that this was all part of the job I did.
“Here you are Mr Phelps. Steak as you ordered. Sorry about the plastic knife. That’s a state rule after a prisoner tried to take his own life a few years back.”
He didn’t look pleased but accepted the situation.
I left him to eat alone while I had my own meal.
The town was silent as midnight approached. Folks in these parts don’t stay up late during the week. There was a cool breeze coming up from the south now that the earlier rain had passed through. I heard Kelly’s truck a couple of minutes before she pulled up outside the Office.
We didn’t say much during the handover as the door to the cells was open. When it was done, I took her outside and gave her a goodnight kiss.
“Any problems, don’t go into his cell. Call me, Tom and Doc Robinson in that order.”
“I know the rules.”
I gave her another kiss to stop any more complaints.
We had rules about women officers and male prisoners. The same applied to female prisoners and male officers. No opening of cell doors except in the case of a fire until at least one other officer or the doctor was present.
I was just about to give the bad news to Mr Phelps when another email arrived. This one from Denver office of the FBI. This one was even more of a surprise to me than the one from Malibu. I had to read it three times before it even began to sink in.
With a wry smile on my face, I went to check on our prisoner.
“Mr Phelps, We will be taking you over to Clark County in an hour. We will arrange for a lawyer to be waiting for you but the good news is that the owner of the Ferrari’s in California has declined to press charges. He just wants them back. In my estimation, you will be facing a few misdemeanour charges so expect a fine of a few hundred dollars and you can be on your way. But… your truck remains impounded until you return with a valid driving license or your appointed representative does it for you. May I also remind you that there is a twenty-five dollar a day storage fee to be paid upon release. Failure to remove your vehicle within twenty-eight days will mean that the county will sell your truck at auction in order to recover those storage fees. Do you understand this?”
He glared at but eventually he said,
“Yes.”
“How do I get out of this shit hole?”
I smiled.
“There is a Taxi company in Clark County who will take you to Denver should you so wish. Their office is just around the corner from the courthouse. It may cost in the region of eighty dollars. There is a bank just across from the courthouse that has an ATM again, should you so need it.”
He returned another glare. As he did so, I thought of the saying, ‘if you can’t do the time then don’t do the crime’. In his case, ‘if you can’t pay the fine then don’t do the crime’.
Then I dropped a bombshell.
"It turns out that the Malibu PD were unhappy at the owner not wanting to press charges so they did some more digging and found that he didn't have proper title to the cars. Ferrari's have an owners register and his name was not on it for these two cars. The real owner is in Florida and wants his cars back. They were stolen almost three years ago. That means you will be facing extra charges relating to you being in possession of stolen property and transporting them across state lines. I fully expect that given the other problems we have had validating your address that you will be remanded without bail as a potential flight risk.”
That got me another glare.
“The shipping manifest you provided was forwarded to the FBI by the Malibu PD. They have taken the ball and scored a big touchdown. The person you were going to deliver them to in Chicago is a person of interest to them. Both they and the IRS raided his home and offices last night. He was arrested on suspicion of money laundering and tax evasion. It will be all over the news later as he is a former pro-footballer who declared himself bankrupt three months ago. Good one that. My take is that even if he didn’t put up the money himself, someone is out of pocket to the tune of one million dollars and all because they didn’t put that container on the train. Makes you wonder don’t it eh?”
He just glared at me.
“I know, you were paid a pittance to deliver something that you could only dream about.”
This time, he grunted back at me.
He just glared back at me.
"Use that time you have with the Public Defender wisely."
Then I left him to stew for a bit until it was time for him to be taken to Clark County for his court appearance.
The Judge Horowitz took a dim view of people coming over from Colorado and committing crimes in our state so he fined Mr Phelps a total of Four Hundred Dollars. Then he was ordered to be held on charges relating to interstate transportation of stolen vehicles. When he was asked if he had anything to say, Mr Phelps cried out, 'This whole place is a shit hole'. The judge added another hundred dollars to his fine for contempt.
The place was to many ‘townies’ a veritable shit hole but to us it was home and you would have to pay us a heck of a lot of money to go and live in a crowded city. I smiled as I realised how quickly Kelly had adjusted to life in this rural backwater after being brought up in New York, the city that never sleeps.
[Postscript]
The proper owner of the two Ferrari’s sent a Miami based vehicle recovery company to collect his cars a few days after the court case. It was only then that we found the real details about the case. It turned out that the cars had been stolen from Florida a few years before. The Malibu PD arrested the person who had declined to press charges for their theft. He got two years jail time and a huge fine for his troubles.
Mr Phelps did a deal over the stolen car transportation and got a two-year sentence suspended for one year. Now a free man, he re-appeared twenty-six days after his arrest to claim his Truck. This time he had a valid New Mexico Driver’s License with him. We did check with their DMV just in case. He paid the storage charge and left town just before another rainstorm hit us.
By all reports, the newly repaired culvert did its job very well despite it never receiving an official seal of approval and so far, there has not been any further sightings of aircraft flying low over the county but we are keeping an eye open just in case.
Such is the life of a County Sheriff.
[The End]
One of my least favourite duties as Sheriff, was notifying people that one of their loved ones had died. It is was local then they’d often already know of a death and my arrival would be the confirmation. Occasionally, the death may have happened on the other side of the world and it was down to local law enforcement to do the deed.
Normally I’d go on this task accompanied by a female deputy but on this particular day, Sue-Ellen and Kelly were away helping the State Police on an operation in a neighbouring county so it was left to me to head out to the Wilson Farm to give them the bad news. The other bit of a downer for me was that their home was on the far edge of the county and the last ten miles of the journey is along a dirt road that hasn’t seen a grader for fifty years. Such is the lot of a County Sheriff.
The head of the family, Joe Wilson was using a chainsaw on some fence posts the front of the homestead when I pulled up.
“Joe?”
He saw me and cut the motor to the saw and removed his ear defenders.
“Oh, Hiya Sheriff. What can I do for you on this fine day?”
“Joe, can we go inside. Is Maria around?”
“This don’t sound too good? Has Joey been caught speeding again?”
“Not Joey, your brother Tommy.”
Joe looked at me and knew that it wasn’t good news.
“I’ll go find her. She was in the stables the last time I heard her.”
“Thanks Joe.”
Five minutes later, the three of us were gathered in the kitchen of the farmhouse. I'd accepted their offer of some coffee even though I knew that I'd probably not drink it.
“To cut a long story short, I received a message from the Alaska State Police Department in Anchorage late last night. It concerns your brother Thomas Wilson. Some hunters found him at his cabin. They’d been asked to call in on him as he hadn’t been seen for several months. They found him dead and so was a huge male grizzly that was from the report very, very thin and by implication, very hungry. I think you can guess the rest. We all know that Tommy went to Alaska because he wanted to live off grid and enjoy the simple life and from memory, the last time he was down here was the year that I graduated High School. I remember him coming to speak to the school about his life in the wilderness. He spoke with real emotion and from the heart.”
Neither of them had shown much emotion.
“I wondered if something had happened when he missed Maria’s birthday. Until this year, he’d always sent a card and a few words,” said Joey with a lot of sadness in his voice.
I nodded.
“According to the State Troopers who went up to his cabin to investigate
it must have happened around last March. That’s when the bears start emerging from hibernation and are very hungry. There was clear evidence of a fresh Moose kill at the cabin.”
“Well,” said Joey,
“He knew the risks and accepted them.”
“That is the same with all the ‘Off Grider’s’ in that part of the world. They use the Railroad to get stuff in and out. No roads and probably never will be.”
“What happens next? Do we need to arrange for the body to get flown down here? I’m not sure if we can afford that.”
I smiled.
“The State Trooper who informed me of his death also said that Tommy like most of his fellow off-gridders, had paid for a funeral years ago. It is happening next Friday. He left a will with a lawyer in Anchorage. Everyone up there does that. The result is that you are now the owners of around sixty square miles of Alaska. According to the Trooper I spoke with earlier, Joey had made a little money panning for gold and put it aside for essentials such as supplies that needed to be ferried on by train and property taxes for the next 10 years. That surprised me but the Trooper said that this was not that unusual. Many of the those who live off grid are years behind with their taxes then they’ll pay off all the arrears and some years in advance. That is the nature of life up there. I can’t say that it tempts me but Tommy obviously loved it and… well, I’ll leave you the ME’s report. It came in by email just before I came over here. You can read it sometime and draw your own conclusions.”
“I think we should try to go to his funeral,” said Maria.
“Yeah. I’ll send a few extra steers to market when we get back. That should pay for our trip,” said Joey.
I handed over the papers that I’d printed out before leaving the office. The Medical Examiner’s report was very brutal but honest.
“Thanks for coming over in person to let us know,” said Maria.
I manged a little smile.
“That’s ok Maria. I think it is better to have these things said face to face rather than over the phone. All part of my job service you good people.”
“Why is Zeke Samson in the cells?” I asked my Deputy, Billy-Joe McLain, when I walked through the door.
“Zeke was caught dealing at the High School. They called me and I brought him back here. I’m waiting for his parents to turn up. Principal Smith will be along shortly to make a statement.”
I just shook my head. Everyone in the town and county knew that the High School is off limits for Drugs and Booze. There is a clear zero tolerance policy. Yet, every couple of years someone thinks that they can outsmart the school and us and every couple of years we get that someone in jail and they can experience their life plans disappearing up in smoke right before their very eyes.
Zeke was just the latest in a line of Samson’s to get into trouble with the law. They ran a rather decrepit farm on the edge of the County where it borders Clark County. That part of the county is pretty sparsely populated mostly due to the very poor soil. Grass is thin just like the soil. In many places the latter was totally absent. If they could have harvested their rock they would be rich but it was poor quality schist what has no commercial value.
“Does his family know what he’d been doing?”
Stan laughed.
“I tried to call them but the number is out of service. According to the phone company it was disconnected two weeks ago because they didn’t pay their bills.”
I sighed. That was probably why Zeke was peddling drugs.
“Stan, do you want to drive over and break the bad news. What was it that he was pushing?”
“Just some pills. We don’t know what is in them and he’s not saying a word.”
“Get them sent off to the lab today and then go over to their farmstead. He’s still a minor so one of his parents has to be here before we can talk to him.”
“Gotcha Sheriff.”
Stan was an ‘ok’ deputy. He really lacked the drive to succeed but he was reliable. He was proud that after almost twenty years in the department he has never had to draw his weapon let alone fire it in anger. Despite that, every month he’d go over to Clark County and spend two hours on their range. My other deputies were not as diligent but we were called upon to even draw our firearms no more than once or twice a year so I let it slide.
Despite his faults, Stan had a lot of empathy when it came to dealing with people. He could relate to people in times of crisis. Kelly had it as well. She had it in droves. If I could have bottled what they have I’m sure we’d make a fortune.
I was still daydreaming when my mobile phone started ringing. From the tone, I knew that it was Kelly who was calling.
“Hi Darling, this is most unexpected.”
“Oh, I see. Where are you?”
“Yeah. I know where you mean.”
I listened intently to what she was saying. When she’d finished I said,
“I will get onto this right away. Stan is going over to the Samson Homestead. Zeke was caught dealing at the High School.”
“We tried. Apparently, they have not paid their phone bill so it was disconnected.”
“Yeah, that leaves Billy-Joe on his own here but we’ll manage. When…?”
“Tomorrow! That’s great. Bye.”
Kelly had just told me that their work with the State Police was nearly done. It was a combined State Police and Homeland operation. Three illegal brothels had been found operating at other Truck Stops on the Interstate. Most of the women working in them were apparently Asian. Kelly knew a bit if Thai and Sue-Ellen spoke Spanish. The State Police had one Vietnamese and two Chinese speaking female officers so most of the bases were covered.
What worried me was that they’d found some documentation indicating that a new brothel was being setup at our very own Truck stop. These were what was being called ‘pop-up brothels’. These operated for up to a week at a time before moving to a new location often in a different state to avoid attracting attention. The Truckers could well have CB phrases to tell others where they were. Smart guys those truckers and being on the road for possibly weeks at a time, a little sexual relief would be perfect for them despite it being illegal in almost every state other than Nevada.
“I’m going up to the Truck stop and have a bit of a sniff around. Kelly has just given me a tipoff.”
“Sure thing Boss.”
“Tom will be coming in at four to relieve you.”
“Yeah. That’s what he said when he called in a while back.”
“Good. Any problems call me on my cell phone. I may not be in my car all the time.”
“Gotcha.”
I drove over to the Truck stop and parked on the overbridge. This is a normal place for our cars to stop and watch the traffic so should not prove to be suspicious to people on the highway or at the Truck stop.
There were about six rigs parked up at the Truck Stop and about thirty cars and SUV’s parked in a separate lot. It would soon be getting dark which meant that some of those cars may well be done driving for the day and their occupants could well be settling into their rooms the Motel. Well, that’s what I hoped would be the case.
I sat on the overbridge for almost an hour. Five of the rigs left to carry on their journey into the now near total darkness. When it gets dark in this part of the world it is truly dark. Almost zero light pollution leaves a virtual wall of dark only a dozen yards from the ends of the down-ramps. A driver could have only a set of red tail lights in the distance to follow for a long time. This is one of the reasons I love this part of the world. Plus the fact there isn’t a ‘fast food outlet’ every few yards unlike most cities around the country these days.
After a good amount of time had passed, I got out of my car and wandered over to the Restaurant. About a dozen tables were occupied with people who were eating their food. I went into the Male Rest Room and answered the call of nature. I didn’t really need to but I had to make it look like I was just doing my job.
When I was done, I wandered out of the Restaurant and over to the Motel Entrance.
I recognised the woman in the Office.
I opened the door and went inside.
“Sorry, we are full tonight!” came a voice from behind the counter.
“I’m not after a room Kathy.”
She looked up and smiled at me.
“Oh! Hello Sheriff. What are you doing here at this time of night?”
I chuckled.
“Being Sheriff does not get me out of working at least one evening every week. I was in the area and needed to use the Men’s Room over at the Restaurant.”
She sighed.
“Same here. I’m on nights all this week. Wendy-Jean is off sick.”
“Oh well. Don’t be long before you lock the door. You never know who’s prowling around a night.”
“Or ‘what’… Remember the Skunk that invaded us last year?”
I smiled back.
“I do indeed. We threw the book at the man for bringing it into a Hotel. Pet Skunk or not, those critters are not welcome in decent places.”
“It still took the cleaners more than a week to fumigate the place. I lost a week’s wages over the incident. They tried to blame me for letting it into the Motel even though I wasn’t on duty at the time.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. They Motel company let their insurance lapse so had to cover this themselves.”
“Tell me about it…”
“Anything strange been happening around here recently?”
Kathy smiled back at me.
“You mean like those two former Greyhound busses around back? They’ve been there for four… no make that five days now.”
“Really?”
“Go and take a look for yourself. They’ve been there for a couple of days now.”
She tossed me a room key.
“Room 221. They are a scheduled late arrival so please don’t mess anything up or I’ll get fired.”
I smiled back at her.
“Thanks. I’ll only be a few minutes.”
I went upstairs and entered room 221. I didn’t switch on the light but went over to the window and peered out. Sure, enough there were two vehicles that did indeed look like former Greyhound Coaches parked out the back. Even though there were blinds down over the windows, I could see that there were lights on inside so it did look like people were either living in them or it was what the State Police called a pop-up Brothel.
I took a few photos and left the room just as I’d found it and returned downstairs.
“Thanks Kathy. I think those busses are being used as a Brothel but you didn’t hear that from me ok?”
She smiled back at me. We’d dated when we were both in High School. Then I went into the Army and she ended up marrying a man who worked for the County.
“Gotcha Sheriff. What are you going to do next?”
“I don’t know. This is a new one for me. I had to deal with a couple of ladies operating out of the back of their station wagons when I was in the Army but this is a who different ball game. I think I may leave them be for tonight.”
“Don’t leave it too long Sheriff. They were only here three days last month before they left just as suddenly as they’d arrived.”
“I get you. Thanks Kathy.”
She smiled back at me.
“What I don’t get is how do their clients know where they are operating out of? If they move about all the time they must have some way of telling the ‘johns’ where to go for a quick one?”
Kathy sighed.
“Social Media. That’s my guess. Just create private group on Facebook or WhatsApp and … Well, I think you can guess the rest.”
I pondered for a few seconds.
“You might be right. Apparently, you can get most anything via Social Media these days…”
Kathy laughed.
“Right on top of it as usual eh Matt?”
I smiled back at her and walked out into the night.
As I got back into my car, I remembered that they were parked where the old RV park was. It had been moved away from the Motel a year or so before because of a few fairly noisy parties being held by some RV owners. Residents of the Motel had complained so the RV’s lot was moved to the far side of the Truck Stop close to where Drivers parked their Rigs overnight. There was already a shower block and power so the regular RV users didn’t complain.
I sat on the Overbridge for another half hour thinking things through. These were cunning people. I even wondered if the move of the RV parking had been ‘engineered’ by the gang so as to provide a spot for their operations well away from public view.
The next morning, I emailed the photos and my report for Kelly and the State Police Officer, a Captain Hartz, who was leading the task force.
It didn’t take long before my phones started ringing and a conference call setup.
“It is all there in my report. What I saw and everything. I really don’t have much more to add apart from the fact that the two busses are still there or were half an hour ago.”
“I don’t think I can just detain them. For one I don’t have any proof that would stand up in Court. All I have is some suspicions. If you can get a search warrant then I’ll happily execute it on your behalf.”
“No Captain Hartz, I can’t just barge in and search the Busses. There is a little matter of ‘just cause’. As I said, if you can persuade a judge to sign off on a search warrant at a state level then I’ll gladly execute it for you. And before you say that I’m copping out, I have myself to think of. State law makes my county liable for the damages resulting from an illegal search. That does not apply if the warrant is issued to the State Police and I’m acting on their behalf. A similar case in Davis County from more than five years ago is still rumbling around in the courts. We don’t have the resources to withstand such actions and from what I’ve seen, this gang are well organised which means well-funded, and the leaders will no doubt have some very expensive lawyers on speed dial.”
No one said anything.
“Get a warrant and we will act on it,” I said re-enforcing the message that I was not going to act on my own.
The call ended soon after that.
After thinking what my next move should be, I called my depleted team together.
“We may be called upon to execute a search warrant on two Busses parked behind the Motel at the Truck stop. They are suspected of being a mobile brothel. The State Police are attempting to get a warrant as we speak so we must be prepared to act as soon as they get the warrant.”
“Is this where Sue-Ellen and Kelly are? With the State boys?”
“Yes Stan. They are heading back here as fast as they can. Their ETA is two hours. If their language skills are needed then I’d prefer to wait until they get here.”
“What about the State Police? Why aren’t they taking part in this?”
“The task force is working on other leads and locations at the moment. It might be that when we go in, the other parts of the gang might decide to bug out and high tail it out of the State. The State boys will go after them.”
No one said anything so I carried on.
“Tom, can you go to the Stateline Westbound Speed Trap and setup your cameras. We have not been there for about a week so it is time for a visit. As it is one of our regular locations it should create no suspicion. If the two Busses do come your way then just get it all on tape. Don’t try to stop them. Understand?”
“Gotcha Boss!”
“Stan, I’d like you to wait in the underpass to the east of the truck stop. Again, don’t do anything until I give the word. When I do don’t use the Interstate to come west. Use the farm tracks.”
Stan smiled.
“Understood Boss!”
“Billy-Joe, can you take your cruiser and park up on the Freeway Junction. Please park facing towards the Truck Stop and stay put. Leave your dash-cam recording. Pretend to be doing paperwork. If you see the two Busses leave, let us know over the Radio but don’t follow them. Channel 3 today please. Can also you keep an ear on the CB channels? It is possible that some Truckers might be using CB to pass on location details to other drivers. You are far more familiar with CB talk than any of us.”
Billy-Joe smiled.
“Sure thing Boss.”
Then he added,
“Where will you be?”
I’m going to wait for the Warrant. When I get a copy, I’ll let you all know. The signal will be, ‘Harry’s got his special Meatloaf on the Menu tomorrow’.”
“Boss, Harry has Meatloaf on the menu every day…” asked Stan.
“That’s why it is a perfect call. We all eat there at least once a week so anyone listening in on the Police Radio won’t think that this is a signal to start an operation,” said Tom.
"Boss?" said Stan.
"Aren't our Radios supposed to be private? What was the word... Encrypted?"
"That they are Stan, but I got an email a couple of days ago about a possible back door to the system. The radio company will be patching them in a few weeks. Until then, we should assume that someone is able to listen in on our communications. The people behind this operation are obviously aware of police operations. How else could they have gotten away with it for so long eh? I think it is better to err on the side of caution."
No one disagreed with my assessment so I carried on.
“When I send the message, I’ll be on my way. It will take me twenty minutes at least to get to the Interstate so if you time your moves right, we can converge on the rear of the Motel at the same time. Unless they Bug out, radio silence on all matters to do with this. Anything else is ok. Just appear normal.”
“Who will be manning the desk here?” asked Stan.
“Ma is coming in to take over. She’ll be here in a while. She’s taking some of her cornbread to Mr Chase over on Hill Road. When she’s done that she’ll be here.”
“Any more questions?”
None of my officers said anything.
“Ok, get going. You all know what to do but it will be two hours before Sue-Ellen and Kelly get here. I want a full team on the raid. And, wear your full body armour. There is no telling what weaponry they have. Stab vests might not be enough for this operation. Put them on before you leave here. Understood.”
The all nodded their understanding.
Almost eighty minutes had elapsed before Ma arrived having done all her errands for the day. Five minutes later, my email pinged. The warrant was also here. I quickly printed off three copies and put them in the pocket of my body armour.
Before leaving I made the call to the team.
“Harry says that he has his special meatloaf on the menu today. We gotta look sharp or it will all be gone.”
I hoped that my little extra conveyed the sense of urgency that I wanted to instil in my team.
“You take care Matt and look after Kelly. She is very special to me!” said Ma as I made my way to the door.
“I will take care of myself and all my officers not just Kelly Ma. I try not to take risks where I don’t need to. You should know that by now!”
“I do but it does not stop me worrying. That’s my right isn’t it?”
“Yes, Ma I know it is and I’d rather have it that way than any other.”
For once my operational planning went wrong. I was delayed getting to the Interstate by a tractor on the road. Modern Tractors are huge beasts and have large price tags to go along with it. This big green and yellow monster took up both lanes of the road between town and the Interstate. It was towing of what looked like a load of brown sludge in a spreader. It smelt pretty bad as well.
There was nowhere for it to pull off the highway for almost a mile so putting on my lights and siren would not have made any difference. I just had to wait until the ‘thing’ turned off the road.
When I arrived at the Truck Stop, my three Deputies had arrived and decided to move in just in case they were being watched. The two Busses were still there and had made no attempt to move since we’d checked on them almost three hours before.
Hot on my tails were Kelly and Sue-Ellen.
“Sorry for being late. Two semi’s took fifteen miles to do an overtake of another one,” explained Sue-Ellen.
I smiled.
“I’ve only just got here myself. Don French was on the road in that new John Deere Tractor of his.”
The both nodded.
“The others started without me so let’s see what is going on,” I said slightly concerned by the lack of movement around the two Busses.
As we approached, Stan emerged from one of the Busses.
“Hiya Boss. Everyone’s flown the coop. Both Busses are empty. It looks like they left in a hurry. There is a warm cup of coffee inside one of them.”
I swore quietly to myself. Then I made a decision.
“Everybody out!” I shouted out.
“And that means now!”
My deputies emerged from the busses. I mentally praised them because they were all wearing gloves.
“What’s wrong Boss?”
“As there is no one to detain or question, we should leave them to the State Police. That is if there is evidence of them being used as a Brothel?”
Tom and Stan looked at each other and sniggered.
“All the rooms have a bed and a mirror on the ceiling. There are used condoms everywhere. If they aren’t Brothels then my name is not Tom, said Tom.
“Good. Take a few photos and then we sit back and wait for the state forensic people to arrive. This is their case so let them carry the costs.”
No one disagreed with this.
“Boss?” said Stan.
“Yes Stan?”
“There really is something that you need to see right away.”
“Is it evidence?”
“Yes, it is but…”
“But what?”
Stan looked at Tom for a long second before answering.
“There is a driving license on the floor of the first room. It belongs to Tom’s brother. I went to school with him so I know his face anywhere.”
Tom looked shocked.
“But… He’s dead? The Army told us that he was blown up near Kandahar almost five years ago?”
We all knew the facts of the case.
“Sorry Tom but a driving license with his picture on it is on the floor. How it got there is a mystery,” said Stan.
I stepped forward to go and investigate. Tom did the same.
“Sorry Tom, you need to step back from this one. You may be a material witness to a crime. We simply don’t know yet.”
He looked angry for a few seconds. Then he relaxed. He knew that what I said was right.
“Tom, stay here. Stan and I will record the scene and bag the license. Then you can formally identify it ok?”
He nodded his head.
Stan soon showed me where the licence lay. It was on the floor next to an obviously well used bed. We both photographed it and then I bagged it. All the time Stan was photographing me doing the bagging. Finally, I got him to take some closeup shots of the license. Then we went outside the bus.
Tom came forward as soon as we stepped down from the vehicle.
I showed him the bagged evidence. One look at his face told me everything.
“I take it that it is his then?”
“That’s his picture all right.”
“And the details on the License?”
Tom looked at the address on the License. I knew he’d have some questions. The License was issued by the Florida DMV.
“Fort Myers? What? As far as I know he’d never been to Florida before he went overseas. The date of birth is wrong. This makes him more than two years older than he would have been.”
“There is a mystery to be solved but not by us. We have to let the State Police run with this.”
Tom begrudgingly nodded his head.
“Tom?”
He looked me in the eyes.
“Better not say anything to your family until … well you know the process. I’m sure that you don’t want to alarm them without due cause.”
“Ma would not like to go through his death again. I’ll keep quiet. What about State? Won’t they want to question her?”
“I’ll try to head them off at the pass. If you need to take any time to be with your family just do it. All you need to do is text me. Understand?”
“Gotcha Boss. And… thanks.”
“Tom, we are a team here. We look after each other. You are not alone here.”
Tom didn’t need to say anything. He knew that we were all behind him. That’s one of the advantages of working in a small department.
I looked at my watch.
“Stan, can you stand guard on these Busses?”
“Gotcha boss. How long should I stay? Jimmy’s playing basketball tonight and I promised him that I’d be there.”
“Billy-Joe can take over at four from you if the State Police aren’t here by then.”
“Billy-Joe, why don’t you go home for a few hours. It is your turn for evening duty so if you don’t hear anything from either Stan or myself report back here at four to relieve Stan. Ok?”
“That’s fine by me Boss.”
“Good. Now get some lunch. Kelly and I will talk to the State Police.”
The others went off towards the restaurant. Tom promised to bring Stan something to eat shortly. Kelly and I headed for my car.
Once inside, I gave her a brief kiss. She didn’t respond. Her mind was clearly on other things.
“What’s up?”
“This case. That driving license is mad. Why would Tom’s brother who was declared KIA have his Florida driving license here?”
“Yeah, I know. It is a bit of a mystery.”
“Time to update the Captain I think?”
I phoned the Captain and connected the speaker.
“Hello Captain. This is Sheriff Matt Beecher here. I have my Deputy, Kelly Fitzpatrick with me.”
“Yes, I got the warrant but there was no one on the busses when we arrived. It was clear that whoever was there left in a hurry. A still warm cup of coffee was discovered by my officers.”
“Yes Captain. We have secured it. We are waiting for your people to arrive.”
“Yes… There is something else. Something that does not make sense one little bit.”
“We found a driving license on the floor of one of the two Busses.”
“No Captain, that in itself is not out of the ordinary. However, this license has the photo of someone who was supposed to have been killed in action near Kandahar around five years ago. The photo and the name are of the brother of one of my Officers. That’s how we knew that it was strange. The License was issued by the Florida DMV and has an address in Fort Myers. It just does not make sense unless…?”
“Yes Captain. I have stood that officer down from the scene. He knows not to go messing with a crime scene but he does not want his family involved at this stage. If this is all fake then they don’t need to be involved at all. They have grieved once already.”
“Yes Captain. Understood.”
“How did your raids go?”
We listened as he gave us a status update.
“I agree. It is certainly possible that someone at one of those other locations tipped off the people here.”
“There is something else. I positioned one of my officers at a regular speed trap just short of the Colorado Border. We may well have the vehicle they used to decamp on camera. We also had a camera on the exit to the Truck Stop. We will need some time to examine the evidence but we may well be able to identify the vehicle.”
“Yes Captain. We should have all the licence plate numbers. I’ll let you know what we find.”
I closed down the call and looked at Kelly. She was in deep thought.
“What if they have all moved on to another state. I’m sure the Captain is thinking those very same thoughts.”
“I agree. To have five raids go in within ten minutes of each other and for all of them to find no people inside is clearly suspicious. There is either a leak in the State Police or the people running this are well connected. Perhaps they have people inside the State Attorney’s Office?”
“Or the simple fact that some PD’s are not as circumspect about using their radios as we are. We let a murderer get away back in New York because someone said the wrong thing on the Radio.”
I smiled.
“The State Police Radios are not encrypted like ours. Scanners are only a few bucks on Ebay or Amazon but they don’t work with our radios.”
Then I added
“As far as I know it anyway.”
“Oh, I didn’t realise,” exclaimed Kelly.
The State Troopers had to rely on funding from taxes paid to the state whereas we are self-funding. Since we took down Joe Cummings and Tracey Davis we have more than enough funds in the ‘bank’ to fund us for two years even if we never issued a single ticket in that time. The electors of the county adopted this way of working via the ballot box. Now, if we have a new bit of kit, they know that they have not had to pay for it unless they did wrong. Despite of this, we adopt a very flexible approach towards issuing tickets to residents of the County. Do something once and you get a ticking off. Do it again within six months and you get a ticket is the general rule we follow for motoring offences unless they are really bad apart from DUI’s and possession of Narcotics.
We have to live amongst the people so being fair to them makes our personal lives a whole lot easier.
“Let’s get back to the Office and look at the images from the overbridge and the Stateline.”
“Good Idea. There is nothing more we can do here is there?” asked Kelly.
“Nope and it does mean that we might get home for supper tonight at a decent time!”
Kelly laughed. I knew that from the tone of her laugh that she doubted that I would get home for dinner before 9:00pm at the earliest.
It did not take us long to identify the same truck doing 2mph under the legal speed limit fifteen minutes later heading into Colorado.
It was Kelly that noticed something a bit odd about the Truck.
“That’s got vents along the side. I would not have thought that those sort of vehicles would have them.”
“Eh?”
“Show me?”
Sure enough, there were ventilation louvres cut into the side of the truck a few inches below the roof.
“That’s like your Horsebox!” she added.
She was 100% correct. The louvres meant that it was meant for carrying something that was alive. Normal U-Haul vehicles don’t have vents like that. The mystery was deepening all the time.
“That lock on the back looks to be non-standard as well!”
The rear door was secured with an electronic lock. This was strange.
“That’s the sort of vehicle that could move people. As it is U-Haul, no one takes any notice of them. They have trucks and vans everywhere which makes it a perfect cover.”
Yet again, I was amazed at the ingenuity of criminals.
“Let’s run the plate.”
Two minutes later we had the answer. U-Haul did have a truck with that registration but it had been sent for scrap five months earlier after being involved in an accident. The report said that it had been sideswiped by a Semi that had run a red light. The truck that had used that registration was the looked identical in almost every way to this one.
Ten more minutes of digging and a phone call the scrap yard in Norfolk, Virginia verified that the truck was still there. Five minutes later the scrap dealer sent us a picture of the VIN Number and the damage to the vehicle. It all tallied with the U-Haul records. They were totally in the clear.
“That’s not a genuine U-Haul Truck. They use a real U-Haul plate on a modified truck that has been painted to look like a real U-Haul vehicle or they repaired the original and added the vents.”
“And as you said, no one takes a blind bit of notice. Plus, as It is below 3-Tons it is not subject to State Vehicle inspections. Ingenious.”
“Time to call the Captain I think.”
Kelly stood up and went to leave my office.
“And where do you think you are going?”
“Home. I need a few changes of clothes. In case you forgot I’ve been away from town for four days.”
She was right.
Kelly smiled back at me.
“I know Ma would love to do my washing but I’m not married to you yet so there are some bits that I’d like to keep private.”
I knew exactly what she meant.
I smiled and said,
“Off you go. I’ll see you at home.”
As she left, I picked up the phone to call the Captain with the news.
Things were quiet around the Office for the next few days. Tom always had a worried look on his face with good reason. I assigned him the arduous task of escorting Zeke Sampson over to Clark County for his court appearance on Drug Dealing charges.
I knew that it should not be that arduous a job as Zeke had told the County District Attorney that he was going to plead guilty to the charges. Luckily for him, the analysis of the pills he’d been caught selling had come back showing that only contained some very weak bit of the stuff in ‘pot’ that makes you high. Only twelve miles away, that would not be illegal but it is here.
The County DA has accepted that on Friday and Saturday nights many young people drive over into Colorado to take some Cannabis. We regularly stop them on their return trips and drug test the drivers and search the cars for weed but the locals do seem to have gotten the message and it has been more than a year since we caught anyone stoned driving a car or carrying any spliffs etc.
That said, we were in no doubt that supplies of Cannabis for personal use were secreted within a few miles of the State Line. The owners would return for them at a more appropriate time a few days later. It was impossible to police the border so we didn’t really try that hard. Personal use was one thing. Anything more was another matter entirely.
“Delaware is a long way from here,” remarked Kelly.
“It is and it sort of indicates organised crime does it not?”
Kelly looked at me and raised one eyebrow.
“And you know someone who owes you a favour…?
I laughed.
“No… but you do.”
“Me?”
“Captain Murray perhaps?”
Her shoulders sagged.
“We didn’t exactly part on good terms you know?”
“Really? When I spoke to him about employing you he was most supportive and said that he regretted letting you go.”
Kelly sat silently for a while.
“If you don’t want to make the call I’ll do it?”
I reached over and took her hand.
“I know that it will bring back some bad memories.”
Then she took her hand away and looked me right in the eye.
“I’ll do it. I’ll have to face my demons sooner or later. Better do it now.”
I saw that she meant it so I took my cue to leave the Office and head over to Harry’s Bar to get us some lunch.
Armed with two of his best burgers and trimmings I went back to the Office. I’d expected Kelly to be sitting there in a state but she was smiling and working on something.
“I take it that the call went well then?”
“It did and I’m sorry for doubting you. He was very pleasant and told me well done for the Cummings case. He said that he received some nice comments that it was ‘one of their own’ who had fingered Cummings and allowed him to face justice in NYC.”
“How does that make you feel?”
“Nice. Nice that at least one part of the NYPD does not want me to rot in hell for wanting to be who I really am.”
I gave her a hug.
“He fed the data we have into VICAP…”
“VICAP? Is this really ‘violent’ crime?”
“He said that given the scope of this it should be handed over to the FBI. Putting it into VICAP may get some interest from them.”
That worried me. I hoped that the State Police would not think that we went behind their backs but as it probable that it has all simply moved to another state it would fall right into their remit. If they ended up in Nevada there might not be any crimes to answer for such are the differences in law when it comes to the states.
“I’m waiting for him to call back.”
“Then it is time for Lunch then?”
We didn’t have to wait long before the phone started ringing. The first call was from the State Police.
“Hello Captain, any developments?” I said hoping that he was not going to tear me off a strip.
“They have? That’s interesting. That sort of matches the conclusions that we have come to. As those busses were bought by a dummy company, it looks like this is a far bigger thing than we first thought it was.”
I hoped that they’d have done the same research we did.
“Oh! Really. No, it isn’t a problem. Kelly will send all the data we have over to you very soon. We just used a few sources on the Internet. It is all out there if you know where to look. Thankfully, Kelly is a bit of an expert in that from her days in the NYPD.”
“Oh, you didn’t know that? Yes, she comes from a long term NYPD family.”
“It seems that she got rather fed up with the big city and went travelling. Somehow, she ended up here. She has become a valuable member of my team.”
“I’ll get that data sent over very shortly.”
“Ours is not to reason why, theirs but to do and solve all the crimes in the world!”
“Sorry Captain. I was misquoting Tennyson at you. My favourite poem is one of his finest.”
“It is called ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.”
“It is about an event of stupidity that cost many lives. We have many examples of our own from the Civil War but I my opinion none are described so eloquently as what Tennyson does about the Crimean War.”
Then I added.
“Sorry Captain. I tend to ramble a bit when quoting him.”
I ended the call and looked at Kelly.
“All sent,” she said.
“Sorry for rambling on like that.”
She laughed.
“You do tend to go off at all sorts of tangents when you mention him.”
“I know but I can’t help it. Tennyson got the through some dark times in the Army. He’s my…”
Kelly came and gave me a kiss.
Two days later, I was alone in the Office preparing some reports when the Radio came alive.
“Sheriff, are you there?”
I could recognise Stan’s voice.
“Sheriff here Stan. What’s the problem?”
“That U-Haul van. It has just passed me going eastbound.”
“But you were monitoring westbound traffic?”
“Just as you said to do Sheriff. But ever since it slipped out of our fingers, I’ve been checking out every U-Haul of that size that comes along the highway.”
I thought, ‘well done Stan’.
“Well done Stan. Do you think that they suspect that you are on to them?”
I heard him chuckle.
“I don’t think so. I was giving a speeding ticket to a guy in a Tesla. Tom clocked him doing over one hundred. He’s in for a fine of three figures.”
“Are you sure that it is the suspect Van?”
“Thanks to Kelly, we all know what to look for.
“Does Tom know what’s coming his way?”
“Yes. I just phoned him. He’s in ‘Area 51’.”
It was my turn to laugh.
A short section of the Interstate as it passed through Custer County was a radio blackspot. Sadly, it was the best spot for a hidden radar trap in the whole county. My predecessor had christened it ‘Area 51’ and the name has stuck ever since.
“Ok Stan, get after the truck. Keep your distance and keep your phone open to Tom. I’ll alert the State Police just in case we can’t stop it before it leaves the county.”
“Understood Sheriff. Out.”
I put down the microphone with a smile on my face. Perhaps we had a break in the case at last.
My next task was to get hold of Kelly. She was visiting a ranch almost in the next county along the freeway. This was one of those who’d had pedigree steers stolen. It was a follow up call due to some DNA matches that had come up when new born calves are added to the breed register.
“Hi Kelly. Are you free to talk?”
“Ok. Call me when you are but it is fairly urgent. Some trouble is coming your way but I need to speak to the boys at State first.”
“Gotcha. Speak soon.”
Then I called Captain Hartz.
“Captain, one of my officers has just clocked that bogus U-Haul van heading east on the Interstate.”
“We will try to intercept it before it leaves our county. This is a heads up just in case we don’t get our people into position in time.”
“Yes Captain, I’m leaving now. I’ll update you as soon as we have any more information.”
I hung up the phone and felt my pulse rising. The hunt was on.
I’d almost reached the Interstate when Kelly came on the phone.
“I can be at the Interstate in five minutes. I’ll be about eight miles east of Area 51. Is Tom there?”
“Yes, and he’s going to try to stop it.”
“I guess I’m backup then?”
I chuckled.
“And the State Boys will be ready beyond the county line. I’m just going down the ramp onto the Interstate as I speak.”
I hung up the call and put my foot down even though I’d probably arrive after the fact.
This proved to be the case. A combination of Tom, Stan and Kelly had already surrounded the truck and forced it to slow down and stop. I was about ten seconds behind them as they acted. It all worked very well indeed. The training for this very manoeuvre that we’d done the previous spring was paying off handsomely.
As it came to a halt, the passenger front door opened and a woman came out. She ran up the embankment at the side of the road. I don’t know where she’d expect to go as this part of the State is pretty desolate. The nearest thing in the direction she was going was the Railroad but that was a good five miles over some pretty inhospitable country.
Kelly came out of her SUV like a demented greyhound. She ran up the embankment and tackled the escapee like… like a rugby player. She wrapped her arms around the woman’s legs and she went down like a sack of seed.
She marched the woman down the embankment and slapped her handcuffs on the prisoner.
“Where did you learn to do that?” asked Tom.
“Is having four brothers and a cousin good enough to play rugby for Ireland good enough?”
Tom laughed.
“Let’s have a look in the back?” I suggested.
However, neither the driver nor the passenger would give up the combination of the lock on the back of the truck. That left me with a decision.
Do I order the lock to be broken or do I wait for a search warrant?
I was about to tell the others what I’d decided when Kelly asked.
“What name is she going under?”
Tom had retrieved her purse from the van answered.
“Sian Murphy. Sian? That’s an unusual name?”
Kelly smiled.
“It is from Ireland or Scotland. Sian Murphy eh?”
Then she turned to look at the woman. After a second a smile broke out on Kelly’s face.
“I am almost 100% sure that’s a false name and that her real name is Siobhan Flanagan, late of 70th Avenue in Queens.”
The woman looked at Kelly and the colour drained from her face as Kelly spoke again.
“If that is the case, she was convicted of running a Brothel and false imprisonment on Jamaica Avenue oh, at least five years ago. She went down for two years.”
“You!” cried the woman.
“You have the nerve to point the finger at me! Just wait till I get to speak to a lawyer. Then your family will come looking for you. You failed as a man and had to resort to hiding in this shithole!”
No one reacted.
The woman stared at all my people.
“Don’t you get it! That’s really a man!”
Stan stepped forward and said,
“Kelly is Kelly as far as we are concerned. We have known about her past for a long time. It is an honour and a pleasure to work with her. She is legally a woman and better still, we don’t care understand!”
Then he stepped back
“Kelly!” I said urgently.
“Don’t let her goad you into doing something you will regret.”
Kelly winked back at me. I breathed a sigh of relief.
“This woman is a convicted felon. As she was convicted of an offence that relates to sex trafficking and sentenced to more than one year in Jail, I think we have more than enough just cause to break down the door to the truck. What do you say Sherrif?”
Before he could answer, the man who had been driving the van said,
“You and your big mouth! Why the hell could you not have just shut the hell up for once but no, you had to spout out.”
That was clearly directed at Siobhan.
“I think you are right. Tom, can you smash the lock?”
Before he could act the man said,
“Six Zero One Six Three.”
Tom looked at me. I nodded.
Tom tried the numbers he’d been given and the lock sprang open.
We all held our breath as he pulled up the shutter.
The back of the van was empty of people but there was plenty of evidence that it had been used to transport people. The smell of human excrement was pretty bad. It looked like that there was a lot of it smeared on the walls. Several words were visible including ‘Morte’. The meaning of that was obvious. A single gallon water container was lying empty in the far corner.
“Care to explain the human faeces?” I asked the two who had been driving the van.
“We don’t need to explain anything to you!” said the man.
The woman was still glaring at Kelly. The look of pure hatred in her eyes said it all.
His words made up my mind.
“Tom, please close the back of the van and lock it. I think that we should hand all this over to the State Police and let them deal with it. I’ll get on the Phone to Captain Hartz.”
Then I turned to the two suspects.
“I take it you both know Miranda?”
They both nodded.
“Please say yes, just for the camera,” I said pointing at the camera on my chest.
“Yes,” said the man.
“Yes,” echoed the woman.
“Both of you understand your right especially with respect to receiving legal advice?”
“Yes,” they echoed.
“Good. Now we are going to hand you over to the State Police. They will formally Mirandize you but we will not be asking you questions relating to where you have been or were intending to go nor about the van and its contents. Do you understand that?”
Both of them said yes.
“We may ask questions about your wellbeing. For example, if you want a drink of water. That is in no way an interrogation. Do you understand that?”
Again, they said yes.
“Good. Now we are going to wait here for the State Police to arrive. We will hand everything over to them and that includes you.”
“Kelly, please put the man in the back of your SUV.”
“Certainly Sheriff.”
“Tom, please put the woman in your SUV.”
“Stan can you put the cones out to warn the oncoming traffic?”
“Gotcha Boss!”
I stepped a few yards away and called Captain Hartz. He was overjoyed at the news about the van but not so when I told him that it was empty. He brightened up when I told him that there was lots of DNA in the back that might lead to the forensic people being able to identify who had been transported in the van in recent days. He was also happy that we had identified one of the people involved.
With the call over and an ETA for his team and a flatbed to take the van away, our work was almost done.
“I think we should all return to the Office. There are Video images to upload to the State Police plus there are reports to be written,” I said to my officers.
None of them disagreed.
Back in the office, I called everyone together.
"The issue of the driving license that had Tom's late brother’s photo and name on it is still outstanding. I have sent an email to the Fort Myers PD asking for information on the address and also including an image of the license plus some background. Until this whole thing is resolved I think we should keep it to ourselves. There really is no need to go blabbing about this even you your family especially you Billy-Joe. We all know how close your Ma is to Tom's Ma. Got it?"
Everyone agreed that until we had some proof that it was best to keep quiet about the license.
There were no disagreements so I wrapped up the day.
“Get your reports done and on my desk. Then you can finish for the day.”
Finally, I said.
“Well done team. The way you stopped that van on the Interstate was right out of the TPAC handbook[1]. The first two pitchers of beer at Harry’s on Friday are on me!”
As quickly as it had erupted, the case of the mobile brothels went away. Two months later the whole gang were caught operating up and down I-15 in Eastern Nevada and Southern Utah. Sixty trafficked women from places like Turkmenistan and Armenia were rescued. The two people we’d caught had turned ‘states evidence’ after being turned over to the FBI. We never knew if this helped catch the gang or not. It didn’t matter to us one little bit.
Life in Custer County carried on much as before but we did get some concrete barrier blocks placed behind the Motel on the Interstate. There were right where those busses had been parked. We didn’t want a repeat of that to happen again.
We did get an update on the fake license with Tom’s Brother’s photo on it. The address in Fort Myers was that of a ‘Winn Dixie’ Supermarket. The Florida DMV had no record of the license so the general consensus was that it was a fake and that someone who looked like Tom’s Brother was using it.
As I’d learned a long time ago from Ma, the ‘devil is in the detail’.
[the end (of this episode)]
[1] TPAC = Tactical Pursuit And Containment. A method of controlling and ultimately stopping a vehicle that is being pursued by Police.
Teaching Kelly to ride a horse was not proving easy. Sure, she could sit on the horse but controlling it was another problem entirely. She lacked whatever it was that allowed people to ride horses as we have done for millennia. Still, she tried her best and was able to laugh at her feeble attempts at riding.
Ginger, the gelding that I’d bought her for her birthday sensed this and took off wherever he thought fit as soon as he knew it was her on his back. To give her credit, she did try to control the beast but she could never get the hang of it even if she was on my horse Jake, who was very docile indeed.
One Saturday afternoon, were out riding. I was riding Ginger and Kelly was on Jake. For once, both our mounts were behaving themselves.
We’d pulled up to let the Horses rest and get some water from a stream when out of the blue, Kelly said,
“I received an email from my Father yesterday.”
As far as I knew, Kelly was not on speaking terms with her parents. I let her continue. I could see that even getting this far had taken a lot of willpower.
“He said that Mom had suffered a mild heart-attack just over a week ago and he wants me to go home to look after her.”
This was a new one for me. I’d heard of all sorts of ploys families would use to get the errant child home when I was an MP. None of the excuses apart from attending a funeral were even remotely acceptable as an excuse for someone to go AWOL.
“And?” I replied.
“I called a friend who lives on the same block as us last night. She told me that Mom was taken into Hospital a week past Monday and was discharged three days ago.”
“Are you going to go? Go back East as they want you to?”
“Why? Why should I? I have a whole phalanx of brothers and cousins and aunts and uncles who all live within a mile or two of my parents. No, they want me to go home and do the dirty work.”
I smiled.
“Think of the positive. Could they have accepted that you are a woman now? In many families, it is the job of the women to look after the sick and injured.”
Kelly gave me a dirty look.
“Are you trying to get rid of me? Besides, in my old family, it was always the youngest no matter if they were a boy or girl that had to give up everything to look after the parents. I could be a multi Oscar winning actor getting millions of dollars for a film but, as the youngest, I’d be the one expected to give up everything and stay at home to look after my parents. That was how it was done back in the old country and they see no reason at all to change it here.”
I grinned back at her.
“No, I’m not trying to get rid of you. Far from it. You are your own person and will make up your own mind and there is little I can say or do to influence you except to ask you to marry me.”
I’d been thinking about popping the question for a while but had never quite found the right moment… until now that is.
A very startled Kelly looked at me…
“You chose a really great time to pop the question you know?”
“Yeah but what you said about families sticking together… well will you?”
“Don’t be silly. Of course, I will.”
“Good. Now what are we going to do about your Mother?”
Kelly shook her head.
“Sometimes Matthew Beecher, you are the most frustrating person I have ever known.”
“Isn’t it nice to have someone looking out for you?”
She responded by giving me a passionate kiss.
“Well?” asked Matt after they broke apart.
“Well what?”
“Your Mother…?”
“If I know my family there will be someone with her day and night. I’d expect that Aunt Siobhan will have a roster already in place. She’s the family matriarch in waiting so I know that Mom is in good hands.”
“And you don’t want to go when other members of your family are there?”
“Exactly.”
“Then let me make a call to someone I know in New York who owes me a favour. He’ll get past the family fortress to pass on your best wishes.”
“Really? You don’t know them like I do.”
I smiled.
“He’s on the job and a captain. That should get him through the picket lines at least.”
“Just how many people around the country do you know and how many owe you favours?”
I grinned.
“Being a Sergeant in the MP’s and turning the other cheek just once in a while can work wonders. A bit of give and take along with a stern warning not to do it again for minor things like getting drunk often worked very well. One of those who owe me a favour is now a Junior Senator and this one is a Captain in the NYPD.”
“Ah, the ‘not doing everything by the book’ thing?”
“Exactly but you have to choose when and where to look the other way. Unlike some of my fellow MP’s, I never took a bribe or anything. I just got them to owe me a favour as I’d done them one. Far simpler and not open to charges of bribery and corruption. I’d never ask them to do something that involved money or even remotely illegal.”
Kelly just gave me a look that confused the hell out of me. Then she kissed me again. All seemed right with the world.
Kelly had gone off duty and was running some errands for Ma when we had a visitor at the station.
“Hello People? Did you miss me?”
As I looked through the open door of my office I swear that I heard Sue-Ellen curse under her breath. I knew who it was by the voice.
“Goodbye Walt. You know where the door is. Oh Yes, you just came through it,” said Sue-Ellen in a sarcastic tone.
“Well? Did you miss me Darlin?”
“I’m not your Darlin Walt. Never was and never will be even over your dead body which I’d even dance naked over wearing stiletto’s just to prove that you were really dead!”
I smiled at the excellent put down then I took that as my cue to walk out of my office.
“Hello Bro!” he exclaimed.
I didn’t say anything.
“What? Cat got your tongue? I know that Ma will be glad to see me even if you are not!”
I bit my tongue before answering.
“Walt, what the hell are you doing here? Did your lover in Vegas get tired of you sponging off her?
He ignored me.
“Before you ask, there have been a number of changes around here since I fired you. We didn’t miss you did we Sue-Ellen?”
She laughed.
“We didn’t even notice that you’d gone.”
Then she laughed and said,
“Apart from the better smell. That coat of yours was the pits. We were all happy to see it go up in smoke.”
The smile disappeared from Walt’s face.
“There isn’t a job for you here. We are doing very well without you.”
“Yeah, I heard about Old Man Cummings. Who’d a thought it eh? Right under our noses all that time. How did you find out that he was wanted in the Big Apple?”
“That’s none of your business. You aren’t on the payroll now and that information is strictly ‘need to know’ and you certainly don’t need to know.” said Sue-Ellen firmly.
He glared at her.
“What do you want then Walt? Why have you come back knowing that you are not really welcome here now? And besides, we do have a Department to run you know?” I asked.
“Can you tell Ma that I’ll be home for Dinner tonight?”
“Why don’t you tell her yourself? You do have a phone don’t you or has a cat got your tongue?”
He didn’t answer.
“Are you afraid of Ma?”
Again, he didn’t answer.
“Give her a call but don’t expect to be staying at home tonight. Ma’s taken over your old room for her sewing.”
Walt looked very disappointed and went red in the face.
He didn’t say anything but just walked out of the office.
For several seconds, neither of us said anything. I felt like punching a hole in the wall. Walt was bad news. Until he’d left I didn’t realise just how disruptive he was.
In the end, I looked at Sue-Ellen and said,
“This is not good. He has to have a reason for coming back here.”
“Yeah. Money or Women or both is my guess,” said Sue-Ellen.
“You could be right, you could be right.”
“Hadn’t you better be calling Ma!”
“You are very right in that. She will not be happy to see him. Not happy at all and when Ma is unhappy, she is not nice to be around.”
I went back into my office and made the call.
“Hi Ma,” I said when she answered.
“No Ma, I’m fine and so is Kelly.”
“Ma… We have just had a visit from Walt. I sorta get the feeling that he wants back in…”
“Yes Ma, it seems that he wants back in to his old life as if nothing had happened. Well, that’s how it appears on the surface. You can never tell with Walt what is real and what is bluster.”
“No Ma, I didn’t tell him about Kelly. I did tell him about his bedroom though.”
“Sorry Ma. He just walked out. He’s probably heading your way.”
“No Ma, we can’t leave here. We are expecting Jimmy Cain and his Lawyer to come in for a deposition. Sue-Ellen and I are the only ones here.”
“No, she’s out running those errands for you.”
“Sorry about leaving you to deal with Walt Ma, I’ll be back later.”
“Hi Ma!” I said cheerily when I walked in through the back door.
“Don’t you dare ‘Hi Ma’ me. Walt is not a happy bunny.”
“Why? I told him that his room was no longer available.”
“Well, he didn’t believe you but even after seeing it he wanted to stay the night or at very least for dinner.”
“Oh,” I replied.
“He saw the three places set at the table.”
“And assumed that the third was his as it was before?”
“I put him straight on that. He took it as an affront that you were dating his replacement. I’m sure he muttered words like ‘back of a dead horse’ when I told him. He was darned lucky that I didn’t get it all or he would have had the back of my hand on his face.”
“Well tough. He wanted to see the bright lights and … Well he left us and we’ve got on with our lives very well since he left.”
Then I changed the subject slightly.
“Did he give any indication why he was back in town?”
“I didn’t give him a chance. I showed him the door and he drove off. He knows what he has to do to get back in my good book. He is totally unrepentant. That’s him all over. He has not changed one little bit I’m afraid.”
“Ma? He’s family.”
“Yeah and families have rules and he broke just about all of them more than once. That coat of his was the last straw. He is up to no good. Mark my words. He has always had a shifty look when he’s up to no good. He had that look when he was here today.”
I knew exactly what she meant. It was one of his ‘tells’.
“Ok Ma. I’ll go and get washed up. Kelly will be here in a few minutes.”
From a Policing point of view, had other issues to contend with. Some of the kids at the high school had been caught in possession of a small amount of crack. We found that it had been supplied by an elder brother to one of them who had been kicked out of college for dealing.
We came down heavily on those caught with crack and it didn’t take long to find the source. Jake Carmichael was charged with dealing and supplying with intent to a juvenile. With him locked up, things sort of returned to normal. Normal for Custer County is like a Dessert Town in the middle of a summer’s day. Nothing out of the ordinary happens unless there is something wrong.
Five days after Walt returned to town, I received an unexpected visit from the local DEA chief, Lawrence Hill Jnr. The moment he walked into the office the temperature seemed to drop by a good ten degrees. He was a cold-hearted bastard. You could not trade with him. He was a typical ‘law is the law and perps will be dealt with to the full extent of the law’ sort of person. He followed the letter of the law to the end. That’s why he was a Fed and I was a lowly County Sheriff.
Every time I came into contact with him, I wondered when he was going to run for office on a ‘law and order’ ticket. He had the insincere smile of a politician along with a limp going on soggy handshake. To me those are the signs of a politician and also a sign of someone who is not to be trusted as far as Joe Montana could once throw a touchdown pass for the ‘49’ers.
With him on this visit, was a late middle-aged woman with him. I’d never her seen before. Her hair was pulled back into a very tight bun and she wore no makeup and was wearing a plain grey trouser suit.
“Sheriff, this is Agnes Pritchard from the Surface Transportation Board said Mr Hill.
“Pleased to meet you Ms Pritchard.”
“It is Mrs. I don’t hold with this Ms palaver.”
“Please take a seat. This is rather an unexpected visit. Normally, we get a heads up that you are coming this way.”
“Sorry about that Sheriff. We received a tip off about some things that could be going down in this neck of the woods late last night. As a result, Mrs Pritchard flew in from DC on the red-eye to Denver overnight. I picked her up at the airport on the way here.”
“This sounds very serious. Let me get my No 2 to join us.”
“Sorry Sheriff, this is ‘need to know’ at the moment,” said Mrs Pritchard.
I closed the door to the office so that they could speak freely.
“Fair enough. Why don’t you start at the beginning?”
My two visitors looked at each other. Mrs Pritchard nodded her head.
Mr Hill produced a map from his briefcase.
“Can I hang this up? It will make describing the situation a lot easier.”
“Sure,” I replied and offered to help him.
Once it was hanging up he began.
“As you can see this is a map of the country that shows the major Interstates and major interconnecting secondary roads. For example, the highway that runs from Vegas to Reno is in the latter category.”
He produced an overlay which the two of us placed on top of the map.
“This overlay shows what we believe is a network of drug smuggling and other contraband freight routes. As you can see, it covers just about every state in the lower 48 apart from Maine and California. California as you know has an intensive programme of border checks to stop alien fruit and other produce from entering the state in case they contain disease or insects that could decimate the crops that the state produces. For the moment, I’m only concerned with the major highway networks.”
“We have for some time suspected that the drug networks were using normal freight transport companies to move their wares around the country. For example, we’d see a particular type of drug in say Seattle and then seven to ten days later, the same strand and I mean 100% identical would turn up at clubs way across the country in Miami. The fact that very large quantities of such drugs that we now seize on a regular basis, seem to indicate that it is no longer down to just human mules carrying the drugs on aircraft or by people driving a car loaded with the stuff. No, we began to believe that it was so well organised that whole shipping containers or semi-trailers were being used to move the product around. It might well be that the containers carry more than one sort of contraband and are a delivery service such as Uber or Deliveroo.”
What he’d said had stunned me. This, if correct was way beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
Then Mrs Pritchard took over.
“Because this is an Interstate matter, we were called in to provide all necessary assistance to the DEA who are leading this operation and the FBI who will be involved on the ground in due course. Last year, we began to obtain shipping details from the various state and DOT inspection points around the country. When we had a good six-month’s worth of data, we passed it to some very clever people from the NSA put it all into one of their supercomputers and what popped out surprised everyone.”
“We found at least thirty… that’s thirty shipping containers that have been circling the country for up to a year. On the surface, they seem to be carrying legitimate cargos but deeper investigation revealed that the companies mentioned on the manifests were mostly offshore shell companies or simply just didn’t exist. The containers arrive at a destination which is usually a nondescript warehouse in a place well outside the major population centres, and a few hours later they are back on the road again. The cycle goes on and on. The length of the cycle is anywhere between two and six weeks. Once we’d seen several six week cycles we really began to get suspicious. It does not take six weeks to get anywhere from anywhere in the lower 48 states.”
“Then we discovered a number of semi-trailers that had never been to the state that they were registered in or at least all the records seemed to indicate that.”
“Are you trying to tell me that these things are just circulating the country, day after day, week after week and year after year?”
“That is exactly what I mean.” Said Mrs Pritchard.
“Oh, don’t get me wrong, the trailers and containers have their tractor units swapped every day. We estimate that the periods when the trailers don’t have a tractor unit attached is when the cargoes are removed, replenished or changed. That is the only time it can be done. We attached tracking devices to two containers on one six-week cycle. The only times it stopped was then the drivers needed to take rest breaks or for state inspections. One such container travelled from Manchester, New Hampshire to Bend in Oregon via Georgia, Texas and North Dakota and a few other places. None of the journeys were done via a direct route but by a very roundabout route indeed. It needed a powerful computer to pull that sort of data out of what is being collected by the individual states. This is what you see before you.”
I shook my head.
“This seems more like a plot to a Hollywood Thriller?”
“As strange as it may seem Sheriff, it is real enough. Which brings us down to the reason for our visit,” said Mr Hill.
“The locations of the swap over points change all the time. We have good reason to believe that the Truck Stop adjacent to the Interstate just a few miles away is one such location that is about to be used again. These interchange points are changed every few weeks or every few days some parts of the country,” said Mrs Pritchard.
“This site was according to our records, last used a couple of months ago but we were not in possession of all the information about the routes and things that we are now. The NSA computer is predicting that your county will be used in the next few days.”
“As a result, we want your help in observing the next handover.”
Their words took some time to sink in.
“Sheriff? Is there some problem?” asked Mrs Pritchard.
“No… No. Sorry. I’m just trying to digest what you have said. It sounds so far fetched that it has to be true. It is true isn’t it?”
Lawrence Hill smiled.
“That’s very much the same reaction when I was told about this. I couldn’t believe it at first so Mrs Pritchard was kind enough to let me observe a handover near Indianapolis two weeks ago. It was so smooth and polished that it was obvious to me that this was not the first time that those involved had done this before, many times before.”
My brain had started to function normally again.
“Is this another observation or are you going to move in?”
“Strictly look see. Do not touch. There is to be no interference unless there is a threat to life.”
I nodded my head.
“Do you understand Sheriff?” asked Mrs Pritchard.
“Perfectly. I’m not a shoot first and don’t ask questions sort of person.”
“Good,” she replied.
“Then we are a go for tonight?”
I sighed.
“My Ma won’t be best pleased if I skip dinner… but yes. What time?”
“We think that it should all go down at around ten, ten thirty.”
“Ok. I guess that you want me there in an unmarked vehicle? I know the terrain around the Truck Stop. There is a dirt road that comes in from the other side of the Freeway. About a quarter of a mile from the Truck Stop, it comes over a small hill. I can get to it unobserved if I have some assistance. A camera with a long lens will get everything that goes on. Is that good enough?”
Agent Hill smiled.
“It is going to have to be given the short timeframe.”
“Which one of you will be giving me a hand?”
They looked at each other nervously.
“We have to be in Denver. Rather that we have to be seen in Denver tonight. We know that some criminal gangs have people inside our organisations. Mrs Pritchard here will be giving a lecture to her organisation at their Denver Field Office. I’m going to my daughters school for a basketball game. She’s playing so I can’t be seen to miss the event. No one from our organisations in Denver know that we are here and we want to keep it that way.”
“That means that I have to let someone in on the operation then?”
“Sadly yes. Is there someone you can trust?”
“Yes, there is. She will be eating with me and my Ma tonight.”
“Can she be trusted?” asked Mrs Pritchard.
“One hundred percent.”
“How do you know that?” she said pressing the point.
“Because Mrs Pritchard, she will soon become my wife. That good enough for you?”
Mrs Pritchard went rather red in the face.
“We have to be sure you know!”
“I’m sure and it is my ass that is on the line is it not?”
They could not argue with that.
“I’m going to need the details of the trucks and what am I going to do with the evidence?”
He handed me a sheet of paper. All the details were there including pictures of the trucks in question.
“I will be back tomorrow afternoon. Do you have somewhere we can meet without attracting attention? This place is a little too public if you know what I mean.”
I thought for a moment before saying,
“I think the best place to meet is at the next intersection east of the Truck Stop. It is always pretty deserted around there. Only dirt roads go anywhere from there. The underpass is often used for people to sleep at night but is usually very quiet during the afternoon. You can remain hidden there until I get there.”
My deliberations were interrupted by Tom.
“Boss, Walt is getting drunk at Harry’s and is causing a nuisance.”
I smiled back at him.
“Why don’t you go and offer him a bed in our cells for the night?”
Tom chuckled.
“And if he does not want to accept?”
“If he’s drunk then arrest him. If not send him on his way but be sure to give him a sobriety test first. We don’t want drunk drivers on our streets.”
“Sure thing Boss.”
As Tom turned to go I called him back.
“Tom… By the book please. He knows the rules so don’t give him cause to file suit. You know how he holds a grudge.”
“Gotcha Boss. Where will you be?”
“Going home for dinner with Ma and Kelly but later I’ll be close to the Interstate.”
“Working for the Feds now?”
“Reluctantly Tom, reluctantly but we are only doing some observations.”
I didn’t offer any more information and Tom didn’t press me. Since Walt had left, no one got hot under their collars if they didn’t know every little detail about every investigation that was going on in the department. Everyone knew that help was just sitting at the next desk if it was needed. Tom knew that if I needed his help he’d be brought into the loop. What you don’t know about, you can’t worry about or worse, blab about.
“Are you reachable?” he asked.
“In case of issues with your Brother.”
I smiled.
“Only if there is a big problem. If he is our guest then he will need babysitting. As Jenny is away…”
Tom grinned.
“I’ll do the dirty.”
[8:45pm on the other side of the Interstate to the Truck Stop]
“I’ll walk ahead and you follow my flashlight. Just don’t run me over ok?” I said to Kelly.
We were about half a mile from the Interstate and the Truck Stop. One of the best things about this part of the world is the total absence of light pollution. The only lights apart from the incredible views of the Milky Way were the vehicles on the Interstate and there were well spaced out at this time of night. We were hidden from the Truck Stop by a small hill.
“Don’t you want to drive?” complained Kelly.
“No. I know the direction that the road takes. You don’t so it is best for me to drive.”
“Ok. You are the boss.”
Ten minutes of slow walking brought us to within a hundred yards of the Truck Stop. The place was a beacon of light in the middle of not very much. We could see cars, trucks and people moving around clearly.
I’d just finished setting up a video camera that had been supplied by the DEA when the radio burst into life.
“Sheriff? Are you busy?”
I could tell from Tom’s voice that something was up.
“Tom, what’s the problem?”
“Sheriff, it is your brother. He’s sobered up and is demanding to be let out. He keeps going on about some meeting that he has to be at.”
A sudden feeling of dread spread through my body. I had to wonder if Walt was mixed up in the event that Kelly and I were hopefully about to witness.
If that was the case then I knew that I had to do my duty but… he was my brother but…
“Sheriff? Are you there?”
“Sorry Tom. I was thinking.”
“Ok Boss.”
“Let him go but can you follow him from a very discrete distance. Use that Buick we impounded last week. I don’t think the owner is interested in coming up from Orlando to pay their fines and get their car anytime soon. But Tom, don’t make it look too easy for him and when you do follow him, hang well back. Remember that he knows all the tricks of the trade.”
“Gotcha Boss.”
“If he heads towards the Interstate then turn off at Old Road and take the long way back to town but let me know what he does.”
“Boss? Where are you? Should I know that?”
“Tom, Kelly and I are on Stebbings Road just the other side of the Interstate. If Walt is involved with what is going down, I need to know.”
“Gotcha Boss.”
I looked at my watch. It said a few minutes after 9:00pm.
“Give him another twenty minutes to cool his heels. That will give you time to get the Buick ready. Then let him go. Are you clear on what you have to do?”
“Yes Boss. He’s not a happy person at the moment. I’ll be on his tail but from a distance.”
“Ok. Tom. Keep us informed.”
I turned to Kelly.
“I really, really hope that Walt is not up to no good.”
“If we have to arrest him, wouldn’t it be better for me to do it? I’m not known to him at the moment?”
“That’s a good point Kelly. Yes, you can put the cuffs on him but we are not going to do that tonight. Tonight, we just sit and observe, understood?”
“Understood.”
“Why don’t you get your camera ready?”
Kelly looked at me sternly.
With a sigh, she got out of the SUV and proceeded to get our own camera kit ready. We were the owners of some really good photographic equipment thanks to a driver who was six times over the legal limit when he crashed his SUV and took out the power to around one hundred homes on the other side of town.
When we had finished throwing the book at him the judge sent him to prison for six months and we took his camera kit in lieu of fines. It was worth far more to us that way than if we’d sent it to the State Auctions.
When Kelly had finished setting up, she joined me back in the SUV. Then we just sat and waited.
“Sheriff. Tom Here.”
“Go ahead Tom.”
“Walt has left town and is not heading for the Interstate. He’s gone the back way into Old Man Summers property.”
“Where are you now?”
“Carrying on along Parsons Road. I thought is best not to stop nearby.”
“That’s good. Can you take the long way back to town? Then you can call it a day.”
“Wilco Sheriff. Out.”
“Are you relieved that Walt is not involved in this thing?” asked Kelly.
“Yes and no. Yes, for obvious reasons but no because I have no idea why he’s back in town.”
“There is no one living at the Summers place is there?”
“No. It is still for sale. He’s up to no good that’s for sure but what it is I really don’t know.”
“That’s for tomorrow then?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow.”
“Here we go,” I said quietly to Kelly.
“You don’t have to whisper you know!”
“Sorry,” I replied with a smile on my face.
“Let’s get the cameras going.”
A few minutes later, a second Semi with a similar unmarked container on it appeared out of the darkness from the West. It pulled up alongside the first Semi. Both drivers got out and from the way that they greeted each other it was pretty obvious that they knew each other.
They headed for the Restaurant deep in conversation with each other. It looked like they were going to be some time when the radio came alive.
“Sheriff, do you read me?”
It was Tom’s voice.
“Reading you loud and clear. What’s the problem?”
“I circled around and was heading back to Town when Walt passed me going in the other direction like a bat out of hell. It looks like he went right through the Cummings place and my guess is that he’s heading in your direction. I think he must have made me when we left Town.”
“Thanks Tom. Do you have an ETA for him at the Interstate?”
“Five minutes, ten at the outside.”
“Thanks Tom. Get yourself home. You did good tonight.”
“Tom out.”
I turned to Kelly.
“This gets weirder and weirder.”
“Are you going to let me in on what is going on?”
“Tomorrow, but only if the Feds say so.”
“Gotcha on that. They really do like to keep things to themselves and often for no good reason other than their own self-importance.”
I laughed. She and I had exactly the same opinion of most Federal Law Enforcement Officers.
As bold as brass, he went up to the rear of one of the trailers and undid the lock. He opened one of the huge doors and climbed inside. Less than a minute later, he appeared again. He jumped down onto the floor and then he pulled out a duffel and dropped it onto the floor. From the dust that got thrown up, it seemed pretty heavy.
Walt shut the door and locked it. Then after picking up the duffel, he got back into his car and with a good deal of wheelspin, he took off.
We watched as he took the westbound down-ramp and disappeared into the darkness. He was heading west.
I managed to resist the urge to go after him. The state line and the limit of my authority was less than five miles away. Given the 457in block that was under the hood of his Camaro, he could also out run me with ease and I had no prima-face evidence that he was actually committing a crime.
“Say something before you blow up!” said Kelly.
“My little brother is up to no good and that’s for sure.”
“Is that the polite version?”
I managed a chuckle.
“Yes.”
More than twenty minutes had gone by before the two drivers emerged from the Truck Stop. They wandered back to their rigs as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
The drivers said goodbye to each other and got back in their trucks. A few seconds later two plumes of Diesel Exhaust could be seen as they started their engines.
Less than a minute after returning to their trucks, the two Semi’s moved off. One went eastbound and one went west. We waited for a minute or two before switching off the Video camera.
Kelly packed up her kit and after stowing it away, we got back into the SUV.
I was about to start the engine when Kelly said.
“Can I see the last bit of the video again?”
“Eh? Sure, but why?”
“I think the drivers switched rigs.”
Together we watched the drivers return from the restaurant.
“Ok, so the one with the baseball cap and a Bronco’s sweatshirt got into the truck that went west.”
I rewound the video to the time of their arrival.
Sure enough, the Bronco driver came from the west.
“Neat and very well planned. My guess is that the drivers have no idea what they are carrying,” said Kelly.
“That looks very much like it. That puts a different ring on the term ‘drug mule’ and that’s for sure.”
Then I looked at Kelly.
“There is a lot more to this than meets the eye. Not a word to anyone especially Tom.”
“Strictly need to know eh?”
“Exactly.”
There was no sign of my brother in the county the following day. I had Tom and Sue-Ellen run the speed trap that was just inside the State Line. Our speed limit was 10mph lower than our neighbours. They were under orders to let me know if Walt and/or his Camaro appeared.
I kept my appointment with Agent Hill and Mrs Pritchard in the middle of the afternoon at the next exit eastbound from the Truck Stop.
They were waiting for me as I turned to go under the highway.
A rear door to their SUV swung open so I took that as an invitation to get inside their vehicle.
“What happened last night?” asked Mrs Pritchard before I’d even got the door closed.
“There was a meeting of two semi tractor-trailer units as you suspected. The drivers went to get something to eat and then returned. However, they swapped rigs. The one that came from the East returned to the East and vice-versa.”
Agent Hill’s shoulders visibly sank.
“There is something else you need to know before I hand over the video.”
Suddenly, I had their attention.
“While the drivers were eating in the restaurant, a third vehicle appeared and parked next to the two semi’s. The driver of that vehicle got out and proceeded to unlock the trailer of the semi that had come from the east. He went inside and removed a package and after locking the trailer up again, he drove off westwards towards Denver.”
“Good. I’ll get our lab people to enhance the registration and try to do facial recognition on the driver.”
I smiled.
“There really is no need for that. You can check for yourselves, but I know who the driver is.”
I paused for half a second.
“The driver was my brother Walt. He came back to town a few days back and yesterday he appeared to get a little drunk so one of my officers locked him up for a few hours. He used to be one of my deputies so it was done out of courtesy I hope you will understand.”
Both of them nodded.
“I was just setting up the video kit when another of my deputies called me on the radio and said that Walt was playing up and going on about some meeting that he had to attend to. I ordered my deputy to let him go but to follow him discretely. Sometime later, the deputy radioed in that Walt had turned off the road and onto a property that is for sale. I ordered my deputy to circle around the property and head back to town. A little later he radioed to say that Walt was heading for the truck stop. He arrived at the stop and as I said, he removed something from the trailer.”
The other two looked at each other slightly surprised.
“It is all in my report.”
I handed over a video tape and a folder that contained my detailed report. What I didn’t say was that Kelly had made two copies of the video that morning. We might be in the back of beyond but we to have some pretty good technology at our disposal thank to the fines we levy on speeding drivers or unsafe vehicles.
“Sheriff, you did everything you were asked for and more,” said Mrs Pritchard.
“Do you have any idea where your brother might be?”
“The last I heard was that he was in Vegas. That seemed to be backed up by the fact that his Camaro had Nevada plates. But, it seems that Vegas is far too far away to be directly connected what happened last night. My guess is that he’s operating out of Fort Collins at least on a temporary basis.”
“Why Fort Collins?”
“Walt likes to think of himself as a ladies man and has had several girlfriends in the past from that part of the world. He won’t spend a penny on putting a roof over his head unless he really, really has to. Past form leads me to think that sort of thing.”
“That’s a good lead Sheriff. Thank you very much.”
“My pleasure. I had hoped that my brother was not involved in this but there is no love lost between us. He came waltzing back into town yesterday and wanted his old room back. Our Ma sent him away with a clip around his ears. He took advantage of her once too often so he’s not welcome. If I have to put the cuffs on him I will do so and I won’t hesitate.”
“That’s nice to know but it appears that your brother may well be a very minor player.”
“That’s as maybe. If he needs locking up and he’s in my county then I’ll arrest him on the spot especially as it looks like he’s moving whatever it is across state lines.”
Before either of them could respond I opened the door and started to get out before saying,
“If you need my assistance in the future, please just ask. I really don’t like bad guys operating out of my County especially interstate traffickers even if they are my brother.”
I left them to ponder over the tape and what I’d said and drove home. More questions had been asked and there were no answers in sight.
[to be continued in part 2 (of 2)]
Over dinner that evening, I said to Ma,
“I think it is entirely possible that Walt has gone over to the dark side. Kelly and I observed him doing something that was obviously illegal but we don’t know what yet.”
Ma didn’t flinch. She carried on eating as normal. When she’d finished her plate of food, she put down her fork and said,
“Stands to reason if you ask me. How else could he afford that Car? It looks expensive and a bright yellow one at that? That’s what Vegas does to people. I went there once. It rained so Jimmy and me got back into our car and headed for the coast. Other people get sucked in to places like that and like a whirlpool you can’t get out.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Why should I mind? There is little I can do to stop him. He broke the rules here and was thrown out. When he came calling hoping to get his old room back, I saw through his lies in a flash. He should have known not to lie to his Ma! He has a huge tell. I guess that’s why he could never play a big hand at Texas Hold’em despite Jimmy and me spending hours teaching him. You on the other hand are as stony faced as ever when you hold all the cards. Different as chalk and cheese you two are.”
Ma didn’t wait for anyone to carry on the conversation. He got up and collected the dishes. That what her way. No time for idle chit-chat.
Kelly leapt into action and took over doing the dishes. Ma sat down and picked up her sewing and watched some TV. That was a clear sign that was nothing more to be said on the subject at least that night.
I didn’t hear a word from the Feds for more than three weeks. There had been no more sightings of Walt’s or his yellow Camaro. To be honest we had other things on our minds namely, a spate of cattle rustling. This was not old-style rustling but a coordinated campaign where over a period of a week, a few pedigree cattle were rustled from six different ranches around Custer County and two neighbouring counties. We tried our best but with only myself and four deputies we were spread very thin given the size of Custer County. My guess was that the cattle were going to be used to start a breeding herd. Those beasts would probably be smuggled abroad as things were really tightly controlled here and in Canada.
We enlisted some help from the State Police to help patrol our roads but that lasted only one night. Four other counties were also being targeted. Each incident involved just two or three cattle but these were singled out from the various herds. Two Bulls were also rustled. That pretty well confirmed the suspicions I’d had about being stolen for breeding.
After a slightly heated conference call with the State Troopers and the Sheriffs of the other counties, it was agreed that all the incidents were linked. My idea that someone was setting up a new breeding herd but if fell on deaf ears.
Then, as soon as it had started, it was over. No further incidents were reported anywhere in the state or in surrounding states.
With that bit of excitement over life settled down again.
“What can I do for you Agent Hill?”
“Ah yes. We can do that. When do you think that the semi’s will honour us with their presence?”
“Ok. I’ve got you. I will keep a look out for my Brother.”
“Understood. As before, hands off. Just observe.”
I chuckled when I heard his reply.
“And take video as before. Gotcha.”
“I will keep you updated. That goes without question.”
“Out of interest, did you trace the plates on the car that my brother was driving?”
“No, I didn’t. A far as I’m concerned, he didn’t break any laws in my county, so it would not really be ethical for me to check out the plates but that does not stop you. Besides, any request for details on an out of state plate gets logged with the state police and my guess is that you don’t want them involved at this stage?”
“Ha-ha.”
“Sorry Agent Hill. I’m happy here. I kinda like the slower pace of life we have in these parts. Besides, the paperwork you guys have to put up with would drive me mad. I was in the Military once so I know the ropes.”
“Yes, not forgetting the odd bit of excitement from time to time.”
“Ok, Agent Hill, I’ll be in touch.”
I put the phone down and sat for a few minutes. I was not looking forward to telling Kelly that our weekend in Chama, New Mexico was going to be a washout. She’d planned a surprise for me to celebrate my birthday. I had a good idea what it was but I didn’t want to let on that I knew. [1]
In the end, I didn’t have to tell her. She took one look at my face when she walked into the Office and she knew. She was just like Ma in having that skill.
“Don’t worry. We can celebrate while on a stakeout. It will be fun!”
I just shook my head. She was one heck of a woman.
I dropped Kelly off at home so that she could get a shower and a change of clothes. I headed for the office to get the email to Agent Hill sent as soon as possible.
The next few days were quiet in Custer County. I could not help thinking that it was nothing but the calm before the storm. Agent Hill had not even bothered to reply to my email but as the phone had not been ringing off the hook, I guessed that he’d got the message and was following up some other leads.
“Please, come into my Office Mrs Pritchard,” I said when I saw the look on her face.
I shut the door behind her.
“Please take a seat,” I said trying to be polite.
“This is not a social call Sheriff. I am here to inform you that Agent Hill was murdered two nights ago. I thought that I should be the one to tell you in person.”
The shit had indeed hit the fan.
“Was it to do with the case that you were working on?”
“I’m don’t know. He had a number of active cases but this one was by a long way, the most important.”
“Is that why you are here? Just to let me know about his death?”
“Yes and No. I have intel that another exchange will be made tonight.”
“Do you want us to observe as before?”
“I’d like to witness it myself and then we will intercept both Semi’s after the exchange has been made.”
“Is this sudden action the result of Agent Hill’s death?”
“Yes, it is. My superiors have in conjunction with the DEA decided that affirmative action is needed.”
I sat back and thought for a moment.
“What resources do you need from us?”
“Nothing apart from what you need to witness the exchange.”
“Very good. What time do you think it will take place?”
“Around 10:00pm.”
“And if there is a third party involved?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like my brother Walt. If you remember, he took a duffel from the back of one of the trailers while the drivers were taking a break.”
Mrs Pritchard thought for a few seconds.
“We let it happen just like before.”
“Ok, you are the boss in this operation. If you need any more help please just ask. My department is at your disposal.”
“I can see that this is a very good spot to make our observations,” remarked Mrs Pritchard.
“We think so,” replied Kelly.
“Do you need to check in with your people?” I asked Mrs Pritchard.
“I’ll do that now. They are over at the Truck Stop waiting for my signal. Their cars should be parked behind the Motel.”
She busied herself with her phone.
“All done,” she commented a few minutes later.
“My people will finish their meals and leave just like any other travellers would.”
Five minutes later she said,
“There goes the first one.”
A Black F-250 Pickup with a Truck Top pulled out of the Motel parking lot and headed for the Gas Station.
The driver did a quick splash and dash before heading down the eastbound ramp and into the night.
“Here comes the second one.”
A well tricked up red Bronco left the Motel parking lot and went straight onto the Interstate heading west.
“They will wait at the next intersections to the east and west of here. I’ll message them when the trucks leave here. If we can get the trailer plates so much the better.”
“We’ll try,” I replied.
Just before 11:00pm the two Semi’s arrived. Just as before the drivers went into the Restaurant.
Twenty-five minutes later the two drivers returned and as before they swapped vehicles and drove off into the night.
“They didn’t have any bags or anything,” remarked Mrs Pritchard.
“Just to make it seem perfectly normal perhaps? But the cabs of those trucks were parked real close together. It would be easy to pass them over just before they moved off,” I said.
“That is a possibility,” said Mrs Pritchard.
She texted her colleagues while I looked at the images that had been captured by the video camera.
“Sorry, we can’t make out the plates.”
“Well, thanks for trying. I’ll let my guys know.”
She sent messages about the plates to her team. Then she said,
“Now we wait. It shouldn’t be long.”
The minutes ticked by. The clock on the dash read 12:23am before the first message was received.
“One down. That was the Westbound Truck.”
Ten minutes later, another message was received.
“That’s the other one in custody. The drivers and trucks will be taken to the DEA Office in Santa Fe.”
“Santa Fe?” remarked Kelly.
“Yes. The DEA office in Denver has to be considered compromised in view of Agent Hill’s Murder.”
What she said made perfect sense.
“What now Mrs Pritchard?”
“Can you drop me off in Town? My car is there. I’ll disappear into the night if it is ok with you?”
“No problem,” I replied as I started up the SUV.
Nothing more happened for almost a week. Life in Custer County had to go on. Tom and Sue-Ellen made three arrests in relation to the cattle rustling after the thieves came back for more bounty and Kelly took her turn in visiting all the schools as part of a drug prevention campaign. Don’t get me wrong, Custer County is a pretty law-abiding place. Local crime levels are low but making children and young adults aware of their civic responsibilities is well worth doing. Besides, it shows that we are actually working to protect the community.
What we didn’t expect was Walt making another appearance. The sound of his Yellow Camaro circling the town square drew me out of a bit of a post lunch slumber.
I wandered outside the Office just as he parked in a bay marked “Police Vehicles Only.”
That was Walt all over.
As he got out of his car, I was standing there waiting for him.
“Hello Bro!” he said cheerily.
“Don’t Bro me,” I said as I pulled out my phone and called Barney SWA.
“Hello Barney. I have an illegally parked Camaro outside the office. Can you come and tow it?”
“Yes, I’m sure. The driver should know not to park in a space reserved for Police Vehicles.”
“Good. See you soon!”
I hung up and smiled at Walt.
“I’m impounding that thing. You should know better than to park here.”
“But… Bro? Really?”
“Walt Beecher I’m arresting you on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. You do not have to say anything but anything you do say will be recorded and…”
He put up his hand.
“I know my Miranda rights. I accept that I have been read my rights.”
He said those words into the Body Camera that I was wearing. We’d bought one for each deputy after we’d seized an RV that was carrying two tons of cannabis as it left Colorado. It might now be legal there but, in this state, it is not. We’d impounded and sold the almost new Winnebago a couple of months before so there was a little money in the kitty for new toys to keep the team happy. I was wearing mine for the first time.
I glanced down and saw that it was indeed recording.
“Brother or not, I have to uphold the law and there is an election not that far away. What brings you back here then? More rendezvous with semi’s on the Interstate?”
The smile disappeared from his face in a flash.
“Yes Bro, I saw you and I have it all on Video. What was it eh? Drugs? Guns?”
He was shaking like a leaf. Slowly he shook his head.
“Well? What was it? What was in that duffel that you removed from the trailer?”
“C4”, he stuttered. He knew that I could tell from a mile away when he was lying. He’d tell another even worse lie to cover up for the truth.
“Walt? What the hell have you got mixed up in?”
I could tell that he didn’t want to say anything so I moved in.
“Anyway Walt, as I said, you are under arrest. You know the way to the cells, don’t you?”
“You can’t arrest me. I’m your brother for heaven’s sake.”
“You stepped over the line and to me that is a step too far. Now if you please?” I said ushering him into the Office.
He didn’t want to go but moved when I started playing with the pouch on my equipment belt that contained my handcuffs.
He walked into the Cells and turned to face me.
“I never thought that you were gay. Not in a million years. But, here you are dating a man posing as a woman! Ma must really have to really bite her lip every time you take that impostor to our home.”
Thankfully, I’d closed the cell door otherwise I might well have socked him there and then and to hell with the consequences.
I managed to return a smile.
“Kelly is legally a woman and is a far, far better officer than you could ever have been. As for Ma, she loves Kelly like the daughter she could never raise.”
I sighed.
“It is you Walt that is out of place here. Those bright light lights of Vegas and Fort Collins have changed you and not for the good.”
He glared back at me.
“Oh, and we are getting married.”
This time, it was Walt’s turn to laugh.
“Not in this state you aren’t.”
His words struck home hard. He was right. Our state was well behind the times when it came to human rights for the LGBT community.
I grinned back at him
“But not in Vegas eh? Sin City for a sinful marriage eh? Don’t fret Walt, you aren’t invited…”
I turned away before he could reply.
As I sat at my desk, I could not get his words out of my mind. How had he found out about Kelly? Could he have run into Lawrence Monaghan[2]? I had no idea. My immediate problem was should I tell Kelly that Walt knew about her?
In the end I decided to let sleeping dogs die and hope that it would not come back to bite me in the ass.
“To the Police Pound please. I’ll get Tom to give it a good going over.”
“Isn’t this Walt’s car?”
“It is. He’s in the cells.”
“What? You arrested your brother?”
“I did indeed but it is not directly related to the car.”
“Ok Matt, you are the boss.”
I could tell that he wasn’t convinced by what I’d said. I wasn’t either. Walt had not helped the cause either. Telling me that he’d taken some ‘C4’ explosive from the semi-trailer was a pure unadulterated lie. I’d refrained from questioning him further because I was angry, angry at myself. I should have seen that taunt about Kelly coming but I was too keen to give him another chance.
Tom gave the Camaro a very good examination. I knew that he’d really gone to town when he didn’t return for nearly five hours. Tom didn’t find anything illegal in the car apart from three different VIN Numbers on the Chassis.
I just shook my head when he said,
“My guess is that it was stolen and the engine compartment VIN number changed and then the back end was replaced. The original paint of the front end is Red and the back end is some sort of metallic lustre blue. This heap of junk is a very, very bad three car ‘cut and shut’ job. This is clearly unsafe and needs to be crushed. The idiot who did this didn’t even bother to align the axles. The left side wheelbase is an inch longer than the one on the right. The tracking can just about manage to compensate for the error but the tyres are clearly showing signs of uneven wear. One of them is illegal by the way. It is a re-tread and part of the new rubber has already come away.”
“Thanks Tom. Can you run the VIN’s and put together a report? Better send it off to the PD’s where the original cars were registered and we can see if anything pops out of the woodwork.”
“Sure, thing Boss.”
“I’ll give Walt the bad news. That’s another few charges to add to the list.”
“Well Walt, your car is a real piece or work isn’t it?”
“Cool eh?”
“Cool? Now I know that you are mad. Tom found three different VIN numbers on it. It is also a ‘cut and shut’ and according to him, the worst one he has ever experienced especially the way the axles are out of alignment.”
“So?”
“That car will be examined in due course by a State Safety Inspector and I’m sure he’ll agree with us. It will be crushed. You won’t be driving that death trap again even if you were going to get out of here without some serious charges being laid on you. You were really lucky that we did impound it when we did. The gas tank had almost rusted through and would have soon dropped a load of gas right onto the tailpipe. You know what happens then…. Boom!”
He didn’t say anything but his face told me that he was worried.
“Want to make your phone call now?”
His shoulders sank even lower.
“Nah! My people will soon know that I’m in custody.”
“Oh yeah? Who are ‘your people’?”
“Beyond your pay grade I’m afraid.”
I chuckled.
“Are you saying that you are working for the Feds?”
“Yeah. That’s it.”
“Ok, who? DEA? ATF? FBI?”
“DEA.”
I immediately smelt a rat given the contacts I’d had with the DEA.
“I know a few people in the DEA. Who’s your contact?”
“Agent Hill out of Vegas. I spoke with him yesterday. That’s why I’m here today.”
I had to confine my surprise.
“Really?”
“Yes really.”
“Well, if that checks out then I’ll have to think again.”
“Yeah Bro, you do that.”
I left him to it.
It didn’t take long for me to ascertain that Walt’s story was a total fantasy, well almost. There wasn’t an Agent called Hill in the DEA in Las Vegas and it was just too much of a coincidence that the Agent we’d worked with and who’d recently been murdered had the same name.
As I sat at my desk I realised that whoever had supposedly recruited Walt had a story that that was very close to the truth to be believable.
I went back to the cells to try to get some more information from Walt.
“Walt? Do you have a number for Agent Hill? The Vegas DEA don’t seem to know anything about him?”
Walt smiled.
“Oh, that’s easy. He’s on secondment from Denver.”
I managed to hide my surprise at that bit of information.
I handed him a pen and a pad.
“Write down his number and I’ll give him a call.”
Walt wrote down a cell-phone number. From the area code I could tell that it wasn’t in Vegas nor Denver but in Cheyanne, Wyoming. The mystery deepened. Or rather the lies just got worse.
The phone number proved to be a bust. It was out of service. That was not exactly unexpected.
“Walt, that phone is out of service,” I said with sadness in my voice.
“What? It can’t be?”
I handed him the phone.
“You try it then…”
He did just that.
“I can’t understand it?”
“Walt, it seems to me that it is pretty obvious to me that you were conned. There is or rather was an Agent Hill with the DEA in Denver but he was murdered more than a week ago so there was no way you could have spoken to him Yesterday.”
“But…?”
“Better not say anything Walt. You are in deep shit and you don’t want to get in any further now do you?”
Wisely, he didn’t say anything.
I went back to my desk and called Mrs Pritchard.
“Hello? Sheriff Matt Beecher here.”
“Yes, we are fine.”
“Do you remember the first video we did for you?”
“Yes, that one. I have my brother in Custody. He will be charged with some other offences relating to the vehicle he was driving that night and again today.”
“You really need to know that he says that it was some ‘C4’ that he removed from the trailer. I know that he is lying so you can ignore that. He has a tell that makes him a bad poker player. That tell told me that he was lying and he knows that I know that he is lying. He also hinted that he was working with the DEA and that his handler is an ‘Agent Hill’ and that he spoke with him recently. This was after the real Agent Hill had been murdered. Something is not right but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“No, I asked him and that’s what he said. No coercion was used. He knows that he can’t lie to me. I can read him like an open book.”
“Yes. A full report will be on its way to you by the end of the day. His Camaro is a cut and shut job with donors from three different states. We will be getting an order to crush it once my forensic people are done with it and the State Inspector has agreed.”
“I understand. Was there anything of significance in the trailers?”
“I do understand. Investigations of that sort can take a lot of time. If you need our assistance in the future, we are always willing to help out.”
“Thanks for the update. Goodbye.”
I sat still for a few minutes before going to give the good news to my brother.
“Walt, I have some news for you.”
“Are you letting me out?”
“Not yet. We are still chasing up the history of your car.”
“What is it then?”
“You are off the hook for what you did with whatever it was that you took from that trailer. The Feds are still wrapping up a case regarding the semi’s they intercepted the other day.”
I’d told him a bare faced lie but it was always the easiest way to get him to admit things he’d done.
Walt didn’t look very happy.
“A lot of very powerful people will be interested in those charges and you really do need to charge me. Otherwise…”
Then he did an impression of someone slitting his throat.
“Aren’t you being rather melodramatic?”
“Go look up the killing of Dwayne … Dwayne Wilson in Reno six months ago. Then think again.”
“I’ll do that but, in a couple of hours, Ma will be along later with your dinner. Expect to get an earful as well as the food. Don’t give her any lip understand!”
“Yeah right.”
“Just think about what I said ok?”
I didn’t wait for him to respond.
Once I was back I my office, I looked up the killing that Walt has referred to.
For once Walt was telling the truth. The Local PD thought it was Drug related but to me the wording that they’d use seemed to be a general catch-all that is used when they don’t have a clue. What was worrying was that it was an assassination that bad been carried out in broad daylight right outside one of the major Casino’s. Everything had been caught on CCTV but it had not deterred the assailants. They’d escaped in a tricked-up Charger that was found burnt out close to I-80 east of Elko.
There was nothing for us to do and besides any strangers coming into town would be noticed. This back of beyond place is nothing like Vegas or Reno.
“I found all sorts of bits from a variety of cars in that death-trap.”
I began to read the report and was soon shaking my head in amazement.
“It is a wonder that it lasted this long,” I said to Tom when I’d finished.
“My guess is that if you were to drive another few hundred miles and the apology for a gas tank would have leaked right onto the hot exhaust. Game over if that happens. I prodded it with a screwdriver and it went straight through and I got gas all over me. I looked at the tank and it is from a ’63 car. There was a serial number on the top that included a year of manufacture. The mounting was another shit piece of work. One of the welds had already fractured. Not good Matt, not good.”
“Can you take this report to Walt. He deserves to see it in all its glory. Perhaps then he’ll give us some help?”
“Sure thing boss.”
With a feeling of inevitability, I drew up the charge sheet and presented it to him.
“Are you going to let me out now?”
“I will once you provide verifiable evidence of your address. The one on your Nevada Driver’s License is an empty lot and has been since a fire destroyed the building more than ten years ago...”
He looked at me with incredulity.
“Google Earth is a wonderful tool. Perhaps you should use it before falsifying documents? Then the Clark County Records Office have put all their records online so it was easy for me to verify that the lot is indeed empty but belongs to a Company registered in the Pacific Island of Tuvalu. I am legally bound to inform the relevant people in Nevada so be careful when you get back to Sin City eh?”
“Give me a pen and I’ll give you an address and a phone number. They’ll vouch for me.”
He wrote the details on the report about his car. I could see that he was past caring.
“Thanks. I’ll check these out right away.”
My checking out involved calling the Police in Las Vegas. After a bit of explanation, I was put through to a Detective Saperstein who turned out to be a soft-spoken woman.
“Hello Detective. This is Sheriff Matt Beecher of Custer County. I’m wondering if you have anything on a Walt Beecher?”
“Yes, he’s my brother but I have him in custody at the moment.”
“Yes, I’ll hold.”
I waited around twenty seconds. I could hear the click of a keyboard in the background. Then she started speaking.
“He was driving a yellow Camaro. We found that it is three car cut and shut job.”
“Yes, that’s it. Why?”
“Oh, I see. We are going to get it crushed one we have had it formally safety inspected. To be honest, he was darned lucky to get it this far. The Gas Tank was about to leak all its contents over the hot exhaust.”
“Yes sure, I’ll email you the report my team have put together on it.”
I wrote down her email address.
“His Nevada license is either a fake or the address is wrong. The address is a vacant lot in the north of the city. He has since given me a second address and contact name. If you could check him out then I’d be most grateful.”
“Thanks Detective. The email will be on its way within half an hour.”
“Whadya mean?”
“Las Vegas PD say that the heap of junk that you were driving was reported stolen a week before you came back here the first time. It was stolen from a used car lot. The owner wants it back. I’ve sent the report on it to the PD. I can’t send it back as it is an illegal vehicle and totally unsafe to drive. As I said before, it will be crushed here once Tom has done a formal inspection and written his report and the State Inspector has verified it. That will be happening tomorrow. The Vegas PD are running a check on those license and other contact details you gave me right now.”
Walt became angry.
“You have really fucked me over… Again. Why could you not just have let me go eh? But no, you have to do things by the book. You really don’t know who you are messing with do you?”
“Perhaps my dear brother, you might like to enlighten me?”
He sat down looking totally dejected and didn’t say another word.
I left him to stew.
Ma gave him a good number of choice words when she came by with his food. “good for nothing SOB” was about the most innocent of the phrases she used in her tirade.
When she returned to the office, she asked,
“Is he going to be released?”
“Yes, first thing in the morning. The charges relating to that death trap he called a car will have to be answered for at a later date at Clark County Court, so we have no reason to keep him here. I’ve arranged for him to get a lift to Denver Airport from Harry Wong who is going to Denver to visit a sick relative. Where he goes from there, I don’t really care but I’ll make him understand that he is not welcome in the future unless he gets his life sorted out.”
Ma looked at me and then smiled. She knew that I could not show any favours towards my brother.
“I guess it is just Kelly and me tonight?”
“Sorry Ma. Harry Wong will send something over for me later.”
“Just make sure it isn’t a burger and fries!”
I smiled as she picked up her purse and went home.
The Vegas PD sent an email a bit later. His new address checked out but they’d be looking for him if he dared come back to ‘Sin City’ in relation to the theft of that car and using a fake driving license.
I went into the main office and put some coffee on to brew while I waited for the next call. This one was going to be lengthy.
I looked at the clock on the office wall once again and swore at myself. The night was half over before it had begun.
I left the coffee to brew and went outside for a breath of air. It was one of those late September nights that was still warm but there was a bit of a chill in the air. That told me that the season was changing.
The lights in the Office were burning brightly but the rest of the square was in darkness apart from a cooler in the Store. Only a few more hours of acting as nursemaid to Walt and then he’d be gone or rather he’d not be our problem any longer but… for how long. Like a bad penny, he seemed to keep returning.
I stood outside and thought for a moment. Walt had really screwed up my life again. I really could not understand why he’d come back again. He must have been mad to come back to a place where it had been made clear that he was not welcome.
Then I sighed. That was Walt all over. He never knew when to fold at poker or just shut up when it was clear that he was flogging a dead horse.
I went inside to take part in a conference call even though I was not sure that I’d be able to contribute much at all.
The reason for the odd hour for the call was that the person from Homeland who had been assigned this case was on vacation on Maui. Naturally, Homeland being Homeland… everyone else had to bend to their will and this person was not rushing to give up his vacation…
An hour later, I closed the call and wondered what all the fuss was about and why there had been the need for the call in the first place.
The ‘good’ people at Homeland had decided right from the start that there really was nothing for them in the case and tossed the ball right back into the DEA and everyone else’s court. Nothing that anyone else could say or do would shift them from their intransient position.
At one point, I’d gotten so mad with several of the people on the call that I had to mute my phone while I went outside and calmed down. The pure unadulterated cover-my-ass-and-I’m-not-going-to-make-any-decisions verbal garbage that was coming out from people who had not been involved on the ground with this case just made me sick. Then there was the fact that a Federal Agent had been murdered seemed to go right over Homeland’s head.
It was at that point, I remembered a word that a British Army MP had said to me in Baghdad. He’d used the word ‘Numpty’ to describe a fight involving some troops from the British and American forces that had taken place right outside the office of the base commander. I managed a smiled as I thought it a very apt description of those people at Homeland.
The behaviours shown by some people on the call also reminded me of many times in Iraq when so called Officers would not make decisions that inevitably ended up costing lives usually those of innocent civilians but all they were interested in was getting out unscathed and climbing the greasy pole that inevitably ended up in a safe Senate seat somewhere in the future. Having served at least one operational tour looked good on their Resume’s unless you happened to be one of those poor unfortunate sods who suffered at their hands.
When I returned a bit calmer, my absence had been noted.
“Sorry, call of Nature,” I said as my excuse.
I was still sitting in my chair some minutes after the call had ended when my phone rang again. The caller-id told me that it was coming from Washington DC.
“Hello?”
“Oh! Hi Mrs Pritchard.”
I listened to what she had to say.
“I agree. That was a total waste of time. Homeland bottled it big time. What’s next? After all there is still the murder of Agent Hill to solve which somehow seemed to have slipped Homeland’s mind did it not?”
As Mrs Pritchard outlined her and the DEA’s plans I began to warm to her. It seemed that her frigid exterior did have a heart beating somewhere inside it.
“No, he’s still here. As we agreed, we are releasing him in the Morning. I’ve arranged a lift as a far as Denver Airport for him. Where he goes from there is his business.”
“He should be there by midday. Why?”
“Denver Airport is a huge place. Without a tail on him before he gets there it will be next to impossible to follow him. There will be a lot of Football fans arriving as well. The Broncos are playing the Forty-Niners tomorrow.”
I looked at the date on the wall clock.
“Sorry tonight. They are playing later today.”
“As I have said before, I think he might head north to Fort Collins. He can get a shuttle bus over there from any of the terminals.”
“Ok, I’ll leave it to you good people. If you need any more help you know where we are.”
“Bye!”
I hung up and sat still for a while. It seemed that Walt was still a person of interest to the Feds. Good luck to them in tailing him. If Walt is good at one thing in his life, that is blending into the background when he needs to. I’ve met a few people like that in my life. They are called ‘grey-men’ in official jargon. The problem is that Walt likes to be noticed. Normally, you would not notice him in a crowd but sometimes he’d wear something or do something that would make people notice him. That gave him a lot of satisfaction.
It was too late to go home and get any more sleep so I dozed in my office for a couple of hours. Sue-Ellen would wake me up with some fresh coffee when she arrived to take over in a few hours.
“Now Walt, you know when you have to be back for your court appearance.”
“Yeah,” he replied in a totally disinterested voice.
“And you know what will happen if you don’t appear?”
“Yeah, I know,” he repeated.
“Good. As long as you understand the consequences of you not appearing at the Clark County Courthouse on the second of next month.”
He didn’t answer.
“I won’t ask where you are going but wherever it is, do it quietly. You never know who might be tailing you.”
I tapped my nose.
He smiled back at me.
“Gotcha Bro.”
I smiled back at him.
“Now get the hell out of town and to be honest, neither Ma nor myself don’t care if you never come back. Got it?”
“Yeah I got it.”
I watched as Harry Wong drove off in the direction of the Interstate and then to Denver. He’d let me know where he’d dropped Walt off upon his return.
Perhaps I’d made a mistake in giving him that tip off but after all, he was my brother. As long as he kept out of my county I’d be happy.
[Postscript]
With Walt gone and the Feds doing whatever it was that they did on the case which we were naturally not privy to, life settled down to normal again in the county. The last of the harvest was brought in and everywhere you could see preparations for Winter taking place. I did my part by stacking the three cords of wood that had been delivered to my home. That is backbreaking work but it did take my mind off from worrying where Walt was and what trouble he was getting into now for at least a few hours.
Life in the County and beyond carry’s on despite the little distractions that come and go. It has to otherwise the Equilibrium of the world would be disrupted. Without those distractions, I would not have a job now would I eh?
Part of working in law enforcement is accepting that despite your best endeavours and a lot of hard work nothing comes of many cases that appear on your desk. Luckily, we don’t get many of them here in Custer County unlike say, New York. For that I’m eternally grateful and so is Kelly for that matter.
Walt never returned for his court date in Clarke County. As a result, he has a ‘failure to appear’ arrest warrant out in his name posted on the wall at every PD in the state. A rather sad state of affairs for a former Police Officer.
That’s life I guess but he should have known not to return here where he was clearly not wanted in the first place.
Oh, and we kept one eye open for more Semi’s changing drivers at the Truck Stop but we never found any evidence of another handover. That is not to say that they didn’t happen but we didn’t see them. My department is rather small and we can’t have eyes and ears everywhere now can we eh?
Oh, and unlike all those cop shows on TV, real life does not always lead to someone doing the ‘Perp Walk’ and going to Jail. If it did, pretty soon half the population would be ‘doing time’ wouldn’t they?
[The end]
[1] Google for ‘what to do in Chama, New Mexico’ and you will soon see what I mean…
[2] See ‘County Sheriff – An Unwelcome Visitor’
Thanksgiving was fast approaching. Despite a blisteringly hot summer, there was already some snow at higher elevations just to the west of Denver. Ma had said more than once that this was a sure sign of a hard winter ahead. I knew from bitter experience that her track record in forecasting the weather was better than any of the TV weather women.
The county was as prepared as we could be for what lay ahead. Nevertheless, I had Kelly and Sue-Ellen start doing the rounds of the more isolated homesteads to make sure that they had enough food and fuel in store to last at least two weeks. While this was not strictly a Police duty it helped us to know who might be more vulnerable than most if the weather turned really bad.
The County people had held their annual disaster drill a week after Labor Day. We all thought that it was madness to do it so early but with the hunting season almost upon us there really was no other time when everyone concerned could be cajoled into taking part.
Other than that, life in the county went on as the days grew shorter and the nights grew longer and colder by the day. A cold blast coming down from Canada in early October reminded everyone that summer was fast becoming a distant memory.
One Monday in mid-November, I was heading back to town from Clarke County where I’d been all day giving evidence in ten traffic cases where the out of state drivers had appealed the standard fine. One had even turned up to fight the case with three suited and booted lawyers from Denver. They must have cost him a lot more than the original $75 fine. He lost the case and his fine and costs rose to $200. The large increase was mostly out of irritation that Judge Royce had with the lawyers. They came with all sorts of precedent’s ready to quote at the judge but there was no escaping the fact that the offender was doing 90mph which is illegal in our state. The Video evidence was inescapable especially as two days after the offence, Stan’s patrol car had its annual check by the state examiner and all the onboard equipment was found to be reading well within operational tolerances.
Everyone including the lawyers wanted to be off home early because the Broncos were playing the Redskins in DC so the game would be on earlier than if it was being played at home.
I’d just crossed into Custer County when the radio burst into life.
“Sheriff, do you read me?”
“Sheriff here. What’s the problem Tom? I’ve just crossed the county line on my way back from Court.”
“I’m at the old Cummings place. We put those concrete blocks across the back entrance like you said last week. Well, two of them have been moved. According to Mason Wickes, they were still in place at midday.”
I resisted increasing speed. I needed to think.
“Do you know where Sue-Ellen and Kelly are?”
“I think that they are farther away than you in terms of time to get here.”
“OK Tom. Park your cruiser over the entrance on the inside of the property. Don’t sit in the car. Keep yourself hidden on the other side of the road. Someone is up to no good. We don’t want to take any chances.”
“Gotcha Sheriff.”
“Tom, by the book but have your shotgun handy, OK?”
“I wouldn’t do it any other way, Sheriff.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can but I won’t be using lights or siren.”
Before he could answer I added,
“Sheriff out.”
I opened my phone and called Kelly. If she was in a homestead, she may not hear her radio. I switched the speaker on and put the phone in its cradle.
“Hi Kelly.”
“How was Court?”
“It was a PITA but that’s not why I’m calling. Tom has reported something going on at the Cummings place. How far are you away from the front entrance?”
“About twenty minutes. I’m just about done all my calls for the day.”
“Great. Hotfoot it over there but don’t advertise your presence. Park up between the front entrance and the Freeway.”
I could head Kelly laugh.
“Gotcha. No lights and keep away from the entrance. If someone comes out of the front entrance do I stop them?”
“Throw a stinger over the road and keep well away. You should have time to do that if you park up.”
“That’s just what I was thinking.”
“Kelly… Softly softly. If there is a drug drop going on, the people on the ground will be armed probably with semi-automatics or worse.”
“Understand. Where will you be going?”
“That depends upon what happens by the time I get to your side of town.”
“Kelly! Take Care.”
“Understood.”
I hung up the call hoping that I’d done the right thing. I increased speed and hoped for the best.
I’d just passed through town when the radio burst into life.
“Sheriff, Tom here. Do you copy?”
“I copy Tom. I’ve just passed through town.”
“All quiet here.”
“OK, please stay put. I’m going to meet Kelly at the front entrance. Can you call Barney SWA to come and put those blocks back in place? This time, can you get him to dig a trench inside the property. Tell him Baghdad Six. He’ll know what it means. Then he can put the blocks back in place.”
“Gotcha boss. What about the front entrance?”
“I’ll handle that. I just want that back way in blocked for anyone other than if they were driving a Sherman Tank.”
“OK, boss.”
“Stay until Barney has done the job then get off home. I know that it will be late so take the day off tomorrow.”
“Thanks Boss. Will do. Out.”
As I drove towards the front entrance of the Cummings Ranch I wondered how long the place would be a huge thorn in our side. More than once in the past two and a half years, I had considered buying the place myself and having great pride in taking a wrecking ball to the house and every other structure on the land. It was just a thought but I got no pleasure from having to consider it. The downside of my idea was that the place had been really badly constructed in the first place that it had been condemned by the County Engineer that one swing with the ball and the whole thing could collapse like a house of cards.
As I neared the front gate I could see the lights of Kelly’s SUV in the gathering gloom.
“Hi Kelly. Been here long?”
“About five minutes. The gate is just as we left it the last time the chain was cut.”
“That’s good to know. Tom will be staying at the other entrance until Barney SWA has dug a 5ft deep trench on the inside of the fence.”
“That’s a lot of trouble to go to for just a few kids out on a Saturday Night?”
“Yeah and those kids just happened to have the gear with them to drag those blocks out of the way? Remember that they weigh at least nine hundred pounds.”
“Even so. I think it is kids.”
“Well then when I get a call from some angry parents about their truck getting stuck in the ditch I’ll let you deal with them.”
Kelly threw me a dirty look and then burst out laughing.
“I guess I walked right into that one, didn’t I?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. Kelly knew that I’d be right behind her should she need any help if her prediction came true.
There is a classic war film called ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’. To me it is an anti-war film if anything but when Billy-Joe returned from his week in Vegas he soon coined the ongoing Cummings Place Saga as ‘How is everything on the Cummings Front’. I thought it quite apt but it seemed to go right over Tom and Sue Ellen’s heads.
Nothing more happened on the ‘Cummings Front’ even though anyone of us who passed either entrance to the place checked it out for signs of activity. Gradually, other jobs took higher importance until Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
Kelly and I were the face of law enforcement for the county but if there was a real emergency, Tom and then Billy-Joe were on call. Sue-Ellen was away in Colorado Springs visiting relatives but would be back on duty on the Saturday.
Thanksgiving was really quiet. Most people who were going to travel did so before midday. After that even the Interstate was virtually deserted. I visited the Truck Stop for a Turkey Sandwich just after noon. There was a grand total of six people in the Restaurant.
The quietness suited me perfectly. At six, I handed over to Kelly and went home to a dried-up Turkey dinner. That wasn’t unexpected but I was happy that Kelly had shared it with Ma. I knew that despite all that had happened between her and her family, she missed being with all of them for the Holidays. Luckily Ma had left some Gravy which at least made it semi edible.
Black Friday is almost a non-event in these parts. We are way too far out in the boonies for any form of ‘same day delivery’. If past years were anything to go by, we’d see a procession of delivery trucks heading our way the following Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Most were properly operated but we also knew from past experience that temporary drivers were brought in for a week or so. Many of these temporary drivers seem to have a delight in loading their vehicles well beyond their permitted levels. This was especially true if a good number of people bought washers and dryers in the sales. These are heavier than they look.
Overladen vehicles were always a target for us. It is difficult to disagree with a set of scales that show the axle loading. We always made sure that the drivers saw the scales calibrated before each incident. Every delivery Truck coming off the Interstate into Custer County would be weighed. It was even more important this year as the County Engineer had put a 5,000 pound axle weight limit on a bridge just outside of town. Recent rain had undermined one of the pillars and it would be a week or so before it could be repaired.
With all that in mind, I had Billy Joe, Tom and Kelly out by the Truck stop weighing vehicles. By mid-afternoon and much to my relief, there had been zero fines levied. The notice of the weight limit that we’d sent to all the delivery companies before the holiday’s seemed to have worked.
I was about to call off the team when the Radio came alive.
“Sheriff, do you copy?”
“Sheriff here. What is it Billy-Joe?”
“Sheriff, I was in the middle of weighing a truck when a Black Dodge Ram went by. It was a 2017 Model with very loud exhausts.”
There was a pause.
“Sheriff, I could swear that it was Walt at the wheel.”
Suddenly, what had been looking like a good day had turned into a really bad one.
“Which way was he going?”
“Towards town. He wasn’t driving fast or anything but… Sheriff, it still had the dealer plates on it. It looked brand new.”
“Thanks for the heads-up Billy Joe. Give it another hour and call it a day with the truck weighing.”
“Gotcha Sheriff. Out.”
The news that Walt might be back in the county was a bit of a shock. A bad penny and all that. Quite why he’d come back here knowing that he’d be arrested on sight was just made me feel sick inside. There had to be a reason for him returning to the area. He was once again, bad news.
I picked up the phone and called Ma.
“Hi Ma.”
“No, I’m not going to miss dinner. Kelly will be back in just over an hour so yes, there will be three of us for dinner.”
“Ma… I don’t know how to put this… It might be that Walt has returned to the county. Billy-Joe thinks he spotted him coming off the Interstate.”
I could feel the tension down the phone. Ma was always a woman of few words and I could imagine what she was thinking and the expression on her face.
“I just wanted to let you know that you may have a visitor.”
“He knows what he’ll get if her comes a calling here. My Scatter gun Is loaded and ready by the back door! Can’t you arrest him?”
“Yes, the warrants for his arrest are still outstanding. Why?”
“Do something then!”
“Ma! Hold your horses. What if he is not alone? You are just asking for trouble if you try to arrest him with just that old Shotgun of yours.”
“I knows where you keep the real cartridges if Rock Salt won’t stop him.”
“No Ma. Just tell him to get lost. If he decided to stay then that’s his lookout. I’ll be home in an hour. I have three cases of DUI coming up in court tomorrow and I need to get all the evidence prepared.”
It was a little lie. All the evidence was neatly stacked on my desk ready to go in the safe until the morning. I wanted to spend a little time just outside of town watching for Walt before I headed home.
“Yeah!”
“Ma, if Walt does turn up, just do nothing other than telling him to get lost. I’ll be home in an hour or so, as will Kelly.”
I finished the call and after a brief look at the clock, put all the evidence in the safe and headed out of the warm office into the cold of the late afternoon. I looked up and saw that there was no cloud cover. It would freeze tonight if it stayed like this. I looked west and saw the last of the sunset over the distant Rockies. It looked clear all around.
I got into my Truck and started the engine. After about a minute, I started to feel some warmth coming from the vents. A thought crossed my mind, ‘was I getting a bit soft?’. I didn’t know but I did know one thing and that was I hated the winter more and more each year.
I headed out of town and turned off the main road that led to the Interstate. If Billy-Joe had been right and Walt was heading this way, he’d be along shortly. He could have turned off the road at anyone of half a dozen junctions but I wanted to check for myself.
I turned my Truck around about half a mile from the junction with the main road. I parked in a field entrance and switched off all my lights. I could see the lights of the town away to my right. Two homesteads were lit up to my left. Otherwise, it was as black as the ace of spades. If we’d been five hundred miles further north I might have seen the Aurora Borealis but all I could see were the lights of planes flying high above me coming from I knew not where and going to somewhere else.
Time ticked by and three vehicles left town heading for the Interstate. Nothing was coming the other way. The peace was broken by Kelly coming onto the Radio.
“Boss, we are clearing up for the day. Do you want us back here tomorrow?”
“Kelly, tell the others to do the same again tomorrow unless you hear otherwise. Did Billy-Joe tell you about Walt?”
“Yeah. Do you want me to do anything?”
“No. Just go home. I gave Ma a heads up. I’ll be back in forty minutes.”
“Roger!”
I sat back and watched the road again. Very little was moving. It was getting cold but I didn’t want to draw attention to myself by starting the engine to warm the cab. My thoughts were invariably drawn back to Walt’s sheepskin coat. I could have done with that right now. Well, before it was used to wrap up a newly born baby. I made a mental note to dig out my heavy winter gear from the storeroom at the office. Tom had been wearing his for almost a month but the rest of us had held off until now.
It was getting pretty cold by the time I called it a day and started the engine. I let it warm up before moving off.
As I drove home, I wondered what had become of that Pickup. It had to be somewhere even if it wasn’t Walt who had been driving it. The most popular vehicle in the County was the Pickup but we didn’t have many of the ultra large variants around here. I’d seen a few over in Clarke County and loads on the Interstate but so far, we’d escaped them. I didn’t like them because they were just too big in my opinion. Then there those with four wheels at the back. I had a feeling that they would not fit over a few bridges in the County.
Thinking about trucks with four wheels at the back made me think of the murder of Sandy Thompson. The people responsible for that crime drove a truck that had four wheels at the rear. That crime and the subsequent firing of Walt had led to Kelly coming into my life. That had been one of the few good things to come out of that period in my life.
Ma disappeared off to watch some TV after dinner leaving Kelly and me to clear up. Both of us wanted to ask the all-important question but were slightly afraid of what the other one would say. In the end it was Kelly who asked,
“Do you think that Walt is back?”
“Who knows. I’m sure he knows that he will be arrested if he meets up with any of us. Other than that, I don’t know. He was always the secretive one and as we all know, he was often up to no good. His little get rich quick schemes are still talked about at the High School to this day.”
“What I can’t understand is the truck. If it was Walt why would he be driving one with dealer plates on? They are a clear giveaways and stand out a mile. Then there was the fact that he left here with less than fifty bucks to his name.”
“That’s Walt down to a tee. He always had this knack of picking himself up and coming back stronger than before.”
“We shall all have to be on the lookout for the next few days. Any empty barns and such will be worth checking out, won’t they?”
I sighed.
“What’s the big sigh for?”
“What is the biggest empty place in the County?”
“Ah.”
“Don’t say it. I’m sure that mentioning that cursed place brings us bad luck.”
Kelly mimicked drawing a zip over her mouth.
I gave her a kiss and we went to join Ma who had fallen asleep watching re-runs of “Friends” and “Frasier”.
Despite the best efforts of the team we found no trace of the mysterious SUV. We did find three stolen cars for our efforts. One had been stolen from Dallas more than four years earlier. According to the property owners who’d only been in the place for a few months, it was there when they viewed the property. As the car was up on blocks and from the look of it and the vegetation that was growing up all around it, it had been there for a couple of years at least.
The other two cars were found in a barn close to the Stateline. They were in the process of being stripped. They’d been stolen from a parking lot at a Denver Bronco’s game a month earlier. We arrested the owner of the barn and he was charged with handling stolen property. He refused to divulge who was doing the stripping of the vehicles. None of the finger prints we’d collected at the scene were a match for any known criminals according to the AFIS Finger Print System.
The owner pled guilty at the hearing in the next county. Then he disappeared across the Stateline before serving his sentence of 200 hours community service. We put a lien on the property which would stop him from selling it. Then we found out that his name was very different from the one he’d been using in the state. The FBI office in Baton Rouge gave us the lowdown via a long phone call. The man’s real name was Randy Carpenter and came from St Petersburg in Florida. He had a rap sheet as long as my arm and then some. His speciality was car theft and stripping. He’d dropped off the FBI’s radar about the same time he appeared in Custer County.
We learned a valuable lesson. In future, we should run a nationwide AFIS check for anyone we arrested who wasn’t born in Custer or any of the adjoining counties.
It wasn’t until a week before Christmas that anything further happened of note in Custer County.
I was in the Office doing some paperwork. Kelly and Tom were out in ‘Area 51’ running the speed trap. Sue-Ellen was over in Denver with her family doing some Christmas Shopping. Billy-Joe was over in Clarke County giving evidence at a DUI trial.
The Radio came to life just after two thirty. I was expecting a call from either Kelly or Tom to let me know that they that packed up and were heading back to town.
“Sheriff. Do you copy?”
“Reading you loud and clear Tom. What is up?”
“Sheriff, Kelly and I are heading back to town. We were approaching the Interstate exit before the Truck stop when a light aircraft flew low overhead. The registration numbers on the tail and wings were painted over. Someone had slapped a load of grey paint over the numbers.”
“Which way was it heading?” I asked as I walked over to the large-scale map that was on my office wall.
“As best I can judge, it was heading North North West.”
I traced a line in that direction from the location of Tom’s sighting. My heart sank.
“If it is going where I think it is then it is heading for the Cummings place.”
“That’s what Kelly guessed.”
“Tom, get Kelly to head towards the back entrance to the Cummings place. Can you park up at the Interstate overbridge? You know the spot. The one where we often sit so it won’t be out of the ordinary. I’ll head to the front entrance. I’d get your shotgun and ammo out of the trunk. If these are drug smugglers then they will be armed. Use phones from now on and keep radio silence unless it is an emergency or something totally unrelated.”
“Gotcha Sheriff.”
“Keep your head down and watch out. If this a drug smuggling operation then they… they whoever they are may well be heavily armed.”
“Understood. Tom out.”
Tom would signal to Kelly to stop at the Interstate Off-ramp and brief her.
I strapped on my equipment belt and started to leave the Office. I’d gone two paces when I decided to make a phone call first.
I dialled a number from memory.
“Sheriff Cousins please. Sheriff Matt Beecher here and it is important,” I said as the call was answered.
I’d called my opposite number over the Stateline in Colorado. If there was contraband on the move then the most likely destination for it would be Denver or Colorado Springs. Either way, it would have to go through his county.
“Hi Troy. No, this is not a social call. We think that there might be a shipment of narcotics about to hit the ground in my County. If it is then it may well be heading your way.”
“Nope. Just a heads up at this time but if it does get past us, we’ll be needing your support. It will either be on the Interstate or on Route Twenty.”
“Thanks Troy. I’ll keep you informed. I’m keeping radio silence over here so I’ll update you on your cell if that is OK?”
“Thanks. Will do. Bye.”
Twenty minutes later I was approaching the front entrance to the Cummings place when a black Ram pickup came out of the drive and turned towards the Interstate. It was obviously in a hurry. I guessed that the occupants had seen me approaching. There was little cover in the direction I’d come from.
I lit up my lights and put my foot down and went after them. I called Tom on his cell.
“Tom, trouble is heading your way. Get your truck stinger out on road before the junction. Then stay well back. If the truck does not stop then take out the tires with your shotgun. Make sure that this is done well away from the Truckstop.”
“Gotcha Boss. Shall I call Kelly as backup?”
“I’ll do that. We need to get that pickup stopped but take no undue risks understand!”
“Gotcha. No risks.”
I kept a decent distance between my SUV and the pickup but there was no sign that the driver wanted to slow down at all. I could see the lights of the Truckstop in the distance. It would not be long now before something happened.
My phone bleeped with a message. I gave it a brief glance.
“Stinger in place. Danny SWA blocking road.”
I managed a small smile. Danny must have been in the area. If he sees one of our vehicles parked up on the Interstate overbridge then he’ll often stop for a chat.
As we approached the intersection I could see Danny’s big tow Truck blocking the road. Tom’s car was next to it with its lights shining down the road and right into the eyes of the driver I was tailing.
I guessed where Tom had put the stinger but the pickup went right over it as if it didn’t exist. It probably had extra heavy-duty tires on its wheels. If so, it would have probably been unaffected by the prongs on the stinger but you have to try don’t you. The brake lights came on as the pickup slowed down. There really was nowhere for it to go. The road was in a gulley at this point.
The difficult terrain wasn’t going to stop the driver. He tried to go up the bank on the left. To me, that was a bad choice. It had a very unstable surface and was prone to slipping after heavy rain.
I came to a halt and got out of my SUV with my shotgun at the ready. I quickly removed the stinger from the road and watched as the Pickup tried to climb the bank and escape. It had nearly made it but a sudden increase in engine noise only served to make everything slip. A large section of the embankment slid down taking the pickup with it. The recent rain had done its job very well. The top six inches or so of the surface just slipped down into the ditch. It took the pickup with it despite the driver frantically trying to stop it. Gunning the engine was not going to magically find grip out of thin air.
The slide and the pickup ended back half in the ditch and half on the roadway. This time, the driver tried to go up the bank on the other side but it didn’t get very far. A combination of mud clogging the tire groves and far too much throttle ensured that the vehicle didn’t get very far. Mud is a funny substance. City folk really have no idea what really sticky mud can do to even semi off-road tires. It can offer less grip than ice but until you have a few inches of it clinging to your wheels you are just driving blind.
Tom had come down the hill. I could see him carrying his pump action shotgun. I approached the pickup with my weapon drawn. The driver was still trying to get away but was going nowhere fast. The wheels were spinning yet the pickup was not moving. It was that ‘mud’ again.
From the light provided by Tom’s SUV and Danny’s Tow Truck, I could see that there were two people in the front of the truck. Then Tom put a shot into the front right tire. The vehicle shuddered as the tire started to shred itself. This caused it to jam solid. That pickup was going nowhere anytime soon.
The use of a shotgun would let the occupants know that we meant business. Well, that was what I hoped. It was time to put my hope to the test.
“Put your hands on the dash where I can see them!” I commanded.
Tom put a round into the rear right tire just to make sure that the occupants were clear that they were going nowhere.
The people in the front complied and put their hands onto the dash.
“Good. Now you the driver. Switch off the motor. Careful now. As you have witnessed, my deputy has itchy fingers so don’t try anything. Understand!”
The driver nodded his head and switched off the engine.
Tom had his shotgun pointed at the head of the passenger. I could see that neither one was Walt which pleased me no end.
I opened the drivers’ door.
“Now get out slowly and kneel on the ground with your legs crossed! Hands behind your heads!” I commanded.
Without any change in expression the driver got down from the cab and did as I instructed.
“If you try anything, your passenger gets one in the head understand!”
For the first time, I heard a reply.
“I understand.”
I quickly cuffed the driver and made him sit with his back to the front tyre. I had to kick his legs to make sure that they stayed out straight. He seemed to get the message.
Tom repeated the operation with the passenger. He made him come around to my side of the truck and was sat down with his back to the rear wheel.
“You ain’t got no reason to shoot up the tires like that,” said the passenger.
“For starters, you were seen leaving a property via a gate that was locked shut just a few hours ago. That’s aggravated trespass. Then you failed to stop for a Police Officer. Then you were speeding. I clocked you at over eighty in a fifty-five zone. Then there is causing damage to the embankments. That is county property and I’m sure that there is more than enough evidence from my dash cam for the county engineer to file suit for damages. That is more than enough to be going on with.”
Then I turned to Tom.
“Can you check over the back of the vehicle and the rear seats?”
He didn’t answer but moved to the read of the vehicle and l lifted up the lockable top to the load area.
This whistle was more than enough to tell me that he’d seen something of interest.
He took some photos of the contents and closed the lid.
Then he moved to the rear door and opened it.
“Well, look at what we have here!” he exclaimed.
Tom moved out of the way just enough for me to see the sullen face of my brother Walt.
The look on his face was a perfect picture that said ‘This is the last person in the world that I need to see right now!’.
[to be continued]
Seeing my brother hiding down in the back of the Pickup phased me for a moment but it was only a moment. It would not do to show any favouritism with that almost ever present thorn in my thumb, my brother Walt.
I shook my head before saying,
“Out you get Walt. You know the drill!”
Walt slowly got out of the truck and sat on the floor. I didn’t need to tell him to keep his legs straight but crossed below the knee.
“Boss, shall I get some more cuffs from my vehicle?”
“Please do that. Give me your shotgun. That is far more effective at keeping this lot under control.”
He handed me the shotgun and disappeared into the darkness.
“Don’t try anything or you will get a load from this and at this range, it is not a pretty sight. Oh, and before anyone thinks that this is running short of ammo, this is the ten shot police version and by my estimation there are at least five rounds left.”
No one moved. My threat was obviously sinking in.
While I waited, I started to go through a list of people I’d need to get involved with this case. Then I stopped. I didn’t know what there was in the back of the truck.
Tom returned and cuffed Walt. From Walt’s expression, Tom had done the cuffs up really tight.
“Walt, you are under arrest for non-appearance at court. Even if these friends of yours manage to walk, you are going nowhere but to jail. You will not pass go nor will you collect two hundred dollars.”
We’d used to play Monopoly as children. Walt had this knack of ending up in jail. This time it was for real.
He just glared at me and grunted.
“Tom, what was it you found in the back?”
“Boss, I think you’d call it something like a missile launcher. There are three of them if the lettering on the cases is right but most of it is in that weird script that the Russkies use. One of the boxes is open. There are some other boxes that might be ammo.”
So much for the drug running theory. This was a different kettle of fish entirely. This would involve the ATF and possibly Homeland. That was no fun at the best of times.
“Well, Walt, you have really gone and done it this time.”
He didn’t answer but just scowled at me.
Then he said as cool as a cucumber,
“Where is your little bit on the side then? The bloke that pretends that they are a woman? Is that all you can get into your bed.”
“I’m here!” came a voice from the darkness.
Kelly came into view. There was nothing masculine about the figure she cut.
“Say one more word like that and I’ll be glad to add a hate crime charge to the list.”
Walt just spat into the dirt.
That was his way of giving the person it was directed at ‘the finger’.
“There is no need for that Walt. You might be my brother but you are a criminal in my eyes.”
The other two glared at Walt. They obviously didn’t know about me.
“Yes people, this is my brother or perhaps he forgot to tell you that I’m sheriff in these here parts?”
I turned to Kelly.
“Kelly, can you watch these three. I’ll go and get Barney organised to take this lump of scrap metal to the impound lot.”
I used the word ‘scrap’ deliberately. After the ATF or whoever was done with it, there would be little left other than a shell. I hoped that one them actually owned it. They’d have to stump up the costs of not only our impound buy putting the sorry thing back together again.
I handed her the Shotgun. She smiled at me.
“No problem Boss. It will be my pleasure watch over them.”
She wafted the barrel of the Shotgun under the noses of the three suspects just to make sure that they knew that she meant business.
It was a little over three hours later that Barney SWA delivered the bent and very muddy pickup to the impound yard. The last slide down the embankment had damaged the rear offside suspension. So much for a vehicle supposedly capable of going off road. He’d had to return to town to get his flatbed trailer. The bills were stacking up nicely.
The three prisoners were locked in the cells. Thankfully, there was room for them all without the need to share.
I’d called Sheriff Cousins on the way back to town, to let him know that there was nothing for him to do. I didn’t let on about the cache of weapons that we’d found. I reasoned that the less people who knew about it the better for at least the time being.
Tom had taken dozens of photos of the cache as it lay in the back of the Pickup. Then we’d moved everything into the Office. Normally, we’d have put them in one of the cells but they were currently occupied by our guests so they went into the store room. That was the only place apart from my office where we could put them that was at least out of sight but even so, I felt rather uneasy with all that very potent and highly illegal weaponry under the office roof.
I let Tom begin processing our guests starting with Walt. Once they were catalogued Kelly ran the prints through various Law Enforcement Databases. Walt’s came back exactly as expected apart from an outstanding arrest warrant from Santa Fe, New Mexico. The warrant was for unpaid child maintenance which as a new one for me.
The other two were well known criminals. Troy Jenkins had a ‘rap’ sheet that went right back to the age of ten when he stole his first car at gunpoint in Detroit. His last known address was the Federal Prison in Sheridan, Oregon. He’d been released from there two months previously after serving eight years of a twelve-year sentence for armed robbery of a gas station. He was on Parole which meant at the minimum, he’d be going back to serve out the rest of it. Associating with known criminals was more than enough to make that happen.
The driver was Seth aka, Sebastian aka Wilbur aka Will Smith who came from LA but his last known address was in a remote part of Montana. He was on both a FBI and Homeland Security watch list for possibly being a member of a right-wing militia that had been suspected of being responsible for a number of Bank and Credit Union heists as well as making some very nasty statements about anyone who wasn’t white to were in the news.
These were clearly not nice people and their list of crimes and associates made me even more uneasy.
Once I had all the information on our suspects I started to prepare myself for the calls I’d have to make to the ATF and FBI.
I need not have worried about that as they called me. My inquiries into their backgrounds had apparently already alerted them. I found myself speaking to an Agent McSwain from the ATF Office in St Louis.
“Yes, Agent McSwain, we have Smith and Jenkins in custody along with a third man.”
“How about a collection of eight shoulder held Missile Launchers plus twenty additional rounds. One of my officers is trying to decipher the Cyrillic on the cases to determine if they are Surface to Air or just shoulder launched anti-tank devices.”
“The third man?”
“That’s when it gets rather complicated.”
I paused for a second.
“It is my brother Walt Beecher. He has an arrest warrant outstanding here plus another one from Santa Fe.”
“No, we have not started talking to any of them but they have been mirandized and none have asked for a Lawyer which is good because we don’t have any Public Defenders in the county.”
“No Agent. I was preparing to call the ATF when you called me. I will defer to you on this case. I will feed the prisoners and inform them that another agency will be questioning them either here or at another location.”
“Sorry Agent McSwain. I’m doing this by the book. They have to be informed of any material developments in the case. This is in case they want to invoke their right to counsel. That is the law and I intend to uphold it to the letter. I do not want any judge letting them off on a technicality. I’m sure that you don’t either.”
“Who will be coming and when can they be expected? After nine tomorrow morning would be good. Then my guests will have had breakfast. Again, I’m doing things by the book. If other law enforcement agencies choose to do things differently then, that this their look out. While they are in my custody then things will be done by the book.”
I sighed as I listened to the agent. She went on about doing my duty and being a patriot and all that bullshit that Feds are almost brainwashed into saying at times like this.
“Agent McSwain, for your information, before becoming Sheriff here, I was a Military Policeman and I saw a murderer walk free because other people who should have known better, didn’t do things by the book. Tours of Iraq and Afghanistan mean that I know better than most about doing their duty. Please don’t fall into the trap of assuming that because we are out in the boonies that we don’t know what duty and patriotism is and what the law is. We are doing things by the book and while they are in my county, that is the end of it. If I see any of your agents breaking the law while in my county, they will be arrested and charged. Do you understand my rules? My house, my rules. If you don’t like it then take it up with the Governor!”
I put the phone down before she could answer. I had this mental vision of a career officer who had never really worked on the front line. She’d been asking me to do things that were borderline illegal and ones that any half decent defence attorney would jump on in a flash. That I was not going to do nor were any of my Officers while I was still Sheriff of this County.
Since Walt had been fired things in the department had changed a lot. We all trusted each other to do the right thing. Walt had been the one to try to bend the rules at almost every opportunity. With him out of the picture, and the arrival of Kelly, we had gelled into a well-oiled team. Each of us knew our strengths and weaknesses and what was even more important, we knew that we could depend upon any of the others to ‘watch our back’s should it come to that.
The only good thing to come out of the call was that the ATF would be sending a team to take control of the Pickup, the weapons and my prisoners the next day. I needed to give the good news to them and to get their food orders for the evening meal.
That made me think of Ma. She would have prepared something for Kelly and myself but we would not be there to eat it. I knew that she would not be happy and I’d get that ‘look’ from her that made me feel about ten years old again but she’d get over it.
I went into the part of the station that contained the three cells.
“I want to give you all an update. Neither myself nor any of my officers will be questioning you today. The ATF will be here to take control tomorrow. However, I do need to know what you want to eat tonight and also for breakfast tomorrow. Any questions about what I have just told you?”
I got nothing apart from some scowls which suited me fine.
I handed them the menu from Harry’s Diner and wrote down their choices.
After phoning the orders over to Harry, I called Ma.
“Sorry Ma. Kelly and I are up to our eyes in a case.”
“Ma… It involves Walt. This time he won’t be walking away with a ticking off. This time it is serious. At least Ten years jail time serious.”
“No Ma. Please don’t come in tonight to give him a few choice words. He’s well past that. He has chosen to tie up with some very nasty people and has to pay the price.”
“I’ll tell him what you said but it won’t make any difference.”
“No, we will be bedding down here tonight. We have some items of value here that need guarding.”
I laughed.
“Kelly will be going over to Harry’s shortly with our orders.”
“OK Ma. See you tomorrow.”
With that out of the way, I started to think about the people who might come looking for our guests and what might happen if they did just that before morning. My sense of unease and the obvious gang tattoo’s that Smith and Jenkins carried on the back of their hands suggested to me that they had friends and those friends may well be armed and dangerous.
I called Tom into my Office.
“Any joy with the translator?”
He smiled
“They are surface to air missiles. I didn’t need to translate the Cyrillic. There was a sort of instruction manual underneath the one launcher case that was open. The manual also suggests that the weapons were made in Serbia.”
My shoulders visibly sank.
“That means those three will be up on terrorism charges. Bringing down a plane is clearly Terrorism. That’s not good news at all.”
Then I said,
“Don’t let on about the missiles. The fewer who know about them the better.”
“Gotcha Boss.”
Tom nodded and disappeared.
Tom’s news had been bad. I had to involve the FBI. They could slug it out with the ATF over who has jurisdiction but as a potential case of domestic terrorism, they would be my first call.
I called Kelly in and briefed her on the situation.
“They need careful watching and so does the main road into town.”
“Are you expecting trouble?”
“I don’t know but these things were bought into the country for a purpose and the people that paid for them are not going to want to lose them in a hurry. We are basically sitting ducks here.”
“What sort of organisation are they with?”
“My current thinking is one of the crackpot militia’s that have dropped off the grid. They need funding and hate anything to do with ‘the man’. These things are ideal for knocking a chopper out of the sky. Take one down and unless the Army are called in, they would be safe from prying eyes. I’m sure that they’d have facilities to take down any drones and as far as I can recall, using Predator type drones inside the USA is illegal. I could be totally wrong but some organisation wants a lot of weaponry that can take down a civil airliner if they desire.”
“That would be my best guess. Strike at three airports across the country and the sit back and watch while air travel in the whole country comes to a complete stop. Remember what it was like after 9/11? Chaos was just the tip of the iceberg.”
“Either way, this is not good. I need to call the FBI.”
“Do you have to? Surely the ATF can deal with this? The last thing we want is two TLA’s having a turf war on our doorstep?”
I thought for a moment.
“Perhaps you are right. I’ll wait and see what happens with the ATF. We’ve never had to deal with them before.”
Kelly smiled.
“I did back in NYC. They stomped all over the NYPD and tried to make us out as being complicit in the crime. My then Captain smelt a rat and went to the FBI. It didn’t end well as two of the ATF agents were on the take. They went down for twenty years.”
“I think I’ll let them fight it out on their own patch.”
Kelly looked at her watch.
“I need to get the food order from Harry’s. I’ll watch them last. You get some sleep.”
I stood up and kissed her.
“Did you think that you would get messed up with stuff like this when you took this job?”
She laughed.
“I thought it would be nice and quiet. It is more like ‘Sleepy Hollow’ most of the time but, it is times like these where we earn our pay isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Thankfully, these events are not that common.”
“But they stop us from getting bored, don’t they?”
I kissed her again and watched her leave. As she did so, I wondered if I should stand for re-election when my term ends the following November. Being with Kelly reminded me that there was a life to be had outside the law but I just didn’t know what it was just yet.
They’d just finished breakfast when my phone rang.
“Hi Sue-Ellen. How was Colorado?”
“I’m back and have discovered something that will interest you.”
Before I could ask her what it was, she told me.
“I’m at the Cummings Place. You really need to see this…”
“It is ….”
As she told me I started laughing.”
“I guess that is related to the three prisoners we have in the cells. Stay right where you are. I’ll be out there shortly. See you soon.”
I put the phone down and started laughing again.
“What’s so funny?” asked Kelly.
“The Cummings place keeps surprising us. Sue-Ellen saw that the front entrance was open on her way back from Denver. She went to investigate and….”
I tried hard but couldn’t stop laughing as I visualised the scene that Sue-Ellen had described to me.
[to be continued in Part 3]
What Goes Around Comes Around Part 3 of 3
I left the Office still smiling and shaking my head at what Sue-Ellen had described to me. I didn’t want to tell anyone else about it until I had seen it for myself. Kelly tried to divert me to tell me when the ATF team were arriving but I waved her away and said that I’d update her as soon as possible.
The images of what Sue-Ellen had described to me over the phone just brought back memories of watching ‘Wacky Races’ on TV as a child.
Those images turned out to be almost correct.
I arrived to find Sue-Ellen grinning from ear to ear. I could see why. The aircraft that had been spotted flying low over the Interstate was lying nose down in the very same seasonal pond where we’d found Sandy Thompson’s body. The recent rain had allowed the water to collect and at night, it would have been next to impossible to see before disaster struck.
I looked at the direction it had been going in. It was heading South West and there had been a breeze from that direction the night before. My guess was that it had been trying to take off when it came to a very sticky end. This was understandable if the pilot had been trying to take off without lights.
“Have you taken any photos?”
Sue-Ellen grinned.
“Dozens.”
“For posterities sake you understand.”
I smiled back at her.
“Why don’t you send a couple to Kelly. She would love to know what I found so funny.”
Sue-Ellen pulled out her phone and began to press some keys. I took the opportunity to inspect the wreckage a bit closer. The Pilot had evidently escaped unscathed and was from first glance nowhere to be seen.
The downside to this whole thing was that another federal agency namely the NTSB and possibly the FAA [1] would have to be involved.
I started walking in the direction the plane had come from. The wheel tracks were easy to follow. After about two hundred yards I saw two sets of vehicle tracks coming from and going back towards the main gate to the property. This was obviously where the cargo had been unloaded. The tracks of the aircraft disappeared off into the distance. My guess was that the pickup had got here first and used its lights to signal to the plane where to land. The fall of darkness may well have meant that the pilot had no idea of what lay ahead of him when he started his take off run.
I walked back to Sue-Ellen.
“We need to see if we can find the Pilot. He may well be needing medical attention.”
“I thought the same. There are footprints heading towards the road.”
“Let’s follow them and see if we can find him.”
We both got in our vehicles and slowly followed the tracks. They initially led towards the road but after a bit, they changed course and were clearly heading towards the house. It had been boarded up after it had been condemned by the County Engineer but there had been a few cases where teens had broken in and had a bit of a drinking party.
We stopped in front of the building and started to look around. At first there were no signs of any one or any fresh damage to the building.
Sue-Ellen went one way around the building and I went the other. We’d drawn our weapons just in case. We had to assume that the Pilot was armed and possibly dangerous.
I’d just turned the corner of the building when I heard Sue-Ellen call out. I went running.
As I reached her, I saw that she was bending down over a body.
“He’s alive but only just.”
“I’ll call it in,” I said in reply.
I used my phone to call the Paramedics.
“They’ll be here in fifteen minutes or so,” I said after I’d spoken with the dispatcher.
“He’s probably got a punctured lung given the sound of his breathing. It is not good.”
“While you are examining him, can you check for an ID and weapons. Seth and Brad really don’t like treating people who are armed.”
Sue-Ellen chuckled. Brad was her brother and one of our local Paramedics. He had become very pro-gun control after he’d nearly died during his training when a patient pulled a gun on him and fired. Thankfully he only got wounded in the arm but I knew from my own experiences incidents like that can change your whole outlook on life when it comes to firearms.
Sue-Ellen went about her business very efficiently. She didn’t find any weapons but neither did she find any ID or any documentation at all. I looked forlornly back at the plane and realised that someone would have to examine it before the day was out.
My deliberations were cut short by my phone ringing. It was Kelly.
“Hi Kelly. Are the prisoners playing up?”
“You did eh? Well done. What were they saying?”
“OK, I’ll listen.”
I listened as Kelly played me part of a recording of what our guests were saying to each other. While it might not be strictly legal or able to be used in evidence at a trial, what they said to each other without the presence of a lawyer is not exactly covered by privilege.
“That is not good. Is Tom there?”
“Get him to give me a call from outside the station. Sue-Ellen and I are waiting for the paramedics so until they take the pilot off to Hospital, I can’t leave.”
“I’ll fill you in as soon as I get back. What they were saying is bad news. I want to take some precautions.”
“Yeah that’s right. Remove temptation and all that.”
Tom called me less than two minutes later.
“Tom, I want you to disappear with those weapons pronto. We might be having some uninvited visitors sooner rather than later if the conversation that Kelly recorded is anything to go by.”
“Yes, turn off the tracker in your vehicle and also switch off your work phone. Take one of the burners from the stockroom but keep it switched off for at least two hours. Tell Kelly the number and get out of town. Don’t take the road to the Interstate and I don’t want to know where you are going. Got it? Oh, and stay with the weapons to ensure chain of custody. Stop off at Harry’s new ‘Drive Thru’ and get some take-away on your way out of town. Tell Harry to charge it to the Department.”
“Yes, some insurance. If you don’t hear from me by this time tomorrow then you will have to assume the worst. If that is the case then you should head for the State Police HQ but by the back roads. Maintain radio silence. Despite us having digital radios, there are people out there who can hack into them at the drop of a hat.”
“Tom… Don’t take any chances and good luck.”
I hung up and looked at Sue-Ellen.
“Has all this stirred up a Hornets nest?”
“I’m beginning to think that way. Go with the Ambulance and stay at the Hospital. We need to arrest this man in any case so staying close won’t be out of the ordinary.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Make a few calls and hope that it is all a false alarm.”
While Sue-Ellen kept watch over the pilot, I used my phone to search for a number. Once I had it, I called it.
“Hello, I’ve recently had a call from someone purporting to be from your Organisation. Is there any way to check to see if it is genuine?”
“Yes, I’ll hold.”
“Yes, I received a phone call late last night supposedly from an Agent McSwain. It was after I’d done a search for an ID after a hit on the AFIS Database.”
“Yes, I am in Law Enforcement. My name is Sheriff Matt Beecher. I have recently come into possession of some rocket launchers and a quantity of ammunition for them.”
“That’s right. That’s the name of the one of the people we have under arrest. Am I to assume that you are indeed sending some people to take over the investigation? We have the Pilot and the plane that was used to bring them into the country. The weapons originate from Serbia.”
“You have? That’s good to know. Thanks for the heads up. Rest assured that we will offer all possible support to your agents.”
The FBI and ATF arrived in force the following morning. I counted sixteen identical black SUV’s driving up to the office. Idiots! If you want to signal that you are a Fed then there really is nothing better than using an identikit vehicle. Like the old days and new FBI agents with their standard issue raincoat and ‘buzz-cut’ hair. They might as well have the words “I’m a Fed” in neon lights on them for all the good it would go if they ever hoped to blend in.
The night had been long, cold and quiet. The last part was the most relevant. No one had come looking for either the people or the weapons which relieved me no end.
We’d given our guests their breakfasts which had made them far more amenable. Well, two of the three seemed a bit more-friendly. Walt was as expected his usual sullen self. He refused even a cup of coffee. He just glared at everyone and I got an even meaner look.
“It is no use wishing that you were on this side of the bars Walt. You are going nowhere except to jail for a very long time. Those weapons are on the prohibited list. That means that you my dear brother are going to be charged with Terrorism against the State. That’s a 99-year sentence as a minimum. I hope that your little lady or is it ladies? Anyway, I hope that the women in your life are prepared to visit you in a Federal Super Max because that is where you will be spending the rest of your natural.”
He just glared at me.
“I would hope that the Feds get here before Ma. I might just turn a blind eye and let her loose on you if she gets here first. What about that then dear brother?”
There was a look of panic on his face.
“Good. At least there is some reaction from you. Glares get boring very quickly.”
Kelly saved the day for him by telling us that the Feds had setup in the car park and wanted to get going with their part of the investigation.
As I’d expected, the lead agents bickered over who was going to take over my office.
“Gentlemen! Please. The weapons are the most important thing here. They could shoot down a few 747’s! To me, that gives the ATF precedence. Agent Cole, you can use my office. Agent Roberts, you can use the desk right outside the door.”
They didn’t argue.
Agent Cole returned a brief smile.
“Where are the Missiles?”
“Somewhere safe,” I responded.
“Where?”
“Safe because I don’t know where they are. One of my deputies has them. I sent him off last night just in case we had unexpected visitors looking for them before you turned up. His orders were to stay with them at all times to maintain evidence control.”
He looked worried.
I turned to Sue-Ellen.
“Can you give Tom a call please?”
She grinned back at me.
“I sent a message to him when the Agents arrived. He’ll be here in an hour and a half.”
“That OK Agent Cole?”
“It will have to be,” he replied with a look of distain on his face.
“Agent Cole, we had some intel that suggested we might have been paid a visit by friends of those we have in custody. It really would not look good on any of our records if these visitors had been able to drive off with that weaponry now would it?”
He just glared at me.
“My officer has been with them the whole time so there is no break in the chain of custody for them. As far as I’m concerned, we have done everything we could to do things by the book which will give none of the accused grounds for appeal. If you don’t like it then that’s your hard luck. I’m sheriff of this county and it is my duty to protect the lives of everyone in it and that includes my officers.”
I turned away before he could argue.
The Feds did what Feds do and by four in the afternoon, they were ready to leave. The three prisoners were loaded into the back of the ATF SUV’s. The Missiles had been catalogued and recorded into evidence. We’d all given verbal and written statements about the operation to arrest the suspect. Two FBI officers were dispatched to the hospital to stand guard over the pilot. They didn’t look happy at that assignment.
The ATF lead Agent, Agent Cole took me aside just before they left. His attitude towards me and my officers had softened quite a bit as the day went on. The work we had put in right at the beginning ended up making their job a lot easier.
“Thank you for your assistance Sheriff. We might have gotten off on the wrong foot but your insistence in doing everything by the book will ensure that those three perps get the justice they deserve.”
“Thanks Agent Cole. I don’t want any special favours for my Brother. He went over to the dark side several years ago. He knew that we’d arrest him on sight if he came back here. Yet, he did just that. I have no idea why he keeps tempting fate like this.”
“He’s as guilty as the others in my eyes so he’ll get the same book thrown at him as the others.”
“Do it properly Agent Cole. That’s all I ask.”
“Gotcha Sheriff!”
The original owners Insurance Company sent a team to recover the plane a week or so later. I doubted that it would ever fly again given the damage to the fuselage but what did I know eh. Tom and I watched it disappear on the back of a low-loader.
“Good riddance,” I muttered.
Tom just laughed.
Then we watched as Barney SWA dug an even deeper and wider trench at the entrance to the Cummings property. Then he moved 12,000 lbs of concrete blocks into place. We hoped that this time our defences would keep any future trespassers out. The place was a real thorn in our side.
I sat looking at the screen for longer than I should. I failed to notice Kelly coming into my Office. The door was open so this was perfectly normal. I was so engrossed in staring at the screen that I failed to see her come around to my side of the desk and read the email.
“Bastards!” she exclaimed.
Her expletive dragged me back to reality.
“Oh!”
“Boss! What the hell have they done?”
“I don’t know and that’s what I’m worried about.”
Kelly picked up the phone and began dialling a number. She’d seen Agent Coles’s number on the screen. As it started ringing, she handed me the phone.
Deep down, it was a call that I knew that I needed to make but really, really didn’t want to. Kelly had rather forced my hand.
“Agent Cole, Sheriff Beecher.”
“Yes, I did get your email. That’s what I’m calling about. What happened to my brother Walt? His name was not on the indictment. Why? He was caught red handed. His prints were all over one of those launchers?”
“You are kidding right? Please say that you didn’t let him go just like that?”
“What? Why didn’t you give us a chance to take him into custody? You knew that he is wanted here for failure to attend court and in other places. You are telling me that he’s got immunity?”
I listened with incredulity to the ATF Agent telling me about my brother.
“Agent Cole. Let me be perfectly clear on this. You and your agency will get absolutely no and I mean zero cooperation from this department in future while I am Sheriff. I thought that you were more professional than the FBI. You sir, are without doubt the worst law enforcement officer I have ever encountered and believe me, some of them are spending a lot of time behind bars as I speak.”
I hung up the phone.
“They did a deal with Walt and he’s free. Full immunity for all outstanding warrants and judgements including the arrest warrant here and the child support one.”
Kelly went over and closed the door to my office. Then she came and gave me a big hug.
Some Christmas present that was and I was not looking forward to telling Ma.
Kelly had read my mind.
“Telling Ma can wait until after Christmas can’t it?”
I mumbled a yes.
“If my dear brother comes back this way again, he’s going to wish that he’d not done a deal with the feds. That is one thing I can be sure about.”
Kelly let out a small laugh.
“It is events like today that make me want to think again about standing for re-election.”
The smile disappeared from her face.
“It is a kick in the you know what’s that for sure but the department is your life.”
“I know but it might be time to think beyond being Sheriff. Besides, I have to think of you as well.”
Kelly looked sad.
“Being a Cop is all I know. It is all we know isn’t it? What do most retired cops do? Run a bar. I don’t think that there is room for another one in town. What are we going to do?”
“You can still be a Cop you know?”
“Not if you aren’t. I’m here because of you. You showed faith in me and… and the rest is history. I go where you go capuche!”
I knew when I was beaten. I gave Kelly a kiss.
“Not a word about me thinking about not standing for re-election ok?”
Kelly grinned.
“Yessir boss man.”
Then she gave me a long kiss to seal the deal.
[the end]
[1] NTSB : National Transportation Safety Board
FAA : Federal Aviation Administration.
Christmas came and went in a flash. The county workers did a sterling job in keeping the main roads clear of the snow that started falling on Christmas Eve and didn’t give up until the 27th.
The snowploughs had kept the interstate just about passable but thankfully most folk who had to travel had taken heed of the weather warnings and had completed their journeys well before the storm hit us.
The blizzard dropped almost a foot of the white stuff yet by New Year's Eve, it had almost all melted. I had to wonder if this was a sign of the changing climate. In my memory, if we got more than a light dusting of snow before Christmas, that was it until the March ‘Melt’ when many small creeks and rivers would flood with the meltwater. In recent years the weather seemed to be either full on or full off with nothing in between.
Because things were quiet and I’d given the rest of the team as much time to be with their families as possible, I had time alone in the Office to think about the future, my future and that of Kelly and Ma.
Come the election the next November, I will have been Sheriff of Custer County for ten years. Every two years, I stood for re-election and since I’d come into the post I’d been returned unopposed.
Kelly saw that my mind was pre-occupied and gave me space. That was why I loved her so much. She was very much like me in that we mulled over things in our minds and when the time was right, we’d talk them over with the people around us.
The first decision I had to make about standing for re-election. The episode with Walt and the Feds had caused me to question my desire to be Sheriff. While we were left alone and able to do our own thing, it wasn't so bad but when the people from out of state or region got involved things inevitably went wrong. I wondered if I was getting too cosy in my little domain?
What made things easy in one respect was that Sue-Ellen would be a more than capable replacement for me. She’d proved that beyond doubt and I’d told her many times that she’d make a great Sheriff but I wondered if she was starting to think that I was never going to retire.
The subject of retiring from my post and what to do after was uppermost in my mind. There was no way that I could settle down and raise a few horses. I’d been in law enforcement almost all my adult life. The same went for Kelly.
Kelly was uppermost in my thoughts. Ma wasn’t far behind.
Despite us having a new AC system installed this past spring, the summer heat at home had been depressing and all the indications were that it was going to get worse. Winters were seeming to be warmer and despite record snowfalls in the last decade, it mostly didn't last very long. The months of snow that I'd experienced as a child were long gone.
It seemed that when we got rain these days, it would come down like you were standing under the most powerful of all power showers for hour after hour. Then nothing for weeks. This was playing havoc with crops. The local Farmers had all built extensive rainwater collection ponds in the past few years. The old ‘little and often’ picture was long gone.
My dreaming about now and the future was interrupted by the Radio.
"Sheriff, do you copy?"
The call was coming from Kelly.
She was out with a gang of State Employees who were repairing a bridge after a Parcel Delivery Truck had struck it just before the Holidays. The was a lot of black ice in the area at the time, so we didn't make a big song and dance about it.
I’d decided on a break from the almost endless paperwork and was parked up close to the truck stop on the Interstate. The road was open but very quiet. It was the calm before the storm. In less than a day hundreds of thousands if not millions of families would be heading home after the holidays.
“Kelly. I copy. What’s up?”
“A Blue Corvette with Ohio plates was clocked by my speed trap at ninety-eight.”
The workers had set up a work zone with a 40mph speed limit to protect the workers. To enforce it, she'd set up a radar-controlled speed trap.
“It is coming in your direction.”
"Thanks, Kelly. I'll be on the watch out. Sheriff Out!"
The Corvette was heading west and would soon be out of the state and my jurisdiction. I could not outrun it in my SUV so I put in a call to the state Troopers in the adjoining state.
“Hello. This is Sheriff Matt Beecher from Custer County. Can I speak to Trooper Martin?”
My call was put through.
“Hiya Frank. Long time no see eh?”
“They are all well thanks.”
“This isn’t a social call. We have a work crew on the Interstate about six miles from the state line. The speed trap clocked a Blue Corvette with Ohio plates doing 98 in a 40 work zone. I won’t be able to catch it in my SUV so I wondered…?”
“You do? That’s great.”
I’d been looking out of the SUV window and down onto the Interstate all the time I’d been on the call.
“It has just passed me. I’m at the last intersection before the state line. It was doing around the hundred mark. The driver is sure in a hurry.”
“No Frank. You guys can take all the credit. This one is on me. Think of it as a late Christmas Present.”
“Give my love to Donna and the kids.”
“Cheers Frank. Bye.”
I’d handed the problem over to our neighbours over the State Line. They could take the credit for the stop. He had a patrol about 10 miles up the road. They were doing much the same thing as Kelly, supervising a road repair crew. If the Corvette went past them at speed they had the resources to stop it long before it reached Denver. They often returned the favour to us. That’s what country policing is all about. None of this need to know parochialism rubbish that the Feds seem to delight in.
I’d miss that when I retired.
I stopped dead. Had I just decided to retire?
I sat back and thought again.
It sure looked like I had made the decision and it didn’t feel bad. Not bad at all.
The more I thought about it, the more comfortable I was with the decision. All I had to do now was tell everyone.
That night in bed, I said to Kelly.
“I’m not going to stand for re-election.”
She giggled.
“I knew straight away when I got back from work that you’d sorted out whatever it was that had been bothering you since the new year. Your body language was different.”
“Yet you didn’t press me to say something?”
She gave me a very welcome kiss.
“I knew that you’d tell me when the time was right. With Ma around it isn’t easy so I guessed that it would be about now and it seems that I was right.”
“You were. Aren’t you bothered about my decision?”
“Why should I be? Sue-Ellen is the right person to take over. The rest of the team know that she’s your preferred replacement and they don’t have an issue with that. They don’t have any of those ‘I ain’t working for no woman’ hangups. I saw plenty of them when we got our first female Precinct Captain. About 30% of the detectives put in for a transfer on the first day. They'd all worked for her as their Lieutenant without problem but there was no way that they were going to accept her as their Captain. The Chief of Police came down and read everyone the riot act. They could resign but no one was transferring out of the Precinct. Three old guys put in for retirement but the rest had to suck their pride and accept the situation. They weren't missed as they were mostly deadweight and marking time to maximise their pensions."
Then she said,
“It was working for Captain Markowitz that persuaded me it was time to come out of the Closet.”
“For that and despite what happened before you came here, I’m glad that you did.”
Kelly gave me another kiss.
“You are so nice to me.”
“I have to be nice to you what with your left hand where it is at the moment!”
We both laughed.
“Ok, so you are not standing for re-election. What’s next for us?”
“I was thinking of moving somewhere a bit cooler. Last Summer was the worst ever for heat.”
“At least it isn’t humid like New York. That place is just sticky.”
“That’s not as bad as Miami,” I joked.
“One time I got off a plane there and had to walk across the tarmac to the terminal. It was only fifty yards but by the time I got inside my shirt was wet through.”
“So somewhere cooler but not so humid then?”
“Possibly. But it is early days yet. Not a word to Ma though.”
Kelly laughed.
"She knows you have come to a decision. She told me while you are out with the horses. My guess is, that she'll be expecting you to tell her whatever it is before the end of the week."
I sighed. Ma was always able to read me. If what Kelly said was true then I had better get my ‘exit stage left’ speech ready sooner rather than later…
I managed to evade Ma for three days. She came back from her weekly Bingo at the ‘Old Folks Home’ in a good mood.
“I won twenty bucks on the last full house of the day so don’t you think it is time to give me your bad news to balance it out?”
I’d only taken one bite of the meal that Kelly had prepared when I got the ultimatum from Ma.
I was about to say something when Ma put up her hand.
“Don’t even try to fob me off with some rubbish. I can read you like a book and I’ve always been able to do that as you well know.”
I looked at Kelly who seemed to be enjoying my discomfort.
“Ma, I’m thinking of not running for Sheriff in November and before you ask, Kelly knows.”
Ma laughed.
“Is that all?”
That hurt.
“No Ma, it isn’t all. I’ve been thinking about moving somewhere a bit cooler. Last summer was awful even with the new Air that we installed. You felt it as well. If we go then we want you to come with us.”
“But this place? My friends?”
“Ma,” said Kelly.
"Even I found the heat bad and I'm used to heat and humidity in New York. You said yourself over the holidays that the climate is far more unpredictable than it used to be. I've seen the old photos and I have to agree. Somewhere a bit cooler, more temperate would be my preference but where that is, I don't have a clue."
“I was thinking somewhere not far from the ocean,” I said adding to what Kelly was saying.
"I went by Greyhound to Florida once and it was awful. Hot, humid and full of old people and Canadians. Then there are the Hurricanes. I do not want to try to … Well I just don't want to experience one like I just don't want to leave here anytime soon," said Ma.
Ma stood up and went off to watch some TV. As far as she was concerned, the matter was closed for today at least.
Kelly and I did the dishes without saying much. We both knew that we’d have a hard time persuading Ma to leave her home, her friends and the only place she’d ever lived.
Kelly and I had decided not to tell the team about the possibility that I wasn't going to stand for re-election in November until Easter. However, as they say, the best-laid plans and all that stuff things got messed up with the arrival of a stranger in town.
I was with Kelly out on the Interstate supervising the recovery of a Semi that had run off the road and overturned. The heavy lifting crew from Denver had been called in when we realised that the total vehicle including load weighed close to ninety thousand pounds. None of the local recovery people could handle that sort of dead weight.
Luckily, the whole rig was off the paved highway but even so, we had to close one lane and put in a speed restriction, and a radar speed trap.
The trailer from the crashed rig had just been righted when the radio came to life.
“Sheriff, do you copy?”
Sue-Ellen was manning the office that day.
“I copy Sue-Ellen.”
"Sheriff, we or rather you have a visitor. A, Mr Rieck. He’s a lawyer from Frisco.”
"Does he say what he wants? We are going to be tied up here for another couple of hours. By the time we get back to town, it will be after three."
“He says that’s ok as long as there is somewhere, he can stay tonight and that he needs to speak to you and Kelly in private.”
“Can you get him a reservation at the Motel on the Interstate? As he’s a lawyer, can you try to get him one of the suites?”
“Wilco Sheriff.”
"Sue-Ellen, I have no idea what he wants from us. To the best of my knowledge, neither of us has ever been to Frisco."
“His business card says that he is a ‘Probate’ specialist.”
“I’m still none the wiser. We’ll get back to town as soon as we are free here. Sheriff out.”
I wandered over to Kelly who was monitoring the recovery of the tractor unit. I could see that it was very badly damaged. It could even be an insurance right-off from the damage to the chassis that had been caused by the rocks that had gotten in its way.
The driver had reported that the nearside front tire had blown out. The debris field and the skid marks on the road seemed to bear that out.
I didn’t tell Kelly about our visitor until we were on our way back to town.
“We have a visitor in town. He’s a probate lawyer from California. He wants to speak to both of us.”
I waited for Kelly to react.
"Don't go all silent on me, Matt Harker!"
I laughed.
“I was waiting for you to say something like ‘I don’t know anyone from California’.”
“I don’t so what about you?”
“Same here. I’m totally in the dark about why he’s come all this way to speak to us. Don’t they have phones or email in 'SillyCon' Valley?"
Kelly saw right through my feeble attempt at a joke and made a point of ignoring it.
“Whatever it is, it must be important. From my experience, city-based Lawyers don’t like travelling. There was one I often encountered back east who came from Queens who’d decided that he’d never set foot in New Jersey or on Staten Island in his life. He’d simply pass on any potential clients from outside the four boroughs of NYC.”
I smiled at Kelly before replying.
“Yeah. Lawyers are a breed apart. Sometimes and after a particularly bad encounter with the breed, I wonder if we should stop them from breeding just to preserve the gene pool of the human race.”
It was Kelly’s turn to laugh.
“Who’d make all the laws if there were no more Lawyers? With no laws, then we’d be out of a job!”
That put an end to that conversation but I could tell from the frown on Kelly’s face that she was thinking about what business could a Frisco probate lawyer want to discuss with even one of us let alone both of us.
[to be continued]
It was well after four in the afternoon when I walked into our Office and spotted our visitor. He looked so out of place to be almost funny. He was dressed in a suit that would be ideal for a court in a big city. Custer County is a long way from any big city. He’d stand out a mile. People around here only wear suits for Weddings and Funerals. No one I knew could afford the duds that he was wearing.
“Mr Rieck? Sheriff Matt Harker. Welcome to Custer County.”
He smiled and stood up from his chair. He extended his hand. I shook it. He had a firm grip. That was unlike most lawyers I’d encountered over the years. Most of them had a grip that was limp and sweaty or even on the odd occasion, downright slimy.
“Nice to meet you at last.”
“Kelly will be joining us in a few minutes. She’s just making sure that her Patrol Car is ready for duty tomorrow.”
That was a lie. Kelly was waiting outside the office. We’d agreed that she would wait so that I could size up our visitor.
“Mr Rieck, please come into my office then we can get down to whatever it is that has caused you to travel to this back of beyond place almost halfway across our fine nation.”
"Thanks, Sheriff. I don't normally travel this far but the instructions of my client were very clear in the matter. So here I am. I must say that I had to look up Custer County. You aren't really on the beaten track here."
I smiled as I showed him to a chair.
“That’s kinda how we like it. We know pretty well everyone in the county by their first name, what they do for a living when they were born and the like. We have very little crime here. Most of what we get is from outsiders but we treat every case on its merits here."
Mr Rieck smiled.
“Thanks for that Sheriff. My client mentioned that sort of thing.”
“Your client has been here?”
“Yes indeed.”
Kelly chose that moment to appear.
“Hello Mr Rieck, I’m Officer Kelly Fitzpatrick.”
Mr Rieck smiled.
Kelly shut the door and took a seat.
Mr Rieck opened his soft leather briefcase and took out a buff folder that was about an inch thick.
“I’m here to inform you that you are named in the will of a client of mine. I gather that you are acquainted with a Mr Lawrence Monahan?”
Kelly lot out a gasp. I remembered our encounter with ‘Lol’. He was a bit of a character and a half.
“Mr Monahan was as you know a bit of a crook. For most of his life, he wheeled and dealed and generally operated on the wrong side of the law but was generally left alone because he was a small fry criminal.”
“and one with a lot of family in the NYPD,” added Kelly.
“Indeed. As I said Mr Monahan was a chancer until he met his match in Mrs Dorothy Hill. Mrs Hill took a shine to Mr Monahan but she knew his game because her late husband was very much like him when it came to wheeling and dealing. Mrs Hill set a trap for Mr Monahan. He fell right into it and she had him where she wanted him. Mrs Hill had recently received some bad news in that she had an inoperable brain tumour. With him caught in her trap, she proposed a deal with Mr Monahan.”
“Lol never did a deal where he came out second in his life!” remarked Kelly.
“That is very true. Mrs Hill was a very wealthy woman. She came from old money and married Mr Hill just to displease her family. They were happily married for almost thirty-five years before he died in a hunting accident in Alaska. Because of the rift with her family, Mrs Hill decided to give away all her money in such a way that her family could not challenge.”
I looked at Kelly. She was smiling and shaking her head at the same time. I’d seen that look before when Lol told us about how he’d stolen the BMW back east.
“She planned to marry Mr Monahan and enjoy what remained of her life. Upon her death, he would inherit a good portion of her fortune but with certain strings attached. To his credit, Lawrence agreed to her request."
“Lol always said that he’d find a rich widow and live the life of riley on her money,” commented Kelly.
“Yes, but as I said, there were strings. His sole task following her death was to distribute the majority of his wife's estate to small charities especially where the money would make a difference. She reckoned that as he came from what she called, ‘humble stock’ he could choose those deserving of her money. The sums involved were not to be very large amounts but large enough to make a difference to those concerned. For each donation made Lawrence was to receive a payment into a trust fund that could only be accessed when the donation kitty was empty.”
Kelly was having trouble keeping a straight face.
“I can’t believe that Lol went straight. Never in a million years.”
“Perhaps it was the thought of a large payout free of tax at the end that made him agree,” said Mr Rieck.
“I take it that Lol is now deceased?”
“Sad to say that he is. His body was washed up on the shore of Alcatraz a month ago.”
Mr Rieck opened the folder and took out a report.
“This is a copy of the coroner’s report into his death,” said Mr Rieck as he handed me the report.
I scanned it briefly. The cause of death hit me like a sledgehammer.
I passed it to Kelly and pointed to the cause of death.
“He was executed,” I said in as calm a voice as I could.
"That is the conclusion of the SFPD. Lawrence was always honest about his past especially the incident where he stole a mobsters car, with his late wife and later with us. We agreed with him that there were some people from New York who more than likely wanted him dead. The donations that originated from Dorothy's will included a very comprehensive 'no publicity' for the donor clause but eventually, his identity found its way onto social media. To his credit, he refused to run but in the last two weeks of his life, he gave away almost all the outstanding funds. The funds that are left unallocated will be donated to a major charity in a few weeks. Again, this is fully in accordance with the wishes of his late wife."
Mr Rieck sighed.
"That leads me to the real reason for my visit. Before his marriage, Mr Monahan made a will in the full knowledge that his time on this planet could be limited. He’d clearly demonstrated to us that he wanted to complete his task and then disappear and live off the trust fund as he’d agreed with his late wife. That wasn’t to be and under the terms of his will I am to distribute the funds in his estate after all taxes have been paid to the two of you.”
Mr Rieck opened the file again and took out a sheet of figures. He handed it to me.
Naturally, I looked at the bottom line. I gasped when I saw the sum.
Kelly just shook her head when she saw the bottom line.
“As you can see,” said Mr Rieck as he carried on with his duties.
“There is a considerable sum coming your way.”
“You can keep it,” said Kelly.
To reinforce her stance, she crossed her arms.
“I don’t want Lol’s money. I know from first-hand experience that inheriting money is nothing but trouble.”
She turned to look Mr Rieck right in the eye.
“Mr Rieck, for your information, some years ago, I inherited a seven-figure sum from a relative. I gave it to charity but the wrath I received from my family for not dishing it out to them was terrible. It was one of the reasons I left New York and came west. I do not want a repeat of that. Once was enough.”
Kelly had put her foot down and usually once that had happened, only a magnitude seven earthquake would shift it. Mr Rieck was however unfazed by this.
"Mr Monahan told me that would be your likely response. He prepared a statement for you if as he said to quote his very words… ‘you’d probably tell my Lawyer to take a hike and cross your arms’.”
I tried to suppress a small laugh but failed. Kelly glared at me for a second or so. Then she relaxed. Lol had certainly shown how well he knew Kelly.
Mt Rick extracted another document from the folder. He handed one copy to Kelly and the other to me.
“Kelly, if you are reading this then you have told Mr Rieck to get lost (politely I hope because he is one of the good guys and there are very few lawyers like that believe me). Please don’t say no to this bequest. Meeting my match with Dorothy was the best thing that could have happened to me. She played on my skills as a wheeler and dealer. She showed me that a bit of doing business on the right side of the law could be just as profitable as the other side could be and without the risks of jail time.
I made her last months on this planet fun. We went all over the world ticking things off her bucket list. To see the delight on her face when she’d fed a newborn Elephant in Sri Lanka was the moment that I decided that it was the straight and narrow for me from then on. Sadly, history has caught up with me but the money that I'm leaving to you is totally clean. Dorothy's money came from her family who was in California right at the start of the '49 gold rush. I even paid tax for the first time in my life. The IRS got their back taxes from my years in NYC. There will be and awful lot of people back east turning in their graves at the thought of a Monahan paying money to the IRS but I did just that as the records that Mr Rieck has with him will show.
Please take the money and put it to good use. If you have not done so already, get hitched to Sheriff Matt. The two of you put your jobs and lives on the line helping me out when you did. This is my way or repaying at least part of that debt.
Lol.
“
I looked at Kelly. I could see a tear forming in the corner of her eye.
I reached over my desk and took her hand. For an instant, she almost took it away but then she smiled at me.
“I need time to think about this,” she said after she’d wiped away the tear.
Mr Rieck smiled.
“That is to be expected. I’ll leave the acceptance documents with you. If you decide to accept then sign them and get them witnessed. Once we receive them the funds will be transferred within seven working days.”
He handed me a stack of forms from the folder. It struck me that this was the sort of task that was nothing out of the ordinary for him. I didn't like many lawyers but I felt that his sort was more on the side of the good guys than many especially the ambulance chasers. I knew that his services did not come cheap but if what he'd said about Lol’s late wife was true, she would have made provision for this sort of trip in her agreement with his firm.
"Thanks for coming all this way, Mr Rieck. We do appreciate it. We’ll let you know what we decide to do about the inheritance. I asked one of my Officers to find somewhere for you to stay tonight. We don’t have a Hotel in town.”
“Ah yes. Your officer did indeed book me a room at the Intersection on the Interstate. I hadn’t realised just how long it would take to drive here from Denver. Thankfully, my flight home isn’t until midday tomorrow.”
“The diner next to the Motel is not one of those chain places. They’ll look after you. They try to serve food that is different from pretty well all the other places on the Interstate.”
“Thanks for the tip. And thank you for your time. I know how hard it can be to receive both bad and good news at the same time.”
He stood up and after putting the folder and the other documents that he was not leaving behind, back in his briefcase we all shook hands.
After he’d gone I sat and thought for a moment. Kelly soon returned from seeing him out of the office. She sat down and looked at me and said,
“You want to take the money, don’t you?”
Kelly was direct and to the point as usual.
“I do. It would make moving somewhere else a lot easier. We could move without having to wait for our place here to sell.”
“Don’t you mean Ma’s place?”
“Ok. Ma’s place.”
Before she could reply, I added.
“It would be our grubstake to get moved and settled without worrying about selling up here before we move.”
“What about Ma? You can’t have forgotten what she said about moving?”
“I haven’t but if we can show her somewhere nice and ready to go she may just budge on that front. I know that she’s never been west of Denver or east of Kansas City apart from that one trip to Florida in her life. Getting Ma to go anywhere is going to be a problem.”
“But where are we going to go?”
“That my darling is the sixty-four-million-dollar question. At the moment, I have no idea at all.”
It took me less than a minute to realise that all was not well when Kelly and I arrived home. Ma was sitting at the kitchen table with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.
"Hi, Ma. What's wrong?" I asked cheerily.
“Why don’t you tell me?”
Just then Kelly joined us. The welcoming smile disappeared from her face in a flash.
“It is a bad day for everyone when a lawyer wearing a thousand-dollar suit stops by.”
She had summed up Mr Antonio Rieck perfectly. He hadn’t mentioned that he’d called at our home when we met him earlier but then I realised that neither of us hadn’t thought to ask him.
“Ah, you mean Mr Rieck?”
“Who’s died and how much do we owe him? That sort of shyster never does anything without a huge bill.”
“Ma,” said Kelly as she sat opposite him.
“A relative of mine has died. I’m, or rather we are beneficiaries in his will.”
“Pull the other one. People like that don’t come halfway across the country to give you a few bucks. They mail you a check and are done with it.”
“Ma, it isn’t a few bucks and I’m not sure that we are going to take it.”
It was clear from Ma's body language that she wasn't impressed. Her dislike of lawyers went back to when I was three and my mother ran off with a Lawyer who just happened to have emptied his employers' client escrow account. A week later, she turned him in after relieving him of some fifty large in cash. Since then I'd only heard from her twice.
“Not going to take free money? Who are you kidding?”
“Ma!,” said Kelly.
“There are strings attached and besides the estate isn’t exactly squeaky clean.”
Ma looked Kelly right in the eye.
“Kelly, you have never really lied to me in the past. Please don’t start now. I know your tell.”
I knew what Kelly’s tell was. A vein on her right temple appeared.
“Ma, Kelly isn’t exactly lying. She is right in that there are strings involved. Her relative was executed and his body washed up on the shores of Alcatraz. He ended up dead because he stole a car from the wrong person and his death was payback for it. That’s why we don’t know if we are going to accept the money. The last thing we want is for that wrong person to come after the money and come after us.”
Ma looked at me right in the eyes. That had long been her way of making me flinch and tell her what had actually happened or what I did. I didn't flinch and that was down to the fact that what I'd said was almost the truth and certainly not an outright lie.
After about ten seconds of her stare, it was Ma who blinked.
“How much is this bequest? I suppose it is enough for you to head off to pastures new without a thought for your Ma?”
I was about to speak when Kelly spoke.
“Ma, we’d never go anywhere without you. But it is enough to be able us to go and not have to have sold this place first. If we go and you come too and it does not work out then you can always come back here.”
“There is no way I’m staying here on my own.”
Ma stood up and disappeared into the family room. The sounds of the TV could be heard a few seconds later.
Neither Kelly nor I said anything for well over a minute. Then she broke the silence…
“That settles it. I’ve always thoughts that money is the root of all evil. This just confirms it.”
"Most of the time I'd agree with you. But there are times when having some in the bank allows you to do things that you'd normally never do in a million years."
“Ma seems to be saying that she’s not for moving.”
I managed a smile.
“As we don’t have any idea where we are going to go or do then we are staying put aren’t we?”
“I suppose so,” came Kelly’s slightly weary reply.
“I think we should take the money.”
Kelly was about to say something but I put up my hand to stop her.
“We should take the money and if after say, three years we have not touched it then we should give it away to charity. That excludes using it as a temporary balance for the move.”
Kelly thought for a moment and then smiled back at me.
“I think we have reached a compromise, haven’t we?”
“We have.”
Then I changed the subject.
“Who’s turn is it to cook tonight?”
Kelly didn’t hesitate.
“Yours.”
“Spag Bol?”
She smiled.
“Don’t overdo the garlic on Ma’s plate.”
A voice from the other room shouted out.
“I heard that.”
I kissed Kelly. Things in the Beecher household were back to normal.
[to be continued]
Now that I had finally decided not to stand for re-election in November, I got to thinking about other things but primarily Kelly, getting married and then what?
The ‘then what’ part was easy. A big grand-canyon shaped abyss. I had no firm idea what I was going to do once I was no longer Sheriff. My fall back was to work with Danny SWA. He was always advertising for rescue drivers so there was a job for me if I wanted it but something inside of me was telling me that something else would come up when the time came.
Since Kelly had accepted my proposal of marriage neither of us had really brought up the matter. One reason was the change in local laws that made it harder for us to marry in the state. The Party in control at the State Capital were very much of the Bible Belt sort. They saw sinners everywhere and those who were transgender were top of their ‘send them to hell list’. There had been lots about which bathroom trans people should use. Kelly was fine unless they suddenly started DNA testing every time someone wanted to take a comfort break. Kelly’s birth certificate said ‘Female’ and that was more than good enough for me besides, in my eyes, she was more woman than almost any other woman I’d ever known.
Their latest diktat was that to get married required a blood test and that blood test would be subject to DNA testing. This was being challenged in the courts but could take years to resolve.
Naturally, Kelly would fail the DNA in a flash. I'd never really understood the need for someone getting married to have a blood test. Most other civilised nations got by perfectly well without needing them but my job as Sheriff was to uphold the law not make it and many of the laws coming out of both the state capital and DC were an ass.
The obvious solution would be to get married out of state but where was the next question. Knowing Kelly as I did, I knew that she would not want a big all-singing, all-dancing sort of thing which suited me perfectly. However, it would have been very different if she was back in New York and if her family had approved of her sex change. Then they would have pushed the boat out. I knew from accidentally getting mixed up in such a wedding in Boston that it was merely an excuse for a really big party that could go on for days as Irish-American Families didn’t scrimp when putting on one. They made sure that it would be talked about in Pubs and Clubs for years after.
So where? Where would be getting married? The more I thought about it, the more I was attracted to somewhere that I hated and that somewhere was 'Sin City' itself, Las Vegas. Getting married under Nevada law was pretty easy. There were none of those pesky residential qualifications as in someplace. Neither of us could afford to take off for a month just to live in a place where we could be married.
I was still toying with the idea when Kelly said,
“A problem shared is a problem halved.”
We were at home with the TV on. Ma had gone to bed but I couldn’t as I was on call until four the following Morning when Kelly would take over.
“Eh?” I said surprised.
She smiled at me.
“You were miles away and your face looked like you had all the problems in the world on your back. So, what is it eh? You have been a bit out of it for over a week now. Even Ma has noticed that you are somewhat preoccupied.”
Those last words hit me right in the solar plexus. If Ma had noticed then it was time to come clean. Ma would want an explanation soon but her way of getting us to talk was to remain virtually silent and give us ‘the look’. Walt and I had experienced it many times over the years.
There was nothing for it but to tell Kelly what I was thinking.
“I’ve been thinking about getting hitched. Now that this new law has come it, it will be next to impossible to do it here.”
"Oh, that! Those dummies in the State House live in their very own universe and not the real world except to pass the laws that affect us and not them."
I knew exactly what Kelly meant.
“Lets’ go to Vegas and do the dirty deed. Quick simple and then we can go to places like Death Valley on our honeymoon.”
“You don’t mind?”
Kelly snuggled up to me.
"I don't mind. If all it takes is a quick flight to Vegas and putting up with Sin City for a couple of days then I’m happy.”
“There is one problem with that and that is Ma. She won’t fly. We saw a plane crash once and that was it. Walt and I were about six and over near Colorado Springs. It was a military training jet but to Ma, they are all the same. She had the heebie-jeebies every time I flew when I was in the service so don’t even think of trying to talk to Ma about it.”
“Then we’ll have to drive,” replied Kelly.
“That’s 2 days each way. With at least one night in Vegas, that's almost a week. I don't think that we can be away for more than two weeks so that leaves us a week for our honeymoon."
“That does not give us much time does it?”
“Then there is the little matter of my Best Man. I promised Danny SWA that he'd be the best man whenever I got married. He can't fly due to an inner ear problem that resulted from him being too near an IED. I pulled him out of the wreck of the Humvee and saved his life. He'd done something similar to me on our previous tour. That's how we became 'Blood Brothers'. The flight to the Hospital in Germany just about killed him so he had to come back here by ship and Winter in the North Atlantic is no fun. He suffered nine days on a cargo ship but at least he survived to tell the tale.”
“I know. Danny told me.”
“What? About flying?”
“No. You saving each other’s lives in combat.”
“It was just something you did. You didn’t leave a fallen comrade to face certain death at the hands of the enemy. The Taliban and ISIS were alike in that they would often torture those that the captured so we left no one alive behind. Danny spent some time in the field hospital in Kandahar for a bit before being transferred to Germany. Just before he was evacuated to Germany, he asked me then to let him be my best man when I got hitched. I did the same to him but he just laughed in my face and said that we'd both be in wheelchairs when that happened. There was something about a curse being put on him by his tribe's Medicine Man when he had a big bust-up with them. That's when he joined up. The curse says that he'll be forever single. To a full-blood, as he is, that is a hard thing to swallow but don't ever tell him that I told you about it."
“I knew that you were close but I hadn’t realised how close you are.”
Then Kelly thought for a moment.
“What if Danny drove to Vegas with Ma as his passenger?"
The idea of Ma being in the same car as Danny for at least two days was chilling.
“Only one of them would make it. Ma and Danny just seem to rub each other up the wrong way after a few hours.”
“What about the Train from Denver?”
I shook my head.
“Vegas is not on the Amtrak network any more. The nearest stop is Kingman in Arizona and that train runs south of here. It takes all day and drops you off in Kingman close to midnight. That’s nowhere near ideal is it?”
“You have looked into this haven’t you?”
I nodded my head.
“Then one of us can go with Ma and the other one with Danny?”
This was one idea that I’d thought about a lot.
“Possible but that still leaves them to get back here together.”
Kelly gave me a squeeze.
“Talk it over with Danny tomorrow. Perhaps two great minds can come up with a solution? It is your day for doing paperwork, isn't it? You can easily see Danny if he’s not off on some job or other.”
I doubted that we could find a solution but I didn’t want to argue.
Things were quiet in the Office the next day. My team were out on regular duties so just before Lunch, I called Danny.
“Hey Danny, fancy some Lunch at Harry’s?”
“Yes, it is my shout.”
“And yes, I do need to talk to you.”
“Half an hour is fine. See you then.”
I put the phone down pleased with myself. Then I began to wonder if it was all too easy. Could Kelly have had a quiet word with Danny already? I’d just have to wait and see.
I was right. Danny admitted that Kelly had given him a heads up about me wanting to talk to him. For a moment, I wondered who was boss around my home.
“The solution my friend is for me to drive to Vegas with your Ma.”
“But Danny, you know how you two rub each other up the wrong way?”
He grinned back at me.
“As your Brother, I took it upon myself to have a word with Ma when she came into town earlier to get her hair done.”
Ma was regular as clockwork with that. Every two weeks she had an appointment at the Salon.
“What happened?”
"Firstly, she's as mad as hell at you two for not talking to her first."
I began to dread going home that evening. I might be Sheriff but Ma is not past giving me a right talking too should she think I needed it.
"Then we talked things over and we agreed to try to be friends. After all, it is your wedding. Kelly will be on her own so we need to make the whole thing a painless as possible. If you want to get hitched in Vegas then Ma won't object although she had some choice words for them, Politicians, at State. If any of them dare set foot here come election time, I'd not want to be within earshot."
Ma could be very loud and persistent when she had a mind to. I’d almost not hired Kelly because Ma had expressed some pretty forthright views about LGBT people in the past despite her probably not ever having met any. Once she’d met Kelly and clocked her, she realised that being trans was not the work of the Devil and Kelly soon became part of the family.
Since Kelly had explained to her about her family, she’d been firmly on Kelly’s side.
“Do you think that you could put up with Ma for two days each way?”
"We'll have to. It will give her a chance to get to know me. I'm not the savage she thinks I am."
I knew exactly what sort of ‘savage’ he meant. Ma had three addictions in her life. Bingo, TV and especially, Soaps and Gameshows and finally Westerns. The latter had coloured her view of all present-day Native Americans even though most of it was pure unadulterated fiction.
“Are you sure Danny? Ma can be pretty… pretty abrasive when she gets going.”
“I’m sure Matt. Didn’t she come around over Kelly? Now she dotes on her as if she was her daughter.”
That was certainly the case.
“She does but you know Ma… When she gets on her high horse about something there is no stopping her.
Danny laughed.
“She’s gotten a lot more mellow in recent years. Since… oh… I’d say about the time you gave your Walt the heave-ho and you employed Kelly."
His words made me think a bit more. Perhaps he was right.
"Ok, Danny. If I am going to honour that promise I made to you in Kandahar then you are going to have to be Ma’s chauffeur.”
“Then we have a deal?”
“We do.”
Danny went away very happy but I felt as if I was being played. Not a lot but at least a bit.
“That’s all settled then,” I said to Kelly late one evening at the Office.
“I hope so. Who would have thought that booking hotels in Vegas was so goldarned difficult? With all those extra charges our bills are going to look more like my AT&T phone bill. I’m surprised they aren’t charging for the air that we breathe. Everything else is an extra. Five bucks for two bottles of water in our rooms even if we don’t drink it? Do they think that it is ‘golden water’?”
We had a lot of pain booking hotel rooms for the four of us. One hotel refused to believe that Danny's surname actually was SWA. That's what it says on all his ID but even with faxed copies, they refused a booking. I'd lost my top and told them that was no way to treat a decorated Veteran! They didn't budge one inch.
Eventually, we booked rooms at the Stratosphere. Ok, it wasn’t on the strip but I’d always had a hankering to have a meal in a revolving restaurant and this seemed as good a place as any to do it. The Wedding Chapel we’d booked was just three blocks away and importantly, Kelly found a place to rent a nice wedding dress that was also in that part of town. I’d booked us a rental car for not only our visit but for our Honeymoon.
I left booking hotels for that to Kelly. She had a list of places that she wanted to visit. It was as long as my arm but after some editing, we came to a deal and a route that would end up in San Francisco. Kelly missed the sea. For a New Yorker, it was just a ride on the LIRR away but here in Custer County? We are a long way from anything especially the sea.
Kelly and I said goodbye to Ma and Danny on the Thursday morning of the following week. We’d meet them in Vegas on the Friday evening after that stayed overnight stay just east of Salt Lake City.
As they headed for the Interstate, I gave a silent prayer that neither of them would kill the other one before they returned from Sin City.
“Come on Sheriff. We have work to do at the office,” said Kelly as she interrupted my daydreaming.
“Yes, Officer Kelly we do.”
Our task for the day was to brief our temporary replacements. I'd called in a few favours and our neighbours in Clark County were going to loan us one of their Deputies. The other one was fresh out of the academy trooper from the State Police.
Back at the office, I called everyone together.
“As you know, Kelly and I are getting married on Saturday. Then we will be away for a couple of weeks. In our place is Office Bradley Cable from our Neighbours in Clark County. We all know Brad so introductions are not needed.”
I paused for effect.
“I’d like to introduce Trooper Ed McCall from the State Police. Ed is just out of the Academy so please go easy on him and show him how a County Police operates.”
"Now, as I'm going to be away, Sue-Ellen is in charge. We have talked things over and I'd like Brad to take my patrol SUV and generally work alone or as part of a team. Tom, I'd like you to mentor Ed. Remember that we don't always do things by the book. It is not always best to write a ticket for minor violations but as always, serious ones get the book thrown at them. Any questions?"
There was none. I didn’t expect any. I’d taken each of my officers aside the previous day and given them the heads up.
The next day, Kelly and I closed up the house and drove to Denver whereupon we flew to Vegas. The cramped seating almost made me wish I had driven but we’d made our bed and had to lie on it.
Vegas was hot and dry but was just about bearable as long as you were not outside for too long.
Once we’d check into the Hotel Kelly and I waited for Danny and Ma to arrive. According to a text we’d received while we were waiting for our bags at the airport, they were about 60 miles away and had just filled up with Gas.
When they had arrived and checked-in, we split up. Kelly and Ma went to a Bridal Gown Rental shop while Danny and I headed for a Men’s Dress Hire place. We’d already made appointments at the stores and had sent them our measurements.
Danny and I were back at the Hotel in under an hour. We were not expecting Ma and Kelly before early evening so we went into the Casino and played a few slots. Danny had a decent win of $100 which pleased him no end. I lost the grand sum of $10 which was my limit so we came out ahead on the day. Danny was happy because his win more than offset the cost of renting his suit.
Dinner in the revolving restaurant was good but spoiled by a noisy party of people from NYC. Kelly went over and gave them a verbal dressing down in her best New Yorker accent. They finally shut up when she threatened them with bringing her family of cops down on them. They did the wise thing and quietened down.
After that, the evening went well but it was obvious that Ma and Danny were tired from their journey so none of us was very late in going to bed.
My wedding day was another hot one. Thankfully, the AirCon in the rental car was working very well. We checked out of the hotel and made our way to the Wedding Chapel. Kelly looked fantastic in her gown. Danny was just Danny. His body was just not the right shape for off the peg suits. It had been the same in the Army. None of his dress uniforms ever fitted until a tailor took them apart and made them fit. He looked more nervous than me as we filed into the Chapel for the ceremony.
All it took was 20 minutes and Kelly and I were legally married. The celebrant said the words and we responded. Then it was time to kiss the bride. we returned to the hotel for a wedding Brunch. Just before midday, it was time for Danny to get changed and for him and Ma to hit the road. They were staying the night at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and the next one at a place called Gunnison in Colorado, before arriving home on Monday. So far, they hadn't killed each other which bode well for the rest of the trip.
Mrs Kelly Beecher and I headed in the other direction after returning the suits and her gown. Due to a cancellation, I’d managed to get a room at the Motel in Stovepipe Wells. This is right in the middle of Death Valley and somewhere that both of us had wanted to visit.
A few hours later, we sat by the pool watching the sun go down with a drink in front of us.
“Do you know that this is the first time we’ve been away from Custer County together,” I said.
“I know. Feels strange doesn’t it.”
“Very,” replied Kelly.
“I used to dream of getting married but reality kept getting in the way especially after I came out.”
“And then you came into my life.”
“I did it was the second-best thing I ever did.”
“Only the second?”
“Becoming the real me isn’t something that is easily beaten now is it?”
“No, my darling, it isn’t.”
Kelly picked up her drink.
“To the first night of the rest of our lives.”
I couldn’t disagree with that statement one little bit.
[to be continued]
[Authors note]
The story picks up again (if you forget my foopah of a posting from last week) when Matt and Kelly are on their Honeymoon. They have been travelling south down the Oregon and California coast and are in need of some refreshment.
“Maybe we could get something for later at the same time?”
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s see what this place has to offer. The last few towns we have passed through have been ‘blink and you have missed it’ sort of places. The size of the print on the map for this one is a little bigger than those other ones.”
“We really got lucky with that walk on that beach, I’ve never seen sea lions in the wild. They were just feet away from us, weren’t they?”
“They were and thankfully, they were more interested in the eels that there coming down the river than us. Their jaws look really powerful.”
Kelly laughed.
“I never expected to see that huge amount of driftwood on the beach. Some of those trees were huge. It is a wonder to me why people don’t recover them and use the wood for something? If that happened on the Jersey Shore, they wouldn’t last five minutes and about ten on Long Island unless they washed up on shore in the Hamptons.”
It was my turn to laugh.
“Light-fingered Larry’s abound then?”
“Waste not want not more like!” replied Kelly as she swung the car off the road and into a small parking lot that fronted of a small collection of stores.
A small supermarket across was located across the road.
“I spy a bakery!” I said joyfully.
“I’ll go to the supermarket and see what they have in their deli section. If you get some nice bread and I’ll join you in the café. It is nearly time for lunch. If we get something for later, we can eat it while watching the sunset at Point Reyes,” volunteered Kelly.
“You took the words right out of my mouth.”
I bought some fresh Ciabatta rolls in the bakery. The smell of freshly made bread caused my stomach to rumble.
After resisting the urge to buy up all the stock, I went into the Café as ordered two coffee’s. I took them and found a table for us to sit at.
Kelly joined me a few minutes later.
“This looks like a nice place.”
“It does and the bakery next door was pretty good as well. We could do with one like this in Custer County.”
Kelly laughed
“It would make lots of money solely making donuts and cookies for the department.”
I looked at my wife and knew just how lucky I was to have someone like her in my life.
We sat watching the world go by. The town while small seemed to be pretty busy. People were out and going about their business. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the woman who had served me was grinning like a Cheshire Cat and looking at both of us. I began to wonder if there wasn’t a sign above out heads saying ‘Newlyweds are us!’ when she came out from behind the counter and came our way.
“We are about to have a visitor,” I said to Kelly.
She turned and saw the approaching woman and shrieked. It wasn’t a shriek of fear but joy.
“Aunt Nancy! What a surprise.”
The woman grinned from ear to ear.
“In all the Coffee shops in all of California, you had to stop in mine!” said Nancy is a fake Bogart accent.
Kelly and Nancy hugged. I could see that it was a hug of deep friendship.
Nancy pulled up a chair and sat with us.
“Don’t you have to be behind the counter?” asked Kelly.
“My assistant Marcie can handle things. We aren’t due to start lunch service for half an hour.”
Kelly turned to me with a huge smile on her face.
“Nancy is a sort of Aunt come second cousin twice removed. She used to look after me when I was about six or seven when I came home from school. Then she moved away and no one would speak about why she’d disappeared so suddenly.”
Nancy grinned.
“You were almost ten when I left. The reason I left was because I fell in love with a Priest. You remember Father O’Brian from St Patricks, he used to take your Sunday School classes. The Father quit the priesthood and we eloped. We were about to get married when he had second thoughts. He went back to being a priest but this time he was sent to southern Argentina as penance for his sins. That left me alone and carrying his child. Rose is my daughter. We eventually ended up here and to cut a long story short, I bought out the previous owner about five years ago. Thankfully, we are too small a town to attract the big chains but that might not be the case for much longer if the Mortensens’s, get their way.”
She stopped mid-sentence.
“Now, what on earth are you doing here and who is this gorgeous hunk of a man?” asked Nancy changing the subject.
“This is Matt. He’s the Sheriff of Custer County and my boss.”
Kelly grinned at me.
“He’s also my husband of just over a week and we are on our Honeymoon,” said Kelly as she flashed her ring.
“Well… I’ll be a… Well done my dear. I always knew that you’d find the right man sooner or later.”
Her answer puzzled me.
“You knew about what happened back East?” exclaimed Kelly.
Nancy nodded her head.
“I kept up with what was happening in the family until they drove you out of town. That was enough for me to tell them to get lost and that anyone who found their way here would be sent packing pronto. I did mention the Louisiana Slugger that I keep below the counter for self-defence you understand.”
The strength of her reply told me that Nancy was a woman who knew her own mind.
Nancy looked at me smiling. Then she sat back and took Kelly’s hand.
“This little one and I used to play dress up almost every afternoon while she did her homework. That’s how I knew about Kelly before anyone else. It comes as no surprise that she has found a good man once she got out that den of corruption and backstabbing that is New York.”
Just then the door to the Café opened and a man walked in.
“Does anyone here drive a Silver Nevada plated Prius?” he called out.
He’d just described our rental car.
“That’s ours.”
“You are getting a ticket.”
I could not believe this. I knew that Kelly had parked the car properly in the marked bay and the sign said ‘2-hour parking’ and we had certainly not been here anywhere near 2 hours.
“I’ll go and see what is happening,” I said to Kelly and Nancy.
“As far as I know we didn’t park illegally.”
I stood up and left the café. Sure, enough there was an Officer writing a ticket. I was too late to stop him from sticking it under the windscreen wiper.
“What is the problem Officer?” I asked in a quiet voice.
“Is this your car?”
“It is a rental but yes, I’m one of the named drivers.”
“You are parking too close to the Fire Hydrant. Move it or I’ll get it towed and that will cost you five hundred bucks to get it out of the impound lot.”
I looked around and there was a Hydrant. The trouble was that it was at least twenty feet away. As I was parked in a marked bay I knew a scam when I saw one.
“If you don’t mind officer, I’m going to take a picture of you and my car and the hydrant.”
“Why? You won’t get anywhere if you take this to court. Judge Mortensen does not like challenges to the work of the PD.”
“I…” I began.
I decided not to argue the toss with him instead, I just took a picture of the car, the parking sign and made sure to include the hydrant in the shot. I also took a picture of the Officer. He didn’t like that one little bit but stopped himself from trying to stop me. I knew that I had the law on my side. I was in a public place after all.
When I’d done, I asked,
“Where is your PD HQ?”
“Two blocks up the street. It won’t do you any good to complain as the Chief don’t take kindly to people from out of state trying to avoid the law here abouts.”
“Thank you, kindly officer. I will still go and speak to the Chief if you don’t mind.”
The officer grunted and got back in his patrol car and drove off with spinning wheels. I sighed. That would be an offense back in Custer County. Parking near a fire Hydrant was a gentle talking to sort of thing unless your surname was Cummings.
I spotted Kelly and Nancy leaving the Café. I walked over to them carrying the ticket.
“Apparently, I am parked too close to a Hydrant. I’ve a good mind to go and give the Chief a good talking to even if you are a Sheriff. Kelly told me about how you met.”
Nancy shook her head.
“And get yourself thrown into jail for a month and it don’t matter that you are a Sheriff. The whole thing is a scam to line their pockets. Out of state cars are prime targets especially rentals like yours. They can issue a ticket but you know as well as I do that the statute of limitations means that as long as you stay away then you can avoid paying but rental companies will just charge the fine plus handling to your credit card. It is easy low risk money for our wonderful PD.”
Kelly took hold of my arm effectively stopping me from walking away.
“Darling, we can’t let that jerk of an Officer spoil our Honeymoon. If he ever comes our way then we can throw the book at him in return can’t we eh?”
I thought for a second.
“I suppose so.”
“What are you two doing for the rest of the day?” asked Nancy changing the subject.
“Our plans were to watch the sun go down at Point Reyes and have a picnic at the same time. We have a Bread and Breakfast booked for tonight in Bodega Bay.”
Nancy thought for a moment. Then she said,
“That’s quite a way down the coast and if you didn’t already know it, Route 1 is closed between Jenner and Bodega Bay. The County is repairing a bridge after being badly damaged by a Semi last month.”
“We didn’t know,” said Kelly.
Nancy said,
“Can you cancel the B&B? I’d love to have you stay the night with me. Then you can meet Rose. The Café’ shuts at five on Monday’s. Rose will be done at the Hospital and be back by six.”
I looked at Kelly. Her body language told me clearly that she wanted to stay if only to catch up with her Aunt.
“Look Darling, we only have three days left before we fly home. Riding the cable cars in San Francisco can wait for another time. I’ll get on the phone and cancel our reservations for tonight and tomorrow. We can head down to the city in the afternoon and stay somewhere close to the Airport as and in case you had forgotten, our flight to Denver is at ten. That will give you plenty of time to catch up with Nancy.”
Kelly smiled. Then she looked concerned.
“What about you? What are you going to do?”
I smiled.
“There is a big ocean right on our doorstep. Oceans have fish, don’t they? I haven’t been fishing since I was posted to Florida.”
I turned to Nancy.
“That is if we are not putting you out and there is someone with a boat who knows the good spots to catch something remotely edible.”
Nancy laughed.
“Stan Matthews is the man you need to talk to. He has a boat in the Marina and even better he lives next door to me.”
That settled it. We were staying.
Kelly gave Rose a big hug. Any doubts I had about Rose and Kelly getting on were soon dismissed especially when Rose confessed that Nancy had told her about Kelly before they moved west. Rose hadn’t lived with her mother in New York. A messy divorce and a lawyer for a husband saw that she had lost both custody and visitation rights to her daughter when she was just five years old. Her former husband had moved to LA with his new wife as soon as the divorce was settled.
It was clear to me that despite Nancy missing out on being a mother, she now had a great relationship with her daughter. I felt slightly envious of them.
The four of us talked long into the night. Well, Kelly and Nancy did most of the talking with Rose and I smiling and nodding our heads at the appropriate moments.
At one point, Kelly mentioned an old ‘friend’ of theirs, Lol Monahan.
“That old grifter,” said Nancy.
“That old dead grifter I’m afraid,” replied Kelly.
Kelly began to relate the tale of Lol and how he’d gone straight and left us some money.
“Of course, you must take it. You two put your jobs on the line for him and this is his way of saying thank you,” said Nancy.
“We are still undecided about using the money,” I said trying to at least contribute something to the discussion.
“If we don’t use it, we’ll donate to charity.”
Nancy laughed.
“I’d spend it in a flash. Lol would have no qualms about spending good honest money. He never did with bent cash now did he?”
Kelly couldn’t argue with that point.
We all headed off to bed not long after that.
“Did you forget something?” I asked Kelly. She’d been a bit out of it all morning but I was more concerned to get us checked in for our flight home to try to wheedle the reason why. We’d made it to the airport in plenty of time only to find that our flight was delayed but three hours. That gave me the time to get to the bottom of her strange mood.
Kelly shook her head.
“Not really. I guess that I’m sorta sad that it is back to work tomorrow.”
“Yeah. I could have done with another week. Still, it was nice to run into Nancy. She’s a very nice lady.”
“She is that. She was about the one relative back east that I looked up to.”
“Until she left you alone?”
Meeting Nancy had made Kelly far more open about her past. She’d been very, very reluctant to discuss in detail about her bust up with her family. I took this opportunity to probe a bit further.
“That pissed you off didn’t it?”
“Yeah and no one would tell me why. Now I know but I can never forgive my Pa. He told me to forget that she ever existed. Things were always black or white with him. You were either with the family and the means living in a ten-block radius and working for the NYPD or NYFD or City Hall or you were against the family and you were not welcome. That’s what happened to me when I let Ma and Pa find me as my true self. He beat the shit out of me and told me to ‘man up’. Ma just stood by and watched. She knew that her place was not to argue with the head of the family.”
“That must have been hard. You know to face up to them on your own?”
Kelly shook her head.
“I knew what they’d do so I was prepared for them. I had my tape recorder going all the time. I got it all on tape. I’d only just passed out of the academy and had been singled out for praise by the Mayor which made them even more angry at me. I took the tape to IAD. They dismissed it out of hand until I showed them the bruises. That’s when I formally declared that I was transgendered. IAD did the one thing that they can be proud of since their inception and warned my family off trying to discredit me or anyone else like me. As you know it didn’t last but I got out in the end and then I met you.”
“And I swept you off your feet?”
Kelly laughed. Her body language told me that she’d relaxed.
“Not quite but rescuing me and my car from a fate worse than death sure helped make a good impression.”
“Now Mrs Beecher, can I get you a coffee? Seeing as we are stuck here for a few more hours at the very least.”
She smiled at me. I knew that her answer was ‘yes please’.
I returned a few minutes later with our drinks.
“Did you like where Nancy lives?” asked Kelly as I sat down.
“I did apart from the PD. That lot need locking up and the key being thrown away.”
“You could complain you know?”
“To who? The Chief is at the centre of it. That’s not good at all.”
Kelly shook her head.
“Not really. Nancy told me while you were out fishing that he’s controlled by the Mortensen Family and the local Judge is one of the family. They think that they own the whole town. Nancy pointed out the entrance to their ranch when we went out for Lunch the day before yesterday.”
“So that’s what you were doing then?”
Kelly just glared back at me. Then she smiled.
“Two days you were out on that boat and you didn’t catch a thing apart from the smell of rotten fish? Nancy had been expecting to be cooking fish for us on both evenings.”
I laughed.
“We caught lots but Stan took them all and gave them to the Senior’s Home.”
“Ah that’s why you were so coy about catching anything?”
“Yes, and Stan will have told Nancy what we did after we left yesterday. We had far too many fish just for Stan and Nancy so we donated them to somewhere that could make good use of them. He kept some for Nancy. My guess is that that he rather fancies his chances with her.”
Kelly squeezed my hand and grinned.
“That’s what I love about you Matt. Always thinking about others.”
“Protect and Serve means doing just that… But now I have to think about you and Ma before all others.”
“You didn’t really answer me when I asked about liking were Nancy lived?”
I chuckled.
“I know I didn’t. Yes, I do but there is no way I’m going back there with the current PD in place. I’d probably kill the lot of them within a week and enjoy doing it. You know that is not my style.”
“It isn’t.”
Kelly laughed.
“What is so funny?”
“Something that Nancy said the other day. She had been describing our family and all its quirks. She said that is no use squeezing your bum after you have farted.”
I tried hard but I could not stop myself from laughing.
“I guess the next thing is ‘Carpe Diem’?”
“Something like that,” said Kelly.
I held her hand and looked in her eyes.
“This little vacation of ours has made one thing clear and that is that my decision about not going to stand for re-election was the right one. I’ve done my bit for Law Enforcement. I think it is time for me to do something different and that does not mean running a Cop Bar!”
Kelly laughed. It was well known that her family ran many ‘Irish Pubs’ in New York. When you retired from the service, it was generally expected that you’d go and learn the trade in one of the many bars run by family members before graduating to running your own. If you didn’t do that, you became a cab driver.
“Pa once said to me, ‘Don’t you get some idea of running a bar when you are done with the NYPD. The women in our family stay at home and raise the children’. I knew then that I had no future in the Big Apple even if they somehow accepted who I really am.”
Then her body stiffened up.
“Did I ever tell you that no one from the family came to my graduation from Police Academy?”
“No, you didn’t. From what you just said I can guess why.”
“That’s not the half of it. The Chief of Police found out and called my father into see him and gave him a right grilling. Dad didn’t like the dressing down he received and told the Chief that what goes on in his family was really nothing to do with the Chief. The Chief didn’t like being spoked to like that. As a result, my father got a month of graveyard shifts for his trouble. No one in the family spoke to me for weeks even after he’d arranged for me to be transferred to his precinct.”
Then she smiled.
“That’s why I liked it from the word go in Custer County. You have built a great team. Sue-Ellen will be a good Sheriff but it will be hard if two of us leave at the same time.”
I was momentarily stunned.
“Yes darling, I’m going to leave the department as well. It won’t be straight away and I’ll give Sue-Ellen time to get both of us replaced.”
I still couldn’t say anything.
“Isn’t it time for us to do something for us?
I smiled back at my wife of less than two weeks.
“Then we’ll have to see if we can get some help from the State Police. They owe us big time for doing their job at our arse end of the state. I think it is time to call in some favours. We’ll find out tomorrow how our Rookie got on.”
“That is going to be fun!” said Kelly with a cheeky grin on her face.
I smiled.
“Now Officer Harker, are you talking back at your Sheriff?”
“Yes Boss!”
“Good. Carry on then.”
Ma was waiting for us at the back door when Danny SWA dropped us off. He’d picked us up at Denver Airport.
“About time too!” said Ma as we emerged from his Truck.
“Ma! I called you to let you know that our flight would be delayed.”
“Pah. I intend to go to my grave without going in one of those new-fangled heavier than air doodads.”
Kelly, Danny and I all laughed. I felt sorry for Danny as he’d had to put up with Ma on the long drive back from Vegas after our wedding. Ma hadn’t liked ‘Sin City’ one little bit. I had to admit that I was in total agreement with her on that. Kelly was more ambivalent but it had paled considerably with her after less than two days.
The prospect of leaving ‘Sin City’ and heading for Death Valley with its beauty and silence is in my opinion, the perfect antidote to the excesses and downright grossness of Las Vegas.
Our brief tour of the Sierra Nevada’s and the Northern Californian Coast had been very enjoyable. To have someone to share the experience with is very different and often downright strange, but it had made it even better. Although Kelly and I had been living together for well over a year, I felt that getting married had taken our relationship to another level entirely.
‘Long may that continue’ I said to myself as I took our luggage into the house.
The next phase of our life together had begun. All I could hope is that I could protect Kelly from those who took offence at her choice of gender and that threat started at the top in DC.
[to be continued]
Kelly and I were greeted with smiling faces upon our return from Honeymoon. Their collective smiles soon disappeared when I told them that I wasn't going to stand for re-election that November. Their level of disappointment increased when Kelly said that she would also be leaving the department when a replacement had been found and introduced to the job.
That meant, that we would be two officers short in a few months.
Once I'd given everyone the bad news and the team went off on their assignments for the day, I received an update on the two temporary officers who had stood in for Kelly and me.
“Bradley fitted in right away,” said Sue-Ellen.
“That’s sorta what we’d hoped,” I replied.
“Did you broach the subject of coming to work for the department?”
"I did, and it is a no-no. He's very settled over in Clark County, and his mother is in the nursing home that is next to the local Hospital. He made it clear when I floated the idea of coming to work here that he does not want to commute especially in Winter."
"Ok. That's a strikeout. How about our rookie?"
"Ed shows promise. He's a willing learner. Once he had gotten most of what had been drummed into him at the Academy about always following the letter of the law out of his head, he began to understand that being a county officer is all about serving the residents of the county. He got the idea that giving a ticket is not the first duty of an officer pretty quickly especially when he understood that we don’t pay by tickets to the residents of the county and beyond."
"Is he a keeper? I know he's due to go back to his base in a couple of days but it would be nice to have a new face around here. But it very much is down to you."
Sue-Ellen gave me that look of hers that said ‘Really?’.
“I mean it, Sue-Ellen. Now that is it public knowledge that Kelly and I are leaving it is up to us to find replacements, but we’ll leave the final decisions to you.”
I got that look again.
“Is Kelly really set on leaving us?”
Kelly and I had discussed this on the flight back from San Francisco.
“We think it is the right time for us to do something together. We aren't sure what or where at the moment, but as Kelly said, she won't leave you in the lurch with winter and the holidays coming along. At the moment, I’d say that Kelly will leave around the end of January but that is still open."
Sue-Ellen breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ok, any ideas as to where we could get another Officer from and one that has some experience?”
I smiled. This had been on my mind for some time.
“If we can persuade Ed to transfer over from the State Police, it wouldn’t be prudent to try to poach one of their more experienced officers now would it?”
Sue-Ellen agreed with me.
"I think we should advertise but also put the word out to the adjacent counties including, the two over the state line in Colorado."
The mention of Colorado surprised Sue-Ellen.
"You have someone in mind, Matt Harker. I know you!" exclaimed Sue-Ellen.
"What if I did? There are ways to do this and ways not to do this. The last thing we need is to visibly poach an officer from a neighbouring department if we want any co-operation from them in future that it."
“That’s true,” agreed Sue-Ellen.
"So, if we go through formal channels, then is it all above board? The formal channels being via their department chief’s?”
“That’s about it.”
“Why didn’t we do that after you fired your brother?”
I smiled back at my deputy.
“What makes you think I didn’t? I called all the adjacent county PD’s and made some gentle enquiries. There were no takers so that’s why we advertised.”
“Won’t it be the same again?”
"Time has passed, hasn't it. Someone might be looking for a change. Then there are the cuts to budgets. Most counties aren't as lucky as us. We are self-funding and, that has taken the hard work of all of us. I hope you can carry that on. Money from local taxes that would otherwise go to fund the PD can be used for better purposes."
“I’ll try very hard to keep it that way.”
“Remember that we get a lot of that money for doing the job of the state police.”
“But we digress. Why don’t you call the PD’s? Then you can explain why we are on the lookout for good officers.”
“Me?”
"Yes, you. Make it part of the handover process."
“But I have not been elected yet? What if someone stands against me and wins?”
“Who? Come on now Sue-Ellen. Who in the county is going to stand against you and win?”
“But what about someone from outside?”
“And they’ll stand no chance. One of the great things about a small county like ours is that we know just about everyone in the county by name. We know their business and everything. Do you honestly think that the good folk of this county would want a total outside running their PD? Plus, that outside person would not be aware of the things that we happily turn a blind eye to? That makes for a happy and safe county. The outsider could very well clamp down and start giving out tickets like confetti. That is not the Custer County that we know and love.”
“I guess not… when you put it like that,” said Sue-Ellen.
I put any thoughts about what I’d or rather what we’d do after I was no longer Sheriff to one side. We had a PD to run and a rookie to train. Ed’s transfer from the State Police wasn’t going to be a problem. His Captain called me and wished him well with us. I felt very relieved that we hadn’t burned our bridges with the State Cops.
Sue-Ellen started her campaign to become Sheriff. We were all anxiously waiting for the day when the nominations closed. Then we’d know if she was in for a fight.
Contested Elections are a rarity for Custer County. Every so often, one occurs if for nothing more than to keep the local Politicians honest. We are a small, sparsely populated county where everyone knows everyone else. Because of that, anyone who stands is well known and what their business is almost an open book. Many of us who had lived elsewhere knew just how lucky we were.
The more I thought about it, the more I realised that our future, did lie as the Scots say, 'outwith' Custer County.
I broached the idea with Kelly one night as we lay in bed.
"I think you might be right. Custer County is lovely but, the opportunities for us unless we start a farm from scratch are limited."
“Whatever we do, I’m not going anywhere until after Christmas. Ma has big plans for us as it is my big four zero a week before.”
Kelly chuckled.
“I know. Ma is planning something but she’s keeping things very close to her chest.”
“You mean that she has not confided in you?”
“No, she hasn't and, that is what is making it more mysterious."
“I’d rather just go out to dinner with you and Ma than have a party with loads of people I hardly know.”
Kelly sat back and laughed.
"That's the Matt I love. The one that does not want to rock the boat or make a scene. That's what this whole PD is about isn't it?"
"To protect and serve. We serve the people of this county by being human. This tendency for prosecutors to demand the maximum sentence for even trivial crimes is not how we operate here. We are not gun-toting crime fighters pretending to be superheroes!”
Kelly gave me a passionate kiss.
"Are you sure you aren't standing for election to Sheriff? That last little speech sure sounded like a political speech.”
“It isn’t. If I ever decide to stand for election to anything more than a school board you have my permission to kill me.”
"You actually have switched off from being Sheriff, haven't you?"
“Yeah. It was meeting Nancy that opened my eyes to the world outside our little almost crime-free oasis of Custer County. That PD is the sort that gives PD's, in general, a really bad name."
“Matt Harker! I saw that glint in your eye. If you were offered the chance to run the PD, you’d jump at it.”
I shook my head.
“What did I just say about standing for election? I’m done running anything like a PD.”
Kelly didn’t answer so I got in.
“Now… If you want to do it… then I’ll be right behind you.”
Kelly burst out laughing.
“Now you are joking.”
I remained stony-faced.
“You are serious, aren’t you?”
"I am being perfectly serious. You are one heck of a Police Officer. That idiotic family of yours back in the Big Apple, really don't know what they have lost."
“Compliments like that will get you everywhere…”
"Later, my darling wife, later."
"Spoilsport," replied Kelly who, then stuck her tongue out at me.
Her relaxed nature was just one of the things I'd grown to love about her. I didn’t have to ‘tread on eggshells’ with her if we disagreed about something.
[mid-October]
“Nervous?” I asked Sue-Ellen.
Today was the day when entries for the forthcoming elections closed.
"Not really. If someone stands against me, then so be it. I have a record for all the voters to see. Anyone else will have to fight against that."
I smiled at her. She'd come a long way since I first hired her into the department. To be honest, all my officers had progressed in their own ways.
"I'll be in your corner if needed. As far as I'm concerned there is no one better to run the show here."
"Thanks, Matt. I appreciate it."
“Only a few hours to go before we’ll know if there is a fight on our hands. Fancy checking some Semi’s for weight violations?”
"Why not. It is a nice day for a change. This past week has been pretty bad weather-wise."
I smiled back at her.
“Get your gear ready. Tom had the scales calibrated the other day. I’ll get them from the storeroom and meet you outside in ten.”
"Ok, Sheriff."
Sue-Ellen went off to get her vehicle ready. We both knew that my suggestion was purely to try to take her mind off of the pending deadline. She'd done the same to me four years before, and Kelly had done it last election time.
[later that afternoon]
“That was a good day,” I commented as Sue-Ellen and I returned to the office. Kelly had been there all day, taking her turn on paperwork duty.
“How many overweight trucks did you ticket?” asked Kelly.
“None. Everyone that went on the scales was well within their permitted loads. We only gave out one ticket for not having a certified fire extinguisher onboard. The ticket on it had run out last August."
“Any news?” asked Kelly.
We didn’t need to know what ‘news’ that was.
"The ballot closed at Midday. The list is due to be published at four. That's in ten minutes," I replied.
“Just time for us women to make ourselves half presentable,” suggested Kelly.
Kelly and Sue-Ellen disappeared off to do whatever it is that women do in their toilets. For Sue-Ellen, that probably meant putting on some lipstick. Other than that, I couldn’t recall her ever wearing any more makeup than that. Kelly used a bit more but not to excess. She was just about perfect in my eyes anyway.
The three of us trooped over to the town hall just as the clock struck four. The list of candidates had already been posted on the board outside the Town Hall. Kelly and I stood back as Sue-Ellen went up the three steps to examine the data.
I knew from her body language just a few seconds later, that she was going to be elected unopposed. Of course, it would not be official until election day but, I'd have to get used to calling her 'Sheriff'.
"Congratulations, Sheriff," I said and gave her a brief hug. Kelly did the same.
“It isn’t official. Someone could always challenge it in court.”
“They’d be mad to do so. Everyone here would be on your side.”
Like all my officers apart from Kelly, she’d been born in Custer County. Kelly had become virtually a local now that she was my wife. That's how the PD had been run since WW2 and, none of us wanted it to be any different.
My thoughts went back to the incident in California where I'd been ticketed, for no good reason other than my rental car had out of state plates. That town had become much like the ones portrayed in many Westerns where one family seemed to run the town. I thanked God that Custer had never been like that.
“Boss,” said Sue-Ellen a few days later.
I smiled back at her. I was in the middle of clearing my desk. Unbeknown to her, I’d ordered her business cards and the plate for the office door earlier that day.
"Yes, Sheriff?"
"I have received an email from the Colorado State Police. One of their officers who lives just across the state line might be interested in joining us. His home base is moving to Denver in the new year and, he's not that keen on uprooting his family. His kids already go to High School in Clark County."
I knew that a few families who lived close to the State Line had enrolled their children in our schools. Otherwise, they could have a round trip of over a hundred miles to a Colorado High School. Some states were very rigid on the funding, but others were less strict.
“So? What has it to do with me?”
Sue-Ellen gave me that look that said, ‘you will always be Sheriff here’.
“I wondered if you might find time from your extraordinary busy schedule to interview him for me?”
Since the news that Sue-Ellen had become Sheriff-elect, I'd more or less handed the running of the department, over to her. That way, she'd hit the ground running when I was no longer around.
"Ok. What is his name and when?"
“His name is Morten Jansen. I think we have come across him before.”
The name sounded familiar as I racked my brains to think when our paths had crossed before.
After a few minutes, it came to me.
“Sandy Thompson,” I said out loud.
“What do you mean?”
“Mort Jansen helped us arrest the Clancy Brothers. At least he blocked the back way out of their place when we went in to grab them.”
Sue-Ellen smiled back at me.
“See Sheriff, you do have some uses around here.”
“Humph!”
She passed a thin file on to me.
"This is what came from the State Police. His record is unblemished and, he has fifteen years of service. Five of which were with the Denver PD and the last ten with the State Police."
"Ok, I'll set up an interview but, that's it. The ball is in your court now. I'm not taking any responsibility for hiring offers into your department."
Sue-Ellen grinned back at me.
"I know but, I do value your judgement. Perhaps, you could go and sound him out before we formally interview him?"
It was my turn to smile.
“That I can do.”
Three days later, I headed across Truck Stop on the Interstate in the late afternoon to have a chat with Morten Jansen. I saw him waiting for me in the Restaurant. We often saw officers from over the State Line in the place as there wasn't anything worth talking about in terms of eateries until you got much closer to Denver. It was not unknown for a Colorado Officer to tail a suspect vehicle out of our state and into theirs before making a vehicle stop. It was all part of the way that Police departments cooperated out here in the boonies.
“Hi Morten," I said as I sat down near him. His Scandinavian roots showed as he was tall and blonde. He appeared to be a few years older than me. Then I realised that was not out of order as he had a family and had two teenage sons at school in the next county.
“Sheriff. Nice to put a face to a voice.”
It was then that I realised that I’d conversed with him over the radio many times in recent years.
“Same here.”
I sat opposite and stirred my coffee.
“Thanks for taking the time to come today. This isn’t a formal interview. If all goes well, the new Sheriff will do that.”
“I sort of guessed as much. What do you want to know?”
“Primarily, what sort of fit you’d have with the department. We are only a small PD and we don’t have time for people with big ego’s.”
He smiled.
“I take it that you mean your brother Walt?”
“You know about him?”
“Word travels. That last episode was by all accounts a bit of a stinker.”
I remembered back to the incident with the surface to air missiles.
“Yeah. How they agreed to let him walk is beyond me and way above my pay grade.”
"Rest assured Sheriff, I'm not someone who rocks the boat unless it very much needs rocking."
“That’s good to hear.”
“If you are wondering about how living in another state would work then ask yourself how many New York cops live on the other side of the Hudson in New Jersey?”
“Good point but distances are much larger out here.”
He smiled back at me.
“That’s why and I have discussed this with my family, we’d move closer to town should I be given this chance. My wife has relatives in Custer so it is not as if we are total strangers.”
That was good to know.
[one hour and two refills of coffee later]
"Thanks for the chat, Morten. It has been very useful."
“Thanks for letting me state my case but I still can’t fathom out why you are quitting. My Captain said to say that if you wanted a job then just say so and there would be one for you.”
I shook my head.
“Tell him thanks but at the moment, I’m done with law enforcement for the foreseeable future. As I newlywed, my wife and I want to try doing something together.”
“Congrats on getting married. I hope it lasts. Far too many Police Officers end up divorced.”
“That’s something we haven’t had for over twenty years when old Sheriff Nicholson fell for a much younger woman. I guess that is because we are much more part of the community than in big cities.”
Morten didn’t disagree with that.
We shook hands and headed for our cars. There was rain in the air.
“Drive carefully. That rain will make the concrete pavement surface of the border a bit slippery.”
“I know. Thankfully, I’m off until Monday.”
With that, we went our separate ways.
I watched him drive off and knew that he’d make a good replacement for me. All it needed now was for Sue-Ellen to formally interview him.
“How did it go?” asked Sue-Ellen the moment I set foot in the office the following day.
“Ok,” I answered trying to be as non-committal as possible.
“Don’t give me that Matt Harker. Is he worth interviewing?”
“Yes. Yes, he is.”
“Good. I’ll arrange it. And?”
"And nothing. As I said before, this is your ballgame now. As far as I'm concerned, he is worth a second look. Beyond that, I'm saying nothing. I don't want to taint your opinion of him… Sheriff!"
Sue-Ellen got the message much to the obvious enjoyment of Kelly.
“He’s off work until Monday so?”
Sue-Ellen smiled.
“I’ll give him a call and get him over here for a formal interview. It will give me something to do on Sunday afternoon.”
That night she said to me,
"You have almost switched off from the job, haven’t you?”
“Just about. I’m counting down the days.”
“Still no idea about what’s next?”
"Have you seen the list of jobs that Ma has got stuck to the Fridge? That will keep me occupied for at least two months if we don't get any snow, that is."
“Yeah. I saw it. Things have gotten a little tired around here recently.”
“I know. The one thing that good for nothing brother of mine was good at and that was keeping this place functioning…”
“How can he be good for nothing if he’s good at one thing?” argued Kelly with a huge grin on her face.
I knew what she wanted.
The formal handover of power from me to Sue-Ellen turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax. She'd been running the department for nearly two weeks by then and handing over was just another day at the office except for me. I’d made it known that on my last day so I’d be buying everyone a drink at Harry’s Bar after work.
I'd sort of volunteered to spend my last day in the office doing the paperwork but an almost endless stream of people kept dropping by to wish me well for the future that I didn't get much work done. No one was very bothered as it was my last day on the job, the end of an era and all that. My only problem was the snail's pace that the clock moved at. I didn't think about the chores I had lined up at home that waited for me. First up was painting the outside of the house. Even the weather conspired to be against me in that the forecast said that it would be cold but dry all week. It needed to be done before winter especially if, at some point in the future, we were going to sell up and move on.
If that wasn’t bad enough then clearing up the yard was going to be an even worse job. Walt presence was everywhere once you started looking.
Pretty well every car he’d ever owned was rusting away on our property. Most had just been towed home and left to rot. I’d had a quiet word with Danny SWA and he was going to clear them for me. He’d get them crushed and recycled but there was still a large amount of just plain rubbish left to deal with which was a job I was not looking forward to.
My daydreaming was interrupted by the arrival of Tom with a prisoner. As the nominal ‘Duty Officer’, it was my job to book them in. The man in custody was a salesman from Dallas and had been caught speeding on the Interstate while intoxicated. His days as a ‘travelling salesman’ could well be at an end.
I booked him in and called the Doc over to take a blood sample. I felt rather sad that my last job as an Officer of the Law was to handle a drunk. I’d had more than my fill of them in my time as an MP.
It was then that I remembered that my first case as a rookie MP was also a drunk. Talk about things going full circle!
[to be continued]
Election Night marked the end of an era for me. Once I’d formally handed over my Sheriff's Badge to Sue-Ellen in front of the whole team that afternoon and had bought everyone a drink, I completed my time as Sheriff of Custer County.
The day wasn’t over for the department as for the first time in twenty years, the post of County Commissioner was being contested, and it was the task of the PD to be present when the results are declared. This activity dates right back to the late 19th Century when a sore loser shot dead the winning candidate right in front of the whole town. The culprit almost made it over the State Line into Colorado before he was apprehended. After a brief trial, he was hanged in front of the Courthouse. The town whole saw him commit the crime, and the whole town saw him die. Since then, all of PD has to be present when the results of contested elections are declared.
The incumbent, Seth Norton, had been challenged by a farmer from the east of the county, named Tony Higson. To many, the result was a foregone conclusion. Tony Higson had campaigned on just the one topic, the state of the roads in his part of the county.
Seth and Tony were old sparring partners, and Seth had never forgiven Tony for stealing the woman he wanted to marry, Mary-Beth Tomlinson. Mary-Beth and Seth had been prom king and queen in their final year at high school.
Seth had asked Mary-Beth to marry him right there on stage after they had been crowned king and queen. Mary-Beth had laughed and told the assembled masses,
"I will never marry you, Seth. I'm not going to be the wife of an undertaker.”
Then from the audience, Tony called out,
"Marry me, Mary-Beth?"
Everyone turned to look at him when Mary-Beth called out, "Yes, I will marry you, Tony."
There had been an almighty fight in the car park afterwards, and the two men had been enemies ever since.
That feuding had continued in the election campaign. Seth had never let Tony finish answering a question during their Q&A session at the Town Hall. Seth jeered and changed the subject every time a question was asked, that he didn't agree with.
My last briefing as Sheriff had been to warn the team that Tony had a real chance of getting elected given Seth's intransigence over so many things in recent years. If Tony won, then Seth and his family might not take the defeat lightly.
Sue-Ellen agreed with me 100%. Everyone other than my good self would be on duty that evening for the declaration of the results. For the first time in over ten years, I’d just be a normal citizen of the county. It was going to feel very strange, but I wasn't going to change my mind anytime soon.
At Seven that, evening and a small crowd had gathered for the result. Judge Cooper had come over from Clark County to supervise the counting of the votes.
A retired Judge was deemed by everyone, to be suitably independent by both parties to supervise the counting of the votes that had been cast in the election.
At three minutes past the hour, the Judge emerged from inside the hall. The two candidates were glaring at each other as usual.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I have great pleasure in announcing the result of the election for the next Custer County Commissioner.”
He looked down at the sheet of paper he was carrying before continuing.
“Anthony Higson received fourteen hundred and sixty-eight votes.”
“Seth Norton received eleven hundred and two votes. There were six spoilt ballot papers.”
“I do declare that Anthony Higson is elected County Commissioner.”
“Rubbish. The vote was rigged,” shouted Seth.
Sue-Ellen stepped forward. She’d witnessed the counting of the votes.
“Seth, both you and I watched the votes being counted and recounted. Every operation was carried out, according to the rules. If you have a complaint, then as per the election rules, you have seven days to file a formal complaint in writing."
“Seth, you lost. At least you could do is lose gracefully,” said the new Commissioner.
"I will never lose gracefully, where you are concerned."
Seth stormed off, followed by his small clique of supporters.
Sue-Ellen had a word with Tom, who nodded and followed Seth. Given the history of ill-feeling between the two men, I would have done the same thing had I still been Sheriff.
Seth never appealed the ballot, but his family vowed to get even sooner or later. Some people just can't accept defeat graciously.
After the excitement of the Election had died down, I busied myself with chores around the home. Busied is probably the wrong word. Buried is much more accurate. My big 'Four Zero' birthday was fast approaching, and I didn't want a fuss, but I had a feeling that I wasn't going to get my wish.
Now that I was no longer part of the PD, the team were free to plot and scheme my downfall. Their plans were to be delivered, at the party, that was planned for my birthday, at Harry's place. Harry had called me to give me the heads up, for which I thanked him profusely.
My dedication to the many jobs around our home didn’t fool Ma for even a minute.
"Matt Harker! You can't fool me. You gave up a perfectly good job, with no idea about what to do next? You are just as bad as your worthless brother."
"Ma! Do not associate what I may or may not do now with Walt. Haven't you been after me to do all these chores for months and months? Well, I'm doing them now. When I'm done with them, I'm probably going into partnership with Danny SWA so I won't be idle. Besides, this is a nice therapeutic break from the Police."
“Don’t lie to your Ma! Danny told me that you had turned down working for him on our little trip to Sin City.”
“I did turn him down then. What he didn't say after that trip was that I was still working on an idea. Since then, I have approached Danny and offered to go into partnership with him. He needs a new heavy tow truck. I’ve offered to go in 50/50 with him on it. That good enough for you?”
For probably the first time in my life, I saw Ma lost for words.
“If you don’t me, call Danny right now. He’ll back me up.”
Ma gave me one of her looks that said clearly ‘I don't like smart asses, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt just this once."
I got on with washing down the siding on the rear of the house. It was perfectly true that I had offered Danny a partnership, but I told him to think about it until the new year when we would get together to work things out.
This would give me a break from work and time to think things through a lot more. This delay wasn’t my idea but was all down to Kelly. She’d kept on at me to ‘take a break from work’. She was perfectly correct. I needed some time to think about the future without having to worry about the Police Department.
Kelly had matured a lot since she’d arrived in Custer County. The 'thing' that I'd seen in her at that first interview had blossomed. There were times when I felt sorry for her family back east. They didn't know what a great Police Officer she had become due to their bigotry.
The weather held long enough for me to get all the more important jobs done around the home. This included getting rid of the dozen or so rotting hulks of the many and varied cars that Walt had bought and literally ran into the ground. Danny came with his crane truck and loaded them all onto a flatbed. There were nine in total. One even had an Apple tree growing out of its empty engine bay. Six rusty engines and several tons of other detritus was carted away.
I prodded Danny for any gossip relating to my forthcoming Birthday. All he'd say was that there was going to be a surprise. As long as that surprise was not finding out that I had a child living in some foreign land, I would be happy.
With the outside in decent shape, and the weather turning a lot colder, I turned my attention to the inside of the house. More than once, Ma commented that I was only doing it to make the place saleable. There was more than a modicum of truth in her words, but it never hurts to freshen up a home, and as I had time on my hands, it would be silly to waste it and besides, many of the jobs that I was doing were long overdue.
On the eve of Thanksgiving, everything changed.
I was out in the stables grooming the horses. Kelly and I had been out for a ride when her phone rang. She'd gone into the house for something, so I answered it.
“Kelly’s phone?”
“Oh, hi Nancy. How are you?”
“Good. We are doing fine. Kelly’s not around for a minute or so. Can I help?”
“They have? I bet that has caused waves in your neck of the woods.”
“Oh, I see. For how long?”
“Nancy, I’m no longer Sheriff here. I didn’t stand for re-election. Kelly is still with the department.”
I listened to Nancy explain the situation in her town.
"I'm not interested but, I'm sure that I could twist Kelly's arm a bit. She'd make a great Chief."
"Yes, I am serious. She most certainly has what it takes. If there had not been a perfect replacement for me already with the department, I would have suggested that Kelly run for Sheriff."
I laughed at her next question.
"At the moment, I'm decorating the house. It hasn't been done in at least ten years."
“Thanks for your call Nancy, I’ll tell Kelly what has happened.”
“Sorry Nancy, Kelly is her own woman in these sort of things. She’ll make up her very own mind in due course."
"Thanks, Nancy. I'm sure we'll speak again very soon."
I hung up the call, and slowly a smile appeared on my face.
Kelly returned from the house carrying a knife.
"I can't find the Hoof Pick, so this will have to do," she said, holding up my old hunting knife.
I said nothing about the call from Nancy. I just watched while she cleaned the hooves of our horses. When she arrived in the county, she hardly knew one end of a horse from another. This was just another area where she'd come on a long way in a short time.
With the grooming done, we headed back to the house. The sun had set. It was going to be a clear cold night.
“You had a phone call while you were in the house,” I said as we removed our boots and coats.
"Who was it, and I'm not buying anything."
That was a standing joke between us. For some reason, her phone received lots of cold callers trying to sell her all sorts of things while, for some equally odd reason, I received none.
"It was Nancy. She's fine, so there is nothing to worry about."
Kelly smiled.
“So?”
“The Mortensen’s have all been arrested. Not only them but the Judge and all the officers at the PD. Corruption, Tax Evasion, Money Laundering and more.”
"Wow. Nancy and the others in the town must be happy."
"They are, but that wasn't the reason for her call. She wanted to know if I was interested in becoming their next Chief of Police.”
Kelly laughed.
“To which you said?”
"Not interested. I mean it, darling. I really am done with being an officer of the law."
“I guess that wasn’t the answer she was expecting?”
“Correct. Then I said, I know someone who would be perfect, you!”
“Me?”
"Yes, you, my darling. You would be perfect for the job."
“Are you pulling my leg?”
"Not at all. I told Nancy that you would be ideal and that we'd discuss it, and you'd make up your mind if you were interested or not. That's how I left it."
Kelly sat down at the kitchen table. The smell of fresh paint was ever-present.
“I don’t know. It is a big step.”
I sat opposite her and took her hands in mine.
“If Sue-Ellen hadn’t been in the frame for Sheriff from before you came to Custer County, I would have suggested you for the job.”
Kelly raised her left eyebrow. She wasn’t convinced.
"I mean it, and I'm not saying this because you are my wife."
“But… what about?”
“No need to tell unless they ask. It is your private life.”
“But…? The Internet will expose me.”
“They won’t be looking for the old Kelly. They’ll be looking for Kelly Beecher, won’t they?”
“It would mean moving. What about Ma?”
I smiled.
“Don’t worry about Ma. Think of yourself for once.”
She shook her head.
“I did rather a lot of that back east. Now I have you and Ma to think about.”
“So, think about it. In the meantime, it is time to get dinner on. Ma will be back from getting her hair done very soon. Don’t say anything to Ma until you have had time to think about this properly.”
Kelly laughed.
“That’s easier said than done. She can smell a rat from a mile away.”
"Just try. I don't want this to get in the way of our first Thanksgiving as a proper family, ok?"
"Yes, boss!"
I kissed Kelly to seal the deal.
“Ok, out with it?”
"What do you mean, Ma?"
"Something happened on Wednesday, and ever since then, Kelly has acted as if she has the whole world on her shoulders. When were you going to tell me what it is?"
"That's very much down to Kelly."
Ma glared at me.
"It is true, Ma. She has some things to work out in her mind, then she and I will discuss them."
“Where are you two going to swan off to then?”
“Ma! It is not like that.”
I got another ‘I don’t believe a word you are saying’ look from Ma.
"It is true Ma. When we have decided, you will be the first to know. You know that has always been the case, and it isn't going to change now."
About an hour later, I made an excuse to go into town to get some lumber. This gave me the chance to have a word with Kelly. Luckily, I knew that she was going to be working in the office all day while the rest of the department were on duty on the Interstate. Thousands of people were going home after Thanksgiving. Tired and hungover drivers were always a problem in past years, and I doubted that this year would be any different.
"I can tell that this isn't a social call," said Kelly as I walked into the office.
"Why do you say that, my darling?"
Kelly laughed.
"The look of death on your face, that's what. Has Ma been on the warpath?"
“Yeah. She knows something is up.”
Kelly sighed. Then she smiled.
“I think we’d better tell her then.”
“What about telling me first?”
“You are no fun you know.”
Then she got serious.
“I only decided on the drive into town earlier. I had to scrape the windscreen again this morning. I got to thinking that living close to the coast again might be a nice change.”
“There… that wasn’t so hard was it?”
"A fat lot of help you were!"
"This was something you had to work out on your own. I didn't want to pressure you into going for this. Isn't it a decision that you had to make on your own? You know that I'll go along with any decision you make, but you have to be clear in your own mind and that it is what you want as your next step."
Kelly didn’t answer for quite a bit. She looked out of the window at the scene outside. After a bit, she turned back to face me.
"You are right. I've decided to go for the job. It is something that I have to do for myself. Do you understand that?"
“I do. I do understand perfectly well. I had to join the army for me. It was something that was not for others but just for me."
I took hold of her hand.
“That’s three hard decisions you have made in your life. Coming out, leaving New York and now this.”
“What about marrying you?”
"That, my dear, was a no brainer."
Kelly relaxed. Then she laughed.
“It was more like… what is taking him so long.”
"Well, then it wasn't hard, was it?"
“When do we tell Ma?”
“We? What’s this ‘we’ thing?”
“Aren’t we in this together?”
"We are, but it needs to come from you. Then Ma will know that it is your decision and yours alone."
I squeezed her hand gently.
"I'll be there, but you will have to tell her. Then we can plan where we go from there. It is only the start, you know.”
“What do you mean ‘only the start’?”
I smiled.
“Let us just suppose that you were offered the job. What then?”
“Ah! You mean Ma?”
“Exactly, Ma.”
“Why didn’t I think of that?”
"Because that is my job. My job here is to think of the bigger picture. That lets you work on the detail of you and what you want, knowing that I've got your back from here to death us do part."
Kelly laughed.
“There you go being all Sheriffy on me again!”
I chuckled.
"Someone has to take the weight off your pretty shoulders at times like this, don't they?"
Kelly kissed me.
“See. That’s why saying yes to marrying me was a no brainer!”
“Now get on that phone and call Nancy. She will be going crazy until you let her know what you have decided.”
“Ma, I have something to say that could affect all of us,” said Kelly after we’d finished dinner that night.
"About time too. When are you two moving away, and where?"
I tried hard but failed to stop my eyes from rolling.
“Don’t give me that look!”
“Ma, I may have a job interview for the position of Chief of Police. It is where my cousin Nancy lives in California.”
Ma didn’t say anything for a bit. Finally, she asked,
“What about me? I can’t look after this place on my own, now can I?”
Kelly looked at me for some help.
"Ma, firstly, Kelly hasn't got the job, and secondly, we are not going anywhere without you."
“Don’t give me that.”
"I mean it, Ma. We aren't going anywhere unless you are coming along as well."
Ma didn’t say anything for nearly a minute.
“When?”
“In the new year at the earliest.”
"That's the worst time of the year to sell this place. You know that don't, you? Then what are you going to do for money? It does not grow on trees you know!”
"We do, but it won't be a problem. We have my cousin Lol's legacy. We can use that to find somewhere and then sell this place in the spring,” said Kelly,
"Always assuming that I get the job, that is.”
Ma smiled for the first time in days.
"That job is yours if the locals have any sense at all."
"Are you ok with this then, Ma?"
"Not really. As I see it, the only alternative is to go into a retirement home, and that will only be done over my dead body. Which means I’m the third wheel in this family I’m going to have to go along with whatever you do.”
“Ma… It won’t be all bad. There is a club where they play bingo twice a week,” said Kelly.
Ma just glared at Kelly.
"Bingo isn't the only thing I want from life, you know."
Then I had an idea.
"Ma, have you ever seen the sea? You know for real and up close?”
“You know full well that I have not. We went to Florida with your Mother when she was a teenager, but we drove all the way. Your grandfather wanted to see a rocket launch at the cape before he died. That was his last trip apart from in the hearse to the Cemetery. I think we went close to it near Tallahassee, but we were in a bit of a hurry, as we'd been held up in East Texas because of a blow-out. We just made it. I saw the rocket launch, at which point and turned around and came back. Don’t want to do that again. Yes, I caught some glimpses of the sea, and if I go to my grave not having seen any more, I won't miss it.”
“Going to California would allow you to see it.”
"Why? It is cold and wet, and there are things in it that want to kill you. No thanks."
“You mean like the rattlers that love sunning themselves on the back porch?” I argued.
“That’s what the baseball bat is for. I can see them and deal with them. I watched Jaws you know. Those things come up from below and wham, you are dead.”
That’s when I knew that we were not going to get anywhere tonight.
“I think we should all sleep on this,” I said more out of hope than anything.
No one disagreed, so Ma disappeared off to her bedroom.
Kelly and I sat silently for a good ten minutes before Kelly said,
"That didn't go very well, did it?"
"It went as well as I could have hoped. Now that the cards are on the table, we can get on with getting you the job. You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?”
Kelly didn’t reply right away.
“I don’t want to take the job if Ma isn’t coming with us.”
“Then we’ll have to work on Ma at the same time, won’t we?”
[to be continued]
[Authors Note]
This piece was originally drafted in 2019. Any coincidence with what has been alleged to have happened at other elections since, is purely that, a coincidence.
[this part is written from the Kelly POV]
I was having a break with Tom at the truck stop on the Interstate when Matt arrived out of the blue.
“Hello darling, what are you doing here?”
He smiled back at me and handed me two sheets of paper.
“I’ve been working on your resume. You know bringing it up to date and all that jazz.”
Once again, my dear husband had read my thoughts and acted on them. I was a fool to have ever doubted that he was behind me in going after the job of Chief of Police.
“I’ll see you outside,” said Tom as he left us alone.
“I’ll only be a few minutes,” I said hopefully.
Matt smiled at Tom and said to me,
“Take some time to read what I’ve done and we can talk tonight.”
"Ok, but how is Ma? I had to leave before she got up this morning.”
Matt grinned.
“She waited until you were gone then she bent my ear for all of two minutes.”
That didn’t sound too good.
“What did she say?”
“Oh, the usual thing about not telling her what we were thinking before we came to a decision,” said Matt.
“I told her that if you had decided not to apply for the job then not telling her would have meant her not having to worry about what might happen...”
“That did not go down very well if I know Ma?”
“It didn’t but after a bit, she said, 'You certainly want Kelly to get this job, don't you?'."
Kelly smiled.
“Did she say that with one eyebrow raised?”
“Yep. I told her that it would be good for you and we can get a fresh start as a family which in case she hadn’t realised, included her. That went down with her a lot better than it did last night. She’s coming around. Slowly but she’s coming around.”
“Like you said she would?”
“I did and she is starting to accept things are going to change. When I left home, she was emptying the drawers in her bedroom. Spring cleaning, she called it.”
I felt so relieved.
"Thanks, love, I'll read this work of fiction if I get a spare minute this afternoon but if the morning is anything to go by, then we'll be busy all the time. We pulled over this guy in his Tesla earlier. He was doing 85 and reading a book at the same time. He tried to say that his autopilot was in total control. It might be but it is still not allowed by State Law.”
“Idiot. That isn’t the first one like that we have encountered and won’t be the last,” said Matt.
Then he realised that he’d spoken as if he was still on the job.
“Sorry. Slip of the tongue.”
I squeezed his hand.
“It will take time for you to get used to not being a cop.”
“I know. I keep thinking about what I should be doing with the department then I realise that I’m done with that and should be thinking about the future rather than the past.”
I leaned over and kissed him before saying goodbye. I knew that there would be a good few more slips like that before it finally sunk in that Matt was no longer an officer of the law. It was becoming clear to me that he needed a project to get his teeth into. Moving home might be just what he needed to get the 'cop' vibe out of his blood at least temporarily.
Before I went and found Tom, I took a look at my new book of fiction a.k.a. my resume. It was good. Very good, now outright lies and wasn’t too boastful.
Ma was much more her usual self that night.
“I’ve sorted out my stuff,” she announced over dinner.
“There are ten bags of clothes and things for goodwill in the barn. I’ll let the two of you deal with them.”
I saw Matt trying to suppress a laugh. Thankfully, he managed it.
“Ma!” I said,
“I haven’t even formally applied for the job let alone got an interview. Aren’t you putting the cart before the horse?”
“Rubbish. You will get the job!” said Ma firmly.
I couldn't tell if she truly meant it or was saying it just to bolster her confidence. Her normal 'tells' were strangely absent.
“I will email my resume tonight. Then we’ll see what transpires,” I said trying to sound confident.
The resume that Matt had given me was very flattering. He'd even attached a glowing reference from Sue-Ellen and my old Captain in the NYPD. All I hoped was that when my status, was revealed it would not matter too much. Anyone with decent search skills could find out my whole slightly sordid history in under ten minutes if they wanted.
“I’m sure it will knock them out,” said Ma.
I wasn't sure if knocking them out was the right thing to say, but I got the idea. Matt had been watching what went on between Ma and me. Since we'd been married, he'd stood back and let me duel with Ma when before he'd intervene on my behalf. I knew that this was his way of saying, 'you are proper family now and can fight your own corner, but I'm here if needed.
This marriage malarkey was taking some time to get used to. I wondered if it was harder for people like us who didn't get hitched until we were virtually middle-aged than for youngsters who didn't have a care in the world. That was a question I'd never really get a proper answer to.
My phone went ‘ping’, some three days later. I had a new email. As soon as I saw who it was from, I dared not breathe.
“Ms Beecher,
Thank you for your application to become Chief of Police. We have offered the position to another very well qualified candidate. Thank you again for your interest.
Regards,
Emilio Sanchez
Acting Chief of Police.
“
That was it. I didn't get the job. Nancy had even called me two days before to say that I was very well positioned to get an interview. Now, this. If I had been closer, I might well have gone to see this Emilio Sanchez in person and demanded to know why I'd been rejected, at this early stage, but I was close to a thousand miles away from him so I couldn't.
I wasn’t looking forward to telling Matt. Then there was Ma. Ma would probably say nothing but her face would tell a different picture.
That evening was much as I’d predicted. Dinner was like a silent movie. Lots of action but no sound. I was pleased when Ma went off to watch some TV. I'd had more than enough of the silent treatment back in New York.
“It won’t last,” said Matt as a way of comforting me.
“Well, are you going to call Nancy?”
I should have guessed that was coming. I knew that I had to do it but very much didn't want to.
"She won't bite, you know," said Matt.
I knew that he was right, but it wasn’t much comfort to me with the words from the email ingrained in my mind.
Matt took my phone and made the call. When it started ringing, he gave it back to me. He had that look on his face that told me that he wasn't going to let up until we at least knew why I didn't get at least an interview.
"Hi, Nancy. How's things?"
“We are good.”
I took a deep breath before continuing.
"I had an email from the acting Chief. It said that the position had been filled. Didn't you say that applications only opened two days ago? What happened?”
“You are kidding? Please say that you are?”
I listened to what Nancy was saying. As I did so, I felt the anger that I’d last felt in New York start to awaken. What I was hearing was not good.
“What are you guys going to do about it?”
“Attorney General? That sounds very serious?”
“Ok. Good luck. You guys are gonna need it.”
“Give my love to Rose. Matt sends his best.”
“Bye.”
I ended the call and sat still for well over a minute with my eyes closed. Thankfully, Matt was patient with me. He was the last person I wanted to get angry with at the moment.
Eventually, I had composed myself enough to face Matt.
"Nancy told me what has happened, and the locals are not happy. The temporary chief didn't even bother to interview anyone. He offered the role to a crony of his who just happened to have been at the academy. The guy has never even been to the town. The local action group are going to appeal to the States Attorney in an attempt to get the decision overturned.”
"That is not good. Why do these people try to… forget it? That's human nature, but even so… it sucks big time. Where is this new chief working now? Do you know?"
“Why?”
Matt managed to smile at me. I know that he was trying to help, but it didn't do much
“There is no smoke without fire. I’d like to find out what this supposed new guy is all about. Skeletons in the closet and all that.”
I wasn’t sure if I even wanted to follow this job application up any longer. I wondered if the whole state police organisation was corrupt from top to bottom.
“You don’t have to do that darling.”
“I do. I kind of liked the place apart from the cops.”
I saw that twinkle in his eyes. That was the same twinkle he’d had when he’d returned from the first fishing expedition. I knew that Matt had set his heart on going there.
“I could apply for a deputy’s role you know?”
Matt laughed.
"And last all of five minutes."
He leaned over and gave me a longish kiss.
“It would be the same here now that I'm not Sheriff. You are working out your notice for the sake of the department, but be honest Kelly, you have been itching to be Sheriff, and despite knowing all along that Sue-Ellen was my tip for the job, you wanted it as well. With her installed as Sheriff, it could be another ten years before you got a chance.”
Matt looked me right in the eye.
“Well? Am I right?”
He was right but had just driven a stake right into my heart.
“So, fight for this other job. Show the doubters that you are not going to take this lying down. You aren’t a quitter, are you? You would not be here today if you were.”
Matt knew me too well. That's part of why I love him so much, but he can be so frustratingly honest. This is one of those times.
Matt smiled at me again.
"There is clearly some skulduggery… lovely word that… something wrong with the whole selection process. Given the situation with the old chief and his clique, the very least we can demand is an open and fair selection process. To award the job to a crony of the temporary chief is wrong, very wrong."
“But… we are so far away. I don’t know what to do?” was my reply.
“That lawyer from Frisco, Mr Rieck, he’ll know of an attorney who knows the law here and can act on your behalf.”
I was stunned by what Matt was suggesting.
"You mean, sue the PD?"
"No, sue the acting chief. I guess that even the mere threat could cause changes. If there is skulduggery… that word again, going on, the last thing they would want is to have the magnifying glass put over the whole selection process.”
I wasn’t sure if this was the way I wanted to go.
"But if it ended up in court, all sorts of things could come out. You know what I mean."
"And you can hold your head up high. There is nothing for you to be ashamed of, is there?"
He was right and bloody usual. Matt was always direct when dealing with people.
I wasn’t sure what I should do next, so Matt decided for me.
“Why not send Mr Rieck an email and include all the details, especially the email about the rejection and your resume. At the very least, he'll cast his eyes over it before passing it on. If he does pass it on, then I'd take it that he thinks that the case has merit."
“He’d do that and not whack us with a huge bill?”
Matt smiled back at me again. The look in his eyes told me that he was ten steps at least ahead of me. If he hadn’t sworn off ever putting a PD uniform on again, I’d be suggesting that he should apply for Chief.
“You seem to be forgetting that there is a big pile of our money sitting in his client account that belongs to us. We could use a small chunk of that to get a lawyer to look at the case. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
Damm him! He was right… again.
“Ok,” I replied slightly wearily.
As I’d hoped, Matt stepped up and composed the email to Mr Rieck for me. I offered a few suggestions more out of hope than anything but to my surprise, Matt agreed with them and made the changes.
In less than an hour, he'd laid out the basis for a complaint in a document. It all looked so formal, but it had to be done.
“Ready?” he asked.
I sat back from the computer and thought for a few seconds. It was nearly one in the morning. I realised that I had to be in the office in five hours.
“Yes,” I replied as I hit ‘Send’.
“Now I’m going to bed. I’m on early tomorrow in case you had forgotten.”
Matt gave me a long goodnight kiss. It made me realise that he wasn't angry with me at all. He genuinely wanted me to get the job, even if it was just so that he could slope off fishing a few times a week.
Thankfully, work prevented me from dwelling too much on what was happening or not happening in California. Tom was out sick with a very heavy cold, so we were a man down. Our 'rookie' Ed, was a great help. He'd gotten rid of a lot of the rigidity that had been drummed into him at the Academy. He was proving to be a useful asset to the department.
Ed and I had been out checking the culverts around the county. We'd had a lot of rain in the past week or so, and the County Road crew were busy repairing some minor flood damage, so we stepped in to give some places a good inspection before the next storm rolled in. If it carried on getting colder, it would not be rain that it brought but snow. This early in the year, it would probably not hang around very long so some more flooding was likely.
Ed had been raised in the city, so country life was as strange to him as it had been to me when I first arrived on the scene. Being out and about around the county, gave a lot of locals the chance to meet our 'newbie'. This was the same way that Matt had introduced me to the county. It made me feel rather old for once because I was no longer the youngest in the department.
Matt had teased me over this the previous night until Ma had shut him up with a few choice words.
I knew that Matt was only teasing but to have Ma on my side was comforting. All these little things allowed me to push California and what it might or might not mean to the back of my mind.
We’d had an email from Mr Reick letting us know that he’d passed our possible case onto another law firm and that we’d be hearing from them in due course. It took a lot of willpower to stop myself from getting on the phone and demanding what was taking so long.
After nearly a week, Nancy told us in an email what was going on in her town.
“Kelly, Matt,
I don't know what it was that someone did, but things have moved on here since we spoke. Yesterday, it all took off. Three people from the States Attorney's Office came into town. By all accounts gave the acting chief a real dressing down. My neighbour George overheard some of the conversations while he was in the Department trying to renew his gun permit.
He said that the people from Sacramento had received some complaints about the selection process for the next Chief. Prospective candidates had sent in their applications well within the allotted time only to find that a decision had already been made. They told the acting chief that there was due process and it had to be followed and that their office would henceforth be overseeing the whole thing.
I fully expect that once the dust settles, Kelly will receive an invitation to an interview in Sacramento. That is a sign of how serious the people in the state capital are treating this.
Kelly, you’d better get your best uniform pressed sharp! Go for it girl!
Nancy.
“
We both read the email several times.
“I hadn’t planned on wearing my uniform to an interview,” I admitted.
“If I was interviewing a currently serving officer for a top job then I’d expect it,” replied Matt.
"What would happen back east? If you were being interviewed formally for a Captain's position would you not wear your full dress uniform?"
“I suppose so,” I replied knowing very well that I would do just that. First impressions and all that.
“Well?” asked Matt.
“I’d better sort out my best uniform and get it cleaned ASAP then?”
“That’s the spirit.”
“It is easy for you. Your days of wearing a uniform are long gone.”
Matt laughed.
He picked up his phone and quickly found a picture.
“Is this not a uniform?”
The picture was of Danny SWA standing proudly alongside his latest recovery truck.
“Ok, ok. You know what I mean.”
Matt just hugged me.
The phone call from California came late the next Tuesday. I’d just finished writing a ticket to a Colorado driver for carrying an unsafe load in the back of his pickup.
“Hello?” I said when I answered the phone.
The Caller ID was from an area code that was unfamiliar to me.
“Yes, this is she. How can I help?”
“Oh yes. I did apply and was told that it had been filled.”
"Yes, I am still interested in the position. When would you like me to come for an interview?"
“Tomorrow? That is rather short notice. I’d have to see if I can get a flight.”
“Yes, a flight. I live east of Denver.”
“Yes, the one in Colorado.”
"The day after is a lot better. Then I can arrange cover at work."
“Good. Can you email me all the details of when and where it will take place?”
“Today would be good. I have to book a hotel and the like.”
“Thanks.”
I hung up the phone and saw Ed grinning from ear to ear.
“That was good news then?”
“Only the first step, only the first step.”
"Good for you. I'm sure that you will get the position."
Then he dropped a bombshell.
“I told my sister Debs about you. She’s like you. She was once my brother.”
“You knew about me?”
“Sorry. The Sheriff told me before we had our first patrol together. I told her about Karen and he responded in kind. Debs is a student majoring in Architecture over in Portland and is hoping to finish her transition once she graduates next summer.”
"Thanks, Ed. It is good to know about your sister. I hope she does well."
“I hope so too.”
Ed looked at his watch.
“Do you think it is time to call it a day? You’ll be wanting to tell Sheriff Matt about your interview, won’t you?”
“Yes, Ed I will but first, we need to go back to town so that I can update the actual Sheriff. You know, our real boss?”
"Yes, boss!"
[to be continued]
[This part is written from Kelly’s POV]
"You look, fine Darling," Matt said to me for what seemed about the twentieth time.
“I agree,” said Nancy.
I was feeling far from fine. It felt like my first day at the NYPD Academy all over again. That didn’t go down very well as the chief instructor and my father were not the best of friends.
Matt had driven us up from San Francisco the evening before and due to Nancy’s insistence, we had stayed with her rather than at a Hotel. I wasn’t so sure but Matt saw a lot of Ma in her and was not inclined to want to get on her bad side at a time like this.
“Time for me to go,” I said hesitantly after checking my watch for the umpteenth time.
“No, time for us to go,” said Matt.
“I’m going to see you to the Town Hall and then meet up with Nancy at her coffee shop. When you are done, you can come and tell us the good news.”
“Hey! I have not got the job yet, not by a long way.”
“You are by far the best candidate, and don't you forget it," said Matt.
I knew that he was trying to keep my morale up, but there comes a time when I had to do this for me, on my own.
"Sorry, Darling, I'm going to do the 'perp walk' myself. I'll find you at Nancy's later."
He didn't argue, which made me realise that was what he'd wanted all along. That man could read me like a book which was why I loved him so much.
I left Nancy's and walked the short distance into town. A few people stared at me. I guess that the strange Police uniform made them stop and think. I wondered how many of them could even begin to guess where our particular Custer County was on a map of the USA.
I put them out of my mind and tried to remember what it was that Matt had said about the style of policing we used back home. Ah yes, ‘Consensus Policing’ and most certainly not ‘Confrontational Policing’ that I’d experienced in NYC and also here under the old regime.
Home? Yes, Custer County was my home now. It had been much more welcoming than New York had ever been to me or at least the part of the five boroughs that I’d grown up in. My only wish would be that if I got this job, then the locals would be as welcoming as they had been in Custer County. I had wondered more than once how they'd take to a woman as Chief of Police and then if they accept me for being transgender. I know that it hasn't stopped me from doing my job apart from wanting to give Matt's brother Walt a knee where it hurts when we had him in custody, but I didn't.
My brain was rapidly turning into mush as I walked into the Town Hall. I stopped just before opening the door and checked my watch. I was more than ten minutes early. Far too early to go inside. I stepped to one side and watched the town go about its business. Seeing that it was not much different to the same scene a thousand or so miles to the east calmed my nerves. The big difference was the fact that everywhere was green. That's down to it being on the coast. I'd gotten used to Custer County turning various shades of brown once the heat of summer got into the earth. The infrequent thunderstorms did little other than raise the humidity and certainly did not solve the sometimes, severe shortage of water.
I had not felt like this since I came out to my parents, and that didn't exactly go down very well.
The clock that hung on the wall above the Receptionists Desk ticked on. It ticked past the time of my interview, and still, the voices carried on inside the room.
A good ten minutes after my allotted time, the door opened, and a man in a Police Uniform that was strange to me stormed out of the door. He walked one step into the corridor, turned around and said in a loud voice,
“You can stick your tin-pot job. This dead-end hick town does not deserve someone like me.”
As he stormed away, I read the badge on his arm. He'd come from Eugene in Oregon. For a moment, I wondered how he'd heard about the job. Then I stopped and mentally cursed myself. I had to think about myself and how I would run the department and not about another candidate for the job.
His words did start me thinking.
I asked myself,
"Was this a dead-end hick town? If it was, what was Custer County then? By comparison, this place is a big city. The population of the town was almost the same as the whole of Custer Count,y and most of the adjoining Clark County added together.”
I concluded that I might be able to use that to my advantage.
A couple more minutes passed before I was called into the room by a woman who seemed to be the model for a traditional spinster of the 21st Century. My first impression was that if she tried to tie her hair bun any tighter, she’d probably scalp herself. I tried to put that thought out of my mind. She was dressed all in grey, even down to her shoes. I'd never been much of a fan of grey or black, for that matter. It just seemed so… dull and lifeless. She wasn't wearing any makeup either. That just emphasised the lifeless part. At least I'd put on some mascara and lippy for the interview. Matt had painted my nails the night before. He was much better than me.
“Kelly Beecher?”
Her words brought me back to the here and now.
“That’s me.”
“Will you please come this way,” said the woman who led the way into the room.
The interview began with a review of my CV and especially why I’d left New York. That was easy for me to answer.
“I left because most of my family are in the NYPD or NYFD. None of them would ever want a female relative to be their boss. That fact alone would ensure that I’d never be anything more than a beat cop and that was not what I wanted from life.”
“So… Custer County was different from that then?”
“Absolutely. I was one of the team right from the start. So much so, I ended up marrying the Sheriff.”
“We can see that. Why isn’t he sitting there instead of you?”
“My husband is done with law enforcement. His very words were, 'it is time you got some responsibility. The new Sheriff of Custer County is a woman and a good friend of mine but she is only a few years older than me."
“What brought you to this neck of the woods?” asked the ‘spinster’.
“This is hardly a big city?”
“In many respects, the town is much like Custer County. I’ve grown to love the slower pace of life outside the cities but I miss the ocean.”
“What is your husband going to do? Should you take up the position of Chief of Police?”
“He’s not committing to anything at the moment. I haven’t got the job yet.”
“What about Children?”
This was one of the questions that I’d laboured long and hard over.
"I can't have children. Something went wrong inside me, and things never developed right. We may think about adoption, but we have not discussed it at any length so far."
That was close to the truth without actually telling a lie. Matt and I had agreed that this was a good story. If I was challenged on the matter then and only then, I was to tell them the full story.
“What are your thoughts on Policing in general?” asked another man. He’d been silent thus far but had been taking copious notes.
"I favour a consensual style of Policing. The PD is part of the community and, there has to be trust on both sides. I found right away that Custer County is a very different place from New York. We know everyone by first name and what their business is. People are in general, very law-abiding, and we rarely have to prosecute a local. Give them a very stern talking too is often all that is needed. I've not had to threaten a local with my weapon in all the time I’ve been there. The NYPD is very different. Hardly a week would go by without me drawing my weapon.”
“How does that affect your budget? Historically, our PD has prospered on income from fines. How does your style of policing work with that?” asked the man.
“I know from first-hand experience the methods of your old PD. My husband fell foul of the parking too close to a fire hydrant scam when we visited here on our honeymoon. We were parked in a marked bay but because we were driving an out of state rental, we got a ticket. That is not justice and, in my book, 'justice matters'. We are all supposed to be equal under the law. If I were to become Chief, then I'd look at every bit of the operation of the department and budget accordingly. There is, as far as I know, a section of the court taxes is allocated to the department. I’d start with that and see how things work out. I don’t expect to know any more until I get a look at the books and can do my due diligence. That is only right and proper.”
And it went on but after a while, it all became a bit of a blur.
I did remember their last words though.
“We will let you know by close of business tomorrow.”
At least that was positive. I’d know in thirty hours if I had the job or not.
As I left the Town Hall, I started to shiver. It felt like the temperature had dropped by ten degrees in the past hour. I pulled my coat tighter and headed for Nancy’s shop. I knew that warmth both inside and out awaited me there.
The bell above the door dinged when I went inside. I could see Nancy behind the counter. I looked around but could not see Matt. For a moment, I wondered if he’d given up on me and gone back to Nancy’s to prepare lunch.
Before I could turn tail, Nancy spotted me and waved me over towards her.
“How did it go?” asked Nancy.
"I think it went well," I replied, trying to sound enthusiastic.
“They said that they’d let me know by close of business tomorrow.”
"That's good, isn't it?"
“I don’t know. I don’t think I goofed too badly.”
“Brain fug?” suggested Nancy.
“Something like that.”
She laughed.
“Where is Matt?”
Nancy grinned.
“He told me to tell you that he has gone to see a man about a dog. I don’t have a clue as to what that means but he said that you would understand?”
I remembered Matt telling me about the phrase. He’d picked it up from a British Sergeant Major in Kandahar.
"I think it means to mind your own business, but all will be revealed later."
Nancy laughed.
“I shall have to remember that one.”
Her eyes flicked towards a table near the window.
“Eh? Nancy… How many times did you say to me as a child, ‘don’t count your chickens and all that?’”
Nancy came around from behind the counter and took my hand.
“I’m sure that the job is yours.”
“I’m not so sure…”
Nancy grinned at me before saying,
“Come.”
She took me over towards the window. Two women were sitting at a table talking to each other.
“Ingrid, Melissa, this is my niece Kelly. She’s here to be interviewed for the position of Chief of Police.”
"Hello, Kelly, I'm Ingrid, and this is my wife, Melissa. Please take a seat. I would love to know how you are going to run the department. You can't be any worse than the last crowd. They were a bent as a paperclip."
“Coffee and a muffin Kelly?” asked Nancy.
“Please.”
“Then I’ll get them for you. In the meantime, Kelly, please take a seat. You and Melissa have a lot in common.”
Her final words made me fearful. The last thing I wanted was to be outed especially if I was going to get the job.
I sat down, almost unable to look at the two women.
It was Melissa who saved the day. She took my hand and said quietly.
"Don't worry Kelly. Your secret is safe with us. I have to say I think I'd rather like the new Chief of Police to be one of us 'special women'."
Melissa’s accent was not that of an American. She was English. How a transwoman from England could end up here was a story in its own right and one for another day.
“I think it would be rather cute,” said the other woman, Ingrid.
Her accent was also British but with a good deal of what seemed to be Texas twang in it.
,
“How did two people from the other side of the Atlantic end up here?”
The two women looked at each other. I could tell that they were deeply in love.
“That’s a long story. Probably as long as yourself. You hail from New York if I’m not mistaken by your accent.”
“I did but Custer County is home at the moment.”
“I remember it well,” said Melissa.
“You know where it is? Very few people do.”
“I do,” said Ingrid.
“Not long after I came back to the US in search of this one here, who had done a runner. He skipped town when I got a little over-keen back in London. I bought a cheap Toyota Corolla in Jersey City and was driving it across the country following her trail when the transmission finally died just short of the state line in Custer County. I was rescued by a full Sioux Indian driving a tow truck. How can I forget that? He was a real magician because he fixed up the car well enough to get it to Denver, where I sold it for scrap.”
“That’s Barney SWA,” I said without thinking.
“That’s him. Funny name. He was a bit shy about telling me what it meant but, he got me out of a hole. A couple of months later, the trail ended up here, and I've been here ever since.”
“Matt and I passed through here on our Honeymoon and got a parking ticket for our troubles,” I said, changing the subject.
“Ah yes, the old parking scam. Out of state vehicles and rentals were a big target for the old lot of crooks who masqueraded as cops.”
"Yeah, we found that out, but if I get the job, that will be history."
I looked around for Matt, but there was still no sign of him.
"We need some fresh blood around here, especially in the PD," said Melissa.
“It is out of my hands now,” I said as Melissa stood up. Ingrid followed.
“It has been nice meeting you two. I hope that we can meet again if I get the job.”
“I hope so too. We need a friendly face in the PD. Confrontational Policing is not the way to go,” said Ingrid.
Her words made me remember something I’d said in my interview about the style of policing I’d enforce. Ingrid was right about ‘confrontational policing’. A lot of the NYPD had been brought up on that in the past and going to a more softly-softly approach didn’t go down well with many especially those in my family who were NYPD officers. As I remembered some of the conversations with my father about it, I shuddered. That was the beginning of the end of our relationship as father and son, a son who was to make him even angrier when a few months later I came out as Transgendered.
As I watched the two of them leave, I wondered what they did for a living and if one of them could be a deputy. Staffing would be a problem. I'd said that I'd prefer to recruit locals to the positions rather than people from say LA or elsewhere in the state.
Slowly, the events that had happened in the interview came back.
Nancy brought my order over.
“I hope I didn’t drive them away?” I said hopefully.
She smiled.
“I doubt it. Melissa has a shift starting soon.”
“Oh? Where does she work?”
“At the bar on the road north out of town. It is called Jake’s Bar and Grill.”
“I think I remember it from when we first came through here.”
“I hope that I wasn’t too forward in introducing you to Ingrid and Melissa?”
“No. It is nice to see that I’ll have a couple of supporters in town.”
“More than a couple. Anyone who takes the job and has no association with the crooks that ran the department before them would be guaranteed to get a lot of support.”
I was about to question her when Matt walked into the shop. He looked pretty pleased with himself.
He came and sat next to me after giving Nancy an order.
“How did it go?”
I smiled.
“You mean apart from the brain fug? From what I can remember, it went well. I do know that I did tell them about my proposed style of policing.”
Matt grinned. I knew what he was thinking.
“Yes, clever clogs. You were right.”
“What about you? You seemed very pleased with yourself when you came into the Café?”
“I’ve got myself a job.”
That shocked me. My face gave the game away.
“Don’t worry, it is conditional on you getting the Chief’s job.”
I sat waiting patiently for Matt to tell me what his new job would be, when Nancy came over with his order.
She was grinning broadly.
“Have you told her yet?” she said to Matt.
“I was about to,” he replied smiling.
“I’ll leave you to it then,” said Nancy as she retreated behind the counter.
“Is there some sort of conspiracy going on here?”
Matt chuckled.
“Far from it. Nancy gave me the heads up about a possible opportunity so I followed it up.”
“And you aren’t going to tell me what it is?”
"I was about to once I'd discovered how you got on with your interview. That's the most important thing, isn't it?"
Sometimes, Matt can be the most frustrating person on the planet. At other times, he knows exactly what to say to make me feel good.
“If we assume that I get offered the job, what is this mythical job that you have landed?”
“I’m going to take over managing the bakery next door.
“What?”
I exclaimed. Then I broke down and laughed.
“Sorry, my Darling, but what the hell do you know about running a shop, let alone a bakery?"
"More than you think, my dear, more than you think. I used to make the bread at the store in town at weekends before I went into the Army."
“I’ve never seen bread like that in Harry’s Store?”
“That’s because after I left, they couldn’t get anyone to take over from me. The big mixer is out the back of the store to this day. If you doubt me, just ask Ma when we get home.”
I was determined to accept his challenge but making bread was only half the story.
Matt must have read my mind.
"I'm… well… if you get the job, Nancy and I are going into partnership. She'll take care of the books and all that stuff. I'll supply her shop with goodies as well as allowing her to expand her menu to include things like Pizzas. Her ovens are not big enough, and there is no room in her kitchen to add a bigger oven."
“You seem to have everything stitched up. You could not have done all this today?”
This, was the cue for Nancy to say,
"I called Matt a few days ago about the possibility of this happening. We spoke a few times on the phone before today. I set up a meeting with the bakery owner Cain about Matt taking over the rest was up to your husband. It appears that he's been successful?"
I had this feeling of being outmanoeuvred.
"But, it all depends on me being appointed Chief of Police?"
"It does, and Cain is fully on board with that."
"What if I say 'no' to the job offer? What then, eh?"
Matt didn’t look happy. No siree. Not happy at all.
Then he twigged that I was playing a little game with him.
He gave me a big hug.
“Which you won’t do because you want to stick it to your family don’t you?”
Damnation! He was right. There was no way that I would ever turn the job down and with the chance to give my family back in NYC the big finger. I’d love to be a fly on the wall when they find out that I’ve made Chief of Police.
The next day was awful. Waiting for the smoke to appear from the Town Hall was horrible. Matt did his best to keep me busy. He showed me the bakery and what his plans were for the merger with Nancy.
I was so preoccupied with what might not happen that I sort of tuned him out
“Earth to planet Kelly!”
“Wha…?”
Then I realised that he was right. I was miles away.
“Sorry. I was miles away.”
Matt smiled and hugged me.
“That’s perfectly understandable. You have a lot on your mind.”
“But it not good enough. I should have been paying attention to you.”
Matt laughed.
“My dear, the only time that you pay attention to me is when you want me to do something.”
“That’s not true!”
Once again, he laughed.
“Gotcha!”
Once again, I wondered what I’d done to be married to such a wonderful man.
[to be continued]
[WARNING – There are some bits of this story that are not for the fainthearted and is NSFW]
[just before Christmas]
I’d gone into town to collect Kelly from work. Even though she was serving out her notice, the job had to go on and her patrol SUV was in the shop for another new water pump, the second this year. When I arrived at the office, she was just finishing up some paperwork, so I switched the Station TV to the Weather Channel.
“That is not good,” I said as I saw the weather forecast for the area between Denver and Omaha which included us.
“You’d better get Sue-Ellen to spread the news,” I added.
Kelly grinned.
“Preparedness email already sent. Nothing much more we can do today is there?”
I shook my head as Sheriff Sue-Ellen came out of her office and spoke to Kelly.
“Can you send a follow-up asking for a meeting tomorrow morning? There is no harm in making sure that everyone is prepared even if it never happens.”
“All ready to go,” boss.
I looked at Kelly. The dammed woman is starting to read my mind. Then I smiled. I didn't mind one little bit. I almost said something but kept my mouth shut. It was no longer my responsibility.
[Christmas Day]
The first big storm of the season hit us overnight. In the space of 8 hours, we'd gone from no snow to more than three feet of the white stuff. Some of the drifts were over ten feet. People were stuck everywhere. Danny SWA was working overtime towing people out of snow drifts.
I called Sue-Ellen and volunteered my services. The relief in her voice was palpable.
“No problem, Sheriff. Just tell me what needs doing and I’m your man.”
Calling someone else Sheriff was getting a bit easier, but it would always be a struggle. At least Kelly would be ‘Chief’ so my hang-ups over the word Sheriff would hopefully not become embarrassing.
All the locals were wisely staying inside unless they could not help it. The streets in town were just about passable now that Danny SWA’s Sidekick, Dwayne had cleared them with the new snow plow that had been purchased by the county after the old on was condemned with a rusted through chassis. Dwayne had reported enthusiastically about its performance.
A few abandoned cars had been gently towed out of the way and left where they should do no damage should another vehicle get out of control and skid off the road. Despite the streets being reasonably clear very few vehicles were moving. As we'd had warnings about the storm, at least the county was prepared. Even the restaurant on the Interstate had extra food and was being manned by those who didn’t have family close by.
Those who were stranded on the Interstate, were being put up at the adjacent Motel. They had a backup generator with enough fuel to last well over a week in place and ready to go should their power go out. The county preparedness plan that I’d helped put together seemed to be working very well.
In short, we were as ready as can be but a lot of people were not.
“Not unless you can fly. The interstates are at a standstill,” was the stock answer that I’d been giving all day. The Colorado State Police had closed the entire Interstate between here and Denver. The sheer number of accidents had made it virtually impassable unless you were in something like a ‘Snow-Cat’.
At the station, the phones were going off like there was no tomorrow. Most of the calls were of the format…
“Can I get to [insert destination here] tonight? I need to be at [insert relatives name here] for dinner tonight?”
The vast majority of these calls were from travellers on the Interstate. To be perfectly blunt, this was down to the fact that much of the local, county and state government had left for the holidays the previous day. This included many of the snow-plough drivers. Those that had gone on holiday were being very elusive. I couldn’t blame them. I’d probably be hiding if I was one of them.
I was fending them off as best I could. That allowed the Sheriff and all the officers to be getting out and helping people. Ma had sent me off with two large pots of chicken stew for the troops should they come back to the station in need of some warm food. I hoped that this was the last winter that we’d spend in Custer County. More than once, I’d had the thought that someone didn’t want us to leave but then something else happened before I could dwell on the issue.
Two of the Officers in the department were qualified to drive the ploughs. They were out doing their best but the sheer number of abandoned cars was making clearance a hard job. They’d teamed up with Danny SWA and were making good progress. Danny would tow the abandoned car out of the way with his latest toy, an ex-Korean War Army Surplus Half-track with a Chevy Supercharged V8 under the hood. Then while he got the tow to a safe place, the ploughs cleared the next half mile to a mile of road. They’d managed to keep one lane in each direction of the Interstate open as far as the truckstop. Beyond that heading west, it was closed. To the east, the State Police were doing their best to stop drivers coming west but there is just no accounting for some folk.
Most drivers were keeping to sensible speeds but a few were just being silly. Billy-Joe was not showing any Christmas Spirit to them when they inevitably crashed. He was doling out tickets like confetti raining down at a wedding. Despite the warnings, there were many people on the road without snow tires or chains on their wheels. Billy-Joe immediately impounded the vehicle because it was unfit to be on the road. It would cost them dearly to get them out when the weather cleared enough for the travel advisory to be rescinded. Half of that income would come into the coffers of the department. That was all part of the way they were funded. Having a PD that operated without the need for funding from the county was very popular with the voters and the measure was renewed every two years without opposition.
Kelly and Tom were making sure that all the old or sick people around town were safe, warm and had adequate food and drink when the final nail in our coffin was hammered home, the whole town went dark. The Power was out.
After a ten-minute call to the Power Company, Sue-Ellen wasted no time in declaring a local state of emergency. I managed to flag down Danny SWA as he towed yet another abandoned or impounded car to the parking lot at the elementary school which was being used as a temporary vehicle pound.
“Yeah, I saw the lights go out. Do you want me to get the generators?”
“Yep. I’ll get the High School Gym opened up as well as the Tornado supplies.”
“Sure, thing Sherriff. I should be there in half an hour.”
“Danny!”
He smiled.
“Sorry Boss. It will take me time to get used to you not running the show.”
I smiled back at him.
“Don’t rush. We need the power but not at any cost. You know the disaster plan.”
“Gotcha boss!”
He took off on his mission. We all knew that he’d deliver with as little fuss as possible. He’d been my right-hand man when we were in Army so I knew that the county could depend upon him.
Sue-Ellen took over manning the phones after telling me to run things at the Gym. She was following my plan to the letter.
An hour later, people started arriving at the Gym. The power generators were all hooked up and running. Danny had persuaded the city council that buying two former fairground generators for almost a pittance would pay them back handsomely one day. That day was today. These generators were also self-propelled. In reality, they were just the tractor part of a ‘semi’ with a massive diesel generator and fuel tank mounted where the hitch would normally be. He’d overhauled them when they were delivered and pronounced them ‘fit for duty’ at the end of summer. We all had to hope that he was right.
Extra fuel came from a tank trailer that was towed behind each one. We had three to four days of power at our fingertips with two more trailers back in the pound. For that foresight, everyone was eternally thankful.
I roped in as many people who were willing to go and bring the elderly and infirm into the Gym. Soon the place was buzzing. All that hot air coming out of their mouths was helping warm the place up.
It was after more than three hours, that I realised that two people were missing. Both Ma and Kelly were nowhere to be found.
After asking a few people, it appeared that Kelly had gone to fetch Ma back to the Gym. After the obligatory chuckle ‘good luck trying to get Ma to do anything she does not want to go’ from a few onlookers, I began to get worried.
Dusk was fast approaching. With it, the expected drop in temperature the roads could turn to sheets of ice for the unwary. Kelly was still not that confident when driving in these conditions. It was always a good few degrees hotter in the middle of a City than out here in the back of beyond. Add to that the wind chill and anyone caught out on a night like this unprepared would be in trouble. Any change in the wind could move those drifts in a few minutes. Only a few decades of living here could make you fully aware of how quickly things could change.
I found Danny SWA drinking some tea at the far end of the Gym where a makeshift kitchen had been set up.
“Danny, I’m going to look for Kelly. She’s gone to get Ma, but I’m worried about her driving after dark.”
“Gotcha Boss. And you want me to come to the rescue if you aren’t back in… a couple of hours?”
I smiled.
“We know each other far too well but yes, that’s right.”
“You’d best be off then?”
I didn’t hang around even though a few people wanted to talk about the power situation.
A stock answer of,
“I can’t stop. Some more people need rescuing”, seemed to shut them up for the time being. The building was warming up and some of the women had taken over the kitchen and were preparing food. That meant that the power was about the last of my worries for the time being.
Before setting off out of town, I tried to raise Kelly on the phone and radio. There was no answer to either. With the power outage, the cellular networks were also down so there was nothing for it but to get home ASAP. The Radio should have been able to reach as far as our home which made me worried.
The road surface was already getting rather slippery by the time I crested the small hill that led down towards ‘Millers Creek’ and the turn off to my house when I had to come to a stop. Blocking the road was a 40ft Trailer. No lights and no sign of the tractor that had pulled it there. It had just been abandoned without a thought of the consequences.
I grabbed my flashlight and stepped out from my nice warm truck into the biting cold.
As I rounded the end of the trailer I could see Kelly's pickup about 50ft away. Its roof lights were casting all sorts of fantastic shadows in the gloom.
The lights on her pickup flashed at me. I breathed a sigh of relief. At least one of them was safe.
I opened the passenger door and climbed in. The first thing I saw was Ma in the back seat of the double-cabbed vehicle. I managed a small smile.
“Boy, I’m glad both of you are safe.”
“We’re ok but the occupants of that trailer aren’t going to be if we don’t move them quickly,” said Kelly very urgently.
“Eh?”
“We came up behind the trailer about half an hour ago. The tractor was trying to get up the hill but I think that he didn’t have any snow chains on. I stopped on the nearest bit of flat ground and put the roof spotlights on. Before I could walk up to the tractor unit, it had been uncoupled and the tractor was disappearing into the night leaving the trailer here. I think that the people in the cab were already preparing to abandon the trailer when I got here. The retractable wheels of the trailer were already down when I got here.”
“I didn’t see any tractors heading through town. They must have cut through Carson Lane towards Route 20 and the Interstate. The boys cleared it eastbound about an hour or so ago.”
“That’s what I thought,” replied Kelly.
“Then I got a bit suspicious. Who’d abandon a trailer out here in this weather if they didn’t want to get caught with whatever is in the trailer.”
I smiled.
“So, you opened the back?”
“And shut it pretty darn quick.”
“Why?”
“There is an unknown number of people in trailer. From what I saw, they are all locked into cages and … it fucking stank to high heaven. They have obviously been in there for days. They didn’t appear to have many if any clothes on.”
“I went back with Kelly for another look. I couldn’t believe what she was describing,” said Ma.
“Then my radio packed up.”
That explained why I couldn’t get hold of her.
Kelly showed me a picture she’d taken on her phone.
I was shocked by what I saw. It was terrible.
“We need to get those poor sods into the warm and as fast as possible.”
I paused for a second.
“And as quietly as possible. The last thing we want are pictures of them in that truck appearing on Facebook. Then Homeland would be down on us like a ton of bricks plus every TV crew and paparazzi west of the Mississippi snow or no snow, blizzard or no blizzard. They’d be here come hell or high water. These people, whoever they are don’t deserve that.”
I could see that my words had taken Kelly by surprise. Ma just grinned.
“Where can we take them?” asked Kelly.
“Our Barn,” suggested Ma proudly.
Kelly thought for a moment then aster nodding her head said,
“What are we going to do for power?”
“That’s where Danny comes in,” I said calmly.
Kelly looked at me and then at Ma with a puzzled look on her face.
“Matt saved Danny’s life in Iraq. They’ve been like brothers ever since,” said Ma proudly.
Kelly already knew that but Ma had sort of adopted Danny when we game back from overseas. It made up for the disappointment that her other son, Walt had been to us all.
“Let me try to get hold of Danny, I said reaching for my Radio.”
“Come in Danny. This is Matt.”
A few seconds later Danny answered.
“Danny here. Is everyone ok?”
“Yes. No one is missing but a situation Mosul Yellow has arisen. We need that other generator you keep hidden away in your workshop plus your that heavy-duty pickup of yours that can haul a semi-trailer.”
“Situation Yellow. Ok boss. Where are you?”
“On the road to my place about half a klick from the gate. You can’t miss us.”
“Sure, thing Boss. Be there soon. Out.”
“What was that all about?” asked Kelly.
“Situation Mosul Yellow was a code in our outfit for a hostage situation.”
“But… Oh, I get it. You wanted to keep things quiet. Yellow isn’t red then?”
“You got it.”
I took a deep breath before saying,
“Ma, I’d like Kelly to take you home. Get the wood stove going and round up every bit of clothing, towels and sheets you can. Those Oil Lamps you keep in the cellar will keep you going until Danny arrives with the generator.”
Ma started to smile.
“I take it that I’m going to be mother again?”
“Yes. Well, at least until we can decide what to do with them.”
“I’ll get the hot water on as well. They’ll need a good wash I’ll bet.”
“That’s for sure. Get some of your Vegetable Soup out of the freezer as well,” I replied as I opened the door and got out of Kelly’s truck. At that moment, I regretted accepting the Chicken stew from Ma earlier. That would have been perfect for warming up the poor sods in the trailer.
I ducked back into the truck and said,
“Better make that all the soup you have got. Those kids will need something hot inside them but not that parsnip and chilli soup. There is too much chilli in it even for me.”
Ma gave me a grin which told me that my words were like trying to teach a duck to lay eggs.
By the time I'd gotten back to my truck, I could see Kelly slowly navigating her way towards my home.
I said to myself, ‘that was the easy part’.
Half an hour later Danny appeared in his truck with his ‘extra’ generator in tow.
“Orders Sir?”
“We aren’t in the service now Danny.”
“You are in charge just like you were in Faluja. Sir!”
I nodded.
“Let me unhitch the generator. Then can you turn around and hitch up to the trailer.”
Danny grinned.
“I’m the sacrificial lamb then?”
I let out a small laugh.
“Only if you aren’t careful. Back or slide the rig down the hill and then up my drive. If you can get into the big barn then we can shut out the world while we deal with the contents.”
“Gotcha boss. Lets’ get going before we get snowed in. The forecast is another 6-8 inches tonight.”
That was not good news.
A little under an hour later the trailer was in the barn and I was able to close the doors.
“Well done Danny,” I said as he emerged from his truck after retrieving the generator and was about to get it going to power the house.
“Thanks boss. All those hours you drilled us in the Desert finally paid off.”
We both laughed.
“Orders Sir?”
I took a deep breath before answering.
“From what Kelly has said, it seems that there are number of people inside the trailer. They appear to be locked into cages like some zoo animal. We need to get them out and into the house as soon as possible. There might be some hyperthermia or even worse so be prepared.”
Danny grinned.
“You know I can’t smell your farts so what is a few dead people to me then?”
I grinned as I recalled our days under canvas and my unfortunate flatulence attack and how Danny just waltzed through it.”
“Are you volunteering to get them out of the trailer?”
“Volunteer? Me never. Sir.”
“That’s ok then.”
After getting the generator hooked up and going, we sorted out a few miscellaneous tools and were just about to start when Kelly entered the barn with an armful of blankets.
“We thought you might be needing these.”
“Good idea,” I replied.
As she turned to leave, I said,
“Why don’t you stay here and help Danny get the poor sods out of the cages. I’ll carry them over to the house.”
“Sure. If you think a girl can handle this?”, she said trying to make light work of a bad situation.
I smiled back at her as Danny backed out of the trailer pulling the first cage with him.
Kelly and I helped him put it on a trolley that had seen better days but was a godsend right now.
Now that it was in the light of the barn, we were able to look at the cage in detail for the first time.
We all came to the same conclusion at the same time.
“Whoever planned this didn’t want the occupants getting free in a hurry,” exclaimed Kelly.
Danny and I both grunted our agreement.
“Perhaps they didn’t altogether trust the drivers?”
The cage wasn’t locked shut, it was welded shut. I counted six welds on each side of the door.
“Grab the bolt cutters and let’s get to work,” I said.
The three of us worked together in virtual silence. We were all stunned by what we were seeing as the situation unravelled. The occupants of the cage cowered away from us as much as they could. It was clear that they were terrified of anyone and everyone.
As Danny and I peeled the cage open, Kelly leapt into action with a blanket. She wrapped it around the occupant.
This resulted in the previously silent occupant saying something.
Kelly remarked,
“It is Thai. He’s talking Thai.”
“How do you know that?” asked Danny.”
I feared that Kelly would blurt out something embarrassing so I butted in and said,
“Kelly told me that she went there as a child. Isn’t that true?”
Kelly grinned and replied,
“Yeah. We went to Phuket. Nice beaches but not as good as those on Long Island.”
We all laughed. It was scant relief with a storm raging all around us, but it helped.
It took us nearly an hour to get twelve of the fourteen cages open and the occupants transferred into the now warm house. The other two others were beyond our help. One had somehow managed to cut their wrists on a jagged bit of the cage door and died what we all thought was a horrible death. The other one was dead from Hyperthermia. The last two people I’d carried into the house were very cold but still living.
Getting them warm was going to be a long and slow job.
When we’d done extracting the victims, I sent Kelly into the house to help Ma while Danny and I put all the cages back in the trailer.
“Danny, you’d better get back to the High School and give the Sheriff an update when you can get her alone that is”, I said when we’d finished.
Danny smiled back at me.
“Yes. I’d better. There will be things to do that for some reason perfectly able-bodied men can’t do.”
I laughed.
“Better get that bow and arrow out then. An arrow up their backside would get them going.”
“Hey, I’m the only one around here who’s going to get shot with an arrow.”
Danny always tried to see the funny side of things. We’d seen enough horror to last ten lifetimes while we were in the Army. Joking was his way of coping. The SWA in his name means ‘Shot with Arrow’. He’d been wounded by his elder brother when he was a child. The name had stuck ever since.
“I’ll get my own back, don’t you worry.”
“Drive safely. Give me a squawk on the radio when you get to the School.”
“Sure, thing Boss.”
As he turned to head towards his truck, I stuck my hand out and held his arm.
Danny turned to look at me.
“Nothing happened here did it?”
A smile spread over his face.
“I was never here.”
Then I hugged him tight. We’d been through a lot in Iraq together all those years ago and we were just as close now.
After closing up and locking the barn, I headed back to the house. The snow that had threatened for the past few hours was now falling steadily. I felt relieved as the new snow would cover the tracks we'd left on the highway. I feared that the owners of the trailer would come back looking for it as soon as the weather cleared.
Then I stopped in my tracks. Perhaps they wouldn’t? It was obvious that we’d get involved with an abandoned trailer and that we’d discover the contents. After a few seconds of thought, I realised that it was more than likely that they would be using the holidays to cover their tracks and destroying evidence of whatever it was they were doing with these poor people.
I shrugged my shoulders and pulled my jacket a little bit tighter. There was no wind. That meant that if the snow stopped and the sky cleared the temperature would drop like a stone. I wouldn’t want to be outside when it did.
I fully expected the house to be a scene of absolute chaos. It wasn't. Ma seemed to be in control of everything. Four of our new guests were busy eating bowls of hot soup. I could hear the shower going and the couch was crammed with the rest of our guests. All of them were wearing my shirts and wrapped in blankets watching TV.
“Hello son. I’ve got everything under control. Go and get those wet clothes off and I’ll get some soup on the table for you when you get back,” said Ma as soon as I poked my head around the door to the kitchen.
“Where’s Kelly?”
Ma smiled.
“She’s getting the last of them cleaned up. She’s been a great help.”
I nodded as I headed towards my bedroom.
A few minutes later I returned to the kitchen. Ma was dishing up some more food. Another large pot was cooking on the stove. I smiled. Ma was in her element.
“Get that down you,” commanded Ma as she put a steaming dish of hearty vegetable soup in front of me.
“Thanks Ma. This is just what I need. It is snowing again but the wind has dropped.”
Ma did what Ma had done all my life, she put her hand on mine and smiled.
I was almost finished eating when Kelly came into the kitchen. She looked exhausted.
“Come on Kelly, sit down before you fall down.”
She sat on the other side of the table with a wearisome sigh.
“If I ever get my hands on the butchers who messed up those kids, I will not be responsible for my actions.”
“Did you get a chance to document what they did?”
She nodded as her eyes popped out of her head as Ma put a huge bowl of food down in front of her.
Wisely, I shut up and let Kelly eat. I sat back and reviewed the situation. I smiled as I remembered the words from ‘Oliver’. The song, ‘Reviewing the Situation’.
“What’s so funny?” asked Kelly.
I smiled back at her.
“I was reviewing the situation we find ourselves in. Then the words to song ‘Reviewing the Situation’ from the Musical Oliver came to mind. We are in a bit of a situation so anything to slightly lighten the load would help us through it.”
Kelly grinned back.
“You aren’t Fagin and could never be.”
That brought a laugh from Ma. I’d played Fagin in the school production of Oliver many years before. It wasn’t my finest hour.
Once Kelly had finished eating, Ma put mugs of Coffee down in front of us. Then she sat down with a very serious look on her face.
“What have these bastards done to them then?”
Kelly fished out a bit of paper from her pocket.
“All of them have had stupidly large breast implants but the worse thing is what they’ve had done downstairs.”
My worst suspicions were about to come true.
“Three have had everything removed. Their plumbing looks ok but they need to see a doctor ASAP. My guess that they all have UTI’s. The rest have had their balls removed. Two of them have had something done to their penis to give it a permanent erection. Probably implants.”
“Two of them have had their vocal chords cut. Well, that’s what I think. They just make a hissing sound when they try to speak. They have their tongues. Oh, I think they have had the skin under the tongue cut. Allows them to give better blow jobs. A good number of the street hookers in NYC have had that done.”
Nothing more needed to be said. Silence fell over the kitchen. These poor kids were destined to be sex toys until they grew too much then… then they’d be disposed of like the trash.
Then Kelly said,
“I found out that they were all Katoey Boys from Bangkok. These are basically Prostitutes who work the big hotels or tourist spots. They dress as girls. Katoey is the third gender in Thai society. It seems that they were snatched off the streets in early August. Apparently…”
“How do you know all this?” I said interrupting her.
“I had my operation done in Thailand. But one of them speaks some English. Well, a lot more that Yes, Hello and that stuff. Apparently, his father was a US Marine who was stationed at the US Embassy in Bangkok.”
That news stunned us. It also made the situation with them a whole lot worse.
Ma noticed my worried look.
“What’s wrong? Isn’t it good that we can communicate with them?”
I shook my head.
“That is good news. But we have a real big problem. He or rather she probably has a right to US Citizenship due to their father. What if that is true and their father does not want anything to do with them? Who would after what those bastards have done? I would not put it past the bastards at homeland sending her back to Bangkok just for the hell of it.”
No one said anything for quite a while.
Then Kelly said,
“They were apparently destined to be sex slaves to rich men. From what I understood, they were being taken to Oklahoma City. Then they would be dispersed to their new owners around the country after the holidays. It should have been done before but three of them got infections from their last surgery. It hasn’t cleared up judging by the smell of their urine.”
“Does she know where the surgery was performed?”
Kelly smiled.
“He thinks it was Seattle. They all came over inside a container. A minder kept them quiet with drugs but he remembers a nurse wearing a Seahawks top. He’d seen one before on a client back home.”
“We have to get Homeland and the FBI involved,” said Kelly.
“Yes, to the FBI and no to Homeland. These poor kids have been mutilated on US Soil. Those are felonies and need to be dealt with here. Homeland will want to just ship them home and then carry on sucking their own dicks. I’ll make the call as soon as the phone is reconnected.”
Then I stopped myself. I wasn't Sheriff anymore. Old habits die hard.
Kelly looked sad.
“I suppose the rest of them will be made a laughing stock in the media before being deported?”
I knew what she meant. At the back of my mind, there was some sort of Federal Program that could be used to let them stay but that was a long way in the future.
Then Kelly said almost shouting,
“Oh, fuck it. We can’t let these poor children get into the hands of the feds. Given the amount of anti-immigrant rhetoric coming out of the White House, they’ll ignore any laws such as DACA and ship them back to Thailand before we can blink an eye.”
I looked at her and saw that she was serious.
“Are you suggesting that we keep them here?”
“I don’t know but the media will have a field day exposing them. I know only too well what being outed in the media means. For them it will be a million times worse. I’ve seen what happens to trans people who get outed. Many take their own lives. These kids had no say in what was done to them. They don’t deserve to be exposed in the rabid media we have these days.”
Both Ma and I looked at her surprised.
“Yes. My dear Sister Siobhan wanted to land a job at the New York Post. She gave them my story in an attempt to get them to give her a job. They didn’t give her the position, but the next thing I knew was the headlines ‘NYPD Cop wants Sex Change’. It wasn’t nice. I gave her two black eyes for her trouble. For once, my father just looked on and laughed. Even though he hated me for being trans, exposing my story to people outside of the family was beyond the pale. He threw her out that night with a one-way plane ticket to Dublin. The last I heard, she’s still there working on the family farm in the wilds of Donegal and has five kids. Her writing was at that time limited to posting photos of her kids to Facebook.”
I took her hand and squeezed it. The last thing I wanted was for her to be exposed in the media. We'd managed so far, but I had this horrible feeling that this time the TV trucks would be camped outside our place before the year was over.
The power and the phones didn’t work until the 27th. We’d had another 2-3ft of snow but thanks to the sterling efforts of the department, Danny and many of the Ranchers and Homesteaders, everyone in the county was safe and accounted for and importantly well stocked with food for at least a week.
Danny SWA worked tirelessly to keep the generators running and the women kept everyone fed at the High School. The downside for the people at the school was that they had to endure Maudy’s piano playing. That was until Mark Jefferies, the County Bookkeeper, took over and started playing classical, jazz, honky-tonk and even some more recent stuff. Mark was the School Janitor and had apparently been playing the piano since he was a child but had done it in secret due to bullying at his High School in Chicago. No one would let him keep playing in secret ever again.
I had a long conversation with Sue-Ellen about our options concerning our unexpected visitors. We agreed on a plan to move forward. I had all the contacts with the various Federal Agencies. She was still getting her feet under the table so to speak and was needed to keep the locals happy. Therefore, it was entirely logical for me to run with this operation. If it all went pear-shaped then it would fall on my shoulders and not hers. That was a risk that I was willing to take.
I let a few hours go by before I made the call to the FBI in Denver. I would have normally called Omaha but they were on the news investigating a huge Bank robbery that had happened over the Holidays and under cover of the storm, they’d disappeared into the night.
“Hello, this is Matt Beecher and I’m a deputy in Custer County. I need to speak to someone about people trafficking.”
“Yes, I am serious.”
“Yes, I would normally have called Omaha but given it is the holiday season and they have that Bank Heist to deal with, I called you.”
“I’ll hold.”
Almost two minutes went by before someone answered.
“My name is Matt Beecher and I’m a deputy in Custer County. Are you the right person to speak to about people trafficking?”
“Yes, I am serious.”
“How about a semi-trailer with eleven trafficked Thai Katoey boys being abandoned on Christmas Eve in the snow. Sadly, two didn’t make it.”
“Look son. These are real people and they have been operated on in this country.”
“What for? To be the sex slaves of rich guys. Oh, and one of them probably has an American Parent. That good enough for you?”
“Yes, I know it is the Holidays. We’ve been without power for more than two days. We have thirty-six inches of snow on the ground. When can we expect to see your team?”
“You can’t? Why the hell not? Do you want me to call Washington? I will you know. I could also call the Thai Embassy. I’m sure they’d be willing to help their citizens. A few calls from them to the State Department will make things happen.”
“Yes, I am threatening you. I won’t be fobbed off with lame excuses.”
“Sorry, tomorrow is not soon enough. I have two dead people in my barn. They deserve respect and justice.”
“Thank you, Agent Fry. I look forward to see you later. Oh, and it goes without saying that the media does not need to know about this. These are minors we are dealing with. Also, any media coverage will allow the people behind this to cover their tracks.”
I put the phone down and looked over at Kelly and Ma.
“You should have let me call them. I’d have given them a few choice words,” said Ma.
“I know Ma but if that call is anything to go by you may well get a chance when they arrive and stomp all over everything.”
“Do you know when Doc Evans will be back?” asked Kelly.
“Hopefully later today. Danny will keep an eye out and let us know. I hope he has some UTI drugs in stock.”
Then I turned to Ma,
“Any chance of some Coffee?”
Ma smiled.
“Of course. Those biscuits I made should be cool by now.”
“You made more?”
“Yes, our guests love them dunked in milk.”
That brought a smile to our faces for the first time in days.
I’d gone into town to write up my report on what had happened since I’d come across Kelly and Ma out in the snow. There was a decent photo quality printer there so I got busy printing the photos that Kelly had taken of the truck and of each of the victims. Seeing them being extricated from those cages turned my stomach even though it hadn’t done so at the time.
“Hi there,” said one of them as they breezed into the Station. I was expecting the FBI but I wasn’t expecting ‘Laurel and Hardy’.
“Hello,” I said,
“How can I help?”
“I’m Special Agent Brown and this is Special Agent Taylor of the FBI Denver Office. I understand that you reported a case of people trafficking.”
I sighed. Rookies without a doubt.
“Welcome, please take a seat. I’m former Sheriff Matt Beecher. It was me who reported the case. I’ve been deputised for the duration of this case. I am acting on behalf of the Sheriff. She is busy with the residents of the county.”
“Deputy Beecher, who, what and when did you come upon the traffickers?” said Agent Taylor as he opened his notebook.
Yep, Rookies.
“Agent Taylor, why don’t you let me tell you the story. I’m not some simple hick town Deputy. I was an MP in the Military as well as being the Sheriff of this county for six years.”
“You aren’t in the Military now!” said Agent Brown.
“No, Agent Brown but this is my home County and I know all the facts of the case. If you want to find out then you are going to have to sit down and listen for a bit.”
“You do realise that you are impeding a federal investigation. That is a criminal offence.”
“Agent Brown, how long have you been out of Quantico?”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
“Agents, you are Rookies. Perhaps this is your first case and you were told to do everything by the book. Well, out here we deal with real life and facts. I’ve been investigating crimes since before you were in High School. Now shall we do it my way or not at all?”
Neither of them moved an inch.
“Then I’ll begin.”
“We had the first serious snow of the year on Christmas Eve…”
Half an hour later, I stopped telling my story.
Both of the agents had stopped writing things down about halfway through my story. No matter, everything I'd said had been recorded.
“Now agents, may I humbly suggest that you get on the phone or whatever it is you use these days and get back to your superiors and update them. Please, please, please get them to take this seriously. Oh, and the victims are in a safe place and as well as can be expected given their ordeal.”
The two agents looked at each other and left me alone. I shook my head in disbelief. They were the most ‘rookie’ of any rookie officer that I’d ever come upon.
“If you doubt me then I’ll show you the trailer and all the evidence.”
I showed them the photos of the truck and the cages with the victims inside. One of the rookies went a bit green around the edges.
I went to make some coffee while they digested the photos. This was well beyond their experience and pay grade.
I returned with the coffee hoping to see them on the phone with their superiors. They weren't.
“Agents. Drink this coffee and I’ll take you to my place. You can see for yourself. We have left the deceased victims in the trailer. It is well below zero so they won’t be smelling for some time to come.”
They refused the coffee, but I drank mine slowly. It was around zero outside and I wanted to be warm inside before we left.
“Here is the Semi. As I said, it has Oregon Plates but they could be false or stolen.”
I opened the back doors to the trailer. As I’d expected, the stench proved too much for the rookies.
When they’d recovered I showed them the cages and the two dead bodies.
“Now do you believe me when I understand that this is serious, very serious?”
We trooped back into the house. Both of them looked even greener around the edges than before. I left them alone in the kitchen to call their office.
Whatever it was that they had said on the phone worked. Two hours later two Black Helicopters carrying FBI markings landed in the park near the Police Station.
[To be continued]
“I’m Special Agent McBride,” said the lead agent as I met him at the entrance to the Office.
“Welcome to Custer County Agent McBride. I’m Matt Beecher. I was the one who called you guys about this case,” I replied as we shook hands.
“I understand you were a former MP?”
“Yessir. Army. Served two tours of Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I was Sheriff here for the past six years until I retired last month, but the new Sheriff has deputised me just to handle this case.”
“Did my two rookies handle themselves ok?”
I smiled.
“Whose bright idea was it to send us them?”
“My superior I’m afraid. He thought it was a hoax.”
“I guess their reports and the photos changed his mind then?”
He shook his head.
“After he sent them here, he went skiing leaving me in charge. Lots of fresh powder at Aspen. He has a cabin up there.”
The tone of his voice said a million words.
“Where are the victims?”
I smiled. He used the word ‘victim’. He went up a good few notches in my estimation.
“Out at my place. I suggested your choppers land here so as to not draw undue attention to their location. They are all safe and well. My Grandmother is looking after them.”
“You said that they were from Thailand?”
“Yes. One of the other Deputies has been to Thailand on holiday. She’s former NYPD by the way.”
“Good. Finding someone who speaks Thai is going to be hard given the weather at the moment.”
I asked,
“Do you know anything about Thai society?”
“Not a thing I’m afraid.”
“Then I’ll fill you in as I take you to see the victims. I have two trucks for your people to use. They can examine the trailer. It is safe in a barn but at the moment, it is going nowhere until the road from my place to the Interstate is cleared for a semi, unless… you have a Chinook at your disposal?”
The Agent grinned back at me as we headed out of the station.
Thankfully, the Agent listened to description of Thai society and my what we found without passing a comment.
“I can see why you didn’t want any publicity on this. The mainstream media would have a field day. The right-wing media would want them to be sent home tomorrow.”
“Thanks for being so understanding. I hope that your rookies will learn from this.”
“Where are they by the way?”
I smiled.
“Helping Ma with looking after them. She tore them off a strip and then got them helping with the food as penance for trying to stomp all over us.”
Agent McBain laughed out loud.
“Fancy a job in Denver? We need people with common sense.”
I smiled back.
“Sorry but I’m of the opinion that going through Quantico gives everyone a frontal lobotomy and removes what little common sense, people have left. Here, we don’t write tickets at the slightest infraction. We have to live amongst the people we protect. Common sense rules hereabouts. That gives us the respect of the locals and also their help when we need it.”
After a chuckle, the Agent said,
“That’s about the best putdown of the FBI I’ve ever heard.”
“Not a putdown as such, but the reality if life out here I’m afraid.”
“Ma, this is Special Agent McBain. His men are processing the trailer.”
“That’s more for dinner then?”
“No Ma’am. My Agents and I will bed down at the Police Station. I understand that Hank’s place is open for business?”
“Hank will do you proud. But you are here now and there will be fresh coffee and muffins in about an hour.”
“Thank you, Ma’am. My guys will appreciate them I’m sure.”
Then he took a deep breath.
“I’d like to see the victims if you don’t mind.”
“Sure, but please just look. They are still very traumatised. We have clothed them so most of what was done to them won’t be visible. We have evidential photos from when we extracted them from the cages.”
To say that the FBI team was shocked by what they saw in the barn and our photos was an understatement, to say the least.
“I’d love to put the people responsible for this into those cages and put them outside in this weather,” said one of the Agents.
There was general support for the comment. That pleased me no end.
I took Agent McBain to one side after Ma had served some refreshments.
“One of the victims speaks a bit of English. I found out that his father is supposed to be a US Navy Sailor.”
“That complicates things. How sure are you about this story?”
I smiled back at the Agent.
“He gave me his Fathers Service Number. I know from my time as an Army cop that it is a Navy Number and it seems genuine. If it turns out to be true then the event with his mother may well have happened on a visit to Thailand by a US Ship or a liaison with someone posted to the Embassy in Bangkok.”
Agent McBain nodded his head.
“I can make a few calls tomorrow to verify it,” he volunteered.
“That’s a good start. He does look quite a bit different from the others so I’m inclined to believe him at this point in time. Obviously, only a DNA test can resolve it once and for all but we are nowhere near that yet.”
He nodded. Then he sighed.
“This case keeps on getting more complicated by the minute.”
“Life is like that. Most of the time this county is quiet. Sometimes too quiet, but then every so often things happen and it is only then we very much earn our salaries.
The FBI people aided by Kelly created files for each of the victims. Ma kept a watchful eye on the proceedings. A few words from her tongue ensured that the children were treated with respect. It seemed that the fact that these were children who needed a whole lot of help seemed to go right over most of the FBI People’s heads. Ma took exception to the use of the word ‘illegals’ right from the start.
“Don’t you people know that these poor boys have been brought here against their will and then fucked about with just to satisfy the perverted dreams of some rich Americans?”
For Ma to swear was almost unheard of but it seemed to work and the agents got the message.
Kelly and the one victim that could speak a little English were invaluable in making sure that the details recorded by the FBI were as accurate as possible.
I kept close company with Agent McBain. Despite his good words, I didn’t fully trust him… yet.
I did take the time to email an old ‘Service’ buddy of mine who worked for the VA (Veterans Administration) in DC. I asked him to quietly check the service number that the boy whom we’d christened ‘Joe’ had given us. I wasn’t expecting a reply before the new year but I could hope.
All the boys were responding to being in a warm place and having lots of good food. We discovered that they’d been travelling for two ‘periods of daylight’ before we discovered them. We confirmed that when we found two small holes in the roof of the trailer.
I guessed that the long time was due to the circuitous route that the truck had taken to avoid the numerous state inspection stations. There had been no attempt to hide the cargo behind other goods, so any agent or Police Officer opening the rear door would see the cages in a flash.
I'd read about the lengths that people smugglers went to to get their cargo's over national borders. There was none of that here which led me to believe that the cargo was expendable. It also explained why the driver or drivers of the rig had simply bolted when confronted by Kelly in her Police SUV.
Late the next day, Doc Evans returned from Denver. Danny SWA stopped him near the truckstop exit and directed him to our place. At first, the FBI people didn't want to let him in to see the children but once again, a dose of Ma's tongue-lashing stopped them from acting.
“He’s what we rely upon for medical help in this county. You are more than welcome to send for reinforcements from Denver but three of these unfortunates are running a fever. The Doc will have the drugs to treat them. If you stop him then I will make it my lives work to send you to Nome for the rest of your time in the service.
Agent McBain and I arrived just to see the end of her haranguing.
“The doctor is to be given unfettered access to the victims. As Ma says, they might be here illegally but that does not stop us from being humans.”
“That is some woman your Ma,” he remarked when the doc had been let in to attend to the victims.
“She’s actually my Grandmother, but she raised my brother and me so we naturally called her Ma.”
“I know what you mean,” he replied with a wry smile on his face.
His accent told me that he was probably from Louisiana or someplace close by. Families stick by their kin in that part of the world. I didn’t pry though.
Doc Evans diagnosed six cases of Urine Tract Infections. An FBI agent was dispatched with him to return with the drugs from his office in town.
At the end of the day, I took him aside for an update.
“What happens next?” I asked.
He thought for a moment before answering.
“My team will as planned bunk down in your Offices tonight. We are just about done collecting information. I’ll write up my report tonight and send it off to Quantico. Who will be there to act upon it, I have no idea. I do know one thing and that Homeland will soon get to hear about this and they’ll come barging in with their size fifteens. For the sake of those poor children, I need to get the right people in the loop on this so that Homeland don’t mess up not only my witnesses but start thinking of sending them back to Thailand. I’ve seen them in action and it is not pretty.”
“Agent, we are on the same side here especially with the one that claims to have a Navy Sailor as a father. He does look quite a bit different to the rest. It would be nice if there is a happy ending to this but somehow, I don’t think so.”
“You might be right there, Sheriff.”
“I have one favour to ask you Agent.”
“If I can I’ll help. What is it?”
“In your report, please don’t mention Kelly by name. There are some in her family that want to cause her harm. If her name gets into the media I really don’t want them coming out here to settle old scores. There is a very big reason why she left New York and that reason is her family.”
Agent McBride smiled back at me.
“I spent ten years at the New York Field Office until this time last year. I thought I recognised her face from the gutter press about five or six years ago. From what I have seen with my own eyes, she is a very professional and competent officer. I won’t mention her by name in my report. I just wish that more of my people were like the team you have here.
“They aren’t my team now but thanks for the compliment,” said Matt.
“They all look up to you. Even if you aren’t wearing the Sheriff’s badge, you are the boss in a situation like this. A wise head and all that…”
We both smiled. I decided that I could trust him after all.
Eventually, he reached a deputy director at the DOJ. I was impressed by his doggedness. I would not want to be in the shoes of his immediate boss when the repercussions came back down the command chain. I hoped that the snow in Aspen was the best that it had been since the millennium and that his clear dereliction of duty would come back to bite him badly. Agent McBride didn’t hide the dereliction of duty that his boss had shown on this case. More than once did I wonder if he was after his bosses job.
After the last call, Agent McBride breathed a sigh of relief.
“That was an education,” I commented.
“In how persistency can open all sorts of doors.”
He smiled back at me.
“It helps to have a father who is a Senator and who also sits on the Justice Committee.”
“As I found out. What is the DOJ going to do?”
“Hopefully, they will instruct Homeland to take a hike. We have a clear criminal conspiracy going on here. People trafficking, abuse of minors and murder are just the ones I can think up off the top of my head. I will try to make sure that Homeland keep their hands off our witnesses.”
I looked at my watch,
“Time for some coffee?”
“And muffins?”
I grinned.
“Spiced ones if the smells coming from the kitchen are anything to go by.”
Normally, Ma would raise hell if anything was out of place but for once, she was letting children be children.
“Coffee is in the pot and the muffins are about ready… If I could get to the oven… There is also tea in the big brown pot. That is all that our visitors will drink. One of them showed me how to make it their way. I let them take charge of that.”
I nodded back at her and moved forward and cleared a space in front of the oven. Within seconds, there was a sea of faces waiting excitedly for what was in the oven.
For half an hour a serene calm settled over the kitchen. The muffins went down well with everyone. All too soon, normality resumed especially the phone of Agent McBride.
He went out into the cold to take one call. I guessed that it was important.
“Some news and not all of it good.”
“I’m all ears.”
“We need to get everyone out of here.”
“That’s pretty obvious. The Interstate should be clear by now.”
“That’s part of the problem. What can get out, can get in.”
“Homeland?”
“Yes, and they are not responding to orders to stop from the Assistant AG no less. It seems that the current head of Homeland wants to become the next AG and cozying up to the views of POTUS is his ticket upwards.”
“And the good news?”
"We as in the FBI have arranged to house the children at an Air Force base near Colorado Springs. That will keep Homeland away for the time being. At least there, they can get proper medical assessment and treatment. Denver field office has opened a formal child trafficking case and we will make sure that each of the children is identified and listed as a material witness in the case.
“There is only one thing wrong with that plan.”
The agent looked puzzled.
“Why?”
“Living at the back end of the state and with the Colorado state line less than 10 miles away, we are all very aware of the legal implications of going over that invisible line in the sand. Taking a group of children into Colorado could be seen as child abduction or worse, child trafficking.”
Agent McBride shook his head.
“Are you sure that you don’t want to come and work for the Feds?”
I chuckled.
“I’ve done my time with a Federal organization… as in the US Army. No, once this is done, I’m retiring to Northern California.”
“I’d better get my folder of evidence prepared to put in front of a Judge and get them put into protective custody.”
“Better make it a Federal one… as we are intending on crossing state lines.”
“I know just the one. He owes me a favor.”
The USP for this bus was that it had been modified to go off-road. The owner was intending on entering it in the next running of the Baja 500. It would be perfect for the very snowy roads.
I wandered into the barn to make a phone call. The semi-trailer was still parked. At least the doors were closed making the smell a little more bearable.
“Danny? Matt.”
“Yes, they are doing well. Running Ma ragged.”
“Yes, the feds are here but more are on their way in the shape of Homeland.”
“You got it in one. The feds had arranged to get the children onto a USAF base in Colorado Springs. To cut a long story short, I need to borrow that off road bus that is sitting on your lot.”
I chuckled as I listened to what Danny was saying.
“Something like that. We don’t want to be headed off at the pass.”
“Great. How are things in town?”
“That’s good to know. I’ll come by and get the bus. We have to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
“Thanks Danny. I knew that I could count on you.”
I hung up and smiled. That man was a one-off. It was a pity that the Sioux nation didn't see it that way. He had crossed swords… or should that be tomahawks with the Tribal Elders many years before. Even the award of a Silver Star that was given to him by the Chief of the Army no less was not enough to mend those bridges.
He was briefing one of his co-workers. I guessed that he was ready to leave so I waited for him to finish with the briefing.
“I’m ready to go. Any chance of a lift into town? I’ll take one of the choppers into Denver.”
I smiled.
“As it happens, I’m going into town. I have a solution for getting our guests over the state line without running into Homeland on the way.”
My statement took him a little by surprise.
“How will you do that? Everything but the road to the Interstate and the Interstate itself are probably still blocked by snow?”
I grinned.
“True but I have access to a bus that was built to take part in the Baja 500. Sand… snow much the same really.”
“A bus?”
“Yeah, one of those small school busses but with raised suspension, big tyres and a Supercharged Chevy big block V8 under the hood. My mechanic recons that it puts out over 800hp and all-wheel-drive. If I know Danny, he will have already put some heavy duty chains on the tires.”
“How did you just happen to have access to it? I mean this place is not the center of the off-road vehicle development?”
“The owner is a guy from Omaha and was testing it on some federal lands to the south of here when it blew a head gasket. Our local mechanic fixed it and was waiting for him to collect it in the new year.”
“Can you just borrow it like that?”
I grinned again.
“Our esteemed governor declared a state of emergency for this part of the state when the power went out. As far as I know, it is still in force. Part of the conditions allows law enforcement to commandeer any vehicle it deems necessary to alleviate any problems caused by the weather.”
He shook his head.
“I’ll say it again, are you sure that you don’t want to join us? We need people who are as resourceful as you are.”
“Lets’ hit the road,” I replied trying to change the subject.”
“I won’t let you get away that easy…” promised the FBI agent as he put on his outdoor jacket.
“Besides, my wife is taking up the position of Chief of Police for a coastal town in Northern California and I’m becoming a small business owner and Ma is not getting any younger.”
He didn’t respond straight away.
“Those two dummies that were sent here at first are prime examples of that.”
“Ok, Matt. You got me there. I’ll shut the hell up about it from now on.”
I just grinned back at him.
“We are very much alike you and me... People who can do in a sea of people who are afraid to make a decision even if their life depended upon it.”
He chuckled.
“I guess that I should get a T-shirt printed with ‘I graduated Quantico but I’m, better now’.
“That would not go down well with some of those stuffed shirts that you have been talking to on the phone but it would sell like hotcakes,” I replied.
“If I do make them, then I’ll send you one. You earned it on this case.”
I dropped Agent McNeil off at the park where the two FBI choppers were parked. He'd hardly gotten on board before the rotor blades on one of them started to turn. Less than a minute later, I watched the aircraft disappear towards the setting sun.
I stood in the cold for a few minutes. I hoped that he would be successful in his mission with this judge who owed him a favor.
As the sun started to set, I headed towards Danny SWA’s garage hoping that the vehicle would live up to expectations. If it didn’t then we’d be in trouble.
To my surprise, the ‘bus’ was inside his workshop when I arrived. I hoped that it wasn’t broken down but Danny had anticipated what I needed the beast for and was busy bolting a snow plow to the front. The man was a genius and I’d miss him when we moved away.
“Hi Boss!” said Danny from underneath the front of the bus.
“That is some modification.”
“I thought that if you are going over the state line using Spring Road then you might need some extra pushing power. The plows have not been out that way yet.”
“Danny, you can read my mind.”
“That’s why we make a great team. Always have and always will.”
I bit my lip before I said anything about us moving.
“Boss, I know that you and Kelly are heading west. She deserves to get the chance to run her own PD.”
“Are you cool about that?”
“Yeah, I’m cool.”
The sound of wrenches hitting the floor told me that he was done. He slid out from under the bus and wiped his hands on a rag.
“I filled her up. I have no idea what the consumption of that motor is like but it won’t be frugal. There should be enough to get you to Denver.”
“Thanks Danny. I don’t know if we are even going yet. The FBI are trying to get a federal court to make them material witnesses in their case against the people traffickers. That way, we can’t be charged with child trafficking by Homeland who will be out for vengeance when they find that their prizes have been whipped away from out under their noses.”
“Just let me know when you are loaded up and heading this way, I’ll ride shotgun if you have no objections.”
“Danny, you know me too well. I’d love to have you along for the ride.”
Danny hesitated for a second. I knew that there was something else.
“Boss, there is something else.”
I smiled.
“That plow is pretty heavy… so I made a modification to balance it out. As it is cold… I put a stove in the back, over the rear axle.”
I grinned.
“You mean just like the other ranks mess in the forward operating base in Kandahar?”
“You remembered?”
“Danny, there was a reason that you were the ‘go to guy’ for literally everyone. No one could ever work out where that stove came from. I hope this one is a bit more legit?”
“It is totally legit. I borrowed it from Chip Peterson and before you ask, he knows that I have it. I was a bit circumspect about why I wanted but as long as he gets it back, he’s happy with a bottle of Bourbon as payment.”
“What was I saying about the ‘go to guy’?”
My phone remained quiet so I checked it for a signal. The display showed two bars. That told me that the mast close to town was still down. The bit of wet string that doubled for the power supply to the town was a constant PITA and long overdue for an upgrade but the power company always seemed to find more important projects near the residences of our representatives in DC and of course, there was always an election campaign going on and money talks when it is spent near the seat of power.
Before heading home, I stopped off at the sports center.
Kelly was clearly in charge of things. The absence of both the Sheriff and Tom told me that they were off on a mission.
She soon saw me standing at the door. A long kiss later, she asked,
“What are you doing here?”
“Preparing to skip the state with our guests. Homeland are on their way from Denver by road now that one lane on the Interstate is open over the state line.”
“How long?”
“An hour, two at most.”
“Then get the hell out of my town!”
“Yes Chief!”
She grinned at me and gave me a parting kiss.
“Take care of yourself out there. The Sheriff has gone out to the O’Hara place. There were no signs of life when Jack Coleman came back from getting his wife’s medication.”
“That does not sound good. I’ll take care… Danny will be with me.”
“Batman and Robin flies again!” she said grinning.
“Not flying but driving a bus.”
I kissed her again before leaving to drive home.
“You do! That’s great. Can you send it to my phone?”
“Good. Where can we meet… on the other side of the Colorado state line?”
“Ok. I know where it is. We sometimes…. We used to sometimes meet up with the Colorado State Police in the underpass. Out of sight… out of mind.”
“On my way now. I’ll get Ma to let us know when they get here.”
The good old CB radio comes into its own in times like this. More than once in recent years, I have wondered if we as a race had become far too reliant upon modern technology.
My pondering was interrupted by a kiss on the cheek from Ma. This was most unlike her but it did the trick.
“Get the hell out of dodge before the injuns arrive. I have loaded my shotguns with buckshot just in case they get uppity.”
By ‘injuns’, she meant Homeland Security.
“I will Ma.”
“Ma called me an hour ago. Homeland is very pissed off with you.”
That made sense as Danny and I had switched our phones off and wrapped them in kitchen fol.
“Tough. Federal Judge Tomlinson said pretty well the same thing once I’d showed him the photos of the victims of the traffickers. He signed off the order in less than a minute.”
“Good for him. Are we ready to head to Colorado Springs?”
“Once I take those show chains off the tires, we will be good to go.”
“Great and we will have an FBI escort to keep those ‘injuns’ away,” said Agent McBride.
I did a double-take.
“You Ma is a fine woman. She told me about how she called ICE and Homeland ‘injuns’. I find it a very apt description.”
“Ma is a one off allright,” I responded as I boarded the bus.
The sky to the east was just starting to brighten when we arrived at the USAF base. Unsurprisingly, the guards at the main gate were reluctant to let a vehicle with a real fire stove onto the base. We came to a compromise when the guards saw what had been done to our passengers. They let us into the base, but insisted that we park well away from any building and that we were guarded. Both FBI agents had to surrender their firearms at the gate. It wasn’t a big price to pay if these poor children were to be kept safe. The Military Police had armed guards posted outside the building where the children were being kept.
Six hours later, Danny and I headed home. All the children had been given beds of their own and clean clothes that actually fit courtesy of the base PX store. I could not recall ever seeing a group of children with bigger smiles on their faces.
Danny and I watched them starting to become children again. While I was happy at what I saw, I could not help but feel rather uneasy at what might happen to them in the future. A future that was way outside any control I might have wanted but that was the system we have and importantly have to live by. It is a shame that far too many people want to dismantle it without offering a viable alternative.
[to be continued]
The presence of half a dozen black Suburban’s almost encircling my home told me that it was not going to be a red-carpet welcome.
Danny SWA also saw the reception committee and wisely stopped on the road outside.
“Good luck with the goon squad Boss. Tell Ma that there is a bed at my place should she need it. She should give me a squawk on the CB and I’ll come and get her.”
"Thanks, Danny. You’d best go home and get some sleep. If you can lose this thing at the back of the impound lot… then so much the better for all of us.”
He knew that I was referring to the not-so-inconspicuous former school bus that we were in. At least it wasn’t painted yellow.
He just grinned at me and gave me a ‘good luck’ sign.
I watched him drive away into the afternoon gloom. It would be dark very soon. I hoped that the legion of DHS agents hadn't pissed Ma off too much. She didn't suffer fools gladly and after the stress that she'd been under with our guests, her fuse would be very, very short. I did wonder if her buckshot loaded shotgun had been used. If it had then Ma would probably not be alive any more given the trigger-happy reputation that the Homeland goons have in these parts. I-25 over to the west, is a favoured corridor for illegals. Gangs would get them over the border and then transport them to Denver before being secreted to other parts of the country. The last lot that they had busted had not gone down without a fight.
“Stop right there. Up against the wall and assume the position!” shouted one agent.
As he was carrying a semi-automatic rifle, I didn't argue. His tone told me that he was very pissed off.
“I’m not armed. My guns are locked away in the firearms cabinet which you have no doubt emptied by now.”
“Shut the fuck up mister. You are in deep shit,” said the man who slapped handcuffs on me.
“On what charge? And what is your name?”
“Shut up. I don’t have to tell you diddly squat.”
“Oh; but you do. Federal law requires that you identify yourself. I hope that you have a valid search warrant or you will be held personally liable for all damages as your presence inside my home is clearly an illegal search under the terms laid out in the 4th Amendment and upheld in at least a dozen judgements laid down by SCOTUS.”
“Are you a fucking lawyer or something?”
“No but I was formerly the Sheriff of this County. I know the law about stop and search and illegal home searches like the back of my hand. Now, what am I being charged with?”
“Interfering with an official proceeding… as in our investigation.”
“Sorry, whoever you are. I have been working under the supervision of a Federal Judge. If you have a beef, then please feel free to go to Denver and argue the fact in front of Judge Tomlinson.”
“Get inside the house.”
“That I will do and willingly. It is only going to get colder out here.”
Inside the house, I saw Ma. She was zip-tied to a chair. She looked pleased to see me. The look that she gave the agents would have killed normal people but this lot of thugs think that they rule the world.
“Are you ok Ma?”
“I am now that you are here. Mission successful?”
“100%. Which of these numbskulls is in charge?”
“That one.”
She nodded towards an agent who was on the phone.
I sat down as best I could on a vacant chair.
“Are you responsible for this train-wreck?” I asked while he was still talking on the phone.
His eyes responded. They were like daggers.
“Unless you have a valid search warrant then I demand that you leave. If you leave now then I will only file suit for one million dollars. You and your men have clearly violated our 4th amendment rights. Every minute you delay leaving, I will add one hundred thousand dollars to the lawsuit that I will file in Federal Court in Denver tomorrow.”
He cupped his hand over the microphone.
“Shut the fuck up. I will deal with you in a minute. You are in deep trouble.”
“I will not shut up. This is my home and you are not invited. Oh, and you will pay for the damage your goons have done to my gun cabinet. If there is anything missing, even one shotgun shell, then I will press criminal charges against each of you personally. Do you understand what I am saying?”
He just turned his back on me and continued to talk into his phone in hushed tones. From his body language, the call was not going well.
I looked at Ma. Why would anyone consider an eighty-plus-year-old woman a danger and needed to put her in restraints is beyond me. I mentally added a million dollars to my lawsuit. These goons had trampled the constitution into the mud several times over.
Finally, ‘he’ finished his call and turned to me.
“You think that you are so smart, don’t you? Trying to make us look like fools?”
“That wasn’t difficult. Your reputation precedes you…”
“Shut the hell up. I should by rights arrest you for trafficking minors across a state line but my orders are to not do that. Care to tell me why my bosses have suddenly gone cold on this case?”
“I’m saying nothing. I want you to get the hell out of my home… unless you can produce a valid search warrant right here and now? In case you don’t know it, I was the Sheriff for this county until last November. I know the laws regarding searches and my rights. You have broken so many that if you were one of my deputies, I’d fire you on the spot. Well? Are you going to leave? Oh, and by the way, my lawsuit has just gone up to fifteen million because you saw fit to restrain a woman who is well into her ninth decade on this planet. In one minute, it will be sixteen. Do I make myself clear?”
He looked at me once more with daggers in his eyes.
“I have been told to leave. I don’t want to. I know that there is more to this story than you or that evil tongued bitch over there is saying…”
“Don’t you dare call my grandmother that. You are the invader here so why don’t you for once follow orders and get the hell out of here? If your boss has told you leave then that is even more money for my lawsuit. At the moment, I think a cool twenty-five million after you clearly defamed Ma when you called get the ‘B’ word, with you specifically named will do wonders for your career… I would expect you to be sent to Prudhoe Bay or Greenland after this.”
“Don’t you dare sue us. We’ll tie you up in legal knots for years.”
“Oh, I think not but my reasons for that will remain secret until we get to discovery. Right now, you are to remove our handcuffs and get the hell out of here. Either that or arrest me and at least have the decency to tell me what I’m being charged with. As you are only too well aware, there are no illegal immigrants here.”
“They were here. That is clear and you removed them to somewhere, probably in Colorado before we got here. I will find them and when I do, they will be sent back to where they came from before you can blink an eye.”
“Are you going?”
His body language told me that he had finally accepted that he was going to have to follow orders.
Instead of releasing Ma and me from our handcuffs, he marched out of the house leaving all the doors wide open. I could hear him barking orders to his men.
Then he returned with one of his men. They tramped snow all over the floor. I could sense Ma getting angry. The people from the FBI had been far more careful to keep the house clean and warm.
The other officer removed the zip ties from Ma and the handcuffs from me before they left. Once again, they left the door wide open. I wasted no time and closed it after me as I went outside just to make sure that they had finally gone.
I almost doubled up with laughter. None of their stupidly large and cumbersome vehicles was all-wheel-drive. Watching them trying to get up the hill where we had discovered the semi-trailer just a few days ago was a little bit of light relief. The only way they were going to get up that hill was in reverse but these idiots were very much city boys and didn't know these little tricks. Driving rear wheel drive SUV’s in this part of the world after a heavy snowfall is just asking for trouble if you are not used to it and by the look of things, they weren’t.
I went back inside the house. Ma had already got the mop out and was cleaning the floor. Her expression told me that she didn’t want to talk.
“I’ll make some tea then?”
She managed a small smile.
The house was strangely quiet now that our uninvited guests had gone. Ma finished cleaning the floor and disappeared into her den to watch her soap operas. It fell to me to prepare dinner.
I called Kelly just to ask if she was coming home for dinner. Right away, I knew that something was up as soon as she answered the call.
“Slow down darling. What happened?”
“They did? That’s brilliant. And?”
“And did you say yes and when do you start?”
“Of course, I’m happy. No, make that overjoyed. After the last few days, we have had, why shouldn’t I be?”
“Ma and I had a visit from the Homeland ‘Stasi’. I have it on tape their clear violations of our rights on illegal searches. They are done for but that can wait until we get moved.”
“Ma? She’s probably fast asleep in front of her TV. I don’t want to disturb her until there is food on the table.”
“Right. Seven it is. I’ll rustle up something… I don’t know what yet as our other guests have probably eaten us out of house and home.”
“I’ll see you later darling… and well done.”
I hung up feeling a lot better about things. With Kelly becoming Chief of Police, our future looked a lot clearer.
Kelly arrived home just before 7 pm that evening. She looked exhausted. We all were. The past week had been a trying time for all of us.
I gave her a big hug and a glass of her favourite tipple, a single malt Scotch called Talisker with equal an equal amount of water. I’m more of a Bourbon sort of person, we didn’t have any. I had a small glass of it ready for me. No one likes to drink alone and especially at times like this.
“Thank you, Darling. This is just what I needed. Some of the townsfolk are ornery beyond belief.”
“That my dear, is something that you will have to get used to in your new job…”
Kelly sighed.
“True. I called the people in Sacramento and said ‘yes’ and that I would be able to take up my post on the 10th. They did remind me that it was just for one year and that I’d have to stand for re-election next November. I said that I was fine with that.”
I looked at my wife and the weariness that her whole being was emitting to the world.
“No, my darling. You finish your notice period with the PD here in two days. On day three, I will take you to Denver for a flight to the Bay area. Buy yourself some wheels in Frisco and head north. There is a bed waiting for you with Nancy as you well know.. Take two days to introduce yourself to the temporary officers and get your feet under the table. Ease yourself into the role then you will be up to speed by the 7th at the latest.”
“Why the rush?”
“Firstly, it shows everyone that you are serious about it being your show. Secondly, my guess is that you are going to need those temporary officers longer than you think. Showing them that you have their back is a great start to your reign as Chief. This is all new to you. It isn’t to me.”
Kelly sagged.
“Yeah… I guess so.”
“Good, because I’ve already booked you a flight to San Francisco.”
Kelly was too tired to argue.
“Sit yourself down and I’ll rouse Ma. She was snoring like a train half an hour ago.”
“Did she get off ok? I heard on the news that there are still delays out of Denver,” asked Ma when I arrived home. We’d had a couple of inches of snow the previous night.
“She did and she texted me to say that she had landed in Denver half an hour ago. Apparently, all the delays are to outbound flight due to problems with their de-icing equipment or something like that.”
“What about us?”
“Ma, I explained to you that we will get packed up over the next two weeks. Then Danny will drive you and most of our things to the coast. I’ll drive my truck with the horses in the trailer. The weather forecast for a week today should be warm enough for them. If it stays cold then I’ll have to find a proper horse transport that has a heated stables area. At the moment, the nearest one I can find for rent is in Cheyanne. It belongs to a Rodeo Rider who is naturally not competing at the moment.”
She smiled back at me.
“Just checking.”
“I know that you don’t like surprises especially after the last week.”
She just grunted back at me while she dished up my evening meal.
As Ma sat down, she said,
“I can be ready to go in five days.”
“Eh?”
“I am… what you call downsizing. I’m going to leave most of this behind. The stove is older than you are. The washer is on its last legs and… You and Kelly deserve to be able to start again with a clean slate. She is starting over as Chief; you are going into business. It is time for me to take a back seat. Besides, until you two find a place of your own, everything will be in storage and that costs money. What we don’t take, we don’t need to pay storage on and pay for gas to get it to California only to send it to landfill or recycling a month or so down the line. We could let it be known to a couple of the young couples in town that there is stuff going free. It won’t be here that long if I know the leeches in this county.”
“What are you saying Ma?”
“Once you two get a place of your own and get settled, then we can look for a retirement apartment for me. I understand from Nancy that there is a development just off the town square that will be ready in a couple of months and that comes fully furnished.”
Her words literally bowled me over but she wasn’t finished yet. I had no idea that she had been in communication with Kelly’s aunt Nancy who lived in the town where Kelly was the new Chief of Police.
Ma wasn’t finished yet. I knew from past experiences not to object or interrupt her when she when she was in full flow.
“Tomorrow, you must call that friend of yours at the VA as well as the FBI. That youngster with the Navy guy for a father may not want his new daughter in his life. If that is the case then you should adopt her. I’m being serious here. It would make your marriage even better and more complete than it is right now.”
To be honest, I tried to answer her a few times but words… the right words would not come out so I shut the hell up. This was the first time that I wished that Kelly was right here at my side. It had only been a few hours and I missed her dearly. While we had been apart before, this time, I knew that it would be at least 10 days before I saw her again.
It was down to me to make the period that we are apart as short as possible. Ma had certainly thrown a few huge spanners into the works. My problem was that I could not find fault with what she had proposed.
I knew just one thing and that was I was not going to talk to Kelly about a possible adoption on the phone. The very delicate subject was far too important for that.
[to be continued]
While Ma busied herself throwing out years and years of ‘stuff’ around the house, I tried to plan the logistics of the move. Every time I thought that I had got somewhere close, the weather changed and the whole area was treated to another large dump of snow.
Ma filled up two rooms with black plastic bags of things so I started moving them out to the barn. I piled them in the back of an old Ford F150 Pickup. Its’ transmission had long since given up the ghost but would make a good project for someone to spend a winter or two fixing up. Walt had bought it with that intention but it had sat there for close on a decade.
The memory of Walt and his antics still irked me. I muttered… ‘one day Walt, one day…’.
Planning the route to Kelly’s domain was not straightforward. In summer, we would travel via Denver, Cheyenne, then I-80 over the Rockies and Sierras turning right somewhere near Sacramento. The Donner Pass was making news almost every day. Trapped trucks and the danger of avalanches plus multiple accidents in the Rockies on I-70 west of Denver finally convinced me that we should go the long way and that was south of both I-80 and I-70.
The long way was not going to be popular with Ma but that was not the point. I had two horses to think of. I could only drive for a certain number of hours per day with them in a horsebox before they had to be exercised. Finding livery for two horses on our route wasn’t easy but after a day of phoning around, I was pretty sure that I had a route that was manageable even if it meant a very long day to start with.
Danny was a great help and after a day of phoning around his contacts in the transport and recovery world, he found a proper horse transport that I could rent for the trip that was located in Colorado Springs. Plus, he had arranged for me to take our two beasts to where the transport was garaged the previous day. Then with an early start, we could pick up the horses and make Flagstaff in Arizona that evening. The next night I’d found a livery not far from a junction on I-5 north of Bakersfield and a hotel about five miles away. With a bit of luck, we should be able to reach our destination on the third day.
The mention of Colorado Springs made me think of the kids that we had rescued. I tried to get an update from the FBI but no one was talking especially as to where they were located. I guessed that Homeland had been trying to muscle in on a game where they were not welcome. My friend in DC came through with the goods on the Marine. He was willing to come forward and be a parent. I found out that he’d left the service and was now a manager at a Health Spa in Dover, Delaware. The opening of that door closed one of my own. I decided to keep that bit of news from Kelly and Ma for the time being.
When I outlined my proposal to Ma and Danny, Ma just grunted. She would go along with whatever I suggested. Danny was another issue entirely or so I thought.
He sat back cradling his cup of Matte. I hated the stuff but he’d become addicted to this mixture of herbs and leaves that originates in South America.
"Ok," he said after a couple of minutes of contemplation.
“I can work with that.”
“Ok, who put in an impostor for the Danny that I know and love?”
He grinned back at me across the table. Several maps were open on the table with our route marked in black.
“No one substituted me. I am the one and only Danny SWA. I have a few things up in the air at the moment but they can be shuffled around your move.”
Danny, being Danny… could be an awkward if not downright obstinate SOB at times and he would not divulge what those things were. I had come to expect that from him over the years that we had been friends. I knew that if he needed my help then he would ask for it and I would gladly give it. That’s how we had operated for almost two decades.
The day before the move, a realtor came by and valued my home.
“The house really needs tearing down and a new build put up,” I said right from the start.
“It dates from 1951 and… well, you can see for yourself. The Barn and Stables are less than ten years old. If I was buying this place, I’d put a trailer in the barn while I built a new modern and very well insulated house on the site of the old one. The power to the property comes to the barn before here so having a hookup for the trailer, would be easy.”
My mentioning insulation was perfectly timed as another sleet squall came across the valley towards us.
The realtor made copious notes before we finished the tour in the warm kitchen.
“I think that you are right about how I should pitch the sale of the property,” he said.
“Naturally, it will affect the value.”
He wrote a figure down on a small sheet of paper and passed it to me.
The figure was less than I'd hoped, but wasn't that far out.
“That seems reasonable,” I said hoping to hide my disappointment.
We shook on the deal and the property would be listed in a few days once their photographer had been out and taken some photos for the property portfolio. They'd be out once we had left. The place was advertised as vacant possession. The photos needed to show that or we could risk losing a few buyers.
Once he’d gone, I truly felt that it was the end of an era for us as a family. Ma noticed how quiet I was as we ate our last but one meal the only home that I had ever known.
“Don’t worry darling. You and Kelly will soon find a place that you can make your own.”
I nearly said, ‘with you Ma’ but I held my tongue.
“Thanks Ma.”
Then Ma did something that was very un-Ma-like, she reached over and gripped my hand.
“I mean it. You and Kelly need to have your own place so don’t even think about including me in your plans. My time in this world is nearly up, but you two youngsters have a chance to make your own life and you don’t need me holding you back.”
“Ma?”
“Don’t Ma me. I’m well past my three score and ten years. Soon it will be four score and more than a few. These old bones are not as good as they once were. Having a dozen kids in the house made me think long and hard about the future. That’s why I suggested that you adopt that youngster.”
I smiled back at Ma. As far as I could remember she'd always had the knack of saying the right things when they needed to be said, just like she had just done.
“Ma… you don’t have to do this…?”
“But I do. It is time that the two of you made a life of your own. Now that Kelly is Chief of Police and you are going to do something very different, then it is the right time and I will not discuss this any longer. I will be watching my soaps until it is time for bed. When you leave in the morning, please try to be quiet.”
She got up and left me alone to clear away and do the washing up. As I did so, I wondered how Ma’s directness would go down in a retirement home. The thought of her bossing everyone around made me smile.
With a bit of effort and the promise of a bucket of oats, I managed to get Ginger and Jake into my horsebox just before dawn. It was a chilly but windless morning. I made a mental note to watch out for black ice on the road to the Interstate.
I returned to the house to get a flask of coffee before setting off on the three-hour drive to where Ginger and Jake would be stabled overnight. I stopped to fill up at the Interstate and check on the horses. They seemed warm enough with their three layers of horse blankets on their backs. Their water hadn’t frozen so I left it alone. Before leaving, I filled a water bottle with hot water from the restroom. I planned to stop and check on the horses again once I was clear of the ever-expanding Denver Metro area.
The interstate was pretty quiet. What little traffic there was, was mostly made up of Trucks heading for Denver and beyond. A break in the bad weather and a clear highway was a clear signal to the truckers to ‘hit the road’ before it changed again.
The lack of traffic allowed me to make good time and I reached the Livery Yard just before midday. My cargo was glad to get out of the horsebox and stretch their legs. Another bucket of oats and some tepid water was enough to entice them into their stalls for the next eighteen or so hours. The whole place felt warm and accommodating. It made their old stalls seem shabby and rundown by comparison.
I spent half an hour going over the operation of the very modern horse transport that I was going to drive to California. I then took it for a short drive just to get used to it’s length and the brakes. The vehicle was $250,000 of luxury for both the humans and horses. The equine passengers would have a nice warm stable to travel in. I had visions of them refusing to get out even with a tempting bucket of horse nuts.
I headed back home for the last time feeling satisfied about the horses, but sad that this would be my last night in the only place I had ever truly called home.
When I arrived, I found that I could hardly get the door open. Ma’s ‘downsized’ belongings almost filled the kitchen. I managed a smile as I wondered how Danny would get all this into his SUV… If it didn’t fit then I knew that he had a trailer in his yard that would more than take it all.
Ma had made herself some dinner and was in her den watching her Soaps. I spent nearly an hour on the phone with Kelly who had spent the day out with her officers observing their operations and starting to get to know the area. So far, she reported that none of the temporary officers had reacted negatively to her presence on a ‘ride-along’ at least within her earshot.
She told me that she’d made it clear that there were not going to be many changes until she could hire permanent officers and that for those there on temporary secondment, were doing an important job for which she and the city were thankful. She added that she had made it clear that if any of those seconded wanted to make it permanent then she would look upon their applications very favourably.
I went to sleep that night pleased at how Kelly had hit the ground running, but I knew that she had a tough job ahead of her especially when it came to the budget. The last lot of crooked cops and city officials had milked the city dry and I was sure that she would not have a lot of cash to play with for at least the first year. We’d had a long talk about funding before she’d headed west. Her new town would be keeping a tight reign on her department for several years.
I waved them off, before taking a final look around the house. We’d decided to leave an awful lot behind. We had decided to use some of Lol’s money to set us up in California. There was more than enough for that and to buy a place before the old place sold. The subject of Lol and his money was just about the only thing that Kelly and I had ever argued over. This time, she’d accepted my proposal to use it to buy a place as Lol had settled in California just like us.
I found an old photo album in what was Ma's den. I opened it and found that all the photos that had my good-for-nothing brother Walt in them had been defaced. His face had been cut out or blacked out with a sharpie. For a moment, I thought about bringing it along, but I didn't. If Ma had left it behind then it was a conscious decision on her part to start over in CA. I threw it in the refuse bin on my way out of the house for the final time. I did keep one picture and that was of my passing out parade in the Army. The time I'd spent in the service had made me a more rounded person and for that, I would be eternally grateful.
My last job was to supervise the loading of the U-Haul van that Danny had rented to take the few items of furniture that we were taking with us. Sue-Ellen’s brother-in-law, Chad would drive it west in a couple of days. With that well underway, I gave a thumbs-up sign to Danny and we were off… or so I thought.
I had trouble starting my truck but a pair of jump leads and Chad’s truck soon got the engine running.
Ma was very impressed with the horse transport that I’d be driving to CA. For a moment, I thought that she would want to travel with me but Danny stepped in and gently steered her into his SUV. I owed him another one. I was thankful yet again that his fight with the Sioux nation was probably never going to be resolved he was a born diplomat except when it came to his tribe.
I stopped at the first truck stop on I-40 and gave the horses a look over. They were fine and from the sounds they were making, they didn’t appreciate me letting a load of cold air into their nice warm compartment. I took it as a sign that they were ok.
The sun had just set when I rolled into the Livery near Flagstaff where my equine friends were going to spend the night. I’d called ahead to let Ma and Danny know my ETA when I passed Holbrook, so they were expecting me. I’d just led Ginger into her stall for the night when Danny appeared in his truck. He was always pretty good when it came to timing. More often than not, it was when the heavy lifting had been done. He had a definite knack in that department.
I said goodnight to Jake and we headed into town to get something to eat. Ma had ordered room service and there was a ‘Do not Disturb’ sign on her door. I could hear the sound of a TV so I guessed that all was well. Danny reported that she’d slept for a good part of the day. I put it down to all the packing and sorting that she’d been doing since Kelly had ‘gone west’.
Danny and I had a nice meal before bedding down for the night. We had two more long days ahead of us so it was not long after 9 pm that we turned in for the night.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and I reached our stop just beyond Bakersfield in good time.
To my surprise, Kelly was waiting for us when we came into town. She looked fantastic in her brand-new 'Chiefs' uniform.
“Hello Stranger,” she said as she climbed into the cab of the transport.
I gave her a brief peck on the lips before saying,
“Which way to the corral partner?”
She laughed.
“Straight through town and past Jake’s Bar and Grill. About a mile farther along, turn right and you will be there.”
I smiled as I released the handbrake and drove the short distance to the Livery where I had arranged stabling for our horses.
We bedded them down for the night with a promise that I’d come back the next day to groom them. Danny arrived with his now empty truck. The three of us headed back into town where Nancy had laid on a veritable feast for us.
Ma was helping Nancy in the kitchen but even a casual observer could see that she was keeping out of Nancy’s way. This was most unlike Ma but I guessed that her tiredness could have something to do with it.
The evening was enjoyable if a little subdued. I was exhausted. I had one day of rest before I had to start the return journey to Colorado Springs to return the horse transport.
[four days later]
I returned to Custer County to pick up a few things that both Ma and Kelly had forgotten to pack. Thankfully, my winter sleeping bag was still there so I bedded down for one night before going into town to see Danny SWA.
He’d stayed on in CA for another day after I left in the horse transport. He’d said that he wanted to see the sea once more but I didn’t buy it one little bit. I found him in his yard sweeping out the office. I racked my brains but could not remember the last time he’d done that.
He grinned at me when I walked through the door.
“I wondered when you would show up. I saw the lights on in your old place last night when I came back from a recovery op.”
“I only came back to pick up a few things but…?”
He grinned.
“You wanted to see me about something?”
“Cut the crap Danny. We know each other far too well. What is going on?”
He put down the broom and faced me.
“We are blood brothers, aren’t we?”
In an instant, my mind went back to our first encounter with the Taliban. We’d both been hit by a bit of shrapnel when an IED went off about 30ft away. We applied field dressings to each other’s wounds. From then on, we were ‘blood brothers’.
“We are. Why?”
“Brothers have to look out for each other, don’t they?”
“What have you gone and done?”
“I’ve sold this place and I’m buying the garage and filling station just down the street from Kelly’s ‘Cop Shop’. I sealed the deal the day after you left to return the horse transport.”
I smiled.
“Danny… You are a cunning SOB.”
He shook his head.
“I knew nothing about this part of the country when you moved here. I came to visit and stayed. This time, it was Kelly getting that job that got me thinking. You didn’t know and she was sworn to secrecy but I was on the same flight to San Francisco as she was. I helped her buy that SUV of hers.”
A few things that I’d noticed on my visit suddenly started to click into place.
“I made an offer to the current owner that he couldn’t refuse thanks to Nancy. She gave me the heads up and more importantly, the low down, on the owner. Once he’d accepted my offer, I came back and finished clearing up from the storm.”
“But you said that you have sold this place?”
“I did but that was easy. You know the recovery company from King County?”
“Yeah. Chad Maddocks and his brother… Bart.”
“That’s them. They put in an offer for this place over a year ago. I called them up and asked if they were still interested and to cut a long story short, I told them what I’d take for the business and another sum for goodwill. They jumped at the chance to take over the contract with the County and the State Police.”
He saw the look of concern on my face.
“Don’t worry, I made a good profit on the deal. More than enough for me to buy a small place near the harbour.”
I shook my head.
“When are you moving west?”
“In a few weeks. Bart Maddocks is going over the books at the moment. I know that they are good thanks to the GI Bill. Once he is done with that, I’ll handover everything to him and be free to leave.”
I remembered that Danny had done a small business accountancy course when he left the Army. Danny had always managed to surprise me and this was no exception.
“You are a cunning SOB, but you will be a nice familiar face in town.”
“Thanks Boss. When are you leaving town?”
“As soon as I get into my truck. I plan on stopping somewhere near Rifle tonight. The forecast is for four days of clear skies before the next storm so there is no time to waste.”
“Have a safe trip and I’ll see you in a few weeks.”
We shook hands and we were good once more.
[three days later]
I began to settle into Nancy's house and we started looking for a new home for Kelly and myself. Ma seemed to have fully recovered from the trip and was a frequent visitor to the coffee shop. Living almost in the centre of town was a new experience for her and she seemed to revel in it. The worries that I'd have about the move faded into memory.
Kelly was thriving in her new job. There was a definite glow about her that even caused one or two people to wonder if she was pregnant. She wasn’t, but she made me proud. Her elevation to Chief/Sheriff was long overdue. I did wonder what her family back in NYC would say if they found out that she’d made ‘Chief of Police’. I knew that the best they had done was for one long-departed relative to briefly make Lieutenant before he punched out his Captain for making a pass at his fiancée.
All our remaining possessions that had not been thrown away, or left behind arrived in town just before lunchtime. Thanks to information from Nancy, I had been able to rent a garage from a widow who'd had to give up driving and had sold her car. I spent the afternoon and evening unloading the U-Haul truck and stacking it in the garage.
I collapsed into bed just before midnight.
The next thing I remembered was Nancy waking me up.
“Wake up Matt,” she said urgently.
Blinking my eyes to get rid of the sleep, I asked.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Ma. It looks like she passed in the night. Kelly is with her now.”
Suddenly, I was wide awake. Nancy left me alone to get dressed. I had not noticed Kelly getting up which showed just how tired I was from the exertions of the previous evening. Hurriedly, I got dressed and went to find my wife.
She was sitting beside Ma’s bed and holding her hand. Ma looked so peaceful. Kelly motioned for me to sit where she was. I did so without saying a word.
“I’ve called for the ME. He should be here in an hour or so,” said Kelly in hushed tones.
I managed a smile before looking at Ma.
She must have known that her time was almost up and that was why she made us move sooner rather than later. That was Ma through and through. Always thinking of others. That was what made her the best ‘Ma’ in the world, my ‘Ma’.
[to be continued]
News of Ma’s passing seemed to spread like wildfire around the town. Once the presence of California Bureau of Investigation vehicles and a Medical Examiners wagon outside Nancy’s house was known, it would be hard to her death a secret.
Kelly had done exactly what I would have done and called in the appropriate State Police agency to handle the case. Until Ma’s death was ruled natural causes, she decided to not only recuse herself but went one step further than was legally required and kept her whole department right out of the case.
Two of her temporary deputies saw that as a sign of strength. The other one thought that it should have been kept in-house. I saw it as Kelly stepping up to the plate at the bottom of the ninth with the scores even, the bases loaded and hitting a home run on the first pitch. Keeping well out of the inevitable mess was a smart move.
Kelly and Nancy bore the brunt of the questions from the locals and the media. It was left to me to handle officialdom. Kelly issued a statement to the media explaining why her department was keeping well away from the case pending the results of the Post Mortem examination. The local newspaper ran an editorial which to my surprise was 100% behind the new Chief. To me, that was just like what would have happened in Custer County if the sad event had happened when I was Sheriff.
A PM was deemed necessary because Ma, while well into her 80’s, was not taking any medication and as far as I knew had not been to see a doctor in well over ten years.
The two days it took for the PM to be completed and the results made available were the longest 48 hours in my life… in our life. Kelly due to her new position in the town was taking it hard. Being new on the job, she was under the microscope and this made it ten times worse. She shut herself away in her office to avoid the two leeches otherwise known as ‘stringers’ that were camped outside her office building. They worked for more salacious media outfits in San Francisco and Sacramento. Tell them one thing and they'd report the opposite. Even a few locals told them to get lost but they were stubborn SOB's.
Nancy had given her a heads up on them and their ‘we don’t take prisoners especially when it comes to people in authority’ way of reporting. Thankfully, the majority of her team had gained enough respect for her to fill in for her with the public and to continue with their normal duties.
A blanket ‘No comment until the PM results’ statement would only go so far in placating the public. The media other than the local press were ignoring the story which helped a lot. They had meatier things to speculate on when a state senator was caught in bed with his current intern who while legally an adult, was well under half his age. Things took a turn for the worse when three former interns came out of the woodwork and accused him of sexual assault.
When the PM results came, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Ma’s passing was due to natural causes. In this case, a coronary embolism. If it had been caught early enough, it would have been treatable but Ma… being Ma, she would not hear about going to the Doctors even for a checkup. Both Kelly and I had tried until we were blue in the face to get her to go but with Ma being Ma, it all fell on deaf ears.
That evening, Kelly and I sat down to talk things over. She was relieved that it was going to be ruled as natural causes pending the results of Toxicology screen that would be available in a few days. That was not what was worrying me. Life after Ma was going to be different. She had been there for me ever since my real Ma had bailed out before I was ten years old. She’d been there for Kelly ever since she’d become one of my deputies. The fact that she was my brother Walt’s replacement was never an issue. Ma had washed her hands with him long before Kelly came on the scene.
Walt was somewhere in the ether. Just before I’d retired, I had a heads up from the Miami PD that he’d been seen in Florida. There were at last count, six states and two FBI offices wanting to speak to him. There were also two active arrest warrants outstanding from New Mexico.
It was clear to both of us that he would not be easy to find. I wanted to let him know about Ma but other than putting something on the Custer County’s Facebook page, I was at a loss about what to do. Now that I was no longer Sheriff, I did not have access to the account to post this sort of thing.
The CBI people had been very professional in their dealings with us. That pleased me no end. I’d always tried to be that way in my dealings with everyone that I came into contact with during my time as a cop and an MP. Even so, I could not help wonder if their courtesy was down to Kelly’s position in Law Enforcement.
Nancy was the worst affected. She’d just started to bond with Ma. That was now all gone and it showed in her whole demeanor. It was up to me to arrange the funeral, but first I needed to let a few people back in Custer County know about Ma. It wasn’t going to be an easy job.
First up was Danny SWA.
“Hi Danny. How’s the handover going?”
“No, my friend, this is not a social call. Ma passed away a few days ago. Heart problems.”
“I’ve not told the PD yet. Sue-Ellen is my next call. I’ll get her to tell the world of Custer County.”
“I don’t know when or where the funeral will be. Logic says here but emotion tells me that it should be in Custer County but Kelly wants it here. Ma told her while I was taking the horse box back to you part of the world that she was done with Custer County. You know Ma. When she says something like that… well, you don’t argue and win.”
“Thanks for that input. It was very welcome. When will you be moving west?”
I managed a smile as Danny told me of his troubles with Bart Maddocks. In my thankfully infrequent dealings with him, I found him to be an idiot trying to be a bozo. Telling him anything of importance and trying to get him to remember it was next to an impossibility. The problem was his father. He doted on his boys. Bart had one redeeming feature and that he was a brilliant recovery truck driver. He could get a crashed truck back on its wheels when most other operators would literally run a mile.
“I’ll let you know when I decide about the funeral.”
“Thanks Danny, I’ll pass on your thoughts to Kelly and Nancy.”
After the call to Danny, I sat for a few minutes before making the next call. I hoped that this one would be a bit easier.
“Good evening, Sheriff,” I said as Sue-Ellen answered the phone.
“I’m good. You?”
“That’s good to know. Kelly is getting her feet under the table and so far, it seems to be going well.”
“This isn’t exactly a social call. Ma passed a few days ago. It was heart failure. You know how ornery she was when it came to going to the Doctors.”
“No, she died in her sleep so she didn’t suffer but I think that she knew that her time was near.”
“Please. Some people will be glad to see the back of her tongue but most will be thankful that she didn’t suffer.”
“At the moment, I don’t know where it will be. I’m leaning towards holding the funeral there. As you know, Ma was not one to be fussed over. A simple ceremony would suit her down to the ground but Custer was her home for most of her life but I think Ma had been trying to tell us not only that her time was up but that her funeral should be here.”
“Walt? I have no idea where Walt is and to be honest, I don’t care. He deserted us for a life of crime. If by some miracle, he turns up at the service, I’ll let him pay his last respects but then I’m sure Kelly will want him gone right afterwards that is if he can deter you from cuffing him.”
“Thanks Sue-Ellen. I’ll pass on your thoughts to everyone here.”
I ended the call with mixed feelings. I would have to make a decision about where the funeral was to be held very soon.
Those last words made me sit bolt upright and tell myself to stop being such a fool.
My sudden movement woke up Kelly. She wrapped her arms around me and made me lay down on the bed. Then she climbed on top of me.
“Now darling, you are going to tell me what you have decided. Then I’m going to tell you that you are 100% wrong and that Ma would love to have her ashes thrown into the ocean right here. Then she’ll be close to us.”
I sighed and relaxed. Dam Kelly. Dam her for knowing me better than I knew myself.
“Am I right,” she whispered in my ear. Then she proceeded to nibble it gently.
“You are right… As usual Kelly.”
She gave me a brief kiss on my right cheek.
“That’s what I am here for,” she whispered in my ear.
I didn’t answer. There was no need. The decision had been made.
Ma’s death was officially ruled ‘Natural Causes’ two days later following a negative toxicology screen. That allowed Kelly and her team to take over the wrapping up of Ma’s death, not that there was much to do now that the death had been certified.
Ma had left a will. That was with a lawyer back in King County. I called her to arrange for it to be sent here for a formal reading. At first, there was a little reluctance for her to send it but after an email exchange containing the certification of her death, it was sent by express mail the next day.
I knew what was in the will. Ma and I had discussed the changes that she was going to make now that Kelly was part of the family. Ma’s bank was in King County, so I asked the lawyer back there, deal with them.
Her reaction was to remind me how much her charges were per hour. I gently reminded her to just send me the bill once all funds from Ma’s account had been sent to the lawyer here. There are times when I wished that every lawyer in the country was lined up and shot at dawn. Nothing they ever did other than a few very rare exceptions was for the benefit of the country. In my opinion, the only thing they cared about was how much money they could screw from us normal folk.
I put my hatred for the legal profession to one side and started to plan Ma’s funeral. There was just the one Funeral Parlor in town and that was my first call.
Sadly, I let my frustration from dealing with lawyers get the better of me. Thankfully, the man in charge, Robert Greaves, took it all on the chin.
“Mr. Beecher, my job description means that I see people who are at their most vulnerable so please don’t worry about letting off steam on me. It is all part of the service of compassion and understanding that we offer to all our clients.”
“I’m so sorry Mr. Greaves. Thank you for your compassion. I only wish that that lawyers in times like these showed the same behavior. Instead, they only want to talk about money.”
He gave me a warm but emotionless smile.
“That’s why we get our fees settled up front. With us, what is agreed, is what you pay.”
“Thank you, Mr. Greaves. Ma was not into fancy caskets especially as she wanted to be cremated. The simpler the better. She was not a person who liked people fussing over her. If you tried, you would end up on the wrong end of a tongue lashing. I know… I know that she will be looking down on me and tut-tutting any extravagance if you get my meaning.”
“Thank you for such an honest description of your mother.”
“Ma wasn’t my mom. I don’t have the faintest idea where she is. Ma is… was my grandmother, but she was more of a mother to me and my brother than the real one.”
“Your brother? Will he be attending the service?”
I didn’t know what to do. He saw my hesitation.
“I will take that as a no then.”
I managed a small smile.
“If he does attend, he will be leaving in handcuffs. The Cops in at least five states have arrest warrants out for my dear brother.”
“May I suggest this casket?” he said wisely changing the subject.
I emerged from the funeral parlor feeling unclean. It takes a special sort of person to work in that industry and it is one that we can’t do without them. After a brief walk, I found myself outside Nancy’s Café and the Bakery. For half a second, I thought about going into the Bakery but I decided that I needed some strong coffee. Nancy’s it was.
Nancy had seen me ‘loitering with indecision’ outside and was already preparing me a cup of my favorite brew.
“You look as if you have the world on your shoulders. Take a seat and I’ll bring you your drink.”
I smiled.
“Thanks Nancy.”
I went and sat at the same table that Kelly and I had used on our first visit to the town. I could watch the world go by and ignore the people in the Café. Even though we had only been in town a short while, I was already known as ‘The Chief’s Partner’.
Nancy put my drink down in front of me. Then she hovered.
“I know that this is an awkward time, but there is someone I think that you should meet.”
“Nancy?”
She managed a small smile.
“They won’t bite you know.”
“They?”
“Sean and Ingrid.”
Then she came close to me and said,
“Sean is like Kelly but hasn’t fully come out of the closet yet and would be a great asset to the Bakery. He is a great cook.”
I saw what she was trying to do. I was sort of working. For the first time since I’d found out about Ma’s death, I wasn’t concentrating on it and the funeral.
“Thanks Nancy but…”
“This is the right time. I didn’t get to know Ma for very long but there is one thing that I do know and that is, she wanted the move here to be a fresh start for you and Kelly as a proper couple and that she would not want you to get stuck in a rut over her death. Now that you have arranged the funeral, it is time to think of the future, time to move on.”
For a moment, I almost thought that it was Ma speaking.
She was right. It would soon be time to start thinking about life after Ma. It is what she would have wanted for both of us. When her husband passed, she grieved until the day after his funeral. Then the black was put away and that was it. No more mourning and thereafter, life went on. I was determined to follow her example. It was the least I could do for my Ma…
[to be continued]
Authors note.
Sean and Ingrid are the two main characters from ‘The Summer Ball’. The conclusion of this story will appear here in due course.