Grave Consequences (25 page)

“And that's where we come in. I'll keep you informed, Nancy, and we'll honestly try to stay away from Clarence. I'm more interested in taking down Sheila. She's either the one who killed Buck and the casino owner, or the person who ordered it. Those two set her up to lose her job and that clearly pissed her off.” Charlie quickly told her about the sex video.

Nancy thought about it awhile before responding. “That's a motive, all right. Too bad she turned violent instead of fighting it out in the courts and suing their asses.”

“The lady isn't right in the head, and she's gone way too far with this. Several people have died because of her, three or more have been shot, and the only witness we know about who has a chance of tying her directly to the deaths is a target on the run. It's time to bring this to an end.”

“You're right, Charlie, and there's not going to be a happy ending even when justice is done. You and Gordon do what you can, and if you need my help call my cell. And here's Melinda's address.” Nancy read it out before ending the call.

After leaving word with Jake and Ruth to be on their guard, Charlie and Gordon left in Gordon's pickup.

Melinda lived in an apartment over by the university, according to the address, but if she'd kept to the schedule they'd mapped out days before, she could still be at Clarence's home.

“Do you suppose, after all that's been going on lately, that Clarence has rescheduled his sex life, or that Melinda's given up on him?” Gordon asked as they approached the neighborhood where Fasthorse lived. He and Charlie were both wearing caps and sunglasses.

“It's not too far out of the way to check and see. She may be fitting
him
into her schedule, not the other way around,” Charlie answered.

Gordon turned the corner and approached Fasthorse's residence. They cruised by, Gordon keeping his eyes on the road and Charlie surveying the area.

“Mustang in the driveway,” Charlie announced.

“Moving on. Shall we get into position to follow her home?”

Charlie nodded. “Or wherever she goes next. The good news is that she's still in contact with Clarence, so she might be up on the latest events.”

They circled and parked close to the corner of an intersecting street so they could see the front door of Fasthorse's home. They'd know if anyone came out and be able to change directions if necessary.

After about fifteen minutes, Charlie, taking his turn with the binoculars, saw the door open. “Melinda's leaving, and there's someone at the door, showing her out. Not Clarence. It's a woman.”

“Clarence's mom?”

“Can't tell. The door closed immediately. Melinda's heading toward the gate.”

Gordon started the engine. “Think Clarence had an audience?”

“More likely, Sheila walked over and interrupted the activity.”

“You know, they could have been playing cards or having a conversation,” Gordon offered hopefully. “Discussing business?”

Charlie nodded. “Who knows?”

“Either way, for now we're following Melinda.” Gordon sighed, easing out into the street, a block behind the red Mustang.

Gordon hung back, keeping the car within sight and using other vehicles to screen himself whenever possible. They'd only gone a mile or so, however, when it was clear Gordon had lost her.

“What happened? Did she see us?” Gordon shook his head. “All of a sudden, she's gone.”

“Probably went down one of those alleys after the last turn.”

“Want me to head for her apartment?” Gordon asked.

“Naw, let's circle first and see if we can spot her parked car. Maybe Sheila advised her to avoid being followed by the cops—or us. Look who she's in bed with,” Charlie added. At this point it was likely that Melinda knew Clarence was involved in illegal activities. Depending on how deeply she was committed to him, she might even know about Lola.

“You really think her ditching us could have been beginner's luck?”

Charlie shrugged. “Could be you're losing your touch,” he said, grinning.

“Hey, we weren't trained to follow cars in a city. Our job was hunting down the bad guys on foot, in the desert, the villages, the mountains. We also had drones.”

Charlie looked at his watch. “Nancy will be coming on duty pretty soon. If we can't find Melinda, I'll give the sergeant a call and see if she can help us out.”

“Good idea. For now, I'll circle the area and concentrate on places she might shop.”

“Hey, I've just got an idea,” Charlie said after a few minutes.

“That's new.”

“No, really. If she's an ‘entertainer' then she must book gigs. We could hire her to dance or something, like for your birthday. We won't have to approach her as investigators or make her suspicious, at least not at first,” Charlie explained.

“One major problem. I've been to some birthday and bachelor parties, and the girls always bring a companion—like security. Assuming we can even discover how to book her, how do we get around that?” Gordon replied.

“Yeah, it wouldn't work. How about we just park at her place, wait her out, then come up to her on the sidewalk or street corner. Nonthreatening, of course,” Charlie suggested.

“What if she parks that Mustang in a garage,” Gordon countered.

“Only one way to find out.”

“Right. What's that address again?”

*   *   *

They were parked within view of the apartment complex listed for Melinda Foy when Charlie's cell phone rang. He looked down and saw it was a private number. “It's Nancy,” Charlie announced.

“You didn't hear it from me, but the feds are about to arrest Clarence Fasthorse and some of his crew at the Pi
ñ
on Mesa Steakhouse in ten minutes, give or take. I'm helping provide APD backup.”

Charlie looked over at Gordon. “She hung up.”

Gordon started the truck engine. “We gotta see this.”

“We're less than ten minutes away. I hope we can get there in time.”

“Suppose Sheila is also on the naughty list?” Gordon speculated. “If I recall, we've never seen her at the steakhouse until evening. Of course, we've never followed her around, either.”

“Sheila has probably insulated herself, unless the feds have been monitoring her conversations or have found a money trail,” Charlie pointed out.

“Guess we'll see,” Gordon said, speeding up to make a traffic light as they headed toward the Old Town area.

 

Chapter Twenty-one

Gordon pulled into the restaurant parking lot via the main entrance and was motioned to a stop by an APD police officer in a dark blue uniform. There were four police cruisers at the entrances and exits to the lot, including the rear of the building, and each vehicle had two officers beside them.

Charlie saw Nancy and another officer blocking one of the lot entrances. It was clear, with all the commotion, that the arrest operation was already underway.

“What's going on?” Gordon asked innocently from his open window as the APD officer approached the pickup.

“Law enforcement officers are conducting an operation inside the restaurant, sir, so you'll need to park away from the building and remain patient for a while.” He stepped over and saw Charlie up close.

“Officer Roseberg,” Charlie greeted. “I'm Charlie Henry. We met when you were working on the kidnapping several months ago. You were riding with Detective DuPree that night.”

“Sergeant Medina's friends. I thought you two looked familiar,” Roseberg said, relaxing a bit, then turning back to watch the restaurant as he spoke. “From what I've heard, you guys have been pretty busy the past week or so. The robbery attempt and shooting at your shop, getting run off the road. It goes on and on. You two are leading charmed lives.”

“Hopefully we won't require all that charm for too much longer,” Gordon replied. “How long have the feds been inside?”

“So you
did
know about this.”

“Let's just say we had a feeling,” Charlie replied. “Naturally we wanted to watch. Mind if we get out of the pickup?”

“Just as long as you stick close to me,” the officer replied, still focusing his attention on the restaurant.

Charlie and Gordon walked around to the front of the pickup and watched as two men in suits came out the front entrance of the Pi
ñ
on Mesa Steakhouse, followed by three more in blue FBI jackets leading Clarence and two other prisoners in handcuffs.

Charlie noted that Sheila wasn't with them. “How many individuals were facing arrest here?” he asked.

“Four men—Clarence Fasthorse and three accomplices in the vehicle theft ring. Mexican authorities are supposed to be rounding up several subjects at their end right now.”

“No females here, maybe a girlfriend or relative of Fasthorse?” Gordon asked.

“Not according to our briefing,” Roseberg replied. “I understand the target's mother is co-owner of the restaurant, though.”

A call came through on the officer's radio and he acknowledged the contact. “Time for me to escort the transport, guys. Just stand back until we clear out, okay?”

“Copy that,” Charlie replied as the officer hurried to his vehicle. Some distance away, Clarence and the others were placed into unmarked vehicles.

A minute later, as the Bureau vehicles passed by, Clarence glanced out the window and saw them. He looked away, without expression, as the feds turned into the street.

Gordon turned to Charlie. “I was hoping Clarence would have reacted a little more, seeing us standing here. Maybe give us the stink eye.”

“Disappointed?”

“A little. Hey, do you suppose the remaining warrant was for Clarence's bodyguard, Leroy Williams?”

“Probably. I didn't see him with the others, and none of the witnesses to the carjackings reported seeing a black guy among the crew. Of course, they were masked, so maybe…” Charlie paused to consider it.

“Well, he certainly knew what was going on, being at Clarence's side most of the time. But then again, we don't know where Clarence was at when the crimes were committed either. He gave the orders, though,” Gordon acknowledged.

“Or was Sheila's mouthpiece. Apparently the feds had enough on him to make the arrest,” Charlie replied. “Let's go have lunch inside and see who they missed.”

“You just want to see if hot momma is in there,” Gordon teased.

“I don't see any red Mustangs in the lot, so you must be talking about Sheila. If she's inside, remember to watch my back if she picks up a steak knife.”

“Gotcha,” Gordon responded. “But first I'd better park the pickup in an official slot. Don't want to get a ticket.”

When they reached the entrance, there was an older male employee standing there, placing a neatly hand-lettered sign that read
CLOSED UNTIL
9
AM TOMORROW—PARDON THE INCONVENIENCE.

Charlie tried to look past him, but the interior featured subdued lighting and he couldn't tell who was still inside.

“You think they'll impound his car?” Gordon asked, nodding toward the blue SUV, which was parked in a staff slot.

Recalling the bug they'd place underneath, Charlie shrugged. “Hope if they do they won't find the bug. That could hurt the fed's case. No warrant for that.”

“If they don't haul it away, let's come back and remove it,” Gordon replied.

“Then we'd better stick around. I'm guessing that as soon as the customers still inside leave, the staff that wasn't arrested will be cleaning and locking up.”

“True. But let's stay out of sight in case Sheila shows up. If she sees us, she's gonna call … not the cops,” Gordon realized. “And if any of her crew are left and have managed to stay off the suspect list, they're probably waiting for the opportunity to disappear.”

“You're right, we don't want her to panic and drop out of sight before we can nail her for the murder … murders,” Charlie said. “If we set Sheila off, we may never get answers on who did what. We've got to see who she contacts, where she goes, and what she does.”

“I get it. Let's hunker down in my truck.”

After about a half hour had passed, Leroy appeared, having apparently come out the back door of the restaurant. He climbed into the blue SUV and drove around front.

Charlie got the receiver out of the glove compartment and activated the bug. “It still works,” he announced, hearing the engine sounds as the SUV idled outside the main entrance.

Out came Sheila, who quickly climbed into the backseat. “Take me home, Leroy. My attorney is already downtown working to get Clarence released on bail.”

“Hopefully he'll be home in a few hours, ma'am,” Leroy replied. “Want me to go down there just in case?”

“No, I need your protection in case those pawnshop bastards come snooping around. Thank God there are only two of them,” Sheila replied as Leroy drove toward the street.

“There's also the older brother—the cop,” Leroy responded.

“He's only got one good arm—and he's apparently gone into hiding now,” Sheila said.

Gordon started the engine, but held back as they listened closely.

“Any idea where Matt is? The feds had a warrant for him too,” Leroy said. “They were asking all the staff.”

“He's en route to El Paso, delivering one of the Toyota Tundras taken last month. I gave him a call on my burner phone once the feds were gone. He's going to disappear for a while,” Sheila said.

“Keep using phones that can't be traced. They're going to be monitoring our calls and e-mails from now on,” Leroy mentioned. “Maybe they've already hidden some bugs in the restaurant and your and Clarence's homes. We won't know how they found out about the operations unless this goes to court.”