Learning to Drive... Him Crazy (16 page)

Agent Barstow asked, "It didn't seem
right?"

Alana quickly tried to dismiss her concern.
"Sometimes things just don't seem or feel right to me. I didn't
want to be at my apartment tonight, it just didn't feel right, and
that's why I'm over here."

Agent Barstow suggested to his boss, Captain
Wallace, "Do you suppose we should get someone over to watch her
apartment tonight? If John's partner knows she has the ruby they
may send someone over there to get it."

"Good idea," Captain Wallace agreed. He
asked, "Lieutenant Berry?"

"I'm on it. I'll send someone over to check
on it and watch it."

Cal's phone rang and everyone was quiet and
turned to him. "It's John," he said.

"Good. Find out if he's alone for sure. If
he is put it on speaker," Captain Wallace instructed.

As soon as Cal answered John asked, "What's
wrong, Cal?"

"This is very personal. Are you totally
alone, John?"

"Yes. What's wrong?"

"Your partner's not even with you?"

"No one. What's going on?"

"John, I'm going to put you on speaker and
let Captain Wallace of the FBI explain it to you."

"FBI?"

Captain Wallace answered, "Hi, John. This is
Captain Wallace. It seems you may be in danger. We believe all the
officers there, including Joe, your partner, are in on these jewel
thefts."

John quickly summarized the situation. "Then
this is all a hoax, simply a setup to get rid of me since I now
know."

"Exactly," Captain Wallace confirmed. "We
have a team of agents ready to go, but we need your
cooperation."

"You got it. Just tell me what to do," John
quickly said.

"The first thing we have to do is get you
out of there. If you try and leave now, though, I don't think
they'd let you go very far, and they'd know something's up and
they'd scatter. We want to get you safely out of there and take all
of them into custody. As soon as we're in place I'll text you
again. Make sure you're alone when you check the text. Then you go
directly to one of our cars. Our agents will be watching for you.
Use the code word sherpa if an agent approaches you. They'll know
it's you and get you out of there safely."

"Okay, got it," John responded.

"Now, can you tell us what you know about
their plan, where we can find any of them?"

John relayed everything he knew of what he
thought was the police department's plan to get the thieves. They
all talked about what their plan probably was to eliminate John so
he'd know what to watch out for.

Captain Wallace asked, "Is there anything
else we should know, now that you know what's going on?"

John thought a minute and said, "Oh, my
gosh. You say Joe is in on it, and I led him straight to Cal's
house. You've got to move them, right now. Get them out of
there!"

Agents Barstow and Kline quickly went to the
front and back door of the house, guns drawn. Captain Wallace
asked, "How, John? What happened?"

"Joe and I were talking earlier, and he
asked if Alana was home in her apartment tonight protecting the
ruby. I said, no, she didn't want to be alone tonight, so she went
to spend the evening with Cal and Kelli at his house. He asked
about the ruby, if she'd take it with her to keep the chain of
custody. I said, no, probably not."

Captain Wallace said, "Okay, then they may
have sent someone there to find the ruby. It's a good thing she
didn't stay home tonight."

Cal moved over to give Alana a reassuring
hug. "Good thing we listened to your instincts, Alana."

"But I led them straight to Cal's house,"
John said.

"Don't you worry about them, John. There are
a couple agents over here and we'll keep them safe. You worry about
you."

Lieutenant Berry spoke up, "I've got three
more on their way. We'll keep them safe, John. You keep yourself
safe."

Captain Wallace talked to John again quickly
and then told him to get back there before Joe and the others
worry. He suggested if anyone asks what's up he tell them their
aunt was involved in an accident and Cal's going to let him know
when he knows if she's okay. That will give him a reason for a
second text.

It seemed to Alana that everything happened
extremely fast that night, but at the same time it was like the
night would never end.

Three more agents showed up at Cal's and
they decided it was safer to keep them there with six agents there
to protect them than move them, making them vulnerable outside the
house and in a vehicle, and risk the chance of being followed
anyway. Captain Wallace stayed with the three of them in an
upstairs bedroom, while the other five were spread around the house
at doors and windows, watching for any movement outside.

The last three agents to get there had been
at her apartment first and reported that someone had been there
apparently looking for the ruby. Her apartment had been ransacked.
Kelli and Cal surrounded her with their arms and supportive words.
She reached up and touched the ruby, still hidden in the center of
her hair, glad she'd decided to bring it with her. She was
concerned about her apartment, but didn't really give it too much
thought. She was more worried about John.

The agent stationed downstairs by the back
door used a radio to alert everyone in the house of movement
outside. Captain Wallace left the light on in the bedroom they were
in, but had them all duck down and, staying away from windows,
moved them to another bedroom, with his finger over his mouth to
keep them quiet.

They waited quietly, while one agent
stationed himself in the upstairs hall, alternately watching the
steps and peering outside through the corner of a window. The four
agents downstairs had spotted two men outside, one in the back and
one at the side. At the same time the agent by the back door
reported someone picking the lock, while the agent at the side door
reported the same thing. They both waited behind the doors, while
the other two moved into place off to the side, but in front of
them.

* * * * *

Alana, Kelli and Cal were in the dark
upstairs bedroom, quiet and hunkered down, listening closely. All
of a sudden there was some kind of commotion downstairs and
officers were yelling, "Police," and "Freeze," and "Get your hands
up where I can see them," and all sorts of terrifying phrases. The
girls huddled close to Cal, drawing comfort from his presence,
while Captain Wallace moved to the door to guard it and see what
was going on downstairs.

Finally an officer downstairs yelled an
all's clear, and the officer in the hall and Captain Wallace headed
toward the stairs, after telling the three of them to stay put
until they came and talked to them.

When Captain Wallace went downstairs, he
found two men dressed in black, in custody, hands cuffed behind
them. He was told they both had guns drawn when they broke in. He
questioned them, hoping to get some information that would help
their agents in the field. Unfortunately, they had been told their
job was to retrieve the ruby from Alana's apartment, where Joe said
it was hidden. When they hadn't been able to locate it at her place
they contacted Joe. He asked John if Alana was at home, and when
John said she was at Cal's house Joe sent them there to retrieve
the ruby, no matter what they had to do to get it. They knew
nothing about the plan or what was to happen at Newjangles, other
than they said they had to get rid of John because he knew too
much.

They wouldn't admit it, but Captain Wallace
assumed retrieving the ruby was one of their jobs, but they were
also to eliminate the three of them, since they more than likely
knew as much as John. They swore the only thing they knew about
what was to happen that night at Newjangles was it was supposed to
go down a little after 12:30, which was in roughly ten minutes.

Captain Wallace got word to the men in place
at Newjangles. Lieutenant Berry sent a text to John, and luckily he
was able to get away to call him back. Lieutenant Berry gave him
the time line they were anticipating, along with the plan the FBI
would follow. He relayed to John the locations of the three
unmarked FBI vehicles closest to him and the agents with the
vehicles. John saw his partner, Joe, looking around for him, and
quickly got back into place.

Joe came over to him and said, "Chief Nelson
just radioed to be on alert. They spotted what they think is the
delivery vehicle headed for the store."

"Bring it on," John said.

"Everything okay?" Joe asked. "I saw you on
the phone again. News about your aunt?"

"Yeah. She's in the hospital, but she'll be
fine. I'm glad he let me know now so it's not on my mind."

"Yeah, me, too. You need to concentrate
fully tonight."

"Look! There's a delivery truck. Here we
go!"

Joe nodded and said, "Looks like this is it.
Be careful, partner." He paused, looking at John several moments
before he ran back to his assigned location.

John had been having a hard time believing
his partner was involved in this whole ordeal, but after seeing Joe
pause, he knew Cal and the FBI guys were right. He saw a momentary
look of regret in Joe's eyes, and he'd never made a comment to him
before like the 'be careful, partner' comment. He was glad he had
at least a moment of regret. The truth was, though, his partner
knew the plan and what would likely happen and he participated in
it willingly.

That fact pushed John to square his
shoulders and get ready for what was about to go down. He glanced
over his shoulder and made sure the FBI car was still sitting in
the warehouse parking lot across the alley. He located his backup
car in case something or someone blocked his way to that closer
car. They were both in place, right where Lieutenant Berry said
they'd be.

John was to wait behind the garbage dumpster
and watch. The plan involved timing. Once the man or men in the
truck got the store's freight door open to receive the shipment,
John was to wait two minutes to let them start unloading the truck.
They wanted to be sure to catch them in the act of unloading the
merchandise. Other men, who were closer, were to wait one and a
half minutes. The plan was for all of the men to come out from
their cover and converge on the receiving dock at the same
time.

He watched and as soon as the men got out of
the delivery truck he did a quick glance around at the other men
who were closer than him on both sides of him. They were all
intently watching the truck and/or their watch. This was his
chance. He quickly turned and headed toward the alley, following
the path he'd already set out in his mind. There were a couple big
trees, an old shed, and two semis parked along the road that he'd
planned to use as cover. Moving quickly from one to the next, he
was ready to run across the alley to the FBI car when he heard
gunshots behind him.

He made one last dash to the car, and the
man inside the car opened the door, looking at him expectantly.
John said, "Sherpa," and watched the man's face anxiously.

"Oh, good. Welcome, Officer Humphries. I'm
Agent Ryan Reed. I'm not sure exactly what's going on back there,
but let's get you out of here. Duck down." As soon as John was down
so he wouldn't be seen, Agent Reed drove away, keeping his speed
down, trying not to draw attention.

When they were three blocks from Newjangles,
Agent Reed said, "Okay, you can sit up now. Help me watch for
anyone following us." He proceeded to zig zag his way through town,
while both men watched the mirrors for anyone who may be following
them. When they were finally convinced no one was trailing them,
Agent Reed went to the FBI offices and entered through the secure
underground garage.

Agent Reed had radioed ahead that he had
John and would be coming to the offices, but didn't ask for an
update, preferring to concentrate on making sure they weren't being
followed. Now they hurried into the conference room where
Lieutenant Berry was. They were anxious to find out what was going
on at Newjangles that involved gunshots.

* * * * *

Alana, Kelli and Cal were still upstairs
hunkered down in the dark bedroom, wondering what was happening
downstairs. It appeared things had settled down now, so they
assumed things were under control.

"What do you suppose happened?" Alana asked,
eyes wide.

"I don't know," Kelli answered, "but I don't
like it."

Cal, who had one arm around each of the
girls, tightened them a bit as he said, "It sounds like it's over
now, though, so I'd say someone broke in and they have them in
custody."

"People breaking into your house is a little
too surreal," Alana mumbled.

"Yeah, but it doesn't really surprise me,"
he said. "The officers said they trashed your place looking for the
ruby, but they obviously didn't find it. John had no idea Joe was
involved when he told them you were over here, so they probably
assumed you'd taken the ruby with you."

"I thought about all that," Alana said. "But
it's the next part that scares me."

Kelli looked at her, confused. "What next
part?"

"What were they going to do when they got
here? If they came over here and broke in to get the ruby, I'd say
they weren't leaving without it, no matter what they had to do to
get it. And then do you think they'd leave us here, knowing who
they were?"

Kelli looked like a doe caught in the
headlights. "You're right, Alana. We were all in danger, not just
John."

"We aren't now, though," Cal said
soothingly, "so don't get all upset here. We're safe, and
surrounded by FBI agents that will keep us safe."

"Now we just have to worry about John,"
Alana said.

John was in the conference room of the FBI
office relating everything that had happened that evening, and the
meetings leading up to that night. "Now can you tell me what
happened out there? What were the gunshots all about? Was anyone
hurt? Do you know who was in charge of this operation or what they
were doing with the gems? Do you know who all was involved?"