Chapter 5

 

 

When Derrick gets back to the office he gives Maury Hoagland a call and gets an earful.

 

“Derrick, I’ve never come across Industrial Ventures International, but Investors Anonymous has been on our radar for some time now for the possibility of being involved in financial dealings with Mexican and South American drug cartels and Middle East terrorist groups. There’s a huge cloud of suspicion hanging over their heads, but so far it hasn’t burst. There are a lot of hints that they’re up to no good, but so far we haven’t been able to come up with anything solid enough for us to sink out teeth into to get a really good taste of what they’re really all about. They’re shrouded in a cloak of secrecy which we haven’t been able to penetrate. How did you come across them?”

 

“Some of the smaller wineries in the Napa Valley have been experiencing some unusual and unprecedented operations problems which may be linked to repeated refusals of offers to buy them out. An independent business broker by the name of Giuseppe Pelegrinno has been representing Investors Anonymous in making these offers. I had a face-to face with him in his office in San Francisco earlier this morning and left without any strong opinion of his guilt or innocence in anything underhanded as far as the targets for acquisition are concerned. The only thing I got from the interview was the name of the parent company, Industrial Ventures International. Pelegrinno said he was contacted by a Maria Conti of Investors Anonymous because of a referral she received by a client whose name she couldn’t recall.

 

“I called her during my drive back from Frisco and she informed me that Pelegrinno had already called her about my visit to his office and was upset because he thinks I think he’s somehow involved in what has been happening at the wineries. If anything, his phone call to her has me leaning in his favor regarding lack of knowledge of any wrong doing with respect to the wineries and maybe even in Ms. Conti’s. I doubt the phone call would have been shared with me if they are somehow involved in what’s been happening to the wineries.

 

“All I learned about Industrial Ventures International is that they’re a private closely held corporation based in Milan, Italy. According to Ms. Conti, Industrial Ventures International is a diversified investment company that seeks real estate and business venture investment opportunities for its clientele all over the world. It has been around for over forty years and has an impeccable reputation. Investors Anonymous is a wholly owned subsidiary formed to handle business here in the States and she’s at the helm, an appropriate term since the subsidiary is headquartered in San Diego, a seaport of world renown. Ms. Conti says she has no idea who the company owners are and hasn’t even heard any names dropped in conversations she has had with anyone. Investors’ names are not used, but instead numbers are assigned to them as part of a highly sophisticated security system to ensure the investors’ privacy. To paraphrase, she further stated that she’s a happy employee and doesn’t care who the owners are.”

 

“I’ll check around with my resources about the parent company and the ownership. However, assuming the parent, the sub or both are dirty as mud I don’t see how knowing this is going to help you with your problem.”

 

“I’m hoping it will help me zero in on who the real culprits are. I’m not just after the folks carrying out orders, Maury. I want the schemers at the top level. I want to connect the dots. I want to be able to see the big picture and then destroy it. The more knowledge I have the easier that should be.”

 

“Okay, I’ll get right on it and call you when and if I come up with anything. Bye.”

 

Derrick’s thinking that his visit to Pelegrinno and the conversation he had with Maria Conti are probably soon to reach the ears of the people trying to buy these wineries or soon will be. Pondering this for a bit he decides that it would probably be wise to do what his boss suggested and get some backup before he starts making the rounds of the wineries in question. It’s a decent possibility that some of the employees could be working for the other side and someone might put a target on his back.

 

By pure happenstance, Julie Styversant, a deputy sheriff who’s been with the department for a little over five years and already has more awards and commendations in her file for initiative and bravery in some very dangerous situations than deputies with a lot more years under their belts walks by his desk.

 

“Julie, what’s on your slate today?”

 

“Mostly paperwork and I’ve got to prepare for my appearance in court later this week on that drag racing disaster that killed that little girl. Why?”

 

“I need you to watch my back when I pay some visits to some wineries today and tomorrow.”

 

“Okay, but I’ll have to clear it with..”

 

“It’s already cleared. Bill said I should pick somebody and notify him so he could make the required changes to the duty roster. I’m picking you.”

 

“Okay, I’ve got your back. How about telling me what this is all about.”

 

“How long will it take you to be ready to roll?”

 

“Ten minutes.”

 

“Do what you have to do and I’ll fill you in on our way to the first winery.”

 

While she’s doing that Derrick pops his head into Bill’s office and says, “Deputy Styversant has my back today and tomorrow.”

 

“Okay. When are you heading out?”

 

“In just a few minutes.”

 

“How did it go in San Francisco?”

 

“I picked up a couple of names. Maury Hoagland over at the NSA is helping me check them out. I’ll give you a full report when I’ve paid my visit to the wineries.”

 

“Okay. Get out of here and keep your mind on business. That deputy can be a distraction and a half.”

 

“Well, I’ll be damned. You actually got your head out of the piles of paper on your desk long enough to notice. There’s hope for the world after all.”

 

Smiling the Sheriff waves him out of his office and says, “Get out of here or I’ll assign Perkins to be your back up.”

 

“You wouldn’t”

“Don’t push me.”

 

“I’m gone.”

 

Perkins is one of the new deputies that just joined the department and to say he was still a little wet behind the ears would be like saying the Colorado River is a stream. On top of that he has a repertoire of commercial ditties he likes to hum over and over again to pass the time and it drives anybody within hearing distance up the wall. And to add insult to injury, he hums off key.

 

Walking out of Bill’s office he sees Julie heading his way. Seeing the smile on his face she says, “This is a first for me. I’ve never seen anyone leaving the Sheriff’s office with a smile on his face. Please tell me the secret.”

 

“I can’t. It’s guy stuff.”

 

“Which really means it’s probably girl stuff.”

 

Some women have a knack for hitting the nail on the head without exerting any effort. Julie just demonstrated she’d qualify for carpenter of the decade.

 

Although a little taken back by her accuracy Derrick keeps his cool and says, “Believe it or not, many men’s minds run on more than one track.”

 

“Yeah, but they all converge and eventually wind up at the same station.”

 

Laughing he comes back with, “I can see you’ve got your mind made up on this so it would be futile for me to try to convince you otherwise. To not so subtilely change the subject, I’ve cleared it with Bill for you to be with me tomorrow as well. If I need you any longer than that will depend on what goes down today or tomorrow.”

 

“Am I to be just another set of eyes and ears or will I get the chance to learn some of the Sherlock Holmes stuff?”

 

Something in the way she asked the question kept him from coming back with a wisecrack. Looking at her for a moment he could see from the expression on her face that she was half serious so he answers with, “I’m more of a Hercules Poirot fan myself, but there’s always the chance to learn if you’re so inclined. Your number one priority on this assignment though is to make sure I don’t wind up with any holes in me and to keep yourself in one piece while doing so.

 

“Get us a car and bring it around front while I print out the addresses of the wineries we’re going to be calling on today and tomorrow. I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

 

As he watches her walk away the Sheriff’s admonition pops into his mind. Deputy Styversant is far from what most people would picture a cop would look like. She looks more like a model or a movie starlet. She’s about six feet tall with the body of an athlete and she moves like one, she has thick naturally wavy dark auburn hair which is cut short and her face with its dark green eyes even though it is devoid of any makeup except for a little lipstick is absolutely gorgeous.

 

There’s a lot more to the lady though than an attractive appearance. Underneath all of that is a deadly serious, kick ass, in-your-face deputy sheriff who doesn’t take any guff from anybody. In college, she was an Olympic class swimmer, became very accomplished in some of the martial arts and acquired expert skills with all kinds of handguns. She graduated with honors with a degree in Police Science. This academic pursuit and the proficiency in the tools of the modern day warrior were motivated by revenge aimed at the kinds of low lifes responsible for the death of her father who was killed in the line of duty as a San Francisco detective when she was a freshman in college. Her dad never saw it coming as he was shot in the back.

 

On the surface, she’s a laid back, easy to get along with, individual with a quick mind and a good sense of humor, but underneath she’s a very angry and very sad daughter of a man who she adored, who was her hero, and she’s determined to make the low lifes who cross her path rue the day they decided to take the easy way out and pursue a life of crime.