Dana
Phil had returned with the two deputies he’d taken to place on surveillance. I asked Holly to have the department men returned to their regular duties and then I set Phil about getting a hold of Ron. We were going to have to work out an alternative plan and, for that; I figured I’d need some aerial assistance.
I paced the little conference room while Tim and Jason looked on, silent. We were at a virtual standstill with no observation of the comings and goings at the farm, no word yet from Gene and no idea what had happened in Morelville.
Finally, I heard voices down the hall. I knew Mel had come in from her little adventure in what was fast becoming gangster land in my eyes. When she didn’t come into the conference room right away, I stormed down the hall in search of her.
“Where is she?” My tone to Holly was demanding but I didn’t care.
“She stepped into her office. She’ll be out in a moment but she needs to complete her reports and she usually goes down...”
“Like hell!” I cut her off and marched myself right into Mel’s office. She was sitting at her desk with her head in her hands. She didn’t even look up to acknowledge my presence.
“What are you doing?”
She was quiet for several seconds longer then she rubbed her temples and looked up at me. Her expression was pure anger. “I want to get these guys and I want to get them now!”
I just sat and looked at her. I knew the anger she was feeling but I couldn’t fix it... at least, not quickly.
“Will you tell me what happened out there?”
She stared at me hard. I didn’t waver and I wasn’t going to let her off the hook. “Mel, please?”
“I did what I said I was going to do. I got some information that may even be helpful. The bad thing is I got the heebie-jeebies’ just being inside my own house and, as it turns out, with good reason. I stopped there in between parts of my plan. Sometime after I left there, someone entered and laid in wait for me. When I went back, some sort of sixth sense told me something was wrong, someone was there, so I did a little covert looking, saw movement and got the hell out of there without entering. I didn’t go in until I had backup but, by then, whoever was there was gone.”
“Oh Mel; I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault Dana. I’m a big girl. I’m a cop, for God’s sake. I knew the risks when I set out. It’s just a blow to my mind that I was so wrong about their intentions. I really thought they would lay low now!”
“I know. I sort of did too. Regardless, you can’t go back there.”
“No, you’re right.”
“You can stay with me...”
“And how do I do that? Do I have an armored escort?” Her frustration was palpable.
“We’ll figure something out.”
She sat back in her chair and then, abruptly, leaned forward. “Why did you want me back here?”
It was my turn to be frustrated and angry. “We ran into a major snag trying to set up surveillance. Someone beat us to the punch and had been using the same land we intended to use!”
“Who?”
“Dammed if I know! You tell me; did the Amish farmer say anything about anyone else being there?”
“No...”
“Did you ask?”
“Well no...but...”
“Look, Mel...” I paused and took a deep breath. It’s not her fault. I can’t pin this on her. “I know it’s not your fault. Whoever was there, the farmer probably knew nothing about. We just need to find out who else is watching the Chappell farm and take them out of the mix.”
“What a bloomin’ mess!”
“Tell me about it! Anyway, the guys are waiting in the conference room for a discussion of Plan B. Will you be joining us?”
“Yes, of course, but not right away. I have to file a report on today’s incident. I’ll go down to the squad room and do that now. There’s not much to tell. I’ll be up in about a half hour.”
“Aye, Chief!” Dana snapped off a half salute.
“Cute, but it’s ‘Sheriff’!”
“Whatever...”
Ron was in the conference room when I stepped back in there. I didn’t relish working a plan of only aerial surveillance because choppers going back and forth overhead were bound to draw attention but I couldn’t risk putting any men on Chappell land – especially if someone else was there watching the same things we were.
“Sheriff Crane will be joining us in just a bit gentlemen. She has some new info to share but I’ll wait for her on that.” Because I forgot to ask her what she found out in my concern and my anger... “The bigger news is that she’s still being targeted. Someone entered her home and laid in wait for her. The unsub escaped before he could be captured.”
Tim whistled low. “So, should we be putting surveillance on her house?”
“No. It’s too risky for her to go back there or to travel anywhere in that area.”
“Probably too risky for her to be outside of this building too,” Jason chimed in.
“Yes. Exactly. It is. We still need her knowledge so we need to have her here but there is one thing to consider; this building isn’t set up as housing for anyone but detainees. She can stay at the hotel with us but we have to figure out how to get her back and forth, unobserved.”
“I’m flying in and out of the muni airport that’s across town now, but there are several helipads nearby here,” Ron offered. If you can sneak her out daily and get her to one close by that we can get use of, I can fly her back to Cambridge with me. I can bring her back in the morning to the same pad, if necessary, too.”
“Good thinking. One of her deputies can take her in a squad leaving from right inside this building. No one will ever know she’s leaving and they can’t get to her in the air. Let’s work on that.”
“I’ll get on it when we’re finished here boss.”
“Thanks Phil.”
“Now, as for the surveillance, what are you guys thinking?”
“Dana, we have to get men on the ground.” Tim spoke and everyone else nodded. “We have to get a good look at what’s going on, on that farm. We’ve got to build our case.”
Jason asked, “Speaking of maybe building our case; any word from Gene?”
“No. I don’t have any idea how the interrogation is going at this point and we can’t count on this lawyer knowing much or, even if he does, spilling the beans.” I took a sip of water and continued. “My concern, from what Phil has seen, is that we’re not alone out there. The problem is, we don’t know who else is out there watching and when and, given that it’s not local law enforcement – obviously – that it’s probably a rival gang or locals looking to move in on the action. Hell, for all we know, Mel’s predicament might be the result of a rival gang not wanting her to find what they’re trying to take!”
“There isn’t really any indication of that... of a rival gang, is there?” The question came from Tim. I shot him a look and shrugged.
“That’s just it. We don’t even know what we don’t know.” I shook my head. As I was about to speak again, my cell vibrated on the table in front of me. I looked at the number and looked up in astonishment. I raised my finger to my lips cautioning the men gathered in the room to be quiet. “It’s my informant.”
Tim got up and stepped to the door in case Holly or Mel should appear. I answered the phone and, simultaneously, bumped my volume way up. I didn’t want to put him on speaker and spook him but I was hoping the team would be able to hear him.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Brice.”
“What’s up?”
“Hey, I uh... well, I got an extra job today.”
“Yeah?” I was trying not to sound too eager.
“Unloading a truck and breaking down pallet loads for other trucks.”
“Hot merchandise?”
“Probably. ‘Dunno.”
“Any idea where it came from?”
“Nope. Didn’t get to see no paperwork. Truck what come in had Michigan plates.”
“Any more coming?”
“Forman says there’ll be more work when he paid me cash money when we was finished. Didn’t say when.”
“Where you calling from?”
“I’m at home. My girl ain’t here yet.”
“Gotcha. I appreciate the info.”
“No problem.” He hung up.
Tim returned to his chair. I looked around at the team. “Everyone heard?”
There were nods all around.
Tim spoke, “If he’ll corroborate, we have enough to go ahead now with the subpoena requests. I can send them on their way.”
“I’m not that far with him yet and I don’t know how much I can trust him, unfortunately. Still, we can probably establish reasonable suspicion and get a judge to go for it.”
Holly walked into the room. “Gene is on line two. Would you like me to set it up for you?”
“Please. Thanks!”
The phone was still on the conference table from our morning chat. I looked at the wall clock. It was nearly 5:00 PM our local time. He’d only been in Chicago a few hours. I’ll bet he didn’t get anything out of him or the guy lawyered up!
Holly pushed a couple of buttons and nodded.
“Gene, it’s Dana. The team is here too.”
Gene cut right to the chase, “Jonathan Joseph carried the hit order Dana.”