CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Sally Stillwell and Harry Kincaid approached the desk marked “Visitors Check In” at the Oklahoma City Jail.
The uniformed officer behind the desk looked up when he heard their approaching footsteps. “Good afternoon, Ms. Stillwell,” he greeted. “Cool enough for you?”
“Hello Carlos,” she answered. “Sure is. We’re here to see General Hastings. Can you take care of that for us?”
“Sure. And the gentleman?” Carlos nodded toward Harry. “He’s with you?”
“Yes. Mr. Kincaid is investigating the case. He’s in from Washington,” she answered.
“Good enough,” he said, “Just step through Security. I’ll have him brought to Room 6.”
Harry followed Sally, who moved about with the familiarity of one who had been there many times before. She led him down a hall and motioned toward a substantial steel door to the right. They stepped inside. There was a six foot gray steel conference table with a green Formica top. Four chairs surrounded the table. Three walls were covered with what appeared to be acoustical tile. The fourth wall, backed up to the hallway and had a large window made of very think clear plastic. Sally had brought with her a large brief case, feminine but functional. Harry Kincaid carried nothing.
They were just about to sit when the door opened. Jack Hastings walked in wearing a bright orange jump suit. Sally was taken aback looking at the once distinguished Army officer, now standing before her in the garment of a common criminal. ‘Oh, how far the mighty fall,’ she thought.
She nodded to him as he entered not offering a hand. “General Hastings, this is Harry Kincaid. He’s come out from Washington to ask you some questions.”
Harry offered his hand, which the general took with a firm grasp. “Yes,” said Hastings. A look of encouragement seemed to flash across his face. “I know you, Kincaid.”
“Have we met, General?” asked Harry looking closely at Hastings. “I don’t recall that we have.”
“No. Let me amend that,” he said. “I know of you. I have for years.”
Sally looked from Kincaid back to Hastings. “How so?” she asked.
“Just various operations,” Hastings said smugly. “Nothing that would mean anything to you, Sally.”
“General Hastings,” Sally said firmly, but courteously, “you might want to leave your condescending tone in the jail cell that you just left. I will be representing you at trial and it would behoove you to let me decide what has meaning to me and what doesn’t.”
Harry Kincaid glanced toward Sally. Jack Hastings looked as though he had been struck by lightning. “I’m sorry. I meant nothing by that. I apologize for my tone.”
“I think the general and I may have been in the same area of operations some years back,” said Harry. “Would that be the connection, General?” he asked.
“Yes,” he answered. Looking back at Sally, Hastings said, “This man has a very distinguished record. I’m pleased that he is here. But, why?”
“General Hastings,” Harry began. “I’m with a company now called Oceanic Import-Export based in Fairfax. Because much of our work is sensitive, from a national security perspective, we’ve been retained to follow up on your sale of some MX21 firearms to the State of Sonora in Mexico.” Harry made the explanation for Sally’s sake as much as Hastings’.
“I know all about your company, Harry,” said Hastings. “I am concerned about that sale as well. I was contacted yesterday by a Rafael Carmello. He is in procurement for the Sinaloa Cartel. I had refused to sell our arms to him some time back.”
“Why did he call you yesterday?” asked Kincaid.
Hastings looked over at Sally, then back to Kincaid. “He threatened my wife. He said that the same thing that happened to the woman Friday night could happen to Jana. He demanded that I sell him our MX21.”
Sally watched Harry closely, searching for a reaction.
Kincaid showed interest. “What else did he say? Anything about the arms you already sent down there? Anything else about that deal?”
Hastings answered, “He said that they, Sinaloa, had captured that shipment. Our deal was made specifically with the Sonora Militia. The arms were supposed to be funneled to the Matamoros Cartel, to use against Sinaloa.” Hastings grew more somber. “He also said they were behind the killing of my man who went down there to finalize the shipment.”
“Pete Von Karmenn?” Kincaid asked.
“You knew him?” Hastings showed surprise.
“One of the best. We worked a lot together in Injun Country,” Kincaid acknowledged. Harry said nothing about his recent contact with Pete.
“Your deal was with the Militia?” asked Sally. “A part of the Mexican government?”
“They are all corrupt down there, Sally,” Hastings said. “My guess is that they either bought off or threatened this Capitán Juan Luis Lopez. He’s the contact. I was supposed to call Lopez to arrange another shipment.”
“When?” asked Harry. “You were supposed to call him when?”
“Today… whenever I could arrange a shipment,” answered Hastings. “Lopez was to contact this Carmello and put us in touch. This is what I told you yesterday, Sally.”
“You didn’t say anything about calling this guy Lopez,” she said.
“Well, I got thrown in here,” he said.
“Look, it’s not too late,” said Harry. “Have you got contact information for this Lopez?”
“It’s with our files up in Stillwater,” he answered. “My general manager up there can get it for you.”
“Is that Decker?” Harry asked. “Sluggo Decker?”
“Yeah,” said Hastings. “How did you know?”
“We’ve already been in touch with him,” Harry answered. He turned to Sally. “I need to get up to the plant in Stillwater. We can’t let this contact slip by. This can be my entrée into the Cartel.”
“Whoa,” said Sally. She was focused on Harry. “That’s way out of my area. My priority is getting General Hastings cleared on this murder charge. How is all this going to help me do that?”
Hastings answered, “Sally, if Kincaid here can just verify that Carmello was behind the killing like he told me on the phone, wouldn’t that do it?”
Sally turned back to Hastings. “Jack, reciting what was said in a phone call is hearsay evidence. It may sound strong to you because you spoke to this guy. But this is not forceful evidence to a jury. Your bloody footprints in the apartment and the victim’s blood all over your shoes are compelling… hard evidence.”
“Look, Sally,” Harry said, “if I play this right I should be able to do better than that.” He looked back at Hastings. “How long does it take to get to the plant in Stillwater?”
“I’ve made it in just under an hour,” Hastings answered. “It’s on the west side of town.”
Kincaid turned to Sally. “I need to get up to Stillwater. Do you want to come along? Or, should I get the car back from Bobby?”
Sally looked at her watch. It was 1:45. “How much time will you need at the plant?” she asked.
“No more than an hour, I’d guess.”
“I cleared my calendar for the afternoon. I’ll ride along if you don’t mind. I just might learn something that could help our defense,” she said. “Do you mind?”
Harry and Sally stood from the table. “Not at all,” he said. He turned to Hastings who had also stood. “General, I appreciate your help. We’ll see where this takes us.”
Hastings offered his hand. “Thanks,” he said to Harry. He didn’t know of anything else to add.
Sally rapped on the steel door which was immediately opened by the guard who had been posted just outside. She glanced over her shoulder at Hastings. “We’ll be in touch,” she said.
Sally, back behind the wheel of her Audi with Harry Kincaid in tow, drove out of the municipal parking lot adjacent to the jail and moments later was on I-35 heading north. Harry made small talk asking her about how she had come to settle in Oklahoma C
ity and heard her story about returning after law school. Still making conversation, he was about to ask her how she had met her husband when she turned to look at him.
“Wait, Harry,” she said. “Tell me about Bobby. I’ve heard my sister’s version of him. But level with me… what’s he like?”
At 42, Harry Kincaid was a few years older than Sally and recognized the question of an older sister about her kid sister’s boyfriend. Luckily, he could tell her the absolute truth about Bobby Lawson and make Sally very happy.
“He’s one of the finest guys I’ve ever known,” Harry said. “He was an incredible pilot while he was in the service. Nothing ruffles him. He’s a hard worker… He’s just a great guy.”
“Well, that’s good to know,” she said. “But what about my sister? Do you think they are serious?” She glanced at Harry, taking her eyes off the road, hoping for a clue to his sincerity.
“Well, gee, Sally,” he responded, returning her look, “What does Annie say?”
“Hey, I’m the lawyer here,” she laughed. “I get to ask the questions. But, nice try.”
Harry chuckled, too. “Well, let me put it this way… I’ve known Bobby a long time, almost ten years. You can imagine that he’s never been too hard up for a date. I’d like to just follow him into one of those Washington night spots and pick up his rejects.”
“Oh, terrific,” Sally said.
“No. Let me finish, Ms. Lawyer Lady,” he joked. “Annie’s got Bobby Lawson’s full attention. I think they are a great couple.”
“Well, that pretty much agrees with what I’ve heard from Annie. Annie has always set the bar pretty high. She’s not interested in your average Joe. But she sure seems interested in Bobby.”
Harry chuckled again. “Well, big sister, they are smart kids. They’ll be just fine.”
They fell silent and drove for another twenty miles then took the Highway 51 exit to Stillwater. Ten miles farther and Harry saw the non-descript sign stating, ‘Mesquite Manufacturing, Inc.’ Sally saw it too as she eased off the accelerator and made the right turn onto the long drive that ended in the plant’s parking lot.