Once Holly left for the evening, I locked myself into my office then I changed out of my uniform into some sweats and sat down to do more research. By 9:00 PM I still hadn’t heard from Dana and I was getting very tired. My body ached from my vehicular tumble into the creek. My office, unfortunately, offered me little in the way of creature comforts. Since it was temporary, I’d left it pretty Spartan. I’d never intended to live out of it. I was regretting not doing more with it now.
An hour later, I gave up on accomplishing anything else. I curled up, aches and all, on the floor and I was attempting to use my gun belt for a pillow when my cell phone rang. It was Dana.
“Finally!”
“I’m in Cleveland Mel, on the way to my apartment now. Where are you?”
“Still in my office at the station.”
“I’ll bet that’s comfy!”
I wasn’t about to let her know the extent of my pain. “What’s the scoop?”
“We’ll have a small team on site there tomorrow afternoon to work out of your location…”
I interrupted. “Define small.”
“Me and three others. There will be an aerial recon component to the op but the pilot will locate elsewhere most of the time. How did your research go?”
“Honestly? Not well. I’ve pulled up some possible target areas. Maybe something will jump out for one of you. I do have one more trick up my sleeve though. I’ll know more by the time your team is on site tomorrow.”
“Until tomorrow then. ‘Hate to cut this short but I’ve got to get some sleep, Mel.”
You’re telling me! “Good night Dana. See you tomorrow.”
Chapter 21 – Ops
Mel
Somewhere around 1:00 AM I remembered we had holding cells in the building. Though we don’t give our temporary ‘guests’ much to snuggle with, they at least get a blanket and a pillow. After smacking myself in the forehead for not thinking of it before, I had the graveyard shift desk sergeant round up a few pillows and blankets for me. I don’t remember much after that until my cell phone alarm went off at 5:00 AM. I wanted to get showered and changed into a fresh uniform in the locker room, before the morning shift change.
Though I really didn’t want to, at 7:00 AM I called out to the farm. I’d talked to my folks the day before to let them know I was all right before they heard about my misfortune from someone else. My mother had subjected me to another tirade then about the dangers of my work. That wasn’t something I needed again just now but there was personal stuff I did need and it made sense to have someone gather it up and then have Holly pick it up as she went through the area on her way to see Delores.
“Mom? It’s Mel.”
“Where are you? Are you okay? What’s going on? Melissa, I swear…”
I cut her off. “Mom! Mom! I’m fine. I’m at the station. I’ll be staying here today. Nothing’s going to happen to me here.”
“We’re just so worried about you honey!” She let out a sob.
“Mom, please don’t cry. I’m fine. Everything is going to be fine. Now please; I need a little help.”
She sniffled. “What could I do? I don’t know anything about what you do!”
“There’s a patrol officer that’s still watching my house. I need a couple more uniforms, and some other clothes. Please ask dad to run your key for the place to the officer and have him go in and get me some things.”
“I’ll just go myself. Those men won’t know what to get Melissa!”
“Mom, I don’t want you going into town and I don’t want anyone going into or anywhere near the house but the officer. I’ll call him and let him know what to get. It will be fine!”
“I’ll just get your father on the phone. Just hang on a minute.”
“Just let him know mom. I have what I need for now. I love you. Bye.” I hung up before she could say anything else then I called my deputy on the scene and gave him my list. I instructed him to run the items out to the farm after he’d collected them then I called dispatch to have another officer replace him. Once that little chore was crossed off my mental checklist, I called Holly and asked her to swing by the farm first, before her covert mission, to pick up my uniforms then I was off and running to get a room set up for Dana’s team.
Holly arrived at the station just after 10:00 AM. She came bearing clothes, extra toiletries and, courtesy of both my mom and her planned stop at the Morelville General Store, food. My mind was swirling but I was also famished. We both tucked in hungrily while Holly gave her report of her morning recon.
“Your mom’s really worried about you Sheriff.”
“I know but there’s really nothing I can do about that. She’s just going to have to find a way to cope with the dangers of my job.”
“Please take this in the spirit that it’s meant… I’m speaking as your friend…”
I glared at her.
“Mel, we’re friends, right?”
I sighed. “Yes. Of course we are.” I knew I was about to get a lecture.
“I don’t know about your dad but this is definitely hard for your mom. Hell, it’s hard for my mom to deal with me being a deputy even though, since I started working up here for you, I’m usually well out of harm’s way. You’re out there on the front line. Bad, stupid shit happens to you.
“She loves you Mel. She worries. Any mother would. I don’t mean to tell you what to do, but I think you should try and cut her just a little bit of slack, hon. Show a bit of understanding for her position.”
“Okay! Okay! I get it. I’ll try. For right now though, I need as much intel as I can get because there’s a Customs investigative team on the way here to set up operations and I’ve got next to nothin’ to give them.”
“I don’t know how much help what I have for you is going to be. I went to the store like we talked about and checked out the bulletin board. Sure enough, her business card was posted. I called her, told her I was standing at the store and asked her if she was available to do notary service right then. She said yes, ‘come ahead’ and she directed me to her house.”
“Her place is just like you said it would be. She’s a packrat but she’s a neat and organized one. She had everything she was hoarding sorted into clear plastic boxes. You could see exactly what was in everything. In the room she does her notary stuff in, the kitchen and her apparent lounge area as well, what I could see was mostly office supplies in the totes.” There was absolutely no computer in evidence and, in fact, I noticed an IBM style electric typewriter on a stand and one tote with several bottles of white out in it.”
“Did you ask her about using computers like we talked about?”
“Yes, of course. That set her off on a tirade. She talked to me like she’d always known me. Said that she’d had a computer back in such and such day and it got a virus and caused her nothing but grief, blah, blah, blah, and that she would never have one again. You owe me for that one! She’s a feisty old broad!”
“That she is. Did you see anything that piqued your suspicions at all?”
“Nothing suspicious, per se; just things that seemed a bit odd given her dislike of computers and her personality.”
“Like what?”
“She had stacks of new books laying around…neatly, but still all around the room. Mostly non-fiction stuff like genealogy and biography. There are no bookstores around so where’s she getting all the books? Is she ordering them? If so, how? Also, she had a cell phone; not a touch screen smart phone mind you, but more like a knock off Blackberry. Maybe it was a Blackberry. I couldn’t get a good look. For someone that doesn’t like computers, what’s she doing with more than a basic ‘old person’ phone? Wouldn’t she be happier with a Jitterbug or something similar?”
“You’re right; that’s a little out of character for her b
ut, she’s pretty tight with a dollar. Maybe she got a deal for the phone. That’s not enough for me to say there’s anything there. Anything else?”
Holly kept to the same track. “We could subpoena her phone records.”
“Based on what? We have nothing to give a judge to warrant one. What else do you have? Think!”
She leaned back and stared at the ceiling for several seconds. “She has a massive flat screen TV and it’s hooked to cable. It was playing a FOX News cast while I was there.” Holly paused. “Which could mean her old TV finally took a crap,” I said.
“Or it could mean she has money to burn. Think about it; she’s retired on a small pension and social security. She despises computers and yet she has a Blackberry and an expensive, high tech TV.”
“That’s a reach Holly and we both know it.” I thought about Dana’s case. “Was there anything that looked designer or designer knock off?”
“Nope, not unless the TV and the phone were. No purses or other accessories in view and she was in basic old woman clothes…”
“Define “old woman clothes.” I was mystified at that one.
“Mel, you know what I’m talking about; knit pants with a stretch waist and a pullover top. Functional and a step up from jeans and a tee but nothing special.”
“We still got nothin’.”
Holly raised her eyebrows. “Sheriff, my gut tells me there’s something there. I just can’t put my finger on it yet.”
“Could your gut be telling you that because you want to believe there’s really something there?” I was frustrated and I was letting it show.
“Look, maybe. But, I really don’t think so. Let me mull it all a bit longer. What time’s the team coming in from Customs?”
“Dana Rossi, the Agent that was here before, is the agent leading this case. She said they’d be here in the afternoon. My guess is they’re all coming from the Cleveland or Columbus areas and they’ll be here any time now. They have a short time window to wrap this all up.”
“Okay. I’ll head to my desk and catch up on email and stuff… let my subconscious work on it for a while.”
I just nodded. Another dead end.
###
Starvation, at least, wasn’t in the plans for me during my self-imposed confinement to the station. Dana and one of her teammates, Special Agent Tim Singer, arrived shortly after noon with enough subs to feed my whole department. Introductions were made all around then I showed them to the conference room that we’d set up for them. Two more men arrived minutes later and were introduced as Jason and Phil.
Dana, though dressed very casually, was the picture of professionalism with her team. It was hard, but I kept my smile to myself. The girl really can hold her own! My admiration for her grew.
We all chit-chatted a bit as we sat and ate, but lunch was polished off quickly and we got down to business. Laptops started appearing on the table and a mini LCD projector was hooked up and aimed at one white wall. Holly produced a large paper map of the area as well for our use as the discussion progressed.
“Sheriff, would you please fill the team in on your counterfeit investigation and where it stands?”
I nodded to Dana then I turned and spoke to the team. “Mel is fine or however you all are accustomed to addressing each other.” The guys all chuckled. “Okay, then Mel or Sheriff.” I grinned as there were smiles all around. This would be an easy bunch to work with.
“About a month ago, counterfeit bills started showing up in the county. We made a concerted effort to alert the local media and all of the merchants but there was little payoff as far as intel from bills that were collected. It seems they got into general circulation around here and most of the people passing them didn’t realize they had fake bills. We even got one that was so good, an ATM machine didn’t reject it as phony and passed it along.” I shifted my eyes toward Dana but didn’t turn. Holly didn’t know what was going on but the guys on the team all laughed.
Tim elbowed Holly. “I’ll fill you in later.”
Dana jumped in. “Very funny Sheriff. If you’re done with your little dig, please continue.” She was smiling though so I knew I hadn’t offended her, just maybe wounded her pride a little.
After the first few bills had appeared, I was in touch with the Secret Service. They sent an agent to investigate. About the same time, I got a local tip about a potential bill passer. One thing led to another and, currently that man, a local by the name of Travis Stearman, and two other men DeWayne Dawes and Bryant Quinn out of Chicago, are being held in federal custody for questioning.”
Jason cleared his throat. “If I understand correctly, you were run off the road by one of them, weren’t you Mel?”
“Not quite. They were already in custody here awaiting transfer to the feds when that incident occurred. I’m told the two men in the vehicle that ran me off the road and took shots at me and at other local law enforcement officers were apprehended. They’re also out of Chicago. They’re currently being held by the Zanesville PD and due to be indicted today. Other than giving my statement and explaining what I’m personally working on, I’ve been kept out of that investigation.”
Dana turned to Tim. “We’ll need to question them.” He wrote something on a notepad and then nodded toward me to continue.
“That’s all I have with regards to that particular investigation. There are certainly crossovers into your smuggling investigation but I’m sure you’re all already up to speed on all of that.”
Dana got to her feet and took the floor. “Actually, we’re going to go over all of it from top to bottom. Everybody has bits and pieces, including you and your department. When we lay out everything we have, we may see connections we couldn’t see before. Let’s take a few minutes to gather our thoughts and collect up our notes and let’s pick this back up. Mel, I believe we should talk first about an inquiry you were doing, am I right?”
“Uh, yeah. True. Holly, you need to be a part of this too.” The three of us quickly adjourned to my office.
As soon as the door closed, I began to speak; “Dana, I’m afraid we probably don’t have a lead for you…”
Holly interrupted. “Hold on Mel. I’ve been mulling things since you and I talked a couple of hours ago. We may be able to connect some dots.”
Dana looked back and forth between us. “One of you please tell me what’s going on!”
“Patience isn’t her strong suit,” I informed Holly.
She laughed. “I see. Let me get right to it then. Mel got a tip that there’s a local Morelville woman who’s in her late sixties, whose nickname is ‘Relic’. She’s a character in the village and she knows Mel well.”
“I checked her out online,” I supplied, “and found some interesting things out about her as far as the machinations of her family and its holdings go. They own a few farms and quite a bit of land but nothing that appears out of the ordinary.”
Dana leaned forward. “Farms?” Her heightened interest was very evident.
“Er, yes. They have a small family farm where they focus on horses, a crop production farm and a large dairy farming operation. Delores… Relic, and her brother are the trustees that operate all of the family farms. Heath is the day to day operator though. Their parents, though still alive and living on family lands, don’t seem to be in the operational picture. Delores herself doesn’t live on any of the family land. She lives near me in the village. The whole arrangement all seems a bit odd.”
Holly nodded toward me. “She didn’t think Delores was really the person you’re looking for but we devised a little mission for me to get into her home and check things out.”
“She didn’t find much that’s of any value to your team, unfortunately.”
“On the contrary! You may have just blown our case wide ope
n.” Dana’s excitement was obvious. “A farm, I’m told, is where all of the action is happening.”
Holly spoke up again. “Mel, does Delores keep the books for the farms?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I remembered something else. She had a stack of old fashioned style but pretty new looking financial ledger books in the house and she has office supplies out the wazoo in her totes.”
Dana gave me a quizzical look.
“Delores is a highly organized hoarder.” I eyed Holly. “She’s also a retired bookkeeper. She spent 30 some years with some firm.”
Dana asked, “Is she an accountant or CPA; someone we could trace?”
“Unfortunately, not that I’m aware of. She’s up there in years. Women just didn’t get into those sorts of positions back in her day. It’s possible she could be doing the books for the farms but two of those operations are huge and complicated…”
“Or she could be keeping the books for something else entirely not farm related. Let’s all head back to the conference room and put our heads together on this. I think our puzzle is starting to form.”
Chapter 22 – Dana’s Game
“Gentleman, would one of you be so kind as to pin up that map Holly brought in?”
Jason jumped up and tacked the county map to the wall.
“Thanks Jay. I’m sorry if I’m repeating myself on some of this information but, in the interest of getting everyone on the same page, I’m going to put everything we know so far out there.” There were nods all around.
“I had a conversation with an inmate at Stateville in Illinois, DeShawn Dawes. Dawes was a truck driver for a company that’s owned through a holding company by the Chicago based street gang, the Gangster Demons. DeWayne Dawes, one of the men the Secret Service is holding for questioning in Mel’s counterfeiting case, is DeShawn’s older brother and a known member of the Demons. The other man in Service custody, Bryant Quinn, is also a known Gangster Demon and he drives for the same gang owned trucking company that DeShawn drove for before his incarceration.”
I paused and looked at each face in the room. “Here’s where the two cases collide, folks. Quinn has a regular run delivering to a farm off of State Route 44 here in the county. Dawes has run it several times too. Mel, can you point out where 44 runs?” I waited while Mel got up and pointed the route out on the map.