“I can’t do that to either one of you, I won’t do it.”
Krista’s teeth were clenched so tight, her jaw hurt. She inhaled sharply. The realization of the past couple of years came crashing down on her.
“What exactly do you think you do to us when we can’t find you for weeks on end? When sleep isn’t an option because we’re worried we’ll miss your call if you need us. Or even worse, thinking we’ll get a call from a hospital or whatever police station that might have found you dead. I’m not taking excuses from you. You have one of two choices: either you go down to Loving Light and get your act back together, or you are on your own. We can’t do this anymore, or at least I can’t.”
All the air swooshed out of Evans' lungs. His shoulders fell as he rubbed his hands up and down on his pant legs. Krista looked over to him and could see his already hollowed features seemed to fade more.
“I’m sorry Evan, I am, but enough is enough. We almost lost you already. I’m not going to sit here and let you do that to us again.”
He slid his fingers thru his hair, turning his head towards the window. Not knowing what to say. He inhaled through his nose as his eye started filling with tears. He took his hands and rubbed them across his face, trying to compose himself.
“This is the longest I haven’t been high in what feels like forever. My body feels like someone used it as a punching bag, but my mind is clear. I know I have hurt you and Dana. I don’t like who I have become. I’ll go, I’ll do whatever it takes not to lose the both of you too.”
“I’ll talk to Dana and Tom, and we’ll get the ball rolling. I want you to stay at my place tonight until we sort everything out with you.”
“Thank you, Krista, thank you for everything. I don’t think I would have made it if I didn’t know you were out here fighting for me. I can’t believe I actually survived that place. I can’t even begin to explain what it’s like in there. The noise alone will make you lose your mind.”
“Prison isn't supposed to be a place of rest and relaxation.”
“I know, it’s just that it is so much worse than I could have ever imagined.”
“You were in what is referred to as SHU, —— Housing Unit. If you were in general population, it would have been worse. That’s what you need to keep in mind.”
“I don’t want to think about it. I would rather just push the entire experience out of my mind forever.”
“Evan, rehab isn’t easy, if you think that, then you should reevaluate your situation. When it starts to get tough, you need to remember it. You need to remember it and pull strength from it. It will help you stay focused.”
“Just because I want to push it out of my mind, doesn’t mean that I will be able to. I feel like I was living a nightmare. One that you couldn’t wake up from, I will remember, forever.”
“I would like to say I’m sorry that you ended up in jail, but if because of it, you’ll get your life back in order. I have to say I am grateful.”
Evan's eyes went so wide, his forehead lined, “Am I really that bad?”
“Let's just focus on the now. You’re out of prison, that is a check in the positive column already. You have Rosa to thank for that; she was truly worried about you.”
“I know, I would like to go see her and thank her personally. Without your persistence and her stepping up, I would probably have been sentenced for Nelson’s murder.”
“We can arrange a visit. I just need to find out where she is. We put her up in a safe house for a couple of reasons.”
“A safe house? What for?”
“For one, to get her away from her husband.”
“That’s not what safe houses are for. What gives?”
“Let’s just say she knows the streets of Camden and we’ll leave it like that.”
Evan looked over to his sister, taking in her entire being, so happy to have had her in his corner.
As they pulled into the underground parking to Krista’s building, Evan looked at Krista, his eyes so sad. “I’m sorry Krista, I am so sorry to have put you and Dana through hell.”
“Get better for us. Go and get yourself healthy. That’s all we ask of you.”
She turned into her parking spot and turned off the car. Evan got out and followed Krista up the elevator to her condo.
“You go take a shower and wash that place off you. I bought another set of clothes for you that I didn’t bring to the jail when I brought your suit for court. They are in the bottom drawer of the tall dresser in my bedroom. Towels are in the closet as you first walk into the bathroom. While you do that, I’m going to call Dana.”
“A hot shower is just what I need.”
She waited until she heard the water running, to call Dana.
“Krista, did you make it back home already?”
“I did, I have to go back to the hotel and pack up my belongings and check out. I wanted to get Evan settled first.”
“Don’t worry about checking out right now. I’m sure Tom won’t mind either. It’s just good to have Evan out of that place and back home. How is he?”
“He looks like hell, but he seems okay. He’s in the shower. I wanted to call you while he’s out of earshot.”
“Why, what’s the matter?”
“I need your help. On the way back to the condo, we talked about rehab. He needs to go and not somewhere close to home.”
“I agree with that. What do you have in mind?”
“Florida, Derrick has a friend who went to a facility called Loving Light. They're supposed to be the best. I need your help with the insurance aspect. If you could make some calls and find out what they will cover and what we need to pick up, that would be helpful. I’m not even sure if they are on plan or not.”
“I can do that, can you send me the address of the rehab center, the phone number too, if you have it.”
“I don’t have the number or the address. I figured you could Google it. I am only going by what Derrick had said. I thought maybe between you and Tom, you do some digging and see if that is a place we should send him.”
“This is right in Tom’s wheelhouse. He loves surfing the net. I’ll put him on that, and I’ll call the insurance company.”
“Make sure you tell them that he is currently not on any drugs. Let them know that he detoxed already. The cost will probably be lower. I think he would be able to go into a sober living facility straight off.”
“I’ll get all the programs they offer and see which one Evan would benefit the most from.”
“Dana, I have a decent size savings account, depending on what is covered, I can help with Evans care.”
“There’s no need for that. Tom and I discussed this when everything had first blown up. We can take care of it.”
“I’m sure you did, I am also sure it was before you found out you were pregnant. I, not only can I help, I want to help.”
“Fine. I’ll let you know what I come up with.”
“Thanks, Dana.”
“No need to thank me, we are all in this together. Family first, remember? Why don’t you two come for dinner tonight? I’ll make something simple, how about tacos with mom’s style Spanish rice?”
“Sounds nice, what time?”
“Whenever you can get here.”
“Two hours should work.”
“In the meantime, I’ll make those calls.”
40
Proof
As Boyd was exiting the interrogation room, his phone sounded. He opened an email from the DOJ’s (Department of Justice) secure server. The message read: Phone tap results; they are from the previous three months.
Boyd rushed to his workstation he had set up earlier. He connected a headset and opened the emails attachments. He was still listening to the recording when Travis walked in. He pushed pause and took the headset off.
“What are you listening to? We finally get the phone taps?”
“Yeah, the DOJ just sent them through, three months’ worth. I’ve been going through th
em.”
“Anything worth pursuing?”
“There’s a lot of cryptic conversation, at least that’s my take on it. Nothing too incriminating, most of it, he’s just confirming appointments that they made.”
“I’m going to get some paperwork done. I figured I’d do it from here. It’s a pain in the ass going back and forth.”
“That’s why I planted myself here too.”
Boyd plugged back into the computer listening to the recording. Travis started writing up his report. Just as he was finishing up, he heard Boyd say, “I’ll be damned.” He yanked the jack for the headset from the computer and backed the recording up. Slamming his hand on his desk had Travis stop what he was doing and look up. “This shit is definitely connected. Listen to this.”
“Nelson, what’s up?”
“What the fuck is going on? I just got a call from Jeff. He wants me to go to California in his place.”
“Yeah, I know, he called me, I suggested he send you. . .
Travis looked at Boyd as if he had five heads. “Yeah, we know all that. What makes you- “
“Wait there’s more.”
“I can get to York Street before Jeff does. He won’t even know I’m there. I’ll stay in the shadows. He won’t even see it coming. I’ll shoot that bastard, right between the eyes and enjoy every minute of it. I don’t know who the hell he thinks he is ordering me around like some two-bit grease ball. I’ll get out of there and to the airport, alibi established.”
Travis dark eyebrows knitted together looking like one. “So it was Mitkin that they were going to off, and things went south. Then we have Doltz picked up on conspiracy charges. What does that do for us?”
“Just listen, damn it.”
“That takes balls if you ask me. You willing to do that?”
“Damn straight. He said I have all that's needed for this meeting, well he’s right. Even more important, WE have all it takes to run this operation. Why have him screw it up in the final phases?” …
Travis didn’t say another word until the recording ended. “'Final phases,' sounds about right to me. Hendricks wasn’t even on our radar. We all thought he was just a yes man. U drive car rental, wait a minute. Stevenson, the uniform, he told Krista that they had found a rental car not far from the scene. It was one from U Drive. I spoke to him about it just today when I was there. He said they ran the name on the paperwork and it didn't pop. We need to go down there and question them.”
“Finally a break we were looking for. You go, I’ll stay here and listen to the balance of the taps.”
“At least we didn’t get back to Manhattan and hear these.”
“Damn straight.”
Travis exited the building and made his way to his car. When he got to U Drive, it was like pulling teeth to get any information.
The clerk behind the counter was like every other hourly employee out there.
“I wasn’t working that day. I don’t know what to tell you.”
“How about you pull up the information on the computer.”
“Do you have a warrant or something? My boss isn’t gonna like this.”
“Your boss isn’t here and if he or she was, I not asking for his left arm. Just pull up that day.”
“I don’t know; I don’t think I should.”
“How about this, I’m going to go outside, when I get back in here, you have what I need, or you can spend the day down at the station.”
Travis slipped out of the door and put a call into Stevenson.
“Stevenson, it’s Wilks. You got a minute?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I need the info you pulled on the rental that Camden PD found the day of the York murder.”
“I just stepped in the station. Walk with me, and I can pull it in a matter of minutes.”
Travis stayed on the phone, listening to Stevenson shuffling through papers.
“Got it.”
He gave Travis the name and address the car was rented to. “It all was a dead end; no one popped in the system with that name. I ran it through DMV, and they have no such person. I even took it a little further when I heard about the murder Vic. I wanted to see if he had possibly rented it. The DMV info said he owned a black Mercedes S650 Cabriolet, no need to be renting from U Drive when you have that in your garage.”
“I think we got a lead on this. Thanks for the info. I tried to get it from the clerk down here, what a joke.”
“I know what you mean. Let me know if you come up with anything. I had to hand this off, but I’d still like to know.”
“No problem, and thanks again.”
Travis didn’t even bother walking in to tell the clerk he had what he needed. He got in his car and was about to leave when the wind whipped up. There was a car covered with canvas in the corner of the lot. The wind sent the canvas flying. There sat a black Mercedes S650 Cabriolet. Not a car you would see at a U Drive car rental, and the exact make and model Stevenson said Hendricks owned.
He put a call through to Boyd, explaining the situation. “See if you can get a warrant. I want to go through that car. Who knows what we might come up with.”
“I’ll get on that right away. Send me the address of the U Drive you’re at. And Travis, I want in on this.”
Travis sent the address, and before he had a chance to step out of his car, a stocky dark-haired man came out of the building. His short arms flaring outward as he spoke.
“You need to get off of my property.”
“You don’t get to tell me what I need to do. I get to tell you. Are you the owner?” Just as he was about to say something, Travis’s phone pinged. The text read, “You have the warrant, I’m shooting it over to your email. I already put a call through to the local PD. Owner: Samuel Grimes, I’m on my way.”
He looked at the guy and said, “Are you, Samuel Grimes?”
“Yes, what’s it to you?”
“I have a warrant to search your property, step back.”
“A warrant for what? I rent cars.”
“A warrant to search your lot.”
“I want to see it. You’re not going anywhere until I see it.”
The clerk ran out the door and stood next to the Grimes. “That’s him, that’s the guy who wanted me to give him information about the car we have.”
“Shut the hell up Paul, get back to work.”
“I just …”
“Paul, now.”
Paul walked back to the office and Grimes arms started flying through the air yet again.
“Like I said, no warrant, no searching.”
“I have a warrant, and I will be searching your lot.”
“Where’s your ID? I want to see your ID.”
Travis pulled his jacket aside at the same time he took his phone out and pulled up the warrant. “It is right here,” he said as he showed Grimes his phone. “Now go get me the keys to every car on this lot.”
Grimes's head spun around when he heard gravel crunching. Three patrol cars pulled up alongside where he stood.
Stevenson exited one of the cars and walked up to Travis. Nodding his head slightly towards Travis saying “Wilks, where do you want us to start?”
“You stay with Mr. Grimes here while he gets the keys and I’ll get started. The rest of you follow me.”
Travis walked across the lot, out of earshot of Grimes. “Search every car on the lot and run the vehicle’s identification numbers. The warrant is only for the lot; we can’t enter the premises.”
Stevenson called out, waving keys in the air. Travis retrieved them, looking through them he didn’t see the keys he was looking for. He split the keys up and handed them out.
“You have a black Mercedes at the back of the lot. Where are the keys?”
“I don’t have them. The guy asked if he could keep the car here until he got back. I said yes.”
“So you put a cover on it. Aren’t you nice.”
Boyd pulled into the lot and got out of his car. H
e slid his badge onto the front of his coat and grabbed the warrant from the passenger's seat. He walked up to Travis and handed him the warrant. Travis waved it in Grimes’s face.
“Mr. Grimes here says he doesn’t have the keys to the Mercedes out back, says he was just holding it for his customer.”
Boyd looked from Travis back to Grimes, “Then tell me how it made its way past all of these other cars and to the back of your lot.”
“I’m telling you, I don’t have the keys.”
Travis motioned towards the office, “We need to know who left the car here. Either that, or we could get the States Attorney to issue a warrant and tear this place apart, your books and all.”
Beads of sweat started to form on Grimes’s forehead despite the freezing wind blowing around the lot. “John Neller, he rented a car and left that one here. John Neller, that was his name.”
“When did he say he would be back?”
“He didn’t, he only rented the car for a day, so I figured he’d be back last Saturday. When he didn’t show up, I moved his car to the back of the lot for safe keeping.”
“Safekeeping, my ass, get me the keys. Stevenson, accompany Mr. Grimes in the building to get the keys.”
“I don’t have them. I don’t know what happened to 'em; they were misplaced.”
Travis looked at Boyd and nodded his head. All Boyd said was, “I’m on it.”
Stevenson, keep an eye on Grimes. The rest of you, fan out.
The other officers spread out across the lot and Travis bee lined it to the Mercedes at the back of the lot. The tarp that once covers it was laying on the ground against the fence. He tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge; peering into the car he caught a glimpse of what looked like a leather belt, sticking out from under the front seat. When he stood back up, Boyd was walking towards him. “I got a hold of the judge; he extended the warrant to include the office and the car detail area. While I was at it, I had the plate run, and it is definitely Hendricks car.”
“Perfect, we need to call the crime unit and get them out here. It seems to me that he has chop shop on site. Did you see all the car parts behind the building? Seems fishy for a rental car company.”
Vindication- Ties That Bind Page 18