Three hours after the bail hearing, Adrian pulled his truck into the ranch with Steve and Faith in the front with him. The cruiser, with Joey in it, followed Adrian. Mike Scully followed in his Cadillac behind the cop car.
They all got out of the vehicles. Aunt Bea came jogging out the front door. She opened her arms wide to Joey as she jogged off the porch. They hugged.
“Oh baby boy,” she moaned over his shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” he said like he had only been gone for an hour.
They all went inside.
The two police officers set up the base to the ankle monitor in the den and secured the monitor on Joey’s ankle.
“All right, Mr. Matthews, you’re all set,” one of the officers said. “You can go to the end of the driveway, but that’s it. If you stray too far from the base, an alarm will go off. If you keep going while the alarm is going off, the Elliot Sheriff's Department will be notified electronically through the device. It will be considered a violation of your bail, and you’ll be back in county. Do you understand?”
“I do,” Joey said.
“All right, you folks have a good evening,” the officer said.
The two cops left.
“I would kill for a drink right now,” Joey said.
“What would you like?” Aunt Bea asked.
“Bourbon, beer, vodka, anything as long as it is alcohol,” Joey said and ran his hand through his thin brown hair.
“Let’s all have bourbon,” Steve said as he walked to the bar.
Aunt Bea joined Steve at the bar to help him fix the drinks.
“Mike, you want one, too?” Aunt Bea asked.
“Yes, please,” Mike said. “We need to discuss your case, Joey. Since you can’t come down to the office, we’ll just meet here when we need to.”
“All right, fine,” Joey said.
“I need to know everything that happened four years ago. Every detail,” Mike said and sat down in an armchair.
Joey blew out. “Mike, it’s not that easy. This was supposed to go with me to the grave.”
“Well, you getting arrested shot that plan all to hell,” Mike said bluntly. “I can’t help you unless I know everything.”
Aunt Bea walked over to everyone with a tray filled with glasses full of bourbon. She sat the tray on the wood coffee table. “Joey, I don’t know what’s going on, but something tells me it has something to do with your father.”
“And me,” Adrian said as he sat up on the sofa and took two glasses off the tray. He gave one drink to Faith who was sitting next to him on the couch.
“May as well tell us the story, Joey,” Steve said. “You know we aren’t going to let it go now.”
Aunt Bea handed Joey a glass.
“Start from the beginning,” Mike said.
“Four years ago, after Adrian got arrested for beating up the guy that got Rosita pregnant, Daddy scrambled to get Adrian out of trouble. He was able to bribe the girl who worked at the hotel to change her story. Daddy gave her enough money to get out of town and to stay out of town. The governor of Texas – at that time - was an old school friend of Daddy’s. He called him up and called in a favor. The governor owed Daddy for saving his life twenty years ago. I don’t know that story. All Daddy would tell me was that he saved the governor’s life twenty years ago and that’s all I needed to know,” Joey said and took a gulp of his bourbon. He swallowed hard.
“So, Daddy brought you in from the beginning,” Adrian said.
“No, I found out what he was doing by accident. He told me all this after the deeds were done,” Joey said. “You see, I was in the stables one day, and Daddy didn’t know I was there. He had left his office door open. He was talking to the governor over speakerphone. The governor could get the charges dropped against Adrian, but he didn’t know how to cover it up. He had said no one was willing to risk getting caught erasing computer files and destroying evidence in the courthouse or the police station in Elliot. That’s when I made my presences known,” Joey said, and then took another sip of his bourbon. “Daddy told the governor he would call him back and quickly hung up on him. Daddy was pissed. We went at it for I don’t know how long, but in the end, I convinced him that I could help and wanted to help.”
Steve said what Adrian was thinking. “I can’t believe you convinced him to let you get involved,” Steve said and sipped his bourbon.
“I think he was stuck on how to….erase the rest of the evidence,” Joey said. “Do ya’ll remember when I went to that community college in the city for a year to take some classes?”
“Yeah,” Adrian said.
“Well, I met a lot of folks there. One guy was going there to save money on general ed. classes. He was going to transfer to a four-year college in a year. He was into computers. Real good with them. It was rumored that he hacked into the school’s database once and changed some grades for a couple of students. He never got caught. Hell, I paid him to type my papers for me. I wrote them longhand, but he would type them up. His name was Andy. Anyway, I told Daddy about him and I was sure he would help us out for a fee. Daddy agreed to let me talk to the guy about it. Reluctantly, but he agreed,” Joey said.
Mike stood up. “I see. Go on.” Mike took a sip of his bourbon as he started to pace.
“I called Andy up and met him a few miles outside of town. I told him what we needed done. Andy had said he had to study the courthouse and sheriff station’s computer system before he agreed to anything. A few days later, he called me back and said he could pull it off, but it was going to costs us fifteen hundred and he had to be in the courthouse or the sheriff's station to hack into the county system’s router – whatever that is. Well, the courthouse was too hard to break into,” Joey said with a shrug.
“So you broke into the sheriff’s office,” Adrian said flatly.
“Yep. I know how to pick a lock, but it would have been obvious,” Joey said. “Daddy came up with an idea. He invited the sheriff and both his deputies to Drew’s one night to buy them a beer. I came along. Of course, I wasn’t old enough to drink at the time, but Drew still let me in. Daddy bought them a round of drinks, and then another, then another, and another until one of the deputies was good and drunk. I offered to drive him home. He agreed. I drove him home, and when I got him home, I swiped his keys. I met Andy a block away from the station, snuck in the station with him, and he hacked the system with his laptop. While Andy was doing that, I found Adrian’s case file in the file cabinet and took it. We left the station. I left the window open at the deputy’s house, so all I had to do was reach in and put his keys on the nightstand in his bedroom. He was still passed out. Andy and I met Daddy back on the ranch in the stables. I gave Daddy the hard copy file, and he paid Andy. Later on, I learned that Daddy burned Adrian’s hard copy file in the barrel behind the barn.”
“Shit,” Steve mumbled and shook his head. “I knew Daddy was smart, but I didn’t know he could plan an operation like Napoleon.”
“Yep,” Joey said. “After Andy left, Daddy opened the desk drawer and pulled out two glasses and a bottle of top-shelf bourbon. When he was pouring it, he had said I earned a drink. That was the first time I drank bourbon. As we were drinking, Daddy told me the stuff he did before I got involved. Then, he had said that we couldn’t tell anybody what we did, not even you, Adrian,” Joey said and looked at his brother. “Daddy thought you wouldn’t be able to handle the load because of how honest and straightforward you are.”
Adrian’s father was right. If Adrian hadn’t gotten involved with Rosita, – hell, if he hadn’t lost his temper so badly, none of this would have happened. Joey wouldn’t be facing prison time and Adrian, Steve, and Joey wouldn’t be under investigation by the DEA. Adrian felt terrible. He took a long draw from his glass of bourbon.
“This secret stayed between Daddy and me for four years. The governor that got the charges dropped against Adrian died last year. We never heard from the girl who worked at the hotel ever
again. Sheriff Langford had no idea what the hell happened. The DA at the courthouse at the time didn’t ask questions. Andy had transferred to a college in Cali and gotten a job in Silicon Valley. Daddy is dead, now. I’m the only living soul that knew exactly what was done to save Adrian’s ass.”
“Not anymore,” Adrian said flatly. “If I hadn’t-”
“Don’t,” Joey said in a deep tone. His brown eyes were like steel. “You made a mistake. Everyone has in their life. You didn’t deserve to face ten years in prison for it, especially over a tramp like Rosita. I wanted to help you, Adrian. And if I had to do it all over again, I would, no matter what I am facing now.”
“I don’t understand,” Adrian said. “If the authorities knew that my records were erased and destroyed, why didn’t they arrest me along with Joey?”
“The statute of limitations has run out on your assault and battery charges, Adrian,” Mike said. “Another reason is that the DA’s office doesn’t have any proof that you were involved in the cover-up. Unfortunately, hacking and cyber-attack crimes can be charged five years after the crime in Texas.”
“Goodness,” Aunt Bea whispered and sipped her bourbon. “What do we do, now?”
Mike stopped pacing. “Perhaps we should figure out how they figured out how and who hacked the system,” Mike said.
“Andy is the only living person for the exception of myself that knew,” Joey said. “He had to have turned me in. I don’t know why he decided to turn on me, now.”
“I’m telling you it’s Rosita. She had to find out about him,” Steve said.
“How?” Faith asked.
“I don’t know,” Steve said. “Maybe her husband was trying to find out why the case fell flat. Maybe he found out about Andy and told Rosita about him a while back.”
“It’s not that farfetched,” Aunt Bea said. “That girl is a viper.”
“Do you think she called the DEA about you guys running drugs on your property, too?” Mike asked.
“Absolutely,” Steve said. “The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that she got someone to plant those drugs I found a few days ago in the stables. However, who? I don’t know.”
“What do you think, Adrian?” Faith asked.
Adrian’s head was spinning. Could Rosita really be behind all their troubles? God knows, she hated them enough, and she’s vengeful enough to do it. Either way, he was too busy feeling the weight of guilt for what his family was going through right now. “I…I don’t know. At this point, anything is possible.”
“Well, it’s no secret that Andy Balsam is their witness,” Mike said. “I suspect he exchanged what he knew for immunity. Someone got to him. He isn’t getting anything out of this.”
“Yeah,” Joey said.
“I know a P.I. in Dallas. He’s the best. I can have him do a check on this Andy Balsam and Rosita…um,” Mike said.
“Rodriguez,” Steve said.
“Right, I’ll get him to find out where the girl from the hotel is,” Mike said. “I’m not planning to approach her, but it would make me feel better that she is far from here and don’t want to revisit this part of her past.”
“Her name was Betty Scott,” Joey said. “She told Daddy she was heading east. Of course, that was four years ago.”
“All right,” Mike said and took a sip of his bourbon. “In the meantime, perhaps we should think about coping a plea.”
“What?” Steve said with wide eyes.
“I don’t like it either, but Joey just told the whole story,” Mike said. “They got a computer disk of exactly what was done, and Joey was at the helm.”
“Hell, Mike, we keep you on retainer to help us not to send one of us to prison,” Steve snapped.
If Joey went to prison because of Adrian’s actions, he would never forgive himself.
“Steve, I said we should consider it. Not do it. Not yet, anyway,” Mike said. “The fact of the matter is that Joey didn’t hack the system. I might be able to get that thrown out if Joey pleads guilty to the obstruction of justice and the breaking and entering charges. I might be able to get him probation.”
“What if you can’t do that?” Faith asked.
“Joey is looking at a maximum of five years,” Mike answered.
“Jesus,” Adrian whispered and drank his bourbon. Adrian finished it in two large gulps.
“Let’s see what the P.I. turns up first,” Joey said. “If worse comes to worst, we’ll try a plea bargain. Now, I’m going upstairs to wash some of this jail dirt off. I haven’t taken a shower since yesterday.” Joey stood up and put his glass back on the tray. He had only drunk half of his bourbon.
“We’re having ribs for dinner,” Aunt Bea said solemnly. “I better go check on them. Mike, you’re welcome to stay for dinner.”
“Thanks, Bea, but I better get going,” Mike said. “The sooner I start on this thing, the better.”
Chapter 35
Adrian skipped dinner. He had said he wasn’t hungry and he needed time alone. Faith was worried about all of them. This had really taken a toll. The food was excellent at dinner, but the mood was low. They barely spoke. Faith wished she could do something to help, but she didn’t know what to do.
Faith called her brother, Cliff. He was a mechanic, but he was a chop shop guy before he went legit. She hoped he had some suggestions.
“What I suggest is for you to wash your hands of this and get your ass back to Miami,” Cliff said bluntly.
“That’s not what I meant,” Faith said with annoyance.
“I know,” Cliff said. “You like this cowboy a lot, huh?”
“I more than like him. I love him, Cliff,” she said with conviction.
“Baby, what I’m about to say, I’m saying it because I love you,” Cliff began. “This isn’t the first time you felt this way about a guy. Are you sure he is who you think he is?”
Faith knew what he meant. “I have been wrong about men in the past, but I’m not wrong this time. Adrian is a good man. His family are good people. They’ve been nothing but nice to me since I got here. They didn’t have to take me in when I was hit by that hit-and-run driver.” Faith had told her brother about the accident two weeks ago. He was angry that she didn’t tell him sooner, but she had said she didn’t want him to worry.
“True,” Cliff said as he breathed out. “All right, if they really are good people, then they’ve definitely been greenlit. The hacker was probably paid to turn on the youngest bro. It would have to be big money because the hacker hadn’t snitched in four years, and then all of a sudden he gave the popo a blueprint of the hacking and rats out who hired him and got him in the station. Then, the rat copped a deal for himself. I bet twenty dollars on it.”
“Big money. Rosita is married to a guy who has hundreds of millions of dollars. Steve could be right. She could have done all of this,” Faith said as she paced around the guest house with her cell phone to her ear.
“Big money wills power, little sis,” Cliff said. “And judging from what you’ve told me about this chick, she is a bitch and a half. I wouldn’t put it past a woman like her.”
“So, what do you suggest?” Faith said. “You’re good at getting out of sticky situations. You know how to think outside of the box.”
“Hell, I’m not that good, and I’ve never been in trouble with the drug police,” Cliff said. “Wait. It’s radical, and I don’t know how you would pull it off, but it’s worth a try.”
“What is it?”
“Get someone to talk to this Rosita chick,” Cliff said. “Get her on tape. If anything, you can get her to admit that she sic the DEA on the cowboys. She’ll get busted for that, right? If you get her on tape admitting that at least, the DEA will leave those guys alone.”
It’s not bad, but who would I get to speak to her that she would admit all that, too? “Okay,” Faith said. “What about Joey?”
“Pssh, he might be up shit’s creek,” Cliff said. “Tampering with evidence? Breaking into a police sta
tion? I know a guy that got sent up for seven years over some obstruction of justice bullshit. Then again, that involved drugs. I don’t know what you can do about that. Baby boy was involved.”
Faith had a thought that she couldn’t believe she had. It was sneaky, and it was a page out of Arn Matthews’ book. “What if the P.I. can find the hacker? Maybe we can offer him a better deal to…drop the matter?”
“I don’t know,” Cliff drawled out. “It would have to be pretty sweet, or maybe he can get busted on something worse that would make his word discreditable.”
“Hmm,” Faith said. “I guess it depends on what the P.I. comes up with.”
“Yeah,” Cliff said. “Either way, don’t get caught in the crossfire. Just give ideas to these guys. I don’t want to get a phone call from you saying you’re in lockup or from someone else that you’re in the morgue.”
Faith rolled her eyes. “You won’t. It’s getting late, so I’m going to get ready for bed.”
“All right. Take care,” Cliff said.
“You, too, Cliff,” Faith said.
****
Adrian had been drinking in the stables for what he thinks was for three hours. He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that it was dark when he stumbled back to the house. The air was cool.
Adrian ended up at the front door of the guest house. He turned the knob and walked in. It was dark. He closed the door and pulled out his key ring and turned on his penlight.
He stumbled to Faith’s bedroom. He smiled as he shined the light on her sleeping face. He walked as quietly as he could to the nightstand. He sat down his bottle of booze and his keychain with the penlight on the nightstand. Adrian slowly sat down on the edge of the bed. As he raised his foot to remove his boot, he drunkenly leaned backward at the same time. He accidentally lay down on Faith.
She jerked awake. “What the - Adrian?” she asked with groggy confusion.
“Sorry,” he slurred and slowly sat back up. “Didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to get my boots off.”
“Why?” she asked and sat up.
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