“Where’s it going to be?”
“At the law offices of Bill Fishburn in Scottsdale.”
“OK.”
“I’ve gone over your notes about the accident. I’ve got the report from the responding highway patrol trooper, and I’ve seen the dash cam footage you have provided. Together, all those are exculpatory of your culpability in causing the accident. So, we aren’t worried on that count.”
“But?” Hugh asked.
“But, depositions can be like walking through a mine field,” the attorney replied. “Everything you say in the deposition can and will be used against you during the trial. Make one mistake, or tell one little lie during this deposition, and opposing attorney will be all over it in the trial.”
“All I know is what I saw.”
“Just stick to the truth and the facts.”
Hugh assumed the meeting was over, and started to rise to leave.
“Wait. There’s something else,” Johnston said.
Hugh sat down again.
“I’ve been in contact with our insurance provider. They have run an ISO database search on Fishburn, and they have some deep concerns,” the attorney said.
“ISO?” Hugh asked.
“That’s Insurance Services Office. It’s an organization that maintains a database of every insurance claim filed nationwide. Billions of them by now. Red flags pop up when claims are filed too often by the same insured, or when an attorney’s name appears too regularly.”
“I see, so this attorney, Fishburn, has been on some kind of watch list,” Hugh said.
“That’s right. It could mean he’s a diligent lawyer who happens to get a lot of truck-crash cases. Or it could mean he’s got something crooked going on.”
Hugh knew a lot more about that than he was letting on … for now. He wasn’t going to reveal what he knew until he could be sure Jenny would be safe.
“The problem,” the attorney went on, “is we don’t have proof of complicity by this attorney in your particular accident; only suspicions based on the circumstances.”
Johnston told Hugh the deposition was at eleven tomorrow morning in Scottsdale, and he would pick up Hugh at the terminal at ten to drive over together.
The first thing Hugh did after the meeting was drop his trailer, and park his truck in the bobtail section of the terminal yard.
The second thing he did was return to the dispatch center to have a talk with his dispatcher, Gloria.
“Gloria, honey,” Hugh started, “you know some of what’s been going on with me lately. Right”
“Yeah, I’ve talked to James.”
“I’m looking for someone here who has a boyfriend, probably a guy who has sat down next to her here and has seen how things work.”
“Several of us are married. Some don’t have boyfriends. So, it could be only a couple of the girls here.”
“I have to sign a log every time I come through the door to the dispatch center. Is there any chance you could check the log for me for someone visiting a dispatcher here, so I can get a name?”
“For you, Hugh, sure.” Gloria was the best dispatcher ever.
She went to the front counter and turned the clipboard around so she could thumb back through the pages.
“Only one unmarried person here has had someone visit.”
She wrote the name, address and phone number of the visitor.
“Does it say who he visits?”
“Yeah, it’s Janine,” Gloria said, pointing to a dispatcher. “I know she’s got a boyfriend.”
Hugh wasn’t going to bother with Janine, figuring she was simply a tool. But he definitely wanted to follow up on the boyfriend.
“Thanks, Gloria. I owe you big-time. By the way, please keep this between us.”
Back at his truck, Hugh dialed Roc’s phone number. He was probably already on the road on his motorcycle and couldn’t talk, but he’d leave a voice mail.
“Yeah,” Roc answered.
“Oh, hey Roc. I didn’t expect you to answer. Aren’t you on your motorcycle?”
“Bluetooth, man. What’s up?”
“Things are coming together here. I’ve got another person I’d like your guys to round up for me. Get him to talk and to give up the guys higher up the chain.”
“Cool. Text me, and we’ll talk about it when we get there.”
Much of what Hugh was planning was falling into place. All he needed to do was wait for the motorcycle gang members to show up.
“How’s it looking, Frank?”
“Going good. We have the girl. The trucker is in town now, and he knows what he has to do.”
“No glitches? The deposition is tomorrow, and everything hangs on that,” attorney Fishburn said.
“Nope. As far as I know, everybody is in place.”
“OK. Let everybody know from here on out, it’s texts only. I’m going to be busy, especially tomorrow morning, and won’t be able to talk.”
Hugh was awakened from the stress nap he had taken after lunch in his truck at the WestAm terminal.
At first, he couldn’t place the source of the noise that had wakened him. When he did, he jumped down from his truck cab, and ran over to the front gate of the terminal.
About a dozen motorcycles were amassed outside the gate, mounted by gang members dressed in leathers and heavy steel-toed boots, and topped with the sleeveless, heavy denim cuts of their gang affiliation, the Bakers Town Bad Asses.
The noise that had awakened Hugh was the sound of revving Harleys as the men sat impatiently waiting for the gate guard to let them through.
The gate guard was thoroughly intimidated by the size and number of these guys. Their leader, Roc, was a monster of a man. He had inches and many pounds on Hugh.
Hugh explained they were with him, and he would take full responsibility for them. The guard reluctantly opened the gate to let the Harleys drive on through.
The gang made one circle of the whole yard while Hugh walked back to his truck, and then they parked in a half circle in front of the Freightliner.
For Hugh, it was reminiscent of the first time he had met these guys in Bakersfield. They had stopped Hugh’s truck on Highway 58 coming into town. Their intent had been to pound him into pulp on the side of the road for messing with their “little sister” Jenny.
Jenny had saved Hugh from the pounding by explaining to the leader, Roc, that Hugh was her old man, and that he had rescued her on a couple of occasions during hijackings.
They had put Hugh through a painful initiation ceremony, and then had accepted him as an associate member of the gang. The last thing they had told Jenny was if she ever needed help they’d come running.
And, true to their word, they were here.
Hugh laid out the details of his plan to Roc – elements of which would commence later tonight. Roc could start the first domino falling down by putting the screws to the dispatcher’s boyfriend to give up the ring leader’s name, and so forth.
“I know how tempting it’s going to be when you get to where Jenny is being held, but it’s extremely important the leader of the gang who’s holding her remains alive and conscious. His name is William. I want him intact.”
“What about the others?”
“Do what you have to do. We don’t need them.”
Roc looked at the other guys standing around listening. They nodded.
“Roc, I can’t put you guys up here. Do you have someplace to stay?”
“No problem, bro. We’ve got a reciprocal. It’s taken care of, including the van.”
They all got on their bikes, revved up their engines, and made a noisy exit out the gate, to the evident relief of the gate guard.
All Hugh could do now was await word from Roc that tonight’s mission had been accomplished, and for Roc to return with Jenny.
He spent some of the time working on the two projects that were going to be a surprise for Jenny. It involved several phone calls and emails.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
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Later that afternoon, at the house in Scottsdale where Jenny was being held hostage, they had brought her a sandwich and a bottled water. In view of the difficulty they’d had in capturing her, they had placed her on a mattress on the floor of the living room, and were keeping her zip tied, hands and feet.
The bathroom situation had been awkward, because they had refused to untie her. She did win a concession of being alone in the bathroom to do her business, as awkward and uncomfortable as it was because of her restraints.
One thing she was absolutely dead certain of was that Hugh would find her and rescue her. The biggest mistake her captors had made was not ditching her phone. Instead, insanely stupid, they had used it to communicate with Hugh.
She was confident Hugh would take advantage of their mistake, and he likely would be nearby right now.
She reviewed what Hugh would be up against.
William, the leader, was the biggest and toughest of them all. Obviously former military. Hardened, battle-tested. But he’s the only one so far who hadn’t gone up against Hugh, so he might be over confident.
Kent was still with them. He was dealing with the pain of his injured groin and broken nose, and it was obvious to Jenny he seethed with anger and hatred for her. Jenny knew she’d be in trouble if he was ever allowed to get her alone.
Greg was long gone. Jenny guessed he was recuperating in a hospital from the concussion, the gash on his head and his damaged throat.
A new third guy had been brought in to replace Greg, name of Rob. A carbon copy of the others – tough-looking, competent, disciplined.
Normally, all this would have been no problem for Hugh. But these guys were not taking any chances this time. They were gunned up.
“Listen, guys,” Jenny said. “I’m serious. If you let me go now, I’ll try to persuade Hugh not to kill you.” This was the third time she had made this offer.
“Why don’t you shut it little girl,” Rob said. “We’re tired of hearing that.” Rob was full of confidence and bluster because he hadn’t yet encountered Hugh or Jenny in action like the other two had.
“Look. Honestly. I’ve seen enough blood, and I’m telling you your futures look pretty bleak right now. It really is a huge mistake to mess with my man.”
Rob walked over to the mattress and slapped Jenny hard across her face.
“Rob!” William yelled. “Do not do that again! Ever!”
“Sorry, boss. She gets on my nerves with all her talk about superman trucker.”
“Deal with it. It will all be over soon.”
William had received a text from Frank saying everything looked good for tomorrow. He had responded with the same message.
Later that night, William and Kent had gone into separate bedrooms to go to bed. Jenny knew that William had checked in with somebody earlier, because he had told the others everything was still good.
She lay on the mattress on the living room floor, where Rob was supposed to be watching over her. He sat in an easy chair, trying, and losing, the battle to stay awake, being lulled into sleepiness by the quietness of the room.
The quiet was broken by the front door opening with a crash. It had been torn off its hinges and thrown violently inward.
In the half-darkness, Jenny could see numerous figures stream in through the ruined doorway. They were being led not by Hugh, as Jenny had expected, but by Roc.
“Roc!” she yelled. “Over here!”
Roc ran over to where Jenny struggled to get up.
Rob had been put down immediately, having been taken completely by surprise with the crashing of the door.
William and Kent ran out of their rooms, handguns pointed at the intruders. They immediately sprang into action, separated, and took crouched positions. But the rescuers were expecting them, and were quicker getting their shots off.
Kent took a fatal round to the head, and he was down.
A half-dozen shotguns blasted at once, and William folded double before collapsing to the floor.
“Collect their phones, boys,” Roc ordered.
“I’m glad you came armed,” Jenny said to Roc. She was rubbing her sore wrists and ankles.
“Would you expect anything less?” Roc said, laughing.
Jenny walked over to where Rob lay crumpled on the floor. “He didn’t make it,” one of the guys said. He made the thumbs down gesture.
Then she stood over Kent. Obviously a fatal wound.
When she walked over to where William lay she saw he was being zip tied and gagged with duct tape, but not a drop of blood could be seen on him.
“Bean bag rounds,” Roc said. “They are painful and will leave bruises, but they’re not fatal … unfortunately.”
“Why?”
“Your old man’s idea. He needs him alive.”
Typical Hugh, Jenny thought.
“Speaking of Hugh, where is he?”
“You’ll see him pretty soon. But first we need to clear out of here in case somebody has heard the shooting, and has called the cops.”
They left Kent’s and Rob’s bodies stay where they lay, and Roc led Jenny out to a van parked on the street. The gang’s motorcycles were parked farther down the block for a silent approach.
Roc opened the passenger door for Jenny, and then let himself in through the sliding door into the cargo area. Jenny looked back into the van and saw three guys sitting on the van floor propped against the sidewalls. They were zip tied, hands and feet, and had duct tape across their mouths. They looked completely miserable.
Roc caught Jenny’s quizzical look.
“We’ve been busy.”
“Hugh again?”
“Yup.”
A couple of the guys tossed William roughly into the van, jumped in, closed the door, and then they drove off.
Roc sorted through the cell phones collected from Jenny’s kidnappers. When he found the one he wanted, he grabbed William by the back of his head and forced his face in front of his phone.
“Open your eyes, you fuck,” Roc ordered.
So much for retinal security, Jenny thought.
It took Roc only a minute to find on William’s cell phone what he was looking for. He gave the driver an address, also in Scottsdale.
“We’ve got one more stop to make, and then we’ll take you to your old man.”
At Frank Rico’s residence, two guys jumped out of the van. “Don’t forget his cell phone,” Roc yelled out at them as they ran to the house.
Seeing Jenny’s quizzical look again, Roc said, “One last piece of the puzzle before the big showdown tomorrow.”
The side door to the van slid open again, and another bound and gagged body was tossed in among the others. It was getting crowded.
Jenny looked back at the men in the van. She caught William staring at her.
“I warned you,” she said. “I told you not to mess with my man, and gave you plenty of chances.” Then she shrugged her shoulders and looked forward again.
Chapter Forty
It was near midnight, and Hugh was trying to relax in his sleeper, anxious to hear how the events of the evening had played out.
“A van is here. Guys say you’re expecting them.” It was the gate guard on the phone.
“Let them in.”
Hugh climbed down from the truck cab and was standing in front of his truck when the van pulled up. Jenny opened her door and hit the ground running before the van had even stopped. Hugh caught her to keep her from falling. Then they stood there hugging and kissing, hugging and kissing.
“Come on you guys, it’s been a long day,” Roc said. “Hugh, a word.”
Hugh walked over to where the van was parked. Its sliding door was open. He looked in and saw five pairs of eyes glaring at him. He recognized William, and was happy to see he was unharmed. The others he didn’t recognize, although he knew who they could be expected to be.
“Everybody accounted for?” Hugh asked.
“Yup. Went exactly as you planned,” Roc repli
ed, and handed Hugh their cell phones.
“They were all gracious enough to tell me their unlock codes,” Roc said, looking at the captives. The bound men glared back at Roc.
“Thanks for everything so far,” Hugh said. “All that’s left now are recordings of full and voluntary confessions from everybody. Do you think there will be any problem getting those?”
“Nope. Not a bit,” Roc answered.
They closed the van doors and left. Hugh would see all of them again tomorrow.
Jenny was still standing in front of Hugh’s truck where he had left her.
“Are you OK? Did they hurt you?”
She reached up to lightly touch the red spot on her face where Rob had slapped her.
“Who did that to you?” Hugh asked. He’d have some special treatment planned for him.
“It doesn’t matter. He didn’t make it,” Jenny said. “Other than that, nobody touched me. In fact, I put one of their guys in the hospital, and did some serious damage to another one. I did as you taught me. Move in fast, hit first, keep moving, fight dirty.”
“I saw that. I know it couldn’t have been easy. But I’m so proud of you. And so sorry you had to go through that.”
They had been climbing back into Hugh’s truck during this conversation, and were now in the sleeper.
It was so late, and they were both so tired, they didn’t bother with pajamas or modesty. Hugh stripped to underwear, and Jenny undressed to bra and panties. They got in bed, assumed their usual sleeping position, and fell asleep.
Hugh’s ringing phone woke him in the morning. It was Roc.
Hugh put it on speaker, so Jenny could listen in.
“Everything’s good,” Roc said. “Everybody cooperated and spilled their guts … eventually. I’ve got it all recorded.”
He briefed Hugh on what they had all confessed. Hugh could hardly believe the depth of depravity the attorney had unleashed in his evil, greedy, murderous plan.
“Good. And thanks. I’ll text you the law office address. Have them there right at eleven, and wait for my signal to bring them in.”
Road Test Page 21