“Will do. How’s Jenny?”
“Hi Roc. I’m good. Thank you so much, you’re the best.”
“You’re welcome, little sister. Glad to do it.”
When Hugh had hung up, Jenny said, “I still can’t believe how slick you pulled that off.”
“I couldn’t have done it without your motorcycle gang buddies.”
“Don’t forget you’re a member of the motorcycle gang, too,” she reminded him.
They realized they were sitting there talking to each other in a near-naked condition.
“Hugh, we really need to get married. Let’s set a date.”
“Believe me, that’s been on my mind. In the meantime, we need showers, and breakfast, and I need to tell you the rest of the plan before we have to leave with our attorney to go to the deposition.”
After showers at the WestAm driver’s facility, they returned to the truck for coffee and hard-boiled eggs.
Hugh filled Jenny in on how he believed the deposition was going to go, and the parts everybody would be playing.
When it was nearly time, they walked over to the terminal and met with attorney Johnston.
Hugh introduced him to Jenny.
In the car on the drive to Scottsdale Hugh explained who Jenny was, and the part she had played in the drama until now, and the part she’d be playing at Fishburn’s law office.
He didn’t want to blindside his attorney with the upcoming drama he had planned, so he filled him in on everything he had done getting ready for this time.
“When you said yesterday you suspected the attorney of insurance fraud, but all you needed was proof, I wanted to tell you everything I knew, but I couldn’t do it until I was sure Jenny would be safe.”
“Hold on a minute,” the attorney said.
He tapped a button on his steering wheel, and said, “Call John Grosnell.”
When John answered, he said, “John, I know this is extremely sudden notice, but can you get over to the law offices of Bill Fishburn in Scottsdale as quickly as possible?”
“What’s this about, Grant?”
“It’s about the fatal car accident on I-10 a little while ago with two fatalities who were burned so badly we didn’t even know their identities for some time. That was staged by an insurance scam ring we are about to bust wide open. This is big.”
“I know where that is. Fishburn is well known. I’m in Scottsdale right now. I’ll grab a couple of uniforms.”
“Got it. See you there.”
Johnston told Hugh that Grosnell was a county district attorney who also happened to be a good friend.
“Wow! Things are moving fast,” Hugh said. “But I want to make sure this plays out the way I’ve planned it. I’m playing it straight at first, then I hope to give the attorney the rope to hang himself. I’ll be cuing everybody when it is time to do their parts.”
“Sounds like you’ve got it all worked out. We’ll do it your way. We want to make sure nobody slips through the cracks.”
Halfway to Scottsdale, about ten-thirty, one of the phones in Hugh’s pocket buzzed. He dug it out. It was a text from Fishburn on Frank’s phone.
“Everything good?”
Hugh tapped a message back. “Good to go.”
Chapter Forty-One
A few minutes before eleven, leaving Jenny behind to enter a few minutes later, Hugh and attorney Johnston entered the law offices of Bill Fishburn, kingpin of a soon-to-be ended fake-crash insurance scam ring, and lately a murderer.
The receptionist showed them into a conference room, and gestured for Hugh and Johnston to sit at one side of the large table. Fishburn walked in with an air of arrogant confidence, followed by a recorder who would be taking notes on her stenograph.
Fishburn introduced himself to Johnston, who in turn introduced Fishburn to Hugh.
“OK. Shall we proceed?” He gestured to someone standing outside the open conference room door. It was a notary, who came in to administer the oath to Hugh. She left, closing the door behind her.
“You understand, of course, this is an official proceeding, subject to a charge of perjury,” Fishburn said, directing the statement to Hugh.
“Of course,”
Fishburn then cast Hugh a sidelong glance, and raised his eyebrows. A silent question. Hugh nodded back. An answer. Hugh knew the attorney was double-checking to make sure he was onboard with his coerced false testimony.
The attorney began by asking Hugh a number of preliminary questions: Were you the driver of such and such a truck on such and such a day? Like that. Hugh answered truthfully.
Warming up to the task, Fishburn then began leading Hugh to where he could begin accepting blame for causing the fatal car crash.
“Excuse me for a second, please,” Hugh said. He tapped “Send” on a pre-written text message. Ten seconds later, Jenny entered the conference room.
“Who is this young lady?” Fishburn asked. He looked surprised. His expression lost some of its smugness.
“I’d like to introduce you to Jenny McDonald, my fiancé. She was in the truck with me during the accident. She has some things of interest to talk about.”
“Excuse me,” Fishburn said, turned his back to everyone, and tapped a text message on his cell phone.
A moment later, one of the phones in Hugh’s pocket signaled a text message coming in.
“Excuse me,” Hugh said, and dug the cell phone out of his pocket. It was Frank’s phone.
The text, from attorney Fishburn, said, “Frank, what’s going on? Why is the girl here? You said everything was good to go.”
Hugh put the phone back in his pocket, and smiled at the attorney.
Fishburn looked for a brief moment like he was going to lose his composure. But he was a well-practiced litigation attorney, used to thinking on his feet, and he recovered quickly.
“Well, she’s not officially a part of this deposition. I didn’t summon her.”
“I wondered why,” Hugh’s attorney said. Those were the first words he had spoken since the introductions.
“I was kind of tied up. It wasn’t planned for me to be here anyway,” Jenny said.
Fishburn continued, “Well, yes. So, on the day of the accident…”
Hugh interrupted him, “I’ll take it from here. On the day of the accident I saw an attempted swoop and squat by two cars take place right in front of my truck. I saw the driver of the lead car jam on his brakes, preventing the driver of the second car from completing her maneuver, resulting in the crash that cost her and her sister’s lives.”
This sudden turn of the interview rendered the attorney momentarily speechless.
“That action was instigated by you to extract a nuclear verdict from an unwitting truck driver working for a mega carrier. Does that square with what you know about how it went down?” Hugh said.
He could see Fishburn was nervous knowing the girl who was supposed to be his leverage was sitting across the table from him, and he wasn’t liking this turn of events.
For her part, Jenny glared at the increasingly agitated attorney.
Finally finding his voice, Fishburn said, “That is some fanciful tale, and I want it stricken from the record.” He looked over at the woman recorder, who ignored his request.
Then his attention got drawn back to attorney Johnston, who was tapping his finger on the table next to his cell phone, which everyone could clearly see was in record mode.
His voice now an octave higher, Fishburn said, “You have no proof. And don’t forget you are under oath.”
“Excuse me a minute again,” Hugh said. He rose, went to the door, opened it, and gestured for someone to enter.
A guy entered, his arm held firmly by one of Roc’s men. “Hello, boss,” Joe said.
“Who is this guy? I don’t know this guy!” the attorney shouted, looking like he was beginning to lose it.
“Sorry, boss. It’s over. They know everything.”
“Stop calling me boss!” Fishburn was yelling
now. “And you still don’t have any proof. This guy could be telling any number of made up stories.”
Hugh, who had remained standing at the door, then made a gesture for some more people to come in.
Walking in, one after another, each with a motorcycle gang member as escort, were Frank, William, the husband of the deceased mother, and the guy whose girlfriend works in the WestAm dispatch office.
“Who are all these people?” The attorney, desperate now, was shouting. He would know Frank, of course.
“You’ll find out soon enough, Fishburn,” attorney Johnston said. “They all have very interesting stories to tell.”
Fishburn looked like he couldn’t decide between fight or flight.
“Give it up, Bill,” Frank said. “They know everything. They’ve got it all.”
“This deposition is over,” Fishburn said, making a final attempt to regain control. “Quit recording this,” he ordered the stenographer. Then he snapped his head back toward Johnston, who again was tapping loudly on the table next to his cell phone.
“Everybody out!” Fishburn shouted.
Nobody moved.
Fishburn looked from one to another. Everyone saw the exact moment in the attorney’s expression when he knew he had lost. He made a sudden lunge toward the open door. Hugh stepped aside to let him through, and he ran straight into the arms of the two sheriff’s deputies who had accompanied district attorney Grosnell. They had been listening, and had heard it all.
Fishburn, with his hands cuffed behind his back, stood between the two deputies, and watched in horror as Hugh handed the DA a thumb drive. “These are videos of confessions from everyone in the room. They’re all here,” he said.
When all the attention was on Fishburn and the others, Hugh nodded to Roc, who Hugh had arranged to be the one holding onto William’s arm. Roc led William quietly out the back door of Fishburn’s office and into an alley behind the building.
Once all three were outside and the door was closed, Roc let go of William’s arm.
“What’s going on?” William said, rubbing his arm where Roc had held it with his vice-like grip.
“I’ve got a little something special planned for you,” Hugh said. “Up until now, you’ve had your guys do all your dirty work for you. You ran like a coward when I stopped to rescue Charlie, and you let a little girl beat up two of your best guys.”
Roc looked a question at Hugh. “Later, Roc.”
“Now it’s time for us to see what you’re made of.”
Moving faster than Hugh thought was possible, William charged in and caught Hugh a glancing blow against the side of his head. Only Hugh’s quick reflexes kept it from being a one-punch knockout.
“Ha! If you’re going to fight, then fight. Don’t talk,” William said. He assumed a martial arts stance.
Hugh took small, measured, well-balanced steps, walking slowly toward the hulking man. He saw indecision on William’s face.
“What the fuck you doing?”
“Having fun,” Hugh replied. He had a smile on his face. He knew this would unnerve his opponent.
William came in again. He feigned a move to his left, then crouched low to swing his powerful right leg in an attempt to sweep Hugh off his feet. Hugh was ready for that move, had anticipated it, timed it just right, and brought his heel down on the joint of William’s right knee. It made a sickening cracking sound like separating a chicken leg from a chicken thigh bone.
Down, but still with a lot of fight in him, William fired his left leg straight up and caught Hugh against the back of his right thigh.
“Not bad. That actually hurt a little,” Hugh said. “But, I’m done playing.”
He chopped down with a powerful left on the top of William’s head, compressing his neck vertebrate beyond their natural resiliency. That took all of the fight out of William, and he lay on the ground moaning.
That wasn’t a fatal blow. Hugh needed William to be able to testify against the leaders of the insurance scam.
Hugh stood straight up, then looked at Roc, who was backing slowly away. Roc’s hands were raised shoulder high in front of him in a submissive gesture.
“No fear, man. We’re good.” Roc said.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“You didn’t raise a finger when we put you through the initiation.”
“Jenny asked me not to say or do anything. What about it?”
“Man, you could have taken down a bunch of us if you’d wanted to.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“OK, then. We’re good?”
“Yeah, we’re good, Roc. I couldn’t have done any of this in the last couple of days without you. I owe you big time.”
Jenny came through the door followed by the two deputies. She came right to Hugh and Roc. The deputies lifted William off of the pavement to carry him back into the building. His right leg hung at an unnatural angle.
“What happened out here?” one of the deputies asked.
“He tried to escape. I stopped him.”
“Little sister, I’ve got to tell you, you’ve got quite a man here,” Roc said.
Jenny held Hugh’s arm. “I know.”
Hugh and Jenny were quiet on the ride back to the WestAm terminal with attorney Johnston.
“That pretty much wraps up the lawsuit against us,” the attorney said. “I’m familiar with your hijacking experiences, of course. It sure looks like you have a knack for breaking up major crime rings.”
“I don’t look for them. That’s for sure,” Hugh said. “They do tend to follow me, though. I’m kind of a trouble magnet.”
“I’m a company attorney, and not your safety officer, but can I make a suggestion?”
“Sure.”
“I suggest you get a load back up north, and then take a nice long break.”
“You read my mind. That’s exactly what I plan to do.”
Hugh looked at Jenny.
“You get no argument from me.”
Chapter Forty-Two
Hugh asked attorney Johnston if he could make one quick stop on the way back to the WestAm terminal from Scottsdale.
At the terminal, the attorney parked, and they all said their goodbyes.
“Thanks for letting me do it my way,” Hugh said. “I have to say, it was very satisfying.”
“No problem. Between the recorded confessions, the documentation we’ve been able to seize from Fishburn’s office, his off-shore banking records, and witness testimony, we were able to wrap up the insurance scam ring in one afternoon. We couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I’m glad it worked out,” Hugh said.
“Don’t forget my advice about taking a break.”
“I’m on my way to dispatch right now.”
Hugh and Jenny walked up to the counter in dispatch and got buzzed in.
Gloria smiled when she saw them. Then her smile grew wider when Hugh gave her the flowers and chocolates he had bought for her.
“Why, thank you, Hugh,” she said. “You didn’t have to.” But Hugh could tell she was loving the attention.
Hugh looked over at the work station where Janine had been sitting the other day, and looked a question at Gloria.
“Janine, yes,” Gloria said. “She was marched out of here this morning. Fired on the spot. She might even be charged as an accomplice.”
Hugh was surprised at how quickly the company grapevine had transmitted the news about the breakup of the insurance scam ring, and the part the dispatcher had played in it.
On the drive back from Scottsdale, Hugh and Jenny had heard Johnston when he had called Bufont, the terminal administrator, to tell him the surprising outcome of the deposition.
The attorney told them he expected word would spread quickly, and Fishburn would be facing not only criminal charges of conspiracy to commit murder, insurance fraud and tax evasion, but trucking companies he had scammed over the past couple of years would be lining up to file civil complaints against him as w
ell.
The guy would be stripped of all his ill-gained assets and, along with his co-conspirators, would be spending a considerable portion of the rest of his life in prison.
“Ahem!” Hugh heard at his side.
“Oh, sorry. Gloria, I’d like you to meet my fiancé, Jenny McDonald.”
“I’m so happy to meet you,” Gloria said. Then joked, “I hope you’re not going to take our Hugh away from us.”
“No,” Jenny said, as she held onto Hugh’s arm. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to drive with Hugh.”
“Anyway, Gloria. Can you get us a load up north, preferably Spokane? I’m taking a break. I promise after this one, I’ll settle down to a good long time out on the road.”
“Sure. No problem. Sit tight in your truck, and I’ll message you a pre-load as soon as I can get one.”
Hugh and Jenny were back at Hugh’s truck. He had tapped the icon to call James because he’d had a lot to bring him up to speed about. Hugh put it on speaker so Jenny could participate in the call.
“Hey, kid. What’s going on?”
“Hey, old man. It’s been very interesting, and it’s all over.”
Hugh took a lot of time going over everything that had happened since the last time he had talked to James. He was especially proud to tell James about how well Jenny had handled herself during the kidnapping.
“She’s a trooper, for sure,” James said.
“So, as far as Charlie’s concerned, it’s all over for her too. She’s free to return to Boise and go back to work,” Hugh said.
“We’ve been talking about that, Hugh.”
Hugh looked at Jenny. She had a “this will be interesting” expression on her face.
“Go on,” Hugh said.
“We’re on our way to Phoenix right now. She says she is done with Idaho and has a job interview with the Arizona Democrat newspaper. She’s actually got an extremely impressive portfolio of investigative articles, and they are very interested in her.”
“Wow!” Hugh said.
“Here’s the other thing, buddy. She’s told them she’s bringing with her an exclusive inside story about the insurance scam ring, Jenny’s kidnapping, the motorcycle gang, and everything you had done to break up the scam.”
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