“No!” But I was too late, and Bardot was racing through the tall grass in the direction of the hangars.
“What? You try holding back a locomotive,” Marisol spat.
That was when I noticed that instead of a trash picker, we must have been one short. She was holding a piece of vacuum cleaner wand with the crevice tool attached on the end. It doubled as a walking stick.
“It’s okay,” I said, feeling in a generous mood, “I’ll give Bardot a long bath and tooth brushing to clean away all the critter juice tonight.”
“Can I come?”
I felt my phone vibrate and checked it. There was a text from Charlie:
Oops, forgot!
I looked up to see a plane making its approach.
“Come on, we’ve got to hurry!”
We knee-high stepped it over the field and made our way to the back door of Rusty’s hangar. Bardot was nowhere in sight.
Once inside, we quietly crept forward along a side wall. I could see Rusty standing at the mouth of the hangar facing the runway. I turned around and put my index finger up to my lips, indicating to the girls that we must be quiet. Thankfully, the sound of Charlie’s engines helped mute any sounds we made.
We watched as Charlie circled his plane back around upon landing and pulled up in front of Rusty. Charlie left it idling and hopped out.
“How you doing, Rusty? Hot enough for you? When I left San Diego, it was already pushing triple digits.”
“Hey. You have any idea who this cargo is for? I wasn’t aware of anything coming in today.”
“Nope. Some kid from Casa Machado drove it up to my plane and stowed it. Just like always.”
“What do you mean ‘like always’? You’re not our regular trans—”
Rusty caught himself, but it was too late.
“Freeze. Put your hands up where I can see them.” I saw Mark come out from around the outside of the hangar. He was pointing a gun and was flanked by two other DEA men. There was no sign of Jack.
Rusty complied. “You don’t understand. I was just the middleman. I really didn’t want any part of this; forget the money, it wasn’t worth it. I was trying to get out.”
Rusty’s long blond hair had fallen into his face, making him look like a scared little boy. Mark moved in and cuffed him.
“If what you say is true, who was running the show, Rusty?”
Mark watched as his men frisked him for any concealed weapons.
“Jonas, that’s who. The kid had been running drugs since his teens out of Nicaragua. He brought in the girls, and they were pretty good at manipulating people to do what they want. Even convinced me to loan them my plane.”
“The Pietenpol?” Jack appeared from around the side.
Rusty nodded. “Not my plane, really. Jonas loaned me the money. I was paying him back by helping unload the drug cargo and get it to the local dealers. Britt likes to fly it real low and scare people.”
“That’s a load of crap,” Britt said, arriving on a golf cart with a tray of food from Spitfire. “You can’t believe a word that comes out of this guy’s mouth. He’s a lowlife petty crook and he’s been harassing me for sex since I started working at Spitfire. Ask anyone.”
“Now I know why Chloe looked so familiar,” Charlie said. “I’ve seen you two together in this very hangar.”
“Keep out of it, old man.” Britt dropped the tray and pulled a gun on Charlie.
I heard Peggy gasp.
“Who’s back there? You’d better come out. You’ve got five seconds before your pilot friend is grounded for good.”
To back this up, Britt grabbed Charlie by the arm and pointed the gun at his head. I motioned for everyone to go out while I stayed behind. Hopefully, Britt wouldn’t be doing a head count.
“You need to put the gun down, miss. There are too many people here to stop you. Before you pull the trigger, we’ll be all over you. Now, surrender before you get hurt.” Mark was even scaring me, and we were on the same side.
“Ha!” Britt laughed when she saw the Wine Club girls emerge. “It was you bitches. You ruined everything with your nosiness. Why couldn’t you just stick to your platters of radishes and rosés?”
“Britt, I thought we were friends. We still could be if you give up now.”
Wow. Aimee gets the Medal of Honor for bravery.
I saw a shadow moving along the other wall of the hangar. It was a person, but I couldn’t tell who. I looked to Mark, trying to get his attention without revealing myself. So far, I was the only one who could call for help. I saw him make eye contact with Jack, and I suspected they were developing a nonverbal plan.
“Where’s Oscar Sandoval, Britt?” Jack inched a bit closer to her.
“Long gone, I’m guessing. Once he downed the plane, he’d planned to disappear for a couple of months. Not that he was ever here.”
“And your sister? Where’s she?”
“Well, aren’t you all so clever, figuring that out? Chloe’s in San Diego as far as I know.”
I bet not.
Just then, we heard the engines of Charlie’s plane start back up, and I saw the passenger side door swing open. Through the center of the hangar, I saw a low, dark figure race by.
“Bardot!”
I raced after her, and out of the corner of my eye, saw Britt become distracted. Jack moved in quickly and disarmed her.
Bardot leaped airborne and landed in the plane’s passenger seat. I turned on my jets and ran and did the same. In the pilot’s seat, just as I thought, was Chloe. I tried wrestling her for the controls but couldn’t get much of a grip as I was draped facedown over the passenger seat. She was trying to push me out, but Bardot kept fighting her off.
“Fine. I’ll dump you both over the ocean. It’ll be tidier that way.”
I felt the plane move and heard Mark get on his radio.
“Halsey!” Jack’s shout was sounding farther away as we kept rolling.
The door to the cargo hold was still open, and I could see him get smaller and smaller as the plane gathered speed. I could also hear sirens coming from the tarmac. I held on tight to Bardot and asked the Big Man for absolution for lying to Peggy and Jack. Then Chloe made a sudden acceleration to lift off the tarmac, sending a whiplash through the cabin. I saw the cooler sail out the back and crack open on the runway.
If this is the last thing I see, at least I’ve solved a riddle.
CHAPTER 20
Moments later, I heard tires screeching as Chloe applied the brakes. The airport trucks had arrived in time to thwart her takeoff, and other than a head and neck ache, I was okay. Bardot was fine too. She’d picked up Chloe’s scent, remembering it from the rag she’d placed under her water dish at Casa Machado. Bardot must have concluded that Chloe needed to be found and took off hunting for her. This taught me once again that Bardot’s brain was a powerful sponge for knowledge.
Cue the music: “The more you knowwwww.”
When everything and everyone was secured or taken into custody, I walked over to the broken cooler sitting on the runway. Just as I’d thought, the ice that had spilled out had melted and dissipated on the tar and in the heat. Which I knew now was exactly what had happened after Charlie hit a pile of ice on the day of the crash. It had been a similar hot day, and when Jonas started work that morning, he must have unpacked the drug shipment that had come in the night before. I’m guessing he tossed the ice out of the hangar and onto the runway.
“Charlie’s going to be so happy to hear about this,” Peggy said, coming up next to me and surveying the damaged cooler.
Jack and Mark walked toward us with the rest of the girls.
“Let’s go back to the administrative office for a debriefing. We’ll be away from the noise and it’s air-conditioned.” Mark led the way.
I was trying desperately to avoid eye contact with Jack. I could tell he was really pissed at me. I ran to catch up with Sally and Aimee.
“You may run now, Halsey, but we’re going to talk
about this,” I heard him holler at me.
You know me well enough now to guess how that sat with me.
We gathered in their conference room, and a kind officer brought in a case of waters for us. I shared with Bardot.
“Here’s the problem,” Mark began.
“There’s a problem? How can there be a problem? Didn’t you just arrest three people for drug dealing out there?” I heard my voice go up at the end and tried to calm myself. That went right out the window when I saw Augie enter the room.
“Hey Augie, thanks for joining us. You’re correct, Halsey. The DEA is going to prosecute Rusty, Britt and Chloe to the full extent of the law. But that’s for drug dealing. If we catch this Oscar Sandoval, the same goes for him. But they all deny knowing or having anything to do with Jonas’s murder and it’s hard to argue with that. Why bite the hand that’s feeding them so well?”
“Aw dingleberries, we’d better not be back to Jimmy again,” Sally said.
“No, it’s more like we’re back to zero,” Augie spoke up.
“But—” I realized I had no argument. I looked around the room but got no backup. The girls were all starting to leave. Mary Ann really seemed to take it badly.
“You coming, Marisol?”
“Nah, Halsey. I got a flying lesson.”
* * *
Peggy suggested a Wine Club, but no one was in the mood. We walked to Rose Avenue dragging our orange vests behind us.
“We’re back to the age-old question,” I said.
“Chicken or egg?”
“No, Sally. Is Jonas’s murder connected to the drugs or not?”
As we rounded the corner and headed down the hill, I saw Jack’s truck parked outside my house. Call me a coward, but I wasn’t in the mood for a fight, and this would be a big one. No man is ever going to control my behavior or tell me what to do again. Jack can tell me not to go to the airport; heck, he can tell me not to do a lot of things. But the minute he does, I turn into a character from Peanuts and he turns into the teacher. All I hear when he talks is Wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah. Bardot was trying to behave while in Jack’s eyeshot and not pull on the leash.
“Sally, didn’t you say you wanted me to stop by to pick up that casserole dish I loaned you?”
“What? Who makes casseroles any mo—?”
“Of course you did, remember?” I said, linking arms with her as we walked past Jack, who was sitting on my front stoop. Bardot looked back, confused.
“You just ignored Jack. Don’t tell me that you two are fighting?” Aimee looked shocked.
“We’re not fighting yet, because I refuse to engage. He’s angry that he told me to stay away from the drug bust and I didn’t.”
“Jack ain’t the boss of you.” Sally now had a cause.
“Oh Halsey, sometimes it’s just easier to let them think they’re in charge. Go back and talk to him, honey.” I looked up and couldn’t believe those words had come from Mary Ann. She was our journalistic trailblazer. Something didn’t feel right.
“I say let him stew for a while. He should know by now that he can’t tell you what to do,” Peggy said. “Are we going to have to send him to summer school?”
I chuckled; Peggy has a way of doing that to me. We dropped Aimee off at her house and continued down the street.
It was still hot, but the afternoon sea breeze had started to roll in, and I couldn’t help but think about a glass of chilled Sancerre. I hoped Sally had some on ice in her fridge.
“This is my stop,” Peggy announced, “come on by if you change your mind about Wine Club. I’ll open a bottle just in case.”
“Bye Peggy.” That feisty woman is truly remarkable.
“This is me,” Mary Ann said. “Oh, and Jeb is home! See ya.” She trotted off into her house.
“I’ve never been in their house, have you?” Sally asked me.
“No. I wasn’t even really sure which one it was,” I said and finally gave the exterior the once-over. And that’s when I saw it.
“I’d hoped never to have to say this again Sally, but we need to call Augie.”
“You’re a glutton for punishment.”
* * *
“I prayed this moment would never come,” Mary Ann said, opening her front door.
“I’m so sorry, but I had no choice,” I said, standing next to Augie and a uniformed officer. “I can leave Bardot outside if you want.”
“We’re going to need to come in and talk to Jeb,” Augie explained, and she stood aside for us to enter. Mary Ann gave Bardot a little pat and waved her in. I’d also brought along Sally for moral support.
“Hey there guys,” Jeb said, getting up from his recliner and turning off the TV. “I’m not sure how much help I can be. I take it you’re here about Jonas.”
“We are. Let’s run through the events that led up to his death.”
Augie took the armchair next to Jeb’s and the rest of us found seats on the two sofas in the room. Mary Ann had disappeared into the kitchen, and I soon smelled coffee brewing.
“Jeb, you’ve said you hardly knew Jonas, but that’s not exactly true, is it?”
He hung his head and shook it. “Jonas was helping me get medicines for the kids at the mission. He said he had a company that did this all over the world.”
“Medications Without Borders, that’s what they called themselves,” Mary Ann said, bringing in the pot and several coffee mugs.
“But you figured out that wasn’t entirely legit, didn’t you, Jeb?”
“I probably knew all along and just turned a blind eye. I’d read a series in the Times about this mission and their uphill battle to help the neighborhood, and because I’d retired, I figured I could do some good for them. At first, I didn’t know Jonas was the one running it. The packages would be sent to me and I’d take them down to Watts. I’d gotten an email explaining the delivery process and saying this was the safest way to get the medications into the right hands. I learned later it was also the safest way to protect the guilty.”
“You’re doing great, Jeb,” I said, “and how did you find out that Jonas was involved?”
“Rusty.”
“He just came up to you and told you?”
Augie really needed to get an imagination.
“Of course not. I like to have lunch at the Spitfire Grill. Mary Ann’s always running somewhere with work and whatnot. One day, Rusty came in and asked if he could join me. We yakked for a bit, and then he slid a package across the table to me. I think this is for you, he said. Well, I figured the jig was up, but he promised not to tell anyone. He said he thought what I was doing was admirable. Rusty told me that Jonas was running this operation and said he was helping with another side of the business. He did say he hoped not for much longer. From then on, I swore to myself I would have Rusty’s back.”
“Enough so that you killed Jonas with a lethal dose of Devil’s Breath?” Augie and the officer were watching Jeb very closely.
“Good God no. What kind of a person do you think I am?”
“Let Jeb tell his story, damn it!” came the loudest voice I’d ever heard Mary Ann use.
“Jonas had been fascinated with this Devil’s Breath concoction. He’d grown up in South America and he convinced me it had all sorts of healing properties. That interested me because of the kids; some of them have very little hope of surviving. Jonas wanted me to make up a batch for him; he said he could use it in exchange for more medications. He took me to Rusty’s hangar one day and showed me in a garden book what the drug was made from.”
Sally and I nodded to each other. That had been the book we’d seen on our night raid.
“We never did check the age of that Spitfire card that was used to mark the page,” Sally whispered. “We were going to get an idea of when it was done.”
“No need now. We have our answer.”
“It just so happens we have an Angel’s Trumpet tree in our front yard. It’s part of the same genus as the borrachero tree. Jonas knew I’d
been a chemist. Rusty must have told him. He seemed to know what he was talking about, so I agreed to give it a try. Jonas wanted it in liquid form.”
“You’re admitting you created this Devil’s Breath drug?” Augie was getting excited.
“For Jonas. Augie, weren’t you listening?” Slowly, I could see the pieces falling into place. Jeb hadn’t killed Jonas.
Jeb stood up from his chair, taking command of the room. I looked up at him, feeling his pain. He’d gotten up so abruptly that the recliner was still swinging, causing his hat to fall off the arm and onto the floor. It was his Australian bush cap.
“That was you arguing with Jonas in the hangar. It wasn’t Jimmy!” I blurted out. “You guys are about the same height and have the same hats.”
“Sweet Jesus, Mary and the Lord Almighty,” Sally declared.
“What were you guys arguing about?” I asked when I’d regained my composure.
“I’d done some reading up on this drug since I’d given Jonas the vial of Devil’s Breath. I’d had no idea how lethal it could be in the wrong hands. And Rusty had confided in me that Jonas wasn’t the nice kid he gave off. He was refusing to let Rusty quit the drug distribution business. So, when I ran into Jonas by the museum, I told him that I wanted my serum back.”
“I’ll bet he didn’t take that demand very well.”
“No, Halsey, he didn’t. In fact, he told me there’d been a change in the business plan and he’d no longer be providing me with medications.”
“Sounds like we have means, motive and opportunity. This isn’t sounding too good for you, Jeb,” Augie said, while looking sympathetically at Mary Ann. Somewhere below his beer belly, Augie had a heart.
“I know what it sounds like, but I didn’t kill him, I swear.”
“What happened after the argument, Jeb?” I prayed he would say something to exonerate himself.
“Jonas told me to go see Rusty and tell him to meet Jonas in the museum hangar at seven that night. I left to do as I was told. I couldn’t stand to look at that guy for another minute.”
The Name of the Rosé Page 18