Shadows of Deceit (A Series of Shadows)

by Mell Corcoran

  “Fine, now tell us where to find your brother, Manuel Rojas and Cameron Timms.” Lou moved to her second question, speaking slowly so there was no misunderstanding her.

  “I...” Vargas paused, obviously wanting to make his answer as truthful as possible. “I am not sure.” Lou sighed and broke eye contact with him. “Wait!” He begged. “I know next to nothing about Timms! I only met him twice, and that was a long time ago!” Carlos paused to think, carefully. His eyes scanned the floor and his lips were moving as though he was working out a complex math problem in his head. That wasn’t very far from the truth. “Manuel would be with my brother, Ernesto, of that I am sure. But I don’t know if Timms would be with them. From what my brother let on, Timms didn’t like fraternizing with the help and that is exactly what he thought my brother and I were, the help.”

  “Then where would your brother be right now?” Dillon was the one to ask the question now.

  “They had a warehouse!” The possibility dawned on him.

  “Had, being the operative word.” Frank interjected. “That’s no longer an option for them.”

  Carlos Vargas thought a bit harder. “My father had some low income rental property in Los Angeles. Under shell corporation names. Maybe he is using one of those? I gave him a key to the corporate apartment after Casius moved to Calabassas but I don’t think he would use that.”

  Lou pulled out her notepad. “Addresses, now.”

  “I don’t know the addresses of my father’s places but my attorney has them!” Carlos appeared to be telling the truth. “I can give you his number! You dial and I will ask him on speaker!”

  “And give you your one phone call to lawyer up?” Frank snorted.

  “No! No, I know I am caught here. I know I have to pay for my sins. There’s nothing he could do for me that I can’t. I swear I am being honest here!” It was the first time Carlos had spoken without stammering so Lou felt he was on the up and up.

  Frank was the one to dial and true to his word, Carlos Vargas asked his attorney to read off the addresses for his father’s rental properties and despite Carlos’ attorney’s protests, he gave them everything. Frank ended the call as soon as Lou had everything written down. “You have the address for the corporate apartment Downtown already.”

  “Yeah, we have that.” Lou verified. “You are being very smart about this situation Carlos. Too bad you were not smart enough to stay out of all this crap in the first place.”

  “I told you, I had no choice!” Carlos insisted. “Please! I have cooperated and I will cooperate! I swear to God I will not say one word about my brother’s other dealings! Please do not mess with my mind!”

  “That’s not up to them.” Frank clarified. “You went down a path that you had no business going down. For far too many reasons, most of which I am sure you know, you cannot be allowed to remember certain things. You will be fine though, I promise.”

  “Make sure he’s clueless about anything Sanguinostri related too.” As soon as she said it, she felt stupid. Of course Frank would do that. He had been doing that for God knows how long.

  “Yes ma’am.” Frank grinned and put his hand back on the sniveling Vargas’ forehead.

  “Sorry.” Lou apologized sheepishly. “I forgot you’ve done this a bazillion times before.”

  Frank chuckled and placed his hand back on Carlos Vargas’ forehead and immediately Vargas resumed sobbing. By the time they passed Piuma Road, Frank was finished and they made the rest of the drive in silence, save for Vargas’ continued whimpering. Frank copied the addresses that Vargas had given them so that he could get the data ready for Lou for when they finished interrogating him. It was one thing for the Sheriff’s to get their hands on Carlos Vargas, he could do no harm to the Sanguinostri now that Frank had wiped them and the blood from his memory. They would need to intercept Ernesto in the same manner in order to render him harmless as well. However, given the extent he was involved, there was no way of guaranteeing that Frank wouldn’t wipe too much, or do irreparable damage. Manuel Rojas and Cameron Timms were completely out of the question. Frank had removed Timms completely from Carlos’ mind to be safe but there was no way to get around the fact that Cameron Timms and Ernesto Vargas had to be dealt with by Sanguinostri only. The black blood smuggling operation and Cameron Timms could never see the light of day. There was simply no way to sanitize it for civilian consumption and there was far too much at stake.

  Dillon made a right onto Mulholland then promptly pulled up behind a Range Rover that was parked, waiting.

  “Have fun kids!” Frank got out of the car and headed for the passenger side of the Range Rover. He barely had the door closed before the SUV began moving, making a U-turn. Lou saw Abby at the wheel, waving at her as they headed back onto Las Virgenes and were gone. Dillon and Lou just looked at each other for a moment before Dillon made a similar U-turn and they continued their drive to Lost Hills where they would begin the official interrogation of their freshly adjusted passenger.

  Connor and Finn were both cranking away on their computers when Finn heard a vehicle pulling up. He hopped up quickly and looked out to see Max parking Joe McAllister’s 4-wheeler in the circular driveway. From what Finn knew, that 4-wheeler hadn’t had this much use since Joe bought the thing. Finn went back to his computer and Max walked in the front door just a moment later.

  “Anything?” He asked them.

  “We’re doing a search on numerous possible properties.” Connor told him. “Abby gave us a list of all the Timms holdings in the U.S. and it’s a whopper so sifting through all of them is like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s going to take time.”

  “Anything on your end?” Finn asked.

  “Everything went fine.” Max informed them. “At least so far. Lou and Dillon are on their way to interrogation with Carlos Vargas. Niko, Frank, Abby and Yuri are on their way back.”

  “Was Frank able to handle Vargas without a problem?” Connor was sure he did but he wanted to be positive.

  “He’s not sure if he wiped too much, but we don’t need to worry about that.” Max examined the surroundings and noted they needed to do something about the lack of furniture. “You need an IKEA run at least.”

  Connor and Finn looked up from their folding chairs and the long folding table they had set up as their work station. Other then that, there was not a stick of furniture to be had. It was a bare expanse of room with hardwood floors and sheets pinned to the empty curtain rod that ran the length of the back doors.

  “Yeah.” Connor agreed. “Abby had stuff put in our bedrooms so I assumed she was going to do something with the rest of the place.”

  “As if she hasn’t had her hands full enough, you guys can’t handle your own living arrangements?” Max gave them a disapproving look.

  “Hey! I got this stuff from Home Depot!” Finn protested.

  “Outstanding!” Max mocked him. “I bet there is a bottle of scotch in the cupboard and an old pizza box in the fridge. Say $500 on that?”

  “Like we are stupid enough to take that bet.” Connor snorted and watched Max head into the kitchen.

  “Ding ding ding! We have a winner, ladies and gentlemen!” Max shouted as soon as he opened the refrigerator. “For pity’s sake you two. How old are you? Stop acting like frat boys and take some responsibility for yourselves.”

  Finn and Connor looked at each other, dumbfounded.

  “It’s not like we’ve had time since we got back from Cuba, what? Oh yeah, yesterday!” Finn gave Max a disapproving look. “We were in the hotel before we left. Give us a break.”

  Connor winced at Finn’s insubordinate tone. Despite them all being family, Max was still their Dominor and disrespect was not an option.

  “Dude!” Connor tossed a paperclip at him. “Watch it, would you?!”

  “What?” Finn looked confused. “I’m the jerk?”

  “No, I didn’t say that.” Connor looked over to see Max approaching. “He’s worried about Lou!” He whisp
ered and saw understanding hit Finn in that moment.

  “Sorry my Dom.” Finn got up and faced him before Max could blow a gasket. “I’m still a bit tired, cranky and not thinking straight. I apologize for being out of line.

  Max walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “No, I am the jerk.” He admitted. “I know you have been working exceedingly hard and are not frat boys. I’m the one who needs to apologize.”

  “No way.” Connor protested. “We totally get it.”

  “Yes way.” Max mimicked Connor’s vernacular and grinned at him. “You need to forgive me. I’m a bit like a fish out of water here. So much going on at once and a good portion is unfamiliar territory for me. Be patient as I navigate this minefield, would you?”

  “You never have to ask that.” Finn patted Max on the back. “Grab that bottle of scotch and pull up a box!” He grinned. “I’ll see what time IKEA is open ‘till.”

  “Over my dead body!” Abby declared as she and Frank walked in the front door. “You think I’d let you desecrate this place with mediocre furniture? That we will be throwing away once the other place is finished?

  “Well this is entirely unacceptable, Abby.” Max informed her.

  “Yes, which is why there is going to be a delivery on Monday with appropriate furnishings that will move to the new place when we do.” She smiled at him sweetly.

  “Why am I not surprised?” Connor snickered. “Leave it to Abby to already have it handled.”

  “There will be a grocery delivery too.” She set her bag down and got another folding chair. “Move over, I need your other terminal if we are hanging out here.”

  “You have something new?” Max asked.

  “Lou got Carlos Vargas to give up possible locations for where his brother and the others could be hiding out.” Frank handed Abby his phone so she could start running down the list. “He said he doubted that Timms was with Manuel Rojas and his brother but we need to proceed as if he is.”

  “Why did he doubt it?” Niko asked as he walked in with Yuri behind him.

  Max looked around and realized there were not enough chairs for them all to sit. “Perhaps we should take this to the guest house. This is not exactly the most inviting of work environments.”

  “Good idea.” Abby agreed. “I’ll have the results sent to my system there.”

  “Fine with me.” Frank started heading for the door. “I can grab some of those finger sandwiches from the dedication.”

  “Oh! Good call!” Connor unplugged his laptop, tucked it under his arm and headed for the McAllister compound as well.

  “Hello?” Niko reminded them he had asked a question. “Why did Carlos doubt his brother and Manuel would be with Timms?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Frank stopped short of the door. “He said that Timms was a snob and viewed the rest of them as the help. From what we’ve learned of him, that was a nice way of putting it. I’ll drive us back to the McAllisters. Who brought the golf cart?”

  “I did.” Max admitted with a smile. “That is a brilliant means of transportation for up here! We need to get a few of them so we can zip back and fourth.”

  They all looked at each other as if he was joking but given they would eventually be running back and fourth between Max’s house, the new headquarters building on the other side of the ridge, then to McAllister house, it was actually a good idea.

  “I’ll ride back with you, Max!” Abby bounced past Frank and out the front door. “Shotgun!”

  “We could just walk, you know.” Niko reminded them.

  “Bro, that’s gonna get old real quick.” Yuri said as he patted him on the back then headed for the door with Finn right behind him.

  “What a bunch of lazy assed senior citizens!” Niko scoffed as he closed the door behind them.

  Carlos Vargas had been sitting alone in the interview room for about ten minutes. Lou wanted to double check with Vinny that he was completely fine not sitting in on the interview. He assured her that he was fine not being there, she gathered her files, a fresh notepad and pencils off her desk, then hobbled her way to Interview Taking a cue from Lou and her interview with Peter Taylor, Dillon made a vending machine run and loaded up on various stale snacks, sodas and a good supply of water.

  “I’ll be observing.” Captain Davidson grabbed the files that were dangling precariously from under Lou’s good arm. “Let me get these for you.”

  “Thank you.” Lou felt so helpless. “I shouldn’t be on this crutch for long.

  “It will take as long as it takes.” He smiled at her. “And not a second less so don’t force it. You could do permanent damage if you try too much too soon.”

  “Yeah, that’s what they keep telling me.” Lou sighed. “Keep an eye on me in there, would you?” She asked him under her breath..

  “You will do fine.” Davidson gave her a wink. “But I will be watching so no worries.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled and saw Dillon heading their way with his arms loaded. “Grab my stuff from Captain Davidson, please.”

  “You bet!” Dillon replied, shifting cans of soda to under his arm so he had a free hand. “Sir.”

  “Detective Cole.” Davidson nodded as he handed Lou’s things to him. “Good luck in there.”

  “Thank you, sir.” Dillon nodded since his first instinct was to salute, but his hands were now completely full.

  “Let’s get to it.” Lou smiled meekly as she opened the door to the interview room and they headed in for their interrogation of Carlos Vargas.

  For three solid hours they questioned the man and he spilled his guts on the entire heroin smuggling operation. At least as far as he knew it. During one of their family visits several years ago his brother, Ernesto Vargas, started asking about Arcano Imports’ shipping practices. After a cursory explanation, Ernesto confessed that he wanted to get out from their father’s thumb and test smuggling a few shipments through Arcano Imports’ supply chain on his own. It scared Carlos at first but the cut of money he would be receiving for each shipment was just too good to pass up. All Carlos had to do was personally over-see all the paperwork for one shipment each month. It seemed simple enough and fell in line with Carlos’ existing business practices. He already had been spot checking shipments for the company so nothing would look unusual or be deviating from his norm. Carlos had nothing more to do with the heroin other than facilitating the rigged shipments and keeping a ledger with basic checks and balances. It was simple and quite ingenious. Everything went smoothly for the first two years until their father found out and wanted to take control of the operation. That was when Carlos got his first taste of how ruthless his brother really was. Days after their father’s death, Ernesto told Carlos that he arranged for the explosion in Bogota that had taken Francisco Vargas’ life. Ernesto also informed Carlos that their father’s death meant they could increase the shipments which meant a great deal more money for both of them. The fact that Carlos was inheriting all his father’s U.S. property and holdings seemed to ease the shock of his father’s murder. Carlos was not about to argue with his brother so he kept his mouth shut and they tripled their import volume within a year. Once again everything was going smoothly until a couple years later when Luis Arcano started passing more and more responsibility of the company over to his son, Casius. The shift in power had brought Casius snooping and asking questions about why certain shipments were handled differently than others. That was when Ernesto decided they needed to bring in a distraction. Enter Angela Boone. Carlos had not seen his niece since she was five so didn’t even known that Angela Boone was his niece until he was way too far down the rabbit hole. Carlos swore up and down that he just provided research as to Casius Arcano’s type of woman and Ernesto did the rest. It was at the Fair Trade Fair where Casius met Angela for the first time and Carlos was also introduced to a man named Cameron Timms. Apparently, Cameron wanted to make sure Angela followed instructions and made the connection with Casius as planned.

  Just as Carlos hadn�
�t known about his niece, he hadn’t known that his brother, Ernesto, was really working for Cameron Timms. Even now he assumed Ernesto was still working with the Jacinto Cartel. Timms had approached Carlos at the Fair, introducing himself as an associate of his brother. The way Carlos described the encounter, it was a very menacing meeting but he was unable to articulate why. Lou and Dillon, on the other hand, knew exactly why. Cameron Timms had undoubtedly used his blood born gifts to play with Carlos’ mind. The pauses and stammers during this portion of the interview indicated to Lou that there were a lot of holes in his memory from Frank’s wipe. Dillon must have caught it too because he hurried Vargas through to more current events. Specifically, Luis Arcano’s death.

  “It goes back further then that, really.” Carlos told them. “Before he made his annual trip to Costa Rica with Angela, Casius confided in me that his sister was going to be coming to work with the company after the new year. He swore me to secrecy because Maria wanted to surprise their father with the news at Christmas.”

  “Another set of prying eyeballs was not going to be good for you, was it?” Lou asked.

  “I didn’t think it would matter!” Carlos insisted. “Honestly, I thought it would make things easier for me. Free me up to focus more on the shipping legalities for the company. Pass my other duties over to Maria. But when I told Ernesto, he was very upset. I reassured him and thought I had done a good job, until Casius and Angela broke up.”

  “Not part of the plan, I presume.” Dillon stated the obvious.

  “Our stupid cousin!” Carlos grumbled. “I’ll never understand why Ernesto trusted him. Manuel thought the hotel was a fantastic place for him to check on Angela. I think he used it for meetings with his employees like the Salazars but I don’t know anything about all that. I am just assuming.” He waved his hand as if to dismiss his speculation. “I barely knew our cousin Manuel, or any of the Rojas, but Manuel gave me the creeps. I brought my family down there years ago for a vacation and I had to promise my wife we would never go there again. He was a drunken pervert and had no shame about it.”