“So, Danny’s dad really is a mobster?”
“As big as they come.”
“What about…you know?” Tyler sheepishly asked about the bodies in the garden.
“I’m not getting paid to find out any more. It seems the big boss feels I’m a liability just like you and April. I did my job, checked out Danny’s and April’s apartments, but I made one mistake. I told April I had been there. Her attorney then used that information to claim that the crime scene had been tampered with by unknown parties. That made everything found at the crime scene tainted by an outside party, who may or may not be the real killer of Danny Conners and your wife. The elder Connors felt it was a mistake of such gigantic proportions, it should be fatal.”
“Then why are you here? Why’d you beat me up?” Tyler whined. Carpelli kneed him in his kidneys again and Tyler howled in pain.
“Because I need to know I have your complete attention, Mr. Stone. You see, I don’t like murderers, and that means I don’t like you. I also don’t trust murderers, so I don’t trust you. But I do need you. I need to use you as bait.”
“Bait? No way! I fish a lot and I’ve learned one thing without a shadow of a doubt. When you go fishing the bait usually gets eaten in order to catch the fish. I don’t want to be anyone’s bait,” Tyler whined.
“Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not asking.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
April and Ms. Hunter arrived at two o’clock sharp. District Attorney Thompson was in his office waiting for them along with Assistant District Attorney Bellinger and Detectives Beals and Williams. Carpelli, true to his word, provided a packet of material that was substantial enough to make the DA’s mouth water but not enough to allow him to take it and run with it alone.
Detectives Beals and Williams had been instructed they were there as a courtesy to the department and they were to remain silent at all times. ADA Bellinger was there under the same instructions. The only people who would be talking today were the DA himself and, of course, Ms. Hunter. Even April had been instructed to remain silent until Ms. Hunter okayed what she wanted to say.
“Darrell, it is good to see you again. How’s the tennis game coming along?” Ms. Hunter asked in an all too familiar way.
“It’s improving, but I doubt I’ll get to the Open or Wimbledon, unless I buy a ticket. How is your horse?”
“Sally is just fine. I don’t get to ride her often enough, but I get away every chance I can,” Ms. Hunter replied.
“So, what brings you to see me today?”
“Well, Darrell, we’re here to do you a favor. This is potentially a huge favor and we’d like a small favor in return.”
“Jennifer, you know I don’t do favors. My job is to uphold the laws of this great state and nation, not make life easier for the criminals,” the DA was talking tough as if some fool news reporter was listening.
“Oh, I didn’t mean for it to sound like it might be a personal thing, Darrell. It has to do with stopping a major crime player, a mobster. Which I know you know, anyone who attempts to do so, does so at great personal risk.”
“Yes, informing on the mob is a dangerous business.”
“That’s my point. My client is privy to some controversial material which might be considered evidence against a prominent member of the local mob scene. The materials are part of an accounting record that was left by accident in the possession of my client.”
“Well, let’s see what you think is evidence, Counselor.”
“Not so fast, Darrell. Let’s discuss the needs of my client. She has to feel safe to come forward. At the moment, you’ve got a black eye over the botched evidence in the case against my client.” Ms. Hunter held up her hand to cut off the DA from commenting and she continued. “Now, you may be able to rectify the situation or you may not.
“This is where my client will do you a favor. She’ll confess to killing Danny Conners in a drug-induced hallucination. You’ll reduce the charges to manslaughter three, which warrants the maximum punishment of one to three years due to the fact she was drugged without her knowledge in an attempt to kill her.
“The favor is, you get a conviction where it is highly unlikely you’d otherwise get one. Now the favor we require in return is, immediately after sentencing for the crime of manslaughter, she is to be turned over to United States Marshals Service. She’s to be provided a new identity, a new home and employment at a level that provides her with a comfortable lifestyle. I believe you call that Witness Protection.”
“She wants Witness Protection? For what?” the DA asked.
“In return, my client will provide you with complete accounting records showing all of the business Danny Conners transacted for his father over the past three years. That should allow you to get search warrants for all of Anthony Conners’ homes and businesses plus the office of his attorney Jackson Bender. She will also provide testimony to the fact that Danny Conners was dealing drugs for his father. She can also testify to the fact that Danny Conners, on the day of his disappearance, was afraid for his life. He shared with my client that he was afraid his father was going to have him killed, because he stole over a million dollars from him.
“I have a small portion of the accounting paperwork with us and we’re prepared to share. This paperwork shows how he stole a million dollars from his father.”
“Interesting, Counselor, but how can I be sure what she’s peddling here is the truth and it’s good enough to get me the conviction of Anthony Conners?”
“Yesterday, three men broke into my client’s apartment claiming to be working for Anthony Conners. They told April she had twenty four hours to find Danny’s papers or they would be back to kill her. She was slapped around a bit, not too bad, but enough to get the point across. This happened while the City Police had April’s place under surveillance and yet they saw nothing.”
The DA looked over to Beals and Williams. Beals sheepishly nodded his head, yes. The DA looked back at April, who looked scared to death. He turned back to Ms. Hunter as he spoke, “Ms Hunter, I’m going to have to see this evidence before I can give blanket protection to Miss Jennings here.”
April interjected at this point, “I told you he wouldn’t do it. He just wants the papers so he can screw me in the end. It was bad enough to have someone try to kill me, but then they arrested me for defending myself. I won’t let this guy screw me again by letting him steal my bargaining chip for his career enhancement. Let’s go. We can meet with the Federal Prosecutor in an hour. I’ll bet they’ll do it,” April snarled. Ms. Hunter held up her hands trying to keep April in her seat.
“Ladies, I didn’t say I wouldn’t do it. I just need to see some of the evidence you think you have. I have to be able to justify to the state the things I do. I’m sure if the evidence is compelling, we don’t need the Feds running rough shod all over our town when we’re just as capable, if not more so, to get the job done.”
“I’m glad to hear that, Darrell,” Ms. Hunter stated and opened her briefcase. She pulled out a wad of fifty pages consisting of text and numbers. They were Danny Conners account of his work for his father—complete names, addresses and amounts. The DA flipped through the papers slowly and then with a flourish.
When he had finished, he looked up and stated, “I think this will work, if you have more documents and she testifies.”
“She’ll testify if you need her to. The documents may be enough to get a conviction,” Ms. Hunter stated with a satisfied smile.
“Let’s make arrangements to get her protected right away. How many more documents do you have?” The DA picked up the phone and made a call to the United States Marshals Service. Carpelli’s plan was working just fine so far.
When Beals and Williams left the courthouse, they were met by a man leaning on their cruiser, which was parked inside the official law enforcement only parking lot. The guy shouldn’t have been there and yet, there he was.
“Something we can do for you?” Williams snarled
from twenty feet away as he reached inside his sport coat to pull his gun from his shoulder holster as he continued to walk towards the man. Beals stopped and reached for his gun as well.
“I believe there is, but first I would like to do something for you,” Carpelli stated while holding his hands out to his side being as non-threatening as possible.
“Are you packing?” Williams snarled in reply.
“No weapons, gentlemen. I just want to have a talk. Share information.”
“Who are you?” Beals spoke up.
“I’m known at the moment as Nate Harcorte.”
“Have any ID?” Beals asked as Williams stepped up and did a brief frisking.
“ID in my business tends to get people killed.”
“So, what’s your business?”
“I work security mostly, but I also solve issues for people who don’t like having issues.”
“You’re some hired thug,” Williams snarled as he grabbed Carpelli’s wrist and started to handcuff him.
“Gentlemen, I came to you remember? I might have information that could undo any damage I may have inadvertently caused your case.”
“You’ve obstructed justice is what you’ve done,” Beals stated as Williams locked the cuffs on Carpelli. “Read the man his rights,” Beal was snarling now.
“Okay, but you’re wasting your time.”
“Oh, why is that?” Williams blurted out before he started reading Carpelli his rights.
“Once I tell the DA what I was about to share with you, all charges will be dropped. The case you want to charge me with obstructing is over and done with. In fact, right now I believe they’re in front of the judge completing the pleading so that sentencing can be recorded and Miss Jennings can officially disappear.”
“How do you know?” Beals asked.
“I’m paid to know things and to find out things that others may have missed or overlooked.”
“What were you going to tell the DA?” Williams asked.
“I talk better with my hands free, see, I’m part Italian,” Carpelli stated and turned his back to Williams. Beals nodded and Williams begrudgingly released Carpelli.
“Ah, that’s much better. Now where were we? Oh yeah, I have something to tell you. Well, first of all, April Jennings did kill Danny Conners. She did it by accident all drugged out by the people who poisoned her and her sister.
“Danny Conners was deeply involved with the drug trade as a representative of his father and was stealing cash from each deal he made. His father finally became fed up with it and ordered everyone Danny might have told about his transgression to be silenced for good. That’s how April and Wendy ended up in so much trouble.”
“Did you do it?”
“Hardly. If I had killed them, you wouldn’t have had any evidence that anything was amiss, they’d just be gone. Now when they missed April, and you started investigating Mr. Stone, the parties I work for became excited. They’ve ordered in another elimination team to finish off the first team, which failed to gather the information that Danny was hiding.
“Apparently, Danny had some documents that were his insurance policy against dear old dad eliminating him. Some policy, huh? It’s sad but it’s the first team’s own fault. No one checked to be sure April had drunk enough of the poison. After Danny died, they searched his place.
“During the search, they inadvertently let April escape. To cover their tracks they tried to frame April for both murders and did a poor job of it. Now the second team of hitters is due in town today. With Miss Jennings no longer someone they will be able to find anytime soon, they will concentrate on the elimination of the first team and on Mr. Tyler Stone.”
“Why would they go after him?” Beals asked.
“They don’t want any possible loose ends. Mr. Stone was being investigated by you and you may still have him under surveillance which says to them if he had somehow learned of Danny’s involvement in his father’s drug trade, he might try to trade that knowledge to save himself if you charge him.”
“So, you’re saying there’s a team of out of town talent coming to whack Tyler Stone because his wife left him for Danny Conners and his father is worried she may have told him something?”
“Yes, they are nothing if not paranoid,” Carpelli confirmed.
“So, why tell us?”
“So you may apprehend them in the process of committing the crime. Perhaps you could convince them to turn state’s evidence in return for lesser sentences or witness protection even, provided they can absolutely lead you to the big boss.”
“Do we know what these guys look like?” Beals asked.
“I haven’t a clue. But we know to whom they’ll be paying a visit,” Carpelli explained.
“How are they’re traveling?” Williams asked.
“I don’t know for sure. But I’d drive in if it were me. That way, I could drive out as quickly as possible.”
“We don’t have any time to set this up properly. Let’s call it in to the Captain and fill him in, then get some back up out to Stone’s place,” Beals directed Williams.
“You might want to consider they could make their move anywhere at any time. At his work, on the road home, when he’s out at the store. He’s going to need lots of surveillance if he’s going to live through this. If I were you, I’d consider placing a handful of men in the house with Tyler in case they get past the men outside,” Carpelli/Harcorte suggested.
“We won’t have much of a case if we take them outside. No, we’ll need to catch them in the act,” Beals stated as he turned to Williams who was already talking on the phone. Beals waited a minute until Williams was finished then he stated, “Get two men to the house right now and have them set up in the garage behind the house. Then call and have the surveillance team at his work go in and get him out of there. They are to take him back home and stay with him until we arrive.” Beals then turned around to talk with Harcorte only he wasn’t there any more. He was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY- ONE
The two men arrived in town driving a late model, blacked out Chevy Suburban. It was their vehicle of choice because it allowed easy access to the expansive cargo area. They drove around town for a while to get a basic knowledge of the town’s layout so they could avoid getting trapped if they ran into trouble. It also helped them to know where the rough, broken down properties were so they could use them to hideout in, if needed.
Once they had done their due diligence, they called the first of two numbers they had been given. The first was for an attorney who had officially hired them. The second was the direct line to the man who had ordered the attorney to hire them.
“Hello? Jackson Bender.”
“Mr. Bender, we’ve just arrived in town and we need to know if there are any last minute changes to our contract,” the man in the passenger seat inquired. He was in his mid-thirties, fit and trim, with dark hair and deep green eyes. He wore an Armani suit that was tailor-made for him.
His partner was driving and he was in his late twenties and muscle bound. He wore his light brown hair long and shaggy. He had a full mustache, deep blue eyes due to contacts and was dressed in an off-the-rack suit from JC Penney. He only wore the suit because his partner insisted that when they traveled, they should look like businessmen. But as a precaution both men had several changes of clothes hung up in the back of the SUV. That way they could fit in anywhere they needed to go.
“As of today, the Jennings woman is off the grid. We don’t know where she went and it hasn’t been decided whether or not we want a search done.”
“Well, keep us in mind, we do excellent searches.”
“I’m sure you do. So now you only have two targets. The first is Tyler Stone. I sent you his address and photo earlier. The second is the private investigator named John Carpelli. He has no known home address but you have his business address and photo. Consider him extremely dangerous.”
“Roger, we will do so. Has the fee been altered?”
; “No, the fee remains the same. If we find the woman before you’re done in town, we’ll expect her to be taken care of as well and if not, consider the extra cash a bonus. Don’t forget, time is of the essence.”
“I do like working for generous people,” the man stated and hung up. He then placed the second call.
“Yeah?”
“Mr. Conners?”
“Who wants to know?”
“We’re friends of his. We’ve just arrived in town and we were under the impression we were to call him and say hi from his cousin in Detroit.” They tried to be as cryptic as they could and still communicate.
“Old Mugs is such an asshole. There have been a couple of changes. First, the bitch has gone underground. We’ll have to wait on that one until she comes up for air. But in exchange, there is another party that needs to be retired. He hired you, likes to think he’s a legal eagle. Retire the other customers first, then deal with legal eagle.
“Time is of the essence on this one and I want all the papers from everyone pertaining to me, my son or our businesses, understand?”
“Understood,” the man responded and the line went dead.
“So, how many is it now?” the driver asked.
“It’s still three, just a change as to who the third target is.”
“That’s no big deal.”
“Nope. But they want it done in order and time is of the essence. The target they changed is to be done last.”
“Who did we lose?”
“The woman. She’s disappeared and they want some other asshole done instead.”
“So, where you want to start?”
“Let’s get the civilian out of the way and then we’ll focus on the professional before we finish with the attorney he just added. We’ll need to collect any and all documents any of the three have pertaining to our real customer.”
“We have quite an eclectic group this time.”
Cliff Roberts Thriller Box Set Page 33