“I know, man. We’re going to catch the psychopath.”
When the Sheriff returned with a roll of evidence tape, they resealed the bags and initialed them. Ben was taking them to the state’s evidence room in Columbia for safe keeping. His phone rang as they prepared to walk out, and he listened to whoever was on the other end. Ben thanked the person then said, “Neither Frank or Curtis has a boat registered in their names, but their grandmother has an old house boat that’s been docked on the other side of the lake for years. Since it’s out of your jurisdiction, Sheriff, I’ll send a couple of my men to check it out. I’ll keep you informed of what we find. If he’s there, my boys are bringing him here for questioning. Is that going to be a problem?”
“No, he’s got things to answer for. I wanna be there when he’s questioned, though,” Sheriff Cahill said with his hands on his hips.
Ben handed Evan a bag, and they walked out together. In the last three hours, Evan heard things he never thought would be attached to Riverton Crossing. He needed to get his head wrapped around it and fast. When they arrived at Ben’s car, he popped the trunk. “Thanks for the help, man. I’ll let you know when we have the phone and if there are any more pictures.”
“That’d be great, before I do something drastic.”
“You know the drill. She stays in a secure place until we get our hands on the son-of-a-bitch. She doesn’t leave the ranch without you or your brother. Is he licensed to carry?”
“Yeah, he’s had his concealed weapons permit for years. She is not gonna like this.”
“Look at it this way, she’ll have excessive energy when you get home,” Ben said with a chuckle before Evan flipped him off. “Seriously, did you think you were walking into this hornet’s nest when you came back?”
“Not in a million years. Are you amending the charges against Curtis?”
“You get written statements from your officers before they leave that room. Have a notary there so they’re admissible. He’ll go to jail, Evan. We won’t let him get away with it.”
Evan nodded and shook Ben’s hand before he walked to his car. At least he had that and the promise they’d eventually get all or part of their money back to take to the officers. At the moment, he was embarrassed he wore the same badge and held the same title Curtis did. Evan checked his phone as he sat in his car. There was a text from Ginger letting him know she’d laid down for a nap so he sent her a reply.
Arriving at his office, Evan gathered supplies and readied the conference room himself since he took this particular meeting personally. These officers had been manipulated long enough so he wanted them as comfortable as possible. He hoped this meeting would help remove some of the burden from their shoulders.
Evan rested his head on the back of the chair with his eyes closed trying to switch gears when the Mayor walked in. Evan opened his eyes when the Mayor looked around at all of the notepads, pens and cups. “I didn’t know this meeting was more than you and me.”
“Six of my officers will be here at three thirty. You need to hear their stories from them, and I need to know how long this has been going on, who else and how much money is involved.”
The Mayor furrowed his brows. “Money?”
“Mayor, I thought my first day was eventful, but it was nothing compared to today.”
It wasn’t quite three thirty when a knock sounded on the door. Evan opened it to find Officer Applegate with four other officers behind him. “Jack Casey is on his way, sir. He’s just finishing his patrol,” Jeff said.
“Sounds good. Come in and have a seat. I know this is hard for y’all, but we’re gonna make things better.” Evan pointed between himself and the Mayor. “We’re gonna need sworn statements from each of you so if you wanna start writing while we wait for Officer Casey, feel free.” Evan looked at the people sitting around the table. With Jack Casey, there were four men and two women. The petite officer sitting diagonally at the far end of the table from Evan sniffled as she wrote. That couldn’t be good.
A few minutes later Officer Casey tapped on the door and stuck his head in. Jeff waived him in as each officer introduced him or herself to the Mayor and Evan. Evan informed them he was recording the meeting because he didn’t want to miss any details when he filed his report with the state. The petite officer, Mary, looked at Evan with watery eyes. “Are you going to keep that confidential? I don’t want what I say in here to get out.”
“I assure you, this tape is for my use only. The Mayor is here because he needs to know what happened under the former chief, and I want him to hear this first hand. We’ll use the statements for prosecution though. Jeff, why don’t you start since I already know your story.”
The men’s stories were about the same. Either a family member had been caught speeding, or a child had gotten into mischief, or they had been to visit Ruby and didn’t want their wives to know.
Officer Casey’s was different, though. He was hired straight out of the academy as were most of the officers, and his first performance review was excellent marks across the board. He was told to only expect a modest raise in pay, so when it came in more than double what he expected he spoke with Chief Taylor. He was told his increase was only three percent so the other four was the Chief’s for incidental expenses. He was told not to tell anyone and didn’t until he heard the others’ stories. Other than Officer Casey, the men’s payments were a hundred dollars a paycheck. Evan rubbed his hand down his face while the Mayor plowed his fingers through his hair. By the time they got to the women, Evan didn’t imagine their stories could be any worse.
The first female officer was Georgia. She was in her mid-thirties and a single mother of a little girl. The grievance against her was she’d sometimes need to leave early because of her daughter. Again, the payment was a hundred dollars. When she couldn’t pay it, Curtis had her run special errands. For every payment missed she had to make two special deposits at the bank. The deposits were into different company accounts out of state. She was told to always go to the teller where Mr. Jones stood, and it was a different teller each time. The deposits were never the same amount, but always cash and under the ten thousand dollar threshold. She said the money always felt real, but she never really checked because she was too scared.
When it was the petite officer’s turn, she was shaking. “Mary, we’re here to help you. Can you tell us the circumstances that led you into this room today? We won’t judge.”
“My story can’t get out.”
“Everyone in this room is embarrassed about what’s happened to them. No one is gonna say anything,” Evan voice was consoling as he tried to put her at ease.
She looked around the room to find encouragement from her colleagues before she held Evan’s stare. That one gesture must’ve given her courage because she didn’t break eye contact when she spoke, “I too am a single mother, but fortunate enough to have my mother live with us so leaving is never an issue for me. Money is tight on an officer’s salary, though. I don’t get child support from my son’s father, and my mother’s social security isn’t much either so I picked up a part-time job that works around my schedule.”
She stopped to gather herself once more as her focus was now on her clinched hands. “There’s a gentlemen’s club in Cloverville, and I dance there. It’s legal and legit, but Chief Taylor came in one night while I was dancing. He threatened to tell my mother and co-workers. My mother thought I had extra duty, and I never told her any differently. I knew what people would think if they found out so I kept it from my co-workers, too. It was the only place I could make enough money to be worthwhile. Anyway, once he found out, he asked what I made in tips. I told him, and he wanted half to keep his mouth shut.
“When my son got sick last winter, I couldn’t make the payments so he had me do what Georgia did with the deposits,” she said as she pointed at Georgia. “I didn’t ask any questions because I figured it was better than being exposed.” She closed her eyes. Evan thought she was finished with her stor
y when her voice came through a soft cry, “When I caught the same flu my son had, I couldn’t make the bank runs either.” She sniffled and locked eyes with Evan again.
His gut told him he won’t like where her story was going. “Mary, you don’t have to finish, just put it in your statement.”
She shook her head and wiped her eyes. “Y’all need to know what kind of monster he really is.” She gained some semblance of control before she spoke again, “The day I came back to work he told me since I didn’t make my payment or run his errand, I’d work my payment off in other ways. So anytime he couldn’t see Ruby, I had to book a hotel room out by the big box store.” She shook her head as if trying to rid herself of something. “He said he was getting his money one way or another. This saved him money and he got a free hotel room out of it.” She broke down after that while Georgia hugged her.
Evan slammed his hands on the table as he stood. “He made you pay for the room where he forced you to have sex?” he blurted, and Mary nodded. Evan saw the Mayor out of the corner of his eye, and he was green.
“Dear God,” Mayor Sinclair mumbled.
Evan ran his hand down his face as he tried to gain control of his anger. He paced since he couldn’t beat Curtis’s face in, but had to expend the energy somehow. When he turned, all the officers were watching him. What was he supposed to say to all of this? The officers didn’t need a priest. They needed a leader who’d get them justice. To do that, he needed the whole picture so he gritted his teeth and sat back down. “How long has this been going on?” The times ranged from six months to four years. Evan looked at the Mayor for answers.
“I’ve been in office less than three years. I had no idea.”
“Not that what y’all have told us isn’t bad enough, but was he taking payments from people outside the force?”
One of the men who admitted visiting Ruby spoke up, “He’d send me to Ruby’s on the fifteenth and thirtieth of every month. His message to her was always the same. ‘Give him a blowjob before you give him the envelope’. I always got the blowjob and returned with a fat envelope. I never opened it, but knew it was money.” The man’s face was red with embarrassment. This was how Curtis kept his leverage.
“Have you been back to visit her lately?”
“Not since I heard what happened Monday.”
“Keep it that way.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ruby was being pinched. Anyone else?” Evan asked.
“When those Masterson Investments men came into town, we were told never to write them a ticket. They’d get drunk and cause problems at the bar, but the chief wouldn’t do anything about it. I know the owners had to pay a lot of money for the damages they did,” Mary said once she’d regained her composure.
“So maybe he wasn’t taking money from them, but he wasn’t protecting them either. Did y’all see a lot of that?” The officers nodded. “I’d like a list of merchants that you know were either pinched or left unprotected on my desk by Monday,” Evan said. Mayor, do you have any questions before I let them finish their statements?”
“Was it only Chief Taylor?”
“Yes, sir. We weren’t sure if Chief Riverton was going to follow in his footsteps,” Jeff said.
With a confident voice Evan said, “I guarantee I’ll never walk in his footsteps. I’ll always have an open door policy. I wanna know any misconduct you see, and I’ll never reveal where I get my information.”
“Good to hear, sir,” Jeff said.
“Finish your statements and give them to Sandra. She’ll notarize them and leave them on my desk in a sealed envelope. Tomorrow I’ll send them to the agent working Curtis’s case. Thank y’all for taking the time to come in today.”
Evan opened the door for Sandra as he and Mayor Sinclair walked out. They pressed the button sat on the padded bench by the elevators while they waited. When Evan looked at the Mayor, he was bent over with his elbows resting on his knees and fingers massaging his temples. Evan waited him out because he knew what Evan was going to ask. When he tilted his head, his expression was somewhere between disbelief and anger. “I had no idea, Evan. No one ever said anything to me. When the little officer back there,” he flicked his finger to indicate the direction she sat from him.
“Mary.”
“Yeah, Mary. When she was telling her story, I had to swallow several time to keep from puking. I almost got up and walked out. What kind of man would that make me if I couldn’t listen to what she had to say? She had to endure it, and I almost got sick just listening to it.”
Evan nodded. “A fellow agent of mine once told me Curtis was a sick fuck, but I didn’t know he was this low. I’ve already told Ben he’d need to amend the charges on Curtis. After hearing this today, I don’t think Curtis deserves protective custody so I’ll call Ben tonight.”
The Mayor stood to leave. “Let me know what you find out. I think I need to go home and have a stiff drink.”
“I need my girl. If someone ever treated her like those ladies were treated, I’d have to kill them.”
The Mayor waved him off. “I’m with you. Good night.”
Evan didn’t get in the elevator, but took the stairs to burn off some energy. On his way to his car he called Rita to inform her he’d left for the day. He couldn’t get to Ginger fast enough.
32
Since they couldn’t join Cat for lunch, Kayla invited her and Thomas for dinner before he started a new three-day rotation the following night. Ginger hadn’t heard from Evan since his text, but played his music all afternoon just to feel close to him. She, Kayla, and Cat prepared dinner as Mitchell and Thomas went out back. “The Fighter” by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood came on. She loved that song because the words were her and Evan’s story. As the song played Ginger’s thoughts drifted to how far they’d come in a month. Tears stung her eyes when Evan walked through the door looking as though he’d been in a wrestling match. The image couldn’t have been more perfect. When Ginger noticed he was walking straight for her, she turned, anticipating the connection before he wrapped her in his arms.
“Rough day?”
“Yeah, you could say that.” He moved his face only far enough to be understood when he spoke.
“Anything I can do to make it better?”
“You’re doing it.”
They were hugging when Mitchell and Thomas walked in. Mitchell asked, “Is this a group hug?”
Ginger laughed and Evan growled.
“I’ll take that as a no,” Mitchell said.
“I need a stiff drink. Y’all wanna join me?” Evan asked Mitchell and Thomas as he pulled away. Ginger watched the guys as she wondered what he found out today.
When dinner was ready, she walked toward the living room and heard Evan say, “The state lab connected the last picture of Ginger to the one of Harley. She doesn’t leave here unprotected until we have Frank in custody.” Ginger closed her eyes in resignation. When she opened them, she saw the anger wash down Evan’s face as he took a sip of his drink.
“I also found out just how sick Curtis really is. I’m glad you’ve been with Kayla because who knows what he would’ve done to her if you weren’t. I was ready to put my badge down permanently today just to beat the shit out of him. Mitchell, you need to promise me right now if anything ever happens to me, you’ll take care of Ginger and the baby.” Evan’s voice was worried as he leveled Mitchell with a determined stare.
“You don’t even have to ask, bro. Of course I’d take care of them, promise.”
The worry in his tone caused tears to sting Ginger’s eyes again. She wrapped her arms around herself because this was more than she wanted to know. She trusted he’d protect her and wouldn’t press him for answers because he’d tell her when he was ready. She wiped her eyes before she walked into the room. “Dinner’s ready. Y’all hungry?”
Mitchell and Thomas headed for the food, but Evan lingered with her. “How much of that did you hear?” He rubbed up and down her arms.
/> “More than I wanted to. Do I want to know any more?”
He pulled her in close as he said, “No, darlin’, you don’t. Just know you can always talk to me about anything, and if I’m not around go to Mitchell. If Thomas is available, he’s good, too, especially with the baby.” She could tell there was something he really didn’t want to tell her. “Deputy Smith took the last picture of you. The lab linked it and the one of Harley to the same phone. I was hoping for evidence to tie him to the other one, but right now there isn’t anything, but they’ll keep looking.”
“So what now?”
“Status quo. You can’t go anywhere without Mitchell or me.”
“Okay.” She tried to smooth the scowl from his forehead. “I know I can talk to Mitchell, or Thomas. I can also go to my family, but it’s you I need. Please quit talking about you not being around.” She pointed to her belly, “You helped make this little bundle, you’re helping raise this little bundle. Got it?”
“Just covering all the bases,” he said before he kissed her temple. “Now that you’ve gotten a clue about my shitty day, what did y’all do?”
“Laid around the pool, mostly. I tried to work on an article, but I didn’t have anything new to work with.”
He tilted her face so he could look into her eyes. “Hang in there, darlin’. I’m gonna catch the bastard.”
Dinner turned into a celebration since Cat told them she was promoted to a new position earlier in the week. Her new title was Compliance Officer, and her job was to look at every commercial cash transaction over twenty-five hundred dollars that drew red flags in their computer. Was the amount below the ten thousand dollar threshold? Was it a staged transaction? Was it a reoccurring transaction? It was a type of fraud department. Cat loved puzzles and a good mystery so her new job was like looking for a clue that created a mystery. “I feel like Sherlock Holmes in the modern world,” she said with a gleam in her eyes as she tilted her wine glass to her lips.
Unfinished Business: A Riverton Crossing Novel Page 25