by Doug Ball
Pinal County
The phone on Tan’s belt rang. He checked the face and saw the name, Governor, staring back at him. He took the call. “Yes, Governor, what can I do for you?” as he stopped in the middle of the two rut road.
“Man called and tried to get money out of me with his information on the hijacking. Said he knew where the truck was. I told him we were broke. Long story short, he gave me this clue, ‘Ding, dong bell, Pussy in the well.’ What does that say to you?”
“The truck is under water or it’s located somewhere with a well theme. You know, like Montezuma Lake or Clint’s Well, something like that.”
“My take on it, also. What do you need to check it out?”
Tan grinned into the phone as Chuck said, “We’re on it.”
“Well, Governor,” Tan said, “We are currently checking out all the settling ponds and lakes in Northern Pinal County. Perhaps a quiet communication from DPS to the Sheriffs could get the rest of the state dealt with. I just thought of something, Arizona has a great number of abandoned mines that have water in the bottom. I can think of some over around Apache Junction at Goldfields where many things have been found dumped, including bodies. When I was a kid we used to time the rock falls into the water at the bottom. There’s some really deep stuff around. Easy access would be the key. That, and how far they wanted to drive that thing after the heist. They didn’t know they had hours instead of minutes due to the length of time it took the driver to get a ride because of the slack traffic on that highway after dark.”
“Okay, you got all I know.” The Governor sat in her chair, eyes focused on a painting on the far wall. A body of water, gentle ripples growing out from a stone splash, birds on a limb watching the expanding circle, and one bright flower on the shore to the left. Somehow it just didn’t fit her present mood.
She sat the phone in its cradle on the desk feeling helpless and lost.
She screamed. It helped.
Her body guard came running in from the office across the hall, gun drawn, scanning everything with the weapon, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Why the scream? Is there a mouse or something?”
“Sorry about that. Don’t be silly, mice don’t bother me. I just screamed to vent a bit of frustration. That’s it, plain and simple. I usually do that at home in the garage.”
“Believe it or not, I scream now and then myself.” The guard turned, holstering his weapon, before he stepped into the hall just in time to stop the charging backups. “It’s okay. The Governor was just venting her spleen.”
The four of them had a good nervous laugh in the hallway before the guard went back to his Lee Childs book, which he had to retrieve from the floor and then figure out what page he was on. Calming his heart rate and feeling the tingle of the adrenalin burn reminded him of why he was what he was in life, a cop. ‘Ya gotta love it. Many a dull moment, but the exciting times are the best.’
Again the phone rang. The Phoenix Police officer grabbed it. “Governor’s office.”
“This is Attorney General Hunt , I would like to speak to the Governor, please.”
“Wait one, Sir.”
“I got it.” The door was still open.
“What is it, Terry?”
“The Fed just informed me that the paper work on their breach of contracts suit is to be presented to the Supreme Court tomorrow. I will get a copy by fax around 10 our time. Do we want to read it together?”
“No, Terry, just have a messenger bring me a copy and we’ll talk later. I am not worried about their suit. None of those programs required us to do anything if the money was not in place. We win, they lose. I’m tired of this garbage and games. Let’s find something to counter sue about.”
“I have just the thing. They failed to assist us when the border of the United States was violated by armed incursion. Failure to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Open and shut case.”
“Do it to’em. Give them a dose of their own Cod Liver Oil. Good bye, Terry. Thank you for your support.” She was smiling.
Mammoth
“Well, Tank, sorry none of your ideas checked out, but we covered a bunch of ground today. Only got three or four places to hit tomorrow. You wanna play with us tomorrow?” Tan acted like he didn’t care whether he did or not, but really wanted him along. The guy was sharp and fun. Some of the things he knew about this neck of the woods were fascinating.
“Gee, I don’t know. Let me think on that for a while, yeah. You guys are crazy. Think you could get me a job as a deputy or police officer?”
“We’ll be at the motel, the motel. Meet ya here at 8 AM. Bring your hiking boots.”
“Sneaks is all I got.”
“They’ll work, I guess. You wanna be a cop, get in shape, knock off the beer, and start shaving.”
“You got it. Make a spot for me.”
They all shook hands and turned in two directions, leaving the Circle K where Tank had left his truck.
Chuck looked over at Tan as they drove to the motel, “What do you think? Could he make the Academy?”
“Governor’s appointment might be needed. He isn’t a kid, but he isn’t over 35. Those tats might be a problem.”
They turned into the motel, checked in, and emptied the trunk. Their two adjoining rooms with a usable connecting door were small, clean, and each had a TV, a 16 inch color portable. One bar of soap was in each bath and one towel hung on the rack. The bed was old but solid, the coverlet was old and thread bare, and the walls were covered with layers of paint, all of them white. The odor of some room deodorizer buried all other scents except the faint smell of tobacco smoke. Chuck stuck his head into Tan’s room and said, “Classy, huh?”
Tan replied, “I’ve slept in much, much worse in Flagstaff that cost more than this place by a long shot. During prime tourist season on a weekend night when something big is going on, a room like this would run you $150 or better, instead of the $40 here and now. I like this. It’s cozy, quiet, cool, clean, and comfy. All I want here is a comfortable, quiet night’s sleep. I’ll probably dream of dirt roads and scrub plants.”
“And empty holes in the ground. Think we’ll come to an end of some kind tomorrow?”
“Only the ‘we don’t know what to do next’ kind of end, and the Gov ain’t gonna be happy with that.” Tan was not too happy with that thought. “Where you want to eat?”
“Mexican place down past Circle K looked good.”
“Let’s do it.”
Tuesday Morning
Breakfast wasn’t near as good. Circle K was the best spot for a good hot breakfast in town, the coffee was hot and the sticky buns were reasonably fresh. Tank showed up on time and received his share of the buns and coffee. The three refilled their cups after a short discussion on where to go, climbed in the Jeep, and moved in the direction of an old mine Tank knew very well, although he had not thought of it until last night when his tax statement came in the mail. To top it all off, it was on the way to the last two ponds he knew of.
Tan asked, “What about that road on the other side of the river, the one that goes south to Benson or thereabouts.”
“If I tell ya a secret will you keep it to yourself?”
“Yes,” Chuck and Tan responded together just like they had been rehearsing.
“I was on that road about ten miles south on the night of the hijacking. No truck went down that road further than ten miles and we’ve looked at all the likely spots that far down.”
“So, what’s the big secret?”
“I was spotlighting desert mule deer, got one, too.”
“That kind of garbage will keep you out of the Academy.”
“I won’t do it again.” He smiled and then laughed.
Chuck said, “That sounded real sincere.”
“Okay, so we rule out that route to disappear a truck,” Tan stated. “You really spent all night spotlighting muleys?”
“Well, not all-night. I had my girlfriend with me,” Tan
k admitted. “I use her to hold the light when I line up a shot.”
“That’s an interesting mental image.”
They all laughed.
“Your indiscretions are safe with us.”
Governor’s Office
The FedEx guy walked up the steps to the Governor’s office with the thin, padded envelope. He wondered if there would be anyone to sign for the package. The Governor must be a busy lady and probably did not do the mundane things like signing for FedEx deliveries. For the millionth time he wondered what could be in an itty bitty thin package like this that was worth the cost for overnight delivery through FedEx.
He checked the package and his records again. The shock of one thing hit him. The package had been processed at an automated drop not three blocks for where he stood. “Somebody don’t want the recipient to know who the sender was. Bet the address in the return box is a phony.” He loved mysteries.
Arriving at the Governor’s Office door, he found it standing open with three very large, heavily armed men and one petite lady standing in the outer office. He realized quickly that the petite lady was the Governor and made the quick assumption that the three men were her bodyguards. He had heard about the attack on the Governor and her husband during the Indian uprising just a couple months ago.
The Governor looked up seeing the FedEx man. “Yes,” she asked.
“Got a strange package for you, Ma’am. Needs a signature. Sign here, please.” He proffered the little box to write on and the envelope. She signed as one of the body guards received the package and turned away, quickly exiting the room.
“Hope that isn’t bad news. I noticed it was sent though a drop box three blocks away and I’ll bet the return address is a phony. By the way, I like what you’re doing, Governor, if that makes any difference to you.”
“Oh, it does, young man, it does. Thank you, I needed that this morning. Thanks also for the info about the package. Sounds like someone has something to say and doesn’t want their name involved, doesn’t it?”
“That’s what it looks like to me, Governor. I can’t even imagine what you go through. Keep on keeping on, Ma’am. I also cannot imagine a Governor changing so much that was wrong in so little time. I bet there’s a lot on your plate right now.”
She hated being called that, but after his nice words she didn’t jump him. He didn’t know any better. “You have no idea.”
He left. One of the guards followed him down to his truck, stopping at the soda machine inside the front door. The FedEx guy got into a real looking FedEx truck. The guard got the license number of the truck and jotted it down next to the name from his name badge.
The guard with the package opened it in a supply closet.
The letter was lifted out with tweezers, copied, and the copy handed to the Governor to read,
Madam Governor,
The city of Phoenix will be all washed up soon if my demands are not met. There is no negotiation. Five Hundred Million U.S. dollars is such a paltry sum for a magnificent city. Further instructions will follow.
“Oh, goody, just when things were getting dull.” The Governor fell into her chair.
Northeast of Mammoth
The Jeep was working hard on the road Tank showed them. This so called road was so rocky that there was no way a track would show up except maybe in one of the very few sandy spots and all of the sandy spots they had seen were windblown so bad even the smaller rocks were blown away. The road was easy to see stretching out in front of them with no sharp turns or large boulders. The uphill grade was maybe six percent.
Tank looked at Tan and said, “I drove a box truck up here full of supplies. No reason a semi couldn’t make it. Just over the top of the saddle and around to the right, there is a mine. Fella I worked for thought it was a gold mine. Last time I was here the road went more or less straight to the mouth of the mine and then turned a big circle to point ya back. I don’t think the mouth of that mine would take the tractor or a trailer. I am pretty sure that opening was somewhere around 8 feet tall. Width was only 6 feet or less. The mouth was rectangular vertically. I worked the mine for the owner just one summer when I was in high school. He thought there was riches in that hole beyond anything else found in this area and all we took out was country stone. Food was great. The old man liked to cook. Been a long time since I was up here last. Not much further now.”
“You drove a box truck up this road?”
“Yup, smoother with bigger wheels.”
“I hope he paid you well,” Chuck was not happy on this road.
“He paid me when he died three years later. He gave me the property, mineral rights and all. I haven’t been here since high school, though. From what I’ve hear, the old man had dug deep into the mountain and used the rubble to level off a spot for a shack at the turnaround. Never saw much need in coming up here after he died and only remember it when the taxes come due. Like yesterday when I got the tax bill, I saw the bill and pictured the hole in my mind with a truck in it and knew it wouldn’t fit. But, it’s worth a look, beings it’s on our way.”
In moments they tipped over the top of the mountain saddle and turned right. Before them was the mine Tank had talked about. Only problem was, the opening wasn’t really an opening. There was a large dent in the mountain and the dent was full of rubble.
“Somebody blew that entrance. From the size of the slide and collapsed area, the old man enlarged it a bunch.
Tan parked the car. They all got out.
Tank trotted over to the face of rubble and started climbing. As he went up he was pushing rocks down behind him. Chuck started to follow and decided better when he saw the size of the rocks he was rolling down. About 15 feet up the rubble, Tank stopped and moved rock with his bare hands. “See if you can find a long breaking bar lying over around the shack.”
“What gives?”
“Need something to pry some of these bigger stones away. There’s not enough mountain down to fill the opening very deep. This looks like the top of the entrance, way bigger than I remember. Someone did a lot of digging after I left this place last.”
Tan found a long piece of one inch rebar and another scrap of something metal. He carried them up the rubble, handed one to Tank and went to work with the other.
Chuck wandered around the rest of the area. As boulders rolled behind him, he went to work searching the shack. Coming out of the shack after a dozen minutes or so, he yelled, “Somebody has been here recently and stayed for a while. These newspapers cover four days and are dated the day of the hijack and the three after.”
“Sounds curiouser and curiouser, doesn’t it?” Tan yelled back.
Tank interrupted with, “Lookie what we got here, Tan.” He pointed to a shiny piece of blue metal.
“What was the color of that tractor again, Chuck?”
“It was deep blue with white pen striping. Lots of chrome around the front end. Box was silver. No markings on the trailer except for the explosives sign.”
More rocks rolled until, “We got the nose of a blue Volvo tractor with lots of chrome and white pen striping here, guys. I can see the diagonal chrome across the front of the radiator.”
Tan yelled, “Everybody stop. Get down to ground level. Let’s talk and make a couple of phone calls.”
Within 20 minutes Chuck was on guard at the mine with his share of the lunch they had bought at Circle K, Tan and Tank headed back down the road trying to draw it in on the topo map, and who knows how many forensics personnel were on their way to meet them at the highway. Tank was betting the Sheriff would make it from Globe before the Sergeant made it from Oracle. A big ten dollar bill was riding on the bet. Reaching the highway, they sat and waited.
Governor’s Office
After Tan’s call, the Governor called the Department of Public Safety Director, Desi Armistad. “Dezi, my Special Investigator has found the hijacked truck. We need to get a few more men working on this case. I also have on my desk an extortion note concerning the d
estruction of Phoenix which one of my body guards, which are great guys by the way, is preparing to take to your labs. We were just wrapping it up when the call came in on the truck. Bottom line is that your body guards and my Investigator think there is a link between the two, explosives and extortion. I wish all my ex’s lived in Texas instead of having these two here.”
“Governor, I have three of the finest men available. Two are reaching retirement age and I have been phasing them out of the routine work. This will be a great chance for them to get something exciting to do before they leave the Highway Patrol. The third is a younger man I will loan out at this time because I have a niche for him that isn’t open yet. He, too, is good, very good. ”
“I don’t want your old rejects, Desi. I want vigorous, well trained, great reputation troops.”
“Since when is a young 50 year old an old reject? These guys are the best and I will miss them tremendously. They have been a part of my think group for a long time.”
“Okay, okay. Can you have them in my Investigator’s office at nine tomorrow morning?”
“I can have them there in an hour. Tomorrow is not a problem. I’ll come with them, if you don’t mind.”
“No problem. See you then, Desi.”
“Governor, you know I don’t like this idea of a Special Investigator that is not of my department, but is doing what my department is tasked to do. But, for you, I will cooperate without bellyaching too much. I just want you to understand where I am coming from.”
“I know, Desi. You have been my strong left arm just as the General has been my strong right arm for the entire time I have held this office. There is no way Arizona would be where she is without you both. I never meant for the Special Investigator position to be an insult to you and your fine department. As I tried to make clear during the appointment, I just wanted someone I had more control over. If it will help, I’ll put him in your department, but under my direction. I’d rather not do that, though, for a lot of reasons and none of them concern you or your department.”