Sotello groaned out loud, knowing his friends would jump to that particular conclusion. Ellen giggled and stepped away from Simmons, taking hold of his hands. She knew there was no sense in lying about what she had been in Placerville for. “I begged him to let me go up and take some pictures, Uncle Tank. He lets Craig do everything.”
Williams stepped toward the group. “I am going to have to take you with me for questioning Mr. Sotello.”
“Questioning about what, Officer Williams,” Sotello asked with a puzzled expression on his face.
“Are you going to tell me you do not know a Mark Daniels?”
“I have never heard of him. What’s this all about,” Sotello asked, looking around with an Academy Award winning look of incomprehension on his face. Simmons and Watson avoided his looks as they grinned at the floor.
“We received a call early this morning about a man who had turned up missing last night,” Williams replied, with some exasperation already creeping into his voice. “His girlfriend told us he had left the house around midnight and never returned. We then received a call concerning a body lying on the side of the road. We found Mr. Daniels unconscious, with a gun in his hand. His knees, elbows, and possibly his back were crushed. When we met up with his girlfriend at the hospital, a Ms. Grace Connolly, she told us someone had been watching their house earlier, someone matching your daughter’s description. Your daughter ends up in the hospital, and then Mr. Daniels ends up in the hospital shortly after.”
“Works for me,” Simmons said grimly, putting his arm around Ellen.
“If I had known of your personal connection with Mr. Sotello, I would have asked for two other officers to accompany me,” Williams said.
“You told us Sotello here was under suspicion of attempted murder. You requested backup at this address. In case you do not know it, Officer Williams, this just happens to be our beat,” Jay Watson instructed him.
Williams turned back to Sotello. “What about it Mr. Sotello?”
“What about what?” Sotello asked. “I told you I do not know Mr. Daniels. Are you saying he was the one who worked over my daughter?”
“It seems you wish to continue to insult my intelligence,” Williams sighed. “Where were you last night?”
“My son and I took care of my daughter at my residence in Castro Valley last night.”
“Mr. Daniels regained consciousness this morning. I would like you to be part of a line-up to see if he can identify you as one of his attackers.”
“Take him a picture,” Sotello replied. “I do not know the man.”
“So you say,” Williams countered. “Please get your coat. Did you really think I would not add up these events, and come up with your name?”
“It sounds to me as if you may be jumping to conclusions,” Watson said. “Jim will not be going anywhere right away. He has been in this office over twenty years. Unless you have more evidence than you have shown us so far, I don’t think you have a right to drag Jim to Placerville on some trumped up charge.”
“Surely you are not stupid enough…” Williams began angrily.
Tank walked close to Williams, dwarfing the policeman from Placerville. “Be careful there, Officer Williams. Jay and I see few facts here, other than a man beat up this young girl, who happens to be like blood to us, and then got his arms and legs busted by an unknown assailant. God moves in mysterious ways sometimes. Now, do you have a warrant for Jim’s arrest, because if not, you are way out of line. The word stupid better not be in anymore of our conversation, or there might be another assault to investigate.”
“So,” Williams threw up his hands, “we are condoning vigilante justice now? I have the right to take him in for questioning.”
“With our cooperation you do,” Jay added, smiling around his partner at the beleaguered Williams. “I am afraid I must go back to my boss, and tell him you do not have a warrant, and we do not have any facts to help with this extradition.”
Williams started to reply, but instead turned, and stormed out of the office. Watson turned back to Sotello.
“You know better than to handle this stuff yourself, Jim. You should have called me.”
“Hell yea,” Tank added. “Jay and I would have went up there, and arrested the prick this morning. He would of course have died in transit, but those things happen.”
“I have no idea what you two are talking about,” Sotello said, continuing his performance. “You two have been watching too many Death Wish movies.”
Jay walked over and kissed Ellen. “You take care of yourself girl, and no more secret agent missions, you hear?”
“Not right away, Uncle Jay,” Ellen replied, looking sideways at Sotello.
Watson pushed the side of Sotello’s head on the way around him to the door, evoking a cry of police brutality. Tank hugged his Goddaughter, a fact he had not bothered mentioning to Williams, taking care not to hurt her ribs. He had read the hospital report on her injuries Williams had brought with him. He then went over and shook hands with Sotello.
“Don’t you ever insult me again, by not letting me come along to get a piece the next time,” Tank admonished.
“There ain’t ever going to be a next time, brother,” Sotello said.
“Amen to that Jim,” Tank said, looking back at Ellen. “If Cynthia were here, we would have had to attend your funeral.”
“Oh man, you are so right about that,” Sotello agreed, covering his face with his hands momentarily to Simmons’ amusement. “She would have nagged the two kids way the hell out of my business a long time ago. I’m sorry I keep popping up on you guys. Between this, and the thing on the street yesterday, I’m getting way too much exposure.”
Tank nodded in agreement. “Better keep your head down for a while, my brother. This ain’t over yet.”
“I know that,” Sotello replied. “I could have gone with Williams. I did not intend to get you and Jay in trouble.”
“Fuck that self-righteous jerk Williams.”
“I appreciate the help Tank. I needed some more time with Ellen today.”
“You got it. Williams don’t know how tight you are with the boss either. Jenkins said to say hi.” Tank looked back at Ellen. “I suppose you and Craig know nothing about this, do you, little Miss Innocent?”
“My Dad and Craig took care of me last night,” Ellen said sweetly. “That’s all I know.”
Tank turned back to his friend. “Oh man, if Cynthia knew what you have done to this duplicitous young girl…” he walked out, shaking his head in mock disappointment.
Sotello and Ellen watched them drive away. Ellen turned back to her Father. “They all know Dad. Your performance was superb though.”
“Thank you, I never said this would just go away with no one the wiser. I didn’t know Williams would show up at our door with Jay and Tank. That guy has taken a disliking to me. If he would have stayed in Placerville an extra hour or two, he could have probably come down with a warrant. Of course he didn’t expect the Blues Brothers to take a part in this.”
“Uncle Tank meant Todd Jenkins, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Sotello said, remembering he had not shared a brew with the Captain in over two months.
“Do you know every policeman in Oakland?” Ellen asked smiling. “You never told me how Craig and I ended up with two Oakland police officers as Godfathers.”
“In this business it helps to not have enemies in the police departments of the surrounding area. As I am fond of saying, we are not Magnum P.I., or The Rockford Files. If I pissed off the police around here, as I have managed to do with Officer Williams, I would have been chased out of the area. I do freebie stuff for anyone in a blue uniform who needs my help. Sometimes they get too close to things, and can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes my contacts with the government alphabet soup agencies help me solve a personal matter for one of them. Jay and Tank were young rookies when I first met them. They came by to check me out, and the agency. I showed them my credenti
als and respect. We hit it off right away. Your Mom and I started socializing with them, because anytime they wanted lunch or to use the bathroom, they stopped over at the office. They still do, as you well know.”
“Uncle Tank can clean out our refrigerator in one visit,” Ellen laughed.
“Hell, he’s on a diet now. You should have seen him when he first came around. Jay used to have to drag him out of the kitchen. The gang down on East 14th Street tried to set the two rookies up. The two of them wanted to be Shaft and Batman, all rolled into one, when they first started out. This did not sit well with the young thugs down the street. They beat up a few of their own people; then sent them in to accuse your Uncles of doing it, and of extorting money. Your Uncles came by in civilian clothes one morning to tell me they were suspended, pending an internal affairs investigation.”
“I had them watch the business for me while I set up a surveillance operation on the gang. At the end of a week, I had enough on the cheap punks to put all of them in prison. I borrowed some equipment I could use, to listen and record their conversations right through their building with, or in the street. I took what I had into Todd, who was only a sergeant at that time, and had him listen. With the pictures of them selling drugs to kids, and generally terrorizing the area, Todd brought the accusers back in and broke them. All charges against Jay and Tank were dropped. My involvement made a lot of friends inside the force besides your Uncles. The good will helped me with more cases than you could ever believe. So, I do favors. In return, I get a whole lot of help.”
“Anyhow, your Mom and I didn’t have any family, so it just seemed right to ask them to stand for you and Craig. I still remember Tank holding you during the christening.” Sotello paused. “He and Jay are as close to a couple of younger brothers as I can ever have. The three of us have shared a lot of good times together. Neither one of them was married back then. Your Mom could really make them jump. All she had to do was look at them, and they would say they were sorry. They didn’t even know what they had done, they were just sorry. Your Aunt Linda still handles Jay the same way. He can’t even sneeze without her permission. Your Aunt Jill, on the other hand, cannot even find a way to get Tank to move.”
“I remember when we went to a barbeque at Uncle Jay’s house. Craig and I were gawking at little Jay in his crib. Aunt Jill had been watching us play with the baby, and then went right up to Uncle Tank ‘I want a baby Tank’, she says.”
“Oh yeah, and he starts backpedaling,” Sotello added, “and Jill keeps following him around, nagging him about wanting a baby.”
“Then Uncle Tank just scooped her up under his arm, without even putting down his beer, and starts walking around, talking like nothing happened, with Aunt Jill kicking and yelling.”
“Oh, your Mom was laughing so hard she couldn’t get out enough words to make Tank put her down. Every once in a while he would just jiggle her. My God, I thought we would die laughing,” Sotello said, shaking his head.
“Aunt Jill had to just play dead before he would let her down,” Ellen continued. “She saw the rest of you flopping around in hysterics, and she couldn’t keep from joining in. I never thought Uncle Tank would let her have kids.”
“He sure waited a long time,” Sotello agreed. “He said he was waiting for Jay’s son to get old enough to watch his kids, and he almost did. You babysat for all of them. We have to have another get together soon.”
“Not until my face heals up, or Halloween arrives, whichever comes first.”
Chapter 12
Extenuating Circumstances
Sotello looked over at Ellen with concern. They were working together on the Gillingham Case. Ellen had paused in her typing to gingerly touch parts of her face. “You’ll be good as new my dear. I have to call Gillingham, and get her over here to change things at the bank. Did you read over the report I made on the case so far?”
“Yes, but I have to say, I was disappointed,” Ellen replied, looking over at her Father. “You were right all along. I liked her though.”
“Hey, we may be able to keep her dishonest butt alive,” Sotello reminded her. “She probably deserves a lot less. Anyway, I have to get a hold of her.”
“Would you like me to keep adding to what we know about Adrian Phillips?”
“Yes, and everything you can dig up on where they’re holing up,” Sotello replied. “It would not hurt to do a work up on Sanders’ daughter too.”
“Okay Dad,” Ellen came over and kissed her Father. Sotello enfolded her in his arms gently. “You quit if you get uncomfortable. They may not let me out of the country for a little while with this Placerville thing.” Ellen nodded and returned to her work.
Sotello picked up the phone and dialed Gillingham’s office. She picked it up on the first ring. As soon as she heard his voice she talked over him. “I thought you would have called me first thing this morning.”
“I told you I needed a little time with this. Did you say your safety deposit box was at the Cal Fed Branch on MacArthur Boulevard?”
“Yes,” Gillingham confirmed.
“Good, I will meet you there in a half hour, okay?”
“That will be fine,” Gillingham agreed. “Can we get together to talk this over? We can get coffee or something.”
“Ellen had some trouble, and I don’t want to leave her alone for very long today. If you want, you can come back over to my office and we can talk,” Sotello offered.
“Is Ellen okay?”
“She will be. I will see you shortly.” Sotello hung up the phone. He brought up the Gillingham file on the computer, going over every detail again. When he satisfied himself on not having missed anything, he looked in on Ellen, and told her he would be back within the hour. He told her Gillingham would be following him over. She groaned.
“Great Dad, why not invite the whole city over to see the freak show daughter?”
“You look beautiful,” Sotello said, meaning every word. “Now get over yourself, and do not say anything to Lynn other than the bare facts. This was her idea to come over here. She wants to discuss her situation.”
“Okay, but I don’t have to like it.”
“No,” Sotello allowed, “but you will be going back to school, and you will still look like a raccoon, so get used to it. I noticed you came right out when Williams and your Uncles were here. You wore your face like a badge of honor… nice touch by the way. You stirred your Uncles up.”
“Williams did not seem impressed.”
“That had more to do with me than you,” Sotello replied. “See you in a little bit. I’m locking up, so don’t go out into the office area until I get back.”
“Yes Sir,” Ellen saluted.
“Tank called it right. You have become a duplicitous little brat.” Sotello turned away smiling. He exited the building, locking the office door behind him. He drove the Dodge to the Cal Fed parking lot, and waited for Gillingham to show up. She drove in five minutes later. He walked up to the driver’s side door of her car and opened it for her. Gillingham got out and led Sotello inside the bank.
She found the assistant manager she always dealt with. Twenty minutes later, she had substituted Sotello’s name for access to the safety deposit box in place of her own. Sotello verified Phillips as the other name on the box account. Up until now, the two had not exchanged anything more than a nod. A few minutes later, Sotello led the way back to her car. She unlocked the door, and Sotello opened it. She slid behind the wheel before looking up at him. She smiled crookedly.
“Can I meet you at your office now?”
“Of course,” Sotello affirmed. “I’ll see you over there.”
Gillingham stood outside Sotello’s office door, while waiting for Sotello to park and get out of his car. He walked up and unlocked the door to let her in. He followed after her. She turned at the rear door.
“Did you want to have coffee, and talk?” Gillingham asked, “or do you have to get out of here soon?”
“Sure, we can talk,
” Sotello confirmed. “I am going to be here most of the day, so you can take your time. Ellen’s back there, and she was worked over while in Placerville on a stake out. She ended up with a swollen face, and a few cracked ribs, but otherwise, she got off easy.”
Gillingham’s mouth dropped open at first, and then closed to a grim line. “Did you get the bastard?”
Sotello looked at her strangely for a second. “The policeman from Placerville came down to accuse me of that very thing. It seems the man who did it to her ended up along the side of the road with his knees, elbows, and possibly his back smashed.”
Gillingham started laughing.
“Do you find all this amusing, Councilor?”
“Let me get this straight Jim. You have no idea how the man who mugged your daughter came to be maimed along the side of the road?”
“Exactly,” Sotello deadpanned.
“God, you’re good,” Gillingham said admiringly. “I should have taken lessons from you before I got myself into this mess. Do you need a lawyer? Remember, he who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer. I will represent you for free.”
“You are so kind, but they have not even arrested me yet.”
“They will,” she replied. “If the police have already come down here, they will be back. I can’t believe they didn’t take you in for questioning.”
“My friends from the force have this area as their beat.”
“More help from official sources?” Gillingham chided. “You must feel like you’re above the law.”
“The innocent shall be free,” Sotello countered.
“Yea, you’re about as innocent as Genghis Khan. I like Ellen, and I’m glad you maimed the bastard. Now, do you want a lawyer?”
“I’ll call you if I can’t extract myself from these unwarranted accusations. I appreciate your offer. The reason I told you about this was because Ellen’s a little upset about her looks right now. Do me a favor, and don’t gasp or hide your eyes or something, okay?”
Sotello: Detective, ex-FBI, ex-Secret Service (DeLeo's Action Thriller Singles Book 1) Page 12