Sotello: Detective, ex-FBI, ex-Secret Service (DeLeo's Action Thriller Singles Book 1)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “He’s the watch commander?” Sotello asked smiling. “Jesus, he was a sergeant the last time he and I got together. Do you guys know any of the ones you brought?”

  “We know the vet in each car,” Tank replied, “but they do not know you. We filled them in on your background, so they’re okay with you leading them into the back. They have vests on, and they are pumped, so be careful about getting in their line of fire. Us Oakland boys will be the lights in the front on this. We tried to get an okay to go back with you, but Pensley said no way. If anything happened, he wanted the right jurisdiction taking the shots.”

  “Sounds right to me, and I will watch where I am. Radio over to our team, and tell them to get out of their cars quietly, and move over onto the lawn. I’ll motion them over too. Do you guys have one of those really bright portable spot lights we can blind these guys with?”

  “Right here brother,” Jay said, handing back a battery-powered lantern. “This baby will blow their eyes right out of their sockets. Now go on over where you want the guys, and I’ll radio them to join you. Here’s a com link for you to radio us into position.”

  “I owe you guys big time for all your help. God knows I am piling up debts at a rate I will be long in paying off,” Sotello told them.

  “You owe us nothin’ brother,” Jay said, reaching back from the driver’s seat and gripping his shoulder. “Be careful. When this ends, Tank and I will expect a full-fledged barbeque with all the family.”

  “Count on it.”

  Chapter 14

  No Casualties

  Sotello exited the squad car, and went to a place just out of sight of his house, on the neighbor’s lawn. They would have to be quick, because he could see curious on-lookers at their windows already. The four Castro Valley Policemen joined him moments later on the lawn. He could see the tension in their faces, even in the low light from the streetlamps. Sotello motioned for them to follow him, as he went along the same route he had scouted earlier, into his back patio area.

  Sotello eased the gate open in the back, happy the police moved as quietly as they did. They waited for him to close the gate slowly and take his place again in front of them. Sotello motioned two of the men over on the left side of his yard, next to the back patio door stairway. He positioned the other two men on the right side patio. Sotello then rechecked the position of the two men inside with his night scope. They had not moved at all, other than changing their positions slightly for comfort.

  Sotello slipped off his shoes, and walked up on sock feet to the top of the stairs. He gently worked the handle on the screen door by fractions until the door could be opened up. Again, he worked the edge of the door with excruciating slowness until he had quietly opened it all the way up against the wall next to the entrance. He then locked it into place at the hydraulic return attached to the top of the door. Sotello backed down the stairs, and whispered in his com link.

  “Can you hear me?”

  “We hear you Jim,” Jay’s voice came over his earpiece.

  “Drive up in front with the sirens and lights. We are in position.”

  “On our way.”

  Sotello looked to both sides of the doorway. He crouched down directly in front of his back door. He could see the men on both sides of the door ready themselves as he pointed the spotlight at the entrance. They all heard the sirens blaring in front of the house, and could see the flashing, colored lights reflecting back from the cloudy sky. Seconds later, Sotello’s back door was wrenched open. A split second later as the two jockeyed into the entrance, Sotello turned the spotlight on them, holding it away from his body.

  The two men, having long been in the darkness, reached up, clapping hands over their eyes against the beam from Sotello’s light. Sotello dropped the light as the policemen started to shout at the sides of his doorway. He charged straight into the two, using his bulk to plow them back into the living room, and off of their feet. The Castro Valley policemen were all over the pile on the floor in seconds, disarming the startled men, still struggling to see and move underneath Sotello’s bulk. Once disarmed, the men were flipped over face down, and were handcuffed with white plastic ties. They were searched from head to toe for weapons, and had their pockets emptied onto the floor.

  Sotello turned on the lights; and took out his video camera to tape the men, and his living room, along with the police procedures, including the Miranda warning. Sotello paid particular attention to the weapons the two men had been carrying, as they were laid out on his floor. He taped the men being escorted through his front door, and out to where they could be loaded into the waiting squad cars. Tank turned off his siren and lights when he saw the men were being brought out.

  Neither man had spoken, except for answering as to whether they understood their rights. They were stunned. Sotello burned their looks into his brain. Both men were around six feet tall, and looked to weigh about two hundred pounds. The slightly more stout of the two wore his head shaved of all hair. His eyebrow hair was blond. He had tattoos showing on both hands, extending down from beneath the sleeves of his jacket. The other man had close-cropped black hair, with a short, stubble type formed beard. Both men wore jeans with black tee-shirts showing underneath their dark jackets.

  They had been wearing thin leather driving gloves, which had been catalogued with the weapons. They carried no identification, but Sotello pointed out the truck he had noticed on the street. The startled look the two passed between them confirmed Sotello’s theory it was indeed theirs. One of the Castro Valley policemen radioed for a tow truck to impound their vehicle. The two still would not speak. The two gunmen were loaded into separate squad cars at Sotello’s suggestion, so they could not converse on the way in.

  By this time, there were people lining the sidewalks, buzzing away at theories of what might have happened. The older of the four Castro Valley policemen came up to Sotello, who was standing next to his friends from Oakland. He stuck out his hand to Sotello, smiling. Sotello took it gratefully.

  “I’m Jack McDermitt. I know these two friends of yours from way back. At first, I thought this would be some kind of circus, but that had to have been the smoothest operation I have been on since I got on the force twelve years ago. You ever want to head up anything else, count me in. Why did you rush them?”

  “I was afraid the one with the shotgun would let go by accident, and I certainly did not want any of you making widows and orphans over my problems. If I can ever help any of you guys out in any way, shape, or form, I will be there.” He took out some of his business cards, and passed them out to the other policemen, who were gathering around. Sotello could see the relief in their faces. Excitement was one thing, but a shotgun blast was a completely different matter.

  After shaking hands, and getting the names of the other officers, Sotello promised to follow them back to report in to Pensley. The neighbors were drifting back into their houses as Sotello talked with Tank and Jay.

  “You know the only way those two could have been set onto you, right?” Jay asked. “Williams had to have told Daniels.”

  “Not necessarily,” Sotello replied. “My client, who wanted pictures of his children and ex-wife tipped off the grandmother, who in turn tipped off the woman. I will make a copy of this tape real fast, and take it to Pensley when I go. Tomorrow I will go up to Placerville with a lawyer, and another copy of this tape. If they find the connection between Daniels and the two gunmen, Williams will have no choice but to arrest Daniels for attempted murder.”

  “That might work,” Tank admitted. “Pensley will cooperate. Jay and I will touch base with him tomorrow too.”

  The two shook hands with Sotello and got back into their squad car. Jay rolled down the window on the passenger side. “Listen cementhead, I know now it would be useless to tell you to stay out of trouble, but do not forget the barbeque. Tank and I want to hear all the details of your adventures as the Lone Ranger over a cold one.”

  “You have my word on it smart ass,” Sot
ello said laughing. He watched them drive away, and then went over to the sizeable crowd formed up across from his house.

  “I am really sorry about this folks. It appears a couple of burglars were waiting in my home. Luckily I was able to tip off the police about it, before they could get away. I’m really sorry for the disturbance.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” Hank, his neighbor from next door said. “I have relatives visiting from Japan, and they were wondering about all the squad cars. I was watching from my bedroom window as you guys were forming up on the lawn.”

  “Hey, they finally caught a couple in the act,” Gary from across the street added. There was a chorus of agreement. Sotello promised a big get together at his place. They had not had anything like a block party in a long time. His calm explanations had gone a long way to quieting the group.

  Sotello said his goodnights, and went into his house to copy the tape. He called Lynn’s house as he was dubbing the tape. She answered before the first ring finished.

  “Everything went smooth,” Sotello told her. “Did my kids get there?”

  “Thank God,” Lynn replied. “Yes, they’re here. We ate together around the phone. Are you coming over?”

  “I have to go fill out the arrest forms, and speak to the watch commander first. I may be a while.”

  “Do you need a lawyer with you?” Lynn asked him. “I can get there about the same time as you.”

  “No, I can handle it.”

  “Well, we’ll be watching movies here waiting for you.”

  “Thanks Lynn, tell my kids I will be over soon.”

  “I will, and call me if you change your mind about a lawyer.”

  “I will,” Sotello promised. “Goodbye for now, and thanks for your help.”

  “Goodbye Jim.”

  Sotello hung up the phone. He sat down, thinking about how many roller coaster rides his life had started on, just in the last few days. He promised himself, if he ever cleared his way through the messes he had going now, he would take only a light workload for a few months, until he built up what he liked to think of as his personal power. Sotello remembered vividly the months surrounding his wife’s illness and death. If not for Ellen and Craig, the Lord only knew what he would have done with his life. He locked up the house and left to talk to Pensley, give him the copy of the videotape, and file the arrest report. If the two of them made bail, Sotello thought he would live to regret calling in the police.

  __

  “Well, well, well, what have we here?” The dark complexioned man asked, as he leaned back in his swivel chair, with his hands folded in his lap. His jet-black hair, slicked back at military length, gleamed a little under the bright florescent lights in his office. His name badge read Captain Steven Pensley. When he smiled, his even white teeth reminded Sotello a little of a wolverine.

  Sotello reached out a hand, which Pensley gripped strongly in his own as he stood up. Only a couple of inches shorter than Sotello, and about six years younger, Pensley kept himself in excellent shape. His angular face had a kindness to it, underlying his wolverine teeth.

  “Glad to see you Steve, how have you been?”

  “Very well Jim, sit down and explain to me how you have become so famous with three police departments in a matter of days. The next stop for most people, who become famous like you so quickly, usually includes the Folsom Prison Blues.”

  “Bad luck amigo.”

  Pensley laughed appreciatively. “I must tell you, if things had gone badly at your house, I would be on a beat down on East 14th Street for letting you lead a takedown team.”

  “I know I put you in the wringer Steve, and I am sorry.”

  “Jack told me how smoothly it went. We will be taking the credit for this of course, since things went so well. It will be as if you had never been there, except as an innocent victim.”

  “I would not have it any other way,” Sotello replied.

  “Those two guys you took down tonight have been in trouble since the day they were born. This will be the second strike for both of them under the new law.”

  “I brought you over a copy of the video I took of the weapons, and where they had been lying in wait.” Sotello handed him the tape.

  “That will look good too,” Pensley confirmed.

  “They won’t make bail, will they Steve? Things could get really dangerous if they are out on the street real quick. All of your officers saw firsthand what they had in mind.”

  “I called the DA,” Pensley nodded in agreement. “With the sterling records they have, he says he will ask for no bail. The flight risk for them could not be much higher, although where they would get bail in an attempted murder case I do not know.”

  “I know if by some fluke they get out on bail by way of a liberal judge, or some sugar daddy from nowhere makes bail, you will let me know, won’t you?”

  “You will be first on the list,” Pensley promised, “but it ain’t going to happen. I heard most of the details as to what you have been up to. Would you like to talk to me about it?”

  “I can’t tell you much about the Placerville deal. A police officer came down, and accused me of beating up a guy he says worked over my daughter Ellen, or at least he hinted the guy did it. This Daniels character probably sent the two we took at my house.”

  “And you had nothing to do with it, right Jim?”

  “Look, I took Craig with me to pick up Ellen, and her car, from a hospital in Placerville. She had cracked ribs, and a swollen face. We brought the car and Ellen back to the Bay Area to my house. We took care of Ellen last night.”

  “Thank God your daughter’s okay. Can you think of anything else those two might have been in your living room for, other than revenge? If they do have some relationship to the guy in Placerville, how did you know they were there Jim?”

  “In answer to your first question, it had to be something Daniels put them up to,” Sotello ventured. “As to your second question, I spot strange vehicles in my neighborhood, just like I expect you do in yours. I decided to take a look quietly from the back before running through the front door. My kids were going to stay with me tonight, and with the luck I have been having the last couple of days, I needed to stay careful. I saw the guys through the back window, and went out to call Tank and Jay, to get some advice. I did not want a war in my living room. They knew you were the watch commander, and might be receptive to my helping to end a bad situation.”

  “You got that part right,” Pensley agreed. “Widows and orphans, I needed like another hole in my head. Well, let’s see how this plays out Jim. With all the officers on hand to see what these clowns had planned, I think the whole thing may go right to a plea bargain, especially with the video. If the guy in Placerville put them on you, they’ll give him up. If they do, your accuser in Placerville will be moved to a jail as soon as he’s able. I will call you if anything out of the ordinary happens. Give me one of your cards.”

  Sotello handed him one of his business cards. “I won’t forget this Steve.”

  “I have no intention of letting you,” Pensley countered, smiling.

  “You will not hear bad things about me again, I hope, for a long time.”

  “If I do, it may be as a visitor to your cell amigo.”

  “I hear you.”

  “Okay Jim, take off. I will let you know how things progress, or I expect your buddies up in Oakland will. Take care of yourself.”

  “Thanks, I hope to.” Sotello shook hands with Pensley. “You want to come over for a barbeque when I get clear of all this? Batman and Robin, from up in Oakland, will be there. You and Maria would be welcome.”

  “I will take you up on it. Call me. Now get out. I have work to do, and stay off of my police blotter.”

  Sotello saluted, and turned to leave. He ducked the thrown empty paper coffee cup, and grinned over his shoulder as he went through the door. Sotello breathed a deep sigh of relief as he walked through the building and out into the parking lot. Driving his Dod
ge with great care, Sotello made it to Lynn’s house in just under twenty-five minutes. He looked down at the time on his little stick on digital clock. It read nearly 11:30PM. So much for the quiet evening at home, watching movies, he thought sighing.

  Lynn answered the door, with Craig and Ellen right behind her. Lynn moved aside and gestured him in with a wave of her hand. “I guess you didn’t need a lawyer after all.”

  Sotello embraced his two-grownup children. He looked at them wearily. “Well, the good news will be if the two they have in custody give up the guy in Placerville as the one who sent them, and Pensley thinks they will. How are you feeling Ellen?”

  “Better than you, I bet,” Ellen replied.

  “I won’t argue with you there. Did you get any sleep Craig?”

  “Yea, I dozed on and off for a couple of hours. Maybe we ought to go on a road trip. This area seems to have become a dangerous place.”

  “Come on, and let me sit down,” Sotello directed, as he bent down to pet Tinker, who was bumping into his leg for attention. “Would you happen to have some coffee made Lynn?”

  “Coming right up.” She went in the kitchen as the Sotello family sat down at her dining room table, with Tinker taking up a position next to Sotello. She came back out with a tray, carrying two cups of black coffee, a sugar bowl and a small milk decanter. Sotello doctored up his coffee, and took a sip, expressing great satisfaction.

  “If you are ready, I will fill you in on my conversation with Officer Williams,” Lynn offered.

  “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Sotello replied. “I bet he was thrilled about hearing from a lawyer on my behalf, and especially one about to tell him to fish or cut bait.”

  “You hit it dead center,” Lynn laughed. “He understood right away he could not have it both ways, and I found out he has absolutely nothing tying you to the crime or the crime scene. Daniels cannot identify you, or for that matter, even describe you. I let him paint himself into the corner of drawing conclusions from facts he did not have in evidence. The phone call did not please him, but he will not be back down here unless he has some kind of proof.”