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

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “That should take some heat off of Oakland P.D.” Sotello replied. “Pensley promised those guys will not be getting bail. He’s a captain now,” Sotello finished, looking over at Craig and Ellen.

  “Steve Pensley?” Craig asked. “Didn’t you and Mom used to play cards with someone named Pensley?”

  “One and the same Craig, you and Ellen saw him and his wife Maria once in a while. He was the watch commander tonight. He’s the only reason why my house still looks pretty much the way it did this morning. Anyway, we had better get going Lynn. I appreciate what you did for us today.”

  “Would you like to try again tomorrow night? I’ll bring over the leftovers from tonight.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Sotello agreed. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Sanders will be calling me tomorrow, possibly with an answer as to whether he wants to try this the easy way.”

  “He will consider it, right?” Lynn asked. “I don’t want Adrian killed because I talked him into this mess.”

  “I can’t speak for Sanders, but when he lets me know how he wants to proceed, we will work out the details.” Sotello leaned down and lightly kissed Lynn, and gave Tinker a final head petting. “Goodbye Lynn.”

  Craig and Ellen waved their goodbyes, and followed their Father out. Sotello turned to them, when they were on the sidewalk in front of Lynn’s house. “Are you two armed, I hope?”

  “That was a rhetorical question, right Dad?” Craig asked.

  “Just checking, I’ll see you at the house. Let me go in first though.”

  “Okay,” Ellen affirmed. “C’mon Craig, we’ll talk about Dad kissing Lynn goodbye on the way.”

  Craig straightened right away, taking on his Father in a perfect caricature. “Ellen,” he said with Sotello’s baritone voice. “You will not disrespect me in this way little missy. I merely…”

  Sotello grabbed him around the neck, with Ellen bending at the waist in laughter, as she clutched her aching ribs. He could do very little, when he could not hold the laughter back either. Sotello grabbed Craig in a Vulcan neck pinch instead. “Let’s go home and get some sleep you little renegade.”

  Chapter 15

  Untangling The Aftermath

  “Dad, it’s seven o’clock,” Ellen shook her Father’s shoulder gently.

  Sotello turned, looking up into the still dusk of morning light. “Hello Honey, how are you?”

  “I feel okay. My ribs bother me at night a little if I turn over too quickly, but other than that I probably feel better than you look.”

  Sotello sat up, rubbing his chin. “I look like I’ve been on a three day drunk, right?”

  “Something like that,” Ellen agreed.

  “A shower and shave, and I will look like a guy on just a two day binge. Thanks for waking me. I thought I might have a little trouble getting up.”

  “I would classify that as an understatement,” Ellen replied. “I cannot remember the last time you slept in past six in the morning. You’re usually up at five.”

  “The cost of burning the candle at both ends my dear, must be paid eventually. I will feel good after my shower. Are you making coffee?”

  “I have it already made,” Ellen told him smugly, “so whenever you drag yourself out to the kitchen, I will serve it.”

  “Keep taking that tone with me and I will have Craig do you in front of everyone.”

  “He knows I will slice and dice him if he ever did his mutant imitations without my permission.”

  “Okay, we’ll see,” Sotello smiled as he reached for his robe, and journeyed into the bathroom.

  Fifteen minutes later, Sotello joined Ellen and Craig at the kitchen table, carrying his suit coat in one hand, and his shoulder holster in the other. After he draped them over one corner of his chair, he sat down in front of the steaming coffee Ellen had doctored to his liking. He smiled at the two of them as he took his first sip.

  “Ahhhhh, much better. Good morning my dear children. What brand of mayhem do you think we can get into today?”

  “None, I hope,” Craig replied. “I have had enough excitement to last me for a while.”

  “Amen to that,” Ellen agreed. “You cleaned up pretty well Dad. I should have invited Lynn over for coffee this morning; but since she’s coming over tonight, she can get you up in the morning.”

  “Oh, you are so funny,” Sotello said grimacing. “If I became involved with Lynn, it would be long after I have Sanders’ daughter back in his care, and Philips still alive, skulking around with a new scam. If anyone dies in this mess, Lynn and I will never be an item. For one thing, I know if anything happens to the daughter, Lynn better have a ticket to Outer Mongolia.”

  “Do you think Sanders will call today?” Ellen asked.

  “I hope so. If he doesn’t, it will mean he has decided on a darker solution to his problem, in which case, I will have to buy Lynn that ticket to Mongolia.”

  “I thought you felt you could trust his word,” Craig put in.

  “When it comes to your kids Craig, you will one day see even steadfast honorable character traits can be bent when your children’s lives are at stake,” Sotello explained.

  Craig nodded his understanding. “You don’t think he would include you in his mop up though, do you?”

  “No, I don’t, but he may definitely include Lynn. No use in kicking around bad karma until we get some reality thrown at us today. I still have my own little problem boiling on the surface, which will affect us more than the Sanders’ case. I hope Lynn’s official call to Williams, and the tie in of the two who broke in last night, wakes him up to who the real criminals are in all of this. If not, he can tie me up in this area, so I can’t go anywhere. I do not want to have to explain why I need to go overseas, or lie about it.”

  “Bad karma,” Ellen said thoughtfully. “That’s…”

  “Don’t do it, smartass,” Sotello warned.

  “…that’s like some disease the dinosaurs got before the ice age killed them off, right?”

  “Ellen,” Craig admonished, mimicking both his Father’s voice and facial expressions with ease. “You will not speak to me in that manner young lady, not under my roof.”

  Sotello put his face in his hands as he leaned forward on the table, with raucous laughter spilling from the two siblings, coupled with a high five. “We have created a monster. I will have to redirect this talent in a more profitable manner sometime soon. Don’t you two have to leave for classes soon?”

  “Yes, we both have 8:30 classes,” Ellen replied finally. “Do we still take cases in Dad, or are you going to back off completely for now? I logged in five new potentials yesterday for you. Three of them Craig and I can take care of without even legwork, but the other two will require some casework.”

  “You two can go ahead and handle the quickies if you have time, but I will look over the other two if you have them outlined for me, before I decide,” Sotello replied.

  “I think I asked everything I thought you would ask, so have a look, and let me know if you want me to do any more prep work on them.”

  “I will El. I have to be careful I don’t get anything else too complicated for the time being. Thanks for taking care of business for me.”

  “That’s what Craig and I get paid for. Nowhere, could he and I make the kind of money you pay us, with anywhere near the excitement and interest.”

  “Yea, nothing like a beat in face and cracked ribs to put meaning into your job,” Sotello replied.

  “You know what I mean, you troll,” Ellen said, irritated at her Father’s bringing up the negative, which would haunt her for some time to come.

  “Troll, did she actually call me a troll Craig?” Sotello said with a false hurt look on his face.

  “I believe the ungrateful young twit did exactly that Dad,” Craig said, pouring fuel on smoldering embers. “Where on earth did you come up with the hurtful name troll, young lady?” He asked in perfect Father Sotello voice.

  “That was not an invitation to pla
y mimic with my demeanor butthead. I have told you this before: I love having you two work for me. I do not want either of you killed working for me, or somehow ending up in a jail cell, and lately I seem to be putting you two in danger of both. Anyhow, we just walk on eggshells until I get things back under control, and you two concentrate on school.”

  “I want to keep working for you,” Craig stated. “I can sell real estate and still do private detective work. I don’t want to get stuck doing the same old grind if I can do exactly what I want. We do make good money.”

  “I second that,” Ellen said. “You can’t baby sit us for the rest of our lives, and no matter what else I do, I like working in investigation. Maybe I’ll just become an FBI agent.”

  Sotello put his hands over his face again, shaking his head. Finally, he looked straight up in an obvious plea for higher help. “Why dost thou test me so, oh Lord?”

  “Hey, no fair praying during an earth bound conversation,” Ellen said.

  “We better get going El,” Craig said. “We will leave Dad to contemplate the mysteries of the universe on his own.”

  “Okay,” Ellen kissed her Father goodbye and grabbed her book bag. Craig squeezed Sotello’s shoulder on the way out after Ellen.

  “Bye Dad, stay out of trouble today,” Craig added as he walked out.

  “I will boy, you look out after yourselves. I’m glad Ellen’s riding with you this morning.”

  “Yea, well we can’t pack heat at the school anyway,” Craig replied.

  “Not unless you want to wind up in prison. Only criminals are allowed to carry weapons,” Sotello reminded him. “You know that.”

  Craig waved his assent, and closed the door behind him. Sotello finished his coffee. He took out a notepad and began jotting down an outline of what he wished to get done when he reached his office. Two main ingredients in his outline would have to be put aside, until initiated by the powers involved: Sanders and Pensley. Sotello could not make plans outside of the country until Sanders gave him the okay, and Pensley called him with news of a resolution to the Placerville mess. When he left the house, he set his deadbolts, which he had not done since the problem with the people down on the corner years ago.

  At his office, Sotello looked over the notes Ellen had left for him on prospective cases. He could see how she thought three of them would be simply a matter of using their resources, and time, tracking down facts. Of the other two, one was a request for Sotello to act as a bodyguard and guide. His web site was tied into Internet search engines, which popped his name up, wherever he could act as an interpreter and guide to visitors from any country his language skills matched. His credentials as a former Secret Service Agent, and time in the F.B.I., helped him attain lucrative contracts with foreign clientele through his web site. The jobs lasted for a few days and paid very well, because the clients interested in such personal service did not quibble about his fee. He made sure they understood from the beginning he would not act as a valet.

  Ellen and Craig both filled in as guides, where the clients were not interested in paying for bodyguard fees. They both spoke Italian and Spanish fluently, with Ellen having French almost mastered, and Craig could speak passable Chinese. Sotello worked with both of them on their language skills, and his attention had paid off for all of them. This particular client had put in a request on Sotello’s web site for bodyguard protection at all times outside of her hotel. Her Father owned a major computer firm in Taiwan. She handled his stateside contacts whenever anything needed to be done. She would be in town for four days at the end of the month, from October 20th through October 23rd.

  Sotello had been recommended to the computer executive, by a clothing firm in Taiwan, which had used his services occasionally in the past. He typed in a message to her E-mail service, along with his standard contract, and a detailed explanation of what he could and could not provide. The last message, outlined by Ellen on the list, involved a burglary suspect, who had disappeared while out on bail. He called Damon Wilkins, the bail bondsman, on the phone. Wilkins’ secretary patched him through.

  “Jim, how the hell are you? I’ve been getting word you’re up to your eyeballs man.”

  “D, I have a time problem resulting from what seems to be common gossip. When do you need this guy?” Sotello asked.

  “His trial comes up at the end of the month,” Wilkins replied. “He left his folks’ home up in the air like spare change. I only took him on because of the commitment his folks made. You know I never lose on these things, but they will be losing a lot. His Mom called me last night. The little prick skipped without so much as a thank you. He stole one of their credit cards when he left. He used it in Reno.”

  “You have anyone else in on this? If he’s dumb enough to hang around Reno using a traceable credit card, how tough could it be for you to get him rounded up?”

  “I can’t get anyone interested,” Wilkins admitted. “This boy’s big and mean. He just don’t care.”

  “Have I heard of him?” Sotello asked.

  “Lionel Simmons, no relation to Tank.”

  Sotello paused, Simmons had threatened his life once on the street. Sotello had done what he always did in such circumstances. He found out everything about the cheap hood right down to the underwear he wore. Simmons could kill, which makes for a bad risk in a skip trace.

  “Jim, you there?”

  “Yea D, I do know him.”

  “I heard you had words with him a while back,” Wilkins said. “This will pay five thousand.”

  “Five thousand?” Sotello exclaimed. “Did he kill a few people on the way out of the area? Hell, you should be able to get someone to finger him to the police in that neck of the woods for half of what you’re offering.”

  “Tell me about it,” Wilkins sighed, “but I have no takers. Something frightens people about this boy. He must have some connections in Reno, because I can’t get any locals to listen past the mention of his name. I have a feeling the only reason his own parents put up bail was they feared he would kill them otherwise. They figured it would be better to be homeless, than lifeless.”

  “Can I take till the end of the day to think this over?” Sotello asked. “I am still not certain if I can even leave the area yet.”

  “That serious huh?”

  “Maybe,” Sotello admitted.

  “Well, you happen to be the only game in town, or even two states,” Wilkins replied, “so I guess you can take as long as you want. I hope things work out with your other deal.”

  “Thanks, I’ll call you as soon as I hear back on a couple of things.”

  “Okay Jim, take care.”

  Sotello hung up the phone. He called up the archived file he had on Lionel Simmons. He found an address Simmons used in Reno back at the time Sotello investigated him. He had been arrested for shop lifting in Reno, and had given out a local address when arraigned. The fact he had been armed with a .32 caliber derringer had done nothing to endear him with the Reno police. Sotello noticed he had been given three months in county lockup; and a five-year probation, which meant Simmons should be wanted now by the Reno police. Sotello printed out the information about the Reno arrest, and the address Simmons had used there. A woman named Angela Winton owned the house.

  The phone rang and Sotello answered it.

  “My name is Julie. You called me and gave me this number in case I had anything I thought might be wrong with my roommate Trisha

  Webster?”

  “Yes Julie,” Sotello affirmed. “I remember. Is anything wrong?”

  “Trisha’s boyfriend kicked her out of his place as soon as her parents cut her off. She moved back in here, all upset last night. Now her boyfriend keeps coming over, saying she owes him five thousand dollars. He says he will put some videos he has of her on the Internet if he doesn’t get the money. She’s out of her mind with worry.”

  “I can imagine,” Sotello replied. “Let me give this some thought, and I will be back in touch with you. Thank you fo
r calling me. She should feel honored to have a friend like you.”

  “I messed up myself,” Julie admitted, “and if not for my folks, I would not even be in school. Do you think he might be dangerous?”

  Sotello gave her his cell phone number. “If he bothers you at all before I get things straightened out, call me.”

  “Thanks Mr. Sotello, I will. Goodbye.”

  “Goodbye Julie.” Sotello hung up the phone and looked around his office, wondering what Ellen and Craig would say when they heard about how many other irons he had nonchalantly dropped into the fire. He was just deciding whether to lock up the outer door and not answer any more phones at all, when the phone rang again.

  “Oakland Investigation, Jim Sotello speaking, how may I help you?”

  “Pensley here Jim, they rolled over on the Daniels character up in Placerville. I forwarded copies of their signed depositions to Placerville and Oakland.”

  “Jas, thank you,” Sotello said in relief. “That may go a long way to getting me clear of this.”

  “De nada, keep your head down though for a while until we can all get your name off of the police blotters for at least a month.”

  “Will a week do?” Sotello asked, only half in jest.

  “Jesus H. Christ, what the… no… never mind, I do not want to know. Call me with the barbeque time if you stay out of Folsom.”

  “Will do, my friend,” Sotello laughed. “Say hello to Maria for me, and tell her what a good boy I’ve been.”

  “Yea right. See ya.”

  Sotello heard the line disconnect on the first good news of the day. He called Lynn at her office. It went into her answering machine. When he identified himself, she picked up the phone.

  “Hi Jim, you get any rest last night?”

  “Yes, thankfully,” Sotello answered. “I also just now received a call from Pensley, the Castro Valley watch commander I told you about yesterday. He told me the two they have for attempted murder at my home last night signed depositions saying Daniels, the guy in Placerville, put them up to it. He faxed the depositions to Placerville and Oakland.”