“Flooding!” Charlie exclaimed and pointed at an unconscious Andy Dannity who was lying face down in front of the front desk. “What happened to that man? Did he drown?”
“No,” Sam explained, “that man is a criminal that Detective Chan,” Sam gestured to Michelle, “was forced to apprehend. He resisted arrest and paid a very ugly penalty. Now listen to me, Mr. Neilson, there are some very dangerous people running loose out there. I need you to keep your family locked in your hotel room and stay there, okay? If the flood water becomes too dangerous, I'll come and get you for the evacuation.”
“I'm staying with the Detective,” Henry told Sam with bravado. He walked over to Michelle. “I can help. I’ll protect you.”
“You'll get in your room and stay there,” Charlie told his son in a voice shaking with frustration.
“But dad—”
“Go to your room,” Michelle told Henry in a soft voice, as if they were the only two in the room. His eyes shone up at her as he drank in her words. “You're very brave and I can see that. But you're also very young and inexperienced. As you grow into a man, you'll learn how to adapt and manage dangerous situations. Please don't think I'm insulting you. But a man who seeks knowledge must gain strength by identifying his own weaknesses and not allowing his pride to harm others.” Momma Peach watched Michelle gently pat Henry's shoulder. “Do you understand?”
Henry stared into Michelle's soulful eyes. He nodded his head in a daze. “I guess I do,” he said and walked back to his dad. “I'll go check on mom and the little ones,” he said with purpose and walked down the hallway.
Charlie ran his hands through his hair. The man was exhausted and needed rest. “Have you called the State Patrol?”
“Phones are out,” Sam confessed. “We're running solo here, Mr. Neilson.”
Momma Peach watched Charlie close his eyes and draw in a worried breath. “If anything happens to my boys,” he whispered, “I'll never forgive myself. Henry is starting his senior year this fall and Michael and William...my precious little boys...”
Momma Peach walked over to Charlie and hugged the man. “Go to your family,” she said.
Shocked at being hugged by a strange woman, Charlie looked down at Momma Peach – he looked into her warm, loving eyes and somehow found comfort. “I'll get dressed just in case,” he said and walked down the hallway. As he walked away, Andy began to moan. “Rise and shine, you sad little rat,” Momma Peach said. “Mr. Sam, Jack, you boys drag him over to that chair.”
Sam and Jack nodded their heads, walked over to Andy, grabbed him by his arms, dragged his body over to an armchair, and threw him down into a clumsy sitting position. “Wake up, Andy,” Sam growled and slapped Andy’s cheeks a few times to rouse him. Andy slowly opened his eyes. “Good.”
“What happened...where...” Andy mumbled. When he saw Michelle walking toward him, his mind quickly sobered up. “Stay away from me,” he cried out and leaned back in the sitting chair.
“Listen, boy,” Momma Peach said in a tough voice, “It's flooding like it's nobody's business outside and we ain't got time to play games. Now I want some answers and I want some answers now!”
Andy shifted his eyes up at Momma Peach. He shook his head. “I'm a dead man already,” he said. “You ain't getting nothing out of me.”
“Is that so?” Momma Peach grinned.
“Take a hike,” Andy replied in a scared voice. “You can't do nothing worse to me than that man's wife and her daddy can do.”
Momma Peach quickly looked over at Sam. Sam bowed his head with hurt eyes. “So...it's true,” he said.
Jack put his hand on Sam's shoulder. “We're sorry,” he said.
“Yes, we are,” Melinda agreed and stepped up to Sam and patted his hand. “Sam, we're so sorry.”
Momma Peach stared at Andy. “Talk to me, boy, or else.”
“Or else, what?” Andy asked in a hysterical voice that seemed out of character. “What are you going to do to me, lady, huh? I was sent above ground to kill her,” Andy lifted a bony finger to point at Michelle, “and I failed. Sam's old lady isn't the forgiving type, you know. She's already painted a target on my back...do you understand what I'm saying? So like I said. Take. A. Hike.”
“Mr. Sam,” Momma Peach said in a voice that told Andy he was about to be taught a second lesson, “go get me Old Mac.”
“Old Mac?” Andy asked in confusion. Momma Peach grinned calmly and didn't say a word. Outside the storm continued to howl and scream. Soon Andy would be screaming along with the storm.
Andy screamed when Sam presented Old Mac to him. “Get that thing away from me!”
“Talk to me, boy, or Mr. Sam is going to feed you to Old Mac,” Momma Peach said, fighting back her own desire to run screaming out of the lobby. She shivered, glanced over at the hairy tarantula, saw Old Mac wink at her, shivered again and looked down at Andy. “Mr. Sam, maybe Old Mac wants a little snack?”
Sam nodded. He tossed Old Mac down onto Andy's lap. Andy let out a high pitched scream and began slapping at Old Mac. Old Mac didn't like being slapped at and latched onto Andy's hand and began crawling up his arm. Andy froze. “Get...it...off...” he said in a petrified voice.
“Talk to me,” Momma Peach ordered Andy. “What is Mrs. Sam up to? Why did she kill Ben Fleishman and Mrs. Milkson? God rest their poor souls.”
Old Mac slowly walked up Andy's right arm, hairy legs against sunburnt raw flesh. All of the color in Andy's face drained out. “Get...it...off...please...”
Old Mac picked up speed. “Looks like Old Mac is hungry,” Sam commented.
Jack backed Melinda toward the hallway. The sight of Old Mac gave them both the willies. Michelle didn't seem bothered. She stood very still in front of the chair with her arms crossed and studied Andy's eyes. “Are you going to talk?” she asked.
“Yeah...whatever you want...yes...” Andy replied and kept his wide eyes on Old Mac.
“Okay, boy, down,” Momma Peach told Old Mac and nodded her head at Sam. Sam reached down and picked up Old Mac just before he reached Andy's shoulder. “Talk, Dannity. What are Stephanie and her old man doing here?”
“Money,” Andy blurted out in relief as the massive spider was removed. “Man, it's all about money. Your wife and her old man are running dirty money for the Mendez Family.”
“The Mendez Family?” Sam asked.
“Hey,” Jack said, still keeping his distance from Old Mac, “I think I read about the Mendez Family.”
“Give us a history lesson,” Momma Peach told Jack.
Jack rubbed his cheek with his right hand. He listened to the storm for a couple of minutes as he searched his memory and began gathering his thoughts. “José Mendez was a drug dealer in Mexico who started a very deadly and violent gang. If I'm not mistaken, José Mendez became so powerful and wealthy that the President of Mexico, fearing for his life, fled to Europe. That was about...” Jack looked at Melinda and then over at Momma Peach, “I'd say, three years ago...the FBI, along with the DEA, ran a secret operation into Mexico and captured José Mendez and managed to shut down his drug operation. Mendez was brought to America and tossed into a prison in California...why? Who knows? All I can honestly say, in my professional opinion, is that our government didn't go after Mendez for honorable reasons. Our government had a purpose for Mendez.”
“Guns,” Andy spoke before he could catch his tongue.
“Guns?” Momma Peach asked.
Andy bit down hard on his lip. Sam raised Old Mac in the air. Andy jumped back in the chair.
“I heard them talking all about it. Mendez was forced to start running guns across the border, using his own people as mules,” Andy confessed. “Put that thing away...please,” he begged Sam. Sam lowered Old Mac.
“Keep talking,” Momma Peach ordered Andy.
Andy drew in a scared breath. “Mendez is being blackmailed. He's being forced to run guns for the FBI, okay? In return, he was sent to a nice fancy prison where he's being protected.
But Mendez isn't a stupid man. He's doing what the FBI is ordering him to do, sure, but he's getting all the money the FBI stole back from him, too…by forging and laundering counterfeit money.”
“Mendez met Mrs. Sam's daddy in prison, didn't he?” Momma Peach asked Sam.
“Gee, you think?”
Momma Peach narrowed her eyes. “Boy, don't make me go insane up in here!” she yelled. “I will go postal on your backside with her bare hands and knock some sense into that ugly head of yours. Oh yes sir and yes ma’am, give me strength not to beat this boy bowlegged.”
Sam put a calm hand on Momma Peach's shoulder. “Stephanie's old man still has bank contacts, right?”
Andy stared up at Momma Peach. Suddenly he became more scared of the expression on Momma Peach's face than Old Mac. “Sure, yeah, the old man is pretty shrewd. When the FBI tossed him behind bars, they did so with dirty hands.”
“Explain,” Michelle demanded.
“Oh, come on,” Andy exclaimed, “you're not brain dead. The FBI played patty-cake with the old man the same way they played patty-cake with Mendez...you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. The old man was laundering money for some pretty serious people back in his day…people who the FBI didn't want to challenge face-to-face at the time, so they went after the money supply instead. In return, the old man was offered protection.” Andy looked away from Momma Peach. “The old guy has been working for the FBI behind his prison bars all of these years as a...personal accountant, I guess you can say.”
“What about Ben Fleishman?” Michelle asked and prepared her heart for the worst.
Andy sighed. “Some cops are just too noble for their own good,” Andy told Michelle in a regretful voice. “Ben Fleishman was determined to take down the dirty element within the FBI. He had an inside person working with him.”
“Mrs. Milkson,” Momma Peach said.
Andy nodded his head wearily. “Yeah, that's the lady,” he confessed. “Ben Fleishman got in way over his head. He was warned to back down...but instead, he contacted you,” Andy said and indicated Michelle.
“Who...how did he die?” Michelle demanded. She fought back tears as her heart broke.
Andy looked down at his hands. “State Patrol,” he said. “There's a few of those guys on the payroll.” Andy kept his eyes low. “Ben Fleishman found the second entrance down into the caves. When he did, he...tore out of here toward High Cliffs to alert the authorities to what he had found.” Andy looked up at Sam. “Your wife made a call to the State Patrol…Ben Fleishman was gunned down before he reached High Cliffs. His body was brought back to this town under the cover of night and tossed down into the caves.”
Tears began streaming down Michelle's face. “And you just played along, is that it?” she nearly screamed at Andy.
“Hey,” Andy said in a defensive voice, “I never wanted to get involved in this mess. I left New York after serving my time...and then I ended up in the same prison as the old man and Mendez. And all this for breaking into a garage filled with classic hot rods and trying to take one for a ride, okay?” Andy shook his head. “I'm not the greatest car thief...but what can I say, I like cars.”
“How did you become involved with Mrs. Sam's daddy and José Mendez?” Momma Peach growled at Andy. “We can hear about your car stories later when you're rotting behind bars.”
Andy glanced up at Momma Peach. Oh boy, was the woman ever mad. Her eyes were filled with a woman's fury that could make the bravest man alive collapse in fear. “I was roaming around the exercise yard one day when I saw the old man sitting alone reading a book. I was new to the prison and heard rumors the old man could get you smokes...for a price.” Andy looked warily at Old Mac. “The old man, for some reason, took a liking to me. Why? Who knows? I thought he was a little kooky in the head, but I didn't care.”
“One snake likes another,” Momma Peach answered Andy.
Andy didn't say a word. Instead, he swallowed nervously and continued. “A few days later, the old man introduced me to Mendez. I became 'the runner.' I started running bribes, payments, supplies, and information back and forth between Mendez and the outside world...the FBI, the guards, the warden himself...crazy stuff.”
“You’re a real top-notch guy,” Sam told Andy in a disgusted voice.
“Hey,” Andy snapped, “you do what you have to in order to survive. I know stealing cars is wrong.” Andy looked at Jack. “That's what people expect of my kind, though, right?”
“Save your sob stories for the police,” Jack warned Andy.
Momma Peach kicked Andy's right foot. “Focus on me,” she said. “You became involved with some pretty dangerous people while you wasted the tax payers’ money. So tell me how Mrs. Sam's daddy and José Mendez became a team?”
Andy shrugged his shoulders. “The old man and Mendez were already a partnership when I arrived at the prison.” Andy looked up at Sam. “Your wife was involved by that time, too. All those times she visited Los Angeles to visit her sister...man, she was visiting her old man at the prison instead, and setting things up for him here, down in the caves.”
Sam resisted the urge to punch Andy. “What are you talking about?”
“The caves,” Andy said, “are perfect. Once you learn your way around down there, it's not too bad.” Andy shivered a little but clasped his hands together as if steeling himself to go back into the nightmare darkness of their depths once more. “There is one certain tunnel that runs from this crummy town all the way into Mexico. A second tunnel, which branches off the main tunnel running north, runs straight into Utah and opens up into a hidden cave. The main operation is in the cave that's four miles south of Salt Lake City.”
Momma Peach stared at Andy. “Someone up there in Salt Lake is helping Mrs. Sam.”
“A dirty FBI Agent,” Andy confessed. “Maybe more than one. Who knows? All I know is that Mendez is getting rich sitting in prison and your wife,” Andy pointed at Sam, “and her old man are swimming in some pretty deep dough...sure the money is fake, but as far as the banks know, the money is real...off-shore accounts are created...real cash is sent to those accounts, leaving the banks holding fake money in their vaults.”
“Stephanie has a money-making machine?” Sam asked in a confused voice.
“Your wife is a very clever and resourceful woman,” Andy told Sam. “That woman alone explored all the caves and mapped out the tunnels...she created the plan to start running fake money...her old man jumped on board with both feet. But they needed help.”
“Mendez,” Michelle said.
“Yeah,” Andy confirmed. “Mendez has some pretty powerful people on the outside who helped your wife, Sam, set up her operation right under your nose.” Andy closed his eyes and shook his head. “Agent Lambert, the woman you call Mrs. Milkson, managed to locate the second entrance down into the caves...your wife...” Andy nodded at Sam, “killed her for that, shoved her into the walk-in cooler and came back for her body later.” Andy opened his eyes and looked up at the faces staring down at him. “I'm telling you what Stephanie told me, honest. She said she killed Agent Lambert.”
“You mentioned the second entrance. Where?” Michelle demanded. She wasn't interested in chasing Andy's words. All she wanted was a direct route to the person who killed Ben Fleishman, even if it meant risking her life and going down into the darkness below the earth.
“No way,” Andy said and shook his head. “I'm not that stupid. Sam's old lady has the main cave and tunnels secured with traps. Anyone who tries to go down and chase her will never see daylight again. Ben Fleishman is dead... Agent Lambert is dead... I'm not going to be responsible for anyone else dying. I may be scum in your eyes, but I'm not a killer. Besides,” Andy's face became sad, “I'm already a dead man. I guess I'm talking because...deep down...somewhere inside of me...someplace that's still kinda decent...I want you to take down Sam's wife...her old man...Mendez...the whole operation.”
“Why?” Momma Peach asked Andy.
“Because
,” Andy said with fire and remorse in his eyes, as thunder shattered through the lobby, “I was sent to prison as a simple car thief and was forced to become a monster. After I got out of prison in California, I ran back to New York, hoping to escape...but Mendez's people found me and gave me a choice...and here I sit. I tried to escape...” Andy shook his head. “It doesn't matter now.”
“What was your job? Why were you sent to my town?” Sam asked Andy in a desperate voice.
“I was ordered here to keep an eye out for Ben Fleishman and to make sure you didn't cause any trouble.” Andy looked at Momma Peach. “Lady,” he said, “that man's wife is planning to kill him. She's preparing the biggest money dump I've ever seen, without Mendez's permission, and then she's leaving the country with her old man.”
Momma Peach saw tears begin falling from Sam's eyes. “Money dump?” she asked Andy in a sad voice.
“The FBI Agent in Salt Lake isn't honest,” Andy stated in a strained voice, “she's going to help Sam's wife dump her fake money on the banks in the Northwest, take her share, and vamoose. We're talking about three major banks, worth trillions of dollars. Sam's wife, behind Mendez's back, has created over one hundred billion dollars in fake bills...bills that could fool the best expert in the world.” Andy locked eyes with Sam. “Your wife is a genius, man...insane, yeah, but a genius. And her old man, he may be old and wrinkly, but his mind is still sharp as a piece of broken glass.”
Sam took a step backward, reeling. He regained his balance and then walked away to his apartment with tears in his eyes. Momma Peach pointed at Andy. “Sit tight, boy,” she said and followed Sam.
Michelle stepped up to Andy and looked down at him with furious eyes. “My friend was killed and you said nothing until now. I'm going to see to it that you rot in prison,” she promised Andy.
Andy didn't reply. Sure, he was a creep, a thief and no good, but he wasn't a killer. And the truth was, if he could have escaped without blabbing all over the place, he would have. Instead, he was trapped between a rock and a hard place and chose to run with the good guys for once. Why? Because sometimes a bad guy gets tired of wondering who he can trust.
A Peachy Mess Page 11