Watson Manor My Journey Home (Watson Manor Mystery Series Book 4)

by Ronald S. Craig

  "My pleasure. How's dad?"

  "Feeling much better, I think. He wants to go down for breakfast, a good sign."

  We took the lift down, four flights of stairs was out of the question. Charlie was doing better than I'd expected, but that didn't really surprise me, he regularly exceeded my expectations.

  "Happy New Year Watsons," was shouted from the dining room as we stepped off the lift. It was a happy gathering and it really pleased me to see a good night's sleep had done a world of good for us all. We took seats across from the Richards family.

  "Was there a bounce in your step, Charlie?" Don asked with a smile.

  "I feel much better this morning. It's great to see smiles on your side of the table."

  "Your invitation for us to stay here was a wonderful idea," Linda said. "I don't think I'll ever want to go home."

  "I was just reminding dad that I still expect our family trip to St. Martin for my twenty-first birthday in June," Sandy told us. "Its weekly reminders, Dad, until you renew your passport!"

  "Down girl," Don said smiling at her. "It got as far as my glove box to take it in when this project wrapped up, plenty of time my dear, it's valid through May."

  "Well, be warned, Daddy," Sandy said playfully. "Mom and I are going in June with your credit card, with or without you!"

  "But we'd miss you, Honey," Linda said joining in on her daughters fun.

  "What do you think, Jenny? Is it me they want or just my plastic?"

  "I don't think they'd have any fun at all without you, Don. But, if they need a third, I'm ready to go!"

  "I think I should have asked Charlie that question."

  "I see us waving goodbye to all three of them, Don. I'm just pleased it's with your plastic, not mine."

  Special Agent Debbie Gordon, who we met last night and discovered she was the lead on our protection detail came over to our group. "Good news. Special Agent Baker has the warrant and they are moving on McBride's residence. We've had agents outside of his home all night and they remained inside. I let you know as soon as I hear."

  "I thought our spirits this morning were pretty good already, you've put the cherry on top! Debbie, please join us for breakfast," I said sharing the excitement at the table. What a transition from the mood in Charlie's hospital room just the day before. It was going to be a Happy New Year for all of us. I'd wait a week, maybe two before pulling Charlie into a victory dance.

  "By all means, Debbie, you deserve one of these fabulous omelets," Linda said. "Jenny, you aren't going to make us leave now, are you?"

  "You can stay, celebrating with us, until we leave for St. Martin if you want." Even Charlie joined the laughing table.

  "They are fabulous, Linda. I ate before Maria and I changed shifts and want to get back outside. I'll be back with updates." Debbie leaned in to grab a cinnamon roll to take with her.

  Breakfast was fun, Sandy having thought about their trip for over a year, had the week planned, including dad sail boarding beside her. The family agreed to the snorkeling, but would pass on the scuba lessons.

  Julia walked over and handed Don his phone. "Fully charged. I also found this extra charger at home you are welcome to use."

  "Thanks so much, Julia. I completely forgot about it last night. It was good, to forget about it last night."

  "I second that, Honey," Linda said.

  Don glanced at the phone screen and stood up, "Excuse me; I'll just be a moment." He walked over to the corner of the room where we had overstuffed chairs and paperback books shelved for guests. I turned my attention back to Sandy's planned adventures in St. Martin. She was in the middle of a sentence when I glanced over and saw Linda moving away from the table with a blank stare. She was moving toward Don, who was collapsed in one of the chairs, all color drained from his face.

  "Charlie," I whispered to him. "Look at Don, something is terribly wrong." The conversation stopped abruptly and we all watched Don. He wasn't talking, so I assumed it was voice mail he was listening too.

  Sandy leaped out of her chair and hurried over to join him and Linda. He looked up at her and his tears were clear from our thirty feet away. Linda stood and helped Don out of the chair and they all walked back to the table.

  "Daddy! What is it?"

  He remained silent, his facial expressions conveying fleeting thoughts racing through his mind, how to share the surely horrifying news he'd received. He snapped back and looked at Sandy. "That was your Aunt Pam, Sandy. Uncle Fred is in the hospital. I'll need to fly back to see him."

  "What happened, Don?" Linda asked.

  "They think a heart attack, Honey."

  "We'll all go," Linda said.

  "No!" he shouted. Then grasping for composure added, "I'm sorry, I need you both here where you're safe until we get word they are behind bars, besides, she said he was out of danger and resting comfortably." He wiped his face with a napkin beside his plate, deep into thought. "Jenny, you and Charlie have been working this case for a while, as I might miss the great news, it occurs to me I don't even know what they look like."

  "I'm so sorry about Fred. Sure, Don follow me, we have all that in our office," I told him and he followed me in. "I understand you need to go for family, rest assured, Don, that Linda and Sandy will be safe here." I handed him the file off of my desk. I couldn't identify the look on his face when he took the folder, concern and worry for those here, urgency in the clock ticking beside Fred, determination to fix it all.

  "I couldn't leave them in better hands, Jenny. I need to go … see my brother, Fred. Everything you know is in here?"

  "Yes, Don." His question puzzled me, but there was, after all, a lot he was sorting through.

  "Can I take this with me? I don't have time to study it now."

  "Of course, it's all on my computer. We like having pages as well. I'll take you to the airport, Don when you're ready."

  "I don't want to put any one out, you've done so much already; I have my car." I hugged him and he took the file and left the office.

  I was sitting with Charlie when Agent Gordon joined Linda and Sandy saying goodbye to Don at the door, "Something you need to know first, Sir," Debbie said and shuffled them over toward us at the table. "McBride's residence was all locked up, every light in the house was on and McBride and Scott were gone! It was like they were never there, nothing was packed, even McBride's passport was in his desk." The shock was seen on every face and the joy of St. Martin was as distant in that moment as the island itself.

  "All the more reason for you two to remain here," Don said, kissed them both and turned for the door.

  "We have an additional two agents en route here now," Debbie told us. "It's unbelievable, they were seen pulling into his garage, both of their cars remained there and … nothing on them."

  "A seasoned FBI Agent," Charlie said. "And a perfect escape plan waiting. I'll be upstairs," he paused and looked directly at me, "trying to keep from slipping back to a four."

  Charlie didn't need more than to hit the bed to be out cold. I'd checked on him after a couple of hours, his resting the only good thing. Even after our third or maybe forth exciting game of 'Candy Land', I couldn't stop thinking about Linda and Sandy down stairs. "Emily, I'm going down to invite Linda and Sandy up, do you want to come or stay here?"

  "A little TV and Maddy will be down for a nap. I'll stay. Take your time."

  "You've been so great through all of this, not the visit you expected with your dad, I'm so sorry about that, Emily."

  "I have a room here, Jenny. You are all my family." I had to stop and give her a hug, how in the world did this teenage girl skip that 'it's all about me' phase? "So we haven't talked much about your mother's boyfriend, Justin. Do you like him?"

  "He's really fun, and mom smiles a lot when he's around. I like that, much better than before, when she'd say I was all she had room for. His son, Brandon is really hot too." Her sheepish smile was so delightful and would have completely knocked Charlie into a tizzy.

 
; "I'll be right back, thanks, big sister."

  I knocked on the Richards' door downstairs and it was opened quickly. I was looking at Linda's face as pale as Don's had been hours before. "We were just about to come find you. Don is not headed to see his brother. I called Pam for an update, she tried to maintain the story Don had given her, she broke down thinking something was going wrong in our marriage. We have a family cell phone plan and Sandy is trying to logging into Don's voice messages."

  "Did you try calling him?"

  "Sandy was afraid he'd dump whatever message was there if we called, let him know we knew about Fred. I'm so worried, Jenny. It has to be about them, his office is closed today."

  "I'll go get Debbie; maybe Sandy will have the messages by then." I dashed out and found Debbie talking to two male FBI agents on the front porch."

  "Debbie, we need you. Don is not going to see his sick brother."

  "I'll be right back," she told them and followed me back to the Richards' unit. The door was open, so she went directly in without knocking.

  Sandy and her mother were sitting side by side on the coach. "I'm in his messages; the first message was from his boss, Walter Price, just checking on us. She hit a button and we moved closer to phone she held in her hand.

  "Yesterday, seven-forty-five-pm…Hello Mr. Richards, you managed to really let us down. However, maybe not tomorrow or even within a month or two, maybe even a year from now, I have every intention of fulfilling my promise to you. Relax, Mr. Richards, your life is not in danger, no looking over your shoulder, but watch the mail. Sandy's premier movie will be a blockbuster, Mr. Richards, crossing every dark and wicked genre to animal husbandry. Gotta' run now, Daddy Richards."

  Debbie moved over and removed the phone from Sandy's shaking hands. I could only sit beside and hold Linda who was losing complete control and near hysterics. "I need to call this in immediately," Debbie said, turned and ran with the phone out of the Richards' unit.

  Chapter 29

  The United Airlines flight Henry McBride and Brittney Scott, now Thomas and Rebecca Langford were waiting for and booked under another alias, would have taken them to the Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport for a four hour layover; then on to Belize. On the other side of the boarding gate, Thomas spotted Frank Banks with his wife and two sons finding seats to wait for the same flight. Frank was younger than Thomas, but also an FBI Special Agent out of the LA office and a trained observer, there was little chance he wouldn't be recognized by him. Thomas knew there had to be a buzz in the office about McBride being a person of interest, with the FBI all over the scene in San Jose. They worked in different departments, but in the same building for fifteen years and had greeted one another by first names.

  Thomas turned to Becky and whispered, "Don't look around or say a word, just meet me at the car, L-35. Leave now, go to your left." It amazed him with her tendency toward drama that she quietly stood up and left just as he'd wanted. He waited five minutes, looking away from where Frank's family was seated and made his exit.

  "What the hell is going on?" she asked as he approached the car.

  He hit the remote and the doors unlocked. "Get in. Actually plan A for our exit just got the extra push." He got in and started the car. "I spotted a fellow FBI agent, with his family, not looking for us, but we couldn't chance his spotting me on that flight."

  "Plan A is to drive to Belize?"

  "Don't need the sarcasm, Brit. Tijuana, Mexico is three hours south and crossing the border there is at worst case, flashing a driver's license."

  "You mean, don't need the sarcasm, Becky. Getting a little frazzled my dear, Thomas?"

  "You seem to be oblivious to the consequences of our being apprehended, Becky!"

  "I did eighteen months in county; don't have any desire to go back."

  "Law enforcement inmates in prison is like hanging a punching bag in the rec-room. Work with me and we'll get there."

  "I'm thrilled, hubby. What gal hasn't dreamt of a honeymoon next to the street vendor selling string puppets and chewing gum to tourists? We're stuck together; I'm not sure if it's as newlyweds or closer to a tick on a dog?"

  "How did I miss this truly romantic side of you?" he asked, returning her sarcastic tone.

  "The whole love thing sells books, makes movie producers rich and I live in reality, not fantasy land with those weak women, lapping up the con, stepping out of their pathetic lives, no better than a drug addict getting her next fix, the entire focus of their lives. No thanks."

  They drove south on Interstate 5 in silence and were waved across the border into Mexico with only a casual glance from the border guard. She gave him a weak smile when they drove into Tijuana and it all flashed in his mind. Eighteen months in county, a record and Charlie Watson had seen her face, but the link to him was still foggy. No one in his office knew about her, much less that they were living together.

  *****

  Don Richards was running through the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport for a connecting flight to Belize, the mention of it was in the file he'd obtained from Jenny. Don had left his phone turned off since he boarded the flight in San Jose knowing his quick fabrication of the story about his brother's heart attack was being weakly supported by his sister-in-law. Don knew first hand all about focus on the mission, and Brittney, showing him an evil, damaged and vengeful persona seeking his daughter, became the enemy, defining the mission without alternative, no matter the personal risk for himself.

  In the background of Brittney's voice message was the announcement for United's flight 238 to Dallas/Ft. Worth, which confirmed the possibility of their continuing to Belize, but only the possibility, as Dallas was a major hub for travel throughout the United States. They had almost a twelve hour head-start on him and armed with only their photos, only one major airport in Belize, plenty of cash to loosen lips and a father's unyielding determination; he saw success in his mission.

  *****

  Special Agent Debbie Gordon clicked the message from Brittney off after Charlie had listened to it twice in their upstairs kitchen.

  "Los Angeles to Dallas, is that the normal way to get to Belize?" Charlie asked.

  "United flies to Belize, through either Dallas or Houston, Texas, but we think it might have been an announcement from a neighboring gate."

  "You didn't expect to see Henry McBride's name on the manifest?"

  "No, actually we have something better. An FBI Agent that knows McBride was on that flight with his family, his Dad's 80th birthday, hometown is Dallas and he didn't see them. The surrounding gates at that time had destinations of St. Louis, Nashville and Atlanta. We are checking those manifests also."

  "And Don Richards?

  "He'll be boarding his flight to Belize in thirty minutes. His cell phone goes directly to voice mail and quite frankly, Charlie, we have no legal right to detain him at the gate or enough time to get agents there to attempt talking him down. We, the FBI, cannot follow him there."

  Jenny had helped Charlie get from the bedroom to their kitchen table and had remained quiet during the discussion to that point. "We need to get Don out of there for his own safety."

  "I'd get on the next plane to help him, Jenny."

  "There's something you two need to know about Don Richards," Debbie said. "Don went to college on the GI Bill after serving eight years as a decorated Army Ranger. Charlie, he won't need any help ridding the world of these two, it's afterwards. The US and Belize have an open extradition policy and Don has made no attempt to hide his trip there. If the bodies of McBride and Scott are ever found with evidence linking to Don, he'll spend the rest of his life in prison."

  "With a warrant for their arrest then, we need to get McBride and Scott to the local police and they'll get sent back to the US," Jenny said.

  "Not yet, I'm sorry to say. Charlie you picked Brittney Scott from mug shots as being involved in your kidnapping and we have this message to Don linking her to the kidnapping of Sandy Richards also. We have a strong warrant for h
er arrest. The warrant to search McBride's home was based on her known residency there. McBride is all circumstantial, only association with Scott, and we've found nothing in that residence to implicate him … yet."

  "We need to tell Don to be a bounty hunter, not an assassin for Scott," Jenny said.

  "No, we need to tell McBride that Scott stands between freedom and his life behind bars, let him rid the world of Brittney Scott," Charlie said.

  "Charlie, we need to find Don before it's too late for him, Linda and especially Sandy."

  "A lot of if's here, Jenny." He turned back to face Agent Gordon. "Can we be assured the warrant can be posted with authorities in Belize for Brittney Scott or her current alias if we can find her or Don?"

  Debbie picked up her phone and called Special Agent Baker, "Sir, do we have a firm warrant for McBride?"

  "Association only so far."

  "Scott?"

  "It's already issued, and her photo has been mass distributed to US exits."

  "Charlie wants to know if it's been sent to Belize."

  "I should have known that was coming, put him on, Gordon." She set the phone down between them and hit speaker. "Charlie, you there?"

  "Hey Baker, seems we've been here before."

  "We can help you in Belize, not like your trip to China."

  "All we need to know is, if we get her to the local police in Belize, will they send her back to you?"

  "Better than that, they'll hold her there for me to come get her. And I will make that trip personally, Charlie."

  "You aren't trying to talk us out of going, Baker?"

  "Like you've already pointed out, Charlie, we've been here before, just be careful, keep it touch and don't let Jenny steal an airplane this time."

  "What the hell is he talking about, Charlie? I stole a plane?" Jenny jumped out of her seat across the table from him.

  "Thanks, Baker. We haven't revisited that chapter yet. You keep working on that warrant for McBride. We're on our way to Belize," he paused, looked directly at Jenny and continued, "in a commercial not a borrowed airplane." He pressed end call. "We'd better pack Jenny."