by Val Welch
Twenty-One
The media arrived in less than an hour and Morgan shortly thereafter. By the time Morgan was ready to conduct a joint press briefing with Sheriff Presler and the Pine Ridge mayor, there was a full blown media circus in the hospital parking lot.
On his way to address the media, Morgan pulled Shelby out of the waiting room and into an empty storage room. He balanced his briefcase on top of an overflowing laundry cart, popped it open and handed her a single sheet of paper. “You need to read this before we go out there.”
She quickly scanned the three lines written on FBI letterhead.
After a thorough administrative review of Special Agent Shelby Ryan’s plea agreements with William and Eden Malone, she has been cleared of any wrongdoing and is ordered returned to active duty immediately.
“You’re kidding me. What happened to my resignation?”
He grinned as he shoved her credentials and duty weapon into her hands. “It was rejected. You’re back on the clock. Get over it.”
She looked down at her credentials overcome by a rush of pure joy. “When did this all come down?” she asked, almost afraid to believe what he was saying.
He obviously knew it too as he smiled down at her, his blue eyes meeting hers, his lips curving up in a slight smile. The smile she used to love, the smile that still tugged at a tiny corner of her heart.
“Friday. I was going to talk to you about it next week. You’re coming back, right?” he asked, his voice soft, low, intimate.
“Of course I’m coming back. I can’t believe you did this,” she said quietly.
As they stood together she noticed how much more grey had crept into his dark brown hair and how deeply etched the fine lines around his eyes had become in the many months since their breakup.
He took a deep breath. “Shelby, there are so many things I want to say to you, about how much I still care about you and always will. I know we’re over. It’s been the hardest thing I’ve ever done, letting us end. But, you were right, some things you just have to let go. So, bottom line, it’s my fault. I let everything escalate between us and I needed to fix it. You’re the best field agent I’ve ever worked with. I can’t let you walk away from the thing you’re meant to do because I let my personal feelings for you cloud my professional judgment.” He gently tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, and smiled ruefully. “So, what do you think? Can we start over from here?”
She bit the inside of her bottom lip to stop the tears before they started and smiled up at him. “Yes, we can start right here.”
He winked, softly touched her bottom lip with his thumb and said, “Come on, Special Agent Ryan, we’ve all got a lot of work to do.”
She found Carson standing at the hospital exit doors holding her coat. She flashed him her credentials, clipped her holster onto the waistband of her jeans and let him help her into her coat.
He fell into step with her as they followed Morgan from the building. “Welcome back, partner. I’ve missed you.”
She stopped, grabbed his arm and looked up at him. “You knew, didn’t you?”
He looked at her warily. “I heard a rumor late Friday.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t want to get your hopes up until I could confirm it. Don’t be mad.”
She smiled. “I’m too happy right now to be mad.”
“Good.” He pointed toward the roped off area in the parking lot where Morgan and the mayor were about to address the media. “Come on, we need to get over there.”
They stood behind the assembled TV reporters as a tall, thin, elderly man stepped forward and began speaking. “Morning folks, I’m Mitch Timmons, mayor of Pine Ridge. We’ve had an officer shot this morning. He’s forty-two-year-old, Chief of Police Gabe Navarro, the officer in charge here at Pine Ridge. He was shot in the back by some worthless dirt bag when he walked into the station at approximately 7:08 this morning. Chief Navarro is an eighteen-year veteran of the force and is currently in surgery. I’m asking all of you to please keep him and his family in your prayers.” He paused, blinking away tears.
“I’m going to turn this over to Special Agent in Charge, Charles Morgan from the FBI,” he said, before stepping back.
Morgan stepped forward and waited for everyone’s full attention. Shelby had seen him do this countless times and for the first time in almost a year, she felt proud to be part of his team again.
Morgan launched into a prepared statement outlining the ongoing investigation of EFA’s activities. He thoroughly explained the circumstances around the arrest of the EFA suspects and the plea agreement with the Malones in exchange for the information needed to arrest and convict the EFA members that were still at large. He even used a direct quote from Shelby’s letter of resignation as to why it was appropriate for Eden Malone to be released.
After the prepared statement was read, both he and Sheriff Presler took questions about the ongoing investigation and Gabe’s shooting. They admitted to receiving death threats against both Gabe and Shelby immediately prior to Gabe’s shooting. Morgan ended the session with a plea for anyone with information on the case to anonymously call a toll free number. The briefing broke up just prior to noon and Shelby rushed back into the hospital to see if there was any word on Gabe’s surgery.
When she walked into the waiting room, the TV was on and everyone was watching a reporter rehash the press briefing.
Lydia waved from the couch where she and Judith were still sitting. “Shelby, come sit with us.”
Shelby crossed the room and sat beside Lydia.
Lydia took her hand in hers. “I’m very sorry. I should not have lashed out at you earlier. Please forgive me.”
Shelby squeezed her hand. “Lydia, I understand. It’s a very emotional time for all of us.”
“You are wearing your badge and pistol again.”
“Yes, I’ve been reinstated.”
“I’m pleased. Now you can find who did this to Gabriel.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
Judith leaned across Lydia and touched Shelby’s arm. “Shelby, beware. Many in this town are upset with you and some are very dangerous,” she whispered, in her heavily accented English.
Judith’s words were eerily familiar. They reminded her of the note left on Doc’s doorstep.
Shelby began to listen more carefully to the Spanish conversations going on around her. None of them seemed to consider the possibility that she was fluent in Spanish. She kept her head down as if praying and listened to the conversation going on between Gabe’s family members. They were discussing Joaquin’s whereabouts. Rebeca had had the baby earlier that morning and no one had seen Joaquin since midnight the night before when he’d left the house to help a friend. Now that Gabe had been shot, they were worried that Joaquin was in danger too. She also learned that many of the family believed someone in the community, upset about Eden’s release, was responsible for Gabe’s shooting.
The door swished open and all conversation ceased as Doc entered the room and crossed to Lydia. “We have good news. No vital structures were involved. He's stable and we expect a full recovery.” Doc took Lydia’s hand and helped her to her feet. “Come on. Let’s go see your boy.”
Smiling, Lydia walked left with Doc to the sound of applause from the family and friends waiting together in the room.
Shelby left the waiting room and found Carson with Morgan down the corridor and pulled them away from the group they were standing with.
“Morgan, Gabe Navarro has a cousin, Joaquin, who is a dead-ringer. They’re almost impossible for anyone but family to tell apart. This morning, Joaquin’s wife, Rebeca, gave birth to their third child and he wasn’t there. In fact, no one has seen him since about midnight last night when he left his home to help a friend. In light of Gabe’s shooting, the family is very worried about him.”
“Oh yeah? Huh,” Morgan said, frowning as he turned to look at Carson. �
��See what you can dig up on the cousin and get Shelby up to speed on the case. You two need to hit the deck running with this. The cousin may be involved in some way. Keep me informed.”
Twenty-Two
Carson and Shelby raced to the car. “What did your query on Joaquin Navarro turn up last night?” Shelby asked as she slid into the passenger seat.
He grinned at her as he buckled his seatbelt. “That’s where we’re going now. I didn’t have a chance to look at it this morning. I slept in after you kept me up all night.”
“No, you kept me up,” she said, slugging him in the arm.
“Ouch! What’s that for?”
“For not sharing rumors. Anything else you’re not sharing?”
He shrugged while maneuvering the car through the news-van clogged parking lot. “Just a couple.”
“What?” She smiled, her fist posed to slug him again.
“Morgan’s moving up the chain of command and you’re going to take over the unit. I think someone up above liked the ideas you floated in your resignation.”
She grinned. “I’m back!”
He laughed. “Yeah, with a vengeance, and damn I’m glad.”
An hour later, Shelby and Carson were at Doc’s kitchen table, drinking coffee and getting Shelby up to speed on the case.
Carson scrolled through Joaquin Navarro’s query results and said, “Nothing extraordinary here. He’s just an average Joe citizen. Pays his bills, gives to his church and raises his kids.”
“Are you running the facial recognition software?” Shelby asked.
“I already ran it. Both Joaquin and Gabe came back as matches for the guy in the video. Their features are just too much alike for the software to discern a difference.”
“What else is going on with the case?”
“All of the transcripts from the suspects’ interviews are in the case notes. But, I’ll give you the CliffsNotes if you want.”
She opened her briefcase and dug out a legal pad and pen. “Yes, I want.”
“We now know that the suspects we have in custody were all lower level participants and they were all terrified of the leader whom they call Dante.”
“Why were they terrified of him?”
“He, and his inner-circle, which, by the way, included William Malone, were all cold-blooded killers. In fact, they all swear that the entire atmosphere and goals changed after William Malone joined the group. Dante suddenly had much bigger plans and needed money to fund them.”
“What kind of bigger plans?”
“He wanted to buy shoulder-fire missiles. And in order to fund their purchase, the members were forced to start cooking and selling meth. That’s why they needed William Malone. He went around to all the various cells and helped them set up and run their operations.”
Shelby jerked her eyes up from the legal pad to look at him. “That’s diabolical.”
“Oh yeah,” Carson said. “And, it gets much worse. When the meth operation started, two of the original members, Paul and Lisa Hunter, had had enough and tried to walk away. Their bodies were found inside their burned out car, just outside of Holbrook. All of the other members were forced to watch a video of their incineration. After that, they all fell into line.”
“And they’re all saying this independently?”
“Yes. We actually have a copy of the execution video. Part of it had been shot over previously erased footage. The guys in Quantico were able to restore the erased portion which featured your buddy, William Malone, happily forcing the Hunters into the car and torching it.”
“Wow.” She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as she dealt with the realization that she’d stupidly let Morgan con her again. He hadn’t changed at all. “So, that would be the same William Malone that Morgan wanted to let walk?”
Carson slowly nodded. “Yep. One and the same.”
She laughed while Carson watched her warily. She knew she should be livid and plotting revenge, but she was too happy to let Morgan’s bullshit bring her down. She looked at Carson and shrugged. “Don’t worry, I get it. That worthless prick had to reinstate me in order to save his own ass.”
Carson smiled. “Can you imagine what would have happened if William was the one sitting in a halfway house right now?”
“It would have been the end of Morgan’s career,” Shelby said, reaching across the table for her laptop.
Carson grinned over at her. “I’m surprised how well you’re taking this.”
She shrugged. “I know what Morgan’s about. He’s ruthless, underhanded and totally self-serving. But, I love this job. And putting up with Morgan is a small price to pay.”
Carson continued to just look at her.
“What?”
“Nothing,” he said. He leaned back in his chair and grinned at her. “I’m just glad to have you back.”
She flipped the page over on her legal pad while he continued to grin at her. “What? You don’t think I’m capable of learning from my mistakes?”
“Hell, I didn’t even know you were capable of admitting to them.”
“Ha! Very funny.” She clicked her pen as she held it poised above her pad. “Did you get any useful information about the organization from William Malone?”
Carson shook his head. “No. His brain is fried. You saw him on a good day. A few days later he had some sort of psychotic break, tried to peel the skin off his arms in order to let the bugs out. He’s in the psych ward at the county hospital. They doubt he’ll ever come out of it.”
“What do we know about Dante?”
“Not a lot. We have conflicting physical descriptions from the various cells. Which we believe was due to different members of the upper-echelon impersonating Dante.”
“So, no one knows who the real Dante is or what he looks like?”
“Exactly.”
“Where did most of the meetings with Dante take place?”
“Towns all along I-40 except for a couple of meetings in Globe.”
“Globe? Why Globe?”
“That’s where he met with the leaders of the Tucson cell. And, this is what’s really interesting,” Carson said, leaning forward. “The Tucson cell didn’t sell meth. Their task was to set up a coyote operation to transport illegal aliens over the border. They were picked up at a drop house where over eighty men, women and children were being held.”
“So, it became about making big money to buy heavy-duty fire power. Why? Was he going to start his own private army?” Shelby asked, frowning and scribbling on her pad.
Carson shook his head. “At this point, we have no idea why he wanted them.”
“Did they get them? The missiles?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty sure they did. The leader of the Tucson cell admitted to bringing several large crates back over the border.”
“And now the crates are missing?”
“Yeah. They’re saying two men they call the enforcers took them a week before they were arrested.”
“The enforcers?”
“A couple of hired goons who like to break kneecaps. We have pretty reliable descriptions of them from several of the suspects.”
“Did the team set up a radius where they believe Dante may be?”
“Yeah, it’s all in the case notes. Pine Ridge is pretty much ground zero.”
“Ah … that’s another reason they suspect Gabe. Let’s look at the video from the explosives buy again just in case something pops out.”
“Okay, here it is.” Shelby perched on the chair next to his and they watched the video again.
“Stop there. Can you zoom in on the paperwork on the counter?”
“I’ll try, but I’ll probably lose clarity.”
“Is there a name on the invoice lying on the counter?”
“Yeah … it’s something construction. I can’t get the rest of it.”
“Can you get the invoice number?”
“401135.”
“We know the name of the construction company Joaquin worke
d for in New Mexico, right?”
“Yes.”
She picked up the phone. “Okay, I’ll call the explosives supplier and just ask who they sold that invoice to.”
Five minutes later the invoice copy was being faxed to Doc’s home office. Shelby picked it up and took it back into the kitchen. “Verde Monte Construction,” she said, handing the invoice to Carson.
He scanned the invoice. “Yeah, that’s the company. I’ve already checked them out. They’re licensed and insured to deal with explosives.”
She rolled her shoulders. “Okay, so where does that leave us?”
“I’m going to take a closer look at Verde Monte, and see what kind of contracts they do. What their tax returns look like, just to see if they are a legitimate company.”
“They’re a highway construction company. I wonder if they have had projects in the areas where the meetings were held,” Shelby asked.
“Good question. Give me some time to work on this. You should definitely start reading the case notes.”
She snapped open her laptop. “All right, let’s see if they reactivated my login. Oh, by the way, I think Judith wrote the note that Doc found on the doorstep,” she said, nodding toward the front door with her chin.
Carson jerked his head up. “Gabe’s Aunt Judith? Why do you think that?”
“She repeated it almost verbatim in the waiting room today.”
“That’s an interesting twist.”
“Isn’t it? I think we need to pay an official visit to Judith and find out if Joaquin is still missing too.”
Carson glanced at his watch. “Let’s finish up here, grab some food and head over there.”
Twenty-Three
Two hours later they were finishing dinner at the local Mexican food restaurant when Doc called Shelby with an update on Gabe’s condition.
“How’s he doing?” Carson asked as Shelby dropped her cell phone back into her bag.
“They’ve moved him out of the recovery room and upstairs to the post-op floor. Doc says he’s fine. He’ll probably be out of the hospital in a day or two.”