Beer, Bait, and Ammo

by Harper, Chap

  “The DC model was banned in California as a semi-automatic with the law passed in 1994, and that expired with a sunset provision in 2004,” Lester said. “The law for automatics passed in 1986 and never changed. These weapons with the ‘DC’ in their model number that were modified for fully automatic were banned for resale, even with class three dealers since they were manufactured after 1986. The old Tec-9s made before ‘86 were good for resale, but if the paperwork showed it as a Tec-DC9 automatic, then you have him by the balls—never meant to be an automatic. He had to have a contract with the person who shipped it on that UPS truck, and they wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble to set up the theft if it were the semi-automatic since anybody can buy that stupid gun. Mr. Evola made a contract to buy an unauthorized and banned weapon. Clearly a violation of his license.” Lester had put some of the information he found online to good use.

  “Lester, this is amazing, if it’s accurate.”

  “Get one of your computer geeks to pull up Firearms Owners Protection Act of 1986 on Google and start there. Next, take that information to your attorney general’s office. Don’t let any of it leak or he’ll destroy his records, then return the weapon to him since he’s the rightful owner and make him produce the paperwork,” Lester said. “Hopefully, we’ll help you nail him when we come down on Friday. We’re making a deal for him to buy back the legal guns we found in Arkansas. One of them is also an illegal, so we might catch him there. Mainly, we’re looking for where he keeps the really bad-ass guns, rocket launchers, and tanks.” Lester laughed.

  “I see why police departments hire you, Lester. I just called to see how the operation went. Jim told me about it.”

  “Hey, I said I would help you for free when I came down. I was going to The Oyster Palace to eat, but now I don’t know.”

  “There’s another one in the Hilton downtown.”

  “See, you’ve already saved my trip. I hope when all this is over we can go out for a drink.”

  “Lester, you just keep on getting better, and stay safe when you come down. Thanks again,” Hank said and hung up.

  The door opened to the bedroom and Debi stuck her head out. “Who in the hell was that calling this late?” she asked.

  “It was the police Captain in New Orleans that you wanted to sleep with. He can’t wait until you get there. I’ve never seen a man so excited!” Lester was laughing as he turned off his computer.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lester had stopped by the Sheriff’s office on Thursday and picked up all the materials left by Jim Webb, including the cash for the MAC-11. There was a note separate from the inventory of guns for Tony Evola’s bid. The note indicated that among the automatic weapons listed was a MAC-11/9. This gun was manufactured to be a semi-automatic weapon because of the laws that went into force in 1994. They were difficult to convert to fully automatic since metal pieces were welded inside the weapon to block the conversion. Gunsmiths merely removed the metal and went about their transformation from select fire to full auto. These guns that are converted to fully automatic are illegal because they were manufactured or converted after 1986, but are so similar to the MAC-11s it’s hard for even dealers to tell them apart. No doubt Tony knew since he was an expert at identifying guns. Now there was a MAC-11/9 automatic listed on the bid sheet, a part of the cache of weapons found by Lester.

  This addition meant there were two illegal conversions for Tony Evola to deal with—the Tec-DC9 recovered from the Oyster Palace shooting and the MAC-11/9. If both of them ended up in his hands or there was proof of ownership, there would be multiple infractions of the law. He might be fined or lose his license over these transactions, but probably wouldn’t do any time. They needed to catch him doing something big and bad.

  The ATF had been kind enough to create a credit card for Lester under the name Hamilton Richardson, but he was sure the credit line wasn’t high enough for him and Debi to skip out of the country. Both were planning to test the alias and the brand new credit card after Debi got off work and when Tammy had finished his reading lesson. Their plans for later that day were to try out a new restaurant in Bonnerdale, which was only about twenty minutes out of Hot Springs. Friends had described it as a big log cabin-style place called Bubba’s, located barely inside the Garland County line, just a few yards away from Montgomery County, one of thirty-five dry counties in the state. Blue laws and dry counties always perplex visitors from out of state who are shocked when they are required to remove their beer and wine from their shopping carts on Sundays. However, if they can find a cafe, restaurant, or sports grill open in Garland County, they can drink all they want on Sunday—just can’t take it home with them.

  Lester had called Tony earlier in the day and set up an appointment for Saturday to discuss the sale of the captured weapons. He had given his name as Hamilton Richardson. He also told Tony to call him Ham and to look for a copy of the bid sheet being faxed to him. They had the meeting set for 1:30, and Rich, Becca, and Debi would be shooting starting at 1:00 for one hour in the indoor range. Special care would be taken to place the video and sound transmitters. The girls would have them in their underwear in case they were searched by any of the Evola family. If the cameras were activated early, while still hidden, there was a chance the panty cams would give the guys on the monitors a thrill.

  Debi came home a little early, and Lester was still working with Tammy.

  “Okay, Lester, read for me the article called ‘Massacre in Africa’ on the second page of the paper,” Tammy said. Lester blasted through the newspaper account of villagers being hacked to death and only stumbled when he came to African tribal names. Debi just stood there with her mouth open, then looked at Tammy who was smiling, then at Lester who was wearing a smirk.

  “Wow, how is this possible?” asked Debi.

  “Once he broke through the barrier of phonetically sounding words, there was no stopping him. You may not realize that he has been putting in six or eight hours of study after you go to bed. Remarkably, he retains everything—even barcode numbers on wine bottles. After a little research, I found that Lester now has what is referred to as ‘Eidetic’ memory. He can recall images, numbers, text, and just about anything he sees accurately for long periods of time—how long we don’t know,” Tammy explained.

  “I expect to enter the Trivial Pursuit championships real soon,” Lester said with a laugh.

  “I can take you to Vegas and you can do card counting like the Rain Man guy,” Debi said, and then quickly wondered if she had hurt his feelings comparing him to someone who clearly was mentally challenged. “Honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to compare you to someone who was autistic.”

  “Hey, I like being a new kind of freak, compared to the old one. And, I don’t have to watch Judge Wapner every day or go nuts,” Lester said, referring to the Raymond Babbitt character played by Dustin Hoffman who had to stop whatever he was doing to watch the TV program or he would have an frantic episode.

  “You going to be ready for Bubba’s in a few minutes?” Debi asked. “It looks like you haven’t packed yet either.”

  “Won’t take me but a minute. Taking all casual pants and shorts. I’m not going to dress up just because I’m a lawyer now,” Lester said. “Or do you think I should take some slacks and a polo shirt for my meeting with Tony?

  “Yes.”

  “Okay,” Lester said and went back to work with Tammy for a few minutes before it was time to end her session. She gave him a large reading assignment for the trip to New Orleans and part of the weekend and left until their session the next Monday.

  Debi convinced Lester to pack before they left for dinner. On the way to Bubba’s, Lester started playing the part of Hamilton Richardson.

  He acted out discussing buying machine guns and hand grenades from Tony. Debi then quizzed him about his background. She asked where he went to law school, about his parents, brothers or sisters, and his law firm. Everything she asked he had to fabricate quickly or use the limited wr
ite-up the FBI had given him. He memorized the special phone number and office address set up to make his business seem authentic. Tomorrow on the way to New Orleans, he would have Becca and Rich try to trip him up with their line of questions.

  “I just hope Tony and his boys haven’t seen your picture somewhere,” Debi said.

  They had to search a while to find a parking spot at the huge log cabin-style bar and grill. Entering from the front door, they were amazed at the cavernous size of the interior. No sooner had they entered the first big room, people they knew started greeting them. Between the two of them, it seemed they knew everyone there. As they passed through the middle section they noticed three pool tables. At the one nearest them a man stood chalking the tip of his cue stick.

  “Hello, Dad. You winning?”

  “Yeah, Son, but just playing for fun,” Adrian said. “Hi, Debi.” He walked over and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

  “Would you like to join us for dinner?” Debi asked.

  “Thanks, but I just had a big plate of frog legs. I’ll have a drink with you guys after I finish this game.”

  Lester pulled out a chair from a table that provided a view of his dad’s pool table and a huge projection TV screen in the back room. A waiter quickly came to their table.

  “Lester, what can I get you guys?” he said.

  “Uh…it’s Jeremy, idn’t it?” Lester asked.

  “That’s right. I worked at the Colorado Grill not far from your office. Lots of people from Hot Springs work here. This place is rockin’ every night,” he said.

  Debi ordered salmon, and Lester found a fried chicken salad on the menu. Both had to try one of their locally-brewed beers.

  “Well, no chance of using my phony name or my new credit card here. It’s interesting that the people of Hot Springs will try out any new eatery that pops up even if they have to drive twenty miles. I imagine this place pulls in all the thirsty people west of here that live in dry counties,” Lester said.

  After their food arrived, Adrian came over for a while and had a beer. He checked on Lester’s health status and wished them luck in New Orleans. He excused himself when he spotted one of his girlfriends at the front door. She was tall, pretty, with large breasts and bleached blond hair. He didn’t bring her by to meet Debi, so she must have been one of the Boot Scooter girls and not a selection from the upscale Electric Cowboy. Shortly afterwards, Debi and Lester left and went home to finish preparing for the trip.

  Later at his apartment while Lester was sipping on a glass of Cabernet, reading an eighth grade assignment, his cell phone buzzed.

  “Lester, Jim here. Let me give ya an update. The delivery of guns from Tony’s was made at the bait store. But—not all of it. Some of the load went to S&G. It’s like they’re arming the whole group. If that’s the case, we may have a hell of a battle on our hands when we move in. Also, Stick has moved one of his portable deer stands high into a red oak tree near the fence on the east side of the building. Can pretty much see everything from there. I’m going to guess one of the guns brought in was a sniper rifle. I asked around, checked federal registrations, and found out he owns the marine M40 which is basically a .308 with a big scope—same gun used in Vietnam many years before Afghanistan. Jake told me he used the same weapon back in the early 70’s. Did you know Jake was a sniper in Nam?”

  “Believe he told me that. He’s a hell of a shot. Not sure we could get his chubby old body up a tree without a cherry picker. We need to place him somewhere to counteract Stick if push comes to shove.”

  “We’ll work on that. Good luck on your trip. Did you get all the devices to plant?”

  “Talked to Rich, and he and Becca have them all. I’ll call you after everything is in place. I’m guessing your boys will be hooked into the ATF forces?”

  “Yeah, we’ll test them all before you guys leave town. Eat a po’boy for me,” Jim said.

  “Hey, Jim, any way to make those devices vibrate when the girls stick them in their underwear?”

  “No, but I wish there was. We’d never hear the end of it if we did that to ’em. See ya soon,” Jim said, laughing.

  Lester picked up Tammy’s assignment and tried to get back into the reading material but thought about Stick in a tree, picking off Lester’s friends and fellow officers. If he could sneak up there at night, maybe he could rig an explosive to blow him out of the tree. He didn’t have the equipment, but he knew Jim could find someone who did. He called Jim back and asked if he could have it done with a remote. He promised to try to find someone to do it.

  Debi came by and took Lester’s homework from him and laid it in the floor. She slid into his lap and looked up at him, smiling and tracing his lip with her finger.

  “I’m wondering how good a hot-shot attorney performs in bed.” She then turned face down in his lap and found him starting to get erect. She bit down gently through his shorts, but hard enough to bring him to full readiness. Lester turned her over and kissed her hard and deep.

  “You’re fun to have around the house. I thought about a dog and then a cat, but now I’m considering a Greek girl about five-foot-eight who has nice boobs and a great ass. Beautiful lips and gorgeous brown eyes that pull you into them. A dog would be cheaper, but I believe I’ll take the Greek girl.” Lester laughed and picked Debi up and started to carry her to the bedroom.

  “No—you can’t do that!” Debi jumped down from his arms. “No lifting for thirty days!”

  “Forgot. I think the doctor said for you to be on top and do all the active sexual activity, while I lay there and try my best to enjoy it,” Lester said as he started to undress Debi, which wasn’t difficult since all she was wearing was a robe. He was still amazed at the beauty of her body and always told her so in detail. She helped him undress and pushed him down on the bed, then climbed on him. For whatever reason, on this night Debi was slow and deliberate, stopping numerous times to tell him how much she loved him. Lester wondered if she was acting this way because he was changing. He could now read on his own and didn’t need her to translate anymore. Bottom line, he was less dependent on her for those skills—still dependent, however, for other things.

  “Debi, I want you to know how much I love you. Because I can now read, we can share books and discuss what we find in the newspaper, and no, I won’t need a translator anymore. But don’t think for a second that because of this, I don’t need you. You are my best friend and guide through all of these changes. I’m going to continue to work. Next is college at night, my LSAT exam for law school, and I have no idea which school to go to.” While he was rambling on, his movement was quickening inside of Debi who was listening but rolling her eyes and biting her lower lip as a signal she was about to climax. As she did, her muscles contracted and caused the same response for Lester. She then lay quietly on top of him for a while.

  “I’ll be your guide for anything you want to do, babe,” Debi said, laughing.

  They took a shower together and went to bed commando style as they always did. Tomorrow, the trip to New Orleans would be the start of a new adventure.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Coffee was ready for Rich and Becca when they knocked on the apartment door at 7 a.m. the next morning. Debi was introduced to Becca for the first time and was taken aback by how sexy she was in shorts and a tank top. She had met Little Richard at the bait store shooting and was interviewed by him later. Becca had stopped and bought a sack of chocolate donut holes for the trip, knowing no cop on earth could resist them. After they loaded out the Yukon, Rich agreed to drive since Lester was not cleared yet.

  Lester shared the information that Jim gave him about the gun shipments to both the bait store and the S&G building.

  “I smell a shootout in our future. Think we can push all those ATF and FBI guys to the front to take the first line of fire?” asked Rich.

  “Did you see the South Park movie?’ Lester asked.

  “Yes. The movie makes fun of every race, religion, and sex
ual orientation on earth. At least the black Chef takes lots of girls to bed,” Rich said.

  Lester wasn’t surprised since Little Richard quoted Chef, Eric and other South Park cartoon characters often.

  “As you recall, Battalion 5 was made up entirely of African American soldiers who were to go to battle first against Canada. They were called Operation Human Shield. Directly behind them was Battalion 14 made up of all Caucasian soldiers who were part of ‘Operation get behind the darkies,’ Lester said, and laughed as Debi hit his arm.

  “Lester, that is so racist!”

  Rich defended Lester. “Debi, you got to know that show makes fun of everybody. Nobody gets left behind,” he said. “Chef calls all the white people ‘crackers.’”

  “I don’t watch it because it embarrasses me, and it’s so weird to hear those children cussing,” Debi said.

  “I thought it was just stupid!” Becca said. “But if I was a kid, I guarantee you I would sneak around someplace to watch it.”

  “Anyway, we got off the subject, but we have S&G to deal with when we get back,” Lester said.

  “I hope you guys are in the ‘get behind all the other forces battalion’ when the raid goes down,” said Debi, who was in the back seat with Becca, a donut hole in her hand. “Jesus, these things are good.”

  “Pass those up front. We probably won’t stop for breakfast until Pine Bluff,” Rich said.

  Debi and Becca got along fine the entire trip, but Debi knew that Lester had dated her—slept with her—and didn’t know how to bring up the subject or even if she should. She knew at some point they had to discuss it—it couldn’t just float in space between them. What would she say? Something like, “So, how was Lester in bed?” didn’t seem appropriate. She would work on what to say, or decide if she should just let it alone.

  An hour later they stopped for breakfast at a small cafe on the highway leading out of Pine Bluff where cathead biscuits were a popular item on the menu. The biscuits earned the name by being as big as cat heads. Lunch was in Vicksburg, and later that day, they found their way to the Hilton in downtown New Orleans. During most of the trip Lester had either a reading assignment in front of his eyes or a law book that he had checked out of the library that pertained to cases involving guns. Everyone in the car quizzed him on his new identity, and he found lying and making stuff up was great fun. He had a headache from reading so much by the time they unloaded the car at the hotel.