Guilty by Association

by Brad Cooper

  The door chime rang and Hotaka walked into the station. Sparks walked out of his office and into the front of the building to meet the middle aged Japanese man. He offered a purely American greeting to Hotaka, presenting his hand for a gentlemanly shake. “Hotaka, how’s it going, buddy?”

  “I am well, Mr. Sparks, but I am still quite concerned,” Tochigi said in English that was better than that of any employee of the police department.

  “What’s on your mind?” Sparks asked, as if he didn’t already know.

  “I would like to know where we stand with the shooting of Ray Kessler. As you know, we do not need undue attention on this region, be it from the authorities or the media. I must know if there are any complications still outstanding. Are there any?”

  Sparks hesitated. Informing Hotaka about the complications they’d found themselves in the middle of was far from simple. “We have a little problem but it’s no big thing. We’re in control of the whole thing.”

  “What is this problem?” Tochigi asked. His voice was full of anxiety. He sat up straight and leaned forward, his eyes fixed on Sparks’.

  “The night of the shooting, there was a girl who witnessed it from her yard. She had a video camera out there with her. God knows why but that don’t change anything. She had it and she got every bit of it. She knows who did it but I don’t think she knows why.”

  “This is unacceptable,” Tochigi said, frowning and angrily shaking his head. “How could your people allow this to happen?”

  Sparks held up his hand and said, “Hold on now. Let me finish here. I said it was a problem. We recovered the tape.”

  Confused, Hotaka asked, “Recovered it? If this girl knows that your people are responsible, then why would she give you this tape?”

  “We had our ways of getting it. She may have talked it over with a couple of local boys but we’ve got that under control too. Nothing’s gonna happen. You have to trust me on that.”

  “I will trust you for now but I am still troubled about this. What of the media?”

  “That’s no problem either. I’m sure you saw where we made an arrest and that satisfied the news people. Hell, I’ve barely got three or four calls in the last couple of days about it. Once we arrested ol’ Alvin, they just moved on as soon as the funeral was over. There’re more exciting stories out there for them by now. Don’t worry about it.”

  “My family and this location were chosen for a reason, Darrell. My apologies. May I call you, Darrell?”

  “Of course,” Sparks confirmed.

  “Spring Creek was chosen because it is such a remote area, by comparison to similar towns with more accessibility. Sato is quite concerned. He asked if what happened was related to our arrangement and I told him it was not. I am not comfortable with frequently misleading this man. He will here tonight in lieu of sending his associate. He may wish to speak with you but I am not certain.”

  “No problem. I’ll tell him what I told you. My men are taking care of everything and nobody’s paying a bit of attention to what’s going on. They’ve got their own affairs to tend to.”

  “Very well, Darrell. I will see you and your men tonight. Thank you for everything you have done. I assure you we are all grateful.” After a gentle bow, Tochigi left Sparks’ office and exited the building.

  Ten minutes later, the chime rang again. Sparks growled and pushed himself up from his chair. Before Sparks got to the door of his office, Hotaka Tochigi walked through the doorway and said, “Darrell, I have been thinking about what you have told me. If it is possible, I would like to see this video.”

  “I guess, I mean, if you want to watch it I can do that but I have to warn you it is pretty gruesome. I’ve had to watch it a few times and, frankly, I don’t really want to see it anymore. It’s just too much of a reminder of a terrible night.”

  Tochigi spoke seriously. “Understood, but I would still like to see it. Those events happened because of our arrangement. I have the right to see this.”

  “Whatever you say,” Sparks said. He got up and walked toward the file cabinet. He looked into a folder, took out a large envelope, and removed a single video cassette. “Right this way. We got a viewing room down the hall,” he said, pointing toward the door.

  The viewing took all of thirty minutes, including the time taken to setup the TV and VCR. Tochigi was not amused by the scenes at the beginning of the tape but was deeply troubled by the final minutes. He watched intently during the struggle then jumped when the shot rang out. He dropped his head with sorrow as Kessler slumped to the ground. That was when he told Sparks to turn off the television. Hotaka told Sparks that he would see him later that night and not another word was said. He left the room silently.

  After Tochigi’s exit, Sparks contacted Amick on the radio and instructed him to return immediately. Within minutes, he was in the chief’s office.

  “Any reason it took so long to respond?” Sparks asked.

  “I was dozing a little. My eyelids feel like lead after being up all night. We were a little busy if you recall.”

  “You won’t be writing many tickets that way but I reckon they’ll slow down even if all they do is see you. Sit down.” As Amick sat, Sparks did the same. “This has got to stop. It’s gotten way out of hand as it is, and now we got the slants all suspicious. The last thing we need is a bunch of thugs coming over from Tokyo shootin’ up jack because we screwed their business deal.” A distressed sigh, then, “What do you think?”

  “What else can we do? That girl can stir the pot with her story but with no proof it’ll only go so far. They don’t know what’s really going on either. No way they can,” Amick said.

  Sparks leaned his head back as far as it would go, then returned it to normal and said, “You’re right. She can stir up a hornet’s nest with what she saw. That means we need to make sure she doesn’t talk to anyone she doesn’t need to talk to. The other guys, too. I want them watched.”

  “Watched… how?” Amick asked.

  “Watched, followed, whatever. Call it surveillance or whatever else you want but just keep an eye on them. Run over to Carl’s and see if that cousin of his still works for the phone company. We may need his, uh, expertise.”

  “You got it. Anything else? I mean, what all are you wanting us to do with the young’uns? Let me know right now how far you want this to go.”

  “As far as you have to, Frank. We all signed up for this so we gotta see it through. It’s not even about the money now. We just need to watch out for number one. I don’t want them talking to a county when they go to the mall, making any phone calls to other departments, or anything like that. You can rifle through their mail and their family’s mail if you have to. They don’t make contact with anybody unless we know about it. Just take care of it. The details are up to you. Now go on.”

  Adam reached out of the shower and grabbed a towel to dry his hair. Next, he wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out of the tub. His day off started with a vigorous workout, something that was now a part of a rigid routine. The shower was needed as much for soothing his muscles as it was for sanitary reasons.

  He donned a bathrobe and started toward his bedroom to get dressed but then walked to the front of the house. Buying protein supplements online was far cheaper than purchasing them in a local store but his patience was waning while awaiting his next shipment. His current supply was nearly depleted.

  Adam opened the door to check the doorstep for a package but movement toward the edge of the road caught his eye. A police cruiser was parked at the end of the driveway. A police officer stood at the mailbox. The household’s outgoing mail, both envelopes worth, was in his hand. The officer examined the addresses, looked around for any sign of someone watching, and placed the envelopes back into the mailbox. Within seconds, he was gone.

  Adam closed the door and quickly walked down the stairs and into the basement. “Ryan! You down here?” he called out.

  Laundry basket in hand, Clark turned the cor
ner and said, “What’s up?” He looked at Adam’s current state of dress, laughed, and said, “You mind putting some clothes on? I mean you’re my best friend and all but… come on.”

  “Okay, that’s enough,” Adam said. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “Another problem? Fine. What’s on the list this time?”

  “A cop just showed up, stopped at the mailbox, went through the stuff going out, and drove off. That’s not common law enforcement practice is it?”

  Ryan sat the basket on the ground. “You’re right. We’ve got a problem.”

  CHAPTER

  21

  “Yeah, Jack still works out there. Just made supervisor. I don’t know when he’s working this week but I’ll find out,” Carl Lilly said in reference to his cousin, an employee of the local phone company. His speech was distorted as he chewed his gum.

  “Good… that’s good,” Sparks said, his voice drifting along with his concentration. Restless, he began pacing about the room, looking at his watch, and wondering what was delaying his remaining guests. With fall approaching, days were getting shorter and the time window for the chopper to arrive, unload, and depart grew shorter each week. That meant those three events must be done in a precise manner, nearly down to the minute, every week. Tardiness was not a good precedent to set.

  Sparks started back in Lilly’s direction but stopped when the familiar sound of his guests’ arrival turned his attention, and his head, directly behind him. The sky was not yet turning orange but the sunset was expected within the hour. “Finally,” Sparks said to himself.

  For a moment, the helicopter hovered above the makeshift landing area before gently easing down to the ground. The propeller turned, causing a dust cloud to swirl around the body of the chopper. The officers standing nearby closed their eyes in an attempt to keep additional dust from irritating their eyes.

  The whirring blades slowed, the dust settled, and Akira stepped from the chopper. He did not speak. Instead, he turned back to the aircraft, retrieved three black midsized duffle bags, and sat them at the feet of Sparks, Lilly, and Amick. Again, he did not speak or otherwise communicate with the men in front of him. He did not even remove his sunglasses. He stepped back into the helicopter and Sato’s unseen subordinate signaled him to depart. The entire exchange took less than two minutes.

  The three officers backed away as the engines started and the blades turned. The chopper slowly ascended then banked to the right and flew into the evening sky.

  “That’s a little weird,” Amick said to Sparks. “I thought you said the boss guy was going to ‘have a talk with you’ or whatever.”

  “So did I, but then again I thought Hotaka was going to be here too so it appears we’re both a little off.” Sparks looked around and added, “Where is he anyway? I’m not holding this crap for them. This is ridiculous. We’re just the lookouts for all this. I doubt the feds would believe us if we said we were just holding it for a friend.”

  Amick opened his mouth to respond but saw Hotaka approaching and said, “Well, look who’s coming.”

  “You’re late, Hotaka. They’ve done come and gone,” said the chief. “What gives?”

  “Actually, Darrell, I was speaking to Mister Sato on the telephone,” Tochigi said.

  “Darrell?” Amick mouthed to Lilly but did not actually speak. The fact that Hotaka was on a casual first name basis with his boss came as a surprise.

  “What’d he have to say? He sure wasn’t here tonight to say it in person.”

  “He just believes that it would be in the best interest of everyone if he did not personally make the delivery each time, certainly for the immediate future. His being seen in this region at this time may bring suspicion.”

  “I got it. The big guy, Akira or whatever, is who came. He dropped these off and was gone in a couple of minutes. Not much of a talker is he?”

  Hotaka chuckled and said, “No, that he is not.”

  “These three are all he brought,” Sparks said. Then to Amick: “Frank, help Mr. Tochigi with these.”

  “Sure, Chief,” Amick said, grabbing one bag in each hand and leaving only a single bag for the small Japanese man.

  Amick and Tochigi started through the grass and across Main Street. Sparks spoke to Lilly, anxious to finalize the details of acquiring surveillance on the Clark house’s phone. “So, you think he can do it, Carl? He can set it up for us to just listen in?” he asked.

  “Yeah. Should. He can’t do it on the record and all that but he’d hook us up if we gave him a good reason. Just tell him it’s for an investigation or whatever and he’ll buy it.”

  “Great,” Sparks said. “Get a hold of him as soon as you can, tomorrow if you can, and get this hooked up. We might need three of them done, come to think of it. Tell him that it can’t be discussed. Mention the Patriot Act and drop him a hundred bucks or something. That’ll discourage him from asking too much about it.”

  “Three?” Lilly asked.

  “Yeah, just to be safe. The Clark kid’s place for sure but the Morgan girl’s over there all the time and the new girl’s got a house phone, too. They could call from any of those so we better cover every base. Is that a problem, you think?”

  “Naw,” Lilly said, “it’ll just take a little longer. I’ll call tonight and see if he’ll take the day off tomorrow or something. Get us hooked up as soon as he can.”

  “Thanks, Carl,” Sparks said. “It shouldn’t have gotten to this point but it did and we’ve got to go to whatever extremes necessary. How’s he going to do it? Up on the pole or some other way?”

  “Hell if I know,” Lilly said. “That’s his problem.”

  Frank returned to the sidewalk outside of the station where Sparks and Lilly stood. “Look, Darrell, can I knock off a little early today? I’m about out of it. Long night last night. If you don’t want me sleeping in my car all day tomorrow, getting me home tonight’s probably a good idea.”

  Sparks again checked his watch and said, “Go ahead and get gone. Not much happening tonight anyhow and it’ll be an active weekend so we’ll need you at full strength.”

  “Active weekend, how?” Amick asked through a yawn.

  “I’ll fill you in tomorrow. Just get on home and be here in the morning.”

  Sparks lit a cigarette and watched Amick drive away. “You call your cousin tonight and see if he can take care of us tomorrow or this weekend. If he can, I’ll call Robbins in and keep him busy somehow so he doesn’t poke his nose around where it doesn’t belong,” he said to Lilly.

  “Will do,” Carl said. “I’ll run home real quick and call him. If he can do it, I’ll give you a ring at the station.”

  Carl jogged to his truck and drove out of the parking lot. Sparks’ night at the station was only beginning but he had every intention of finishing his cigarette.

  The helicopter continued to rise, gaining altitude as it passed over Ryan Clark’s house. The usual fireside festivities reserved for Thursday nights were not taking place. Kara was asleep in Clark’s bedroom, attempting to slumber through a migraine headache. Lisa’s time was spent in the basement on the treadmill burning nervous energy in thirty-minute increments. Their pseudo-absence left Ryan and Adam alone in the living room, sitting in the floor and playing video games. Adam’s choice of a role-playing game did not normally appeal to Ryan but he played along in order both to assist his friend and to pass the time.

  Adam paused the game and looked up at the ceiling in the direction of the noise that got his attention. “There it is again,” he said.

  “What?” Clark said unaware of any particular sound. He was not familiar with the game they were playing and, as a result, concentrating deeply on every detail of the screen in hopes of keeping up.

  “The chopper’s back. Just flew over the house I think. I’d love to know what a freaking helicopter is doing here.”

  Ryan laid his controller onto the floor in front of him and said, “I’d like to know why something bad happens every time
that thing shows up.”

  “It showed up the night the cop got shot, didn’t it? Because we were outside and you said it was like watching M*A*S*H or something.”

  “That was last Thursday and the first time we heard it was the week before that. That was probably a Thursday too because we were out back. If memory serves, I checkmated you into oblivion both nights, didn’t I?” Clark said through a sheepish grin.

  “Yes, it was and yes, you did but I plan on beating you next time we play. You think it means anything?”

  “You think any of this means anything? I’m sure it does but I sure can’t put any of it together. I’ve got classes starting back soon and don’t really need any insane gun-wielding cops following me around from class to class. This needs to stop but I don’t know what to do about it. Got any ideas?”

  “I’m the muscle, you’re the brains. That’s the deal,” Adam said facetiously.

  “I don’t think either of them did much good last night but we can’t change that.” Clark stood and walked to the window. He looked outside, then back at Adam and said, “We’ve got to do something but I don’t know what. There is one thing that has bothered me all day. Help me out with it, okay?”

  “Shoot,” said Adam.

  “Obviously Lilly and the other guy came here to get that tape and nothing else and they knew right where it was because Lilly was here yesterday afternoon.”

  “I’m with you so far,” Adam said, now standing.

  “I’d bet my car that he came here yesterday just to see if that tape was here, but how did he know to come here?”

  “What do you mean? You lost me.”