A Lifetime of Vengeance

by Pete PJ Grondin

  Bobby and Bill looked at Jamie like he was crazy for a second. Then they looked at each other. That’s when Bill took a shot directly to the chest. He fell backwards onto the sandy floor of the grove. His rifle was thrown to the side. He died almost instantly. The shot was a direct hit on his heart. Bobby saw Bill fall back and immediately made a move to get into the driver’s side of his car. As he opened the car door, a bullet ripped through his head from the rear. It entered just behind his left ear and exited his right temple, taking most of his brain matter and a portion of his skull with it.

  Jamie was still writhing around on the ground with his wounded leg. He saw Bill and Bobby get killed, and his stomach was now nauseated, both from his own wound and seeing his partner’s bodies. His next thought was that he should play dead. Maybe the shooter would think he was dead and leave. So he tried. He laid back and closed his eyes but the pain was too much and the bleeding worried him. He tried to think who could be behind this; the McKinney’s were in the forefront of his mind. Maybe Mike had come back to take revenge. Maybe the other brothers had done it for him. Could it be some of their customers? They hadn’t screwed anyone over too badly. As he lay there in pain, a Jeep rolled up. He kept his eyes closed and tried to keep his breathing to a minimum, but with that much pain it was impossible.

  He heard the truck door open. Someone got out and moved to within a few feet of Jamie. Jamie opened his eyes slightly and gazed up at detective Ray Krebs, down on one knee behind his truck bumper, looking around to determine what was happening. He needed to know where the shots had come from.

  * * *

  Johnny Poleirmo and Al Porecwzski were finishing their sweep of the home of Ray Krebs. The judge was a bit hesitant to issue a warrant based on fairly sketchy information, but he relented when they said it could be tied to the murders of Danny Vallero, Donnie Lee Lester and Randy Farley and that there could be other victims. As soon as they walked in the front door, they knew that they’d hit a potential gold mine. Everything in the house was beyond the means of a detective. There were so many adult toys, fine art, gold fixtures, expensive furniture, and a safe; a very large safe. It took until past noon to have it cracked, but when they did, they found the mother lode. There was a tremendous amount of cash. They didn’t have time to count it all. That would have to be done at the sheriff’s office. They also found several guns and one video cassette. Johnny found a VCR in the living room hooked to a big screen TV. They turned both on, plugged in the tape, and watched in amazement as Julie McKinney was raped and beaten. They turned off the tape after a minute or so. Johnny turned to Al, “The missing McKinney Case evidence. Ray must have been paid off big time to take this. He also must have wanted to keep this as his trump card if things got messy.”

  “Well, let’s find our buddy and bring him in. We’ll get the crime scene folks in here, so that they can get cracking. Where do we find ex-Detective Krebs?”

  “I think I may have an idea. I want to make a couple of phone calls first.”

  * * *

  Brian called Pat about his and Ginny’s questioning. He told Pat that it appeared that they were being eliminated as suspects. As with Joe, Pat told Brian that he was the instigator of the questioning, and that he’d hoped everyone that could have been implicated had an alibi. He figured that Brian had no ax to grind with any of the victims, except Danny Vallero, but he knew Brian was on stage at the Rock during that incident. Of his friends and relatives, no one could have been involved in any of the murders so he was confident in calling the Orange County Sheriff’s office. He knew Johnny would give everyone a look and come to the same conclusion; none of these folks were at any of the murder scenes.

  That left just one big question; who was killing these guys and why. Mike, Pat and Joe had motive. They had air-tight alibi’s. Pat even had an alibi for the Vallero killing. He was in Jacksonville for a business conference. He was seen there and had several credit card receipts to prove it. Of course no one knew that Joe was the one making the charges as Pat. That’s all Pat needed to be in the clear. The alibi’s were air tight for direct involvement, but didn’t shield them from a possible conspiracy charge. In reality, they could easily be implicated in such a scheme. But there was no conspiracy. The brothers were as much in the dark as anyone. There was only one person out there who knew the real killer. That person had to look in the mirror for the truth.

  Brian told Pat that he’d had doubts about his innocence even after their discussion at the vault. He apologized for not believing Pat. Then they moved on to more pleasant topics, like Brian’s upcoming studio session and his night with Ginny. They were getting very close. Ginny made Brian happy and gave him confidence.

  He also told Pat how much he enjoyed meeting Diane. He reiterated to Pat how lucky he was to have such a fabulous wife and wonderful kids. Pat replied that he figured that out, and how he and Diane had worked things out. The conversation ended with promises to get together, buying Brian’s new CD, attending concerts, having Brian and Ginny over for dinner sometime when he was in town, and assorted other pleasantries. The two best friends hung up, feeling much better than they’d felt in many years.

  Chapter 39

  Ray looked down at Jamie to make sure he was still alive. He looked pale as a sheet and was losing blood fast. He was also soaked in sweat. His hair was coated in sand from where he rolled his head back and forth.

  “Jamie, where did the shots come from,” Ray Krebs whispered.

  “I got no fucking idea, Jamie grunted through clenched teeth. Just get me the fuck out of here. I’m bleeding to death lying here.”

  “Don’t worry. We’re going to get you out of here, just hang on. I’m going to grab your hand and pull you over behind my truck.”

  “Alright, but hurry. I can’t lie here much longer.”

  The sweat was stinging Ray’s eyes. He wiped it away with his wrist as best he could. His body was shaking from tension and fear. Maybe the shooter’s gone. He took out the bad guys. I’m a good guy. I’m the law. This guy won’t kill a Sheriff. After what seemed like a lifetime, he worked up the courage to leap out and grab Jamie. He took several deep breaths, held his final breath and jumped out from behind his truck. He made it almost six feet before the bullet ripped through his right temple and exited his skull. Some of the blood spatter got on Jamie’s face. Ray’s body fell across Jamie’s mid-section. Jamie in a panic tried to push Ray’s body off of his own. His adrenaline shot up and he was able to roll out from under Ray. He started to pull himself across the sandy floor of the grove when he heard the rustle of leaves from one of the trees. He stopped dragging himself and turned to look up at the figure approaching him. The guy, dressed in green military fatigues, slowly walked over to where Jamie lay.

  “Hi Jamie, I don’t want to waste any more of your very precious time but I just wanted you to know why.”

  Jamie thought that he must already be dead. But he was still in extreme pain from his leg wound. “Who the fuck are you?”

  “Just call me Radar.”

  “I know that, but why are you doing this? We ain’t done nuthin’ to you. We don’t even know you.”

  “But you know a friend of mine. And you know his brothers. And you knew his sister-in-law.”

  The realization took a moment to register in Jamie’s brain. He knew he was a dead man, unless he could get to the gun in the sand that was just beyond his reach. He thought about how he could distract Radar, but he was having a hard time thinking straight at all. Radar saved him the trouble.

  “Jamie, is there anything that you’d like me to tell Mike McKinney for you?”

  “Yeah, you can tell that Moth . . . “

  Radar knew that there was no reason to continue the conversation so he raised his Heckler and Koch mp-5n assault rifle and gave Jamie a quick, silenced burst to the head. He looked around to make sure that the others were dead and walked off into the grove.

  The rain started to come down, first in a few, heavy drops. Then afte
r several seconds, it started in earnest and the clouds opened up. It promised to be a heavy but brief rain shower, like almost every afternoon shower in central Florida. As he walked away from the scene, he heard sirens in the distance. He picked up his pace to a slow trot and moved deeper into the grove. When he came to the edge of the grove he entered a field that was wooded in areas and grassy in others. He trotted to the second patch of trees and found the horse that he’d tied off earlier. He took a few moments to disassemble his weapon and pack it into saddlebags. He mounted the horse and headed back to the Bar C Ranch about two miles down Kelly Park Drive from the McKinney grove. He returned the soaking wet horse to the stable hand, apologized for the drenched condition of the beast, and thanked him for a fine afternoon ride. He assured the man that he’d be back again to rent one of his fine horses. He took the saddle bag contents and threw them in the back seat of the rented Dodge Sebring. The man who called himself Radar headed out Kelly Park Drive towards Rock Springs State Park. Just before he made the entrance to Rock Springs, he took a left turn and headed out State Route 435 towards the Lake County Border.

  * * *

  Al Michaels was Pat’s next call. Al answered on the first ring. He happened to be completing an order for 30 cases of Marble Queen Pothos with a regular customer.

  “Pat, how are you?”

  “Fine, Al. How about you?”

  “I’d be better if the cops weren’t coming around asking questions about the McKinney brothers. But it worked out. They seemed more interested in keeping me in the clear than tying me to anything. Sounds like Brian’s in the clear for the Vallero thing?”

  “Yeah. He was on stage when that happened. They still don’t have any clues on who’s doing the killing. Pretty scary that three of the four guys are the ones that were involved in Mike’s wife’s murder. I mean, we’re the ones with motive, but we all had nothing to do with it. I still don’t get it.”

  “Well, somebody’s doing it. Do you remember anyone that was really pissed, besides you guys? Maybe somebody in the Sheriff’s department’s pissed that these scum got away with it? Anybody seem . . . I don’t know, psycho about the whole thing?”

  Pat thought about this for a moment before answering, but he came up empty. “I can’t think of anybody that was totally freaked. You know as well as I do that there were lots of folks that were pissed, but who would be willing to take those clowns on, especially after six years or more? You know, these guys are supposed to be into dealing really big time. Maybe they screwed someone over bad, and the bad guys are just getting even. I’ll tell you, I’m not shedding a tear one way or another.”

  “I’m with you on that one,” Al said.

  Again the conversation steered towards promises of future meetings and dinner, meeting Pat’s wife and kids, and Al’s business. As they were about to hang up, Al heard sirens screaming down Kelley Park Drive. About five Orange County Sheriff’s cars raced past Al’s greenhouses towards the McKinney grove. “Pat, anything that you know of happening at your grove?”

  “No, not at all. Why?”

  “Cause half the Orange County Sheriff’s department flew past my place heading there.” Al heard the sirens turn off, and he knew that they were at the McKinney grove. “I think you may want to get out here. How long will it take you to get here from Dunellon?”

  “Maybe an hour and a half, I’d guess. Would you mind taking a drive down there and see if it’s anything I need to worry about and call me back?”

  “Sure Pat. I’ll call you back in about twenty minutes.”

  Pat cradled his phone and sat back in his office chair. “What the hell is going on now?” He wondered aloud. It was only then that he remembered that the last part of the plan was to lure Jamie, Bill and Bobby to the vault. Someone definitely had the blueprint and that was frightening. It was as if the plan had taken on a life of its own.

  “What did you say, honey?” Diane called from the family room. She walked from the family room to Pat’s office entrance and looked in at Pat.

  Pat cleared his head when he heard Diane call to him. Once again, he had to think in a calm, precise manner. He didn’t want it to appear as if he were hiding something from Diane. “I was just talking with Al Michaels. You haven’t met Al yet. Great guy. But he said the Orange County Sheriff’s department had several cars at the grove. He didn’t know why, but was going down there to check it out. He’s going to call me back. He owns a nursery just down the road a few hundred yards from the grove.”

  Diane gave Pat a worried glance. Pat could see the tension in her face and knew that he had to allay her fears.

  Pat got out from behind his desk, walked to Diane and put his arms around her. “Listen babe, there’s nothing to worry about. I’ll find out from Al what’s happening and that will be the end of it. It’s probably nothing.”

  Diane gave Pat a light kiss on the lips and turned without saying a word. Pat knew she was still worried. That would have to be addressed later.

  * * *

  Al Michaels arrived a few minutes after the Sheriff’s deputies and was quickly blocked away from the crime scene. He got close enough to see what he thought were two bodies but he couldn’t be sure. The rain had already abated to a slight drizzle. It was slowing to nothing quickly. Within about ten minutes, you wouldn’t be able to tell that it had rained at all, except that the white sand in the grove would have pock marks where the rain drops hit.

  “So what’s all the racket about?”

  “This is a crime scene sir. You cannot come any closer. Do you live in this area?”

  Al answered, “Yes I do. I live just a couple of hundred yards up the road. I heard the sirens and followed since it was so close.”

  “Please do everybody a favor, Mr.? . . .”

  “Michaels. Al Michaels”.

  “Mr. Michaels, I can’t say anything so please go home. If there’s anything you need to know, you’ll hear it on the news or read it in the papers. I’m sorry but that’s all I can say”

  That was enough for him to get on the phone and let Pat know what was happening. He wanted to let Pat know that the questioning may not be over.

  * * *

  Al Michaels called Pat and described what little he could see at the vault. He told Pat that there were at least two bodies, but that he couldn’t get past the cop at the edge of the scene. “It looked real bad, Pat. I don’t know what went on. I didn’t hear any shots but I was pretty busy and I keep the music going in the greenhouses, so who knows. I can tell you that the Sheriffs wouldn’t talk or let us near the place. There were a couple detectives’ cars that pulled in right after I left. I’ve been watching as more and more official looking folks are heading up there.”

  “Thanks man. I sure wish I knew what was happening. If you hear anything else, can you call me?”

  “Sure, Pat. No problem. Nice talking to you, I wish the conversation hadn’t been interrupted.”

  “Me too, buddy, me too.”

  Pat hung up the phone and turned to Diane. “That was Al Michaels. He lives down the road from our grove. He said that there was a big commotion there; several Orange County Sheriffs and Detectives. He said he thought he saw a couple of bodies in the grove, but he couldn’t get close enough to be sure.”

  Diane’s hands went to cover her mouth as she stifled a gasp, “Oh my God! Someone was shot on our property?”

  Pat nodded. “I feel like I should head down there, but I don’t know what I’d do or say.”

  “You don’t do anything. You should wait and see if they call you to let you know. If someone calls, we can figure it out then.”

  That sounded like a good plan. Do nothing.

  Chapter 40

  The evening news was full of speculation about the killing of an Orange County Sheriff’s Vice Detective, Ray Krebs. It hadn’t come out yet that Detective Krebs was implicated in evidence tampering from an old case or that he may have been involved with drug trafficking, but that wasn’t far behind. The names
of the other three victims were listed as Jamie Watkins, Bobby Acquino, and Bill Grimes. Reporters covering the case implied that the case may have involved drug sales though no drugs or large quantities of cash were found.

  Jason Roberts watched the news in disgust. He couldn’t believe that someone was killing off his team. Was it a rival drug gang? If that were the case, he’d have been approached by the group’s leaders letting him know their intentions. No such contacts were made. There was no drug war. American teen’s thirst for dope, of most any kind, was unquenchable. There was no need for fighting over turf. There was plenty of money to be made. No, this was something else, something different. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there had to be some common thread that Jason just wasn’t getting. He called out to Buddy to get him and Phil into his office as soon as possible. He had a problem and he needed information that he didn’t have.

  “Yes sir, Mr. Roberts?” Phil spoke first when he and Buddy entered the office.

  “Phil, Buddy, I know you’ve seen the news. This is a major blow to our business. I want us to lay low on the sales for a while and do some snooping around. I want you two to talk with anyone that you can about why we’re getting hit. Put out some feelers and see if someone is muscling in on our territory. Hell, we don’t even have a ‘territory’ in the way they do in the big cities. This is pretty much wide open. But if I’m stepping on someone’s toes, I’d like to know whose toes they are. We’re in the dark here.”

  “Mr. Roberts, we’ll get on it. I have a few ideas on where to start, and we’ll let you know what we find out,” Phil said.

  “If I can speak, sir?”

  “Sure Buddy, what’s on your mind?”

  “Well, sir, I don’t think this is business. This is personal. There’s been seven people hit, pretty professional-style. But there were no markers, no warnings, no contacts made. Four of the seven were involved in that McKinney girl’s murder, and Krebs helped clear our boys. If we can figure out a connection for the other two, then I’d say we have our culprits.”