Extreme Heat Warning: A Shallow End Gals Trilogy, Book Two

by Graybosch, Vicki

  Roger said, “Based strictly on the video, I would say a very dangerous man in a highly charged situation. His smiling when you were taken away on the stretcher, suggests he feels his goals justify any means.” The Director nodded. Roger continued, “I need to find out what kind of deals are going down on these weapons, and it doesn’t sound like we have much time. I’m also not comfortable there are only four local FBI and three agents from Virginia in on the sting. This is a cartel and tons of weapons. It sounds to me like our guys are exposed, or have a false sense of security. With your permission sir, I would like you to expand the authority you have given me on the Devon/Patterson case to include Mathew Core and any activities or associates I can trace to him.”

  The Director was nodding, “Of course, but how do I give you that kind of authority without putting a target on your back? You are not making friends lately. We have an arrest warrant on Core now. How do you ignore that and proceed to use him as an FBI broker?”

  Roger answered, “I have a good team sir. I prefer to proceed with the safety of our agents as the priority. A bent nose or two does not concern me. I will get Core eventually.” Roger smiled.

  The Director shook his head and said, “I suspect I will learn to pay attention when you smile. Look where I am right now. A hospital. You call that a bent nose?” The Director was smiling. Roger sensed the Director was comfortable with his suggestion and trying to frame how he would present this to Thornton.

  Roger leaned forward in his chair, “May I offer a suggestion? Perhaps you could tell the Deputy Director I found out about the weapons sting and asked to take it over. This is true. You decided the additional manpower couldn’t hurt anything. I think Mr. Thornton will have a hard time objecting to that argument without looking suspicious.”

  The Director asked, “Any of you guys have a laptop? I’ll amend my authority to you right now, before I meet with Thornton. That way I can honestly say it is done.” John produced his laptop, and they watched the Director make some changes and place a security call to his staff. He informed them he felt fine and would be back in the office in the morning. He stated he wanted the authorization change he had just made posted immediately. The Director stood, shook all of their hands, and said, “I guess this is where I audition for my Oscar with Thornton. I actually thought this ass was my friend. When you leave, send the bastard in. I want to hear how worried he is about my health.”

  Roger, Paul, and John left the Director and walked down the hall toward the waiting room. Roger walked in the waiting room where William C. Thornton looked up, threw a magazine against the wall, and stood. Roger noticed Thornton’s veins were throbbing in his neck, and his eyes were san paku, meaning showing three sides of white. First alarm of a troubled mind. Thornton’s nostrils were flared, and he practically spat the words, “I’ve been waiting while you were with the Director? How the hell did you even know he was here?”

  Roger said nothing and waited for the next outburst. He knew a calm demeanor would annoy Thornton more than anger.

  Thornton’s face was beet red. He thrust his finger towards Roger’s face, “You and I are going to talk.” He pushed his way past Roger, did not acknowledge the presence of Paul or John, and stormed down the hall.

  Paul winked at Roger and said, “See, you still know how to spread the love.”

  Roger chuckled, looked at his watch, and said, “We need to get on that jet.”

  They were walking to the cab when John said, “Well, now I know why you call her Ellen.”

  Spicey and Sasha watched Wilma leave, all smiling, sucking on her courage disc. Spicey looked at Sasha and said, “You know last night I had a visit from Spirits that would have turned even you into a true believer! I had furniture moving around, my purse flying from room to room, little pieces of paper stickin’ on my nose and vanishin’….” Sasha started to protest and Spicey waved her off. “You think I don’t know you don’t really believe? Now listen, like it or not, the Spirits are involved in something Tourey is snoopin’ in. I need to check out some people of importance in a very sneaky way, so I’m goin’ to need help from the Spirits. Will you go to Mambo’s with me?”

  Sasha started crying, “Mambo’s? In the swamp? Can’t you talk to the Spirits through that ball of yours?”

  Spicey frowned, “Girl, why you cryin’? Mambo is a protector. I think we are both needin’ protection is all. Go put on your Sunday best, and I’ll find us a boat ride.”

  George had his elbows on the back of the park bench and his legs crossed. He was trying to look casual. He uncrossed his legs and rearranged his briefcase on his lap. The stifling heat was making him perspire. He hated that. He looked at his watch and his phone rang. It was Tourey. “Where are you? I am cooking in this heat.”

  Tourey chuckled, “Look in the window of the restaurant on the corner. See me wavin’? Come on over for an iced tea. Nice ‘n cool in here.”

  While Tourey waited for George to get there, he called Spicey and told her Bernard Jacobs was going to torch his house. If she had seen anything there she wanted, she should go get it, fast. Spicey said thanks, and asked Tourey if he knew anyone who could take her to see Mambo. Tourey gave her Dusty’s number and snapped his phone shut. That ought to just about send Dusty over the edge to get that call. Tourey was still chuckling to himself when George slipped into the other side of the booth.

  Spicey hung up from talking to Tourey and called Willie. She gave him Bernard’s address and told him to bring his biggest covered truck and one of his boys. She had some fast furniture moving to do and would pay him right. Sasha came through the door all gussied up and crying. Spicey yelled, “Girl, you cry more ‘n a newborn babe. Now let’s lock this place up and get to walkin’. We got us a little side job to do first.” Sasha was wiping her eyes with tissue. She wanted to speak her piece but saw Spicey was in no mood for conversation. She already had the door open and her keys in her hand. “Got your gun?”

  Sasha stopped crying mid sob, “What kind a job we goin’ to?”

  Spicey walked down the block so fast, Sasha could hardly keep up in her heels. They turned the corner on Burgundy Street, and Sasha saw the big truck in front of Bernard’s place. All she could say was, “Dang, dang. What we doin’ here?”

  Spicey nodded hello to Willie and his son and walked up the wide front staircase where she picked the lock in under a minute. She opened the door wide and declared they should start with the parlor furniture. Sasha had her head tilted and asked overly sweetly, “What we doin’ Spicey?”

  Spicey answered, “Gettin’ us some free furniture before this place gets torched.” Spicey saw a long gold Chevy Impala turn the corner and slow down. She walked to the street and knocked on the passenger window as the car pulled to a stop. The man inside grinned and said, “Ms. Spicey, what’s you doin’ over here?”

  Spicey put her hands on her hips, “Get your ass out of that car Abram and help us move some furniture. Don’t matter what I doing. What matter’s I know what you about to do. And your momma be none too happy to find out.”

  Abram looked at her like he was deciding whether or not to argue with her. Unlike Sasha, Abram did believe in Spirits and Voodoo. He believed that somehow Spicey knew exactly what he planned on doing. A few more minutes wouldn’t matter. He got out of the car and started helping Willie move things out of the house.

  Sasha was carrying two lamps and whined to Spicey she wasn’t exactly dressed for a robbery. Spicey frowned at her and told her it was a church donation, not a robbery. Spicey waved her past, gave Willie three hundred dollars, directions, and a key to a storage garage the church had on the west side. There was a big auction comin’ up and the church could make some good money on this stuff. After Willie pulled his truck away Spicey looked at Abram and said, “It’s all yours now. You best be thinkin’ ‘bout how you been makin’ a livin’.” Spicey pointed to the heavens, “Don’t be thinkin’ you ain’t been found out.” She frowned at Abram and motioned Sasha to follow her.
>
  Tourey listened to George’s questions and decided he really didn’t want to answer any of them. His mind was processing what he thought he knew about Bernard Jacobs and what he needed to find out yet from his computer. Tourey noticed George was growing impatient with his silence, “I think there is a chance your boss is in some deep shit, but I don’t know this for fact. Just a whisper in the wind. This address book and CD will probably help.” George had told him the CD was of a kids’ art contest, and Theodore said he needed it for tonight. It all fit.

  George looked at Tourey, “You know what I think? I think you are something more than a retired inventor. I think you are a lot more than that.”

  Tourey smiled, “We are all more than what people have labeled us, aren’t we? I just have some friends in the right places. Years of keepin’ my nose clean, and my ears to the ground. I call in favors from time to time. I told you I would help you get Bernard. Unless you’ve changed your mind?”

  George sat up straight, “No, but I never thought about other people being involved.”

  Tourey shook his head, “There are always other people involved. It’s how they hide.”

  Roger excused himself from the jet’s work table where Paul and John were still reviewing the tapes from Ellen. He walked toward the back of the jet, stretched his back, and sat next to a window. The silent passing of their plane through the clouds made him wonder how angels felt while flying. Having seen Ellen today made him wonder if he would see Sharon in heaven. Roger felt a lump growing in his throat. He closed his eyes and forced his mind to return to the problems at hand.

  His gut told him Thornton didn’t plan this weapons sting. Probably didn’t want it. There was no upside for Thornton in this. Roger didn’t see anger in Thornton; he saw fear. Someone is using Thornton. The thirty ton sting is a diversion. Who is expecting the other sixty tons? Roger knew that kind of tonnage severely limited the players. Procuring FBI protection for the ship also required weight. Thornton. He had to flush out the real players. Roger’s mind kept refining the questions.

  John looked at Paul and asked, “You think Roger is okay?”

  Paul turned his head and saw Roger looking out the airplane window. He turned back to look at John, “He’s putting together his orchestra.” John raised an eyebrow. “Roger told me once if he can form an image of a problem he can begin to solve it. He is a fan of classical music, orchestras in particular. He told me he can see players in a deal like instruments in a music score.” Paul smiled at John’s expression. “I know it sounds strange, but I bet he is building his score. That will eventually tell him what kind of song we are playing.”

  John nodded. “I hope it doesn’t take him very long.”

  Todd and Pablo followed the woman and child to a school about three miles away. They watched as the woman and girl moved to the back of the SUV and opened the hatch. Pablo looked at Todd and said, “I’m going to place the GPS. Why don’t you park a little closer, and I’ll see if I can’t help them with those boxes.”

  Todd nodded his head and said, “Good idea there buddy. You look like a bright young man lookin’ for a teachin’ job.” Pablo laughed.

  Todd parked behind the SUV, and Pablo got out and yelled back at him, “I should only be a minute or so.” Lisa looked at him as he started to walk by and smiled. She reached in and started pulling the first box to the edge of the door. Jamie was holding both of their purses and said, “Wait Mommy, I can help.” She had both of her little arms out and was waiting.

  Pablo stopped walking and stepped back, “Ma’am? Could you use a hand with that?”

  Lisa looked him over and said, “That would be wonderful. We have the costumes for tonight’s school play in here. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

  Pablo smiled and said, “Not only do I not mind, but my brother can help too.” Pablo looked over his should and said, “Hey, bro…give us a hand with these boxes.” Pablo looked at Jamie and whispered, “He’s lazy.”

  Jamie laughed, “He’s gonna be mad you called him lazy.”

  Pablo smiled at her, “He is lazy. Won’t hurt him to help us will it?” Jamie shook her head.

  Todd walked over and said to Lisa, “Hi. At your service ma’am.” He looked at Jamie, “All these clothes yours?”

  Lisa answered for her, “These are for tonight’s school play. We just need to take them in that side door and leave them by the stage.”

  While Lisa and Jamie talked to Todd, Pablo placed the GPS and grabbed the first big box. Todd and Lisa each grabbed a box, and Jamie skipped ahead to open the door for them. Jamie raced down the hall and opened the stage door, to call for someone to come get the costumes. Lisa yelled after her, “Jamie, slow down. Just wait for me.” Jamie disappeared through the stage door, and Lisa dropped her box and took off after her. She yelled apologies to Pablo and Todd as she ran past them. “That child does not wait for anyone!” Lisa disappeared behind the door too.

  Pablo turned to face Todd. “She is wearing a wedding ring, and there is set of golf clubs in the back that say “Core” on a tag.” They had reached the stage door. Pablo held it open for Todd and went back to get the box Lisa had dropped in the hall. Pablo carried the boxes in and placed them next to the one Todd had set on the stage. Todd was saying goodbye to Lisa, and Jamie yelled after him, “Tell your brother you are not lazy!” She giggled and ran onto the stage. Lisa said thank you. Todd and Pablo walked back to their car.

  Todd looked at the GPS tracker screen for Core’s car and said “He’s moving. Lazy, huh?”

  They followed Core’s signal for ten minutes when Pablo said, “Looks like he’s going back to Colby’s.” They watched Core’s SUV pass the parking lot entrance to Colby’s and drive down the service road behind the dock storage buildings. They lost sight of his vehicle. The GPS indicated he had stopped. They went back, parked at Colby’s, and walked down the service road. Todd said if anyone stopped them they could say they were just looking for jobs. Pablo thought that sounded lame but couldn’t offer anything better.

  At the end of the service road was a drive that went to a loading zone for the rail cars. Miles and miles of rail cars. There was a small building by a gate that said Port Authority Escort office. Pablo said, “Let’s ask in there if anyone is hiring. At least we can establish a cover. Let’s say we are only here for a few months. Don’t want anything permanent.” Todd nodded, and they walked into the small office.

  A chubby man sat at a filthy desk talking on the phone. He motioned them to sit. The man finished his conversation, looked at Todd, and pushed his hand out, “Give me your TWIC.”

  Todd shrugged, “Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about man.”

  The man scowled, “Transportation Worker Identification Credential, you have to have that before I can get you an escort into the yard.” The man looked at their blank faces and shook his head. “What are you doing here?”

  Pablo answered, “We were thinking we could get a temporary job on the docks for a couple of months.”

  “Not without a TWIC. You get that at the Port Authority Office, or Harbor Patrol back there. Then someone has to hire your ass. Once you’ve done that, I can escort you to your job.” He was pointing back in the direction they had come. Todd saw Mathew Core’s SUV drive past the window heading back out of the dock area.

  Todd looked at Pablo, “Guess we got to do some paperwork first.” He looked at the port officer and said, “Hope to see you later.” They walked out of the small building and started around the corner only to walk straight into the chest of ponytail man, Mathew Core’s buddy.

  Ponytail smiled big and whispered, “I know who you are, act casual, I’m ATF.”

  The Port Officer had stepped outside of the building. He had a menacing scowl on his face, “Everything okay out here?”

  Ponytail smiled, “Just gunna show these boys the way back to safety is all.”

  The Port Officer shook his head, “Just don’t go breakin’ nobody. I don’t need any shit around
here today, you hear me?”

  Ponytail yelled, “Yeah, I hear ya.” He put his arms on both of their shoulders and said, “Walk out of here and don’t come back. I need to meet Dance later tonight. I will contact him. Let him know.”

  Todd and Pablo kept walking after Ponytail stopped. They heard him yell, “Ya ‘all come back heeah’ sometime.”

  Ellen joined us on the boat and helped us get some better pictures for Roger and Paul. While we were taking pictures, she caught us up on the Director and John now knowing about us. It seemed to me we were becoming a fairly well known secret among fellas with three letters in their job title. Ellen was looking at me.

  I said, “What? I just wonder how this many mortals are going to be able to keep us secret. Mortals and secrets don’t really go together well. You know that don’t you?”

  Ellen had a puzzled expression on her face. “I don’t understand what you are saying.”

  Mary, Teresa, and Linda had been listening to my little exchange with Ellen and now had stopped in their tracks and stared at us. I thought maybe I needed to ask this another way. “Ellen, do you trust mortals will keep secrets when you ask them to?”

  Ellen looked shocked, “Of course. Why wouldn’t they?”

  We all started talking at the same time. Teresa looked like she was going to stroke out. She was talking fast and her face was getting red. Linda was trying to talk louder than Teresa. I was just wondering how bad this was going to get if we were depending on mortals. Ugh.

  Ellen started laughing at us, and we realized she had worked us into a lather again over nothing. Ellen said, “I’m sorry, but you guys are just so much fun to mess with. Your mortal minds keep you thinking you have all the answers to everything. It is really quite amazing. What I find fascinating is that from that delusion, mortals make a remarkable number of discoveries of truths. It is truly amazing.” So glad our mortal minds provide her entertainment.