I called the state police to see if any robberies in the area had been reported. There were none. That meant Hoyt was still in the planning stages, which meant he was probably still around there. Unless, of course, he’d changed his mind and decided to work another state. But I didn’t think so. Hoyt was much too arrogant for that. He had to show us how good he was and that meant working right under our noses.
“You know, Manny, he stays in local motels but I’m guessing he has a home base someplace else. It only makes sense. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s rented a small place for himself in all four states. He can certainly afford it.”
“That makes a lot of sense, Charlie Floyd. He needs to have someplace where he feels safe. A place where he is anonymous. A place only he knows about.”
“The question is, how do we find it?”
“If we find him then I believe we can locate his home base. But right now, I think we are best off looking for him in one of the local motels.”
The next day we rented Manny a car and the two of us fanned out to each of those places to see if Hoyt might be registered in any of them.
Manny Perez
“Manny, dear, I don’t want you to worry.”
The moment those words came out of my wife, Esther’s mouth, the effect was quite the opposite. I was very worried. Esther rarely calls me during the day unless it is an emergency. The last time she called during the day it was because my daughter, Esme, had come down with something at school and Esther asked me to pick her up and bring her home. I, of course, thought the worst, but it turned out that it was a simple case of strep throat. Esther often accuses me of being overly dramatic, but then I remind her of what I do for a living.
I was in my rental car and was headed toward the first in a series of motels I was checking out to see if Francis Hoyt might have checked into one of them when the call came in.
“Is it one of the children, Esther?”
“Manny, I know how you get and everything is fine now. In fact, it might be nothing at all.”
“If it were nothing, Esther, you would not be calling me in the middle of the day. Please, tell me what is wrong.”
“Well, Esme was at the mall with a couple of her friends. They had just come out of a movie and they were in the food court, getting a snack. She’d just called me so I was on my way to pick her and her friend up and bring them back here for a sleepover.”
“Esther, please—”
“She was carrying her food back to the table when a strange man approached her. He called her by name. She thought she might know him so she said, ‘hello.’ He asked her about me, how I was—and he called me by name. And then he said he had a message for her dad.”
“What was it?”
“He said he knew that you weren’t in Miami, that you were ‘up north.’ She started to get a little scared and began to walk away, but he grabbed her by the arm and said, ‘tell your father that this is what it’s like when you mind someone else’s business.’ She was terrified, Manny.”
“What did she do next?”
“She pulled away and went back to her friends. I arrived a few minutes later. She was very upset, Manny. I’m sure it was nothing, but…”
“I know who is behind this, Esther, and I promise you it will not happen again. But until I come back home, please do not let the girls leave the house unless you are with them. And I will call David Chung and tell him about this and I am sure he will provide protection.”
“Manny, you’re scaring me. Is this really that serious?”
“I do not think so, but I do not want to take any chances. Please, listen to what I have said.”
“When are you coming home?”
“Within the week. I promise. One way or another I will be home.”
Francis Hoyt
At first I was pretty pissed but after I calmed down a little I realized they had to be pretty desperate to go all the way out there to harass my mother. They were frustrated. They didn’t know what to do next so they were grasping at straws. I was winning.
I knew exactly what they were doing. They were trying to unnerve me. They probably figured if they do I’ll make a mistake. Ain’t gonna happen, assholes. Besides, two can play at that game. But I can’t take my eye off the ball. I’ve sent them enough messages so now, while they’re busy fucking around at the margins of my life, I’m gonna just get back to doing what I do best. Stealing shit.
But there was one piece of unfinished business left. Melinda. I didn’t think there was anything she could say that would help them catch me in the act, but I couldn’t take any chances. Truth is she was beginning to become a pain in the ass. I liked her, all right, but it was time to ditch her. But what was I going to do with her? Do I just cut her off? Or do I have to do something more drastic? I had nothing against the bitch. She didn’t do anything wrong. But I don’t like carrying around any extra baggage.
I had to consider my options carefully. Evie was easy. I’d known her for a while and she’d do anything to protect me. But Melinda hadn’t quite bonded with me that tight yet. She could be a loose cannon. And who knew what those two guys might promise her if they found out about her.
There was no point in doing anything rash, anything that would make things dicier for me. I had to think about it. I had to figure out what the best course of action was.
Meanwhile, it was back to work. I had a much bigger challenge for myself now. I was going to work right under these assholes’ noses. Then they’d see how good Francis fucking Hoyt really is.
Charlie Floyd
“Billy, I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“Before I even find out what it is, the answer’s yes. I’ve stopped counting the number of favors I owe you.”
“I don’t keep count so why should you. Anyway, I’d like to come down there a little later today and I’d like you to deputize me.”
“That’s gotta be one of the oddest requests I’ve had in a while, Charlie. I’ll do it, of course, but can I ask why?”
“It has to do with Francis Hoyt. If I do catch him doing something he shouldn’t be doing, I need to have the authority to bring him in. I also need to have the authority to ask for a search warrant, if that’s necessary. And I don’t want to be dragging along some poor cop with me.”
“I shoulda figured it had something to with Hoyt. You can come on down here right now, if you like, and I’ll get the Bible ready for you. I think I’ve probably got an extra badge hanging around somewhere.”
“Great. Now all I have to do is figure out where I want to pin it.”
Charlie Floyd
There was the Baymont Inn, the Quality Inn, Super 8, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, Tollgate Hill Inn, Heritage Hotel, Farmington Inn, Avon Old Farms Hotel, Inn at Kent Falls, Tucker Hill Inn, Pine Meadow House, and a few others.
We divvied it up geographically. I was on the road, having visited two on my list, when I got the call from Manny. I could hear the anger in his voice before he even got his entire first sentence out. He told me how his daughter had been accosted at the mall.
“That sonuvabitch. I’m sorry about that, Manny. But I promise you, we’re gonna find him and put him away.”
Hoyt was upping the stakes. Every time we made a move he matched us and then raised. Still, our ace in the hole was that he didn’t know that we’d reached Melinda Shaw, that she was cooperating, and that she’d given us a clue as to where he was.
Next stop was the Enchanted Hunter Motel to see if Hoyt was still registered there under the name Michael Leiman.
I parked the car down the road and approached the motel on foot. In case Hoyt was still there I didn’t want to run the risk of his seeing me and getting away. I knew him well enough to know he was probably the kind of guy who always knows where the closest exit is.
At first the desk clerk was hesitant to give me any information, but when I flashed my state ID he was a little more forthcoming.
“I believe he left us a day or so ago but I can check
if you’d like.”
“I’d like.”
He stepped to his computer brought up a screen and nodded. “Yes, he checked out two days ago after staying with us only one night.”
“By any chance did you check him in?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Can you describe him?”
“I usually don’t pay that much attention but he was a small man. He kind of reminded me of a jockey and he looked a little like that actor. You know the one I mean, small, has some kind of disease that makes him shake.”
“Michael J. Fox.”
He snapped his fingers. “Yeah, that’s the one. He did kinda look like him. Oh, and his hair was trimmed real short, kind of like he was in the military. What do they call it? A buzz cut, right? Late thirties, early forties. He looked like he was in good shape, too.”
“Did you get his license plate number?”
“Afraid not. He said he didn’t have a car, that someone dropped him off and someone would pick him up.”
I was sure that was a lie, but Hoyt was very careful about covering his tracks so it didn’t surprise me that he parked his car away from the motel.
Back in the car, I closed my eyes and tried to think like Hoyt. I figured he’d choose an area to work then case the houses he targeted. But he wouldn’t stay in a motel too close to those houses and he would never stay in one more than a night.
It wasn’t till I got to the fourth motel on my list, the Super 8, that I hit the mother lode.
A “small man” using the name of Emanuel Floyd, had checked in earlier that day. I asked if the desk clerk thought he was still in his room but he said he’d seen him leave a few hours earlier.
I immediately called Manny.
“We’ve got him. Meet me at the Super 8. And get here as soon as you can.”
Francis Hoyt
“Francis, I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I’m full of surprises.”
“How’d you get in without buzzing?”
“Someone was coming out and let me in.”
“I was just getting ready to go out. But so long as you’re here, I can change my plans.”
“What plans would those be, Mel?”
“I was just meeting a friend for a drink.”
“Yeah. Who would that be?”
“You’re not jealous, are you, Francis?”
“Do I strike you as the jealous type?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What about you, Mel? You the jealous type?”
She thought for a moment, trying to weigh her answer to see if it was the one I wanted. Trouble was, she had no idea what I wanted.
“I guess all women are the jealous type, Francis. We don’t like to share.” She put a little more emphasis on the word share. At that moment, I already knew the answer to my question but I asked it anyway.
“So, any special visitors lately?”
“Special visitors? I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Francis.”
“I think you’d know. But I can understand why you wouldn’t want to talk about it.”
“Talk about what? I’m not sure where this is going, baby.” She put her hand on my cheek.
“Why beat around the bush? You get a visit from the law?”
“Why on earth would I get a visit from the law?”
“I don’t know. Just asking. But let’s say you did get such a visit, what do you think they’d want from you?”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea.”
“Really?” I stared at her.
“Francis, you’re frightening me.”
“You don’t have any reason to be frightened of me, do you?”
“No.”
“But let’s just say you did get such a visit, what would you tell them?”
“What could I tell them? I don’t know anything. I don’t even know where you are when you’re not with me, and sometimes even when you’re with me I don’t know where you are. I don’t like the way this conversation is going. I’m getting a little afraid. I think you ought to leave.”
“Maybe you’re right. But before I do leave, let me give you a little warning. I don’t want you talking about me with anyone. You understand?”
She nodded.
“I want you to say it, Mel. Say you understand.”
“I understand.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you understand. Because there are consequences.”
“What kind of consequences?”
“The serious kind.”
“Now you’re really scaring me.”
“Good. It’s good that I’m scaring you. I’m gonna go now.”
She went to touch my arm, but I pulled away. I got what I came for. I knew damn well Floyd or that little spic had gotten to her. I didn’t think there was anything she could have told them, but it didn’t matter. There were consequences, but I didn’t quite know what they were. Yet.
Charlie Floyd
“So, what is the plan, Charlie Floyd?” Manny asked, as we sat at a table in a roadside diner near the Super 8 Motel.
“Good question. I think we should stakeout the motel and wait till Hoyt comes back. We can’t get into his room without either a warrant or by breaking in. But that’s not the best idea, as I’m sure you can attest to.”
Manny smiled and took a sip of his coffee.
“How good are you at tailing suspects?”
“I have driven cars since I was fifteen, Charlie Floyd, and as you can see from my stature I tend not to stand out in a crowd.”
“I’ll take that as you’re going to be the point man. Let’s finish up here and we’ll go back to the motel. We’ll find a good place for each of us to watch him from. Let’s try to catch him going back to the motel and we’ll wait till he leaves and follow him. It’s my least favorite part of the job—staying awake is always a challenge, but it’s sometimes the most important.”
When we got back to the motel, Manny found a good spot to watch from while sitting in his car. I went back into the motel office to see if the desk clerk had seen Hoyt return. We were in luck. While we were having coffee and hatching our plan Hoyt had, indeed, returned. I warned the desk clerk against letting Hoyt, or in this case Emmanuel Floyd, know we were asking after him, then found a spot far enough away from Manny that wouldn’t call attention to me. We now had the motel covered from two different angles. The only way Hoyt could get past us was if he somehow snuck out the back. But eventually he’d have to make it back to the road to his car and if we were lucky we’d pick him up then.
It was close to four o’clock when we began babysitting Hoyt. We both ordered takeout from the diner so that if the wait was long we’d have something to eat and drink. If one of us needed to take a quick bathroom break, he would notify the other. But just in case, we both made sure we had an empty bottle with us. We agreed whoever spotted him first would phone the other and it would be game on.
We’d been there almost three hours when my phone buzzed. It was Manny.
“He is on the move, Charlie Floyd. I just saw him emerge from his room, carrying a small satchel and he’s headed toward the road, in your direction.”
“Great, Manny,” I said, as I turned on the engine. I was parked at a corner and when I looked toward the main road I saw him walking quickly toward me. He was dressed pretty much the same way he was when he visited us, only now he was wearing a blue windbreaker. As soon as he came fully into view I ducked down. He passed by, no more than twenty feet away from me, and kept heading down the road. I waited a moment, keeping him in sight, then I saw Manny’s car pull close to mine.
“I will hang back, Charlie Floyd. You take the lead. If, for some reason, he suspects he is being followed and you must pass him or turn off course, I will be right behind you and I shall pick up the tail. And then vice versa.”
“Let’s just not get too close to him. He’s smart enough to know how to spot a tail and we don’t want to let him know we’re this close. One thing in our favor is t
hat he’s so fucking arrogant he can’t imagine we’d ever get this close.”
“Roger that,” said Manny. I could hear him chuckling to himself.
I waited a few more seconds then slowly pulled out. I turned the corner and spotted Hoyt breaking into a jog. Damn, this wasn’t going to be easy. He could have parked his car a mile or two away from the motel and he’d certainly notice me if I drove too slowly behind him, or kept passing him. I’d have to be very clever as to how I followed him. I couldn’t get too close and I couldn’t go past him. Someone like Hoyt, even when they have no reason to suspect someone’s on their tail are always hyper-vigilant.
Fortunately, the roads were twisty, which gave me the opportunity to hang back far enough so that I was hidden from his view. I kept about a quarter of a mile back, figuring that he would stay on the main road until he either found his car there or turned onto a side road where he’d parked it.
I was right. I lost sight of him when the road hooked to the right and when I reached that point I saw he wasn’t in front of me anymore. I’d either lost him completely or he’d turned onto one of the side roads. I decided to take a chance and so I drove slowly straight ahead, hoping his car wasn’t parked too far from the main road.
I got lucky. I’d driven about fifty yards when I saw a car in my rearview mirror. A blue Toyota coming up fast.
I sped up and called Manny.
“I’ve got him. He’s right behind me in a blue Toyota.”
“I’m about a quarter of a mile behind him, Charlie Floyd.”
I’ll stay far enough head so that I can still see him in my rearview mirror. You stay behind him. If he makes a turn note where it is, keep going straight, then I’ll double back and pick him up.
We did this for maybe five minutes till we realized Hoyt wasn’t headed toward a home in Litchfield, but rather back to the main highway. He was headed south. I stayed in the right lane and let him pass then Manny and I both trailed him. Eventually, he wound up on the Post Road and drove right into the tony town of Westport.
Second Story Man Page 23