Deadly Distractions, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 6

by William Manchee

CHAPTER 20

  BACK TO BUSINESS

  I felt so bad for Paula. She had been deserted right in the middle of a murder trial and then when I finally came back, she’s arrested for a bogus hit and run. I knew she had been traumatized by the arrest and needed my support. The free strip show, the sexy bathrobe, and now the kiss weren’t unexpected. But now it was the hour of reckoning. I was attracted to Paula without a doubt. She was smart, beautiful, and sexy. But, if I gave in to her it would be an hour of ecstasy and a lifetime of regret. It was time to cool things down so I turned the conversation back to business.

  Did we get a trial notice yet in Dusty’s case?” I asked.

  “Huh?” Paula said giving me a befuddled look. She sighed and replied, “Ah. . . . Yes, March 2. . . . We only have a few months until trial.”

  “Damn. So, why don’t you brief me on where you are in the investigation?”

  “Okay, sure,” Paula said suddenly seeming embarrassed by her lack of clothing. “Let me go put on some jeans.” She left for a minute and returned in jeans and an SMU T-shirt. She filled me in on the witnesses she had interviewed and what she knew of the State’s case from visits to their offices and sleep-overs with Bart.

  “You’ve done well.” I said, “We have what—a half dozen suspects now?”

  “At least,” Paula said.

  “So, I guess we should have Monty check them out.”

  “Yes, definitely. We might want to question them again once we have background checks in hand.”

  “Right. . . . So, what’s your gut feeling. Is there anyone that you interviewed who is of particular interest to you?”

  “Well, there are several, but I’d have to say the People’s Mission is at the top of the list.”

  “I’ve never heard of the People’s Mission,” I said.

  “They claim to be a legitimate church, but Agent Tuttle thought it was a scam and I tend to agree with him.”

  “So when Agent Tuttle threatened to put them out of business, they decided to beat him to the punch?” I asked.

  “Precisely.”

  “The only way they could get away with it,” I said, “would be if it looked like someone else had done it.”

  “Yes, but how would they know when Tuttle was going to seize the tractor?” Paula asked.

  “Good point. I don’t know.”

  “Bobby’s colleagues at the IRS would have had that information.”

  “Right. His supervisor and, what was that other agent’s name?”

  “Hurst. Donald Hurst,” Paula said. “But he has an alibi, remember?”

  “Right. What about the female employee who had his baby?”

  “Laura Blair. She denies that it is Tuttle’s baby. But she doesn’t have an alibi. She or her boyfriend could have done it.”

  “But the boyfriend wouldn’t have had access to Tuttle’s schedule.”

  “True,” Paula said, “and it’s unlikely they were in on it together.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Let’s take a hard look at Laura Blair since she had motive and opportunity.”

  Paula agreed and I stood up.

  “I’ve got to get going. I wish I could stay longer. Should I call Bart? Maybe he can come over.”

  “No, I’ll be all right. Thanks for staying with me.”

  “You’re welcome. Now rest. Take a few days off.”

  “Are you kidding? I’d go nuts sitting here twiddling my thumbs with a trial on the horizon.”

  I looked at her for a long moment remembering the kiss, longing for another. Her eyes beckoned me. Then, mustering every ounce of self-restraint I could muster, I turned and walked away.

  Jodie gave me a look when I walked into the office. “Jesus, where have you been?”

  “With Paula. She was pretty upset so I had to keep her company for a while until she settled down a bit.”

  Jodie nodded. “There’s a New York Times reporter who has been calling. He wants to interview you.”

  “Hmm. I don’t think so.”

  "Why not?" Jodie asked.

  “The situation’s too delicate. Tex is still missing and the Feds are all over me. I think it would be best to lay low for a while. Tell them I’m not doing interviews because I don’t want to interfere with the FBI investigation.”

  “Right.”

  Jodie left to call back the reporter and I sat down at my desk to start sorting through mail and paperwork that had piled up. By the time I looked up it was 4:00. I shook my head and suddenly thought of Tex. It was too late to wire General Moya the money that day, so I had no choice but to do in the morning. I pulled out the wiring instructions and studied them carefully. Then I called my bank officer, Billie Jo, to arrange for the transfer.

  “You want to send half of the account tomorrow?” she asked.

  “Yes. It’s a business deal for a client and the agreement is to pay half up front and the balance when the job is done.”

  “Okay, you’ll have to stop by and sign some paperwork for that size of a transfer.”

  “What kind of paperwork?”

  “The request for the wire transfer and some disclosure forms.”

  “Okay. I’ll be there around 9:30.”

  The paperwork I had to sign bothered me. It was a sure bet it was designed to alert the Feds to a large transaction taking place in case they wanted to scrutinize it. If they tracked it to General Moya, I’d be in serious trouble. Hopefully he was an expert in this type of thing and the money couldn’t be traced to him. I didn’t have any choice either way; Tex’s life was on the line. I was pretty sure that General Moya would see to it that Tex was released and put on an airplane home, but the thought occurred to me that he might not be able to perform. If Tex wasn’t in his custody, he might not be able to spring him. In that case he’d take the $900,000 dollars and we’d still never see Tex. Then a horrible thought came over me—what if Tex were already dead?

  Before I sent the money, I called Toni to make sure she wanted me to send it. After all, it was her money. I was pretty sure what the answer would be, but there was a lot of money at stake and I had to be careful. Besides, if the FBI did come after me, I’d need Toni to back up my explanation as to why I had the money and was wiring it to a guerrilla leader who financed his activities by selling illegal drugs to citizens of the U.S.

  “Yes, definitely, send the money. Do whatever it takes to get Tex back,” Toni said. “He’s all I've got.”

  “Okay. I’ll go by the bank and arrange it.”

  “How long do you think it will be before he's home?”

  “I don’t know. Hopefully within a few days, but honestly, I have no idea.”

  “What did General Moya tell you?”

  “He just said he would make sure he was released. He didn’t go into details and I wasn’t in a position to press him.”

  “I understand. Just send the money and we’ll just have to pray he returns soon.”

  “Rebekah and I will be praying hard, believe me.”

  “I know. I really appreciate all that you’ve done for Tex and me. Not too many attorneys would have gone down to South America searching for a lost client.”

  “Hey, good clients are hard to come by,” I said with a chuckle.

  “The same goes for attorneys,” she replied.

  After hanging up the telephone, I noticed it was almost five o’clock. I wanted to get home early since I needed catch up time with the family. We were going out to dinner at one of Rebekah’s favorite restaurants, Red Lobster. As I left the office there were several reporters waiting for me. I smiled and went straight for the elevators.

  “Mr. Turner,” the first reporter said. “How does it feel to be back to work?”

  “Wonderful,” I said. “You never appreciate home until you're stranded somewhere and can’t get there.”

  “Does Dusty Thomas intend to plead temporary insanity?”

  “We haven’t made any decisions in that regard. We’re still sorting through the facts and interv
iewing witnesses. When the time comes to make that decision, we’ll let you know.”

  The elevator finally came and I got in and motioned for the reporters to stay out. They acquiesced. On the way home I thought of how much we still had to do on Dusty’s case. I was so far behind and we only had a few months left to go. We could try to get a continuance but I knew the DA wouldn’t agree to it since the FBI wanted the case over quickly. When I drove into my garage and shut off the engine, I closed my eyes and tried to relax. I wanted to forget about work for a while and concentrate on the family. When I went inside Marcia jumped into my arms.

  “Daddy! You’re finally home,” Marcia said.

  Rebekah smiled. “She’s been sitting by the door waiting for you for an hour.”

  “Hey, sweet pea. It’s early. It’s only five-thirty.”

  “I know, but I thought you might come home early.”

  “Yeah. Fat chance,” Rebekah noted.

  “Okay,” I said. “Who’s hungry?”

  By that time all the kids had gathered and they all screamed, “I am! I am!”

  Fortunately it was a weeknight so when we got to the restaurant we didn’t have to wait to be seated. We all gave the waitress our drink order and she brought them along with some hot bread.

  “I’m having lobster,” Reggie said.

  “Of course, the most expensive thing on the menu,” Rebekah said.

  “It’s all right,” I replied. “Order whatever you want. We’ll talk a little business so I can write it off my taxes.”

  “Can you do that?” Rebekah asked.

  “No, that was for the benefit of my FBI tail. He’s sitting two booths behind us. I’m sure he’s got some kind of listening device so he can hear whatever we say.”

  Rebekah turned around and glared at the FBI agent. “You’ve got to be kidding! We can’t even have a quiet dinner alone?”

  “Not until this trial is over.”

  “You want me to search the booth for bugs, Dad?” Reggie said.

  I smiled and shook my head. “No, son. That won’t be necessary. I doubt there is a bug in the booth since he didn’t know where we were going—. Well, I take that back. If they were listening to our phone conversation they knew we were coming here. I wonder if the management would let them bug a booth?”

  “This is terrible. You want to go somewhere else?” Rebekah asked.

  “No, that won’t do any good. This is something we’ll just have to learn to live with. No more dirty sex talk, I guess.”

  Rebekah smiled. “Why not? They can’t use that against us, can they?”

  I shrugged. “I hope not.”

  The waitress came back and took our orders. While we were waiting, the subject of Paula came up. I was hoping it wouldn’t as I was feeling guilty about spending the day with her and letting her kiss me. Rebekah was sure to sense it.

  “How’s Paula?” Rebekah asked.

  “She’s pretty upset.”

  “I bet. I would be so humiliated if I were arrested. Did anyone see it happen?”

  “No, I was the only one.”

  “You got her out of jail pretty fast.”

  “It pays to have friends in the DA’s office.”

  “What friend?”

  “Her old boyfriend, Bart.”

  “Did you help get her out?”

  “Of course. I got her a bond and Bart talked to the intake people so she wouldn’t have to go into the system.”

  “Were you and Bart with her all day?”

  “Bart had to go back to work so I took her home.”

  “Is that where you were all afternoon? I tried to reach you several times and Jodie said you were out.”

  “Ah. . . . Right. I didn’t want to leave her alone so I stayed with her awhile.”

  “In her condo?”

  “Yes, we just talked. She brought me up to date on the Thomas case.”

  Rebekah stiffened up. Now I was going to get the silent treatment for the rest of the evening if I didn’t say just the right thing.

  “Can you imagine working at the DA’s office for all those years prosecuting cases and then to be arrested yourself? She was more than humiliated. She was mortified. You should have seen her. It was terrible. It was either take her to a shrink or try to calm her down myself. Fortunately she’s a strong woman and after awhile I was able to get her mind off her arrest.”

  Rebekah gave me a skeptical look and then said, “Poor girl. I hope she’ll be all right.”

  I let out a silent sigh of relief and said, “Like I said. She’s a tough girl. She’ll be fine in a few days.”