Days of Destiny

by Aiden Vaughan

  “Well I am done talking to you!” Chauncey exclaimed as he began trying to figure out a way to escape from the men.

  “Don’t you care for your mother, Chauncey?” the first man continued. “You want her to be safe don’t you?”

  “Are you threatening my family?” Chauncey responded, now enraged.

  “We want you and your mother to have a long and happy life together,” the first man said. “That’s why it is important for you to take us up on our offer!”

  The second man took out a photograph. “And what about your girl friend, Adele Evans? You don’t want anything bad to happen to her while she is out running, do you?” The man turned the photograph so that Chauncey could see it. It was a picture of Adele running on the streets. “A lot of nasty accidents happen on the streets! It just burns me up to think about it!” He took a cigarette lighter out of his pocket, lit the edge of the photo, and watched it begin to burn. After it had burned half way through, he dropped it on the ground and stomped on it.

  Chauncey just glared at the two men, and looked around to see if anyone else was nearby. He felt tiny stab of fear inside. He braced for the men to attack him but they didn’t.

  “We want you to seriously consider our offer, Chauncey,” the first man said. “We’ll be in touch.”

  Just as suddenly as they had appeared, the two men left. Somewhat shaken up, Chauncey ran home. He raced up the front stairs, unlocked the front door, and hurried inside. “Mom, are you home?” he yelled in an anxious voice.

  “Yes, Chauncey, I’m in the kitchen,” his mom replied.

  Chauncey raced into the kitchen and gave his mom a quick hug.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked in a concerned voice.

  Chauncey’s whole demeanor relaxed after he realized that his mother was safe. “Yeah, I’m fine, Mom,” he answered.

  “There is a letter for you that was just delivered. It’s on the coffee table in the living room,” Mrs. Jackson continued.

  “A letter?” Chauncey asked. “I thought the mail was delivered in the morning.”

  “This is one of those overnight letters delivered by a packaging service. It was on the doorstep when I got home.”

  Chauncey went into the living room and pulled the strip on the cardboard envelope. Inside was a set of photos, pictures of his mother and his girl friend Adele. The photos were taken from a distance, but it was clear that someone had been following them around during their daily activities. There was also a sheet of paper enclosed. On the paper were three words — keep them safe — in large type.

  Chauncey immediately got out his cell phone and called Adele.

  “Hi, Chauncey, what’s up?” Adele answered.

  “I just wanted to see how you were doing?” Chauncey replied. “Is everything okay?”

  “Yes, I just got back from running five miles. Our coach didn’t let us have the day off like you guys did!”

  They continued talking for a few minutes, until Adele had to hang up and help her mom with dinner.

  At least for the moment, things were okay. But Chauncey knew that those two men weren’t making idle threats. The package of photos had made that very clear. Now he had to figure out a way to deal with it.

  At dinner, his mother asked him what was in the envelope. “Just another recruitment letter,” he answered, not wanting to reveal the truth just yet.

  After dinner, Chauncey lay down on his bed pondering what to do. He didn’t understand why this game was such a big deal that gamblers or mob types would want him to throw the game. The last thing he wanted to do was let down his teammates and become the reason that they lost. Plus this was his chance to win a big prize — the northern California championship — a crowning achievement to his high school career.

  On the other hand, he didn’t want any harm to come to Adele or his mom. He would not be able to ever forgive himself if he allowed that to happen. Yet if he told the coach and his teammates about the threat, they might choose to not even play the game.

  Chauncey spent an hour on homework but his mind was very distracted. He decided to go to bed early, sleep on it, and figure out what to do about it in the morning. Chauncey lay in his bed trying to sleep, but it was difficult to do with all of the possible scenarios running through his mind. He was able to get some sleep, but it was a restless sleep, tossing and turning through the night.

  Chapter 22

  Jason’s Plan

  (March 10-11)

  Thursday after school, the Merriam High School basketball team met in the boys gym for their scheduled practice. But things did not go very well. At the practice, Chauncey seemed distracted and off of his normal game. As a result, the whole team wasn’t executing well. Coach Johanson tried to run his warm up drills at the same fast pace as their previous practices, but things were not clicking. Passes were missed, shot timing was off, and even though he made his team do the drills over and over again, the team showed no improvement in their execution.

  Frustrated, Coach Johanson decided to call a ten minute break so that the team could regroup. “Boys,” he told them in an exasperated voice, “I don’t know what the matter is today. Maybe you are just naturally down after your great victory on Tuesday, but we have the most important game in our team history on Saturday. If we come in cold like you have been this past forty-five minutes, we will get tromped! Now take ten and get your act together!”

  Dejected, the team members walked over to the bleachers or went into the locker room. As Jason was walking off the court, Chauncey came up to him and asked, “Jason, I need to talk to you privately.”

  Jason looked at Chauncey with some concern in his face. “Sure, Chauncey, what’s up?”

  Jason and Chauncey climbed up to a corner of the bleachers and sat down. Chauncey then told Jason what had happened yesterday. “These two mob types threatened to harm Adele and my mom if I don’t cooperate and throw the game to our opponents,” he said. “When I got home, there was an overnight envelope with some pictures of them, so I would understand that they had been stalked, and a note saying ‘keep them safe’ in large threatening letters!”

  “This is unbelievable!” Jason said with anger in his voice. “Why are mob types so interested in a high school championship game? It’s one thing if we are talking professional sports, or even college hoops, but this seems way out of line! What were those people thinking?”

  “There must be some serious money being bet on this game for some reason,” Chauncey replied. “And obviously the money is not being wagered on our team!”

  “Yeah, that is clear. But why are gamblers so interested in this particular game?” Jason asked in reply.

  “I don’t know,” Chauncey said. “Someone rooting for the St. Bernadette team must want to make certain that they win.”

  “What these people are doing is totally wrong!” Jason said angrily. “Threatening you like that has to be against the law! Clearly we have to do something about this right away!”

  “I would like to,” Chauncey replied, “but think of the consequences. If we tell Coach and the authorities, they will probably cancel the game. Or make such a big deal about security for it that the focus will be on that and not on the game itself! If we tell the rest of the team, they will all be angry just like you are, and be thinking of revenge instead of a good game plan! Even if the threats are just idle threats, just the thought and discussion of it is enough to break our concentration when we are on court. At the same time I am worried for Mom and Adele. Those pictures were real and taken in the last couple of days!”

  “Wow, those are all good points you are making, Chauncey,” Jason said leaning forward and resting his head in his hands as he thought about the consequences of what Chauncey had just told him. “But we can’t just give in to these low life scum! That isn’t right either. We haven’t come all of this way to just throw our chances away! Give me a few hours to think on this. We need to protect your mom and Adele and we need to protect our opportunity to do well in t
he game. And we need a way to bring those creeps threatening you to justice! I’ll call you tonight, Chauncey! There has got to be a way to defeat those bastards!”

  “Thanks for taking this on, Jason,” Chauncey told his friend as they connected knuckles. “I knew I could count on you!”

  “Hey, you were there for me when I really needed some help!” Jason replied. “Now I want you to focus on the game at hand. Put those thoughts about what happened yesterday out of your head. Let’s go show Coach that we are truly a team worthy of a shot at the championship!”

  Chauncey and Jason scrambled down the bleachers as Coach Johanson was whistling the team back from their break. With some of the pressure off of him, Chauncey was able to concentrate on the practice. Quickly the rest of the team picked up on that, and the second half of the practice went a lot better.

  After the practice was over, Jason put on his street clothes and headed toward the parking lot by way of the soccer field. The soccer team was just finishing their practice. Jason looked for Arthur Vincenzo, Captain Garcia’s adopted son. He spotted Arthur coming off the field with a couple of soccer balls in his hands.

  “Hey Arthur!” Jason yelled at him. Arthur looked around and when he saw that it was Jason shouting at him, his face brightened.

  “Jason!” Arthur yelled back. “What’s up?”

  Jason hurried over to where Arthur was standing and asked, “How’s it going, Arthur? Would you like a ride home tonight?”

  “Sure,” Arthur said. He didn’t have a driver’s license yet, and normally rode his bicycle to school. “I do have my bike, here, however.”

  “No problem, Arthur,” Jason told him. “We can stick it in the back of my Explorer.”

  “Okay,” Arthur replied. “I just need to grab my gear from the locker room.”

  A few minutes later, Arthur had come out with his duffle bag and back pack and was walking with Jason to the parking lot. “Has something come up where you need to talk to my dad?” Arthur asked.

  “Well, yeah,” Jason answered, “and it’s kind of important. I hope I am not imposing on you.”

  “Not at all, Jason,” Arthur responded. “I’m grateful for the ride home. I’m beat after our workout today. Coach was really tough on us!”

  “Sounds like a familiar theme,” Jason said with a laugh.

  “I’m sure Coach Johanson is giving you guys a real workout to get ready for the game on Saturday. I hope you guys can pull off a victory!” Arthur exclaimed.

  Jason and Arthur chatted about school and sports on the way to the Garcia residence. When they arrived, Captain Garcia wasn’t there yet, but he had already telephoned his wife Marisol to say he was on the way home. Arthur then got Jason and himself glasses of apple juice, and they sat and visited with Marisol until Antonio Garcia arrived.

  When Captain Garcia came into the kitchen where everyone was sitting, he first greeted his wife and son, and then said, “Jason! What a pleasant surprise! Don’t tell me you are working on another case!”

  “Hi, Captain,” Jason replied. “Not exactly, but I do have something urgent that I need to discuss with you privately, if you can give me a few minutes.”

  “All right, Jason,” Captain Garcia said. “Let’s go into my study. It seems that a police detective’s work is never done! But actually I am glad you came over. I have an update for you on the Robbie Nelson case.”

  Captain Garcia brought Jason into his study and closed the door. After they were seated, Garcia said, “Before we discuss what you came here for, let me update you quickly on the Robbie Nelson case. A man did come to the Milpitas house later that day, but when he was confronted by our police surveillance team, he told them that he had just come over there to pick up some boxes of food that he had purchased. Behind the house there were several boxes of vegetables, which backed up his story. My men ran the man’s driver’s license but he had no record or outstanding warrants, so they had to let him go. Sorry to say that we are still at a dead end with that case for the time being. If the man was there to pick up Robbie, at least he was frustrated too, and probably out a lot of money.”

  “So far, the only good thing about the case of the human traffickers is that Robbie is now free, and on the road to recovery,” Jason told the captain. “I am really happy about that!”

  “Now tell me what your urgent concern is,” Captain Garcia said. Jason took about five minutes to summarize everything that he had been told by Chauncey Jackson.

  “Gamblers and mob flunkies trying to throw a high school game!” the captain exclaimed. “What is this world coming to?”

  “It seems incredible to me, also,” Jason said. “But obviously I am very concerned for Chauncey and his mother and girl friend, Adele. At the same time Chauncey and I don’t want to have to forfeit or postpone the game on Saturday if that can be avoided. And we want to bring the people behind these threats to him and our team to justice!”

  “What you are talking about here is a very delicate balancing act. The pictures and the in person confrontation are clear evidence of a looming threat, but it would be very difficult to arrest or prosecute anyone without more proof. I can order up more patrol cars in his neighborhood for the new few days, and I can put his mother and Adele into protective custody.”

  “That is all well and good, Captain,” Jason replied, “but it still doesn’t catch whoever is really behind this. Chauncey feels that whoever ordered those men to approach him has a connection somehow to the St. Bernadette team. I really don’t think that it is anyone actually with the team. Yet someone is bound and determined to insure that they will win the game on Saturday!”

  “Has either Chauncey or you discussed this with your coach or the school authorities?”

  “No, not yet. I just heard about this at practice today. Chauncey is afraid that the coach will forfeit or ask to postpone the game if he finds out. Most likely the school administration would take the same position. And if word gets out that the police are involved, he feels that the team will not be able to focus on our game plan. Even if the threats were idle or never carried out, they would end up having the same effect on our team. We have worked so hard to get to this game! I would really hate to lose our shot at a championship due to outside influences!”

  “What can I do, Jason?” Captain Garcia asked. “I have to operate inside the confines of the law, and what is considered normal police practices when someone is being threatened or extorted.”

  “What I would like to propose is that a sting operation be set up,” Jason replied. “These low life gamblers are trying to entrap Chauncey, so I say let’s let them succeed. Only instead of grabbing Adele Evans or Mrs. Jackson, they will make their threats on wired undercover police officers who look just like Adele and Mrs. Jackson. Chauncey told me that the gamblers have not actually spoken to or contacted Adele or his mom. All they have are the photos taken from a long distance away. Once they make their move, your team can move in and arrest them. Meanwhile the real Adele and Mrs. Jackson are safe in protective custody. Then at the end of half time on Saturday, have them paraded into the Merriam section of the stadium. That would force whoever is behind this to contact his lackeys to find out what was happening. As soon as he calls, you will have a clear record of his cell phone call.”

  Captain Garcia mulled over what Jason had proposed for a couple of minutes. “That’s quite a plan you have concocted,” he told Jason. “It has some merit. I definitely would like to put a stop to some of the illegal betting practices going on around here. It is very difficult to catch the men in charge because they are always distancing themselves from the work of their enforcers. Gambling law violations don’t have particularly stiff sentences associated with them unless we can get them somehow on a conspiracy charge. But kidnapping, false imprisonment, and extortion are serious felonies that will give us the leverage we need against these gamblers and mobsters. Messing with a high school game goes way beyond the accepted norm and these people need to be put out of business.r />
  “There is very little time, obviously, and I have been trying to figure out who we could use for the sting operation. There is a new member of our police force, Officer Jacqueline Buchanan, recently graduated from the academy, who could pose as Adele Evans if she was willing. She ran track while in college and is still young enough to pass as a high school student. Finding someone to stand in as Mrs. Jackson is a lot more difficult, because she is older than most of our officers. It would make more sense to just keep her at home, with a lot of police protection until this is over. I think I have a way to do this without exposing the fact that Mrs. Jackson is under our protection.”

  “How could you do that?” Jason asked. “If the gamblers see a police car in front of the Jackson residence, won’t that force them back underground?”

  “What I can do is stage a police investigation for that block all day on Friday. Set up crime scene tape and have several police cars there making it look like an investigation is going on for a hit and run accident. This would force the gamblers to go after Adele Evans, which is what we want. It would really stretch our resources to be running two sting operations anyway. Once they see that there is a heavy police presence near the Jackson home, I am sure they would prefer to concentrate on grabbing Adele Evans. Their likely time to go after Adele would be after school, when I assume she practices running for the track team. But instead of Adele it would be Officer Buchanan, wearing a wire, with Adele’s cell phone in her pocket.”

  “I like your solution to the plan, Captain Garcia. Do you think that it can be implemented?” Jason asked.

  “Before I can do anything, I will need the cooperation of Officer Buchanan. I am going to give her a call right now.” Captain Garcia got on his cell phone and called Jacqueline Buchanan. When he explained what was at stake, she readily agreed.

  “That’s awesome!” Jason exclaimed. “Is there anything I can do to help? I did promise Chauncey that I would call him this evening about this.”