Both men nodded.
“Don’t worry. We know how to keep our mouths shut,” Charlie said.
“Camera ready?! Bob asked.
“Loaded and set up,” Cotton said.
A few minutes later they heard the sound of keys rattling and saw the door open. They watched as Luttrell stepped inside alone. He took off his light gray suit coat and placed it on a hanger and hung it up inside the small closet. He next untied his navy blue tie and tossed it on a small round table near the bed. The federal prosecutor sat on the edge of his bed, seemingly to relax as he opened a fresh pack of Camels. He smoked one cigarette before a knock on the door got his attention.
Bob’s eye widened a little when he saw Joe Milner walk in the room and hand an envelope to Luttrell, who opened it immediately.
“It’s all there,” Joe said.
“I trust you Joe — it’s your father who has a tough time letting go of the folding money,” Luttrell said with a smirk.
“Just so you know, he keeps track of it in red ledger locked in his wall safe. He wants a record of how much you’ll owe him. And he’s getting impatient,” Joe said.
“Yeah? I have a ledger of my own. A black one. I keep a record of how much I get paid and how much my friends get paid — just in case I need to remind them,” Luttrell said.
In the next room, Cotton snapped photo after photo as Bob scribbled notes.
Joe walked over to a small cabinet and pulled out a bottle of Johnny Walker Red. He held up a glass and Luttrell nodded.
“Make mine a double,” he said.
Joe poured a double in each glass and walked back over and handed one to the prosecutor.
“As I said, my father is getting impatient. He wants Elkins in jail in at the very least out of the way. And for what he’s paid you, he expects results — and rightfully so,” Joe said before taking a sip of the scotch. He held it in his mouth and savored it as he let it slowly burn down his throat and chest.
“Tell the old man to rest easy. We’re close to forcing Elkins into making a mistake and when he does, I’ll see to it that his life in prison will be hell. If he ever gets out he’ll be an old and broken man. Your father will take his fortune and his contracts with that dago guy in Chicago and that Irish trash in Boston,” Luttrell assured him.
Joe smiled.
“Good. I’m so glad to hear it. Now that business is out of the way, I’m ready for some pleasure,” he said as sat the glass of scotch on the little round table and produced a small brown bottle from his pocket as the prosecutor rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
Joe looked at Luttrell. “Where are they?”
The prosecutor gulped the remaining contents of the glass and placed it on the table next to the other glass. Before he could respond, there was a knock on the door. Luttrell smiled.
“Right on time,” he said as he opened the door and five young women entered the room.
“Ladies, I’m grateful to Mr. Wately for having me over to your school today to talk your class and I’ll to thank him personally for sending you ladies over tonight. It’s important for you to get to know your government officials,” he said as the girls smiled shyly.
“Please have a seat and make yourselves comfortable,” Luttrell said. “This is... Joe. He’s a friend and supporter in the fight against crime.”
The girls all said hello to Joe as someone knocked on the door.
Luttrell answered the door. A man pushing a cart with a pitcher of lemonade and tray of cookies stepped in.
“It looks as though our refreshments have arrived. Give me a moment to prepare a glass for each of you,” Luttrell said as he pushed the cart to the far side of the room.
“You ladies know my name. What’s yours?” Joe asked as he pointed to a slim redheaded girl.
“My name is Patty,” she said.
“And how old are you Party?” He asked.
“I’m twelve,” she said.
Joe smiled brightly.
“Twelve! That’s a wonderful age,” he said as she smiled. “Are the rest of you twelve as well?”
The next to her, a blonde with a similar build shook her head.
“I’m thirteen and so are they,” she said, nodding to the other three girls.
Joe smiled again.
“And what’s your name?” He asked.
“My name is Ann,” the blonde girl answered.
As Joe was talking to the girls Cotton snapped pictures of Luttrell pouring the lemonade. He noticed as Luttrell opened the brown bottle and dropped a white tablet in each of the five glasses.
Bob saw it too.
Cotton continued to snap away. Bob stopped taking notes as the photographer looked over at him and broke his own rule when he whispered, “We’ve got to stop this.”
Cotton shook his head.
“Not yet,” he whispered.
Bob started to argue but the photographer held up a hand and pointed to the mirror. They watched as the girls started drinking the lemonade. In a couple of minutes all five were unconscious.
“I’ve got to hand it to you. This is a great plan. We can play all we want and the girls never know so they can’t talk,” Luttrell said as he started undressing the redheaded girl.
“No. She’s mine. You take the blonde,” Joe said as Luttrell shrugged.
“You know when we ruin Elkins, there’ll be plenty of money to go around. My family can make you governor. And we can do this in the Governor’s Mansion,” Joe said as Luttrell made a muted sound of agreement as he looked at the nude body of the thirteen year old. “We’ll let Lee kill a few of these union organizers and you can pardon him,” Joe continued.
Bob spoke up again.
“We’ve got to stop this,” he whispered.
“That ought to be enough,” Cotton whispered as he snapped a few pictures of Joe stripping the twelve year old.
About that time, someone pounded on Luttrell’s door.
“It’s me!” A coarse voice said loudly.
Joe and Luttrell rolled off of the bed and started getting dressed as the girls covered up. Bob recognized the voice.
“Open up Luttrell! I don’t care if you’re dressed or not!” Said the man in the hall.
Wearing just his boxers and his unbuttoned white shirt, Luttrell made his way to the door and opened it. Lee walked into the room and closed the door behind him.
“I came here to let you know Elkins is in Crystal Springs. Him and his whore are staying with Dr. Fulton tonight,” Lee said.
“Dr. Fulton?” Luttrell asked.
“Local doctor. I understand they’re old friends. And he’s also the brother of a pain in the ass reporter,” Joe said.
“The guy from the Courier?” Luttrell asked.
“That’s the one,” Lee said.
Luttrell looked worried.
“What’s the matter? Have a secret he might find out?” Lee asked.
Luttrell shook his head.
“So the fact that Elkins is in Crystal Springs means what?” Luttrell asked.
“He owns a dairy farm here. I’ll bet he’s here to check on whiskey he’s hiding there. Let’s get warrants for that farm as well as Fulton’s house. Let’s rattle his cage. If we can’t get to Elkins we can get to his friends. Sooner or later, he’ll give in because he won’t like what we’re gonna do to them,” Lee said.
“I don’t know about messing with the family of a respected doctor. That could backfire on us,” Luttrell said.
Lee looked at him in disgust.
“Gutless. Don’t you understand? We get to him through his brother. We trump up some charges and threaten ruining the good doctor. His brother will play ball with us then to save him. We’ll not only get Elkins once and for all but we’ll have the rest of the state thanking us for it,” Lee said. “Now, about those warrants...,” Lee said.
“First thing in the morning. I’ll call the circuit judge and we’ll get everything we need,” Luttrell said.
“Why not ton
ight? What we’re paying Judge Andrews he ought to be glad to help us out. You two can leave your jail bait long enough for that,” Lee said.
“Because judges — bought and paid for or not — do not like being dragged out of bed to sign search warrants that can wait a few hours,” Luttrell argued. “Besides, we would have a hard time getting enough newspapermen out tonight to make the kind of splash we want to make.”
Lee shrugged.
“Tonight, tomorrow — as long as we get him,” he said.
“Count on it,” Luttrell assured him.
“In that case, I’ll call on one of my lady friends and celebrate tonight. And you get plenty of rest. Look real sharp for the cameras. I want your picture on the front page of every newspaper in the Southeast. Do this right and everybody in Kentucky will know your name,” Lee said.
“If you’re right, we’ll end this Elkins matter tomorrow. You have my word,” Luttrell said.
Lee nodded.
“Make the payment yet?” He asked Joe.
“Done,” Joe said.
“Good. Glad to see you finally getting a piece of ass no matter how young. It’s time you started acting like a man and appreciating the good things in life,” he said.
“Err, yes,” Joe said as his face reddened slightly.
“I’ll be on your office at eight o’clock,” Lee said to Luttrell as looked at the girls. “You probably need to sleep tonight. With that snoopy reporter in town, this is not a chance you want to take.”
Luttrell frowned and then nodded.
“Lee’s right,” he sighed. “Call Wately and have him pick them up.”
Joe looked frustrated but agreed.
“Maybe we can get him to get them together again for us tomorrow night,” Luttrell said.
“As long we pay him it shouldn’t be a problem,” Joe said.
“Sick bastards,” Lee said with a laugh as he left.
***
After Lee left and the girls were picked up, Joe left as well. Bob pointed to the door and the other three quietly moved to the door and left. No one spoke until they exited out the back of the hotel and into the black Ford A.C. and Charlie had waiting.
“Get to my brother’s house,” Bob told A.C. from the backseat and then turned to Cotton. “I used to work for the local paper. I’ll call the editor and he’ll let you use the darkroom. We need those pictures as soon as possible.”
“I’ve seen some sick things in my life, but that back there...that might be the worst of the lot,” Charlie said.
“When I was in France, one of the officers got caught with young French girl like that. One of the enlisted men beat him to within an inch of his life,” Cotton said.
“Oh yeah? I’m surprised he didn’t kill him,” A.C. said.
“He probably would’ve but a colonel wanted him arrested and held for court martial,” Cotton said.
“What happened to him after that?” Charlie asked.
“I don’t know. We just went back on the line short one captain,” Cotton said.
“Sick people,” Charlie muttered.
“I think we all agree on that,” Bob said.
“Yes we do,” Cotton said quickly as A.C. and Charlie chimed in agreement almost as quickly.
In a matter of minutes they arrived at John’s house. Standing on the porch, Bob explained in great detail what they witnessed at the hotel, often referring to his notes.
Both Ed and John sat slack— jawed. The bribery was no surprise. The other activity shocked them.
“And you took pictures? Of all of it?” Ed asked Cotton.
“Yes I did,” Cotton said.
“Good. We need to clip their wings,” John said.
“I didn’t mean to make you and your family a target,” Ed said.
“You didn’t. Luttrell and the Milners are targetin’ anybody close to you. They’re tryin’ to crush anything on their path,” John said.
“They won’t now,” Bob said.
Ed laughed.
“No, we got their balls in a vice and we’re gonna squeeze until they scream and pop,” he said.
“You have a plan?” John asked.
“Let’s get them pictures developed first and see what we have. Then I’ll share it with you,” Ed said. “In the meantime, I need to see Charlie and A.C. I have another job for them.”
***
Jeff sat at his dining room table sipping coffee. He was in a great mood; reveling in the news Lee just delivered to him.
“So you’ll get the warrants this morning?” Jeff asked.
“By night we could have Elkins and Fulton right where we want them,” Lee said with a nasty smile. “I want to make Elkins beg and I want Fulton to tell everybody how the mighty Ed Elkins cried like a baby and begged for mercy.”
Jeff was delighted.
“That does sound nice. Then we’ll make write a few stories discrediting the union organizers around here,” he said. “By the way, have you seen your brother?”
“Not since last night,” Lee said.
“He hasn’t been around much in the past few months. And when he has, he’s looked like he’s not sleeping much. He was up and gone for Newman early this morning,” Jeff said.
“Looked like him and Luttrell were busy trying all of the goods last night,” Lee said.
“Is that a fact?” Jeff asked.
“Yeah. I was the same way at his age. He’ll slow down soon but it’s good to know we have something in common,” Lee said.
“All brothers should have some common interests. Keep me apprised about the warrants,” Jeff said.
***
Luttrell was feeling pretty good when he arrived at his office. He hopped out of the car carrying his briefcase as a deputy U.S. Marshall followed him closely.
He walked into his office and was what he saw left him speechless. There sat Ed Elkins along with three other men he did not know. Based upon their size, he assumed them to be bodyguards.
“What are you doing here? Come to turn yourself in and confess to your crimes?” Luttrell asked.
Ed smiled.
“Confession is good for the soul — or so I’m told,” he said. “Actually, I want to introduce you to a couple of people — this is Dr. John Fulton, his brother, Bob Fulton of the Lexington Courier, and Cotton LeBeau, also of the Courier.”
Luttrell eyed them curiously.
“What can I do for you gentlemen? Are you here to attest to Mr. Elkins’ character?” Luttrell asked with a smirk.
The Fultons remained expressionless as Ed grinned broadly.
“No sir, but we need to talk — preferably alone,” Bob said as he handed a large brown envelope to Luttrell.
“Alone? I realize people respect you Mr. Fulton but —” his voice stopped when he saw the photo he partially pulled from the envelope. He quickly shoved it back inside.
“Feel like talkin’ now?” Ed asked.
Suddenly pale and shaken, Luttrell directed them to his office.
“We are not to be disturbed,” he said to his secretary as he held the office door.
“What about Mr. Milner?” She asked.
“We are not to be disturbed by anyone! That means anyone!” Luttrell looked to the marshal. “Don’t let anyone else in here until I tell you.”
As Luttrell closed the door, Ed pointed to the envelope.
“We have plenty more in case you’re wonderin’,” he said.
“How did you get this?” Luttrell demanded.
“Don’t matter. What does matter is that we have it,” Ed said.
“What do you want?” Luttrell asked through gritted teeth.
“Your confession and cooperation,” Bob said.
“My what?” Luttrell asked in disbelief.
“We want you to confess to acceptin’ bribes from the Milners and we want you to testify against them when they go to court and we want to see your little black ledger,” Bob said.
“Are you insane? I’ll be ruined. I’ll be disbarred and wi
ll likely go to federal prison — and that’s if I’m lucky. Lee James Milner would likely murder me,” Luttrell said.
“Need I remind you about the pictures?” Ed asked.
“What if I decide to take my chances in court? I think I can beat this. You’re a bootlegger and you’re reporter on the payroll of organized crime attempting to frame an upright prosecutor,” Luttrell said, attempting to regain some semblance of an upper hand in the argument.
John looked him in the eye.
“No. You’re a man who enjoys raping little girls while he’s acceptin’ bribes from Joe Milner on behalf of his family. Can you beat it in court? Maybe. But it’ll cost you your marriage, your children, your career, and your life because the Milners will have you killed anyway for exposin’ them and their twisted son. And know this: Even if you survive the all of that, I’ll hunt you down myself and make sure you die slowly and painfully. Remember, I’m a doctor and I can keep you alive for a long time,” he said, his voice dripping with venom.
Ed cleared his throat.
“And if you think you’re smarter than I am, guess again,” he said as he held up a previously hidden microphone with wires dangling out of it.
Luttrell looked crushed.
“Now, as I understand, you were planning on calling Judge Andrews for some warrants this mornin’. You’re not gonna do that. The judge will see his career end soon enough — with your help,” Ed said.
Bob didn’t think it was possible, but Luttrell turned even paler.
“You can’t make me,” he said in a hoarse whisper. Bob handed him several typewritten pages.
“It’s a story explain’ what those pictures show. You have less than fifteen minutes to decide. That’s the story that will go statewide — and I dare say — nationwide if I don’t place a call to kill it,” he said as he handed another stack of typewritten pages. “And that’s a story outlining bribery and how the Milners targeted an innocent man and used you to do it. If I place the call that will be the story that is filed.”
“I suggest you resign immediately and take the next train to Lexington in federal custody,” John said.
“Make up your mind. If you say no, your family and the Department of Justice will get plenty of these pictures,” Ed said.
Moonshine, Coal, and Hope Page 14