Desperado

by Hardesty Victoria; Perez Nancy;

  Under the circumstances, Padilla and Arias were both very nervous about this flight but felt much better after talking to the Air Marshals who boarded the flight with them. As was done before, Arias and Padilla with Nyland were boarded before any other passengers. The Air Marshals and Nyland’s girlfriend were next. When they were ready, the balance of the passengers for the flight were finally allowed to board the plane.

  Despite the misgivings of Padilla and Arias and the Air Marshals, the flight to Denver was a boring five hours long. Nothing happened. The plane did not blow up from an explosive in the baggage department. No missile hit the plane and brought it down. They landed in Denver on schedule and as usual. Regular passengers were allowed to get off the plane first. The Air Marshals and Padilla with Arias deplaned with Nyland and Jessica. She never spoke one word to Nyland since they left the Police Station in Nassau.

  They were met at the terminal entrance by Beau Collier and several members of the Denver P.D. Beau wanted a word with Padilla and Arias and he wanted a chance to talk to Jessica. The Denver Officers whisked Nyland off into a patrol car on his way to lock-up at the Denver P.D. headquarters where he would be put back on suicide watch with an officer checking on him every 15 minutes until he left their custody.

  Beau Collier pulled Jessica aside to talk to her. “I understand this has been quite an ordeal for you. I don’t blame you for being upset. I just need you to talk to me about it for a minute,” he told her.

  “What in the heck do you want me to say? I was stupid. I got mixed up with the wrong guy. I’m going to be sorry about this for the rest of my life,” she told him, not able to meet his eyes.

  “Look at me, will you?” he asked her. “Lots of women make mistakes. It’s not a crime unless they are unwilling to help us put away the men who lead them into trouble. I understand you have been very cooperative. What I need from you is your address and your phone numbers so we can reach you if we need you to testify during his trial. I realize you didn’t know much, but what you do know may help us. Are you at least willing to do that?” he smiled at her with his best political campaign winning smile.

  She looked at him with a sheepish grin. He was charming, after all. “Of course. I will leave you with my address, one for my mother and all my phone numbers. I’d be glad to testify to what little I know just to get on with my life. Thank you for not treating me like a criminal.”

  With that, Jessica left the airport free as a bird. When she stepped outside into the sunlight, she looked down at her left hand and admired the large diamond sparkling on her ring finger there. She wondered how much she could get for that and some of the other jewelry David Nyland had showered her with over the past few months. She smiled as she thought of all that lovely money.

  Nyland was another story altogether. He was stuffed in a police cruiser and hauled off to police headquarters and a very small jail cell until his trial came up. He was allowed his one phone call, which went to a sleazy lawyer who’d agreed to take his case. He had no access to money so he had to work with what was in his checking account at the time. The rest of his money was in accounts offshore where account numbers and passwords were needed for access. That was hidden money and he would never use the Police Department phone to call for it. The 15-minute check-ups gave him some comfort. He knew Henry Babcock without a doubt wanted him dead.

  Beau Collier interviewed David Nyland the following day. He needed concrete proof that Henry Babcock was behind all the terror and the destruction. Nyland gave him as much information on Babcock as he had willingly. He gave up bank account numbers and told him about various deposits made by wire transfer for jobs he’d done for Mr. Babcock. He picked Babcock’s photo out of a six-photo lineup of businessmen in suits. He’d only met the man one time, but he never forgot that face or those cold eyes. He knew if he gave law enforcement enough information they could verify, it might get Mr. Babcock put somewhere he couldn’t reach him. But he didn’t want to give up all his accounts. He’d done work for others besides Babcock. If there was a chance of him getting out of jail before he died, he wanted that money to live on. He would use his local accounts to pay his local lawyer, then get him to grab money out of one off-shore account so he could buy a real defense. That account had no previous wire transfers from any of his clients so if law enforcement found out about it, they couldn’t find the sources and his clients would be protected. He used many names and numbers to keep track and they were stored all in his head. He didn’t write things down so no one could find them. He was very careful about some things but he’d really done a bad job on the tree fire.

  The District Attorney began sifting through the paperwork found in Nyland’s townhouse. They found Nyland’s fire making materials and evidence of his lavish lifestyle but nothing to show where the money originated except for a confirmation of the wire transfer Babcock made in addition to the package of cash he’d sent Nyland for burning his trees. They found the map Babcock sent him showing him the location of the four trees he wanted burned down. That would need confirmation it was drawn by Babcock himself, but they needed to get him into custody to have a handwriting expert go over it. With the information he’d gotten from his interview with Nyland, the identification of Babcock that Nyland gave him, and the wire transfer confirmation, he talked to the State Attorney General and got an arrest warrant for Mr. Henry Babcock of San Francisco, California. He called Detective Padilla. “You and Arias up for another flight?” he asked when Padilla answered his phone.

  “As long as it’s not to the Bahamas without my wife,” quipped Padilla. “I’m getting no end of grief about that.”

  “Let’s wrap this arson case up. We have enough information about the Arsonist and who hired him to get this into court and get convictions for both of them. I need you and Arias to take an arrest warrant to San Francisco and pick up Henry Babcock,” Beau Collier told him. “Our Attorney General has already been in touch with his counterpart in California. It’s a go.”

  “Wow, that was fast,” Padilla said. “Let’s get us some more convictions!”

  Padilla and Arias were on a flight from Denver to San Francisco two hours later. It was a short flight of an hour and a half. They were met at the terminal by two San Francisco Police Detectives who drove them to Babcock’s headquarters building. They passed by the reception desk and all four of them took the elevator to the top floor. They brushed right on by Mr. Babcock’s protesting secretary and stormed into his private office. Henry Babcock was on the phone when they entered. Padilla walked to his desk and pushed the receiver switch on the phone to disconnect the call. “Mr. Henry Babcock, I presume?” he said to the man seated at the desk.

  Henry was furious at the interruption. His face got very red very quickly. “How dare you barge into my office!” he screamed at the four men.

  All four of the men turned the lapels of their jackets around so Mr. Babcock could see their badges. They said nothing. The blood drained from Henry’s face as quickly as it rose up. “What do you want?” he asked.

  Padilla told him, “Stand up, Mr. Babcock, and turn around. I need to handcuff you. You are under arrest for arson, murder, and destruction of public property. I will leave a copy of the warrant on your desk here,” as he laid the warrant in front of the man.

  “You can’t do this to me!” Henry tried to scream at them but it came out like a squawk.

  “Yes, we can. And these fine officers of the San Francisco Police Department are here to see we do it right. Please stand up and turn around. Detective Arias will read you your rights. We have a plane to catch so let’s get on with this,” Padilla said sternly.

  Henry Babcock looked like he was about to faint, but slowly pushed himself back from his desk and stood up. He turned around and looked out the window behind his desk at the rest of the City by the Bay he loved so much. While he soaked in the view for perhaps the last time, Padilla came up behind him and snapped on the handcuffs, then spun him around. He held one of Babcock’s arms while
Arias held the other and the four men escorted him out of his office, down the elevator, and into the squad car at the curb. The San Francisco cops drove them back to the airport and escorted them to their flight, not leaving until Henry Babcock was seated on the plane.

  Padilla leaned over Babcock to talk to Arias. “I checked with the Credit Union when we got back from the Bahamas. I’ve got enough to take my wife on that vacation. I called Mr. Vickers at The Reef. He said he would take care of us, just name the dates. I can’t wait to call him after we’re done here. Have you thought about joining us for a week of laying around with your wife?”

  “Heck, yes. Pauline and I will join you if I have to borrow the money,” Arias said. Let’s have dinner together and go over some dates. I’m looking forward to it after this case.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  With the fire controlled and nearly out, the kids back where they belonged, and the reporters not hanging around the front gate, things slowly got back to normal at Cold Water Creek Ranch. Chris got back into his training routine, Sharon got back to her paperwork, and Todd helped his dad on the ranch. Ranch employees returned to work. The only thing different now was Hilda. She agreed to stay with the O’Neal’s temporarily while she thought about whether to rebuild her home on her own property. She knew it would never be the same as the one Jan built for them so many years ago. There was too much of Jan’s personal hand in the construction of their home.

  Her son and her daughter insisted she come live with them. Hilda rejected their pleas outright. She was not going to move in with her son and spend most of her time alone in his house. She couldn’t imagine climbing the stairs more than once a day in her daughter’s home and was afraid the day would come when she couldn’t even make the trip once a day. Her old hips and knees were wearing out from a lifetime of use.

  She enjoyed the peace and quiet of the space she occupied in the O’Neal’s home. She discovered the private entrance also included a small patio where she could sit outside on a nice day and enjoy the fresh air. She came to love having her morning coffee there. It gave her a sense of privacy while at the same time allowed Chris and Sharon their own time together.

  Sharon came in to make lunch for the family and found Hilda had it nearly ready. She thanked Hilda for stepping in. Hilda suggested she make that a part of her repayment to the O’Neal’s for letting her stay with them temporarily. Sharon took that opportunity to extend the invitation to stay permanently. She asked if Hilda could help her in the kitchen with meals and maybe help her with some of the paperwork in the barn. Hilda couldn’t believe her good fortune. She loved the O’Neal’s and loved her suite of rooms in their home. She was much happier here than she’d been in her own home after Jan passed away. She didn’t feel so all alone.

  With Show Season still underway until late fall, Hilda needed to get copies of Desperado’s registration papers. The ones she had burned in the fire. Those papers were needed with the entry forms and fees every time Desperado was entered in a show. She asked Sharon to take her into Boulder to the Arabian Horse Registry, so she could get duplicate copies. She needed to get the duplicate for Annabella too.

  Sharon and Hilda planned to make it an entire day with shopping in Denver when they got Hilda’s business taken care of. There were stores in Denver they both loved, but with the two-hour drive to get there, they didn’t get many opportunities. It only took Hilda a few minutes to get the duplicate papers she needed, and they were off to shop. Sharon and Hilda left things in the refrigerator for Todd and Chris so they didn’t starve in their absence. They had a great time in Denver, stopping in a nice restaurant for dinner before the drive home.

  “You know,” Hilda began, “I’ve really enjoyed living with you, Chris and Todd. It gives me something to do every day and its stuff I love doing. I just want you to know how much I appreciate you letting me stay with you.”

  Sharon smiled across the dining table at her. “We’ve really enjoyed having you with us too. Todd thinks of you as the grandmother he didn’t get to grow up with. You spoil him with cookies! Of course, Chris and I enjoy them too. I don’t remember how I ever got along without your help. You always know what needs doing and do it. I’ve actually had some time to read a couple of books I’ve wanted to read but never had time for. You’re a keeper. We want you to stay.”

  “I do have my own income and I’d like to contribute to the household expense from now on. I use things in the house. My rooms cost you money to heat and cool. I use water and things like that so I’m going to give you a check every month when my pension money comes in. You can do what you want with it. If you don’t need it for household expenses, why don’t you put it away for Todd’s college fund?”

  “Hilda, just you being there and doing what you do is contribution enough for me. I’ll talk to Chris about it, but the college fund is a good idea. I don’t feel right taking money from you.”

  “Sharon, Jan did not leave me penniless. The insurance company is going to settle on my property and I will have that too. I think my own kids are waiting to get their hands on it but I’ve decided they will have to wait a while longer. I might enjoy spending it myself and I’m not going anywhere soon,” she laughed.

  “Chris and I will talk about it later tonight and I’ll talk to you again in the morning,” Sharon said. “Now let’s finish up this delicious dinner while it’s still hot and then get on the road for home.”

  Desperado spent a lot of time talking to Aces after they got home from the canyon. Aces had a “hero worship” relationship with Desperado that Desperado didn’t understand. The first night home, Chris had Aces stabled directly across the aisle from Desperado. Aces spent so much time just staring at him he finally spoke up about it. “What are you looking at, Aces?”

  “I’m so happy you were with us during the fire and all. I don’t know if we’d have figured out where to go or how to survive. Thank you for leading us,” Aces said quietly and almost reverently.

  “Oh, for Pete’s sake Aces, didn’t I tell you guys I wouldn’t have known where to go either if the little doe hadn’t told me about the canyon? Hey, my own skin was on the line too not to mention Todd and Charlie and all the others. You took your life in your hands when we chased that cougar out of the canyon. I saw you. You were right behind me with Ali,” Desperado told him.

  “Yes, but it was your idea to chase him in the first place,” Aces reminded him. “I would have run the other way if you hadn’t come up with that idea.”

  “You give me way too much credit, Aces. I just figured if one or two of us turned the tables on him, he’d be the one running away instead of us. And, it did work didn’t it?”

  “Yeah, but you stepped up without anyone asking you and took the first lead out on the road so we could get home,” Aces said.

  “Well, I wanted to get home and we couldn’t all lead. I just stepped up so we could get started. And you took over the lead when Max got tired. You took your turn at leading us through the potholes, boulders, and stumps. You did just as good a job at that as I did, or any of the rest of us,” Desperado told him. “Don’t discredit yourself. You were brave and strong when you needed to be.”

  “I’m not sure I ever want to go on a trail ride again after this,” Aces told him.

  “Oh, now. Don’t be silly! You love trail rides with Charlie. You know you do! None of this would have happened if it weren’t for those two silly girls. They are in California now. You stuck with me and Todd, Becky and Ali, Maryann and Quesa and the others. Todd and Brody were right. They couldn’t go back to the ranch and leave those girls out in the forest like that. What would have happened to them if a bull elk stepped out in front of them? They wouldn’t have known what to do. Charlie is a sensible boy. He doesn’t take chances like that and you know it. Neither does Todd or Becky when she’s here. We’ll still have nice rides together as long as I’m here,” Desperado told him.

  “What do you mean, as long as you are here?” Aces asked in surprise.<
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  “Hilda is my owner, you know. Todd is just my rider even though I love him dearly. He doesn’t own me. If something happens to Hilda, her children will sell me in a flash. I won’t have any choice in that nor will I have any choice where I end up. I will probably never see you or Todd again,” Desperado explained with pain in his heart.

  “What makes you think something is going to happen to Hilda anyway?” Aces asked.

  “She’s getting old. When people get as old as she is, they begin to get sick and then they die. Do you know what that means?” Desperado asked.

  “Don’t think I’ve ever thought about that. What does that mean?”

  “When people die, like when other animals die, the life force goes out of them. Their spirit leaves their body and they are no more. They can’t talk. They can’t walk. They can’t get up and they can’t move. I understand people do to those dead bodies the same thing they do when their dog or cat dies. I know you’ve seen it. They dig a hole and put the body in it and cover it with dirt. They call it bury. The point is, they are not here with us any longer. They can’t say what is going to happen to things they own and things they loved when they lived. I think their relatives do all that. And I’ve heard Hilda’s children talking about selling me when Hilda dies.”

  “Well, Hilda is a tough lady. I don’t think she is going to die anytime soon. Stop worrying about it, Desperado. Think about all the fun you will have with your Todd instead,” Aces yawned. “Think I’m going to get some sleep now. You get some yourself, okay? I don’t think you are going anywhere for a long time unless it’s to the next show.”

  Hilda checked her calendar every morning, not just to see what day it was but she penciled in special days, like birthdays and anniversaries on her calendar. She looked and saw that Todd’s birthday was in three days. That gave her time to plan. It was her habit to make the birthday person their favorite meal for dinner, bake a beautiful birthday cake and add in some ice cream and birthday candles for the celebration. Presents came after the cake and ice cream. She mentioned it to Sharon that morning after Todd left to go to the barn.