by Maggie Wells
“You’ve got another box of snakes.” She complained so loudly, Simon wanted to hug her. “I thought you told him you weren’t going to accept any more packages on his behalf.”
Smirking, Simon stepped into the foyer. A shipping box nearly twice the size of the last one sat at the feet of a uniformed delivery driver. The man practically threw the electronic tablet at Simon.
“I need a signature,” he said with a hint of desperation.
“Of course.” Simon took the stylus the man offered and scrawled his name in the signature window. “Thank you.” The man took his tablet back and scuttled out the front door.
Pitching his voice loud enough for the people in the next room to hear, he said, “I did inform our client we did not wish to accept any additional packages on his behalf, but he told me this one was already in transit and reminded me he has our firm on retainer to act on his behalf.”
“Doesn’t make you his errand boy,” Dora snapped.
“No,” Simon replied, dropping his voice to a more intimate level. “It means he has a certain amount of say in the services he expects me to provide for him.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and started snapping photos of the box. “You go on and settle in. I’ll finish up in here.”
Dora jerked her chin toward the conference room. “Who are you meeting with so early?”
“It’s Harrison Hayes, Ben Kinsella and Lori Cabrera,” he said, slipping the phone back into his pocket. He eyed the box, mentally psyching himself up to lift it.
“You should tell them what he’s been shipping in here,” she said with a huff.
“It’s not illegal,” he reminded her, hoisting the box.
Not only was it larger, it was also heavier than the last. Either the man had a dozen or so baby snakes in there or one fairly large one. He grimaced and held the box away from his body as he carried it into the conference room.
“Sorry,” he said, placing the box on the credenza situated parallel to the conference table. The box was clearly marked. He made sure the label was facing them, plain as day. Plastering a smile on his face, he nodded to his guests. “Well, I guess we should all get on with our busy days.”
Lori shot him an incredulous look. “Seriously? You took delivery of what appears to be a box of snakes and you don’t expect us to ask questions about it?”
“You can ask whatever questions you need to ask,” he replied, opening his hands in an invitation for them to bring them on. “Whether I can answer them is a different matter.”
“Does that box have what I think it has in it?” she persisted.
“I cannot even pretend to be able to read your mind, Deputy,” he said with a placid smile.
“You don’t have to ask,” Harry pointed out. “It says so right there it’s a boa constrictor.”
“Yes, I believe they have to label all shipments of live reptiles,” Simon informed him.
“I guess we don’t have to ask who it’s for,” Ben said, rising from his seat.
“I can’t say, anyway,” Simon said, keeping his eyes locked on the sheriff.
“Do your clients regularly ship things to you?” Hayes asked, his gaze sharpening.
“No.” Simon shook his head. “Only one client, and it’s only been a couple of times when he’s been away and unable to accept delivery.” He made a point of glancing at the box. “Makes Dora uncomfortable, though, so I’ll keep the box in here until my client gets back later today.”
Hayes exchanged a glance with Ben.
Lori stared at him, her face a mask of stark disbelief. “You know this guy is up to no good. I can’t understand how you can continue to defend him, much less sign your name to packages delivered to him. Doesn’t that put you at risk?”
Simon caught the note of worry in her admonishment, and a sort of cool calm washed over him. It was the polar opposite of the heat he felt when he kissed her, but it pleased him all the same. Her worry meant she cared, and if she cared, he could let go of his own worries.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, he waved it at her. “I’ve taken photos of anything I signed for, so I can show my client the packaging was intact upon delivery and upon transfer to its rightful owner. On the advice of my attorney,” he added with a sly smile.
“Good thinking.” Hayes stood, and Simon watched as the district attorney and the sheriff both made their way around the opposite end of the conference table. They’d pass right by the box on the credenza on their way out, and he wouldn’t have to say a word about it.
Lori stayed stubbornly planted, her eyes darting nervously from Simon to Ben and back again when the two men passed by her. Simon wanted to reach out to her, tell her this was all a part of his plan. Then again, it wasn’t much of a plan to brag on.
“Ben, I hear you have a friend who’s new to town. Boy, that can be rough around here,” Simon said, letting out a low whistle.
The sheriff’s step slowed, and he glanced over at Lori, surprise and bewilderment written all over his face. Simon leaped in to save her the trouble of having to answer to her boss. “Marlee mentioned it when we had lunch the other day. Then Dora reported back to Wendell the new lady Marlee hired looked like a Fed.” He chuckled. “Anyway, you and I know how hard it can be when you’re the new kid in town.” He shot a pointed glance at the box, then met the sheriff’s steady gaze again. “You should bring her by sometime to introduce her. Maybe this afternoon. I don’t have anything going on until my client swings by to get his box.”
* * *
THE MINUTE THEY left Simon’s office, Ben unclipped his phone and started thumbing through the screens. Lori shot Hayes a look. “You get what he’s doing, don’t you?”
Harrison gave a short nod. “Yep.”
“He could get in trouble, couldn’t he? I mean, big trouble,” she said worriedly. “Last night, he said something about being disbarred.”
“He won’t be disbarred,” Harry answered distractedly. “His client might fire him, file a grievance or make things difficult for him, but he won’t be disbarred. He’s playing this smart.”
“Not if he wants to have a career in politics,” she answered.
Hayes faced her directly. “Does he? When did he tell you he did? I got the impression the two of you didn’t exactly trade confidences.”
“Alicia’s going to come hang out with me this afternoon,” Ben announced, ending the call. “I’ll take her around, introduce her to some folks.”
“What?” Lori asked, baffled by Ben’s willingness to play along in this murky swamp of a situation.
“Like Simon said,” the sheriff answered with a shrug.
Lori glowered at him, wondering if the sheriff had lost his mind. “Like Simon said,” she hissed, “there’s a boa constrictor in there.” She pointed to the door. “Your friend was the one who told us the DEA suspected Coulter was smuggling drugs using his stupid snakes,” she reminded him, her voice rising.
Ben simply nodded. “Yes, she did. I believe I’ll take her by to meet Simon this afternoon. You never know who we’ll run into while we’re there.”
Hayes patted her arm reassuringly. “I’ll get with Judge Nichols on the paperwork. We’ll need a warrant for the box, once it’s in Coulter’s custody, and another for his property, if the contents of the box give us enough justification.”
She and Ben watched the DA hustling toward the municipal building. “And what am I supposed to do? Nothing?” Lori demanded.
Ben was a step ahead of her. “I need you to interview both Jasmine Jones and Kaylin Bowers, but this time, focus on the snakes. I hate to say this, but I almost think all this stuff he and his guys were pulling with the young girls in the area was sort of a smoke screen. You said yourself Dale didn’t do anything with Jasmine Jones sexually.”
Lori noted the flush darkening the sheriff’s cheeks. “No. She said he didn’t try anything.�
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“Exactly,” Ben said, jabbing a finger at her. “What nineteen-year-old guy doesn’t try to get it on with the girl he’s been flirting with? Those guys knew better. If anyone is good at tightrope walking the law, it’s Coulter. Hell, he could have terrorized and dumped Bella Nunes out on the highway hoping someone would pick her up. Like bait.”
“Bait?”
“To distract us from what was going on.” He paused for a minute. “Maybe call Bella Nunes too. She was the one who got the closest to the snakes themselves.”
Lori shuddered, remembering how scared the girl had been the night she’d picked her up on the highway. “Okay, but what do I ask them?”
Ben tipped his head back. “Is this how all the snakes come in? Does he ship any out? You said something about one of the girls meeting a guy at a tent revival. Do they move the snakes in any other way? Do they let people handle them in the park?” He leaned in to look her in the eye. “I need you to lock down your feelings about Simon and Coulter, and think about the bigger picture. Can you do that?”
“Of course I can,” she snapped, insulted.
Ben didn’t back off. “Good, because I can tell you I wasn’t too great about keeping my feelings for Marlee under wraps when her world was blowing up.”
Lori could feel Ben’s steady gaze boring into her cheekbone. “Okay. Yeah. I get you,” she said at last.
“There’s no shame in caring about people, Lori, but right now we have an open window and a clear shot,” he said gruffly. “We need every scrap of information those girls might have, and you are the best person for extracting it. I need you to look past the smoke screen. We need you sharpshooter focused, because moving or not, the target is the same.”
She nodded once. “Right. I’m on it.”
Ben clapped her on the shoulder and prodded her toward the office. “Come on.”
Lori shook her head. “No. I’m going to have to get parental permission to speak to Kaylin and Jas. I’m going to walk over to the Joneses’ right now. They told me they’d be taking a day or two to work things through.”
“Okay, good.” He hooked his sheriff’s department ball cap onto his head and raised a hand in farewell. “Call me with any info. I’ll get Alicia in and we’ll start going over how we want to approach this.”
Lori took about three steps in the opposite direction, then cast a concerned glance at the renovated home where Wendell had long ago established the Wingate Law Firm and Simon fought to keep it alive. She didn’t have time to go back in to see him. It peeved her to think she’d been taken in by Samuel Coulter’s smoke and mirrors, but she didn’t have time for ego indulgence. Simon had given them this opportunity, and she was determined to make the most of it.
Chapter Fifteen
Simon tried not to fidget under Special Agent Alicia Simmons’s unflinching stare, but he was fighting a losing battle. Tall and solid, with a no-nonsense manner, the woman was intimidating.
“I am sure you are aware most of the information Deputy Cabrera collected from the young women who’d been involved with the Reptile Rendezvous or its employees is hearsay and inadmissible, but it does paint a slightly clearer picture. From what we can gather, Coulter uses the reptiles he claims to nurture as little more than snakeskin suitcases.”
Simon felt his stomach roll over. “Allegedly,” he said quietly.
Special Agent Simmons obligingly added the word. “I’m sorry. Coulter allegedly uses his business as a front for moving product coming in from Mexico and Colombia. We believe the primary means of entry to be via cruise ship, but it’s not unusual to fly it in.” She shared a wan smile with Ben. “Illegal substances coming into the country are usually easier to catch. Distribution, well, that’s where we play Whac-A-Mole.”
“The DEA believes Samuel Coulter is a much bigger player than his operation here in Georgia would let on,” Ben informed him. “He has a number of ways to move product from South Florida. He’s sort of a high-level middleman, connecting the larger organizations who import it with existing distribution networks.”
Alicia Simmons picked the thread up again. “He has established ties to Jacksonville, Florida, and Atlanta, but we believe he has become the leading supplier feeding the back roads leading up through the Appalachians.”
“Doesn’t seem there’d be much money in moving it through the mountains,” Simon commented with a frown.
“More people get a cut in the cities,” Alicia explained with a shrug. “Eastern Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio... The rural communities in these states have been ravaged by opiate addiction.” She leveled a glare at him. “Your client has finally made himself the kingpin he’s always wanted to be.”
Simon opened his mouth, then closed it again when he felt Ben’s hand land heavy on his shoulder.
“You don’t have to do a thing, Simon. Let this happen. The plan is in place. The box has been x-rayed, and we know the specimen in it is more than large enough for him to use for transport. When Coulter comes to collect his parcel, the game warden and I will serve him with the warrant and ask him to cut the tape and open the box. If he refuses, we’ll ask you to open it as his representative.”
A shudder ran through him and Ben must have felt it.
“You only have to cut the tape. Alicia and representatives from the state and US fish and wildlife departments will be on hand. Lori got some good information on the number and kind of snakes coming in and out of there from Kaylin Bowers and Bella Nunes. Enough to persuade Judge Nichols to issue a warrant. Lori and her team are in position to serve the warrant the moment we have Coulter.”
Simon hated the thought of Lori charging in armed with nothing more than a piece of paper and whatever backup Alicia Simmons could scare up on short notice. He couldn’t help feeling it would take an army to bring down a man like Samuel Coulter.
Simon’s phone lit up and Samuel Coulter’s name appeared on the display. “Here he is.”
Ben nodded to it. “Go ahead.”
Simon answered the call, but put his client on speaker so they could all hear. “Hello?”
“Hey, Simon. Got my package?” Coulter asked, his tone jovial.
Irritated, Simon laid it on thick, hoping to come across as conciliatory and eager to please after the previous day’s confrontation. “Your box arrived. Miss Dora took one look at the label and made me put it up in the conference room for safekeeping.” He chuckled, hoping to establish camaraderie. “You keep shippin’ those things here and I’m gonna have to give her a raise. I can barely afford her now,” he complained, pouring on the good-old-boy charm he’d inherited from his father and grandfather.
Coulter chuckled. “Do what you have to do. I honestly don’t understand why people get so squeamish around serpents. They are the most amazing creatures.”
Simon looked up at Ben and Alicia. “To each his or her own.”
“Yes, well, I am less than thirty minutes out. I apologize if I keep you at the office a few minutes after five.”
“No problem,” Simon said, his fake bonhomie sounding hollow to his own ears. “I can certainly hang around awhile.”
“I’ll be there shortly,” Coulter replied.
Simon exhaled when the beeps indicating the end of the call bounced off his office walls. He double-checked the screen. “Well, okay.” He checked his watch and was relieved to see it was well past four o’clock. “Okay, so we have an ETA.”
Ben called Lori’s cell phone directly to relay the information. When he disconnected, Simon frowned at him. “Is she not wearing a radio?”
Ben frowned. “What? Yeah. Of course she is.”
“Why did you call her cell?” Simon asked, nodding to the phone Ben gripped in his hand.
“Because people love to listen in on police band radios.” Ben shot him a glance. “You’d think they’d teach that in ambulance-chaser school.”
> Simon rolled his eyes. “I must have been sick that day.”
Ben smiled and dropped down into one of the conference room chairs, stretching his bulky frame to fill the space, seemingly relaxed. Simon envied the man’s ability to shrug off the stress of this situation. Right now, he felt his skin fit two sizes too small.
“So, what’s going on with you two?” Ben asked.
His tone was so offhand Simon knew the question was anything but casual. He didn’t have any answers himself. How was he supposed to come up with some for Ben?
“Who two?” he parried.
“You and my deputy,” Ben said pointedly.
“I’ve only met Mike the one time, but he seemed decent enough,” Simon replied evenly, unwilling to give himself or Lori away so easily.
“Lori.”
The sheriff spoke her name with such gravity, Simon couldn’t bring himself to foist the man off with flippancy. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly.
“You think something is going on,” Ben concluded.
Simon gave a jerky nod. “Something is going on.”
Silence hung heavy between them, but Simon refused to say anything more on the matter.
“She’s had a rough time of it,” Ben said at last.
“I am aware,” Simon replied quietly.
“And she’s not the type to...”
The other man paused, and Simon wondered which of the many facets of his possible relationship with Lori he would choose to object to first.
“She’s rooted here,” Ben concluded.
“I get it.”
“Do you?” The sheriff looked straight at him.
Simon schooled his expression into something neutral. “Yes.”
“Okay,” Ben answered at last.
Simon snorted, shocked by the laconic response. “‘Okay’? All you have to say is ‘okay’?”
Ben shrugged. “You’re both adults, and I’m not her daddy. I trust Lori to make good decisions. If she decides on you, then she must have thought it through.”