Stone Investigations (Stone Series Book 4)

by Bob Blanton

  “Go ahead.”

  She jumped. “I think it’s her. I’m going to wave.”

  She jumped again and waved her arms. It took three jumps before Emily spotted her and turned the boat toward them.

  “She’s turning toward us.”

  “Great!”

  It was two minutes before Emily pulled up beside them.

  “You’re early.”

  “I know. I figured you would appreciate an early arrival. I was going to start circling until I saw you or you contacted me again.”

  “Cool. Emily, this is Agent Peters, Agent Peters, Emily.”

  “You can call me Barb; after this, I think we should be on a first-name basis.”

  “Welcome aboard, Barb. Matt, was it Mr. Graham?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wait, you know his name. And I thought you said your name was Jason.”

  Matthew sighed. “I lied about my name. I hid my wallet on the plane.”

  “That was probably smart. Now, how do you know the guy’s name?”

  “We’ve been investigating him,” Emily said.

  “Are you two crazy? You can see how dangerous he is.”

  “Wait!” Matthew hissed. “Let’s get settled in first and head back to Catalina. We’ll have plenty of time to talk.”

  “Right. Water’s in the cooler over there. And towels are in the cabin. But you seem to both be dry.” Emily gave Agent Peters a look. Her blouse was mostly dry, but it might as well be see-through given the slight dampness.

  “A bathroom?” Agent Peters asked.

  “In the cabin as well.”

  As soon as Agent Peters was in the cabin, Emily hugged Matthew. “I was so worried about you.”

  “Me too.”

  “Where did you pick her up?”

  “We both got kidnapped at the airport.”

  “Come on, no way they could grab you.”

  “There were two of them, and if I’d tried something they’d have shot her.”

  “So, you told her about your portal?”

  “It was kind of obvious when I used it like a parachute after I pushed us out of the plane.”

  “You what?! You’re crazy.”

  “That’s what she said. No, I think she called me an idiot.”

  “Well!” Emily smacked Matthew.

  “Hey, it worked. Let’s get this boat heading back, we can talk on the way.”

  Agent Peters came up out of the cabin. “Did you two get your stories straight?”

  “Just the part where both of you jumped out of an airplane.”

  “That wasn’t my idea.”

  “He told me.”

  “So why were you investigating this Graham guy?”

  Matthew just waved at her as he started toward the head.

  “We’ve been trying to figure out where all the opioids are coming from. You know, the new West Coast supplier that’s been in the news,” Emily told her.

  “And you think it’s Graham?”

  “We’re not positive, but we’re pretty sure he’s the one getting the money from the distributors. Two weeks ago, he went to the Cayman Islands with a boatload of it.”

  “How much is a boatload?”

  “Thirty . . .” Emily tried to remember the exact amount.

  “Thirty-two million two hundred seventy thousand,” Matthew provided the exact number as he came back on deck.

  “That’s quite a bit.”

  “That’s his monthly take. He makes a trip every four weeks.” Matthew sat down on the passageway to the cabin, facing Emily and Agent Peters.

  “And you know this how?”

  “I checked his calendar. It shows him making a trip to the Caymans every four weeks and a trip to Catalina two weeks later.”

  “How does Catalina fit in?”

  “I think he’s smuggling the pills in from Mexico.”

  “And what leads you to that opinion?”

  “The plane that was supposed to fly from Fallbrook to Catalina landed at Long Beach Airport. The numbers on its tail were the same as the numbers on the plane we were on.”

  “You can’t have two aircraft with the same numbers.”

  “You’re not supposed to.”

  “I know, but traffic control would notice right away.”

  “Not if the numbers were painted using digital ink.”

  Agent Peters gave Matthew a confused look.

  “The color switches from white to black when you apply current.”

  “Oh,” Agent Peters mouthed. “And they must switch the transponder codes as well.”

  “Right. I assume they chose Catalina and Long Beach because the flight paths intersect, at different altitudes of course. They must switch over as they cross each other’s path. Then they just finish the other plane’s flight.”

  “And you’re tying him to the drugs because of that and the money?”

  “We were,” Matthew said with a smug smile.

  “Matt!” Emily slapped him on the arm.

  “I checked the pallet on that plane while we were waiting to get thrown off. The outer boxes are full of PC boards. But the ones in the middle of the pallet are filled with shoeboxes and the shoes are full of pills, at least it felt like bags of pills.”

  “Clever.”

  “I think so. And on Tuesday he’ll be mailing them to his distributors.”

  “And you know this how?”

  Because one of the distributors got a new batch of pills last month on a Wednesday. And I’ve also seen him picking up a bunch of packages that look like they have paperback books in them. I’m guessing that’s the money from his distributors.”

  “Wait. You mean the distributors ship him the money before they get the pills?” Agent Peters was flabbergasted.

  “I’m pretty sure it’s the other way around, but that’s the beauty of his scheme. The money and the pills are never in the same place at the same time.”

  “But how does he keep his people honest?”

  “Greed.”

  “That makes people dishonest.”

  “Come on. If someone made a business proposition that you would earn fourteen thousand dollars a week as long as you shipped him his cut of one hundred fifty thousand, wouldn’t that keep you honest?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “You would only be able to steal once, and that’s only ten weeks of your cut, and you’d risk him putting a hit out on you. You see, he knows everything about his people, but they don’t know anything about him.”

  “I don’t know; I guess you’d want to keep the gravy train running.”

  “Exactly, and I don’t think he’s using gang members. The two dealers I’ve discovered are both college students and the distributor is an accountant for a big company. So, they’re probably looking at the big picture.”

  “I should call this in.”

  “Won’t help. Both planes have already unloaded and flown off to someplace else. How would you get a warrant?”

  “Right.”

  “And are you going to check in? Graham thinks you’re dead. Don’t you think he’s got a source that would alert him if you show up alive?”

  “Damn, I know that, but what can I do? I’ve got nothing with me, where can I stay?”

  “I think we can help you. Emily has a platinum card,” Matthew said with a little laugh.

  “Matt! You’re going to have to pay me back.”

  “I can pay you back once we clear this up,” Agent Peters said. “But I’m not sure how long that will take.”

  “It won’t be long,” Matthew said. “I’m pretty sure I have it all figured out. I’m going to review some things until we get back.” With that, he moved to the deck in front of the boat and lay down.

  “What?!” Agent Peters cried.

  “Leave him alone,” Emily hissed. “I think he’s exhausted. It takes a lot out of him to keep his portal open for so long. He’ll go over things in his head, but I think he’ll probably fall asleep.”

  �
��Sure, why not,” Agent Peters said. She was obviously frustrated at not being in control and not being able to get all the facts, but she figured she had to play along for a bit.

  Chapter 13

  Making a Case

  They went to the hotel where Matthew and Agent Peters managed a quick shower before they checked out. Matthew changed into the clothes he’d brought along, and Emily gave Agent Peters her extra clothes to change into. She and Emily were almost the same size and anything was better than the salt-encrusted clothes Agent Peters was wearing.

  After they checked out, they took the ferry back to Dana Point. Fortunately, Emily had opted for the Mercedes instead of her Boxster for the long trip so there was room for Agent Peters.

  Once they were on the road, Agent Peters couldn’t stand it anymore. “Okay, are you going to start talking, or do I have to take you in?”

  “If you’re going to arrest me, you’ll need this.” Matthew reached into the pocket of his cargo shorts and pulled out a wallet.

  “My badge!”

  “I thought you might want it?”

  “How?”

  “Once they finished searching me, I grabbed our wallets. I didn’t want to leave mine on the plane and yours was right there.”

  “Whew, at least I didn’t lose my badge. It’s going to be hard enough to explain losing my gun, but my badge would have been a nightmare.”

  “We can get your gun back.”

  “How?! . . . Where is it?”

  “In the warehouse with the pallet that was on the plane.”

  “And the drugs?”

  “Graham took those with him; besides, how would you get a warrant?”

  “Speaking of warrants, are you going to start talking?”

  “Sure. But first, you’re telling me that you had no idea about the plane or Graham?”

  “No I didn’t, I was just following that idiot Jimmy. He’s been selling pure cocaine, and so I was following him to try and find the source.”

  “And he just happened to get tapped to replace the sick guy and go get the crate.”

  “Weird coincidence. But let’s get back to Graham.”

  “Okay, I think I’ve got it all figured out. I’ll take you through it. You’ll have to make the same steps to get a warrant.”

  “You mean there’s a real trail?”

  “Yes, especially if you know what to look for.” Matthew gave her a big smile. Matthew pulled his laptop out of his backpack and booted it up. He browsed to his folder on the drug deal and brought up a video. “Watch this.” He handed the laptop to Agent Peters. “Just click the play button.”

  “What is it?”

  “Just watch.”

  Agent Peters watched the video. It was the one from the Starbucks that Matthew had gotten. When she got to the part where the detectives tried to bust Frankie, she paused it.

  “So, this is the video where those cops harassed that kid. He sued them, right?”

  “Right, but did you notice anything else?”

  Agent Peters gave Matthew a skeptical look but started the video over from the beginning.

  “Okay, it looks like he might have gotten some other payoffs, but the cops didn’t find the money on him.”

  “Right. He was slipping it into a box he had taped to the underside of the counter. Did you notice anything else?”

  “The kid with the skateboard?”

  “Right. And?”

  “They had identical backpacks. They could have switched them.”

  “Exactly. The kid is the end of the piece of yarn you’re going to unravel. His name is Caleb Merced. He goes to San Diego High, he’s a freshman. The first guy, Frankie Sutton, ran off to Florida as soon as he got the settlement. He was pretty scared when Ms. Frye was killed.”

  “Wait, wait. Okay, I remember now. They mentioned her in one of our briefings. So, you think she was murdered? Any proof?”

  “Yes, I think she was murdered. But I don’t have any proof, just seems a big coincidence.”

  “Before you two get started again, where are we putting Agent Peters up, your house?”

  Matthew laughed. “Very funny. Why not the Sheraton on Aero. All the action is in the Clairemont area and that’s a reasonably nice hotel that’s close to there. If that’s not good enough, there’s the Mission Bay Resort.”

  “How long do you think it’ll take to untangle this rat’s nest?”

  “Five weeks, six if you want to get him moving the money offshore.”

  “Crap, how am I going to get around?”

  “I can lend you a car,” Emily said.

  “I think she should borrow mine. Yours are a bit conspicuous.”

  “What are you going to tell your mom?”

  “Mom. Wait, just how old are the two of you?”

  “Sixteen, last week.”

  “I’m seventeen, I’ll be eighteen in February.”

  “Crap, crap, crap!”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “You’re both minors.”

  “So. We’re not planning to testify or have anything to do with this publicly.”

  “Still.”

  “Let’s just move on,” Emily said. “If you’re going to be at this a month, then I say you should stay at the resort.”

  “I’m not sure my boss will agree.”

  “Once you break this case, is he really going to quibble over where you stayed?”

  “I guess not. Now let’s get back to Caleb. I’ll have inquiries made at a few schools. I can’t be showing up with all the answers. Now go on.”

  “Well, the new dealer follows the same pattern. I suspect that all the dealers in the network do. So if you follow the kid on any weekday morning, he’ll take the bus from where his school is to whichever fast food place they’re going to use for the drug exchanges. Then the kid swaps backpacks with Emilio, so he’s the one that handles the drugs. After that he drops a foil package under the wipers of the buyer’s car whenever they come out carrying a bag of candy.”

  “So I can bust them after the kid drops the foil package.”

  “Not if you want to trace it back up to Graham. You’ll have to gather the evidence and follow the food chain up to the top. The dealer is Emilio Fields, he’s a student at Mesa College. The same college the Frankie went to.”

  “Right, I knew that. Anyway, who’s next?”

  “The distributor. Emilio’s is Dante Cruz; he’s an accountant who works for a company downtown.”

  “An accountant.”

  “That’s the beauty of this scheme. Mr. Graham uses people that are totally legitimate. I suspect that he and they are in it on a five-year plan or something like that. Just stash the money for a few years then retire and move on to a total legit life with a boatload of money.”

  “Okay, so how does our string of yarn pull in the distributor?”

  “Dante drops their drugs off every week. He has another kid put them in a location in the local library that corresponds to an ISBN number for a book. He posts that number on Facebook where the dealer can find it. Once the dealer drops his money off with Dante, he goes to the library and grabs the box of pills that the kid tapes on the bottom of the bookshelf above the book.”

  “What’s Facebook?”

  “A social media site for college students. You’ve probably heard about MySpace?”

  “Yeah, I think I’ve heard it mentioned. I don’t have kids, especially college-age ones. But how do these guys use it?”

  "They use it to post all the messages between each other. That way there is no direct contact.”

  “Okay, so I’ll need to follow the kid around to get this all on the record. How long will that take?”

  “Two days. One to follow the kid after you see him pick up the drugs from Dante. Then once he’s stashed them in the library, you can take a peek, or whatever you do. The next day, you can follow Dante. He takes the trolley south to San Ysidro. On the way, each dealer drops a package of money off for him as they move through
his car.”

  “Lots of separation between parties isn’t there. How did you trace it out?”

  “Same way you’re going to, but I could use my portal to follow everyone around. A few of the pieces just dropped into place when we were on the boat.”

  “Okay, go on.”

  “Wait. We’re here,” Emily said as they drove into the parking lot of the resort.

  “Okay, Emily are you going to check in?”

  “No, we’re going to check in while Barb waits here in the car.”

  “Why do I need to go?”

  “Because I don’t want you sharing any more of the story when I’m not here.”

  ◆ ◆ ◆

  Once Emily got the room, they signaled Agent Peters to follow them.

  “Nice room.”

  “It needs to be; you’re going to be living in it for a month.”

  “I’ve lived in worse. You know, you two work well together.

  “Matt and I have been through a few scrapes together,” Emily said.

  “Matt, what’s your last name?”

  “Brandt.”

  “New York?”

  “The Sackler Gallery.”

  “That was you?”

  “What?”

  “The thing with the Crown Prince.”

  “We were there to see the show.”

  “Yeah, right. That whole thing never rang true. Caruthers talking about some Ranger-0 who clued her into a terrorist attack. Then some kid knocks the assassin on his ass.”

  “That’s what happened.”

  “Yeah, but now that I know a few more things, I’m thinking that you’re not only the kid, but you’re Ranger 0. Caruthers has never lived that night down.”

  “How do you know about it? You’re DEA, she’s FBI.”

  “Something like that makes the rounds. Especially with her. She can be an ass when you’re working a joint assignment with her. So everyone enjoyed her moment of shame.”

  “Speaking of all that, are you going to keep Matt’s secret?”

  “What else am I going to do? Become the laughing stock of federal agents by coming up with a story about a kid with magic powers. I kind of like my job.”

  “Thanks,” Matthew said.

  “No problem. Now let’s get back to figuring out how to bust this case without magic powers.”

  “Okay. I can tell you which day Emilio is supposed to get on the trolley, it’ll save you a day of following him around.”