by Dan Arnold
“I’m about ninety percent sure Diondro is here.”
“Yeah, about that… look, I don’t want there to be any trouble. Folks around here don’t interfere in each other’s business. As long as no crime has been committed, the Sheriff’s Department stays out of it. I don’t have to be involved. I’d like to keep it that way.”
“I can’t promise you anything. I’m telling you, Diondro is in real danger. If I can find him, so can whoever else is looking for him. If they get to him before I do, he’ll be killed. Do you want to deal with that?”
“No, I don’t. I just want you to know where I stand in this.”
“Where exactly do you stand in this?”
Buddy was thoughtful for a moment. Then he grinned.
“I stand with you, John. You remember what we used to say on the teams? ‘Whenever, wherever, whatever, we stand together.’ I’ve got your six.”
I grinned back.
“I already knew the answer. I just wanted to make sure you knew it too.”
Buddy chuckled.
“Just like old times, huh?”
“We won’t have a whole SEAL team with us in this thing, though.”
“I sure hope we won’t need one.” Buddy said, with a shake of his head.
“You were busy this afternoon, so I did some recon of the area. I also have satellite imagery of the land, access roads, and topography around the property where I believe Diondro is.”
“You seem extremely concerned for his safety.”
I nodded in affirmative.
“I am, more concerned by the minute. I’m not the only person looking for him. Whoever they are, they mean to kill him. I don’t know who’s coming for him, how many there are, or how good they are, but we need to plan and prepare for contingencies.”
“Like I said, just like old times, huh?”
“Let’s hope not.”
Five
In the old days, we would’ve done some mission specific training. We would do some dry runs in scenarios and locations designed to most closely replicate the situations we might face in the actual execution of the mission.
In the old days, we’d been part of a complete team of highly skilled operators. We had the full resources of the United States Navy providing logistics and support.
This was not the old days. This was not an overseas mission that would almost certainly involve combat with hostiles. In this case, there was every possibility we could avoid direct conflict, especially anything approaching armed combat.
Buddy and I both understood this, but “Live Screw” and “Old Mother” were trained to consider and prepare for any eventuality. We still thought in terms of infiltration and exfiltration. We thought in terms of plans A, B and C, ready to adjust for changing or unforeseen circumstances. We thought about managing aspects of the fallout from the action.
The first thing to be accomplished was to verify the location and make contact with the subject. Plan “A” would be to simply meet with him and take him to a secure location without any drama.
“Plan “B” involved accomplishing the goal of plan “A”, while dealing with a nonviolent level of drama.
Plan “C” included an armed confrontation with an unknown number of combatants.
We wanted to avoid plan “C”.
The next morning as I was driving to Buddy’s office, I noticed the dark grey Toyota was behind me again. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket.
“Hello.”
“John, this is Gary. I had a little talk with a guy by the name of Kevin Watkins yesterday. He’s the foreman for the construction company.”
“How did it go?”
Gary is one of my part time operatives. He’s a career fireman, and his shift duties leave him with time to do some work for me. He’s a big guy and a country boy. He can fit into any situation where ordinary working men might be seen. He tends to be a bit blunt, and he’s never politically correct. Usually he just does surveillance, as his schedule permits, but occasionally he gets to play in the game.
“Watkins is a hard case, or at least he likes to think he is. Long story short, I did the thing where I posed as a guy looking for work. We hit it off pretty good. My experience in construction helped. He’s considering hiring me as a crew chief. Naturally, I failed to mention I’m a fireman.”
“Good job, Gary. It sounds like our plan may work.”
“We’ll see; maybe yes and maybe no. If not, I’ll go to tracking those Mexican guys who split. I expect they’re still around here. They’re probably just doing day labor wherever they can find it.”
“OK, but don’t bother looking for them until we see how the new job opportunity works out. I’d still rather have you on the inside to see how the operation works. If you do get hired, I’ll work on finding the missing former employees myself. We’ll go at it from both the inside and the outside. It could mean you’ll be tied up for several days though. It could be a week or more. How long can you do this, until it seriously interferes with your firefighter duties?”
“Yeah, well, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that. I have twenty years on the job. I think I’m ready to retire. Could you use me full time?”
It caught me off guard.
“Oh, gee, Gary, I don’t know. I don’t think I could afford to pay you full time.”
“Alright then, I’ll let you know how it shakes out.”
He hung up.
When I swung in to park at the Sheriff’s office, the Toyota kept on going. I got a look at the driver. He was a big black guy with a shaved head. I was thinking he might have been Jermaine Jackson. I was almost surprised to find Jermaine, already waiting for me in Buddy’s office.
“Good morning, Jermaine.”
“Mornin’, Mr. Tucker,” Jermaine nodded.
“You can call me John, Jermaine”
“Yes sir.”
“Jermaine was just starting to tell me about his conversation with his wife,” Buddy said.
I nodded at Jermaine.
“Jasmine, that’s my wife, she say she talked to her Aunt, Clarice Carlisle. Clarice say your man Diondro is there, alright. He came up here cause he scared, like you say.”
I nodded again.
“She say she’ll talk to him. She give him your number. Maybe he call you.”
“OK. That’s good enough for now.”
I looked at Buddy.
“How do you want to handle this?” he asked.
“I’ll wait to hear from Diondro. Because I’m being followed, I won’t go anywhere near there, until he calls me.”
“You sure someone’s following you?”
“Yeah, same guy followed me here again this morning.”
“Maybe they don’t know Diondro Taylor is up here.”
“They might not. If I left town and headed home, they might think he wasn’t here and follow me all the way back to Tyler.”
“Is that what you’re gonna do?” Jermaine asked.
I shook my head.
“We can’t take that chance. Just because I left town, it wouldn’t mean Diondro wasn’t here. It would only suggest I hadn’t found him. If they do know he’s here, they’ll kill him the first chance they get.”
“But if you do stay here, won’t it suggest you have found him?”
“Not if they continue to follow me.”
“Why is that?” Jermaine asked.
“… Because I have another reason to be in town, having nothing to do with Diondro.”
“What reason?”
“I’m here for Bud’s high school graduation tonight.”
Buddy grinned at that.
“You know, that gives me an idea.”
We started doing some planning.
Later, in the afternoon, I got the call from Diondro.
“Good afternoon...”
“You, Mr. John Tucker?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Mr. Tucker, my name is Diondro Taylor. I hear you want to talk to me.”
; “Yes, I do Diondro, Thank you for calling me.”
He didn’t say anything.
“The reason I wanted to talk to you, Diondro, is to tell you Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer want to pay for your college tuition. They will pay your full tuition for up to four years, to any school you can get into.”
He was silent for a moment.
“I got to go back to Tyler?”
“No, Diondro. There are no strings attached. You can go to school anywhere that will accept you.”
“… But, what about the trial?”
“It would be good if you wanted to testify, but there are no strings. You will get to go to college for free, either way.”
He was quiet again.
“It’s just that… What I mean is… I would testify, but I heard those dudes mean to kill me.”
I took a moment to consider my response.
“Yeah, that’s true, Diondro. The leader of the gang is the guy you jumped. He has it in for you, personally. They’re looking for you, right now.”
“I figured I’d be safer up here.”
“Diondro, I found you. They’ll find you, too.”
He was quiet again.
“I don’t know what I should do.”
“Diondro, I intend to provide you with my personal protection until this thing is resolved.”
“Why?”
“You need my help.”
“I got family around me, up here.”
“Diondro, do you want them to have to fight off some stone killers. Do you really think they could?”
He thought about it for a moment.
“No, they’re pretty old, mostly.”
“All I can do is promise you, I’ll keep you safe, whatever you decide to do.”
“Could you keep me safe in Tyler?”
“Yes, I can.”
“… Even through the trial?”
“If you come to Tyler, we can have the help of the police department.”
“… Can’t count on them.”
“You can count on me.”
He was quiet again for a while.
“I’ve heard of you. You’re the dude who found those missing girls. My mom says she asked around about you, and people say you’re solid.”
“I do what I can. I won’t lie to you. I can keep you safe.”
“I gotta think about it. I’ll call you back, later.”
“Sure, that’s fine. Call me back whenever you’re ready.”
Six
We were taking two cars to the graduation, primarily so whoever had me under surveillance would have a chance to follow me to the assembly hall at the SAU campus, where the ceremony was being held.
Buddy, Josie and Bud had left a little early so that Bud could be on time, and be where he was supposed to be in the assembly of graduating seniors. Josie had promised to save me a seat.
I became aware of the tail within about a mile of the house. He had probably been following me since I left Buddy’s house, but I couldn’t detect him for sure until he had been with me for a little ways. He had been smart enough to put a couple of cars between us.
I made a phone call.
When I pulled into the giant parking lot at the SAU campus, the dark grey Toyota was three cars behind me. I took my time getting out of my car, so the driver of the Toyota would be able to find a parking space and still see me as I headed into the assembly hall building.
We figured whoever was following me would see this graduation crowd as a perfect place for me to meet up with Diondro. This meant my tail would have to stick close to me, which is exactly what he did.
When I entered the building, there were two sheriff’s deputies providing security at the entrance. I didn’t see them stop my tail, but he didn’t follow me into the assembly hall.
I saw Josie waving to me from her seat on the front row, and I made my way to her through the gathering crowd. We sat and chatted until Buddy joined us.
“John, you’re not going to believe who the guy is that’s been tailing you.”
“I guess you didn’t have any trouble stopping him?”
“No, he was pretty cooperative.”
“Yeah, I would expect that from a cop.”
“How did you know?”
“I figure the Texas plates on his car are an indication he’s not just any cop, but a cop from Tyler, Texas.”
“You’ve known this all along?”
“No, but I had started to suspect something of the sort. It just makes sense, a cop hiring out as a P.I. He would know me from my involvement with the Tyler PD. I’m well known in Tyler. Cops know how to follow people. He probably followed me to the rental car place, and from there it would be easy for him to follow me here to Magnolia. ”
“We had to let him go with just a warning. He has a badge and a license and he hasn’t broken any laws.”
“I understand. Did you get him to tell you who he’s working for?”
“No. He clammed up on that subject. He said it was the point of “private” investigation. I sure don’t like the idea of a police officer working for a street gang.”
“How hard did you lean on him?”
Buddy shrugged.
“... As hard as I could and still stay within the constraints of the law.”
“Yeah, he would know your limitations. What is his name?”
“His name is Kirby Wilson and his badge says “Sergeant.” I’m sorry, John. I did the best I could. I ignored the notion of professional courtesy. I gave him my best impression of a back woods Arkansas, country sheriff. You know, ‘Y’all get on out of town now, boy! Ya hear?’… That sort of thing. I don’t think it worked very well though.”
I laughed.
“Fair enough, thanks, Buddy.”
The lights blinked, the band struck up a tune, and the graduation started.
When they finally called out Wilson Livesque Jr., and Bud started across the stage, Buddy jumped to his feet and whistled. Bud saw him and grinned. Buddy pointed at Bud, standing there in the auditorium right in front of all those people watching, he just stood and pointed at Bud.
Bud was not the least bit embarrassed. As he marched across the stage, he pointed right back at Buddy.
I looked at Josie and saw the tears start. No surprise there.
As Buddy sat down, I was a little surprised to see he was looking a little misty eyed himself.
Seven
After the graduation ceremony, Bud joined us and we took some pictures with him in his cap and gown.
Bud was excited and looking forward to partying with his friends.
“I’m heading out with Scott and Bill. Don’t wait up. I expect we’ll be out late.”
Buddy frowned and started to say something, but I interrupted him.
“Hang on a second, Bud. I have a graduation present for you.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that…”
“I insist, the problem is, I left it back at the house. How about you ride back to your house with me? Besides, I have something I want to talk to you about.”
“Can I just get it later? Scott and Bill are pretty much ready to go now.”
“You know where they’re headed don’t you?”
“Well, yeah, I do.”
“Ride back to the house with me, you can take your truck and meet up with them, later. Chances are the house is pretty much on the way to where they’re going, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Don’t be rude, son. It won’t delay your plans much. If Mr. Tucker wants to give you a graduation present, you should be thankful and gracious. Ride back to the house with him,” Buddy said.
“OK, I’ll just tell them to go on. I’ll be right back.”
Bud disappeared into the crowd.
“He was right, John; you shouldn’t have gotten him anything.”
I looked at Josie.
“This is a gift that will keep on giving. I have to do it.”
“Well, thanks, John. It’s very thoughtful of
you. We’ll see you back at the house,” Buddy said.
He and Josie greeted several people and eventually blended into the throng of people that were leaving the building.
It was several minutes before Bud made his way back to where I waited. I saw him stop and chat up a couple of the girls. Several men slapped him on the back or stopped him long enough to shake his hand and wish him well. I could see he was a pretty popular kid.
“OK, Mr. Tucker, can we make this quick?” Bud asked, as he came up beside me.
“It won’t take much time at all.”
“Bud, are you a Christian?”
I was driving, so my attention was somewhat diverted, hopefully making the question a little less confrontational.
“Uh, well yeah, sort of, I mean, I go to church and stuff.”
“Do you understand the difference? Do you know what it actually means to be a follower of Christ?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“So, I’ll ask you again, are you a Christian?”
Bud looked out the passenger side window and mumbled.
“No, I suppose not.”
I let it sit for a moment.
“Any special reason why not?”
“Well, not really. I believe in God and I know Jesus died for our sins, but...”
I let him flounder.
“I’ll bet you’re too busy having fun to make that kind of a life commitment.”
“Yeah, that’s it. I guess I’ll probably do it later on.”
I nodded.
“I knew your parents, back before they became Christians.”
“What was that like?”
“Oh, we were in the Navy. We were clandestine operators and we were often in harm’s way. We lived life on the edge. There were some wild parties and your folks were as wild as anybody you can possibly imagine.”
“I can’t imagine it at all.”
I smiled. Kids never can imagine what their parents were like when they were younger.
“Oh yeah, let me tell you! They were wild, but they were not happy. They thought they were having a good time, but there was a great deal of misery along the way. They were lost and struggling to find their way from day to day. Just like most people are, lost and hoping for something better.”