Deadly Defiance, page 10
Stan went to the telephone and called the emergency number in the front of the telephone book. He told the dispatcher he needed an ambulance. She asked for his address and the nature of the emergency.
“I came home and my wife was lying on the sofa unconscious. I managed to wake her but she’s very weak and she’s not talking clearly.”
“Is she awake now?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes, but she can barely move. She can’t even sit up.”
“Is she breathing?”
“Yes. She seems to be breathing okay.”
“An ambulance is on its way.”
“Good.”
“Stay on the line until the ambulance arrives,” the dispatcher advised.
“Okay. Thanks.”
Stan went to the front door and unlocked it. He peered out through the glass but the street was quiet. He went back to Rebekah and knelt next to her.
“I’ve called for an ambulance, honey. It will be here in a minute.”
She shook her head. “No, I’ll be all right.”
“You’re not all right. You can barely move.”
“I’m just tired.”
“So tired you can’t even sit up. Come on. Something is obviously wrong with you and we need to figure out what it is.”
Stan heard the sound of big trucks coming to a stop and looked up to see flashing lights through the window. He told the dispatcher the ambulance had arrived and then hung up. As he got to the front door a half dozen firemen were getting out of an ambulance and a big fire truck. Stan opened the door and let them in. They went over to Rebekah and checked her vitals. Stan explained what had happened.
“She seems stable now but she is very weak. Do you want us to take her to the hospital?”
“Yes,” Stan said.
“No,” Rebekah protested. “I’ll be fine.”
“Rebekah. Let them take you in and make sure you’re okay.”
“Your husband is right, ma’am. You should go in and have them check you out. If you blacked out and you’re this weak you could have something seriously wrong with you. It could be a mild stroke or a heart attack. If so, proper treatment is critical.”
“I know. I’m a nurse. I didn’t have a stroke or a heart attack.”
“You don’t know that,” Stan argued. “Just go in and let them check you out.”
“No. I just haven’t been sleeping well. Just help me to bed.”
“So, you don’t want us to take you to the hospital?” the paramedic asked.
“No,” Rebekah replied. “Thank you for coming out, but I’ll be fine.”
Stan looked at the paramedic, shaking his head in exasperation. The paramedic shrugged.
“Well, you should go see your doctor tomorrow,” the paramedic advised and then began packing up his gear. After they had left Stan helped Rebekah into bed and she went right to sleep. It was too early for Stan to go to bed so he went back into the living room and turned on the TV. He tried to concentrate on the program but his mind kept wandering back to Rebekah. What if she got sicker during the night? What if she quit breathing or had a stroke? He might not even realize it. After a while he couldn’t stand it anymore so he went into the bedroom and just sat in the dark listening to Rebekah breathe. As long as he could hear her breathing he figured she must be okay. Eventually he went to bed but he didn’t sleep. He just listened to be sure he could hear her breathing.
The next morning Rebekah was much better although she was still weak and Stan had to help her get dressed. After he’d fixed her breakfast she insisted he go to work and promised him she was just fine.
“I’m not doing anything today. I’m just going to sit in front of the TV and watch soap operas all day.”
“All right. Maybe I’ll come home for lunch,” Stan said.
“No. That’s too long a drive. Just bring home something for dinner. I’m not sure if I want to cook.”
“Sure, I’ll bring home KFC. How’s that?”
Rebekah nodded. “That will be fine.”
They kissed and then Stan left. He felt guilty leaving Rebekah but he had agreed to go with Detective Besch to see Icaro Melendez and warn him not to mess with any of the Alvarez family now that a lawsuit was being filed against Alliance Fabrications. When he got to the office he called Jodie into his office.
“So, is the suit all ready to file?”
“Yes, Jade was approved as administrator yesterday and we’ve posted her bond and filed her oath.”
“Good. Then I guess you can go file it. I’m meeting Detective Besch over at Alliance Fabrications at eleven.”
“I wish I could go with you,” Jodie said. “I’d love to see Melendez’s reaction.”
“I’m sorry, but Ricardo may be the only person who will tell the truth if he’s interrogated. If your cover is blown he may feel betrayed and clam up.”
“He’s bound to find out eventually.”
“True. Let’s just hope eventually is after his father is locked up.”
Jodie went back to her office and Stan left to go meet Detective Besch. When he pulled up across the street from the plant he saw Besch leaning against his car studying the place. He got out and walked over to him.
“Morning,” Besch said.
“Well, are you ready for this?”
“No. I’m waiting for a little backup in case Mr. Melendez reacts badly to what I have to say to him.”
“That’s probably a good idea.”
“Did you file the lawsuit?”
“Yes. It was filed thirty minutes ago. The process server should be here in a minute.”
“Good. We should all go in together.”
“What if Melendez isn’t there?” Stan asked.
“He’s there. Rico reported his arrival at 7:45.”
Stan felt nervous. He wasn’t used to face-to-face confrontations with his opponents except in the courtroom where there was no danger to life or limb. Before a trial began he would invariably deal with attorneys and battle his adversaries from the periphery. Even though there was still danger he rarely thought about it—out of sight, out of mind. But now he was filing a lawsuit and directly confronting his enemy, an evil exploiter of men and women who obviously felt no moral constraints to his behavior. Stan finally admitted to himself, he wasn’t just nervous—he was scared. Even with a police detective and two officers backing him up a lot could go wrong.
“I don’t know how you do this for a living,” Stan said. “This is scary.”
Detective Besch shrugged. “You get used to it. The key is not to get careless or try to be a hero.”
“Right.”
Stan looked left as he heard a car approaching. It was his process server followed closely by a squad car. The process server got out of his car and walked over to them. Two policemen got out of their car and scanned the scene. Detective Besch went over to the two officers while Stan conferred with the process server. After they had conferred Besch led them into the plant.
The receptionist looked up as the men entered the small reception area. Detective Besch held up his badge. “Detective Besch and Stan Turner here to see Mr. Melendez,” Besch barked.
“Do you have an appointment?” the woman asked.
“No. Just tell him we’re here.”
“What if he runs?” Stan whispered to Besch.
“We’ve got all the exits covered.”
Stan raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t seen any other officers. Then he realized serving Melendez was just a diversion. The receptionist got up and left the reception area. A minute later she returned with Mr. Melendez. He looked at his visitors contemptuously.
“What do you want?”
“I’ll let Mr. Turner do his business first,” Besch said, looking at Stan.
Stan nodded to the process server, and he went over to Mr. Melendez and handed him some papers.
“Icaro Melendez. You’ve been served!” he said and backed off quickly.
“Served with what?” Melendez said, giving the process server a sour look.
“It’s a lawsuit,” Stan replied. “You have been sued by the Estate of Romildo Alvarez and Jade Alvarez, individually, for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The specifics are in the lawsuit.”
Melendez scowled at Stan then threw the papers onto a desk. “We’ve already been audited and they found nothing. This is harassment!”
“Now Mr. Melendez,” Detective Besch interjected. “I want to make something perfectly clear to you so that there is no misunderstanding. Whether you think the lawsuit has merit or not, it is illegal for you to threaten, intimidate, assault, or injure any party, attorney, or witness to this lawsuit including their employees, friends, and family. Be advised your behavior in responding to this lawsuit will be closely monitored.”
“You should hire an attorney,” Stan added, “as the suit must be answered by the first Monday following twenty-one days from today’s date or a default may be entered.”
“Oh. Don’t worry. You’ll get your answer,” Melendez spat, “and I promise you won’t like it.”
Besch sighed. “What I’m trying to get across to you, Mr. Melendez, is that your only answer to this lawsuit will be to the 14th Judicial District Court. You cannot take any retaliatory action against the plaintiffs. Since you are a corporation you must hire a licensed attorney. You cannot answer the lawsuit yourself. . . . On another note,” Besch continued. “I believe the FBI has some business with you.”
At that moment Agent Lot strolled in followed by a string of FBI agents.
“Icaro Melendez. We have a warrant to search the premises,” Agent Lot said and handed Melendez his search warrant. Immediately the other agents swarmed through the reception area and headed for the executive offices.
Melendez studied the search warrant, shook his head angrily, and then stormed out of the reception area. Detective Besch smiled at Stan.
“Okay. I believe our business is concluded,” Besch said. “I suggest we leave and let the FBI do their thing.”
“Since the Labor Department has already audited the books and records of the company, why the search warrant now?”
“They’re hoping to find the second set of books mentioned in Jodie’s tape. If they find that it will prove their case.”
“Well, I hope they find it.”
Just then a uniformed officer came through the front door with a man in tow. “I caught this guy trying to flee the plant,” the officer said.
“Who are you?” Besch asked.
“Pablo Ruiz,” the man replied.
“Why did you run, Pablo?”
“Ah. Ah, I haven’t got my green card in the mail yet. It’s due any day.”
“Oh, well. We’re not from INS. This is about something else. Since you’re here, though, why don’t you talk to Mr. Turner. If you’re one of his witnesses we can protect you from Mr. Melendez.”
“Protect me? Why do I need protection?”
“Because just as soon as we leave here the receptionist over there is going to tell Mr. Melendez that she saw you talking to us. Being a suspicious man, Mr. Melendez is going to draw the conclusion that you’re helping us and somehow were responsible for this invasion of his plant.”
“Ah, but I didn’t—”
“I know that and Stan knows that but it’s all a matter of perception. If you want my advice you’ll go talk to Stan and become his star witness. The FBI may want to talk to you as well. If you can convince them you’d be a good witness, perhaps they’ll let you in their witness protection program.”
Pablo gave Besch a painful frown. Stan walked over to him. “Come outside. We shouldn’t talk here,” Stan said.
Pablo reluctantly followed Stan while glancing back at the receptionist who was eyeing him suspiciously. They walked across the street and got into Stan’s car. Stan pulled a notepad out of his briefcase and got all of Pablo’s contact information.
“So, how long have you worked at Alliance Fabrications?”
“About two years.”
“How did you hear about them?”
“I have a cousin, Carlos, who works here, too. He came about five years ago. He told his mother they had some openings at Alliance Fabrications and she told my mother. To make a long story short I was told to contact a man in Nuevo Laredo and he’d arrange to get me into the United States and then get me to Dallas.”
“How did you get into the U.S.?”
“They drove about eight of us in a van to a place in the desert and we just walked across the border in the middle of the night.”
“That easy, huh?”
“Well, nobody tried to stop us, if that’s what you mean.”
“Right. Did it cost you anything?”
“No. I had no money.”
“Did they feed you?”
“We got a little food and water each day.”
“How long did it take to get to Alliance?”
“I’m not so sure, it seemed like a long time, but in thinking about it, I would say a week maybe.”
“So, did you start work immediately?”
“Si. When we arrived they gave us breakfast and we started our first twelve-hour shift.”
“What did they tell you about your pay?”
Stan continued to question Pablo and he told pretty much the same story that the Alvarez family had told him and Jodie. Thirty minutes later they got out of the car and rejoined Besch who was talking to Agent Lot.
“Pablo here has an interesting story to tell you, Agent Lot,” Stan advised.
“Good. Because we didn’t find what we were looking for in Mr. Melendez’s office.”
Stan frowned. He knew he was talking about the second set of books. “Well, that would have been too easy, right? I’m sure it’s stashed somewhere safe after your last visit.”
Agent Lot called another agent over and told him to interview Pablo. The agent escorted Pablo over to an FBI van to do the interview.
“So, you didn’t find anything at all?” Stan asked.
“No. Apparently they keep the real records of the business off-site.”
“Perhaps our man on the inside can figure out where that is,” Besch suggested.
Agent Lot nodded. “Stan, we’re going to need statements from all of your clients. Their testimony will go a long way to making our case. How many are there?”
“Well, there is Ms. Alvarez’s five children. Then there is Pablo, who Detective Besch just recruited.”
“That’s good. That might be enough, but a few more witnesses unrelated to the Alvarez family would be good and, of course, we need some documentary evidence to go along with it.”
“Well, you’ll have Jodie and perhaps Melendez’s son.”
“You think his son would testify?” Agent Lot asked warily.
“I don’t know. Maybe if we get him angry enough with his family.”
“How would we do that?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to give it some thought. In the meantime, what about prosecuting them for income tax evasion?” Stan suggested. “Like they did Al Capone.”
Agent Lot frowned. “You want us to bring in the IRS?”
“Well, if they are claiming they are paying minimum wage and overtime but they’re not, then they are claiming more deductions on their tax return than they are entitled to. That means they are under reporting their profits and thereby paying less taxes than are actually owed. Since it’s being done intentionally, it’s criminal fraud, right?”
Agent Lot nodded. “So, what you are saying is if we come up short on proof of the FLSA violations we may still be able to show tax evasion.”
“Right,” Stan said. “Just a thought.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to someone over in the criminal fraud division of IRS.”
Stan looked at his watch. “Well, it’s been an interesting morning, gentlemen, but I’ve got to check on my wife. She’s been a little under the weather the last few days.”
“Okay,” Besch said. “Give me a call tomorrow so we can brainstorm.”
“I will,” Stan said as he walked briskly to his car and took off.
As he drove off Stan wondered what Melendez would do once the FBI had left. Would he play by the rules and simply go hire an attorney to defend himself or would he retaliate against everyone who had dared defy him? Stan prayed he’d play by the rules but wasn’t optimistic his prayers would be answered.
Chapter 11
Remorse
Paula didn’t go to straight to her apartment after her tumble with Lee. She didn’t want to go home in the midst of that sexual glow that she often had after sex. Instead she went to the office and worked until she was exhausted. This also allowed her to make some phone calls and mess up her office so she could back up her cover story that she’d worked at the office all evening.
When she got home there was a note on the kitchen table. She read it with great relief. Bart hadn’t waited up for her since he had to be in court early the next morning. She crumpled up the note and thanked God for sparing her from having to face him. In the morning she’d be fine. She was good at forgetting or repressing unwanted memories. Life would be back to normal.
When Bart got up early the next morning she pretended to be sound asleep and didn’t stir until he was gone. When she got to the office she called Elena to see if the houses were ready for inspection. Elena advised her they weren’t quite ready yet but by the end of the following day they would be.
“You need to have your superintendent make his application for inspection first thing on Thursday morning. The moment they are filed I’ll call my contact and make sure they get acted upon immediately. Hopefully the inspections can be done on Friday and Monday we can go to the bank.”
“I’ll make the call,” Elena said. “Just out of curiosity, how did you manage to get the inspections expedited? I’ve asked some other builders about their experience with getting final inspections and they say it’s been taking ten to twelve days.”
“Well. It wasn’t easy. You just have to know the right people and be willing to give them what they want.”
There was a pause on the other end. Finally Elena said, “We went to the bank and signed new signature cards just like you told us.”
“Good. When can you bring Maureen back over to my office? We need to have a long conversation.”
