Deadly Defiance, page 20
When they got to FBI headquarters Agent Rogers advised Stan he’d have to give a statement because of his involvement in Zepeda’s arrest. Stan agreed and met for over an hour with another agent. When he was finished Jodie and Brandon were waiting to head back to Dallas, They informed Stan that Zepeda was still refusing to say anything, so there wasn’t going to be any interrogation. Disappointed, they piled in Brandon’s car and headed back to Dallas.
“So, what are you going to do without a car, Mr. Hero?” Jodie asked.
Stan shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t suppose my insurance company will pay for the damages since I intentionally rammed Zepeda’s car.”
“Probably not,” Jodie agreed. “Maybe the FBI will pick up the tab since you saved an FBI agent.”
“Maybe, but knowing our beloved government, I’m not going to hold my breath.”
When Jodie got home her recorder was blinking again. She checked her messages and found another one from Ricardo. This time he told her to look in her purse. He told her that at their last meeting he’d slipped a note in there with directions to another place they could make contact. She read the note. It gave her directions to a nearby convenience store with instructions to look under the pay phone for a number written on masking tape. He told her to call the number and then destroy the tape. She left out her back door again and walked to the convenience store. She found the tape just as Ricardo had promised and called the number.
“I feel like I’m a CIA operative,” Jodie said.
Ricardo laughed. “You can’t be too careful when it comes to the cartel. How’s the hunt going?”
She told him about the stakeout, Stan’s heroics, and Zepeda’s arrest.
“Well, that’s a start. If you could get him to talk, that would be great.”
“I don’t think that’s too likely,” Jodie said dejectedly. “He’s already got an attorney.”
“That figures. You know, I was trying to piece together bits and pieces of conversations I’ve heard over the years. The family has tried to keep me in the dark, but it was inevitable that I’d overhear some things.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, have you ever heard of a town called Boerne? It stuck out to me because it sounded like the name of a person. It was only recently that I drove past it and realized it was a town.”
“Right. It’s down near San Antonio, isn’t it?”
“Uh-huh. Anyway, my father and brothers were always talking about shipping stuff to ‘Bernie.’ I thought it was one of their friends. Now I realize there must be a manufacturing plant in Boerne. If you could find it, it wouldn’t surprise me if some more of Dad’s workers ended up there.”
“And this manufacturer probably owes Alliance a lot of money.”
“True. I’m sure they pay Alliance a ton of money.”
“Thanks. I’ve got a list of customers. I’ll see if any of them are located in Boerne.”
“I’m getting bored lying low,” Ricardo said. “If I sneak over to your place will you keep the window open for me?”
Jodie laughed. “No. I wouldn’t advise it. You’re liable to end up getting shot—if not by my bodyguards I’d probably shoot you thinking you were a cartel hit man.”
“Hmm. There’s a Harvey Hotel on Central and Park Blvd. You could catch a cab and meet me there. We could keep each other company during the night and then you could sneak back into your apartment early in the morning and the cartel and your bodyguards would never be the wiser.”
Jodie thought about it. Deep down she knew it was a bad idea, but she really wanted to see him. “I don’t know, Ricardo. I’d like to, but it could really hurt our case. Maybe when all of this is over.”
“You promise?” Ricardo asked. “Or are you just placating me so I’ll keep feeding you information?”
“No! I’m serious. I really like you and would love to meet you at the hotel if it wouldn’t compromise my work. I couldn’t do anything that reckless. It would really hurt the firm and Stan and Paula have been very good to me. I couldn’t do anything to hurt them.”
“All right. I’ll sleep alone, but I’m not going to forget your promise.”
“I don’t want you to. If we get through this mess somehow, I want to spend time with you. I’m not promising anything permanent, but I’ll give you the opportunity to make me fall in love with you.”
“That’s all I ask. Just give me a chance.”
“I will, but you’ve got to promise me to stay out of sight no matter how bored you get.”
Ricardo sighed. “All right. As long as we can talk each night.”
“Will this number be good tomorrow?”
“Yes, but call me from a pay phone. Don’t use your cell or office phone.”
“What about a throwaway phone?”
“Yeah, as long as you don’t use it near your apartment or your office. I’m sure they’ll be monitoring cell phone traffic from there.”
“Do you really think so? I can’t imagine they’d dedicate that many resources to keeping track of me.”
“Don’t underestimate them. You and Stan have brought the feds down on them and forced them to run, but more importantly, you’ve humiliated them and they can’t let you get away with it.”
Jodie swallowed hard. She wondered if she should tell him about Stan’s plan to garnish all their customers and disrupt their money laundering operation. She almost did but then thought better of it. She didn’t want him worrying any more about her than he already was. It would be cruel and wouldn’t serve any purpose.
They said good night and hung up. As Jodie was about to leave the convenience store she noticed a car parked out front with two men sitting in the front seat. She waited awhile hoping they’d go away, but when they didn’t she called Brandon.
“Hello.”
“Brandon. Can you call your guy watching my apartment and have him come pick me up?”
“Huh? Aren’t you in the apartment?”
“No. I needed some milk so I walked to the convenience store. I didn’t think anybody would notice I’d left, but there are a couple of guys out front and I’m afraid they may work for the cartel.”
“Okay. Sit tight. Stay in the store. I’ll call Toby and tell him to go pick you up.”
“Thanks,” Jodie said and hung up.
Jodie smiled at the store clerk who was giving her a suspicious look. She wondered if he kept a gun behind the counter in case the two men came inside. She picked up the phone again and pretended to make another call. When she turned to look at the two men she gasped. They weren’t sitting in the car anymore. Frantically, she looked around searching for them. She spotted them walking toward the front door.
“Do you have a bathroom?” she asked the clerk.
He pointed toward the back of the store. Jodie rushed in that direction until she found a small family room. She went inside and locked the door. Afraid they might fire at her through the door, she huddled in a corner behind a large metal trash can. After a moment there was a knock on the door.
“Sorry. I’m sick. I may be a while,” she said in a loud voice.
There was another knock. Harder this time. Her stomach twisted as she feared they would soon be breaking down the door.
“I’ve called the police. You better leave,” she warned.
The knocking turned to hard kicks. The door shook violently but the lock held. Jodie looked around for a weapon should the door give way, but there was nothing. Not even a towel rack she could pull out of the wall. Then she heard voices.
“Get away from the door! Reach for that gun and you’ll regret it.”
Then she heard a siren. She breathed a sigh of relief. The police had arrived.
“Drop the weapon!” a voice said.
“No problem. I’m a security officer. I was just responding to a distress call from my client. Jodie, you can come out now. It’s safe.”
Jodie unlocked the door and peered out. Two police officers had their guns on a man she assumed to be Toby. She’d never actually met him since he worked the night shift when she was asleep.
“Are you okay, ma’am?” one of the officers asked.
“Yes, now that Toby and you are here. What happened to the two men?”
“They ran when the police got here,” Toby said.
Jodie rubbed her forehead. Suddenly she felt exhausted. She put her hand on the doorjamb to steady herself.
“Are you all right?” Toby asked.
“No. Can you take me home? I’m not feeling so hot.”
Toby looked at the two officers.
“Do you want to file a complaint against the two men?” one of the officers asked.
“No. I didn’t get a good look at them and they didn’t harm me, thanks to Toby’s prompt response.”
The officers holstered their weapons and moved out of the way so Toby could take Jodie out to his car. Without looking back they got in and drove off. Toby drove Jodie home and checked the apartment to make sure nobody was lurking inside. After he’d left Jodie went straight to bed. Before she fell asleep she questioned her decision to become an attorney. She loved the job but the stress was unreal. She cringed at the thought of how bad it would get when Stan really put the heat on Melendez and the cartel with his garnishment campaign. She wondered if Agent Lot would consider loaning her a bulletproof vest.
Chapter 22
Default Judgment
The following Tuesday morning Stan had taken Rebekah to breakfast since she had a doctor’s appointment at ten. She was angry about having to go see the doctor again, so Stan figured if she had a nice breakfast she might be in a better mood. The strategy had worked and Rebekah seemed to be in good spirits when they walked into Dr. Sanders’s office. Unfortunately the reception room was packed with patients and they had to wait nearly an hour before they were summoned into an examination room.
“This is ridiculous. You’re missing work just so the doctor can tell us there’s nothing wrong with me.”
“Yeah, but there is something wrong. You just don’t pass out or lose the strength in one side of your body routinely. There has to be something causing it.”
“It’s just stress.”
“Stress from what? Your life is a hell of a lot simpler now than it used to be with four kids running around.”
“Yes, but I still have you to worry about. Who knows when some thug might put a bullet in your head?”
“Oh, come on. It’s not that bad.”
“Tell that to Jodie. I doubt she’s sleeping too well these days.”
Stan didn’t have a comeback for that one. He tried to imagine if the tables were turned. He’d certainly be worried about Rebekah if she were a lawyer and up against criminal elements, but would it cause symptoms like Rebekah was experiencing? He didn’t think so.
“You know if you volunteered or got a part-time job it might take your mind off me and the kids. It would probably be good for you.”
“I don’t want to go to work. I told you that already.”
“All right. Just a thought.”
The door to the examination room opened and the nurse came in. She took Rebekah’s blood pressure and temperature and had her stand on a scale to be weighed. She left and a few moments later Dr. Sanders walked in with her chart in his hand.
He wrote something in the chart and then looked up. “Hello, Rebekah, Stan.”
Rebekah forced a smile. “Hi.”
“How are you feeling today?”
“Fine,” Rebekah replied coldly.
Dr. Sanders gave Rebekah a once-over and then said, “Well, let me do an examination and then we’ll talk about your test results.”
Rebekah nodded and Dr. Sanders began listening to her heart and lungs. He then checked her reflexes and the strength of her arms and legs. When he was done he sat down and opened his chart.
“Well, your vitamin D and B12 levels are very low. You’ve got high PTH and calcium levels. We’ll need to do a bone density scan to make sure there hasn’t been any damage to them. You could have osteoporosis. I’m going to refer you to an endocrinologist for that. You should also see a cardiologist and a neurologist.”
“What?” Rebekah protested. “You can’t handle this yourself?”
“No. You’ll need a specialist in each of these areas. There are many different things that could cause these abnormalities in your blood work.”
Stan cringed at the thought of getting Rebekah to see three more doctors. Rebekah’s eyes glazed over. Stan could imagine what she was thinking. On the way home, he didn’t broach the subject of seeing three more doctors as he knew what she’d say—no way. After letting Rebekah off at home, Stan went to the office.
When he walked in he noticed Jodie and Maria in the conference room with papers spread out everywhere. He walked in to see what was going on. Jodie looked up. She told him about the skirmish with two cartel goons at the convenience store.
“When I got back to my apartment I couldn’t sleep so I got up early, came to the office, and started working on our garnishments.”
“How’s it coming?”
“I started with Foremost Mobile Homes of Boerne. Ricardo told me Alliance did a lot of business with them, so I’m using them to create my master garnishment petition. Once it’s done it will be easy to put the other twenty-six together.”
“Right,” Stan said.
“It’s a lot of work since I have to find each one’s registered agent. And I’ll need eight grand for the filing fees.”
“Okay, good work,” Stan said, obviously impressed with Jodie’s fast start. “I guess I better get a default judgment entered and figure out how to dig up the filing fees.”
“How long will that take?” Jodie asked.
“The answer date has passed, so I just need to take our witnesses down to the court and prove up the default.”
“So, you’ll need Jade Alvarez to prove it up?”
“Right. Just for a few hours.”
“Let me know when you need her and I’ll contact her at school and arrange it.”
“Okay, but be careful how you contact her. We don’t want the cartel finding out where she is.”
Jodie nodded and Stan went to his office. When he went through his messages he came across one from Glenda Wolf. He picked up the phone and called her.
“Just checking to see if you’ve finished your report yet. Everyone is anxious to finalize the estate,” Glenda said.
“Right. Well, I’m not quite done yet. I’ve found some old girlfriends who may have mothered his child. I’m checking that out.”
“That’s not possible. Herb would have told me if he’d knocked anyone up. There wouldn’t have been any reason for him to hide something like that from me.”
“Unless he didn’t know he’d done it. The boy may have just recently begun searching for his father.”
Glenda sighed. “Well, I’m sure you’re wrong. Herb didn’t have any children.”
“I’m hoping to hear something soon from my contacts in Hawaii. Just as soon as I find something out, one way or the other, I’ll finish my report and send it to the court.”
“Thanks. Just hurry, would you? This thing has been dragging on too long.”
Stan hung up and thought about Tom Hooper. He hadn’t heard from him for a few days and wondered if they’d had any luck finding Yuzie Gucci. Unfortunately Tom hadn’t given him a number in Hawaii to contact him, so Stan decided to call his home number and leave a message. Unfortunately his recorder was full and couldn’t take any more messages. Stan decided he’d just have to wait and hope Tom would eventually call him. His only other option would be to travel to Hawaii and he obviously didn’t have time to do that.
On the following Monday, Stan and Jodie met with Agents Lot and Thomas to talk to them about their garnishment strategy and the impact it would have on the cartel.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Stan,” Agent Lot advised.
“I know, but that’s the only way to get their attention. So far they’ve just ignored us. If we cut off their cash flow they’ll either have to appear and file a motion for a new trial or lose the cash. If they appear then Melendez and his sons will have to reveal their locations and submit to discovery.”
“They won’t make an appearance. They’ll do something dramatic to force you to back down—another kidnaping or an assassination would be my guess.”
“True. But this time you guys will be ready. If anyone comes after us you’ll have agents close by to protect us and take them down.”
“As hard as we will try to anticipate every way they might come after you, nobody thinks of everything,” Agent Lot warned.
“I have confidence in you,” Stan said.
Agent Lot sighed. “I hope you’re not expecting too much.”
When Stan got back to the office he started flipping through his phone messages. He saw one from Andrew Thompson’s attorney. His heart sank. He knew Andrew would be wanting access to Thompson Construction’s books and records and it wouldn’t be long before he realized all the cash had been cleaned out. He didn’t want to even think about the ramifications of that discovery. Reluctantly he returned the call.
“This is Stan Turner.”
“Hi, Stan. This is Paula Bracken, Andrew Thompson’s attorney.”
“Right. We met at the hearing the other day.”
“Yes, well I’m a little embarrassed having to make this call.”
Stan perked up. Why would she be embarrassed? he wondered. “What do you mean?”
“Well, at the hearing Andrew was a little surprised to learn he had to post a bond. I had mentioned it to him, but I guess it didn’t sink in. Anyway, when he went to apply for the bond he was turned down. Apparently he’s got some credit issues.”
Relief washed over Stan. He couldn’t believe their good fortune. “Is that right? I’m so sorry,” he lied.
“I know. We had the hearing for nothing. Anyway, I’ll be withdrawing Andrew’s application to be appointed administrator of Rodney Thompson’s estate. I’m sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.”
“No problem. Don’t worry about it,” Stan said smiling broadly. “We’ll keep you apprised of what’s going on.”
