Deadly Defiance, page 24
“Ah. You’re still in intensive care,” Stan reminded her.
“Not for long,” Terry said. “They’re taking her down to a regular room in a few minutes.”
Stan shrugged. “That’s good. Have you talked to the doctor?”
“Yes. They still don’t know what’s wrong with me. That’s because there is nothing wrong with me.”
“They still have more tests to run,” Terry said.
“What kind of tests?” Stan asked.
“An MRI, an EEG and some others,” Terry replied. “They’re going to keep doing tests until they come up with something.”
“I don’t want any more tests. Just let me go home.”
“You can go home when the doctor releases you. You’re a nurse. You know the drill.”
Rebekah gave Stan a dirty look. Stan laughed. “Hey. It’s not my fault you’re sick.”
Despite Rebekah’s protest the doctors continued to run tests for the next two days but still couldn’t figure out what had caused Rebekah’s blood pressure to spike. Eventually they gave in to Rebekah’s relentless campaign to be released and let her come home. Stan was glad to have her home as the hospital routine was brutal, but he noticed the stay had weakened her dramatically. Terry told him that was not unusual and that she would regain her strength, but he wasn’t so sure. It seemed the life was slowing draining out of her and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He felt scared and helpless.
The next day Terry agreed to stay with Rebekah so Stan could go down to South Texas and deal with the garnishment and the warehouse the feds had seized. Jodie was feeling better so she decided to come along and help out. Before they left they went to the office and sorted through the mail and phone messages that had stacked up. They soon discovered they’d hit pay dirt on several of the other garnishments as well. There were many phone calls from lawyers representing other garnishees who wanted to talk.
They felt like much of the danger had passed with Melendez behind bars, but they brought Brandon along just in case. They met Agent Lot and Deputy Hanson at the warehouse and were given a tour of the huge building.
“Apparently most of this stuff was legally obtained, so your garnishment lien is good,” Deputy Hanson advised. “So, if you like I’ll post it for sale.”
The problem with a sheriff’s sale, like any other auction, is that one would be lucky to get ten cents on the dollar. You could bid at the sale yourself to try to increase your return, but if you weren’t careful you might end up being the top bidder and buying everything yourself. Stan had consulted the Alvarez family about this and they all agreed they didn’t want the goods and wanted him to just get as much cash from the sale as he could.
“Yes,” Stan replied. “When will the sale take place?”
“In about thirty days. We have to give proper notice and publicize the sale.”
“Is there anything I can do to help draw bidders?”
“Yes. If you want to draw bidders outside of this area, to drive up the price, you’ll need to publicize the sale. That, of course, will require some cash.”
“How much?”
“That depends on how much publicity you want. I can give you a list of the newspapers where these types of sales are advertised and you can work directly with them.”
“Okay,” Stan said.
“I’ll also give you a list of past customers in case you want to do a direct mailing.”
“I’ll take care of the direct mailing,” Jodie volunteered. “I do it all the time for Junior League projects.”
“Great. I’ll contact the newspapers and see what their rates are. I might be able to trade some advertising for an exclusive interview on the case,” Stan said, turning to Jodie. “Would you be willing to be interviewed about your kidnaping?”
Jodie gave Stan a troubled look. She didn’t relish the idea of revealing her inner feelings about what had happened to a stranger and then seeing it in print for all the world to see. But, if it would help her clients, how could she refuse? Her face relaxed. “Sure, why not? It would probably be therapeutic to talk about it, anyway.”
“Cheaper than a shrink, that’s for sure,” Stan agreed.
With the details of the sheriff’s sale resolved, Agent Lot drove them to FBI headquarters for a briefing and conference on the case. Two other agents sat in on the briefing. One of them was Agent Brenda Thomas who had been working with Jodie on the case in Dallas. She explained that she had traveled down for the Melendez arrest and interrogation.
“It’s great to see you,” Jodie said, a few moments before the meeting started.
“So, how are you holding up after Ricardo’s murder?” Brenda asked. “That must have been pretty traumatic for you to see him gunned down that way.”
Jodie nodded. “Yes. I still can’t believe it happened. It was all my fault, too.”
“How do you figure?” Brenda asked.
“Well, in retrospect, we probably led the goons right to Ricardo. It didn’t occur to me that they’d be following us when we drove to Northpark. I was just so excited that he had finally agreed to come in that I let my guard down.”
“Well, wasn’t that Brandon’s responsibility? He was providing security?”
Stan walked in, nodded at Brenda, and sat down.
“Right. But in my enthusiasm I probably distracted him. He swears there wasn’t anyone following us, though.”
“You can’t blame yourself for his murder. You did everything you could to protect him.”
“Didn’t Ricardo say the cartel was pretty sophisticated in their electronic surveillance?” Stan interjected.
Jodie nodded. “He did say that.”
“I wonder if Brandon swept his vehicle for a tracking device. They probably saw that you often let him drive you around. It would have been pretty clever to put a tracking device on his car.”
Jodie’s eyes went wide. “You don’t think—?”
“Call Brandon and have him check it out.”
Jodie excused herself to go call Brandon. He’d gone back to Dallas when Agent Lot had asked them to come to FBI headquarters.
“So, it looks like we’re making some headway,” Stan said.
“Yes,” Brenda agreed. “Thanks to you and Jodie. I’ve never seen such a take-no-prisoner approach to litigation.”
Stan laughed. “Well, it was obvious dealing with the cartel that normal litigation strategy wouldn’t work. We had to hit them hard and hit them quick.”
“You’re lucky you’re both still alive. Weren’t you worried about the cartel coming after you?”
Stan shrugged. “You can’t worry about that kind of thing. In the past I’ve let fear stop me from doing what I knew was right and I’ve always regretted it. If you let it govern your actions you’ll end up doing a pitiful job or doing nothing at all.”
“I understand what you are saying, but the risks you two take are staggering.”
Stan laughed. “Look who’s talking! You get in the face of criminals and thugs every day.”
“Right, but we’re armed and trained to deal with them—plus we have the support of the federal government.”
“So do we. We have you and Agent Lot.”
Brenda laughed as Agent Lot and a third agent entered the conference room.
“What’s so funny?” Agent Lot asked.
“Oh, nothing. Stan and I are just having a little philosophical discussion.”
“Oh. Okay. Where’s Jodie?”
Just as the words were asked, Jodie walked back into the room. “You were right, Stan. There was a tracking device affixed to Brandon’s bumper.”
Brenda shook her head in dismay. “Brandon should have inspected his vehicle.”
“He swears he inspects his car every morning. He thinks they must have attached it while he was at a coffee shop for lunch.”
“All right,” Agent Lot said. “I’ve just been informed by Detective Besch that Rico has surfaced.”
“Where is he?” Jodie asked excitedly.
“In El Paso, it seems. He’s managed to work himself into a handler position. He’s hoping to gather enough evidence so we can take down some higher-ups in the cartel.”
“Isn’t he a little out of his jurisdiction being a Dallas cop?”
“True, so we’ve made this a joint operation with the Dallas Police Department. You have to take advantage of opportunities like this.”
“What’s the timetable on this?” Stan asked.
“Apparently there is a meeting of some of the higher-ups in the cartel tomorrow afternoon. He’s going to try to give us a time and location as soon as he finds it out.”
“How is he going to get that kind of intel?” Brenda asked.
“I guess he’s gotten tight with one of the participants in the meeting. He’s going to be his driver.”
“Yeah, but if they are careful they won’t tell him where they are going until he gets in the car.”
Agent Lot shrugged. “That’s true.”
“So, let’s turn the tables on them,” Stan said. “Slip a tracking device to Rico so he can attach it to the car he’s driving just before they leave.”
Agent Lot smiled. “Good thinking, counselor. That’s exactly what we’ll do.”
After the meeting Stan went back to Dallas to be with Rebekah but Jodie stayed behind. Agent Thomas had invited her to go to El Paso with them to witness the takedown of whoever showed up for the big cartel meeting. Ordinarily they didn’t invite civilians to this type of operation, but considering the contribution she’d made to the investigation and what she had been through, they made an exception. Jodie was excited about the invitation and prayed to God this would be the end of the Alvarez matter as she was ready for her life to get back to normal.
Chapter 26
Making the Connection
Paula couldn’t believe the trial was less than two weeks away and she still couldn’t link Doc Mellon to the two ice pick murders. She knew he was responsible for the murders but couldn’t come up with the evidence to prove it. If she didn’t put it together soon, Maureen Thompson would likely be convicted and spend the rest of her life behind bars. She couldn’t let that happen.
She knew there was a way to make the connection. In fact, for a moment she thought she had it, then it slipped away. She wracked her brain trying to rekindle the thought that was eluding her. There was somebody who could help her make the connection, but who was it? She got out her notes and began reviewing them but nothing stood out. Then she ran across the name Bob Brown. Brown was Randy Rhymes’s business manager. If anyone had borrowed money from Mellon it would have been him. The more she thought about it the more she knew she was on the right track. Brown had mismanaged Randy’s accounts and must have been desperately short on cash. He couldn’t tell Randy about what he’d done, so when he got desperate enough, he must have gone looking for quick cash and was referred to Doc Mellon. Now the only problem was finding Bob Brown to confirm her theory. There was a last-known phone number next to his name that Ryan Jones had given her. She called the number.
“I’m sorry but Mr. Brown doesn’t work here anymore,” a female voice advised.
“Do you know where I might find him?”
“I think he said he was moving back home. He’d had it with the big city.”
“Where’s home?”
“Lubbock. He was born and raised there. I think he was going to set up a new practice in the suburbs.”
Paula thanked the woman and called information in Lubbock. There was no listing for a Robert or Bob Brown. Frustrated, she hung up the phone. As she was thinking of what to do next, Stan walked in.
“How’s it going?” he asked.
Paula shook her head. “I need to locate a CPA named Robert Brown. Supposedly he’s in the process of setting up a practice in Lubbock.”
“Did you try the chamber of commerce? If he’s looking for new accounts that’s the first place he’ll probably go to meet people.”
“That’s an idea.”
“If you have a local address you could also go by his post office and see if he left a forwarding address.”
“All right. I’ll give those ideas a try.”
“If that doesn’t work, call Jake and have him do a skip-trace. It will take a couple of days, but I’m sure he’ll find him.”
Paula nodded. “I wonder who has Randy Rhymes’s records. There might be some documentation of the Mellon note there.”
“The executor of his estate should have them. You can probably call the probate clerk and get that information.”
“Good idea,” Paula said, digging into her drawer.
Stan excused himself and left her to work. She pulled out a sheet of paper with all the court telephone numbers on it, found the probate court’s number, and began dialing. A clerk answered and within a few minutes she had Randy’s executor’s name and telephone. She called him immediately and his secretary put her through.
“I’m sorry. I was never able to get those records. I think Bobby shredded everything when he realized Randy was onto him.”
“So, how did you handle his estate?”
“There wasn’t much to handle. Everything had been lost. I collected on a few insurance policies that hadn’t lapsed. There was just barely enough cash to pay the funeral expenses.”
“Boy, what did Brown do with all the money?”
“Gambling, drugs, loans to friends, bad investments, you name it.”
“Did you find any evidence of a loan from Doc Mellon or DMI, Doc Mellon Investments?”
“No, but I have a vague recollection of someone from DMI calling me shortly after Randy died. They wanted to know if there was anything left in the estate to pay creditors. I told them the estate was insolvent and not to bother filing a proof of claim. They weren’t happy to hear that, but I never heard from them again.”
“You’re sure it was DMI?”
“I believe so.”
“But you don’t have anything in writing from them?”
“No. They took my advice and didn’t file a proof of claim.”
“So, did this person mention the name ‘Doc Mellon’?”
“No. I don’t think so, but DMI rings a bell.”
“Did they mention how much they were owed?”
“I seem to remember him mentioning they were out a couple hundred grand.”
Paula thanked him and hung up. Although it was a little shaky, she now had confirmation that there had been a loan from Mellon to Randy Rhymes. She found it hard to believe that Mellon would kill the customers who couldn’t pay him. That didn’t seem like a good business practice to her, but the evidence seemed to point to that conclusion. Then Paula had a horrible thought. What if Mellon made his customers take out life insurance policies as additional security for the loans? That was a pretty common practice with banks, so why not for DMI, too? They certainly had an insurable interest. That would also explain why they wanted it to look like Maureen Thompson was the murderer.
Paula got up and went into Stan’s office. She knew he used to be a life insurance agent, so she figured he might know how to find out if there had been insurance policies taken out by Doc Mellon on Randy Rhymes and Rodney Thompson.
“Yes,” Stan said. “As a matter of fact, I know an underwriter over at Cosmopolitan Life. He’s helped me in the past research that type of information. I’ll give him a call and get him working on it.”
“Fantastic!” Paula said. “I can’t wait to find out. This will give me the connection I need to prove Doc Mellon is the murderer and clear Maureen.”
Stan smiled. “Good work! You may have just saved her life.”
“Hurry up. Make the call. I can’t wait!” Paula urged.
“All right, but it will take him a day or two to research it, I’m sure.”
“Okay, but just get him working on it. I’m running out of time.”
Stan picked up the phone and called Cosmopolitan Life. He talked to his friend Ned Baily and told him what he needed.
“If the decedents were murdered, there would have been investigations to be sure the beneficiaries were not responsible. I’ll call the firm that usually handles them and see if they were hired for the Rhymes or Thompson murders.”
“Thanks. I appreciate your help.”
Stan hung up the phone. “Okay. I’ll let you know the minute I hear anything.”
Paula nodded and went back to her office to call the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately, nobody there had heard of Bob Brown. Frustrated, Paula went to the post office that serviced Bob Brown’s old address. Miraculously, he had left a forwarding address but it wasn’t to an address in Lubbock. It was to an attorney’s office in Dallas. Paula looked up the number and called the attorney.
“Yes. I am receiving the mail. I’m handling Mr. Brown’s probate.”
“Oh, no. Robert Brown is dead?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so. He suffered a massive coronary about a month ago.”
“Do you have any of Randy Rhymes’s records? Brown had managed his affairs for some time.”
“No. I don’t know what happened to those records. I presumed Randy Rhymes’s estate must have picked them up.”
“No. They seem to be missing. There’s even unconfirmed reports that he shredded everything. Do you have any knowledge of that?”
“No, but if it is true, that would explain a lot.”
Paula thanked him and hung up. She was running out of options. Then she suddenly realized she hadn’t thought of the most obvious place to look for the policies. Doc Mellon surely had copies of them, if he or his company was the beneficiary. She picked up the telephone and called Detective Besch. He wasn’t available then, but he called her back within ten minutes.
“Have you guys confiscated all of Doc Mellon’s records?”
“Yes, everything we could find,” Besch replied.
“I need to look through them. I know there is a file for Rodney Thompson but I believe there should be one for Randy Rhymes as well.”
“What makes you think that?”
“His business manager was pretty desperate and may have borrowed some money from Doc Mellon to keep afloat for a while longer. If so, I’m wondering if Mellon required a life insurance policy as a condition of making the loan. That’s a pretty standard practice in the banking world.”
