Deadly Defiance, page 9
“Good. So, just call me when the inspection requests are filed. I’ll take it from there.”
“When do I pay for the fishing guide?”
“You don’t. That’s on me.”
“But—”
He put a finger to his lips. “Hush. Just call Bart and tell him you’re going to be home late tonight.”
“Lee. Come on. I told you, I’m married.”
“So you say, but I’ve read about your indiscretions in the tabloids. Are you telling me they’re untrue?”
He was talking about an affair Paula had been lured into with a young security guard. It turned out the security guard was actually a reporter trying to get inside information on a case she was handling. It had been humiliating and had almost destroyed her marriage. But Lee was right, she’d slept with a lot of men, so it didn’t matter that much to her. In fact, she thought she’d probably enjoy it if it weren’t for Bart. But, if he found out about it, it could be a disaster.
“Can I trust you to keep this to yourself?” Paula asked. “Bart can’t find out about it.”
“It will be our little secret,” Lee said excitedly.
“All right. Let’s go. I’ll follow you to your place, but I only have a couple of hours.”
Lee stood up and motioned to the waitress for the tab. After he paid the bill they left and Paula followed Lee home. A wave of guilt came over her as she followed the big Cadillac through downtown Dallas to Lee’s apartment. But she also felt an excitement she hadn’t felt in years. She’d always loved being free to sleep with whomever she wanted without guilt or shame. She often lamented her decision to marry Bart. She loved Bart, but she loved her freedom more.
Now she had a compelling excuse to cheat on Bart, and since she had no choice in the matter, she figured she might as well enjoy it. So, as Lee fumbled to unlock the door to his apartment, Paula began kissing him passionately and unbuttoning his shirt. When the door opened they stumbled inside and made a dash for the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothing in their wake.
Chapter 9
Dangerous Litigation
Jodie’s studied her draft of the application for administration. Their strategy was to get Jade Alvarez appointed administrator of Romildo Alvarez’s estate. Ordinarily the spouse would apply to be administrator but Pandora wasn’t legal, so it would be too dangerous for her to appear in court. Since her daughter Jade was the eldest child and was a natural born citizen of the United States, she would qualify to be administrator and wouldn’t have to worry about being deported. Once Jade was appointed administrator, she would then institute the lawsuit to recover Romildo’s back pay and overtime that he was due. The question that had yet to be decided was whether to sue for the back pay and overtime for Luz since she was a citizen as well. When the family gathered to sign all the pleadings Jodie brought up the issue.
“We could join Luz in as a plaintiff to recover her back pay and overtime since she’s a citizen too, but I don’t know if you want to put her at risk. We have convinced the FBI and the Dallas police to reopen their cases, but it could still be dangerous. Melendez is going to be livid when he discovers what’s coming down on him. He may still try to retaliate against you.”
“Since I’m going to be administrator I might as well join as a plaintiff, too,” Jade said.
Jodie nodded. “Yes. You’re our designated target, so to speak, so it would make sense for you to be an individual plaintiff. It would probably be a good idea for you to go off the grid while this lawsuit is going on, however. I don’t want you ending up like your father.”
“Where would I go?”
“Why don’t you go to college?”
“College?”
“Yes, that would be perfect. We can find a nice state school somewhere and you can live in a dorm. I’ll arrange everything and keep it between you and me. That way there will be no way Melendez or his goons can find you.”
“I’ve always wanted to go to college,” Jade admitted. “It’s been a dream of mine, but how will I pay for it?”
“My sister is an administrator at a state technical college and works in the student aid office. She says there are a lot of minority scholarships and student loan programs. I don’t think it will be a problem getting you financed.”
Jade looked at her mother. “Yes, that’s a good idea,” Pandora agreed, “but what about the rest of the family?”
“Well, the rest of you won’t be involved in the lawsuit, but you could still be at risk. Our hope is that with the Dallas police and FBI breathing down Melendez’s neck, they wouldn’t take a chance at hurting any of you, but there are no guarantees.”
“Let’s leave Luz out of it,” Pandora said. “I don’t want her to be a target.”
“You’re probably right,” Jodie agreed. “If we win or settle the case we can probably settle for the rest of you, too. Melendez wouldn’t want to go through another lawsuit.”
Pandora nodded.
“Okay, tomorrow I’ll file the application for appointment of administrator and in a couple weeks we’ll go to the court and get Jade’s appointment approved. By then we’ll have the state court action ready to go and we’ll file it immediately. Hopefully during this time the FBI and the Dallas police will come up with enough evidence to start putting some heat on Melendez.”
“It’s going to be scary going to work after the lawsuit is filed,” Ganix noted.
Jodie nodded. “Yes, it will. So, you may want to find another job so Melendez won’t be seeing you every day.”
“No,” Nehemias said. “We can’t quit. Guido will kill us if we do that. If we tell him we had nothing to do with the lawsuit I think we’d be better off.”
Jodie swallowed hard. “Either way what you are doing is very dangerous. We’ll do everything we can to protect you, but there are no guarantees. You don’t have to file this lawsuit. You could leave it up to the FBI and Dallas police. They may come through this time with some indictments.”
“I doubt that,” Ganix said. “They’re only taking action now because you and Stan are pushing them.”
Jodie nodded. “That’s true, so if you really want your father’s killers brought to justice, this may be the only way to do it.”
“We need to do this,” Louisa said. “It’s time to put the bastards behind bars.”
The debate continued but in the end all agreed Jodie’s plan was sound and they should go forward with it. When they’d left she went to talk to Stan about how to proceed. He was on the telephone when she walked in his office, so she sat down and waited. When he hung up the phone he looked at her expectantly.
“Well, they want to proceed the way we discussed,” Jodie reported.
Stan sighed. “They’ve got a lot of guts. I’ll say that for them.”
“They loved their father and they want to put Melendez behind bars. I’m surprised one of them hasn’t just put a bullet in his head.”
Stan laughed. “They’ve probably considered it, but I imagine Melendez doesn’t go anywhere without a bodyguard.”
“So, what are we going to do to protect them?”
“Maybe I can get Detective Besch to go visit Melendez and warn him to leave the Alvarez family alone. He can be pretty persuasive.”
“Good idea. Can I come along? I’d love to see Melendez’s face.”
“No. You better stay clear of Alliance Fabrications. I wouldn’t want you to blow your cover and put you in danger.”
“You think they’d come after me?”
Stan nodded. “Yes, our lawsuit is going to cost them a lot of money and they’ll figure out pretty fast that we’re the ones who stirred up the FBI and the Dallas police.”
“Do you think you’ll be in danger?”
“Possibly. We’ll all have to take extra precautions to protect ourselves and our families.”
Jodie shook her head. “I wish there was something I could do. I hate just sitting around waiting.”
“Oh. You can go visit Besch. He said he’d let you go through the case file as long as you did it at his office. There might be some information in there that could be useful.”
“Sure. I’ll go there tomorrow,” Jodie said and then stood up to leave.
“All right. Let me know if you find anything good.”
As Jodie walked back to her office her cell phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw that it was from Ricardo. She knew she shouldn’t take the call but she was curious what he wanted. Her finger lingered over the talk button for a long moment, then sighed and pressed it.
“Hello.”
“Jodie. This is Ricardo.”
“Hey, cowboy. What’s up?”
“What are you doing tonight? I thought maybe I could buy you dinner.”
“It’s a nice thought, but I’ve only put in eight billable hours today. I’ve got to log in two or three more or risk the wrath of my boss.”
“Your boss sounds like my father. He thinks his employees exist only for his profit.”
“Yeah. I guess the difference is, I’m doing it to get ahead. Down the road a few years I’ll be a partner and rolling in the big bucks.”
“Yes, that’s true. My father’s employees will die poor.”
Jodie felt a surge of guilt. She had an urge to come clean with him and enlist his help voluntarily, but that could be extremely dangerous. Ricardo was a decent guy and she didn’t think he’d be anxious to betray his family.
“I’ll take a rain check, okay?”
“Just have dinner with me. You’ve got to eat. I promise it won’t take more than an hour and then you can go back to your office and log in another couple of hours.”
Jodie sighed and then heard herself say, “Okay, I’ll meet you at Macaroni Grill on LBJ near Forest Lane at seven, but I’ve got to be out of there by eight.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Jodie. See you soon.”
Jodie looked at her watch and saw it was 5:30 p.m. She wondered if she should go to her apartment and change before dinner. She looked at the stack of telephone messages that needed to be answered and decided Ricardo would have to take her as she was. Besides, maybe if she looked a little tattered he’d lose interest in her and quit calling.
At 6:30 Jodie answered the last phone message and got up to leave. On the way to her car she went to the ladies’ room to comb her hair and refresh her makeup. Ten minutes later she was on her way and arrived just a little after seven. Ricardo was in the reception area waiting for her.
“Oh, there you are,” Ricardo said as she stepped through the door. I’m so glad you could squeeze me in.”
“I’m sorry about that. Didn’t anybody warn you about dating an attorney? It can only lead to heartache.”
Ricardo shrugged. “That’s probably good advice, but I can’t help myself. Ever since I met you I can scarcely think of anything else.”
Jodie frowned. “Oh, come on. You barely know me. I could be a serial killer for all you know.”
“I feel like I’ve known you for years. Isn’t that weird?”
“Yes, very weird. I’m just another girl. There’s nothing special about me.”
“Oh, but that’s not true. You’re smart, confident, funny, and caring.”
Jodie rolled her eyes. “Well, right now I’m hungry, so let’s order some food. You only have me for forty-eight more minutes.”
Ricardo motioned to the waitress and she came over to take their orders. He wanted to order a bottle of wine but Jodie protested.
“No wine. It will put me to sleep and then I won’t be able to work when I get back to the office.”
“Are you really going back to the office? I’d like to show you my apartment.”
Jodie laughed. “Yeah. I bet you would.”
“The idea doesn’t tempt you a little bit?”
Jodie studied Ricardo. The offer did tempt her but she knew she couldn’t give in to it. An affair with Ricardo would be incredibly dangerous. Eventually Ricardo would learn the truth about her and if he or his family didn’t kill her, she’d probably be disbarred for unethical behavior.
“No. I like you, Ricardo, but my focus is on my career right now and I’m not going to get sidetracked by a relationship. Maybe in a few years my perspective will change, but for now that’s the way it’s got to be.”
He sighed deeply and turned away. Jodie felt bad but knew she was doing the right thing. He turned back to her and smiled. “Have you ever tried the Sausage Salentino?” Ricardo asked.
“No. Is it good?”
After dinner Jodie thanked Ricardo and then left him longing after her. She didn’t go back to the office but home to take a bath and lament her decision. He was a good man. She wondered how such a beautiful flower could have grown and blossomed in the Melendez junk heap of a family. She wondered if the flower would wilt when her deceit was revealed.
The next morning Jodie went to see Detective Besch. They drank a cup of coffee together, chatted a few minutes and then, as promised, he left her with the Alvarez file laid out across his desk.
“I’ve got to go track down a witness, so it may be a while before I get back. If anybody comes in looking for me just tell them I stepped out for a minute and told you to wait for me.”
“All right. Thanks, Detective.”
Besch left and Jodie began going through the file. She looked at the photos first, shuffling through an array of photos of the body. There were no visible signs of trauma except for the look of horror on Romildo’s face. It was uncanny. She could only imagine the fear he must have felt as he watched the assailant inject him with a lethal dose of heroin. She stared at the photo a long minute, letting the anger well within her. She wanted to remember that face, so if her resolve ever faltered, she could just recall that memory to restore it.
Next she read the autopsy report. It confirmed her visual observation that there was no major trauma to the body except for multiple needle marks on his left arm. There was a little bruising to his arms and shoulders that suggested a possible struggle but could just as easily have been the normal bumps and bruises of any common laborer. Pandora and her children had described Romildo as a mild-mannered man, so it was possible when Guido confronted him that he accepted his fate and didn’t put up much of a struggle.
Guido Quesada was obviously an expert at killing his victims and making it look like an accident. Jodie wondered how many others Guido had murdered. She wondered if he had done it alone or brought Ben Zepeda or Adair Aguirre along. She found notes in the file from interviews of all three of them, but as would be expected they professed no involvement or knowledge of Romildo’s death prior to the reports in the newspapers.
Finally, Jodie looked through a paper bag full of Romildo’s personal property. His clothing, pants, and shoes were old and worn and provided no clues as to the events that led to his death, except for a torn sleeve and a missing button—possibly ripped by the assailant as he was preparing to make the fatal injection. As she was stuffing the clothing back in the bag a funny feeling came over her. She looked at the clothing again. Where was the belt? Most men wore belts. And where was Romildo’s coat? Surely he wouldn’t walk several miles in the cold of winter without a coat.
Jodie made a mental note of these questions and then started going through Romildo’s wallet. There was no driver’s license, social security card, or voter registration. There were no credit cards, club memberships, or insurance certificates. The only thing in his wallet was $110 in cash and pictures of his family. Jodie thought about how horrible it must be to live in a country where you were expected to be invisible and, on paper, didn’t exist. She couldn’t imagine not being able to vote, legally drive a car, or open a bank account. But worst of all, she couldn’t imagine having to live in fear of Guido Quesada’s wrath if you didn’t follow the company’s rules—or being dragged off by the INS if they suddenly discovered your presence without a green card.
As Jodie was running this through her mind the door opened and Detective Besch walked in with a thin Hispanic man in his mid-twenties. His weather-beaten face and soiled clothing made Jodie think perhaps the man lived on the street.
“Jodie, I want you to meet Rico Toledo. He’s been assigned to work undercover at Alliance Fabrications.”
Jodie stood up and they shook hands. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Rico replied evenly.
“Ordinarily I wouldn’t introduce you to someone working undercover, but since you’re dating Ricardo I thought you two should meet. It could be that your paths might cross and you could help each other out.”
“Sure,” Jodie agreed. “I’m glad you did.”
“Anyway. First thing tomorrow morning Rico will arrive with a load of illegals and then he’ll be on the inside.”
“Good. So what’s your objective exactly?”
“Well, we’d like to gather enough evidence to charge Melendez, and whoever he hired to kill Mr. Alvarez, with murder. A secondary objective is to get Alliance Fabrications either in compliance with the labor laws or shut them down. We’ll be working with the FBI and the Labor Department on the latter objective.”
“Sounds good,” Jodie replied.
“Next week after you file suit, Stan and I will go pay Mr. Melendez a visit and warn him against any retaliation. We’ll also begin surveillance of Guido Quesada and Mr. Melendez’s two sons who work in the business. Hopefully, this will all pay off quickly.”
Jodie nodded. “It sounds like a good plan. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help.”
“I will,” Detective Besch replied.
“Nice to meet you, Rico,” Jodie said. “Looking forward to working with you.”
“Likewise,” Rico replied.
Jodie left Besch’s office feeling pretty good. She and Stan had done a good job getting the local police and the federal government back on the ball. Now it would be just a matter of time before they had the evidence they needed to put Melendez and his goons behind bars. At least she hoped that would be the case.
Chapter 10
The Warning
