Tuesday morning.
We slept for an hour and then swam a little trying to get our bodies ready for the day. We ate a big breakfast with all the housemates who knew something big had happened, but not the details.
"Wanda, I have a check ride in the G5 this morning. Cover for me until I can get in. I'll answer my phone if I can but I may be busy. I didn't plan on being in today."
"I didn't plan on you being in at all this week, but things change. You should call John this morning. I'm sure he's being fed continuous information, and knowing him, he's still awake too. Call him and tell him your schedule."
I called John and he told me to not go in today but to stay near my phone. I told him about my check ride and he said, "Do that, you may be needed to fly some big shots one of these days. When you get done, go home. If you need to go to the base to get another leg, do it. I've heard all about it. Christ, you don't even need a gun to kill and maim. One dead, one critical, perhaps permanent, and a jailer still in lala land. Christ, you're a one-legged dude without anything, and you did all that? Remind me not to make you mad."
I called Sarah on the way to the air park. Her first words were, "Oh God, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have had you do that. Who would have known it was a trap? I'm sorry, Chuck. I'll make sure that asshole pays for this. He and Roberta are both in jail and won't be arraigned until ten. His lawyers are going nuts, but I told them that you were attacked at their client's direction, so they better start bringing money in from offshore. I've had your judge friend lock up all the accounts of Rocky Mountain and have even had some of his offshore accounts frozen. I'm going to crucify him for fucking with you. Did you get your fake leg back? I heard the jailers lost it."
"Not yet, Sarah, that's another fifty-five hundred. Do what you need to do, sweet thing, but get lots for yourself."
At the air park Lisa said, "They are ready for you and know you've been up all night. Do the question and answer session, you know the answers, then fly that beautiful airplane. You'll be fine."
I was fine. The questions were a lot easier than the day before and we had plenty of coffee.
This time the aircraft had not been sabotaged, but I did find a problem that Jimmy had to come fix. The hour flight I took was fun, except when I landed I had to really pay attention to be gentle. I still set down harder than normal, but not bad. When we parked the G5 the instructor shook my hand and said, "What's next, a 767 or an Airbus? Let's fly them all."
"I think this is it for right now. Now I can help out here and I can help out in the school. It's been a long haul but fun, a lot of fun. I hate to run but I have to get back to doing some of my duties."
I was driving back home when my cell rang. It was Sarah, "Where are you. Can you come to my office?"
"As long as you won't put me in jail again."
"No, you know I won't, this is serious. You need to come right away."
I turned for downtown and called Wanda to tell her I was on my way to Sarah Perkins' office. Wanda said, "Good, you need to be there. All kinds of shit has happened. Remember that you are to stay away from news people like John asked."
Sarah's secretary ushered me into a conference room. Sarah came in with the secretary who was carrying a cup of coffee and a bottle of water. Sarah said, "Thank you for coming quickly. Rocky's attorneys are about to jump off the Skyway. The press has found out Rocky and his Roberta are in jail and are trying to find out what the deal is. If this gets out, he's going to lose his endorsements and probably most of his wrestling contracts. The man has a lot of money, but you're going to get most of it and he lives on his ego and the adulation from his fans. He won't have any if this gets out."
"What can I do? The judge put him in jail for breaking his order."
Sarah was shaking her head, "I know, but you're now the focus because Rocky tried to have you harmed at the Hillsborough jail. It is getting out that the jailers were corrupt and that an unknown person killed one and seriously hurt two others while defending himself. How in the hell did you kill someone with no leg against three men?"
"Training."
"I want some of that training. Look, Chuck, I have two of Rocky's attorneys here right now trying to give me anything if I withdraw the charges. If I do, Rocky might go free and Roberta might be freed as well. I'm not sure I should do this, but I have an idea. We can make a contingency agreement. You'll get so much now, but if he breaks the agreement, you'll get a whole bunch more to you or your heirs. I think the man is nuts enough to try to kill you, so the contingency amount will be everything the man owns now and in the future."
"Look, Sarah, I don't like any of this and I'd just as soon the man go about his business and leave me alone. He did fuck with me and that's going to cost him. Losing my leg is bad, trying to have me killed is really bad. Next time he attacks me, I'll intentionally hurt him. Do what you feel you should do. If you want him to bleed, cut him open, just do what you know how to do."
"You're serious, aren't you? You really want to give the guy a break. You're better than I am. Let me get these freak attorneys. They're in my office listening to us. I wanted them to hear that you're not a money grubber."
Sarah brought the two attorneys into the conference room and said, "This is the terrible man who supposedly attacked your client. What do have to offer?"
The two looked at each other and said, "Can we give you assets instead of money?"
Sarah asked, "What kind of assets."
"You know like trophies, belts, personal stuff that you could sell?"
I said, "No, I'm not interested in what Rocky has. I want him to know that he can't do what he did. If lots of money is what it takes, I want lots and lots of money. At least double what I got before and I want my attorney to get twenty-five mil this time. She deserves it for the way you've been pushing her around."
The two were whispering to each other. The one said, "Will you withdraw charges?"
"Only with a statement that no charges will ever be brought against me for anything that may have occurred, or ever will occur, between your client and myself."
Sarah looked at me with half-closed eyes. The greedy little wench was counting her money already.
I continued, "Give me a hundred, Ms. Perkins twenty-five, plus the agreement, and you have a deal, otherwise, I'll talk to the first reporter who asks."
"Ah, can we make a call? We'll get right back."
Sarah said, "Call from my office. It's private."
As soon as they left, Sarah locked the conference room door, punched some buttons on the phone, and sat back down. We heard a phone dialing and a man answer, he said, "What do you have?"
"He won't take junk, but he will give us what we want for a hundred mill to him and twenty-five to his cunt lawyer, plus an agreement that says Rocky will not and can never charge this Johnson guy with anything as a result of any contact between the two."
"Is there a penalty if we break the agreement?"
"Probably, but that isn't important. We need to get Rocky out of the country where he can lay low and do some video wrestling. He can come back for a quickie match, but he needs to get the hell out of here."
The remote guy said, "Find out what the penalty is going to be and write it up so we can get Mr. Wonderful and his bitch out of jail. We'll get everything signed and promise the check's in the mail. Let's get this done now."
The guy hung up the phone. Sarah said, "I'll handle the rest, stay quiet."
She punched some buttons on the phone and unlocked the door. The two came back and Sarah began writing on her legal pad creating the words and penalties. I noticed when reading what she wrote, that nothing happened until a lot of money in some form of cash and the signed statement/agreement was in Sarah's hands. She wrote the big numbers and added fifty-five hundred for a new prosthesis. She looked up and said, "Read this, if you agree, I'll get it typed up and you can leave to get what I asked for. You bring the money and the signed agreement. I want a guaranteed cashier's check or cash on this transaction."
The lawyers grimaced, but never raised an objection. Sarah had the agreement typed up and handed the attorneys some copies. She said, "Please do this quickly or we begin talking to all of the press. I have CNN's telephone number right here."
The two left and Sarah said, "I'll show them "cunt lawyer." I saw you flinch when they called Roberta his bitch. You can't change scum and they are pure scum. We'll still have to watch for tricks. They will try. You, go away, go home, and enjoy the day. I'll let you know how it's going. You and I will be filthy rich by tonight. If not, we'll sell the story to the highest bidder. I'm good at that."
I left Sarah's office thinking about it being lunchtime, but was apprehensive of what these men would do. They thought it would all be over the first go round and now we had struck back quickly and it had hurt, a lot, and could hurt more in the future.
Downstairs, standing in the lobby of Sarah's building I looked out the glass lobby front and noticed a guy sitting in a car across the street. He was intently watching the door to this building. I walked across the lobby and looked to see if I could see anyone else, and didn't. Should I go around and out the back of the building, or just go out and walk to my car to see if he follows.
Fuck it, I pulled my Glock to check the magazine and that a round was in the chamber. The security guard in the lobby was getting nervous, so I showed him my badge. I said, "Just precautionary, that's all."
I walked out of the building and headed for my car without looking directly at the guy. He was only watching, nothing else. I suddenly felt naked. My vest was in my bag. Was the bag in the car or at home? I would look.
At my car, I pushed the trunk release button on my fob and there was my case. I pulled it out and put it on the seat next to me as I started my car and drove away. I didn't want to lead someone to the house, but where should I go? I wanted to take whoever was following me away from people.
I drove north toward the trailer park, but passed it up and kept going toward the little biker bar up the road. It was early enough there shouldn't be anyone there, so it should be safe. The car was back there a ways, but still back there, following me. I couldn't tell if there was another car behind him or not, but I would find out soon.
I pulled into the bar and around back. I jumped out, put my vest on, and pulled the extra three magazines from the bag, along with my cuffs and a handful of the big tie-wraps we used for prisoners. I went completely around the building to watch for when the car pulled into the lot. The car only had one guy, the driver. He was talking on a cell phone when he pulled in. He backed up under a tree and parked next to an old garage on the other side of the parking lot. The guy seemed to be messing with something in his lap and I figured it might be something bad, like a gun.
I looked at the surrounding area carefully and figured out how to get up close to the car without being seen. I quickly moved behind obstructions until I was about six feet from the open window of the car. I walked up at an angle so he couldn't see me in the mirror and stuck my gun barrel to his head. "Hand me the piece in your lap by the barrel. Screw up and you're dead so move slowly, no fast moves."
I took the gun and shoved it in my waistband. "Now put your hands on the steering wheel and stay still."
Using two of the big personnel tie raps that I brought from the gym bag, I tie-wrapped each hand to the steering wheel. He complained, but I said, "It's either this or I stuff you in the trunk in cuffs." He looked scared.
I searched him, taking his wallet and his cell phone. I pulled the keys to his car and pocketed them. I finally asked, "What's going on? Why did you follow me and who are you waiting for?"
He sneered at me. I reached for the end of the tie-wrap. "You know that if I pull this tight enough, all the circulation to your hands will be cut off, in an hour or so the skin will die, and soon after that you will lose your hands. Please tell me what I want to know."
His cell phone rang so I answered it, "Yeah."
"We're getting close, is the guy still there?"
"Yeah."
"We'll pull in on the other side of the lot away from whatever side of the lot you are at and we'll go get him together. If he doesn't come peacefully, well, Rocky won't owe him anything. We're almost there."
The guy hung up and I said, "You have to be quiet." I pulled his tie off and tied it around his head so he couldn't talk. Then hurried across the lot to the other side to see what I had to work with. There wasn't much cover but there was a dumpster in the back. I figured I could jump one there and work on the other after the first was out of the picture. I needed more gags.
I was on the side of the building when two guys in a Lincoln pulled in. They were typical movie looking hoods in cheap suits. They got out of the car and one used his cell phone and the one I had from the guy following me rang. I answered, "Yeah."
"Where is he?"
In a whispered voice, I said, "In the back on the other side of the dumpster. One of you go around back and flush him out front, we'll get him out here."
The guy didn't even answer as he motioned for the other guy to get in front of the building and he began coming to the back. On the way to the dumpster, I found a long wooden dowel about an inch thick. Ah, I thought, "A weapon."
I picked it up and waited, the guy came up to the dumpster and looked around the side, then walked straight past me. I whacked him on the side of the head and watched him crumple. I tie-wrapped his hands behind his back and used his tie to gag him. He wouldn't be out long as I didn't hit him hard. I picked up the cheap .45 he dropped and put it in my pants pocket.
Going back around the way I came, I looked to see the other guy peeking around the side of the building. Very carefully I walked up to him and said, "Carefully now, you will drop that nasty gun you have and slowly kneel or I'll kill you. You see, I've killed the other two, so you're next unless you tell me who you work for."
When he didn't say anything, I whacked him on the side of the head with the dowel too. He fell like a rock. I tie-wrapped him and used his convenient tie to gag him as well. What's with these guys wearing ties and cheap suits in Florida? They obviously didn't shop at the warehouse. I picked up his gun and walked to my car to put the three guns in the bag. There were some more tie-wraps, so I brought those and tie-wrapped the guy's feet. I walked around back and tie-wrapped that guy's feet together too.
I pulled and tugged until I had the guy from the back on the side of building. The guy in the front was waking up, so I dragged him by the feet until I had him next to the other one. Thinking I needed all three to be together, I went for the guy in the car. Now I used my cuffs from the bag. With the cuffs on the man tie-wrapped to the steering wheel, I used my pocket knife to cut the tie-wraps. Those things are tough. I said to the man, walk slowly, or I'll hit you and drag you over there. You saw them."
The man did walk carefully. When he was by the building, I hit him with the dowel anyway. When he was down, I unlocked the cuffs and tie-wrapped his hands behind him and tie-wrapped his feet before propping him up, sitting next to his buddies.
I searched the other two and found their wallets and a pretty good amount of cash. I was more interested in who was hiring them. One guy didn't have a cell phone, but the other did. It was a nice one, one of those internet phones with a big fancy screen.
Now I was in a quandary. What to do with these guys? If I called the cops, they would be out here quickly and I'd never get the information I needed. If I called the deputy marshals, I would have to explain more than I wanted to right now. I called Sarah.
"Sarah, Sweetie, I need your help. A guy followed me when I left you today, and I led him on a wild goose chase and caught him, but not before he called a couple of his buddies to come help. One said over the phone that I was to be eliminated and Rocky would be clean and not have to pay anything. I haven't done any serious interrogation of these guys yet, but I want you to pull the attorneys' chains to see if they are stalling. If they are, they will call one of the cell phones I've taken from these guys. I'll see the number and have my office track it down. If they want me that bad, I may change the game a little. Make sure you don't let Rocky out until we get this settled and lots of real money in your hands."
"I'll call the assholes immediately. Now I want to hurt them. Are you okay? How did you take on three men? Are you some kind of superman or something?"
"Make the call, Sarah, I want to see if they call one of these phones."
I used each phone to call my phone to get the numbers and called Wanda. "Wanda, take these two numbers down. I should have another to run through the lookup. I'm in a situation where I may need backup, so if you could have Sarg begin moving at least one duty team out north of Land of Lakes."
Before she could answer, the cell phone that I took off the guy who came last rang. While it was ringing, I gave Wanda the number and said that I needed the source of this one fast.
I answered the guy's phone and said, "Yeah."
The person on the other end said, "What's your status, you get the cripple yet?"
I held the phone away from my mouth so the wind noise and low voice level would mask mine. "Not yet, he's slippery."
"Get that motherfucker before he goes to the newspapers. We have to keep him quiet. Do it fast or your boss will have your balls, this is important."
I hung up wondering who the boss was. I heard Wanda on my phone. "Are you talking to someone?"
"It's a long story but find out where that call came from and call me back."
I thought some precautions would be smart. I called Sarah, "Do me a favor, close your office, and get over to my office. Stay with Wanda. She's pretty tough and knows what to do if something comes up. I think you need to be watched until this comes to a conclusion."
"Are you saying I may be in danger, Chuck? If it's from these assholes, I hope they try something. I'll buy my island if they keep this up. I'll go over there, but only because I don't want my girl hurt."
"Good, and Sarah, when you get there, make up a news release describing all this bullshit. When you're done, fax it to those attorneys and tell them the clock is ticking and you will fax it out if they don't do what we want fast."
"Good idea, Chuck. Let me get out of here. To let you know, I do carry. I've got a neat little PPK that I know how to use. Some of these divorce cases can get out of hand, you know."
"Okay, get out of there. I'll tell Wanda you're coming. Give her the lowdown, I haven't told her a lot."
The three stooges were coming around. One had his eyes open and you could see the fear in them. I pulled his gag off and he said, "What're you gonna do with us? You're in trouble, Buddy, the boss is gonna really be pissed."
"Who is your boss? Tell me, friend, and perhaps I won't kill you. If you know me, you know I like to kill people. I love to watch their eyes roll up in their head in pain as they take their last breath. I think it's way cool when they piss on themselves in fear. Do you have good underwear on? I hope you've got tightie whities so the shit that's going to squirt out your ass is spread all over you."
I thought the guy was going to piss on himself right then. He had his mouth open in fear and his eyes were dilated from adrenaline. "Ah, uh, if I tell you, I'm a dead man."
"If you don't tell me, you're a dead man. You better start talking. In an hour or so my biker buddies are going to be here and they will love pitching you out into the lake watching you splash around. They might use you for knife throwing practice first. They really enjoy punks like you."
"We work for James Monterro, the lawyer. He's a very powerful man. He'll probably kill us anyway. Going to jail would be healthier."
I walked away from the three and called Wanda, "Is Sarah there yet?"
"She just walked in."
I said, "Tell her to pick up."
When Sarah answered, I said, "These men work for James Monterro, is he one of the lawyers you're dealing with?"
"I don't think so, unless these other guys are a front. Monterro does a lot of sports rep stuff. He's sort of an agent. It's kind of common knowledge that Monterro has a lot of underworld connections because of his boxing clients. He's always been one step ahead of the law. This may be the event that stops that. What should I do?"
"We need to get you well paid for this first, then we'll deal with Mr. Monterro. Get that news release faxed and I'll try to get these guys put away somewhere and get some statements. Since it's probably a federal crime doing what they do, I'll use our facilities. Tell Wanda to pick up."
"Wanda, have two teams come out to the old Florida Bar on 41, north of Land of Lakes right away. We have three to transport and two cars to pick up. I think we'll just drive them out of here instead of sending Hank. Tell Sarg to have the teams call me on my cell. I'll be waiting."
I walked back over to my three idiots with the one watching me with fear in his eyes. The other two were awake but were still groggy, not really understanding what was happening.
My cell rang and it was a duty guy, he said he was almost here and I said for effect, "We'll take them in for now. If they don't talk, we'll kill them later."
The guy laughed and said, "Scaring them huh, like we do with the window. See you in a minute."
I answered, "Okay, I promise, no blood in your car. We'll do it somewhere else if we have to."
The two teams showed up and we cut the tie-wraps off of them but put leg and waist chains on for easier transport and questioning. One of each team drove a car and I followed the four vehicles as we headed to the city.
On the way I called Wanda, "Did you find out where the call came from?"
"It's the offices of the attorneys Sarah said she is dealing with. What do you want to do with this information? Have someone pick them up?"
"No, let me speak to Sarah."
When Sarah answered I said, "Let's get down and dirty. Call the attorneys and tell them the three men who were trying to get at me are in custody and that if they want to remain members of the bar they should abide by the offer we agreed to. Tell them they have one hour to deliver negotiable currency to you. At the end of that one hour, you will go to the police and newspapers at the same time."
Sarah asked, "That's kind of dangerous, isn't it?"
I laughed, "Not when you're in a secure building housing the FBI and the U.S. Marshal Service."
"How will they deliver what we asked for?"
"Tell them they can deliver the payment to you in the lobby. I'll call Jan and have her go down with you, or she can bring them upstairs, your choice."
"Bring them up here. I want them to see your office and know they are messing with someone important. Will those men you captured be here by then?"
"Yeah, we'll be there in about fifteen minutes."
Sarah said excitedly, "We could show them the three and let them see we do have them."
I said, "We can do that. Let me talk to Wanda."
When Wanda answered, I asked, "Is it all right to do this in a federal office?"
"I don't know, but the office is protecting citizens. This time you're a citizen."
I had another thought, so I added, "Listen, have Sarg assign a couple of chase teams to cover this James Monterro. If the man makes a move to leave the area, bring him in. Sarg can use the Bureau too, as it's going to be in their jurisdiction. I don't want to lose this guy."
We brought the three men to the federal building and up to our interrogation area. I was thinking that we now were constantly aware of what could happen in some rooms from across the street. The three men were locked to tables and chairs that were out of view from the windows as a precautionary move. It was still the policy to have a window open and take the prisoner over and push his head out to show him how far it was to the ground before locking him to the table.
Upstairs, I checked to make sure Sarah wasn't nervous about what was happening, and then went into the station to make sure Sarg had invited the Bureau up to help with the interrogation. When I went in to speak with each of the men, I assured them they were my prisoners and that if I decided to transport them to another facility, they would be taking a ride with me by themselves. "Please remember what I promised to do with you. I want to know everything you can tell me about Mr. Monterro."
When the FBI agents introduced themselves, the three were chattier than early teen girls. They began telling stories that were going to take weeks to get the evidence for. Several major boxing promoters and agents were implicated, as well as several wrestling agents and personalities. One of the men, the first to identify Monterro, gave us the clue. Monterro was skimming money off his clients when he took money off shore. He was showing the clients they had a hundred bucks when Monterro had skimmed fifty and only deposited fifty in the client's account. Monterro wasn't that smart, since his main personal bank was in the U.S. Virgin Islands and was subject to most U.S. banking laws and also subject to FBI scrutiny.
The Bureau wanted to pick up Monterro as they said the evidence was sufficient for it. We had been very cautious with the men and had video recordings of their Miranda reading. The interviews were totally legal and could be used to prosecute.
The Bureau immediately began their investigation of the offshore banks so money couldn't be transferred, and about the time we heard they had begun, security downstairs said there were some attorneys there to see us. Jan and Sarah went downstairs to meet them and brought them to my office. I remained in the station, but Sarah made sure my speaker phone was on so we could hear what happened.
Jan and Sarah conducted business quickly. The lead attorney bitched about the difficulty getting that much cash so quickly, but handed it over. Sarah sort of counted it, making sure it at least appeared to be our demand. They gave Sarah the signed agreement, signed by them and Rocky, then suggested, "Let's go to the courthouse and file the results of this suit to make it public record. We'll ask for it to be sealed and I'm sure we can have the privacy seal for this."
Jan suggested, "Of the three attorneys, I want to leave two here and only one goes to the courthouse. How about having Deputy Johnson accompany you to the courthouse? He does have a major stake in this."
Jan called the station to have me come in. I said, "I think all three of you should see the men we took prisoner. These are the men who you attempted to call earlier. I have to tell you that I was the one who answered that call."
The three attorneys were getting very nervous. Jan and I took them to view all three of the attackers from the viewing room of the interrogation rooms. We invited the two attorneys who we were leaving at the federal building to have a seat in the station's fourth interrogation room and had some refreshments brought to them.
Jan and I went with the attorney to the courthouse down the street and performed the filing. When we were done with that, we brought the attorney back to the federal building, where Jan took him to the FBI office and arrested him. She had a video of his Miranda rights being read and left him in one of her own interrogation rooms. She and I went upstairs to retrieve the other two attorneys and brought them down to the Bureau office and went through their Miranda readings and stashed them into separate interrogation rooms.
Frank, the Bureau Station Chief asked me, "What do you want to do with your three prisoners?"
"The holding cells should be fine for a month or so, but I'm sure these guys are going to be out quickly. If my guess is right, they will be out of the country faster than you chased Conish."
Frank laughed and said, "No one is that fast. It turned out great for both of us."
The attorneys would not talk, so we quickly hid them away in cells. When they were in prisoner coveralls, they were much easier to work with and began giving some valuable information that let us know that Rocky was being taken advantage of to the tune of probably several hundred million dollars. Who would figure a steroid freak with hair transplants could make that kind of money?
When everything was settling down, Sarah wanted to know if she could go back to her office. Thinking it might be a good idea to have an agent or two go with her, I asked Frank to go with Sarah. Before she left, she said to me, "I counted all of it. It's all there. You and I need to take this to a bank right away. Can you do that with me, instead of me going to my office?"
"I can, let's do it quickly while the banks are still open."
We both used the same bank, so we went to the downtown branch and made deposits, big deposits. We filled out the disclosure forms for that size cash deposit and left with two very nice deposit slips, leaving behind two bank tellers and a branch manager with their mouths gaping open.
On the way back to the office, Sarah asked, "What are you going to do with all that money?"
"I don't know yet, Sarah, but I'll find a way to help less fortunate people. I think there are probably a lot of charities that can use some money, so I'm sure I can use most of it to do good for others."
Sarah said, "I will give some to charities, but the rest is going into the Sarah Perkins retirement and investment fund. I'm so nervous over this that I'm probably going to go contribute to a doc to get my stomach in order."
I asked Sarah, "How much did you tell Wanda?"
"I told her you were involved with a lawsuit with some creepy characters and you were going to get a large sum of money, but she doesn't know how much. Tell her how much or how little, that's up to you."
"Thanks, Sarah, I don't think people should know how much is involved."
Sarah laughed, "I don't give a hoot. I have enough to live happily ever after. I'll begin devoting more time helping those that need a divorce, but can't afford the attorney to make their life normal again."
I dropped Sarah with a duty team that was going to go to her office with her to make sure it was safe.
Frank called up to my office, "You might want to come down to the agency office. This guy is a gem. We're going to have to put him somewhere secure. He seems to think he knows half of D.C. He's even said he knows your guy, John Scott. Come on down, perhaps we can come up with somewhere for him."
Before going downstairs, I called John. After some pleasantries, I told him I was personally involved with some kind of major sports scam. When I asked, "Do you know a guy by the name of Monterro, James Monterro."
John replied, "I've met the sleaze-ball. The guy is slick, real slick. He doesn't open doors, he slides under them."
I told John, "I've found out how he makes his money. He's convincing his clients that he is shipping their money to secure offshore accounts, but is skimming close to half for the privilege. That makes him guilty of a few federal crimes having to do with money laundering. You'll hear about it as there are a lot of big names that will be bitching. My problem will be keeping the guy incarcerated. If he gets out on bail, he'll be gone.
"Good luck keeping him under wraps." John said, "It's guys like that who make our life less tolerable and keep us busy."
Downstairs at the Bureau office, I related the conversation I had with John to Frank. Frank said, "I figured that, but you needed to ask. So far Monterro isn't talking, only bitching. The three attorneys and the three goons are yakking it up. If this keeps up, you'll be finding new homes for the attorneys in the witness program."
Frank continued, "From the information we have received from the attorneys, we are contacting their clients to inform them they have probably lost about half of their offshore holdings. They can go after Monterro themselves. I'm sure at least one of his clients will prefer to attempt to handle this personally."
He added, "From what we've found out, your three thugs were the only hired muscle Monterro employed. You shouldn't have to worry about more goons. We will have an arraignment in the morning where Mr. Monterro can name his personal attorney for this problem. Are you going to be there?"
"Probably not, I think I've had enough of them. Thank goodness there wasn't any gunplay or dead people. That's all I need to have in my own backyard after last night. If something goes haywire, call me, otherwise, for me, this case is closed."
"And ours is just beginning. I guess that's what we're paid to do. Thanks for turning one up for us. Everything has been by the numbers. You know you will have to testify against the muscle you brought in."
"Yeah, but they are going to go away for ten years for having guns when they were trying to abduct me. I don't think the judge will give them another ten years for stupidity."
"You're right; it's an open and shut case. I'll call you if something comes up."
I went back upstairs to say goodbye to Wanda. She said, "There's more to this, and you probably should tell me a little about it, perhaps this evening. Now get out of here unless you want to go to the Office, it's already after five."
"I'm starved; I'll see you at home. I want some exercise, something to drink, and something good to eat in whatever order I can get them, and then I'm going to bed."
"Okay, I heard from Brandy earlier and she said she might be by. The girls are in some kind of zone of their own about what's going on. Lisa has called from Detroit where her charter went today and asked me to keep her posted on how you are. The only one I haven't heard from is Tina, but she has Ben Phillips calling the station about once an hour."
I drove home cautiously, looking over my shoulder, and drove into a branch bank ATM to get some cash. For some reason, the cash I had when I went to jail wasn't counted and I came out without any. I was still angry over the night in the jail, but more than anything I was tired and hungry.
As soon as I was in the house, I turned on all the cameras and monitors on the video wall and said the heck with exercise before digging out some chicken breasts to thaw in the microwave. I planned on grilling as many as we had, so we would have enough if people showed up.
While the chicken was being thawed in groups of four big breasts at a time, I changed clothes before mixing up a tall drink of my favorite beverage. Lisa had brought a beautiful old worn Gibson acoustic home and left it in the media room, so I went for it and was sitting at the table strumming when Wanda's car came around the corner, followed by Brandy in her little car. I watched as Wanda pulled in the garage, with Brandy parking in the driveway and coming into the garage with Wanda.
Brandy came in and saw me sitting at the table with the guitar and said, "Now, that's the way I want to picture you, not the one in my head of you in jail being attacked by perverts and corrupt jailers."
Brandy gave me a hug and a kiss and sat down in another chair. "Play something cheerful for me. There's too much terrible stuff going on lately, and I'm so confused over what I want to have happen with you and me."
I remembered a song my dad used to play for my mom all the time when I was young. It was one of the first songs he and gramps taught me when I was trying to learn the guitar. "Ain't she Sweet" is a happy tune, with a bouncy rhythm that says a lot to the lady you're singing it to.
Brandy began grinning real big and came to hug me to her chest, restricting my hands from playing, as well as affecting my breathing. She said, "That's so sweet that you would sing that to me when I've been so weird. All of us girls are being so weird with you. I just adore you, Chuck, I have to leave or I'll be blubbering all over the place. I'll try to get the girls to come over later."
I was going to tell her I would probably be asleep, but she would come anyway, so I just let it be. As I was beginning to doctor up the chicken breasts, Tina came in and gave me a hug. "Ben said you've been a busy boy today. You have to be dead tired after last night. I thought you might come home and sleep all day."
"Too much has been happening, Tina. Hopefully, the turmoil is over and life will get a little more boring."
"Sure, Chuck, from what I've heard, your life is about as boring as Uncle Steve's."
I smiled and said, "I have corn on the cob in the pot, some baked potatoes cooking, and chicken about to go on the grille. Supper will be ready in about twenty minutes. Call upstairs and see if anyone up there wants to eat with us."
Soon, Marie and Dennis were in the kitchen. Marie said that Jan and Don were not back from the dojo yet. Angie came in and asked if we could save some for Jimmy, as he should be here soon.
We ate, and I finally got some food in me. I chased the food with a beer, knowing I was on my way to bed soon.
I went into the bedroom to shower and made the mistake to laying flat on the bed for a second.
Someone was messing with my leg, my fake leg. "What? What's happening?"
Wanda said, "I'm taking your clothes and leg off. You'll sleep a lot better that way."
I barely heard her, but later I did feel her snuggled up to my back.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious