I left the bar early so I could get my call from Ms. White. I was just inside my pickup at five thirty when my cell phone rang. It was Ms. White.
"What is all the cloak and dagger stuff about, Chuck?"
"I found some stuff in the office today that is pretty personal in nature that you might want to look at, then decide what to do with it. Where can I give this to you?"
"How much is it, Chuck?"
"My satchel is full. Four or five big envelopes and it is sensitive enough that I don't wish to give it to someone to give to you later. I wish to hand it over to you personally."
"I'm at my husband's restaurant that we went to Saturday. Can you come by there now?"
"It's just down the street. I'll be there in five to ten depending on traffic and parking."
"Park in the back next to my car. I'll tell the security guard to look for your pickup."
I drove to the restaurant and parked. Ms. White met me in the kitchen and took me to a big office. I began handing her stuff in the envelopes that she looked at quickly and said, "This is some really personal stuff. My goodness there must be a year's worth of letters and cards. She looked at the first photos I had found and said, "These are from the big agency party we had a year or so ago."
I got ready to hand her the envelope with the porn in it, "Ms. White, in this envelope are some photos that are going to offend you. If you are easily offended, let someone else look at them and describe them. These are not for the squeamish and are very damning."
She wrinkled her forehead and said, "Give 'em to me, I'm no prude."
After she began looking through them, she exclaimed, "Oh shit. Damn, would you look at that, it looks like, ah Chuck, did you look at these closely?"
"Not too close, I didn't want to get caught looking at stuff like that at work."
"Where did you find these?"
I said, "The center drawer on my desk was sticking, as I was trying to fix it, I found those in an envelope taped to the bottom of the desk."
Ms. White thought for a minute then said, "Go home. I may call you later."
"I gave your number to someone who will call you. They have a problem with this same guy. I told them you would help."
She nodded, then made a motion shooing me out.
At home, Bart and Shirley had just begun to eat, so I quickly took off my tie and coat and sat to eat. Bart had to comment, "What kind of job do you have that you dress up fancy like that?"
"I find jobs for military people when they get out of service or retire. I just started so I'm just getting into it."
"If you run into any electricians or other trades people getting out, there are a lot of jobs out at the shipyard. They even have labor jobs out there right now."
"Thanks, Bart. I'll come out there to get a listing. Hopefully, beginning next week, a lot of men who have gotten out of the service recently will ask for help finding work."
Before I had finished eating, my cell phone rang. It was Ms. White. "Can you come back to the restaurant for a few minutes, I want you to meet someone?"
I told her that I would be there in about a half hour. I finished eating and put my tie back on, grabbed my coat, and left. I parked in back of the restaurant next to Ms. White's car again.
Inside, I went to the office and knocked. Reggie let me in saying, "You sure stirred up a hornet's nest, Chuck."
Ms. White introduced me to Howard Smith, U.S. Marshal. We shook hands and then he motioned for me to sit. "Tell me, Mr. Johnson, where exactly did you find all this information that you gave Mrs. White."
I told him the story, then he asked. "Have you had any conversations with the director?"
"He came by earlier and asked that I give him anything unusual that I might find in the office. He seemed happy that I had thrown everything away."
"We just had a couple of our men go out to the lady's house that is pictured here to pick up the agency car. She was not very nice and is currently in custody for assault. She's running her mouth off, telling us all kinds of things. We may not need anything you found to convict the director of misappropriation of government funds, but I wanted to let you know that you could be in danger if he finds out you have turned him in. Ms. White is in an equal amount of danger. If I arrest him now, he may get out on bail since it takes forever to take someone to trial on a federal charge. It's during that time that I would want you to be careful."
I asked the man, "What are you going to do, Mr. Smith?"
"Call me Howard. I think I'm going to investigate the director a little more. I'd like to find a few hooks that I could use to recover some money. I can keep the lady in quiet custody for a while so she can't let the cat out of the bag, but if he gets wind there's a problem, he could get weird. Where do you live?"
I gave him my apartment address and he said he would have the Tampa police do some drive-by's to keep tabs on the neighborhood, but that wouldn't protect me very much. He suggested I find a more secure apartment.
I was back home by seven and decided I needed some excitement, so I changed clothes to jeans and a T-shirt and took the bike out for some exercise. Actually, I rode straight to Jonah's. It was a slow night, so I played pool with Jonah, and with Millie, while enjoying a couple of beers.
Back home, I brushed my teeth and was in bed by ten thirty.
At work the next morning, I checked in with Ms. White and advised the group secretary where I would be and what my cell phone number was. Ms. White said that I could use an agency car as they had mine back, but it had to be replaced.
At the motor pool, I was given a plain white Ford Focus. It was fairly stripped, but had air and a radio. I drove out to the base and was directed to the employment office.
I explained what my plan was and that if they could keep me posted on what positions were open on base, I would appreciate it. The lady there gave me the name and telephone number of the personnel office out at the post office, plus several of the agencies in the city. I was back at the agency by noon, in time to eat with everyone. My lunch today was a surprise as it was a couple of sandwiches made up by Shirley and an apple. The Fab Five were planning a weekend excursion to a place called the Don Caesar in St. Petersburg. They said it wouldn't be real expensive and that we could get a room together to split costs. Some of the other ladies in the lunchroom looked at us a little strange, but the girls said, "Chuck is the perfect gentleman. We would never hesitate to share a room with him. Too bad though, we've all been trying to make him a little less gentlemanly."
Larry heard that and said, "Perhaps Chuck would prefer to go over there with me. He might not be such a gentleman with me."
"That's okay, Larry, I'd rather be teased by a bunch of cuties than by you. It will be fun to see all these girls in their unmentionables. It'll give me some nice dreams."
Tiani hit me on the shoulder, saying, "Be nice, we'll just have to get you drunk and take advantage of you."
I laughed and said, "Promises, promises."
Ms. White asked if I could join her and her husband for supper this evening at the restaurant. "I would never pass up free food, Ma'am. What time?"
I was to meet them at seven.
After work and Rocky's, I went home and told Shirley that I was invited out that evening, so Bart should eat my share. Shirley said, "It's a roast so you can take some with you for lunch tomorrow."
I changed into a casual shirt with a sport coat and slacks. Reggie's sports bar and restaurant was sort of fancy, so I thought I would dress as I saw him dress the night before.
Surprise, surprise, Howard Smith joined us for supper in a private dining room. First Howard spoke, "I'm not sure how much you should know of our investigation, but I thought you should know that it is continuing and that we've uncovered several areas that we are pursuing. From the extent of what we've found, my agency feels that anyone with information on the case should be aware of the potential dangers. Apparently, some underworld people are involved. We don't know to what extent yet, but they are being funneled fees through your agency, especially your department, Mr. Johnson, so you need to be especially concerned. I've asked that you be re-assigned to DC or somewhere else for training. No one has responded yet, so this is to just let you know what may come."
"Chuck," Ms. White began, "Reggie wants to give you something before you leave, plus Howard has a permit that was issued to you today. I want you to be especially careful as the director did not come in today and Howard's people lost him this afternoon."
Reggie leaned over the table and handed me a Browning semi-automatic 9 mm. "Here take this, it's yours. This is like what you had as a sidearm in service, and it's a piece I don't use anymore."
He pulled back his coat, "I have this neat 40 caliber Glock now that I carry. I can carry it in the bar here as the place is mine, and I'm a registered security agent. You are too now, so you can carry inside a bar but be careful. A lot of people wouldn't understand and it could get you in trouble."
Howard said, "I've registered you with my office and with the Tampa police department. You're in the Hillsborough County and Florida state records as well, so you shouldn't have any trouble if you are stopped. If a policeman stops you for a traffic violation, tell him you're armed immediately. That way he can look at your permit and check you out right away. Anyway, I hope you don't need that, but I brought along a couple of extra high capacity clips for it and this box of rounds."
For the first time, I picked up the piece Reggie had laid down in front of me and dropped the clip, then cleared the chamber. The clip was empty, so I put it back into the piece and let the slide forward.
Reggie said, "Fill a clip would you, make me feel better."
"I'll do it before I leave, Reggie, I'd rather eat your good food first."
As we finished, Ms. White said, "DC called me today to let me know I was under consideration for a new position. I don't know whether it is because of all of this, or whether it's because the director is trying to get me out of this office. You see, when I first started there, he put the make on me and I shot him down quick, and told him in no uncertain terms that he was on thin ice. His wife propositioned Reggie and me a couple of times at gatherings, but I didn't think too much of it until I viewed the pictures you brought to me. Howard has them now and will be checking out those in the photos."
"The other people from the agency may be harmless and just a member of a swingers group, but my people, along with another agency, will be checking these other people out," Howard said and added. "I've asked the FBI to get another security clearance on you so I can have some private talks with you. Too bad you didn't finish your degree, I could use someone like you."
"Thanks, Mr. Smith, ah, Howard, but I think my job is a good one and I'm looking forward to helping other returning vets find work. This should be a good place to help others."
Ms. White said, "See, Howard, that's why I wanted this young man in our agency. He wants to do good."
After supper, I went with Reggie to his office and loaded all three clips. He rummaged in a closet and came out with a shoulder rig and a belt holster. "Here, Chuck, take these. They fit the Browning and won't work with the Glock."
"Reggie, I can't just take this from you, let me buy it okay?"
Ms. White laughed, "Are you kidding, he's been saying he's going to turn that thing into the police department as it's just extra and he doesn't want it anymore. Besides, Chuck, if the director goes away, I'll probably get his job and it pays about twice what I get now. It's a cushy job that pays a ton. There are benefits to the higher levels of government jobs."
Reggie helped me with the shoulder holster then checked to make sure I didn't have a bulge under my arm. Ms. White said, "Wear that, even to work. If you take off your jacket put the whole thing in your desk drawer and lock it. If the drawers don't lock, tell me and I'll order a locksmith for you."
On the way home, I thought to myself, 'This is a hell of lot more trouble than it should be. I just needed a job, not all this mystery and supposed danger. Over there in Iraq, I knew where to look for danger, but here, I don't know where it is. I need to look at my place differently I guess, and see what I can do to make it safe."
At home, I did a tour, checking the window locks as well as the catch on the front door. The dead bolt would be fine, but the door might as well have been made of balsa wood. One good kick and it would splinter tearing the jam out. I used one of the kitchen chairs and put it under the knob on the front door. The back door had a window on the top part so it wouldn't make any difference even with a chair on it. There was no way to make the place more secure.
I changed into jeans then put the piece in the belt holster and left my shirt out. I walked around in front of the apartments and looked at how the cars were parked and the access to my front door. There wasn't an easy way to protect the door so I went back to the dumpster and poked around until I had a grocery bag full of beer cans and a couple of bottles.
There was a broken up kite with a roll of string on my back porch, so I poked holes in the beer cans then strung them up in the living room. I ran the string from my door knob to the bumper of my truck so if someone came to the door, they would trip on the string and rattle the cans. I put the cans by my bed with the string through the bottom of the front window. Next, I put some bottles and cans on the ground around my truck. I put a bottle standing up, then one lying down. Next was a can standing, then a can or bottle lying down. It looked like a bunch of trash except that if it were moved, I would know. If someone knocked over a bottle or stood a can up I would know.
I felt better about my security and figured I would be up early enough to pick up the empties before the apartment manager saw the trash. When I got ready for bed, I decided I should leave my prosthesis on and sleep in it. As long as I kept my stump clean and changed the sock every day, it should be okay.
It took me a while to get to sleep. It was almost eleven the last time I looked at the clock.
"Clang, rattle, Clang."
My cans next to the bed were rattling. I rolled out of bed and pulled the gun from the holster next to the bed. Slowly, I looked out the bedroom to see some shadows by the front window. Next I heard some cans out by the truck get kicked. I slept in shorts, so I went out the back door and walked quickly around the building to see what was up while calling 911 on my cell phone. There was a guy at my front door and two guys by the door of my truck. That was too many for me to confront, so I stayed in the shadows. The two guys finished doing whatever it was by my truck and then they joined the guy at the door. It looked like the guy was trying to pick the lock. One of the men felt in his pocket and came out with a cell phone. He listened for a second then said loud enough for me to hear, "Let's get, the cops are coming."
They went to a car that was by the truck and jumped in slamming doors. There must have been a driver, as none got in the driver's door. The car took off without turning on their lights, so I couldn't get a look at the plate.
Seconds later a cop car with the lights flashing pulled in front of my apartment. I went to the car and told them what had happened. They went up to my door and tripped over my string again. I had to explain that was my alarm. They laughed, then used a flashlight to look at the lock. It was scratched up but said they would have a crime scene guy come out to take prints. I told them the guys had done something to my truck and that they needed to look at it. They said a crime guy would do that. I took down the string and rolled it up then gathered the cans and bottles by my truck.
Soon a panel van came with four technicians to dust for finger prints. One guy was looking at my truck and said, "Do you leave your door unlocked?"
"Nope it was locked when I parked it earlier. They shined flashlights in the window and said there was some kind of thin wire between the door and the steering wheel. I went to the other side of the truck and looked through the window. There was a grenade taped on the door. Pretty crude but effective. One of the crime guys found the pin on the ground then said, "We need to clear these apartments and get the bomb guys out here. Your truck may have more stuff on it if you say they were down under it."
I told the cops, "The landlord is going to kick me out of here if you guys do that. Can't you just quietly take that grenade out of the truck. You have the pin, I'll put it back in."
"No way, you don't know what kind of secondary stuff those guys left for you. Go put on some clothes, you have to be evacuated too. You need to cover that stalk you have as it scares the shit out of people."
I put on clothes as the cops began knocking on doors. The cops didn't tell anyone specifically what was happening but had us all move out to the street. People were groggy and sleepy and angry. The apartment manager kept asking whose place were they looking at, but the cops wouldn't say. I knew he'd find out later, but at least I didn't have to hear him bitch now.
The cops herded us almost to the next block then said that if it was going to be long they would have a bus take us to a shelter. An hour later, I saw my truck go down the street on a flat bed truck. A detective came down and asked for the guy who owned the white S-10. The manager glared at me. The detective told everyone that they could go back to bed.
I took the detective to my apartment and made coffee. I showed him my state and federal carry permit then gave him Howard Smith's card. "You need to run this whole incident by him. He was expecting something like this to happen. How come you took my truck?"
The detective said, "If the bomb guys can't get rid of the junk under it they're going to blow it up. Hope you don't have anything important in there."
"Shit, I just bought it. It's a good little truck."
"Well you'll have to get another one as that one is gonna be impounded for a while."
About three in the morning Howard Smith showed up with two more men. His men interviewed me, then interviewed the detectives. They told me to get dressed in clothes to leave the apartment as they wanted me somewhere they could watch me. They said they would take me to a hotel, so bring whatever I needed for the next day. They would bring me back for more later.
I took a suit, shirt, and tie. I had on the shoes I would wear. I wrote out a note to Shirley and left it on the counter then left.
Howard took me in his car, saying he had already notified Ms. White. They took me downtown to a hotel across the street from the federal building. Howard cautioned, "When you get up, don't go to work. Come next door but be sure to show them your ID so they don't arrest you for having a piece. Ask for me at the desk and you'll be escorted to my office."
It was five in the morning by the time I was in the hotel room. Too late to go back to bed, so I took a shower then dressed. I went to the hotel restaurant to eat. While I was sitting, drinking coffee and reading the paper, I noticed three guys come in and sit across the room. They looked like they had been up all night and were disheveled with messy hair and wrinkled suits. The one guy dropped his napkin and leaned over to pick it up with his left hand. His coat opened and I could plainly see a shoulder rig hanging there.
Shit! I can't even eat breakfast. I started to get flustered but then I decided that I would go ahead and eat. If they got weird, I was going to take my anger out on them for losing a night's sleep.
My bacon, eggs, toast, and milk were good, but barely enough after being up all night. When I was done, I went to the register to pay, making sure the men at the other table weren't making any moves. I went out to the lobby and used my cell phone to call Howard. I told him about the three guys and that they were still sitting in the restaurant, but watching me. Howard said to stand in the lobby where the men could see me, but to act like I'm waiting for someone and keep looking at my watch.
Less than two minutes later I saw guys coming in two different doors. They were suits that looked like cops. Meanwhile, I saw a guy come through the kitchen door and walk right up to the three men at the same time the others converged into the restaurant. With five men showing hardware to the three guys, they didn't try anything, but were in cuffs and being led out immediately. I saw Howard come in and he waved for me to follow. Before going out to the street, I did look up and down the street to see if I could see the car from the night before.
A big Buick was sitting at the side of the street near the hotel door. I hollered to Howard and pointed at the car. The driver was too busy watching his buddies being led across the street and didn't notice Howard and me closing in on him.
Howard went to the window, while I went to the passenger door. The driver's window was down and Howard just stuck is gun in the window and told the driver to keep his hands in the air and slowly get out of the car. Another agent saw that Howard was doing something and came over to assist. They cuffed the driver and Howard took him to the federal building, leaving the other agent to stay with the car until it could be picked up and impounded.
I followed Howard and the cuffed man into the federal building. Howard told me to show my permits and to follow him. We took the man upstairs in an elevator, with Howard saying, "We like to question guys on the top floor so if they don't give us enough we just throw 'em out the window and say it was suicide." He laughed when he said, "We have a lot of suicides here."
I could tell the cuffed bad guy didn't like the gist of that conversation because he kept squirming around in his cuffs. Perspiration was oozing from his forehead.
Howard took the man into a room then came back out. He showed me a door and told me to watch, but not to say anything.
Two of Howard's men went into the room with the cuffed driver. One of the guys went over to the window and opened it up all the way. The cuffed guy sitting down, just stared at the open window.
Howard came into the room and said, "Tell you what, guys, I think I can handle this by myself for a bit. I'll holler if I need some help." The two men left the room and immediately came in with me, smiling.
Howard sat down on the other side of the man and said, "So who are you working for this week? Give me a straight answer quickly. I don't have a lot of time today."
The guy looked at Howard, then back to the window, then down at the table. "Nardelli."
"Okay, that's a start. Which Nardelli, and what were you up to?"
"Poppa Nardelli, we were just watching a guy."
"Funny how you plant a hand grenade and a bomb in a guy's pickup and you're just watching him. You were made at the apartment this morning. Tell me who this job is for?"
"I don't know that. Nobody tells a driver anything? I don't know what those guys did out there at those shacks. I just drive."
"You know we're on the eleventh floor, don't you? Let me show you."
Howard wasn't that big, but he sure was strong. He picked the guy up by his belt and neck and hauled him to the window and stuck his head out the window. He brought him back inside and literally threw him across the room.
"Get up, get in that chair and start talking. I'm tired of this game already. I want some answers."
The guy said, "Honest, I'm just a driver. The other guys know more'n me. I drive, I watch for people and tell them. I report back to a telephone number, that's all."
"Who is poppa doing this job for? This better be a good answer."
The cuffed guy was really sweating now and said, "I don't know his name but he's some guy that Poppa is doing business with. He's some kind of government guy. He's a spear chucker, you know, black. I don't hang with those guys, neither does Poppa unless he's makin' some bread off of 'em. I only saw him once when he was leaving Poppa's place in Ybor City.
Now that was chilling. Reggie's place was also in Ybor City. The area is pretty big, but business communities are pretty small and pretty tight. I bet Reggie knows this Poppa Nardelli.
Howard got up and said, "I want you to sit here and think about that window for a little while. If you would rather use it than talk, be my guest but watch so you don't land on anyone down on the sidewalk. Give yourself a good push off so you'll land out on the street. It's easier to clean up the blood."
Howard came out of the room then waved for me to come with him. He left the two men watching the driver in the interrogation room.
"Let's see how the boys are doing with these other three. They are going to have them split up. You can bet they all have a window open and have made all of the right inferences. We're not going to let them jump as there are cameras in the rooms. We're allowed to scare them though. I think I can get away with throwing the guy back toward the desk. Besides, I was angry at him for blowing smoke up my butt. Nardelli brags a lot. I'm sure all his men know exactly what's going down."
Howard talked to one of the guys standing outside a room. "The guy's a parrot. He's yakking away in there to Tony. From what I heard, we can take Nardelli down. We even Mirandized the dude so we could use the video for trial. The guy keeps talking about this Jordan Hawkins. We have to find out who he is."
Howard smiled at me, "Wanna tell 'em?"
"Jordan Hawkins is the regional director for the Federal Unemployment Agency. I guess that's employment rather than unemployment, but he is my boss."
"Well, we have him dead to rights," the agent said. "I think we need to send someone out to pick him up." He looked at me and said, "Call your office and see if you can find out if he's there."
I went to a nearby desk and called through to Ms. White. I explained that I was in the US Marshal's office and was asked to see if Mr. Hawkins was in the office.
"He was in earlier, but left for an appointment he said he had an eight thirty. I figured you wouldn't be in today from the way Mr. Smith was talking last night. Did something happen?"
I told her that I would tell her later but asked her if she knew where Mr. Hawkins appointment was? She put me on hold and came back to the phone, "Funny, he has an appointment with Anthony Nardelli. You might not know this but Anthony Nardelli is the one known as Poppa. He has a restaurant real close to Reggie's."
I thanked her and said I would probably be in later.
After relaying the information to Howard he called a couple of agents and told them to go pick up Jordan Hawkins down at Poppa's restaurant. The place was even named Poppa's. Howard asked me what kind of car Hawkins drove and I told him a gold Mercedes. I didn't know the model but it was a big four-door sedan.
The guys asked if they should bring Poppa in. Howard said, "You know, let's not do that right now. We have enough to do that, but let's just hold off right now. It might help in the long run. We're going to have to call in the bureau, especially since the local cops are compromised. They are going to be pissed for us taking this as far as we have anyway."