Bob Moats - Jim Richards 01-03- 3 for Murder Box Set (41 page)

“Yes, it’s me. I think I need a ride home.” I smiled and told her where I was. She said to hang there. I said I was too tired from walking across the desert to go anywhere. About twenty minutes later I heard a siren, and a patrol car came screaming up to the building. Lynn got out along with Deacon, Buck and Penny, and the four of them came running over to me.

Penny jumped all over me, hurting the last of the areas that didn’t hurt already. They helped me up, and I asked where Maria was. They said she had to work. We got into the car and I said I would explain when we got to the room. I put my head on Penny’s shoulder and closed my eyes, finally able to rest.

We arrived at the MGM Grand. Lynn said she would park, and then would come up. Deacon and Buck took me to the suite, and I told Penny I wanted to get into the spa really badly. She laughed and went to turn it on. I stripped down to my shorts, being modest in front of the guys, and slipped in.

Penny sat next to me on the edge of the spa and stroked my head. Lynn arrived, and they all sat as I related what had happened. Lynn was amazed that Wallace was Fritz, and said, one less person we’d have to find. I laughed at the joke and pulled Penny into the water, clothes and all. She screamed and fought but not very hard. I pointed to my shirt on the couch and asked Lynn to bring it to me.

I carefully took out my Palm Treo and showed everyone the power of a PDA. Lynn took out the bullet with a tissue from the table and wrapped it for examination. I said I wanted it back if possible. She said she would see. I said that I was going to mount the Palm Treo cell phone and bullet on a plaque and hang it in my P.I. office as a lucky charm.

Lynn went to the suite phone and called her precinct, got hold of Warren and told him to put out a warrant on Kris Wallace for attempted murder, two counts of murder, trafficking in illegal drugs and she threw in jaywalking for the hell of it. She turned to Penny and me and said that Deacon, Buck and she should leave us alone. They said their good-byes and left. Penny was pulling at my shorts and smooching me. I started to undress her in the water and said I might just sleep there.

The next morning I woke feeling the pain of the desert incident. The rolling around in the bed didn’t help matters, either. We dressed slowly. I was concerned that Wallace might try something with Penny, but since he thought I was dead, he might not bother. I took the SIM card out of my poor dead little Palm Treo and put it in the old Motorola cell phone I carried as a spare, just in case. I turned on the phone, checked the thing, and it worked. I called Buck and asked if he was going to watch Penny for me. He said he would.

We had breakfast and went to the center. Buck and Maria were there. I got out of the car to get Penny’s stuff from the back seat. Maria jumped on me and hugged tightly, yelling she was so glad I was not dead. I said I was, too. I gave Buck an envelope and told him it was thanks for watching Penny that week. I said to open it later.

I got in the car and headed to Metro. The officer on the desk looked at me and said he was glad to see me alive, that he had heard through the pipeline about my desert adventure. I thanked him, and he let me find my way to Lynn’s office. I knocked at her door and heard some mumbling, then she said, come in. I opened the door, figured they were necking, and said so. They both blushed.

“Damn, can’t you guys get a room for the day and get it out of your systems?” I laughed. Lynn asked how I was feeling. I said, like I was shot in the chest. She said she knew how that felt. She was shot once while wearing a Kevlar vest. She said it hurts like hell but saves your life. Deacon said he knew the feeling of a bullet hitting the body, smacking his hip.

“Deacon, since we’ve been out here you haven’t limped as much. You feeling better now?” I asked.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret. I just limped back home for sympathy. My hip is doing great now,” he said.

“If I tell Trapper that, he’ll break the other one.” I laughed then asked, “So is Sue coming in or is it anti-climatic to even listen to her?”

“Well, we may get some more info on the drug route and names. Can’t hurt to have extra ammo for court,” she answered. “Besides, she’ll roll over on Nick to get back at him. I’ve sent a car to pick Nick up for further questioning. I may put them in the same room with Sue to see what happens.” She grinned.

*

Chapter Seventeen

Nick was yelling bloody murder when they brought him in. Lynn said to put him in interrogation room one and went off to call Kline again. He said they were on their way and would need to be picked up at the airport. She dispatched a car to the same hanger we went out from yesterday. She told us she wanted to talk to Sue first, then Nick since she wanted some ammo when she talked to Nick.

We went into the squad room. Lynn called Warren over and told him she wanted a full force hunt for Wallace. She gave Warren a picture of Wallace that she had blown up from his driver’s license. It wasn’t the best, but it was close enough to identify him. He said the squad was taking bets on when he would be brought in. Lynn said, that’s not fair, Warren could pad the arrest time and win. He smiled and walked away.

About a half hour later two LVMPD officers escorted Sue Barkley in, followed by Dave Kline. We went to greet our guests. Sue gave me a dirty look. I said I was still alive. Lynn took Sue down the hall and stopped our group at interrogation room one. She opened the door and started to take Sue in, held the door long enough for Sue to see Nick, then apologized, said she hadn’t realized the room was already in use and took Sue back out. She herded Sue down the hall, giving us a smile behind the woman’s back.  Now that Nick knew Sue was in custody, that should make for an interesting interview. Deacon, Kline and I went into observation and waited for Lynn to take command.

“Sue, I’m not interested in you. Kingman police have you for drug possession and sales. My main concern is a few people here in Vegas that come under my jurisdiction. You’re here as a material witness to crimes committed in Las Vegas by way of Kingman. To save you a lot of trouble, Kris Wallace AKA Fritz has confessed to an investigator here in Clark County. Although he’s still at large, we will find him. He admitted to murdering Lisa James last year and to the murder of Lori Davis earlier this week. He freely admitted to organizing a drug cartel here and allowing drug trade and passage through Vegas to Reno and beyond. I’m not interested in you or your business in Kingman, but I would like to know a little more about Nick North.” She paused to let that sink in. Sue’s knowledge that Nick was being questioned in the other room would probably factor in to her being open with the details.

“I don’t know any Nick North,” she said.

Lynn looked like she wanted to punch her, but she kept her cool. She turned to the mirror and said, “Jimmy, can I see you a minute?”

I walked around to the door and entered. I went over and sat next to Lynn.

“Hello, Sue,” I said.

“Fuck you, Richards,” she said.

I leaned on the table towards her. “That’s not a nice way to treat an old friend, one who got you all the nice plane rides from L.A. to Vegas so you could visit with Nick. I don’t care what your problem is. I just want to see some retribution for Lisa and Lori. Two girls Nick dazzled with his glamor and bullshit, and then got tired of them. Just like he did to you, Sue. I’m sure you knew he was screwing Lisa while you were lounging in California. Or didn’t you care?”

“Bullshit, I did care. I did. That asshole took me for his ride and then when he had me strung out on his drugs, he cut me loose, that son of a bitch!” she said hotly. “I gave him a good part of me, and he corrupted it.” She was tearing up now. Lynn handed her a tissue from a box behind her. “I told Wallace to get rid of Lisa, hoping Nick would forget her. She was becoming a pain in his ass anyway. But, no, when she was gone Nick still had me doing his drug pickups, and I got so involved with the Kingman gang that I decided to join them after Nick tossed me aside. At least I was still getting my fix from them. Wallace was the only person who was nice to me. I got him set up with Kingman for his drugs.”

“Sue, I’m sorry for the way things were back then. I didn’t know what to do about Lisa and you. Nick was a prick about everything, and I bit my tongue way too many times to keep my job. I wanted to tell you, but it wasn’t my place. I quit because I hated everything he stood for and all his demands. I wish I had known you better,” I said.

Sue looked at me with red eyes and said, “You weren’t so bad, as I recall.” She smiled. “I kinda liked you. You were nice to me. I’m sorry, too.”

“OK, Sue, will you sign a statement about your relationship to Nick and his dealings in drugs?” Lynn asked quietly.

She looked at me, and said, “Yes.”

I reached out, took her hand, held it, and said, “You’re doing the right thing, and I’ll testify to it, if it helps.”

She put her head in her arms on the table and sobbed quietly. Lynn took my shoulder and led me out. “Thanks, it helped,” she said.

Deacon and Kline came out of the room and joined us. Lynn said, now to skin the whale.

We went to observation room one. I said to Deacon that we should get combat pay for enduring these sessions. He grinned. Lynn went in, and Nick somehow already had his lawyer there. Lynn looked at the lawyer and said, “Mr. Potter, that is your name. I don’t have patience for you. I have enough testimony on Nick for drug distribution, murder after the fact, and income fraud. Well, that last is one for the IRS to handle. Do you want to add anything to that?”

Potter was silent, and then said his client would like to make a deal. Lynn said she was listening. In exchange for immunity, Nick would sign a statement naming everyone involved in the drug running operation that he knew about.

“Gee, Nick, I got statements from Aaron, Larry, Frank, Sue, and from the man himself, Kris Wallace AKA Fritz, although we are still looking for him. What could you possibly tell us they haven’t already?” She smiled.

Nick looked stunned, whispered something to his lawyer, and then Potter said, “We can give you the location of Wallace.”

“Give, and I’ll see what kind of deal we can make,” Lynn said.

Potter said, “I’ll take you at your word, officer.” He whispered in Nick’s ear, and Nick whispered back. “Wallace is in Nick’s home. A secret panic room off the bedroom is where he’s been holing up.”

Lynn said that we should all take a ride to Nick’s home and take a look. Lynn got up, and called for the officers standing outside the door to escort Nick and his attorney to a car and follow us to Nick’s home. She gathered us and said good-bye to Kline who was going to take Sue back to Kingman after she signed the statement. We all said, so long. Lynn called for more backup, and we headed out.

I think the gate guard was getting used to us by that time. He had the gate open as soon as he saw us pull down the street. Lynn actually waved to him as we passed. We came up to the house with four cars, pulled in and Lynn escorted Nick to the door. He opened it, and we all went in. We followed Nick up the stairs and into his bedroom. He said the panic room was off to the right of the bed and went to a panel in the wall that he slid open. Lynn had her men ready with guns drawn as Nick pulled a lever and the wall started to slide open. 

Lynn yelled, “Wallace, if you’re in there, we have more gun power out here than you do, so come out peacefully!”

We heard nothing, waited about a minute, and two officers in protective vests, assault rifles at the ready, ran to the door and dove in, coming up ready to fire, but found nothing. They yelled “Clear,” and came back out.

Nick bellowed, “Well, he was in there!”

Lynn said, “Nice try Nick. We’ll have to re-evaluate my offer.”

The officers all went back out to their cars and waited for further orders. Lynn stood with Nick and his lawyer in the kitchen making deals while Deacon and I wandered outside by the pool.

“Well, this is getting annoying,” I said. “We have one more day here in Vegas, and I’d hate to leave without catching Wallace.”

“I have something to say, Jim.” He walked towards the pool and turned to talk. “I may be staying here in Vegas.” I was a bit surprised by his statement. He continued, “I’ve really gotten attached to Lynn, and my sister’s here, so it makes sense for me to stay. I’ll miss you guys, but you’ll probably find another big dumb guy like me to pick on.” He choked a little then caught himself. “I put a lot of thought into it for the last couple days, and even discussed it with Lynn. She could get me on the force out here so I’d have a job. She wants me to move in with her, and I’m not objecting. I hope you guys understand.”