Havoc, p.4
Havoc, page 4
“Wrong answer.”
Farrell slammed his shoulder into the door and charged into the clubhouse like a bull on crack. Jimmy Jeff was running right behind him with his shotgun raised at the ready.
Seated at the head of the meeting table with a joint in his mouth sat Charlie Sanchez, big smile on his face.
“Donovan. Nice to see you. And who’s your new friend? Ain’t seen him around before.”
Farrell ignored Sanchez. “I dropped by to say a couple of words and I want you to listen up.”
Sanchez made a swirling motion with his arm. “Everybody listen to Donovan. Make him happy.”
“Just like I told the Eights,” said Farrell. “I told them to stay away from y’all and I’m telling y’all the same thing. Don’t let me catch you in the Blackshear area. I catch you over there—or them over here—big trouble for y’all. Dozens of y’all sitting in the cooler until tempers die down.”
“Got it, Donovan. You on a peace mission. Message received and understood.”
“The next message you get from me won’t have no good will attached to it like this one does. Get my meaning?”
“Yeah, yeah. We hear you, Donovan. We don’t go to Blackshear and none of them scum Eight’s comes over here. You believe that fairy tale, then you Mother Goose.”
“Make the story come true, Charlie.”
“And if it don’t come true?”
“Then your story won’t have a happy ending.”
“That a threat?”
“You bet.”
Outside, they ran down the block to the truck and put their shotguns back in the gun safe. “Think Charlie was listening to you, boss?”
“Nope. Not a bit.”
“We gonna be watching over there on the other club’s turf?”
“Not us, but I’ll put the Night Vipers on it. They’ll keep us tuned in to what’s going on.”
“I’d like to be there when these guys come over.”
“Yeah, me too. I don’t like missing none of it. Trouble is, you can’t work twenty-four-seven. You lose your edge when you get tired and that’s exactly how you get yourself killed.”
“Just say’n, boss. Hate to miss the good stuff.”
MLK Parkway North. Austin.
Tommy and Montana took the next call that led them to a convenience store robbery. Clerk was shot down and as per an eyewitness account, four kids wearing black vests tore out of the store and jumped into a dark red pickup with one fender missing.
911 had been called by one of the witnesses and an ambulance pulled into the parking lot just ahead of Tommy and Montana. He parked and said, “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
He entered the store first, with Montana right behind him. Paramedics were behind the front counter with the clerk who’d been shot at close range.
“Take the witnesses to a room,” said Tommy. “Any room—storeroom if you have to. Keep them secured. Take any staff on duty to the office and tell them to wait there until we have time to question them. Take down name, address, and phone from each one. Do it now before anybody runs out on us.”
“Copy that.”
Tommy stayed with the paramedics until they secured the wounded clerk to the stretcher and wheeled him out to the ambulance. That done, he called Farrell for backup. There were a lot of interviews to do, and the store had to be locked up and secured until a crime scene unit could get there.
Tommy had a good look at the clerk as they rolled him out, and in his opinion, this was going to be murder during. A capital crime. The clerk wasn’t going to make it to the hospital.
The two officers who arrived from first response, Tommy put on the front of the store. “Nobody in. Nobody out. Ranger Donovan is on his way. I’m going to start interviewing the witnesses. You guys see how many cameras you can spot that are working. Farrell will want to look at the footage.”
“Copy that.”
Tommy started with the two people Montana had herded into the manager’s office. “Which one of you is the store manager?”
A heavy girl in her forties put up her hand.
“Okay, thanks. What’s your name?”
“Kayla.”
“Okay, Kayla,” said Tommy. “Give me your version of what happened. As close as you can remember.”
“Clint was at the checkout. I was receiving an order at the back door and Bart was helping to unload the soda cases from the truck parked out back.”
“So Clint was alone at the front of the store when the robbery went down?”
“Yep. The back door was open, as I said, and I heard Clint holler, Don’t do it, Pete.”
“Pete?” Tommy repeated the name. “The clerk at the front knew the robbers?”
“Huh,” said Kayla. “Didn’t think about that, but he must have known one of them.”
“Okay. You have any regulars coming in here called Pete?”
Kayla shook her head. “None that I know of, but I spend a lot of the day in the office.”
“Okay, your turn, Bart,” said Tommy.
Bart didn’t hear anything. He was in the parking lot unloading cases of soda.
“Thanks, y’all go ahead,” said Tommy, “but don’t leave the store until the boss talks to you about the cameras. I need to use your office for a few more minutes to talk to the witnesses.”
“Sure,” said Kayla. “Is it okay if I go to the ladies’ room?”
“Feel free,” said Tommy. He stepped into the hall, opened the door to the storeroom and motioned to Montana. “Y’all can move into the office now. Sorry for the wait.” He nodded to Montana for the names and she handed him her notebook.
Tommy sat behind the desk. “Let’s start with Heather.”
Heather wiped her eyes. “I was so scared. They had guns.”
“Good call, Heather. Did each of the robbers have a gun? How many guns did you see?”
“Umm…I saw one.”
“Okay,” said Tommy. “Let’s start with one gun. Tell me what happened from when they came in the door. Where were you?”
“Umm…I was opening one of the glass freezers to get a tub of ice cream.”
“Okay, good.” Tommy tapped his pen on the open page of his notebook. “You’re reaching for the ice cream and…”
“And I heard a kid say, give me the money in the register.”
“Then what?”
“The clerk said Pete, no, or something like that.”
Tommy wrote it down.
“Then I heard the shot and I screamed. I wanted to run out the front door, but the robbers were there cleaning out the cash drawer, so I ran towards the back of the store and hid in the washroom.”
“Did you get a good look at the robbers?” asked Tommy.
“No. I was too scared to look at them,” said Heather.
“I took a video,” said the other girl, and that made Tommy’s eyes widen.
“Your name is?”
“Ruth.”
“Fantastic, Ruth. Can I have your cell phone, please? As soon as my boss gets here he’ll want to see the video you took.”
“Will y’all take my phone away?”
“For a short time. Not for good. Nope.” Tommy turned to Montana. “Go see if Farrell’s here yet. He’s gonna want to watch the video first thing.”
Farrell and Jimmy Jeff came in the front door of the store as Montana ran towards them from the office. “Tommy is in the office. One of the witnesses took a video.”
“Great,” said Farrell. “Let’s have a look.”
Ruth proudly showed them the video she’d taken on her cell phone and the audio was good, but the visual of the robbers was from behind and to the side and showed their leather cuts and the backs of their heads. Not much more.
“Nice job, Ruth. Send that to my cell.” Farrell gave her the number. “Who’s the store manager?”
“That’s Kayla,” said Tommy. “She’s gonna show us what the cams got.”
“Great, Kayla,” said Farrell. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Kayla messed around with her keyboard, made a few nervous mistakes, then typed in the appropriate codes and called up the cams one at a time.
“Can you get any closer on the back of the cut?” asked Farrell. “Need to see what club those punks are with.”
Kayla zoomed in. Blurry, but clear enough to read the logo.
“Those boys are Dragons from downtown,” said Farrell. “What the fuck are they doing in MLK?” He turned to Kayla. “Give Tommy the information for the store owner. He’ll have to be notified. Once the crime scene unit comes in, y’all can go home.”
Violent Crime Scene HQ. Airport Road. Austin.
As soon as Annie relented and said Neil was ready, he wanted to go to headquarters and get his computer spot picked out and put his gear in his locker. He wasn’t waiting until the next day. He called Liam’s cell.
“I’m ready, Liam. Are you at our headquarters?”
“Yeah, I’m working on the reports the newbies submitted on yesterday’s shooting. I’ll be done by end of day. Are you coming by?”
“Yeah, I’m good to start and I finally got the green light. I want to get my spot and my locker and get a feel for our new home.”
“Come over. I’m here. Some of the others will be back later. Tommy and Montana have a robbery call.”
“Huh. Look at what I’m missing already.”
Neil tossed the stuff he was taking with him into the back of his truck and drove to the city. He parked in front of the building Annie had owned for years and done nothing with. Shabby on the outside—he had been inside a couple times during the reno and was surprised when he saw how fantastic it had turned out.
Liam showed him around, pointed out which station was his, and gave him a locker. “Let’s have a coffee,” said Liam. “Annie brought a nice Panama blend from home, and at least the coffee is great.”
“I need to be sworn in,” said Neil.
“We can do that at Ranger Headquarters first thing,” said Liam. “Before we start our day tomorrow.”
They went over what Neil had missed so far and it wasn’t too much. Liam was just finishing up the reports when Tommy and Montana came back.
“You guys wind up your robbery?” asked Neil.
“The clerk died on the way to the hospital,” said Montana. “Tommy said he would. Now it’s a murder during a robbery. That means…”
“It’s a capital offense,” said Liam. “Needle time.”
Montana made a face. “Those kids weren’t too old. Boss said they was Dragons from downtown in the city. He’s gone over there now.”
“Alone?” asked Neil.
“Nope. He’s got Jimmy Jeff and Casey and Dusty with him. Casey and Dusty was downtown already and the boss sent them to watch the clubhouse of those Dragon fuckers.”
Neil nodded.
Montana noticed him and zeroed in. “You pass now?”
“Yep. I did.”
“Good for you. Want to go for a beer?”
“Sure. Where you heading?”
“I only know the one place in Austin where we went before,” said Montana. “Hard Luck.”
Neil smiled. “Hard Luck is good enough.”
Hard Luck. Austin.
Happy to join in with the team, Neil drove to the bar located not far from the Agency in the west end of the city. Still early in the evening, he grabbed a couple of tables and pulled them together. Grabbed extra chairs, although he didn’t know how many were coming. By the time Montana got there, he had a couple pitchers and a half dozen glasses on the table.
Montana had gone home long enough to change her clothes and take her hair out of the ponytail she wore for work. She was pretty in a completely natural way.
Neil waved and she came running.
“I didn’t want to take too long cleaning up.”
Neil laughed. “Why? In case you missed something?”
“No, in case I didn’t get to sit next to you.”
“You can always sit next to me,” said Neil. “I’ll save you a spot.”
“You are the sweetest person, Neil Donovan. I knew you would be. You have that sweet, angel face.”
“Thanks, Montana. That’s enough about me. Tell me about you and what you did in Texarkana.”
She shrugged. “Went to high school. They wouldn’t let me play on any of the boys’ teams. Discrimination, it’s called. The girls’ teams were so… just no point to it.”
“The competition was lame?”
“Lame. Yeah, lame. That’s a good word for it.”
“I get it. So what did you do for fun?”
“I fixed cars with my brothers, did a little street racing. Stuff like that. Never had no girlfriends ‘cause I never fit in with that. They were going to the mall and shopping and I just couldn’t see it. I hate crowds and I’m not much for dressing up.”
“You go to college?” asked Neil.
“Daddy asked me if I wanted to go cause he had the money set aside for me, being the only girl, but there was no point. No way I’d be sitting in no office, or teaching kids, or being a nurse. I was gonna be a cop all along.”
“You could’ve taken criminology or law that would help with being a police officer,” said Neil.
“Did I know that?”
Neil laughed. “Don’t know. Did you?”
“Nope.” She pointed. “Here comes your cousin, Tommy.”
“You like being his partner?”
“He don’t talk much and me neither. Kinda quiet when we’re riding in the truck.”
“Tommy has many issues but he’s a good cop,” said Neil.
“Yep, he is. Young too. I think he’s younger than me. I watch him and see what he does. Like as soon as we got to the store that got robbed, he knew like what to do first with the witnesses and the workers n’all. Beautiful thing to watch, Tommy. Talks dumb but he ain’t.”
Neil smiled at her. “Everybody on our squad is young. My brother, Farrell, is the oldest at twenty-seven.”
“Farrell is our boss, but what about the big, big boss that’s in the hospital?”
“Blaine?”
“He the oldest?”
“Nope, Blaine is a year younger than Farrell.”
“Huh. How’d you guys all get to be brothers?”
“We all grew up together on Annie’s ranch. She’s our mom.”
“Never had me a mother. Only Daddy and my brothers. We had to do our best.”
“Looks like you turned out fine to me,” said Neil.
Chapter Four
Saturday, March 18th.
The Blackmore Agency. Austin.
“When can I see Daddy at the hospital?”
“As soon as he gets his own room,” said Misty. “A couple more days and he’ll be awake and feeling a lot better. Then I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“Lexi is missing Daddy,” said Forest. “She told me.”
“I believe that’s a true story,” said Misty. “She’s in a mopey mood and she’s not eating her kibble.”
“I’ll brush her,” said Forest. “That always makes her feel better when she’s sad.”
“Did Lexi tell you that?”
“Nope. Daddy did.”
Coulter-Ross Ranch. La Grange.
“I’m so excited to be starting on Monday, Mom,” said Neil. “I’d go start right now if I knew what to do.”
“You went over to the building and talked to Liam?”
“Uh huh. I have my locker and my computer spot and I’m all ready to go. No idea what it will be like on the street. Farrell doesn’t want me out there, but I’ll get used to it.”
“I don’t think so, but I’m glad you have Liam with you. He’s all about common sense.”
Neil chuckled. “You don’t think I have any?”
“I’m sure you have some tucked away deep inside. The more you’re out there, the more you’ll learn to use it.”
“You’re funny, Mom. I have lots of common sense. I’m not a flake.”
Annie’s cell rang and it was Farrell. “Reflection Acres. Triple homicide. Everybody.”
Annie jumped up off her stool. “There you go. You got your wish. Three people are dead and you’ll be working all weekend.”
Neil was always pale, but he still had his ‘boys of summer’ tan. Some color drained as he ran to his room for his holster and his weapon. When he was ready, Annie was waiting for him in her truck. She’d turned the Gladiator around and was sitting with the gate open.
Neil ran and hopped in. “Ready.”
“Reflection Acres is in the east end of the city. Shouldn’t take us long to get there.”
Reflection Acres. East Austin.
Farrell and Jimmy Jeff were on the scene first. Two uniformed officers stood out in front of the trailer—two cruisers—two uniforms on the inside.
Residents of the trailer park were standing in a group on the gravel road in front of the trailer marked off with the yellow tape. They were talking among themselves. Obviously they knew the people who lived at number twenty-seven Maple Lane.
Casey and Dusty pulled in behind Farrell’s truck and hopped out. Farrell gave them a wave. “Talk to all those folks on the road, Case. See what they heard or saw.” To Dusty: “Good notes.”
“Copy that, boss.”
Farrell climbed up on the cement blocks that served as a doorstep and went inside the single-wide. The air hung heavy with the reek of blood.
Didn’t bother Farrell, but Jimmy Jeff recoiled a little. “If you wanna puke,” said Farrell, “just run out and gulp in some fresh air. May help.”
Jim nodded.
Three dead.
Woman on the sofa with the remote in her hand. Shotgun blast to the chest and neck. Covered in blood. TV blaring. Judge Judy.
Man in recliner with his feet up. Shotgun blast to his upper torso. He never moved when he saw the shooter. Knew him or her or else he was sleeping when it happened.
Third victim was an older lady. Sitting at the other end of the sofa from her dead daughter or daughter-in-law. Knitting needles in her hand and a half-finished blanket drenched in blood on her lap.
Three blasts. Three dead. Double-aught load?
Tommy and Montana were next to arrive and Farrell waved them out. The less traffic, the better for the crime scene unit. “Start with neighbors. See who heard anything. I’m thinking this happened last night. Find the person who discovered the bodies and backtrack from there.”
