Chapter 12 – Cases Collide
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Chapter 12 – Cases CollideMel
Saturday evening drug out and turned into a very long Sunday. Kris had surgery to remove bullet fragments lodged in her shoulder and neck. She was still in the hospital but she was recovering.
I made a statement for the state officer when he showed up at Genesis. I gave him what little information I had about Sally. I also sketched the counterfeit investigation out for him but I didn’t have much to go on other than that we had two guys in custody that were obviously from out of town and minimal involvement in the whole mess, so far, by locals.
###
Agent Webb was chatting up Holly when I walked into my office on Monday morning. He tipped his head toward me. “Sheriff. I missed you Saturday night. Figured you’d want to sit in on that. Holly tells me you had an emergency at home. Anything I can do to help?”
“I really did want to sit in. I appreciate the offer of your help but, so far, everything is under control. Were you able to get anything out of Johnson?” I motioned him into my office.
Following behind me and taking a seat in front of my desk, he said, “Johnson said he got the twenty at a convenience store near his house. I followed up there. It’s likely he got it there. He didn’t have anything else that was counterfeit on him so I didn’t hold him.”
“Now, Stearman, Dawes and Quinn are a different story entirely. Dawes and Quinn are Gangster Demons gang affiliated out of Chicago.” We served warrants on both of their last known addresses and we found stacks of bills at Dawes residence. He’s involved, for sure.”
“Is there a Zanesville or Morelville connection?”
“That’s probably Stearman, at a minimum. The bills you took from him are counterfeits. We’re hoping to use him for leverage against the other two. Quinn works as a truck driver for a company the Gang Task Force in Chicago tells us is a front business for the Demons. Bills have been found in several states that match what we found in Chicago and what has been found here. He may be responsible for moving and passing a lot of the fakes. I’m waiting on back up and then I’m headed back to Washington later today. They’ll all go with me in my custody.”
“Has anyone talked?”
“No, not yet. They will for a deal though. This money is coming out of a high end printing operation. There will be lots of jail time on the table.”
“Dawes took a couple of shots at me. Keep that in mind for your interrogation.”
“Oh, he’s going to do time in Ohio for that if he ever gets out of Federal Prison. I’ll see to the extradition back for that!”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that this is just about all wrapped up. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
“Will do. I really wish you were in Illinois.”
At my quizzical expression he said, “Dawes has a younger brother that’s an inmate at Stateville. He worked for the same freight company as Quinn. Since he’s already locked up on unrelated charges, he might be motivated to talk to get a reduced sentence.”
“Anyway, it’s worth a shot with the kid brother but I need to get back to D.C. to set up an op to stop the flow of this money. I don’t know when I can get to Stateville but someone should go ASAP. Even if he won’t talk, we might be able to use his sentence as leverage with DeWayne. If the older brother thinks he can make life in prison easier for the younger brother, he may be more forthcoming.”
I thought of Dana and the prison hit she was investigating at Stateville. “I’ve been involved in a case with a Customs Agent that’s working on something that also has to do with inmates at Stateville. I don’t know all of the details but, given events around here, it’s starting to look like we might have two investigations headed in the same direction. It’s almost too eerie to be a coincidence.”
“Weirder things have happened.”
“Let me get in touch with Agent Rossi and touch base. What’s DeWayne’s younger brother’s name?”
“DeShawn Dawes.”
I wrote it down and tried not to smile. Webb stood up and extended his hand.
“Sheriff, it’s been a pleasure working with such a professional team. I appreciate all your help.”
“I’ll be in touch once I track Rossi down or, I can have her call you?” It was more a question than a statement.
“Either way is fine Sheriff. Hopefully we can all help each out.”
He showed himself out. I intended to keep my promise and call Dana but my first order of business was tracking down Sally. She’d gone too far and couldn’t be allowed to continue.
I was wrong for not taking Sally seriously. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again. I was going to use every tool and do everything in my power as Sheriff to find her and put her away so she couldn’t hurt me or my family again.
I booted my computer and started combing databases for information about Sally Loring. Once I had some addresses and a potential vehicle, a white Dodge Durango 4X4, to use as reference points, I put out an APB on her and then I got Holly working on getting an arrest warrant.
Little did I know that my actions were being followed closely by a certain Federal Agent currently tied to a computer in Cleveland. That is, I didn’t know until my duty cell phone rang as I was getting into a vehicle to go out and run down some of those addresses.
“Sheriff Crane.”
“Mel, it’s Dana.”
Silence hung in the air for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Dana broke it.
“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”
“No.”
“Let me rephrase the question. What the hell is happening?” Her voice was rising. “Why did you put an APB out on Sally Loring?”
I sighed. “Dana, Sally shot my sister Saturday night at our house in some sort of drive by or she may have even been up close to the house. She wasn’t real close though because she apparently thought Kris was me. I was out on a call.”
“Is your sister...okay?”
“She had surgery late Saturday night. She’s still in the hospital but she’s recovering.”
“You’re sure this was Sally?”
“Who else would it be Dana?”
“You tell me. What’s going on with your counterfeit investigation?”
“We have three guys in custody here. Webb, the Secret Service Agent that’s here, served warrants on their homes and hit the mother lode at one of them. Custody is being transferred to him today and he’s taking them all back to D.C. for interrogation.”
“Wow! Is that all? There has to be more! What aren’t you telling me?”
“Two of the guys in custody here are members of a gang. They’re not local. They’re out of Chicago. Somehow, they’re affiliated with the printing of the counterfeit money and the transport and distribution of it.”
I paused and then I jumped back in. “Dana, there may be ties to your case. I spoke with Webb this morning and started putting two and two together. I didn’t tell him anything concrete but he asked me to get in touch with you. I was going to call but... well, I need to find Sally.”
Dana interrupted. “Mel, do you have a security detail on your house?”
“Why?”
“Really? Mel, think about it! Do you really believe Sally is your shooter? I don’t! I think you’ve become a gang target because of your investigation. And, if your hunch is correct, it may go a hell of a lot deeper than that and really be tied in with mine after all.”
“No one’s there... at the house. The kids are staying with my folks. I’ve spent all my time at the hospital since Kris was shot.”
“Track down Sally and do what you have to do there to prove things one way or another. I’m en route. Put some deputies on stakeout around your place.”
“You don’t need to come down here. I can handle the security...”
“It’s not about that.” Exasperated, Dana hung up.
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