Angels & Imperfection Read online

  “No, John, He just needs to speak loud enough for me to hear Him.”

  I smiled.

  “He is speaking to you. You’ll hear Him soon enough.”

  Later that morning, I was sitting in my office working on a fourth cup of coffee, when Christine buzzed me.

  “You have a visitor. Lieutenant Escalante, of the Tyler Police Department is here to see you.”

  I checked the monitor. Sure enough, there was a clear picture of Tony, smiling at Christine.

  “Well, send him on in,” I drawled.

  “Nice digs, J.W.,” Tony said, by way of greeting. “That redhead is stunning.”

  He sat down in one of the chairs upholstered in green fabric with hunt scenes that now sat in front of my shiny new carved oak desk.

  I grinned.

  “That’s Christine, and she did it all, Tony. She found this office, negotiated the deal, and decorated it herself. All I do around here is work to earn the money. She even opens the mail and pays the bills.”

  “How can you possibly deserve all this?”

  I shrugged.

  “What brings you by, LT?”

  “It’s business, actually. It seems we got a call from a local car rental agency this morning. They wanted to report their suspicion one of their cars might have been used in connection with a crime.”

  I groaned.

  “When our officer arrived to look at the vehicle, he found it shot to pieces. Further investigation revealed you were the man who rented the car. Is this correct?”

  “Good thing I got the extra insurance,” I offered.

  He scowled.

  I shrugged.

  “Well, I did get surprisingly good gas mileage.”

  “J.W., tell me you didn’t use the car in connection with a crime.”

  I told him the whole story.

  “I can’t believe you were able to drive that wreck all the way back to Tyler. You only had one headlight, and part of the windshield was shattered. You could have hit a deer or gotten a ticket.”

  “Here’s the thing, Tony. That guy, Orlando, may show up here in Tyler. If he does, he’ll try to take her back.”

  “It’s a little late for you to be thinking about what he might do. I looked at the rental car. There were nine bullet entrance holes in it and six exit holes. The car is smashed and battered. It’s a miracle you survived. Why didn’t you just have the Dallas PD arrest him?”

  “Arrest him for what, Tony, statutory rape? She wouldn’t have cooperated with the police. She’s terrified of him.”

  He considered my perspective for a moment.

  “It sounds like he probably has a record. I’ll look into it. His friends are probably gangstas; I’ll look into that as well. This is the second time you’ve been shot at, in what, two months? Did you shoot anybody?”

  I shook my head.

  “Good, I suspect you’re probably guilty of disturbing the peace, up there in Oak Cliff, but that’s their problem.”

  He reached behind his back and drew my Browning Hi Power from his waistband, and handed it to me.

  “I know you’ve been missing this. We don’t need it anymore, so there you go. Use it in good health,” he smirked.

  I grinned.

  “There’s something else. I looked up the license number on the black SUV, which you said has been following you. Would you like to know who it’s registered to?”

  I was shocked!

  “Tony, I didn’t ask you to…”

  He held up a hand.

  “Forget it, J.W. Do you want to know, or not?”

  “I think I already know.”

  “Yeah, who do you think it is?”

  I put my finger tips together and considered what I had seen on the video footage.

  “Is it a guy by the name of Walter Farley?”

  Tony shook his head. “Nope, I’ve never heard of him.”

  “You’re kidding. I could have sworn it would be him.”

  Tony shook his head again.

  “Sorry, Sherlock, the car is registered to the World Wide Security Agency.”

  Twenty-Two

  I hate summer in East Texas. The heat is often oppressive. It’s common for it to be at least one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and about 90% humidity. Fortunately, summer only lasts from about May through September, five months, more or less.

  It was now full on summer in Tyler, Texas. The temp was 103°. The Crepe Myrtles were fading, and the sound of the air conditioners could be heard in the land.

  I learned a good deal more about Walter Farley. I had all of his records, including his service record. Before he started working for Simpson Oil and Gas Company, he had worked for a competing oil and gas company in Oklahoma. Before that, he had been in the Army. He had done a tour in Afghanistan. He had been an intelligence specialist.

  He was probably also a sociopath.

  It’s hard to identify a true sociopath. They become experts at deceiving others.

  Sociopaths have no sense of guilt. They don’t conform to the rules of society out of any sense of moral duty. They only pretend to conform, to avoid getting caught. They are incapable of understanding moral behavior. They are focused on themselves, and getting what they want. There are no limits to what they will do to satisfy themselves. From the time they are children they begin learning to cover their tracks and throw suspicion on someone else. They are masterful deceivers and manipulators.

  Deception and lies had been Walter’s problem in the Army. He had an honorable discharge, but his service record indicated he had tried to manipulate the system and was repeatedly caught in lies.

  In some ways lies and deception might seem like a good thing for an intelligence specialist, but in combat the facts are essential. Military intelligence is all about gathering data, analyzing the data and making decisions based on the analysis.

  If the data is unreliable, if the facts cannot be confirmed, lives may be lost. I had been in combat situations where unreliable intelligence got people killed.

  Walter was unreliable. He had been caught fabricating intelligence to make himself look good.

  I had more digging to do.

  I was thinking about the implications of what I had learned, when Christine buzzed me.

  “John, I think you’ll want to take this call. It’s Lori Murphy. She’s frantic.”

  I punched the button on my phone.

  “Hey, Lori, what’s up?”

  “Mr. Tucker, h he f f found me!” she cried.

  “Easy now, who found you, Orlando?”

  “Yes,” she sobbed. “I answered the ph ph phone and it was him. He, he knows I’m heeeeeere.”

  I knew it wouldn’t do any good for me to remind her I had specifically instructed her not to answer the phone, for this very reason.

  “OK, calm down. Do you know where he is?”

  “N n no, but he knows where I am. He’ll come here and g get me.”

  “No, he won’t. We won’t let that happen. I’m on my way over there, right now, and I’ll have the police watch your house. Make sure all the doors and windows are locked. Where are your parents?”

  “They, they’re at work. I c called my dad. He t t told me to c call you. He’s c coming h home t too.”

  “Lori, listen to me! Calm down. I need you to hang up the phone, and make sure the house is locked up and secure. Do you understand?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “OK. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  I hung up the phone, grabbed my Jacket and headed out through the front office. Christine had grabbed her purse.

  “I’m coming with you,” she said.

  “Thanks, Christine, it’s a really good idea. We’ll call the police on the way.”

  When we got to the Murphy’s home, her father’s car was parked in the driveway, and Tony had just parked his car, right behind it. We hadn’t seen Orlando’s car anywhere on the street.

  “J.W.,” Tony nodded.

  “Hey, Tony, I didn�
��t expect you to come here. I figured you’d just send a patrol car.”

  He ignored my comment, and asked a question. “Is this her father’s car?”

  I nodded.

  “I’m going around into the back yard. Let me know the status,” Tony said.

  Christine and I went to the front door and rang the bell. I was sweating through my shirt. It was too hot to be wearing my sport coat, but I was required by law to cover up my handgun, when it was holstered. I had my Browning in my hand now.

  The drapes moved and someone looked out at us. A moment later the door was opened by Larry Murphy.

  “She’s OK,” he said. “There’s been no sign of that little turd, so far. Come on in.”

  I introduced him to Christine, and called Tony on his cell phone. A moment later, Christine let him in through the back door. I introduced Tony to Mr. Murphy. Tony took the opportunity to speak up.

  “Mr. Murphy, I pulled Orlando Cruz’s criminal record. He has a history of violence. He’s had several assault beefs, but he’s slipped through the cracks. He did two years in juvenile detention on an armed robbery conviction. He’s still on probation. We can pick him up if he shows up here. We can charge him with criminal mischief or making terroristic threats. That would violate his probation. If your daughter will testify against him, we can probably add kidnapping and sex trafficking to that. Do you think she’ll cooperate?”

  “I don’t know. She’s convinced he’s more dangerous and determined than we understand. She says he’s cruel and calculating. I think she’s still too afraid of him. Lieutenant Escalante, she’s a sixteen year old girl. I’m not going to put her through the embarrassment in open court.”

  “Where is she?” Christine asked.

  “She’s upstairs in her room, with the door locked.”

  “As long as she stays here, Orlando can show up at any time to grab her. I can’t park a police officer here 24/7, on the mere possibility he might. Mr. Murphy, do you have family or friends she could stay with for a while?” Tony asked.

  “He knows all her friends, and I don’t like most of them as it is. I think they would tell Orlando where she is, if they knew. We don’t have any family in this part of the country.”

  He looked at me.

  “Mr. Tucker, can you arrange protection for her, here at the house?”

  “Yes sir, I can, but it will get very expensive, very fast. This could go on for quite some time, until Orlando gives up and moves on to the next girl. He’ll move on eventually, once he figures out the reward isn’t worth the effort and the risk.”

  “She can stay with me,” Christine said.

  I was as startled by her statement, as her lack of hesitation.

  “Christine, you don’t know what you’re saying. Having a sixteen year old girl staying with you, day and night, would not be a picnic. She might have to be with you for the rest of the summer. It would be better to send her to a distant relative.” I suggested.

  Christine looked thoughtful for a moment.

  “Better for me maybe, but not better for her. If she’s with me, I can make sure she doesn’t have any contact with her friends, especially not with him. She won’t have access to a cell phone or a computer, without me knowing about it. We’ll be the only ones who know where she is. She’ll be in our office during the day. If Orlando tries to make a move on us, we’re better prepared to handle it. A distant relative could be caught unprepared.”

  “Well, I’ll leave y’all to work out the details,” Tony said.

  When he got to the front door, Tony saw Mr. Murphy’s camouflage Benelli Nova, twelve gauge shotgun, leaning against the wall by the door.

  “Are you a bird hunter, Mr. Murphy?”

  “Yes, I am, Lieutenant. I just hunt ducks and dove, mostly, quail and pheasant, when I can.”

  “Uh huh, I hunt too. This Benelli is a very good choice for wing shooting. It could also be a good home defense weapon. I see you’re keeping it handy. The thing is, if you have to use it, you can’t shoot someone in the street, in your yard, or on your porch. You can’t use it unless they are an actual threat to you, in your own home. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  “Yes sir, I do.”

  “If your daughter stays here, he might do that. He might attack you in your own home. Can you really defend her with the shotgun, at any time of day or night? Do you think you could actually use it on a human being?”

  Mr. Murphy thought about it for a moment.

  “I don’t want to have to find out.” He stated honestly.

  Tony nodded. “I’m sorry for your troubles. You called the right man. You follow Mr. Tucker’s lead on this, and call me if you need my help.”

  Tony handed his card to Mr. Murphy. I walked out to his car with him.

  We both saw the black SUV parked up the street.

  “What do you plan to do about that?” Tony asked me, as he glanced in the direction of the SUV.

  “… Nothing for now. They’re just keeping track of me. Watching isn’t illegal.”

  “No, but stalking is. You want me to go up there and rattle their cage, J.W.?”

  “They already know I’m aware they’re watching me. It might not hurt for them to know the police are aware of their activities as well.”

  Tony nodded. “Consider it done. How do you see Mr. Murphy’s problem working out?”

  “Orlando will go away, eventually, one way or another. Either he’ll figure out Lori isn’t available, or he’ll do something stupid somewhere and end up in jail. I’ll find a way to keep Lori safe, until he goes away. My challenge is to find a way to do it, without breaking Mr. Murphy financially in the process.”

  “Well, good luck with that.”

  “I don’t believe in luck,” I said.

  Tony smiled.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “Why did you come over here, instead of just sending a patrol car, Tony?”

  “Well, J.W., because I’m ‘management’ now, I’m tied to a desk most of the time. Whenever you call, I get to leave the desk, and I know whatever you’re into, it will not be boring.”

  “You know me, Tony. I’m all about trying not to be a bore. Thanks again.”

  “Por nada, amigo.” Tony replied.

  When I went back into the house, Lori had come downstairs. She was sitting with her dad and Christine. They were chatting like they had known each other forever.

  “John we’ve decided Lori should come stay with me for a while. It’ll be fun, like having a little sister.” She beamed at me.

  “What about when you’re working?”

  “I’ll bring her to work with me. We’ll set her up in the work room with something fun to do or she can practice answering the phone.”

  “Lori, we probably ought to discuss this privately.”

  “No, John, we don’t need to discuss it. Lori, tell him the plan.”

  Lori didn’t look like she had been terrified less than an hour ago. She was smiling and seemed to think there was something funny about our conversation.

  “Right, we’ll hang out, watch movies and do girl stuff. I won’t get in the way, I promise.” She batted her eyes and tilted her head over to one side.

  “Why?” I asked her.

  “Why, what?” she asked in return.

  “Why would you be interested in going to stay with a stranger?”

  She looked at her dad.

  “Everyone will be safer if Orlando doesn’t know where I am. He might try to find me here. But if I’m not here, he’ll go away, right?”

  She had been listening to our earlier conversation.

  “It would seem to be the case. Typically, it is. But it only works if there is no way he can find you. You would have to promise not to expose your whereabouts to anyone other than your family. You wouldn’t be able to see them very often, until we’re sure he’s done with you. You’re going to find it isn’t much fun. In fact it won’t be any fun at all. We will never leave you alone. One of us will be
with you at all times. Can you do that?”

  “Oh, yes sir, I can. I promise.”

  I looked at Mr. Murphy.

  “Sir, for security reasons, I can’t even tell you where Christine lives. I’m sure you understand. I may have to move both of these ladies to an undisclosed location. Even if she does this, there’s still a chance Orlando will come here looking for her. He might break into your house. I can suggest an alarm company.”

  “I have one coming this afternoon. We’ll look after the home front, Mr. Tucker. Will you please keep my daughter safe?”

  “Yes, sir, we’ll get y’all through this.”

  “I’ll arrange payment somehow. Will your daily rate be enough?”

  “Mr. Murphy, my rate is five hundred dollars per day. That day rate is based on an eight hour day. We’re providing protection for her effectively 24/7. That’s thirty-five hundred dollars per week. This could go on for weeks. I know you make a good living, but you can’t afford that. We’ll have to give you the bulk buying discount.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll work something out. We’ll also find a way for y’all to spend some time together.

  “Maybe we could meet at church?”

  “Maybe, right now we’ll be figuring it out as we go along. The situation is fluid. One day at a time.”

  Twenty-Three

  Christine helped Lori pack her things, ensuring there were no hidden cell phones or other communication devices making the trip.

  When they were ready to go, I stepped outside and scanned the area. There was no sign of Orlando, but there was a huge scene going on up the street.

  Tony had parked behind the subject SUV, with his lights flashing, and he had arranged for a couple of patrol cars to provide backup. The patrol cars had parked diagonally, obstructing the street at both ends of the block, with their blue and red lights flashing. People had come out of their homes to watch as the drama unfolded.

  The two men who had been in the SUV were now sitting on the front lawn of someone’s home, with a patrolman standing behind them. Tony and another uniformed officer were searching their vehicle.

  “So much for being sneaky,” I said.

  Christine laughed.