Undercover Rose
Chapter 41

Copyright© 2013 by carniegirl

"They aren't the police honey, they are just people who owe me a favor," I said.

After they left I sent a coded email explaining it all, then I called and said wrong number to the floating cell phone number. By noon I had the answer.

'We don't have time to drop anything to you.' The coded message read. Then there were two Internet addresses. One was labeled 'voice'. Which I assumed were the conversations on Carlos' cell phone and the other 'location'. Both sites were only working because Q10 were a bunch of stupid thugs. If they were really criminals they would have destroyed Jose's cell phone and would never do business with Carlos over the phone.

It was 2 PM when I called Jeremy. "Hey Jeremy are you bored yet?" I asked.

"You know it is a common condition we all suffer from. So what is on your mind?" he said.

"I might need you to help me follow someone. Why don't you come over about four and I'll explain everything."

"Oh this sounds just mysterious enough to be fun," he said.

I called Joan at school. I decided to risk it. When she answered, "Do you know where our young friend is at the moment."

"No and I'm worried sick. He didn't show up for our date on Friday and he isn't answering his phone," she said.

"Do you have any idea where he might be?" I asked.

"No, I just told you, I'm worried sick about him," she explained.

"Joan, you stupid bitch, you need to save the fucking romance for the movies. Jose is missing. He was on his way to fuck you. Now tell me where he was headed."

"He was coming to my house," she said.

"Where was your husband?" I asked.

"He says he was visiting his parents again. He might have a piece on the side, I don't know," she said.

"Could he know about Jose?" I asked. All kinds of thoughts were running through my head.

"I don't see how, we have been very careful," she said.

"Please tell me what is careful about fucking Jose in your husband's bed?" I asked.

"Rose, I don't know what happened to Jose and I'm scared to death for him," she said.

"Bullshit, you are scared for you. Can't you be honest for a change? I don't think you are so stupid you'd lie to yourself all the time," I said.

"What do you think of me then?" she asked.

"I think you are all about what you want and you have very little self control. Now that young man's life is hanging in the balance. So could your husband have found out and done something to him?" I asked again.

"I don't know, but I will never forgive myself if he has," she said.

"Just forget about this call and about Jose and get on with your life," I said then broke the connection. There was something much less satisfying about pushing the end button, than slamming the receiver down on an old fashioned phone would have been.

"Jeremy and Alice arrived. We played the calls on Carlos' phone with an instant translation program. The ones about buildings were of no interest to me. At five the call came in. The translation went something like this:

Q10: Do you have the money?

Carlos: I have made arrangements. I am to pick it up tonight on the way to meet you.

Q10: Pick up the money and bring it to the ball field at Roaring Gap Community Center.

Carlos: Will you have Jose there.

Q10: Do you think we are stupid. When I return to where he is being held, we will release him.

I knew where his cell phone was being held, I just wasn't sure Jose was there. If I had been sure, I would have gone to get him.

Just bring the money and don't do anything stupid. Be there at 8 PM.

Carlos: How will I know you.

Q10: We will know you, don't worry.

Then the phone went dead.

"You two need to get to the park. Hang around but don't look like cops. It most likely will be full of Illegal kids playing basketball, so be careful. If you can find a spot to observe do that from your car," I said.

"What are you going to do?" Jeremy asked.

"I'm going to track down the cell signal from Jose's phone after I hand over 5k to Carlos," I said.

Jeremy and Alice had a good head start so they would arrive before either of the parties in the transfer. There should have been other moves on the part of Q10, but there weren't. The meeting was set to happen without any changes. Very amateur I thought.

I went to the street address where Jose's cell phone was located. I drove my pickup truck by the address. I had a really eerie feeling as I pass the darkened house. The house was middle class in a neighborhood clear of any signs of gang activities.

"Look's like a middle class working neighborhood," I said into the cell phone. "Not the kind of place a gang would use to hold a hostage."

"Why would his phone be there," Jeremy asked.

"I'm going to find out after the ransom is paid. If nothing moves here, I'll just knock on the door," I said.

"What will you say?" Jeremy asked.

"I'll think of something," I replied. I watched the house from a block away until Jeremy called.

"The pick up just happened. Do you want me to follow him?" Jeremy asked.

"Not if you got a good picture of him," I replied.

"Alice got a good shot of him looking inside the bag. It would look really good on the 6 PM news," Jeremy said.

"Weren't you listening when Andrew asked, do you need your face in the news?" I asked.

"I was and I don't," he replied. I was just saying.

"Go home and email me the picture. Make sure you aren't followed," I said.

"Yes mother we will be careful," Jeremy said. I could imagine the look on his face at that moment. That image made me smile.

I sat on top of that hill until an hour after dark. When no one came of left I made a call to Carlos. "Has Jose been returned yet?" I asked without even saying hello.

"Not yet it has only been two hours but we are worried," he said.

"It would have been better if you had told them to negotiate with me," I said then immediately regretted it. If this went sideways, I didn't need him blaming himself or me. "Look I'm sorry there is probably nothing I could have done then, that I can't do now. I have to go. There is something I need to do."

I said it then broke the connection before he could object. I carefully opened the door to my pickup. The light from the interior bulb had been disabled long ago. I didn't know who had done it, but I expected it was the SBI garage. I left the truck in the driveway of a house for sale. If anything I expected the police to come ask me about the house where I was parked, not the one I was about to burglarize. I had the tiny LED light and the light amplifying headset I had been given to use on the boat for the dope drop. I had 'forgotten' to return it. I hadn't needed it on that job, but I might on this one.

I walked through the back yards of the houses between me and the address where Jose's phone still appeared to be. I had his phone pinpointed on the smart phone GPS site. It was exactly the same as the location furnished by Church Camps Geek. The LED light would hold together for about four feet then just disappear. The light was only visible to anyone else when they looked directly into the lens. It was invisible from even five degrees off perpendicular, without the glasses. It was a lot like a laser pointer.

When I got to the back yard of the location where Jose could be, I sat down in the rear yard and began to allow my eyes to become accustomed to the almost complete lack of light. I waited till I was sure there were no sounds coming from the house as well as no light, then I moved to the plastic trash can. I removed the lid, then turned the head light on to see what was inside.

To my surprise the can was totally empty. So that led me to believe the house would be empty as well except maybe Jose's cell phone. I hoped it was just his phone. I began working on the lock with the pick set. The ones I had been given at Church Camp. At that time I had worked for the SBI. To bad I wouldn't have their cover tonight. If I did, I could have called them, I told myself. Then I realized that I couldn't have called them either.

When I got the lock open and cracked the door, I knew that it wasn't going to end well. I smelled the smell that can only be one thing. I had found Jose, I thought as I pushed my way inside. Sure enough he was in one of the small bedrooms and was very dead. He had bled out on top of the mattress with no sheets.

I guess I had feared it even before I left the car, because I had brought my gloves. I moved carefully toward Jose. When I got to him it was hard not to gag, but I held it down. I went through his pockets till I found his cell phone. I took it, then I left the house relocking the rear door on the way out. I made my way carefully back to the truck, which hadn't been disturbed at all. Even so I wished I had not used my real license plate on the truck.

I dropped his cell phone in the door pocket of the pickup. I drove the truck to a convenience store a few blocks from the house where Jose's body lay. I used the same smart phone I had tracked Jose's phone with to make the 911 call. After it was done I used a jewelers screwdriver to remove the battery and the sim card. Yes I brought the screwdrivers with me because I expected to use them for just that purpose. I drove away from the convenience store. I tossed the wiped down battery out the window in a residential area that had no connection to me whatsoever. While I was dismantling and destroying phones I took the Card from Jose's phone and tossed the rest out the window.

I went about a mile further down the road then did the same with the Sim card from the smart phone. My final act of clean up was to put Ari's smart phone into a dumpster beside an apartment building just inside the Roaring Rivers public housing project. It too had been wiped down before I discarded it. That was the final tie to Ari put in the trash where it belonged, I thought.

The final thing to go out the window were the vinyl gloves. "Good luck on putting any of that shit back together," I said very quietly into the darkness. From the public housing project, I drove home in a very circular route. Just to be sure I wasn't being followed. When I got home, I had a stiff drink then switched to coffee. I knew I needed to keep my wits about me for a while longer.

"Question one," I said aloud to no one. "What, if anything, do I tell Carlos? Hell, what am I going to tell Jeremy and Alice?" I asked the darkness from the deck of my Country Store. "God I wished I smoked cigarettes at moment like this." People in the movies with this much shit on their minds, always had a cigarette and somehow it all worked out. Nothing was ever going to work out for Carlos and Nita. Did I really want to be the one to tell them? If I did, I would be violating rule one in Church Camp's rule book. Protect your cover at all cost.

 
There is more of this chapter...

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Close
 

WARNING! ADULT CONTENT...

Storiesonline is for adult entertainment only. By accessing this site you declare that you are of legal age and that you agree with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.