Chapter 18: The First Domino

It was just after three in the afternoon when Alexa parked at the same convenience store Stacy parked at when she started her botched reconnaissance. Unlike Stacy, Alexa stayed in her car. This was her third day sitting in the parking lot. Every Wednesday for the past few weeks she had observed Danny leave Jacob’s neighborhood between three and a quarter after. Today was not the exception.

Alexa put her car in gear and fell in behind Danny. He drove the speed limit and carefully checked his mirrors before making a lane change. Even with his slow, safe driving, he did not seem to notice his tail. Alexa stayed three or more cars behind him. His red truck was easy to keep an eye on in the light traffic.

He drove for several miles. He finally turned off the main road and into an affluent neighborhood on the north side of town. Alexa dropped further behind and hoped he was close to his destination and would not pay attention to his rear view mirror.

Alexa was lucky. Not only did Danny stop a mere three blocks into the neighborhood, but there was a small coffee house on the corner across from where parked. Danny pulled alongside the curb and jumped out of his truck. Alexa stopped near the coffee house. She watched him go to the door and ring the bell. He entered and within a minute he was exiting the house. He got into his truck and backed into the driveway until it almost touched the garage door.

When Danny started to back into the driveway, Alexa took a gamble. She jumped out of her car and quickly made her way down the street. She slid into the shrubbery of the house next door and pulled a small pair of binoculars from her hoodie pocket. She peered toward the opening garage door.

“Oh, fuck,” she said as she watched two middle-aged men push a wheelbarrow to Danny’s truck and start tossing him white blocks the size of a brick. Danny caught them and put them into boxes he had pre-arranged in the bed of the truck. When the last of the bricks was tossed to Danny the garage door shut. He was left to tape and seal each box before he returned to the cab and drove out of the neighborhood.

Alexa took both still photos and videos of the encounter. It had taken less than ten minutes for Danny to arrive, pull the truck to the garage, and then leave with three boxes of what she assumed was drugs.

As Danny pulled out, Alexa put even more space between her and his truck than earlier. It did not seem like Danny was aware of his tail and drove carefully to a small house near the local community college. He backed into the driveway and went to the back door. A moment later a young man came back to Danny’s truck, took one of the boxes and handed him a large envelope. Danny put it in the glove compartment when he got into the truck.

The routine was repeated twice more. Once at a small dive bar off the main downtown strip and again at a gym toward the southeast of town. Every time Danny was in and out in less than five minutes and he exited with a large envelope he put into his glove box.

Alexa recorded everything with pictures, videos, and hand-written notes in her little notebook. She followed Danny and realized he was passing the entrance into Jacob’s neighborhood. He continued for about a mile, then turned onto a small lane that had about a dozen pre-fab houses. Alexa pulled to the side of the road and watched as Danny parked in front of a house with the number 121 emblazoned above the door.

She documented everything and then texted Walt and Stacy. “Jackpot. We need to meet ASAP.”

A few minutes later her phone beeped. “My house. 10:00 PM.”

It was just a second later when she got a follow-up from Walt, “I’ll be there.” She laughed to herself wondering if the two of them were together.

It was precisely 10:00 PM when Alexa knocked on Stacy’s back door and let herself into the house. She found Stacy sitting at the kitchen table.

“Here,” Alex said as she placed a chilled six-pack of Red Bull on the table. “Figured we’d need these tonight.” She looked around. “Walt’s not here?”

Stacy said, “Not yet. He’s been working several threads. He’s using his cop network to meet friends-of-friends. The more time he spends in town, the more he’d like to have his own connections if they are ever needed.”

There was a soft knock before the door opened and Walt entered.

“Sorry, met with someone a friend from Boston introduced and she was rather talkative.”

Walt sat and took a Red Bull. He added a bag of pretzels to the mix.

Alexa took the lead. “Like you guys know, Danny is up to some shady shit. We assumed it could be drugs. Today I confirmed that is the case.”

She took her laptop out of her backpack played them the videos she captured earlier in the day.

“Wow, that is a lot of weight,” said Walt. “Those two guys must be near the top of the chain. My guess is they use Danny to distribute to his three contacts, who then may even spread the drugs to other distributors before going to the on-the-street dealers.”

“Multiple layers,” nodded Stacy. “And Danny becomes the only link from the street to the main supply. A link that could be taken out if there are any concerns about security. What I can’t figure out, is why is Danny coming from Jacob’s house? Is he storing the drugs there because of his history and he thinks it is safer? Or is Jacob somehow more involved than we thought?”

Alexa said, “I’ve watched Jacob for a while. I don’t think he’s bright enough, or even has the balls for, the operation we’ve uncovered. I’d bet even money he doesn’t know Danny is using his place for storage.”

“But Nikki,” nodded Walt as pieces started to click together, “would have put it together immediately. She knows what’s going on. It’s why she’s been seen leaving with Danny. Maybe she’s learning to be his right-hand-man, or maybe she’s just blackmailing him, but she’s into this without question.

“What is our next move?” asked Alexa.