Chapter 10

Bobby Joe Hutchins sat handcuffed to an interrogation table in a Los Angeles police station Thursday evening, February 7, 1957. "This is bullshit! I haven't done anything! You can't hold me here! Lemme go!" he ranted at the two-way mirror on the wall. "I know you bastards are watchin' me! Somebody get in here and tell me what the hell's goin' on!"

Agents Charles Richards and Tom Seldon, L.A.P.D. Detective Jonathan North, Officer Rick Estevez and Hutchins' friend, Billy Green, stood on the other side of the mirror watching the man's face and neck turn red as he shouted at the top of his lungs.

Billy shook his head. "I always knew Bobby Joe had a temper. And I kind of figured he'd get involved in something illegal if someone offered him enough money. But I never would've suspected that Uncle Harold was into something this deep. I kind of wondered why he called me out of the blue last fall and offered me a job workin' at his warehouses and asked me to bring along anyone I thought would be trust-worthy enough to do what they were told without any questions. I figured he was just hard up for labor.

"But when Bobby Joe came braggin' to me last night about this bundle of money he was goin' to make just by takin' care of a couple of Feds ... I knew I had to let someone know right away! And I had no idea it would turn out to be you guys! Boy ... if Bobby Joe had suspected that you two were the ones he was after, he'd have probably done it for free! And I never would've suspected it was Uncle Harold! I'm just glad you guys picked Bobby Joe up before he got around to doin' anything about it.

"And by the way, Bobby Joe and I were supposed to be doin' somethin' else for Uncle Harold this weekend that he wouldn't give us much information about. We were supposed to hitch a ride on a railcar up to this place called Benicia and meet someone to pick up a load of merchandise ... no questions asked ... and then return with it to the port docks."

Charles looked at his partner with his eyebrows raised. Tom put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "We appreciate your help, Billy, but we need you to act like nothing's happened. If your uncle asks, you just tell him that Bobby Joe disappeared and you have no idea where he went. And you tell him that he'll have to find someone to take Bobby Joe's place this weekend. Can you do that?" Billy nodded. "Thanks ... you can go now, and just stay calm ... everything will be over with soon."

As Billy was leaving the room, two other men arrived. Chief Henry Nelson and Detective Dick Thompson closed the door behind them. Thompson scowled at the other four men. He just knew those bastards all thought they were above the law ... They'd all acted like vigilantes ... He was still pissed that they'd gotten away with killing a man last Thanksgiving just because they'd felt it was justified.

Chief Nelson looked at Tom and Charles. "Agents Seldon ... Richards ... we meet again. Hopefully no one will get killed this time, though I understand this guy was hired to kill you two. Is that right?" Tom and Charles nodded. "Well, then ... would you like to have a crack at him first? If he won't talk for you, then Thompson and I will see what we can get out of him. Fair enough?"

Charles and Tom glared at Thompson when he snorted in disgust. Charles said, "Thanks. We've had a run-in with this guy before and I think his surprise at seeing us again will work to our advantage. Hopefully, this won't take very long!"

They left the observation room and entered the interrogation room. Bobby Joe opened his mouth like he was going to issue a stream of curses at them, but he stopped with his mouth gaping open. He frowned briefly and then his eyes widened.

He said quietly, "I know you guys ... I've seen you somewhere ... Where was it?" He frowned hard, turning his head sideways as he searched his memory.

Charles walked over behind the big redneck, grabbed his free left hand off the table, twisted his arm up behind his back and slammed Bobby Joe's head down onto the table as he howled in pain. "Maybe this will refresh your memory ... asshole!" he growled. Then Charles immediately released him and backed away.

Bobby Joe's head sprang up from the table, his eyes wide again. "Shit! Now I remember! Vegas! You were the two asshole Feds that stuck your noses into my business with Dawnie in Vegas! What the hell are you doin' here? And why am I bein' held fer no good reason?"

Tom grinned. "Oh ... we have a very good reason for holding you! Do you have any idea what our names are?" Bobby Joe frowned harder and shook his head. Tom continued. "Well ... let us introduce ourselves. I'm Agent Thomas Seldon." Bobby Joe's eyes rounded nervously.

Charles leaned down next to him. "And I'm Agent Charles Richards." Hutchins' head snapped around to face him as his eyes turned to saucers. Charles stood up and chuckled. "Gee, Tom ... he looks like he's seen a ghost ... or maybe a couple of them! Isn't that what you were hired to do, Hutchins ... turn Agent Seldon and me into ghosts?"

Before he could think straight, Bobby Joe blurted, "How the hell do you know about that?"

Charles slammed his hands down on the table in front of Hutchins and got right in his face. "You stupid asshole ... it doesn't matter how we know. What matters now is that you just admitted to it. So, if you want to make things go easier for you, you'd better cooperate and tell us everything you know."

"I ain't tellin' you nuthin'," Bobby Joe said sullenly. They might know he was hired to kill them, but he doubted they knew by whom...

Charles stood up straight. "Well ... that's just as well. We know everything we need to know and we already have enough evidence to convict you of conspiring to commit murder for hire. And being that we're federal officers, I'm sure the Attorney General will go for the maximum punishment ... life in prison without the possibility of parole."

Tom chuckled. Damn ... Charles was good! That was a crock of shit he'd spouted but it sounds good and he was sure this asshole didn't know that ... Then he added his two cents worth. "Yeah ... we don't need you to tell us that Harold Green hired you to kill us ... we already know. So I doubt there's anything you could've told us that would've helped you have any chance at getting out of prison at some point. Nope ... the only thing that might help you now is if you can help us get evidence to convict Green as well." Chew on that for a minute Bobby Joe...

Hutchins closed his eyes as his mind whirled. How the hell had he ended up in this mess? How had they found out? How was he gonna get outta this? He opened his eyes and looked at both of the men now standing at the other end of the table from him. "How on earth would I be able to help you get evidence that Green was the man who hired me? He didn't give me written instructions with his signature on it! It would be his word against mine! And who would believe me?"

Tom and Charles glanced at each other and grinned. Then Tom said, "It'll be really simple, Bobby Joe. All you have to do is make a phone call to Green and convince him that the job has been done. Then make arrangements with him as to when and where you're to get paid for it."

Hutchins frowned. "Well, there's a problem with that part. I'm supposed to be doin' another job for him this weekend and I wasn't goin' to get paid for this until that part was done and then I'd get all the money at once."

"What's this other job you're supposed to do for him?" Charles asked quickly as he glanced at Tom.

That was good ... not letting on to Hutchins that they already knew about that. It might've tipped him off that Billy was one who'd turned him in...

"Me and Billy Green were supposed to take a train ride somewhere to pick up some merchandise for him ... no big deal. But Green was goin' to pay us a lot of extra money for our time. And I'm sure when I call him he's goin' to ask me if I'll be ready for that trip. So what'll I tell him?"

Tom responded casually, "Just tell him that it wasn't such an easy job taking care of two highly trained FBI agents and that you were injured in the process so you can't do the job this weekend. But you tell him that you still expect to get paid the full amount because of your injuries. That way, he won't get suspicious at all ... he'll think you're mercenary, like he is, and he'll respect you for it!"

The next day, the FBI had Bobby Joe Hutchins brought to their office with a phone set up to record the conversation between him and Harold Green. Charles sat him at the table in front of the phone. "You'd better make this sound good or we'll make sure the Attorney General knows that you didn't cooperate!"

Hutchins took the phone from the agent who handed it to him after they'd dialed Harold Green's private office number. After two rings, Green answered. "Mr. Green, it's Bobby Joe. It's done. Those problems you wanted taken care of have been ... eliminated."

"Well done, Hutchins. I'll add that ten grand to your payment for this weekend's work."

"Yeah ... about that, Mr. Green. You see..." He paused and hissed through his teeth like he was in pain. "I can't go anywhere for a few days. I've cracked a few ribs and I think I may have sprained an ankle taking care of those problems for you. There's no way I can make this trip now. You'll hafta find someone else."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, Hutchins. Then I guess I'll have to give your other two grand to someone else."

"Oh, no you don't, Green! I earned that money, and more, taking care of this problem for you! It ain't so easy trying to take care of a couple highly-trained FBI agents! They nearly beat the shit outta me before I could shoot 'em! You'll pay me the other two gees or I'll tip the Feds off as to who had those two G-men killed and then I'll just disappear! They've had you under investigation so they won't have any trouble believin' it!"

"ALL RIGHT!" Green shouted into the phone. Then he hissed, "All right ... you'll get your money! But this money is also buying your promise to keep your mouth shut! Besides ... if the FBI finds out about this, you'll be in just as much trouble as me! Even more ... since you're the one who actually pulled the trigger! You just remember that, Hutchins. You'll get your money next week as planned. Don't let me hear from you again until then!" The line went dead.

"Good job, Bobby Joe. We got everything we needed. We'll put in a good word for you with the prosecutor. You can take him back to jail, now," Tom said to the two policemen who had escorted him to the FBI office. "Just make sure everyone at the jail knows that he's to be held in isolation until further notice from us." The policemen nodded their understanding.

Saturday night, February 9th, the FBI, with the cooperation of the M.P.'s at Benicia Arsenal, set up lookouts and observed and photographed the transfer of munitions from a storehouse at the facility to two railcars contracted by Green Worldwide Enterprises. Photographs were obtained of William Bradley and his source ... Captain Gary Butler.

Charles lowered his binoculars and muttered quietly, "I knew it! I knew that guy was involved! He must be the one who notified Green that we were on to them! But at least now we've got the source! He'll be one less bastard out there leaking arms into the black market!"

Tom sighed heavily and shook his head. "I just don't understand what happened to them. When I knew these guys, they were good men. I would never have believed they could get into something like this! There's got to be some reason why they'd do this!"

Charles looked at his best friend and partner. "Well ... when we arrest them and take them in, you can ask them. But I doubt you'll like their explanations. Come on, partner. As soon as the train leaves, they're going to take Butler into custody."

Late Saturday night, Gary Butler was sitting in an interrogation room in the San Francisco FBI offices. Tom walked in the door and Butler looked startled. "You're supposed to be dead!"

Tom narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw. "Gee ... I'm so happy to see you, too, Gary." Tom sat down across from him and stared at him for a moment. "Why, Gator ... just tell me why?"

Butler snorted a harsh laugh, showing off his big teeth. "Oh, man, Tommy ... you were always such a boy scout ... with such high ideals ... expecting everyone around you to adhere to your standards of conduct and decency. Except when it came to women ... A good lookin' guy like you never had a problem getin' any dame he wanted! But guys like me and Bradley ... women don't pay attention to guys like us unless we've got money.

"That's the only reason I got into it ... money. Bradley and I have made a pretty good profit the last five years working together. And you had to go and fuck it all up for us! It's too bad Bradley couldn't bring himself to take care of you and your partner personally. At least I know he'd have been able to get the job done.

"I just don't understand why he didn't want to take care of it himself! It's not like he owes you any loyalty since you stole the woman he loved! Hell ... I'd thought he'd have wanted to kill you with his bare hands ... especially since she's dead because of you!"

Tom reached across the table and grabbed the front of Butler's shirt. "What the fuck are you talkin' about, Gator?!!"

Butler laughed sarcastically. "Oh, man ... you really don't know, do you? I guess Yakira never told you! She was the one who helped Bradley disappear. He wanted out of the war. He was burned out. He'd fallen in love with Yakira and he was gonna stay with her on Okinawa and start a new life. Only he knew they were gonna send someone to take his place to finish the mission, so he left the island.