Chapter 25

Chuck

Thursday

Lisa and I woke early enough to workout for a few minutes before showering and dressing to go flying. She was headed to Montana and I was going to Las Vegas. I was going to be able to do some Marshal's Service business, plus do some further investigation of the sniper I had disposed of during the recent mission that never happened.

The girls were not happy to have to get up this morning, but it was to be a full day for them. They had made plans to spend time with Sue and Mercy again to do some planning for what I thought was to be for the babies coming.

Lisa and I were both flying Learjets this morning, and we were both leaving early. When I arrived at the airpark at seven fifteen, the two couples I was transporting had just arrived by limo. The aircraft was ready, so I did my preflight with the mechanic on duty, and prepared to get going, after making sure my passengers were buckled up. I showed them how the coffeepot worked and where the booze was stashed. I checked and there was ice in the refrigerated container.

We were soon at thirty-four thousand feet, doing about point six mach, or if you wanted to be crude, haulin' ass. We had a little headwind, so I needed to make a stop to refuel or I would be cutting it a little close. I flipped on the cabin speakers and told the passengers to pick a place to refuel. If we were going to just do a quickie refuel, we would stop in Amarillo. If they wanted to do some early morning partying, we could stop in New Orleans or Houston. They all yelled for a quick stop in Amarillo.

On approach to Amarillo, I called transient services to have four inflight breakfasts brought out while we refueled. The service said they would have them ready.

The runway and private operations area are close to each other, so it takes just a minute or two after landing to be parked and ready for the approaching fuel truck. While the service tech was fueling the plane, I received the four breakfasts, complete with some cartons of juice and milk for the passengers. The meals were still hot.

After checking the fuel covers, I signed for the fuel and breakfasts and made a hasty departure. Too bad I didn't have afterburners like the fighters do so I could really scoot. We set down just about twelve thirty in the afternoon. I had called ahead for a limo that met us out where we parked. I left the aircraft to be serviced, grabbed my piece of luggage with the gym bag and some phone books in it, rented a car, and headed to the branch bank.

The desk clerk for the safety deposit boxes was more security concious than the one in Huntsville. I showed her the driver's license, the debit card, and finally, the passport. She even noted the social security card and asked to see it. She compared everything and looked at me before saying, "You look a lot nicer without the beard."

I figured I'd have to sign in or something, but she didn't ask. We went to the vault, where she moved a cart over to the waist high drawer and put her key in. I put my key in and we pulled the box out onto the cart. It didn't feel as heavy as the one in Huntsville, so I figured this one wasn't full of gold.

In a little larger room than the others, I put on some of the surgical gloves and opened the box. The box was stuffed with forty bundles of cash and this time there was about fifty of the same size gold bars marked one hundred grams with three point two Troy ounces printed underneath. I put the cash and gold in the luggage and found a small black satin-looking bag with a drawstring. I pulled it open and, oh my, diamonds. I know nothing of diamonds, so I had no idea of the value, but they all looked fairly big to me.

In the bottom of the box was another big envelope and another set of IDs in a rubber band. The envelope had a bunch of papers in it that would take me time to study, so I put the ID and envelope in my gym bag. After putting the phone books into the big box, I locked the lid and wiped the whole box down. I stripped off the gloves then went back out to desk clerk. We put the box back, with her making the comment, "You must have really filled this thing up today, it's a lot heavier now."

I just smiled and followed her out to her desk. She asked me if I wanted to put the box rental on automatic withdrawal. I just nodded and she handed me a card to sign. I filled in the account number from the debit card and noted the annual payment amount had been paid about three-months prior.

Outside the branch bank, I used the debit card to get the amounts of money on deposit. There was only about thirty-five thousand in checking, but almost a half a mil in savings. The account was marked as a money market account. I with drew a hundred cash and headed for the address on the driver's license.

There was obviously someone living in the house, so I took a chance and rang the door bell. A lady holding a child on her hip opened the door and asked if I could help her. I said, "I'm Fred Dement," to see what she would say.

"Oh, Mr. Dement," so nice to meet you. We just love the house. The rent you charge is really low or rather the perfect price for us. We don't get much mail for you, but we just forward it just like you asked. Come in a minute to look how we decorated."

I followed the lady in. She put the toddler down and went to a small desk. She brought me a three by five card and held it out to me, "Is this still the same address you want your mail sent to?"

I looked at the address, quickly memorizing 1424 Reynolds St., Key West, Florida.

Handing the card back to the lady I said, "I'm really sorry to have bothered you, but I wanted to make sure you were happy with the house. I'm just here visiting and thought I would stop by."

"No problem, Mr. Dement, I'm glad you did stop. Just keep renting to us. I think we might be able to buy the place if you decide to sell. I hope you bought it back when it was cheap. With the home values going down so rapidly, a lot of people are losing money on their homes."

"I'm fine with what I have in the place. I hope you and your husband can buy the place. I'll let the agent know." I turned to leave, "Well, I do have some more stops to make. Thank you for your time."

I left quickly, now knowing a little more about the guy who was trying to snipe at our target. For apparently being a pro, the guy didn't have the right kind of rifle for the distance shots he was going to do. He would have just wounded someone and probably would have been caught by the men at the house. It would have been easy to catch him as he went back for his Jeep. It didn't make a lot of sense, unless he wasn't used to killing from a distance.

I went to the Marshal's station and visited with the chief and the new ACE. They were happy to see me and showed me their current activities. The station was busy with judges, but didn't have any escapees to deal with or other problems. Homeland had taken over the air marshal duties from them so now they were often assisting the FBI and DEA on surveillances. After a short visit and a cup of coffee, I told them I needed to begin the flight home.

Back at the airport, I called the charter office to tell them I was going to head home. DeDe said to hang on a second. She was talking to someone behind her who kept telling her to "Ask him, just ask him, it would really be a smart thing to do."

DeDe came back on the phone and asked, "Since you're in Las Vegas, could you go into Los Angeles and pick up a couple that wants to go to Key West? They want to get there as soon as possible as their daughter is having a baby. They called us because we were recommended. They can't get anyone to make the trip for them as they say it's too expensive. I quoted high and they didn't have a problem with the fee."

I looked at my watch, knowing it would be a very long night. I told DeDe, "It's going to be about a twelve hour flight time day for me by the time I set down in Key West."

"If you don't want to come back home to Tampa, sleep over down there. We'll pick up the charges."

I thought for a second and said, "Sure, I'll do it. I'll probably stay over down there. It's going to be about eleven or twelve your time when I get in. Call the customer and tell them to meet me in an hour. What airport?"

DeDe gave me the airport name and location. She said, "Thanks, Chuck. This really makes the company some money. It'll pay for a lot of the refurb you just did on that aircraft too."

"Listen, have the customer pick me up a Subway or something. I'll refill the ice and dump the trash before I leave here. The fare coming up had a few drinks and coffee. I bought them breakfast at Amarillo."

DeDe said, "I'll call right now. Thanks again."

Since it was getting later in the day, I called Brandy on her cell phone. She said she was out at the trailer park and was talking with Tom Parks. I couldn't figure out what she was doing with Tom and Zena, but who knows. I said, "I'm doing a pickup in LA and have to drop them in Key West. It's going to be really late by the time I get to Key West so I'll probably stay overnight."

"We'll miss you, Baby, but at least you're not out where people are shooting at you. Be safe and be careful. We'll see you tomorrow. I think we'll have a surprise for you."

Just what I needed, a surprise from the Fickle Five.

The flight into LA is always weird. There always seems to be hundreds of small aircraft flying in the area. Even though this airfield was good sized, there was still a lot of traffic. I was queued up in a distant pattern that overlapped another airfield's pattern. The controllers in the area must go nuts. I was given permission to land and followed another Lear in.

Once I was parked, a limo came up to the plane, even before the refueling truck got there. A man stepped out and said, "We always know these S&S planes. They are so well marked. Honey, look at the cartoons on this one. It has that 'Deputy Dawg' cartoon again."

They handed me a Subway sandwich and a couple of Cokes. I asked them if they were coffee drinkers and the woman replied, "Normally yes, but tonight, we're going to drink this champagne in honor or our new grandson. I can't wait to get my hands on him. Our daughter couldn't hold him in and had him about thirty minutes ago. Isn't it great? It's our first grandchild!"

I congratulated them and showed them where the glasses were for their champagne. The man asked if he could open the bottle before takeoff and I assured him he could.

Even with full tanks I should still refuel, so I planned on a quick stop in Texas again, but in Austin this time as it was more along the flight path. Before we left Austin, the man asked if I minded if he closed the door to the cockpit. I assured him it would be fine. I know Wanda and I played on a Lear one time. The way they had fixed this plane up was neat. The front right seat had been removed to make a small galley and to create the communications seats. The two second-row seats had PC tables and monitors that rose from the tables. Behind those were two seats facing back, then a long couch that would take up the area where two seat rows would be. Behind that, on one side was a head, and a nice lounger type seat was on the other. So the plane that would normally hold ten passengers now could seat eight, plus the pilot and co-pilot. The Learjet should have two pilots when flying passengers, but with less than a full load, a single pilot is okay.

We set down about eleven, East Coast time. We had a great tailwind for most of the flight. I considered going home, but I wanted to check out the address while here in Key West.

I rented a car and I drove to the address, even before going to a hotel. The house was on a busy street about three or four blocks from the beach. There didn't appear to be any lights on as I drove by, but it was hard to tell because of a tall fence across the front yard. I went back by and slowed at the driveway. There was a dusty car back under a carport and there was a dim light in the front room. The place looked like it was kept up, but didn't look occupied.

In the rental car, I checked through the wallet we had taken off the guy. There was a security company card with a K.W. and a four digit number written on it. Well, hopefully that meant Key West, and the number was for the alarm. I put on a pair of the surgical gloves and palmed the set of keys that we had recovered.

Hopefully this would work out, or I would have to explain why I didn't have a search warrant to the local cops.

I rang the doorbell several times to make sure there wasn't anyone home before trying a key. The second key I tried fit the lock. When I opened the door I could see the alarm key pad and immediately put in the code from the card. The alarm disarmed. Good deal, I was lucky.

Inside the door on a small table was a big cardboard banker's box with a bunch of mail in it. Because I didn't have much time, I decided that I would take the mail with me and not totally search the house yet. The place was clean and dusted. I walked through the house and found a long note on a yellow legal pad on the kitchen table that said,

The note was signed, "Rose."

Rose's handwriting was very neat. The yellow pad had several pages turned under so I pulled them back to read some of the notes left by the homeowner. All the notes were simple directions for what he wanted Rose to do. He had her do laundry, manage the yard and pool people, and had even directed her to have the house painted. Considering how many identities the guy had, I wondered why he was the same Dement as he was in Las Vegas. I suppose I would eventually find out.

The refrigerator had nothing in it that would spoil, indicating that he planned on being gone a long time. A check of the bedrooms found one big bedroom with a closet and drawers full of clothes. The place was not anything special, but the bedroom smelled of cigarette smoke. As a matter of fact, the whole house smelled from all the stale smoke.

In the top drawer of the dresser, I found a stack of IDs but none of these had credit cards. I didn't count them, but there must have been a couple of dozen. I found the title to the old car outside so I took that out too. When I looked into a jewelry box on the top of the dresser there was a Visa card and a bank business card with a four digit number on it. The bank branch was here in Key West, so that would be another thing to check out.

The guy had a few toys in the house. The TVs were all new and plentiful. There was a big one in the living room, one in each bedroom, and a fairly big one in the kitchen. The guy did like to watch TV.

I went back to the closet to see if I had missed anything on the shelves. In the back of the small walk-in closet was a tall mirror leaning up against the back wall. When I pulled the mirror forward, I saw a small hole on the right side. The wall looked like it might come out so I moved the mirror out of the way and put my finger into the hole to pull. The back wall was hinged and came out easily. The closet behind the wall was jammed with every kind of pistol you could imagine. There were only a couple rifles, but there were some explosives, some rope, and several knives. So, the guy had a stash. I would have to clean the place out, but I didn't have time tonight. There was a hasp for a lock in a recessed area of the wall and when I stepped back out I saw a lock sitting on the top shelf.

I took the keys out that we had recovered and found a key for the lock. I pulled the chain on the light in the closet, closed and locked the door. When I put the mirror back in place, I could see that there were some slots for the mirror to fit in. The mirror had covered the area that told you it was a door and recessed lock. Now it looked like it should. Hopefully, Rose wasn't nosy and didn't find the closet full of guns.

Back in the kitchen, I wrote a short note in handwriting close to the original guy. I followed his pattern of notes.

Rose,

Here is the title to the old car. Get rid of it. I quit smoking and the house is driving me crazy. Please have the house painted inside and wash everything you can. I may have to get all new curtains and carpet. If I do, tell me. I'll try to see you in a week or so.

Fred

I checked the phone to see if it was working and it was. I couldn't see an answering machine but I did find a telephone number written on the bottom of the phone. I used my cell to call the number and the phone rang. That was good, I knew the number.

I had to look around until I found another gym bag to load up the mail. I made sure I had not disturbed anything else. After putting in the alarm code from the card, I closed and locked the door, and left.

It took me a few minutes to find the bank for the Visa card. I checked the code and found less than ten thousand in the checking account, but over four hundred thousand in the savings. I wonder if any of the keys on the key ring are for a safe deposit box. I would check.

This is possibly the card that Rose was using, so I withdrew a hundred dollars and drove back to the house. After re-entering the house, I put the Visa and bankcard back in the jewelry box. I put the hundred in twenties I just withdrew on the legal pad and over it I wrote, "Tip." That should get me or Fred a few points.

My adrenaline was pretty high and it was only one in the morning, so I drove back to the airport and took off for home. As soon as I pulled up in front of the hangar, the night mechanics came out to help me. They were both happy to have the aircraft back as they said there were a lot of charters tomorrow too. I moved the suitcase and my gym bags to the trunk of my car and helped the mechanics clean the trash from the plane. They said, "We'll vacuum it and wipe down the seats. It looks like whoever was in it last joined the mile high club. I laughed and said, "And I didn't even turn on the monitor."

One of the mechanics said, "The DVR is always on. We could just download the DVR and watch it. Neither one of us is that kinky, so you don't have to worry about us. If you don't want the cabin recorder on, just push that 'off' button on the bottom off the monitor. The top button is for the monitor and the bottom is for the DVR."

At home, I decided to just leave the suitcase and gym bags in the trunk as I really didn't have a place to hide it in the house. I needed a closet like the Key West house had.

I was tired, but hungry and thirsty. I made a salad and a Beefeaters. While eating, I thought of all the places I was going to have to go to check out this guy. Oh well, this is going to be crazy.

When I finished eating, I went to my room and found the bed empty. Wow, where did they all go? I stripped, brushed my teeth, and lay down. It may have taken me as long as thirty seconds to fall asleep.

"You're home, why didn't you wake us up?"

Tiani crashed onto my chest, pressing down on a full bladder. "Tiani, don't push, I have to go to the bathroom."

She was grinning, "Sorry, get up, I'll help you to the john."

As I slid out of bed, a sleepy Brandy came in the door. "You're back. I heard Tiani yell and didn't believe her. I thought she was using that as a ruse to get me up."

I used the bathroom and found my peg. "I got in late, about two thirty this morning. I could use some more sleep, but I can get up now."

As we all met in the kitchen area to make coffee, Lisa gave me a kiss, followed by Tina, Nancy, Judy, and Frieda. John and Wanda walked in and the day started. The coffeepot had barely finished when Jan and Don came down, with Dennis and Marie following. Lena came in rubbing her eyes saying, "My two bedmates abandoned me. It's too early to get up. I don't have a class until nine."

Lisa said, "The master is home, so we all need to welcome him. Get your hug and have some juice."

Tiani said, "Where were you that your clothes got to smell like smoke. Were you in a bar?"

"Something like that. There was a smoker where I was, that's for sure. He's gone now though." I almost rolled my eyes thinking of where the guy was.

Wanda said, "Jan has all kinds of news for you about the Alcam Industries investigation. Sarge has come up with some interesting information, as well."

Frieda exclaimed, "Hey, I gave your office the lead, Chuck. When I checked the employer ID that Alcam gave us, we found it was fake. It didn't match any company. I called Alcam to tell them the number they gave me was wrong, so they gave me another number. This time when I checked, I found that it was indeed the number for the Orlando company, but there was no IRS activity, ever, other than getting the number when they incorporated three years ago. They have never made a trust fund deposit."

Jan said, "When Sarge brought the info down to me, we ran it real quick through our database. We found seven total corporate names with federal tax ID numbers, with no activity on any of them. We pulled all the incorporation papers for all the companies and began pinning down exact addresses of all the corporate officers. We've established that there are seven distinct locations, and that doesn't include the new Tampa office that they just opened. They have a bunch of equipment that has magically appeared. We've been able to get a bunch of aircraft numbers, and we're checking them out right now."

Wanda said, "I called John to set up a task force of our investigators and to have the Bureau put a half dozen of their people on it with us as well. They are working from DC to figure out what all these people are really into. They can put them all away on tax evasion now, but they think they can do more than that."

I asked, "Have you told Steve about this?"

Jan said, "No, and I'm not yet. This is confidential information."

I turned to all the girls and said, "All of you, not one word to anyone. I know you girls handle sensitive information all the time at the employment office, but you Lena, Don, and Dennis, keep this under your hats, you too, John. I know this whole deal affects your flying, as well as you Lisa, but I'm sure you understand why we're trying to keep this quiet."

They all nodded.

"Good," I said, "I'm too tired to do much exercising, but if the pool is warm enough, how about a quick swim?"

That was the right thing to do as everyone, including John and Wanda, were leaving clothes scattered as they made their way to the pool. I grabbed a stack of towels, walked out, dropped my peg, and dove in.

We did swim fairly hard for fifteen minutes, then quickly dried off and went back into the warm house. We gathered all the clothes and did our morning bathroom stuff. The girls were all talking about the huge bathroom they were going to build. The way they were talking, it sounded more and more like a fancy military latrine. A dozen sinks, half dozen toilets, and a massive shower room. Yep, just like the military, but built just for a bunch of crazy ladies. Lena said, "You're going to have to have a shower head that is really high, so I don't knock my head on it the way I do now. Even my parents' house has shower heads that are too low."

I think this house they were talking about was going to be something special. Who cares, I'll let Fred Dement pay for it. I have to figure out how to say I made it though, and pay taxes on it first."

Wanda said, "You should come into the office. John called for you a couple of times yesterday. He said he wants to talk to you."

Before I went to the office, I stopped out at the branch bank where the safe deposit box was. I brought in my two bags and proceeded to stuff everything into the one box. I counted up all the cash. There were 54 bundles of hundreds. That's two point seven mil. There are a total of four hundred and seventy bars. That's slightly over fifteen hundred and thirteen ounces. At roughly a thousand dollars an ounce, that's another million and a half. So there's over four point two and that doesn't include what's on deposit and the diamonds. This is going to be tough.

I kept the diamonds and all the IDs with me and headed to the office. As soon as I walked in, Wanda said, "John's on the phone, talk to him. He's called twice already."

"Hey, John, what's up?"

John said, "Good, you've finally called, listen, it's Friday. How about coming up to get the wife and me and let us visit over the weekend. You and I need to talk and it would be a good time for it."

"Sounds good to me, John, when should I come get you?"

There was a laugh and he said, "Right now. Kenisha is dancing all over the place. I hardly ever take her anywhere, and she knows you and Jan. She wants to come see you. If it's warm enough in Key West, perhaps you could take us down there."

I said, "Let me see if I can get an aircraft. I'll get one but I don't know when. I'll call you back. Where are you?"

"I'm at the office, so you know Kenisha is causing a stir. The Director has already been in ogling my wife, and two of the Marshals are drooling all over the furniture. Hurry so we don't embarrass them."

When I hung up, I called the charter office and asked DeDe, "DeDe, Honey, Baby, I need help, I need to pick up a couple in DC."

"You want a Lear don't you? Well, I have a Lear going to DC to pick up a John Scott and wife. Do you want to do it or should I leave Lisa on the duty?"

I asked, "Do you have other flights Lisa needs to make?"

"No, that was her job today. It wasn't until this afternoon so I thought you could combine who you were picking up. We could give this John Scott from the Marshal's Service a discount. Do you know him?"

"Yes, I know him and that's who I need to go pick up right now. I'll call Lisa and have her meet me out there so we can leave early."

"No need, Chuck, Lisa is up with a student. She'll be done by ten so you guys can leave as soon as she hits the potty. The Lear will be ready."

"Which Lear is it?"

"The 55, I think it is real classy the way that they did the interior."

I said, "It is, I'm surprised it still seats eight with the galley and couch."

DeDe said, "I like the way you had them enclose the rest room. It's tiny, but it's just like an airline bathroom with the little sink."

"I thought that would be better than the curtain that other planes use," I said, then added, "I'll see you in a few."

Wanda said, "You're spending more time in the air than the office lately. Do you feel guilty?"

"Not really, Wanda. I'm still answering e-mails and doing the reports digitally now. Everything is running smoothly, and since I went on that one mission with John, no one is calling."

"I know, isn't it strange?" Wanda was looking through some papers.

"This Alcam thing could come to head any day or maybe any minute. You need to be around just in case; it could be a difficult take down. If they have to take everyone at the same time, we'll have to have several offices come help. There are more than a hundred people with questionable backgrounds involved so far."

"I'll be back this afternoon late. We might come by. John is bringing Kenisha with him, so it's going to be fun while she's here. We need a room for them to stay in."

Wanda said, "You have it. Just have Lisa or Lena move into your area for a couple of days. Lisa probably has less, and her room will be easier to get ready. Lena is kind of a slob, but then she's still a kid."

"I'll ask Lisa on the way up. If it's a problem, I'll put them up in the hotel or over at the girls' house."

"I didn't think about their place," Wanda said. "That would be close too."

I called Brandy's cell, "Where are you today?"

She answered, "Still on vacation, Honey. I'm out at the Sue's and Steve's again. Frieda is with me, why?"

"My boss and his wife are flying in and want to stay with us this weekend. How about moving Lisa into my area and making her room the guestroom. I'll make sure Lisa is fine with it, as she doesn't sleep in there anyway. The only thing she uses in there is the bathroom and the closet. My closet is still big enough to take her stuff, and I still have a bunch of empty drawers too."

Brandy said, "Good idea. Call me and give me the okay. I'll make sure the room is ready for your boss. That's John right? He's more like a friend, isn't he?"

"It's John, and yes, he's more like a friend. Anyway, he and I need to talk a little and this is the best way to do it. I'll call you in a little while."

Downstairs, I took the bag full of mail back up to my office and put it in the safe in the big cabinet. I also put the diamonds in there. I had an idea of how to get rid of the diamonds, but I still needed to have a way to report the income.