Chapter 13

We went back out into the showroom and the clerk was still on the floor with the young deputy standing over him.

"Grab your partner and book him for assault on an officer. Have them hold him for seventy two hours for investigation. Then come back to the station and see me or Shorty for a special assignment. Bring your partner with you."

"Yes sir, sheriff!"

He yanked the clerk up with little effort and marched him out the front door. I saw him speaking into his radio as he went out. We stood and watched him search the prisoner and read to him from the card all officers carried. Now me, I had it memorized so I didn't need the card anymore.

I started for the unit and Shorty was following me and he was mad from the expression on his face. We pulled out heading for the station and Shorty exploded before we went a block.

"That dirty son of a bitch is mine, Harry. He was the one that ordered the accident. Don't look at me like that, I know the tape's no good but I can use it to force a confession from him. He is going to pay for hurting my friend."

"Your damn right he is and he is yours. I want that woman because she stood and treated us like she was surprised to see us. She must think I am stupid. I don't need a warrant for the motor pool because its county property but I am getting one for the gun shop and his home. I want the pistols that the department paid for and I want him for attempted murder. We will be bringing that truck driver in to the station to talk to him and we will also use your little tape to make him talk. I think when he hears that part of the conversation, he will be willing to make a deal to save his own neck."

"That's a damn good idea. I will fill out the papers for the warrants and I hope to God the old judge is half snockered or he won't sign them. He hates the department and I think he and the old sheriff were related somehow. How many men are we going to need for this bust, Harry?"

"I plan on using the two that were there today, and I want you to call Abrams in and see if he wants some overtime. I don't know anyone else we can use that I would be willing to trust. Damn, I have those guys from Reno coming in today too. We will make all their interviews the quickest on record and hire them if you agree with the way they interview and conduct themselves."

"I don't have a problem with doing it that way Harry. Sometimes the first impression is the best when it comes to hiring. I can tell by his attitude if he will work out or not. At least if we hire them we will be getting experienced officers. They can go on the road right away. Maybe we will find a couple that's good enough to be supervisors."

"I have one coming in that's a good candidate for that position. I talked to him in Reno and had coffee before he had to go back to patrol. He had a high opinion of Beau too. Hey! Let's give Beau a call and see if he wants to come in and help tonight. I bet he is ready to get his feet wet about now. If at all possible I want the ones buying the guns too. The money we will confiscate for the department and put it in the fund for equipment and officer assistance."

"You sure know all the angles, don't you? Does the new sheriff have your knowledge about this type of thing? I sure hope so, Harry. You are going to stay on when he comes, aren't you?"

"Shorty, I plan on turning in my badge and spending a week with two girls and a lot of fishing. I am going to become unemployed till I decide I want to work again. Mark will run the department and I have a feeling you will be his second. Hell, I'm looking forward to being unemployed for awhile. This kind of work is too hard on this old man."

"Yea right, you're an old war horse, and you will always be in some kind of law enforcement. I can't believe you're going to quit. You are one of the best officers I have ever known. You have more information in your head that most of the sheriffs in this state all together. I want it on record that I am going to ask the new sheriff to keep you on in the same position. I finally found someone in this business that I can respect and now you're quitting. Not if I have a say so about it Harry."

We made it back to the station just as four men were getting out of a car in the lot. I recognized Theo and the other three must be his friends. I wave to them to follow me in and we went right to my office. Shorty and Theo had a long conversation about patrol and hunting. Now I couldn't figure out how hunting fit into patrol but he was the patrol captain.

"Harry, I think I will follow your advice and say we hire him as the second shift supervisor. He can start on the first when the new sheriff takes over."

He got up happy and shook our hands. Out of the other three we hired only two of them as patrolmen for second and third shift. We passed on the other deputy because he copped an attitude with Shorty about working nights. He seemed to have a problem with that shift and said he would only work first. Needless to say he didn't make the grade and they went back to Reno with us having three more experienced deputies for our department. Theo had told us there were four or five more that were planning to come up to interview.

Shorty got on the phone with the prosecutor and I got on with Beau. He said he would be here within the hour and ready to go. The prosecutor told Shorty he would have the warrants for him in about an hour and then we could go. The two deputies from the store came in with smiles on their faces and I found out their names were Jim and Jerry and had been on the department for six years. Neither had been given the chance to work anything major and wanted the experience. I told Jim to get a unit for himself and make sure the radio worked on the scrambled channel. I told them to make sure that they wore their vests.

"Sheriff, no one in the department has vests. They were never given to us in all the time I have been here. I can't afford to buy one."

Damn, no one in the whole department had vests. This was not good. I looked over at Shorty and he was smiling at my expression.

"What are you grinning at? I will get my men vests if I have to buy them myself."

"You won't have to do that Harry. All of you come with me."

We followed him to the gym and right through the back door to a storage building behind the station. He took a key from his pocket and opened the lock and the place had about two hundred new vests still in the factory boxes. I noticed immediately that they were the new ones that had just been released for law enforcement. They were less than a year old and never been opened. I looked at Shorty and he was smiling again.

"Ok, quit with the grin and tell me what's on your little pointy mind. You been holding out on me again."

"I took these six months ago when the state sent them to all the departments. I hid them away so the sheriff wouldn't sell them to the private sector. I also still have some of the 9mm rifles in the evidence room. The rest were sold to someone when they came in. I hid three cases of them for a rainy day. We can issue them to all the units tonight along with several magazines in case we get into a firefight. They are semi-auto but better than nothing."

"Remind me to tell Mark to give you my job when he takes over."

We all picked out our size vest and were closing the shed when Beau wandered in and we had him pick one out too. We all went back to my office and Shorty and Jim went to the cage to get the rifles for tonight. I went to the front and got Beau a sergeant's badge and one of the belt clips to mount it on. I then sent him and Jerry to the motor pool to pick up one of the sergeants units for him to use. I sat back and planned our moves for tonight and how to make double sure none of my men got injured.

I wasn't fooling myself because I knew I was the only one with any experience in this type of thing. Beau was the only one with any experience in gun battles and that was by accident. According to his captain he gave as good as he got and saved several lives against big odds. I figured he would hold his ground, but the others were unknown players in the game and we would have to watch them. Damn, this was getting complicated and I didn't know the danger factor from the people he was delivering to.

There were a lot of holes in what we were doing, so I had to make sure I got all the pieces together. This was a throw together operation and it all depended on the gun delivery, and whether the M 16's in the store were stolen. We could confiscate the store and contents, sell them at auction to dealers, but the stolen stuff would have to be returned. I wondered if he had the back that I hadn't seen set up as a warehouse. We would have to check it out later. The men all wandered back in and I sent Jim and Jerry out to eat. At four they were to set up surveillance on the store. Shorty said he had binoculars for all of us and they went to get them from the cage.

Beau came back in with coffee for the both of us, and then I remembered I had left my go cup in my unit. I got on the phone and called Mark through his old number and to my surprise he answered on the second ring. I told him I would be late getting back and to make sure the girls had their pick of some of the pre-made meals that were in the freezer. They were all labeled by content and how long to set the microwave for to cook them. I knew they were delicious because I had already put a dent in them. I figured Abe's lady had made them for him to make sure he ate a good meal.

Mark said that was a good idea and said he was having fun with the girls, feeding the crows stale bread. I finished talking to him and hung up. Then it hit me what he said about the crows and the girls feeding them. I made up my mind right there that after they went to their own place I would declare open season on the damn things. I remembered the crow from Florida and just knew he had followed me somehow. Damn crows!