Chapter 32

I went back out to the main part of the casino and into the office to give Butch his gun back. I noticed that there was a Coroner there with him. I handed him back his gun and arched my eyes at him in question.

"This is the State Coroner, Harry. Since Porter County doesn't have one assigned yet I called ours in. I will make sure your Glock is returned to you personally. I think we have destroyed one too many of your guns. As soon as the Coroner is done, you're back in business. We turned those prisoners over to that FED of yours. He was a little shocked to see one of your deputies in cuffs with them. I'm not gonna ask what that was all about."

"I really don't want to discuss it either, Butch. I need you to call in more men for a search of the area. Seems I just found out there is a warehouse in this area somewhere that is full of illegals. Those men haven't given them water or food for several days. I would guess with the information I have there are over a hundred of them. I think we are about to embarrass the INS again."

He was laughing as I walked out of the office. I went back out and hunted up the NRC supervisor. He was talking with one of his men so I waited till he was done before I approached him.

"Mr. Johnson, have you cleared all of your people? I also want to know the status of the casino. Can we sell it at auction or are you going to blow it up? I need to know what to tell all the people who are expecting to go back to work when all of this is over."

"Sheriff, there were no hot spots to be found except for that small safe we hauled out. I will let you know what kind of radiation was in there as soon as we get it back to the lab. The slugs we recovered came from a country other than ours. Since their shipping point and the information about them is classified, that's all I can say. I will tell you that your respect from Homeland Security has shot way up. The director said to tell you if you need anything you have his number. I need to get my people and the contraband back to the lab, so it's all yours again."

With that statement he went out the front door and was gone just that quick. I headed out the same door looking for Barry so he could turn his men loose with the weapons in the cave. This was starting to get more complicated, and I was tired and my head was splitting from all the tension. I still had several hours to go before I could take a break. I walked up to Hadley and Barry who seemed like they never moved from where they were. I must have looked pretty ragged because Hadley handed me a large cup of steaming coffee. I took a deep sniff and a drink in that order.

"Hadley, have whoever's interrogating those men see if they can find out where the location of the warehouse is they were using to house the illegals in. That comes first before anything else. Those poor women haven't had any food or water for several days. If I have to shut this whole operation down till we find them I will. Barry, you better get your men busy in the cave, but tell them to stay out of the rooms. Some of them might still be booby trapped."

I watched as he called his men together and headed for the cave. I knew I wouldn't see him for several hours with all they had to do. I went over to where Beau was sitting in his unit. I got in the passenger side and sat down with a sigh.

"Harry, I heard about the shooting. Why was he trying to get in the safe? It's empty and he was wasting his time since I changed the combination when I opened it."

I looked at him for a moment then busted up laughing. The whole picture was running through my mind as I laughed the tension away. I finally settled down and Beau was looking at me like I was crazy.

"Are you ok Harry? Do you need medical or have you gone off the deep end on me?"

"Neither Beau, I thank you for the comedic relief though. I think we need some food because we still have a long day ahead of us. Did you get all the casino people paid off?"

"I got all the ones on the list and a few who had the little books that weren't on the list. I have all the books and the list in the trunk. There is still a lot of money left plus the Krugerands. I have all the papers from the safe too, Harry. I am really sorry you had to shoot someone because I didn't tell you the safe was empty."

"It wasn't your fault, Beau. He didn't give me any choice in the matter. I need some food, let's go to that little restaurant and get something to eat. Maybe my headache will ease a little if we do. Stop and pick Hadley up on the way, will you?"

We stopped and Hadley climbed in with us saying he was at a stand still until his chopper got back from Reno. We all went to the little restaurant which was already crowded with the locals eating. We waited by the door until a table opened up so we could sit down. I didn't want to sit at the counter because I wanted to stretch my legs. I decided to ask Beau a question while we were waiting for a table.

"Hey Beau, I haven't seen Kit since I got out of the hospital. Where has he been?"

"I thought Mark had told you, Harry. He took a leave of absence for six months. His ex-wife's boyfriend got drunk and beat his son Danny half to death. He is still in the hospital recovering. Kit went back to court and got full custody of him, and put his ex and her boyfriend in jail. Her brother, the cop, has threatened Kit with harm if he doesn't drop the charges. He is having to be very careful going back and forth to the hospital."

"Why the hell wasn't I told about this Beau? Mark should have let me know. I have some pull in certain areas and I think I can put the brother out of business for a while. I will also have Danny transferred out of the brother's town so he will be powerless to interfere. Kit isn't planning on dropping the charges, is he?"

"No, he said she and her so called boyfriend deserve time in jail for what happened. He has been trying to get the boy moved here but he doesn't have the money for the ambulance charges. Our crappy insurance here in Porter County doesn't cover it. Kit doesn't have the extra money to do it so he is driving back and forth everyday."

"You tell Kit to have his boy transferred here immediately. This department has a fund for that type of thing and we have money to handle the transfer. If you have his number, call him now and tell him to have it done right away. If the ambulance service gives him any crap, tell them to call me. Danny is a member of our department and we take care of our own. He is our computer expert and as such we will make sure he has the best. If his ex's brother, the cop shows up around here, I want him arrested immediately and held till I can have a one on one with him. He, or anyone else doesn't get away with threatening a member of our department."

"Harry, I think the FBI can give this rogue cop a little talking to and help out too. I hate bad cops as much as I hate terrorists. To me they are one in the same except people like him just want to use their power to feel big. Let's eat, Harry, I don't want to get started on this subject right now."

We went over to the table that had become available and sat down. I immediately ordered another coffee since I only had the one in the unit that Hadley had bought me. I took a sip of the water and wondered where Shorty and Mark had disappeared to. I was about to ask Beau when his walkie went off with my call sign. He looked surprised as he handed it to me. I told dispatch to go and was informed that the Coroner was looking for me. I radioed back and gave them my location saying I was not to be disturbed unless it was an emergency. I handed the walkie back to Beau with a smile.