Chapter 204

I fell into a routine while waiting for the other shoe to fall. I woke at 5AM then rode the bike for two hours. I stopped had a biscuit for breakfast or some other kind of cholesterol bomb. After that I rode the bike home and took a hot shower. It was getting cold enough so that soon I would be stopping the breakfast out in exchange for a bowl of cereal. The ride from a warm restaurant back into the chill while sweaty would soon be unbearable.

But somewhere in there I would squeeze a quick shower and be all dressed and ready for the day to begin. After taking care of my few business interest, I would begin my work day by either heading to the pub for my daily dose of The Brit and our work schemes, or I would tend the still.

The closest thing to a schedule I could manage was to constantly work mash. Work two barrels of mash at a time. It was still working my ass off with barely enough time to gather the ingredient. Even so I fell back into that routine. It still left me with enough spare time to do some things.

After three weeks it began to look like the Dobson PD wasn't going to tie me to the missing drug gang. I had though a few days earlier that I might have wasted the retainer I had paid Rita. As everyone knows it is when you least expect it, that the shit goes down. I had a locked gate over the drive at the road, so I wasn't surprised to see a car parked there when my phone rang.

"Miss Porter this is Emery Sutton with the Dobson Police department, could we have a word with you please." the male voice asked.

"Mr. Sutton, I'm going to give you the number for my lawyer Rita Somerville. I would be happy meet with you, just work it into her schedule. Since I'm retired most anytime will do for me. You might want to tell her the reason for your request, since I have no idea how I could help you with anything." I said.

"You don't know anything that could help us, but you want an attorney present." he asked.

"I invoke my right to council before I buy a hot dog these days," I said. "It's nothing personal." Since I was calling from inside my still house, I really didn't want to meet them. I was also going to shut down just as soon as the run I was making was finished. I needed a rest anyway. They would be deciding that I needed a closer look, since I had invoked. But being cautious, didn't make me guilty of anything, it especially didn't drag anyone else into the mess coming my way.

"Is it convenient for you to meet with the Dobson PD today," Rita asked.

"Tomorrow would be better and it's a long drive to Dobson to be paying you for nothing. Ask them if we couldn't use a room in the courthouse. I know there are interview rooms in there that aren't being used. The run was on the verge of being done, so I would just shut it down where ever I happened to be tomorrow and trash the rest of it, no matter how much I lost doing so.

That is how I came to be sitting with Rita and two Dobson cops in the middle of the day. "So I am Detective Emory Sutton, I am interviewing Miss Sylvia Porter, and her Attorney. I am making this recording of the interview which is in connection with the attack on her by Freddie Louis Vasquez."

That is when I thought, oh shit, this fucking drug war either started by sheer coincidence, or some kind of witness tampering. The whole thing might have been personal, not a Miami sanctioned thing at all. I almost wanted to laugh. I wasn't sure that since he brought his army into it, there could have been any other ending.

"So let's get started," Emory Suggested. I nodded my agreement. "Let the record show the subject nodded her agreement."

"So Miss Porter, I have the police report from that night would you read over it to see if there is anything you wish to change or update." he pushed the paper to me.

I read it quickly and it seemed to be correct. "That's what I remember yes," I said.

"When Freddie grabbed you, you decided to fight back knowing he might kill you?" he asked.

"I fought back, because I was sure he would kill me," I said. "I had no way to know he just wanted sex. If I had known he would rape me and walk away, I might not have found back."

"You have been involved in other violent incidents have you not?" he asked.

"Don't answer that. It has no relevance to this investigation." Rita said. Good for her I thought.

"Did you know that several of Freddie's friends have gone missing?" Emory asked.

"No, I did not know that. Is Freddie one of them?" I asked.

"No, only because he was in jail awaiting trial for fifteen counts of rape." he said.

"I guess, he was lucky then," Rita said. "Now is there a question pending."

"Do you know anything about the missing men?" Emory asked.

"No I do not," I answered.

"Do you have any new questions?" Rita asked.

He made a big issue of turning off the recorder then he said, "My heart isn't really in this investigation. In one night our violent crime spree in Dobson ended. There is no one taking advantages of the poor illegals at the moment."

"I guess that's a good thing," Rita said. as she stood to leave.

Emory whispered in my ear as he passed, "Too bad you missed Freddie." I forced myself to bite my tongue.

I paid Rita in cash, then went back home to lay another layer of security on, before I went back to cooking. I certainly did not want to be involved in the drug business. I just wanted to make a little liquor and whatever I had on hand I planned to use. Right now that just happened to be pot stalks. I put some more bells and whistles into the alarm system and started a new batch of mash. It would take a week or so to work off, so I had that much time to do other things.