Chapter 7

It was now a typical Thursday morning, although instead of staying in our suite, Lisa, Tina, and I went to the studio to listen to how the kids were doing.

They were really having fun and sounded amazing. The ever present sound jockeys were both in the control booth recording every note. Elmer saw me and flipped the reflector on so that the glass between the big studio and the booth became opaque, hiding us from the studio.

Elmer said, "Just listen to these kids. Bonita has them having a lot of fun and getting them prepared for their personal concert. I don't know how she's doing it but she's been playing since eight this morning, and will be here all afternoon with you guys. I'll rip a CD for you to listen to, so go away and let her do her thing. I'll see you guys before eleven."

I was sitting on the patio outside our suite when Brandy came in with my phone. "This thing has been dancing all over the table in the bedroom. You might need to return someone's call."

When I looked at the telephone number of the calls I missed, they all said "Unavailable". Thinking of the six hour difference, it would be just about four in afternoon in Florida, so I called Wanda.

"Hey, Wanda, this is the person who doesn't exist right now. Would you know who might be calling, and for what?"

Wanda chuckled before telling me, "Sam called earlier and asked if you might have your phone with you. He wouldn't tell me at first, but he finally let me know that the Hawaiian station is having a hell of a time picking up someone wanted on a federal warrant. The station there is apparently aware that you 're somewhere on the islands and is begging for some help and direction."

I told Wanda, "Should I call Sam, or just call the local station? I am fairly busy and will need to be practicing this afternoon, but I might be able to help."

"Don't call Sam. His secretary could let it leak you're active and not staying away," Wanda warned. "Just call the station and talk to the Deputy in Charge. He'll keep his mouth shut to get some help."

"Thanks, Wanda, I'll be back in touch to let you know what I didn't do."

With a smiling voice, Wanda said, "And don't remember to write a report either. Have everyone else write one omitting any mention of you."

Lisa was grinning when I hung up, as she was ready to do something different. She and Tina were sitting on patio chairs at the table where I had the phone on speaker.

"Well," Lisa asked, "Are you going to call the station? We're waiting."

Tina was grinning at me and mentioned, "Since this probably isn't any kind of hazardous situation, I can come too, right?"

With a smile, I leaned over and kissed Tina on the cheek before telling her, "You do know that any fugitive can be a problem. Every one of them is capable of doing the unknown. Let me call."

I called the station and asked for the Deputy in Charge and was transferred to a woman. She answered the phone, "Deputy Jane Williams, how may I help you."

"Hi, Ms. Williams, are you the Station Chief?"

With somewhat of sharp edge on reply, she answered, "Who are you and why do you want the Deputy in Charge?"

I wanted to remain polite so I stated, "My name is Charles Johnson. I'm a Deputy U.S. Marshal visiting the islands. I just became aware that you might need some assistance with an arrest warrant. Are you in charge of the station and/or this warrant?"

There was long pause where you could hear her talking to someone else, but the voices were muffled as she had her hand over the mouthpiece. There was some obvious moving around, and then another voice came on, "Glad you called, Chuck. I've had so many strange calls that my assistant is fielding calls for me. I really could use your help on this."

"So, tell me about this one. What's up, is this person a runner, is he hiding, dangerous, or what?"

"Ha, ha, ha, ha, this one is going to be fun as it's not a he, it's a she, and yes, she's a runner, a hider, and is smart as all get out. She probably will only get a couple of years if she's convicted on a money laundering deal, but she's going to create a longer stay for herself if she doesn't come in. She could get off the islands by boat, but not by air. We have everything else covered. She has some buddies from the mainland who don't want her incarcerated and have sent a bunch of muscle, but they obviously have been warned to not give the law any problems so far."

The man waited a few seconds, and then added, "I know you aren't supposed to have anything to do with any law activities, but we could use your expertise on this one. You always seem able to figure out a way to catch the bad guys, or in this case, girl."

"Tell you what. You know where I'm staying, right?"

"Yeah, I know you're at the big new resort out near the private airport."

"Bring me what you have and whoever is leading the team working on this one and I'll see what I can help you with. Another head and eyes working on it can't hurt."

"Thanks, Chuck; I'll send Jane out with the package for you to look at." I could hear the man telling someone who must have been Jane to get right on it. There was a pause, then the man said, "You're going to love my second in command. I should have put her in a bikini and sent her to you. You would have put in for a transfer immediately. Send her back in one piece, Chuck. She is one very fine specimen, ha, ha, ha."

Lisa was grinning when I hung up the phone, and commented, "How convenient that the local station sends some talent to ogle." My own thought was that this guy was heading toward a harassment suit if he didn't clean up his act, but I have enough women at home not to be easily distracted by outsiders.

Brandy and Tiani were waiting to find out if we wanted something to drink, but Tiani was grinning as she exclaimed, "Oh boy, fresh meat."

A strange female was not safe around my family.

An hour later Frieda brought a lady, a stranger, to the patio just before we were going to head to the studio for practice...

She was standing a little behind the stranger and rolling her eyes while grinning as she pointed to each of us while trying to do introductions. The lady looked outstanding and very exciting, even in a plain skirt and loose blouse.

I could see Tina's eyes dilate while checking our visitor out, and knew right then that Lisa and Tina were going to want to seduce the Assistant Deputy in Charge a lot more than trying to capture a fugitive.

Jane handed me the file after shaking hands all around, and said, "I think we know exactly where she is, but only myself and one other Deputy know right now. I didn't tell any of the others as there is a leak in the system somewhere, and I don't know where it is yet. With your help, I'd bet we could catch this lady before she can slip away again."

I told her, "It'll be more than just you and me. I have my trusty assistant, Lisa Johnson, with me and also a helper in Tina. Tina loves a little excitement."

Jane looked around and asked a question that seemed directed to Lisa, "Do you have a sidearm if things get out of control?"

"Sure do, Jane," Lisa said, "and my own vest if we think this could go that way."

"You never know," Jane disgustedly said. "Since she now has some imported bent noses from the mainland visiting and advising, you never know what's going to happen. The question now is, can you use your weapon and are you willing to?"

I told Jane, "No sweat with either of these women. As a matter of fact, every woman here with me would, and could, be a danger to someone acting aggressively toward us. All of them have been tested and have faced live fire. Let's look at this file, then you can give us a tour of where the target might be."

Jane probably didn't understand the dynamics of the relationship of the many women going in and out of the suite, and I'm sure since she didn't know that Lisa was my partner, an additional dynamic.

Jane, an obviously very good Deputy and good investigator, very professionally showed us through the file. When she was done, she said, "I can't come up with where the leak is, but I don't think it's a Deputy. It could be a clerk, but I think it's with another agency. The DEA is involved with this, as is the IRS, and if you know them, you know they have a lot of loose ends. We'll track it down later, but right now, I want this person and to clear up my warrant."

Kenny was standing in the open doorway to the patio when I looked up. I told him, "You're just the guy I needed. Work without Lisa and me this afternoon. My other life is calling, but it should be short and sweet."

"Kind of figured that, Chuck, but be careful. We can't do without you two. Come to the studio and get a few licks in if you're done before five or six."

Kenny left and even Ray Charles could see that Jane was flustered. She looked around and asked, "What are you to that guy? That's Kenny of the Blues Expedition, isn't it?"

Lisa smiled and hugged Jane to her, "Yep, that's him. Let's catch this bad person, and then I'll introduce you to him. He's really a nice guy, but I have to tell you that he does have a foxy wife."

"Oh, I know what his wife looks like. I have all of the European concert series that have the women doing back up vocals."

It was then that Jane sat back with her mouth open as she looked at Lisa and me, "You're the two new guys in the band that sound so good. Wow, you do all that and are Deputies too?"

Lisa hugged Jane again, and said, "We both love music, but we are Deputies, and will do whatever's necessary to bring in the person on your warrant."

Jane showed us a map of where we were going and said for us to ride with her and another Deputy. We left the resort in a Suburban with another one following us. We were parked in the neighborhood of an exclusive housing area after a twenty-minute drive. Jane told us, "I think the best way to do this is to have us cover all the exits, and then go to the front door and announce the warrant. There will be no warning this time and we'll nail her while she's trying to escape. What do you think?"

"Sounds good, Jane. You're the leader, place us, but keep Lisa and Tina together. Are you going to be the door knocker?"

"Yes sir, I'm going to go in the front door and you guys stop anyone trying to get out. We'll pull up to block the driveway out of the garage so that it won't be an escape route. Let's go get 'em."

Another Deputy went with me when I set up by a side door from the kitchen area that was also near another door that was an exit from the garage. The Deputy was on the side near the garage while I was leaning up against the wall by the kitchen door.

You could hear some yelling around front by the main door, and then the door by the kitchen opened with a surprised face staring at me. The door slammed shut and I next heard the overhead door of the garage begin opening and the door at the garage opened. A guy looked at me, then at the Deputy with me, and slammed it shut. The big overhead door reversed and began coming down, but a Deputy stopped the door travel by slapping the underside of the door to trigger the rebound sensor. The Deputy nearest me and I opened the garage door and we looked inside and saw the hired help with their hands in the air as they stood next to blocked vehicles and the covered rear door.

Making sure of what was happening, I slipped inside the house to begin checking out each room and each enclosed area. Just as I began trying to clear the dining room next to the kitchen, there was the bang, bang, bang, of a weapon, but no moans indicating that someone was hit. I stood against a wall, partially hidden by a nice piece of furniture. A person dressed in jeans and black hoodie slowly slipped down the stairs holding a gun, and started sliding past me when I put the barrel of my gun to the person's head and said, "Drop it or what's left of your brains will be all over the walls."

The person stopped and tried to turn to look at me, but the muzzle of my Glock didn't move from the head. It felt like a lifetime before the person dropped the weapon and seemed to slump to the floor. Knowing it could be a ruse; I pulled my cuffs out and quickly cuffed the person, noting the small wrists. I made the captured person lie flat and watched around me until several of the Deputies began bringing various persons, also cuffed and tie-wrapped into the main living room area.

I pulled the person I had captured up and put it on its feet and realized it was female. I said, "I hope you haven't been violated by capturing you, but this is better than being dead."

Jane came through the crowd of captives until she saw mine and said, "Damn, that's her. We got her. Come on, let's see if there was any blood and not just a bunch of rounds going off."

There were twenty-three men and two women when we had all of the captured people assembled outside. No one was hit by flying bullets, and all the law and bad guys were still breathing.

I said to Jane, "Good job, Jane, you led your team into a dangerous situation and everyone came out without any dead or wounded."

That's when I saw Tina; she was holding a small Glock 27 and looking around as she said, "Damn, not one of these assholes wants to run. I really need to shoot somebody, so can I ask for volunteers?"

Lisa was laughing, but I knew the feeling and went to Tina, removed the Glock from her hand, and moved her captive toward Lisa so that Tina could be removed from the mass of law enforcement people and suspected criminals. No one needed to know that the good-looking babe with a gun was a doctor, and should be saving people rather than exterminating bad guys.

Jane and her people cleaned up the crime scene before bringing everyone in the house back to the Federal building and jail. Most of them will have been in front of a judge for a bail hearing or just a straight release by tomorrow.

Lisa moved next to me as we were standing in the station office, and said, "It's only one fifty. How about we get the 'F' out of here and go practice the rest of the afternoon? I invited Jane to come with us so she can drive us back. Okay with you?"

Lisa winked at me as she said this, and pulled the now more placid Tina to her.

We watched as Jane directed her men as to what to do with the people captured. It looked as if everything was being handled, so Jane turned to us and said, "Let me run you back to your hotel, but please show me where all of these people are playing. I can't believe I'm being escorted by part of the Blues Expedition."

We were able to get to the studio for a couple of hours of practice. They had been working on the breaks for other than Lisa and me, and hoped we might get back in order to put the whole set together. Tina sat with Jane as they enjoyed watching us play the music she liked to listen to.