Chapter 23
Paul leaned his hips against his desk, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared hard at the man that was becoming a fast friend. He didn’t speak until Warren deflated, and settled in a chair, sipping his coffee.
“Sorry, I was out of line.”
“Apology accepted, however, did you forget?”
“Forget what?”
Paul pointed between himself and Petra. “We’re not civilians, and this isn’t our first rodeo, we are both federal agents.”
“Shit, yeah, I did there for a moment, sorry.”
“Accepted. Now, I didn’t tell Cass what Petra found, because at this point, it’s just a theory.
At the end of the day I am in charge here, Cass and his office are my backup, not the other way around.
I’m the one meeting these people. Cass will be doing the paperwork to backup what we’ll be getting first-hand knowledge of.
I’m the one pounding the pavement to get answers.
This investigation is just starting. It might be bigger than what we can handle, but I have more agents coming.
They will be here because they are just like me.
Compromised in their undercover work. Just like Cass.
Where Cass was assigned to a desk, these guys were sent to their real homes for sixty days to straighten out anything that needed to be handled, and they are coming to me.
“They know this assignment is undercover, however, the only difference is that every single member of the Tainted Shield will be a federal agent. We will be controlling the narrative.”
“What if I wanted to quit my job at the State police and ask to join the club?”
“You would be welcomed with open arms, however, I wish you wouldn’t. At least not for a while.”
“Why?”
“I’m going to be blunt here, Warren. I want to use you and your bar. You saw the drugs being distributed and used yesterday. What if you work with us, and set up your bar as a place they can purchase the drugs, or guns, or whatever. I refuse to pedal human flesh though.”
“That wouldn’t work, everyone knows I’m a cop.”
“Yes,” Petra said as she refilled her and Paul’s coffee cups. “But what if we can spin it in our favor?”
“Spin it how?”
“What if you’re a disgruntled cop? Say, you’re frustrated that all your attempts to make any arrests are thwarted by the higher ups.
Say, you want to supplement your retirement because you can’t live on a cops pension.
From what I’ve seen from all the events you’ve taken us on this summer, you are highly respected by the one percenters, even though you are a cop. Use that to your and our advantage.”
“Ah, I see, be the disillusioned, pissed off cop that has finally met his limits, and wants a better life. Dealing drugs and guns is the way to go.”
“Correct, and you know the guys that come into your bar. You know what they’re into.
” Paul nodded. “I’m not saying this is going to happen overnight, or even this year.
Hell, it’s August already, and I do know that Gator is coming shortly, like in twelve days, but I don’t know about the others.
No one has contacted me yet, other than Gator. ”
“Do you think they’ll come?”
“Yes, but see, Flynn and Kessler told them to only contact me once they’ve been home for a certain amount of days.
When they have an ETA for here, they are to reach out to me.
I have no clue who will be coming. I do know of six other guys that were in Devil’s Scorpions, and I’m shocked they haven’t reached out to me yet, but something might have happened when they went home.
I’ll learn that when they get here.” He studied his friend intently.
“Don’t think for a minute that I forgot about them.
I have a mental date in my head about when they should be arriving here.
If I don’t hear from any of them by that date, I’ll call them directly, then depending on what I learn, I’ll reach out to Kessler and Flynn.
” He looked at Petra and nodded at her worried look.
“I don’t think they are compromised, I don’t feel it in my gut.
Deep in my heart, I believe they are just catching up with family after being away for so long. ”
“In the meantime, we’ll continue to research what Petra’s discovered, make notes, make files, and if you want to help us, then you’re going to have to start to be that pissed off disillusioned cop ready to come over to the dark side.”
“I can do that, however, I’m going to have to talk to Sally first. She may be my sister, but we ride together, and I don’t want her hurt if I do this, and some of these guys decide to come after me. I won’t put her life in danger for anything.”
“We understand,” Petra said. “Here’s another thought.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m not saying to use it as blackmail, but what if you start getting in with these guys, and all of a sudden they expect favors from you, because you’re a cop.
Like the way Eddie was blackmailing Dawson.
You know, for favors of getting him out of jail, or his charges reduced.
I don’t believe it would be entrapment if they request you help grease the wheels on any charges they may be facing.
I know you’re not that type of person, but in order to take these fuckers out, pardon my language, you might have to join them, not literally, in order to beat them.
We all know that they think they are above the law.
If you don’t think that, just think back to all the drugs that were passed around yesterday, and the mistreatment of some of the women there. ”
Warren’s sullen expression took about thirty seconds to turn into a gigantic grin. “Ah, I understand, like you said, not blackmail, but maybe extortion.” His expression clouded over suddenly.
“What is it?” Paul asked in concern.
“I’m going to have to beef up my security system, so I can have sound along with video.”
“Do you trust me?” Paul asked as he withdrew his phone from his pocket.
“Yes, I do.”
Paul typed rapidly, and turned his phone so both Warren and Petra could see his message.
“I’m sending this to both Kessler and Flynn.
If they agree, because they already know that I want to use your bar as the drop off and pick up point, then they should send me several packages.
They won’t answer. I’ll just get the equipment.
When I get it, I’ll contact you, and we can work overnight to make your bar secure.
If they don’t agree with this plan, then I will get nothing, along with no explanations.
I’ll give it a couple of weeks, no more than a month, then if nothing comes, we go to plan B. ”
“What about Sally’s diner?”
Paul nodded as he typed, and sent the second message.
He only received a thumbs up, stating that the two recipients of his messages received them.
He showed that to Warren. “Now we wait, but in the meantime, Petra will explore what she found, and I have a couple of questions for you. While you were reading, I was digging.”
“What did you find?”
“What do you know about a man named Terry Hoag?”
Warren reared back like he had been slapped, and looked at Paul in confusion. “The judge?”
“Yes.”
“Shit,” Warren said as he scrubbed his face. “This is just my take on things, I don’t know if everything I’m about to say is true, some of it is rumor, some of it I’ve seen with my own eyes.”
“Talk to me,” Paul said, sitting behind his desk and picking up a pen.
“First, when he first took the bench, in less than a month, he received the moniker of being the hanging judge. No one, and I mean no one that came before him got off Scott free. He issued heavy bails, and even heavier jail times. He hardly ever granted bail.”
“What happened?” Petra asked as she settled on the corner of the desk. She looked at Paul with a smirk. “You need more chairs in here.”
“I know.” He grinned as he tapped the side of his head. “I made a note of it.”
“Contact the local fire department. Sometimes they have extra chairs they will sell for a donation to the department. They might be the metal folding ones, but they should do in a pinch.”
“Thanks, I’ll look into it.”
“I will,” Petra said firmly. “The chief comes into the restaurant almost every day.”
“Good, then you can handle it.” They shared a laugh, and Warren shook his head at them.
“Back to Judge Hoag. You said he used to have the moniker of the hanging judge, what happened?”
“Shortly before Eddie started getting his wrist slapped in court, it was rumored that Hoag had a heart attack. I didn’t believe it.”
“Why not?”
“He was only in his early forties.” He shook his head and held up his hand.
“I know, I know, you can have a heart attack at any age. However, I’ve been out to lunch, and dinner with the guy before.
He worked out at the gym every day, he ran five miles a day, never drank alcohol, didn’t smoke, and ate healthy.
He was a walking advertisement of what to do right. ”
“Ah, how long was he out of work?”
“A little less than a week.”
“That’s not enough recovery time if someone really did have a heart attack.”
“I know, that’s why I never believed it. The time he was out screamed vacation time to me, not recovering from a heart attack. Anyway, I don’t want to say the man had different personalities, but after he returned his entire demeanor changed.”
“How so?”
“Before the attack, that’s what I’m going to reference it going forward, he was jovial with people off the bench. Always had a kind word, or asked about your family or life.”
“A man who cared?” Petra asked quietly.
“Correct, but once he got on the bench, he turned into a stoic man with no expression, he listened, and passed his judgment. He wasn’t a trial judge.”
“What’s that mean?” Paul asked in confusion.
“He’s the judge you went before when you were arrested. An arraignment judge.”
“Ah, he’s the one that accepted the plea, set bail, or not, and passed it over to the trial judge.”