Chapter 15 #2
“She singlehandedly, or single-pawedly, as the case may be, found the evidence that helped break up a major drug distribution ring. It seems they were using the warehouse to send out as many as ten kilos of product a week, and because they had people who were tapped into the warehouse systems, they sent product all over the country. The really good part is that the DEA, in conjunction with the warehouse systems people, were able to isolate the packages, and using enhanced imaging, we were able to get the addresses used. So all over the country, police departments have been making drug arrests with thousands of pounds of drugs confiscated, millions in cash found, and all of it is because Evie not only passed her test, but found something none of us expected.”
Atlas knelt down and met her gaze with a smile. “You are the best girl, and you did real good.” Then he stood again. “Who is giving her the award?”
“The DEA is putting her up for a K-9 service award, and I’ve submitted both of you for departmental awards.
This is a huge bust for the department, and it will really hit home to the borough council, as well as the county, that we are making a real difference.
” Now he actually smiled. “I wish I had more teams like the two of you. I’m trying for additional budget.
” Evie knew he was talking about her, as her tail lightly thumped the floor.
” He cleared his throat. “I have to ask, how does Evie get on with your houseguest?”
“She adores him, and as soon as Evie is done working and I take off her harness, he lavishes attention on her. It’s like he needs all the affection he can get, and Evie can sense it.
” He tried not to think about all the hardships Bazel had endured.
It made his throat close up and his blood boil.
Man’s inhumanity to man really sucked. He stood, and the chief excused him.
After he and Evie left the office, they returned to his desk. That was one obstacle hurdled, but there were many others. He had just sat down when Carter hurried to his desk. “What’s going on?”
“We just received a call from your neighbor.”
“Ruth…. Ruth Clark?” he asked.
“Yes. She said that she saw the man who has been staying with you racing past the house. He knocked on her door, but she said she didn’t know him and didn’t answer.
” Ruth was in her eighties, and with her arthritis, even answering the door could be more than she could do some days.
“She says she keeps an eye on things from her window and the young man ran across the street, and then she didn’t see him anymore.
But she did add that someone came down the street a little later, like they were ‘looking and prowling.’ Her words. ”
“We need to go.”
“Do you want me to ride with you?” Carter asked.
Atlas shook his head. “I need to check with Ruth and then the house to see if he’s returned, but he could be anywhere.
” He was all business. “You check the area around the house and the library. It’s one of his favorite places.
I’m hoping that if he didn’t feel safe alone at home, he could go there because it’s public and one of the librarians has befriended him. ”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
Atlas signed out and hurried to the SUV, then put Evie in the back.
He drove home and parked right in front, hoping that if Bazel saw the car, he would come to him.
Atlas looked around the street, but it was relatively quiet.
Then he went inside, checking the indicator in the dining room before heading upstairs and then checking the main floor.
Bazel wasn’t in the house, and his concern rose, but he had to keep it under control and his head clear.
He locked the doors and went to Ruth’s, then knocked on the door.
“It’s Atlas,” he said loudly. She didn’t come out very often, but he always knew she was okay because she closed her curtains each evening and opened them in the morning, like clockwork.
As long as that happened, he and the rest of the neighbors knew she was okay.
“Ruth,” he called more loudly before a window behind him cranked open.
“There’s no need to yell. I’m old, but not deaf. Are you here about the young foreign man staying with you?”
“His name is Bazel, and yes. He’s a nice man.”
“I’ve seen what he did with your yard. It hasn’t looked that good since Grace sold you the house,” she scolded lightly, but there was no heat in it, and Atlas couldn’t argue with her.
Bazel had performed a kind of garden miracle.
“He knocked on the door, but I think someone was after him, and he ran away, down there. But I couldn’t see where he went. ”
“Did you see what the man after him looked like?” Atlas asked.
“Of course I did.” She smirked. “He was what you might call smarmy, with slicked black hair and one of those scruffy beards the young people have that makes them look like bums. I swear I want to tell all of them to shave. He was not quite as tall as you, but tall and kind of bulky, but you could take him, I’m sure. ”
“Anything else?” Atlas asked.
“No. Now you go find him so I can sleep better. I don’t want any prowlers hanging around.” She clicked her teeth. “You’d think living next to a police officer would keep this kind of thing from happening.”
Atlas had to agree with her on that one.
“Thanks, Ruth. Keep your door locked, and I’ll let you know what happens.
” He knew that would keep her happy. She liked to know what was going on, even if she couldn’t be part of it.
She cranked the window closed, and he returned to the SUV to get Evie, who jumped down from the back.
She hadn’t been trained to track people, but he hoped that since it was Bazel, she might be able to help.
“Can you find Bazel?” he asked. “Where is he?”
Evie headed down the sidewalk, so he went with her.
But it quickly became apparent that she was leading him back to the house via the back alley.
He had already checked the house, so he knew Bazel wasn’t there.
Still, he checked the back and then urged Evie on toward downtown.
He didn’t see Bazel and contacted Carter.
“He’s not at the house.”
“One of the librarians said he was here less than an hour ago. He returned a book but said he had enough for now. She did say that he left in a hurry and seemed kind of nervous. Maybe the person after him was here.”
“They could have been watching for him.” Shit. He should have kept a closer eye. “Did she give a description?”
“Scruffy, dark hair, buff, and tall, but not too tall.”
“Ruth said he was smarmy with slick black hair, so I’d say that’s our guy.” He had two similar descriptions.
“I’m calling in a description as a person of interest. Then I’ll patrol through town to see if I have any luck. You take your neighborhood.”
“Roger,” Atlas said and walked Evie back to the car.
She resisted getting inside but eventually jumped up.
He got in and went street by street for the nine blocks around the house, checking each street and alley.
As he reached College and South, a man fitting the description from Ruth strode down South Street, walking briskly, looking from side to side as though he were scanning for someone.
Atlas called Ruth through the car’s Bluetooth. “Ruth, what was the lurker wearing?”
“Black pants and a gray shirt,” she told him right away.
“Thanks,” he told her and ended the call.
The guy he’d see had on jeans and a red shirt, so unless he’d completely changed clothes, that wasn’t him.
Damn it all, this was really getting under his skin.
Bazel was out there somewhere, probably afraid, and all Atlas could seem to do was worry that whoever was after him hadn’t already found Bazel.
“Crap….” He continued patrolling the area near the house, trying to think where Bazel might try to hide.
Carter called, and he punched the button to connect the call. “Anything?”
“A report of our person of interest near Bedford and Pomfret. I’m heading over there to check it out.”
“On my way,” Atlas said, speeding through town before pulling up behind Carter’s car. He had the man on the ground. “What happened?”
“He ran as soon as he saw me,” Carter explained as he patted him down. “You better have a concealed permit for this.”
“Screw you. I haven’t done anything,” the man snapped.
Atlas opened the back of the SUV, snapped a leash on Evie, and let her down.
She didn’t even get too close before she sat down, watching him intently.
The man shook and watched Evie as though she were going to jump him at any second.
Atlas urged her forward, and the suspect practically jumped out of his skin.
“He has something else on him.”
“Turn out your pockets,” Carter snapped, and the man glared at him but did as instructed. A few papers fell out. The guy hesitated with his jacket, and Carter told him to take it off and hand it over. He went through the pockets.
“Let her smell it,” Atlas said, and Evie sniffed and pawed at the jacket before sitting down once more.
“Bag the jacket as evidence. She indicated that it has drugs in or on it.” Carter turned the man around, cuffed him, and got him in the back of the car.
Atlas wanted to ask a bunch of questions about where Bazel was, but at least he didn’t have Bazel, and that meant that Atlas just needed to find him.
Carter closed the squad car door. “Did he have any ID on him?”
“No. Nothing. But the suspicion of drugs should he enough to hold him for a few days until we can get the jacket tested. And when I book him, we’ll get him a jail uniform so we can test the rest of his clothes.”
“At least that helps. But we’re no closer to finding Bazel.”
“Go back to the house. This guy isn’t a threat to him any longer, at least for now.” He took a step toward his car, but Atlas had an idea, following him.
“Open the back door,” he told Carter and urged Evie inside. She jumped in, and the suspect plastered himself against the door.
“Evie, attack,” Atlas said, and she turned to the suspect, growling deeply.
“Get this thing away from me. I don’t want her to tear me apart like Breaker.” He shook like a leaf. Atlas tugged her back, and she jumped out of the car. “You were going to have her kill me.”
Atlas closed the squad car door. “That command means for her to growl and look menacing,” Atlas told Carter. “She has other commands to protect me and herself.” He grinned.
“What was that all about?” Carter snapped.
“The guy Evie went after in my yard, the one who was later found dead, Bazel told us his nickname was Breaker. This piece of crap knows him, so it confirms that he’s from the same organization.
Get a statement and interrogate him. Then call Special Agent Wilkins and tell him we have a present for him.
One he can actually speak with. He should be thrilled. ”
“Sounds good. You know he’ll claim federal jurisdiction.”
“Let him. He’ll take him off our hands, and the FBI can do all the drug testing. We’ll just make sure he gives us a report of everything they find so we can file our own charges if necessary.”
“Will do. You head out and find Bazel,” Carter added, and Atlas got in the SUV and took off toward home, wondering where in the hell Bazel could be.