Chapter 15 #2
“It’s because it’s the truth. I was heading to HR at work to talk about the time due to me, and what papers I needed to fill out for my retirement.
I had a rough idea, but I wanted to do it officially.
I was called into Captain Boggs’ office and told what happened at the prison.
It took a few extra days to get back with HR. ”
“Okay, another question. How much time passed between when you learned of the gang and the bingo card, until the members of that gang showed up at your house?”
“Five days, why?”
“How were the gang member taken out?”
Kevin rubbed the back of his neck and raised a questioning brow to Yvonne.
“Sir, Kevin will tell you, but he can’t give you any names. It’s to protect the innocent, and where he is now. In both my professional and personal opinion, it will be better this way.”
“I understand. No names.”
“Okay, I just told you that my ex-wife, Karen Carter, this isn’t important, but after the divorce, she was in prison when I divorced her, but afterward, she went back to her maiden name of Carter.”
“Do you know why?”
“It was ordered by the judge that presided over the divorce. She had to do everything through the mail, due to her not being able to get released.”
“Okay, but no offense, but what does that have to do with this issue?”
“Her brother, my brother-in-law, is a former Navy SEAL, Sir. I reached out to him to tell him what I had learned about the bingo card. He and three other SEALs, men he had served in the same unit with, came to Seattle to be my personal bodyguards. They hadn’t even been in my home for twelve hours before that gang showed up.
They did their thing and by the time the locals arrived, the four SEALs had seven gang members laid out on my lawn.
Locals arrived and took them away. I worked out my two weeks, and moved to where I am now. ”
“Are you safe?” Harmon asked.
Kevin and Yvonne both snorted a laugh. “Sir,” Yvonne answered for Kevin.
“Kevin Lassiter is surrounded by eight former Navy SEALs, two FBI agents, three former National Guardsmen, and numerous other former military personnel. He is also in the middle of nowhere, with very little traffic and people he has to deal with.”
“Damn, that sounds like a sweet spot.”
“It is,” they both said at once.
“Sir?” Kevin said without looking at Yvonne.
“I asked this of Director Anderson, and I’m not saying because I have any feelings for my ex-wife, but I was wondering that if she cooperates with you fully, if you could maybe put in a recommendation to have her transferred to a different prison.
I don’t know if there’s anyone in her new prison that knew Strokes and might put a prison hit out on her. ”
“You’re not recommending that she get a reduced sentence?”
“No, good God, no, she deserves her prison sentence, I’m just asking you to take into consideration of moving her to a safer one. Not that prison is safe.”
“I understand what you’re saying. One last question. Does Karen Carter know where you are now?”
“No, the last time I saw her, I had her brother with me, and we had closure. I told her I was leaving the state and would never see her again.”
“Okay, do you have any children, and will they be a problem?”
“One son, who’s in his mid-twenties. I’m working and living a few miles away from him, so he has the same protection as I do.”
“Will he want to see his mother?”
“No, he never even came to her trial. He washed his hands of her when he left for college. He told me once he only came home on break, because he didn’t have any other place else to go. Just like me, there is no love lost between them.”
“Okay, thank you for everything. I’m going to read everything over, then go out and interview her.”
“May I ask if this will help in your case with this Asian gang and their bingo card?”
“It might, but right now I’m gathering intel, and I’m going to have to reach out to other cities that are having the same problems with these Asian gangs. The arrests in Seattle are the first break in the case in over a year.”
“Just remember that as of three weeks ago those seven gang members were still locked up in jail in Seattle. I have no clue if they’ve been granted bail, or even made bail if they were granted it.
Other than that, and what Karen told me, I know nothing about them.
You’ll have to read the file, talk to Boggs, Brooks, and Karen to get what you want. ”
“Thank you, Mr. Lassiter. If I need anything, I’ll call Wilson to reach out.”
“I like that idea.” Kevin nodded, though he couldn’t see it, and the line went dead.
“Wow,” Yvonne said after she shut her phone off, and leaned back with a heavy sigh. “Do you think you’re safe here?”
“I do. No one from Seattle knows I’m here, so yeah, I’m good.” At her look, he smiled. “If we’re working together and someone comes up the drive, you can greet them, or you can stay in the office with a bead on them.”
“I can do that,” she said with a chuckle, then slowly stood. “I need to head over to cut up some veggies for this afternoon.”
“Go ahead, I’m going to clean up here, do my laundry, and if you don’t mind, how about driving over together?”
“We’ll take my truck,” she said, and shook her head at him. “Just because we’re in the middle of nowhere, it doesn’t mean we slack on safety. I have the Colorado plates on my vehicle.”
“Shit, that’s right. I’ll have to go into town tomorrow to change mine.”
“Not before we make plans.”
Kevin agreed, and watched as she left the cabin before he got to work to do his weekly cleaning.