Dog Gone Lies (Pacheco & Chino Mysteries Book 1) (25 page)

“Dan, you’ve no idea how ugly this mess is, and it may be the other way around—that you were dragged into an ugly mess because of me.”

They went inside and Ray went over the material they had and its implications. As they were beginning to discuss what it might mean, one of the deputies outside came to the door and told Clayton that there were FBI officials on the road and they wanted to see Ray.

Friday

Walking out the door toward the road, Ray could see Crawford and Sanchez waiting patiently. Ray showed them into the cabin. Everyone cleared the room, going outside to give Ray and his visitors some privacy.

“Ray, looks like you’re getting ready for a battle.”

“No, not really. I think there’s a bunch of shit you haven’t told me and because of that you’ve put a lot of people at risk. I know about Myers and Martinez, and I can guess at a bunch of others who are involved. This isn’t the Mexican Mafia—this looks like a rogue FBI operation.”

“I’m afraid you’ve stumbled into the middle of one of the biggest mistakes the FBI ever made. We’ve been gathering evidence on Myers for months. We thought we had everything covered so that he couldn’t do any more harm while we monitored his communications and put our case together. But we screwed up. His order of the hit job on Ed Jackson caught us flat-footed. We arrested the two men involved in the killing and also charged them with the murder of Mrs. Richards. We were planning on arresting Myers today or tomorrow. We just haven’t been sure up until now that we had enough evidence.”

“How long have you know about this?”

“Ray, I’m not going to tell you everything about this. It’s just too embarrassing for the FBI, so this whole story is going to be buried. Let me just say that we’ve known of a problem since the arrest of the Sierra County sheriff for drug trafficking.”

“You mean the sheriff was involved with Myers?”

“At first the sheriff stayed quiet. A few weeks ago there were some incidents during one of his stays in a Texas county jail. He was admitted to a hospital and at that point he said he wanted to make a deal. He’s ready to testify against Myers, claiming he was the person running the whole operation. We didn’t believe him at first, but it didn’t take long to start fitting the pieces together. We were planning on moving on Myers this week but then things got out of hand.”

“Not a good outcome—two people dead while you were watching.”

“No—it’s a piece of shit. We’ll owe you big time Ray if we can keep this quiet. I have to tell you that the offer to use you and your new firm on a consulting basis was a way for us to watch you while we were still in the middle of this mess. But you can go ahead and agree to that plan and you’ll have the bureau beholden to you. I personally apologize for this whole mess—it’s not the way I like to do things.”

“Maybe there’s something you can do for me.”

“No doubt you’re talking about your partners—Big Jack in particular. Let me tell you we’ll fix everything so that the background checks won’t be a problem. I’ve already put a process in place to clean up any history on Philip Duncan—he just won’t exist anymore. We’ll process new paperwork and create a new identity for someone called Jack Parker, including a new license to practice law in New Mexico. You might be surprised that we can do that, but we have our ways. We’ll provide Jack Parker with a complete new background—all we want from him is a couple of briefing sessions where he explains what he knows about the inner workings of the L.A. Mexican Mafia.”

“Well, yeah—that’s what I wanted. If you can make that happen then we’re ready to do work with the FBI. I won’t discuss what I know about how Myers was mishandled. The Jacksons won’t know—not sure it would matter to them anyway. It’ll be kept quiet, except that I’ll let my partners know.”

“Ray, I think we have the basis for a mutually beneficial agreement. We’ll immediately implement our plan regarding Myers. He’ll just be gone and the new agent in charge in Albuquerque will be Sanchez. Agent Sanchez will contact you and let you know that everything’s been handled. Thanks, Ray. I look forward to working with you.”

Ray sat and thought. He wasn’t sure who was more to blame for Ed’s and Mrs. Richards’ death, Myers or the reluctance of the FBI to move quickly on one of their own. Of course Ed had created many of his own problems and Mrs. Richards had been armed and stalking Monica. No telling what might have happened even without the goons getting involved. So they had their share of the blame as well.

“I guess we all try to cover ourselves, but I have to tell you I’m disappointed. Both of you guys seem like good people. But there are two people dead, a mother who’s lost her son and been frightened almost to death, along with a whole host of other people affected in negative ways because you wouldn’t move on one of your own without perfect evidence. This will take some time to heal.”

Crawford promised that they would keep Ray informed and that he had men watching Myers and didn’t believe there was any current danger. Ray made sure Crawford and Sanchez had his new phone number. He showed them to the door and watched them walk to their car.

Ray told the others he was going down to see Big Jack for just a minute and would be back soon to tell everyone what was happening. He also told them that he had been assured by the FBI that the danger was over. Ray drove to Big Jack’s and went out to the dock area. Big Jack was finishing up with the customer.

“Got some information for you, Big Jack. Got a minute?”

Ray filled Big Jack in on the situation with Monica and related his conversation with Agent Crawford. Big Jack listened and didn’t interrupt.

“So they fucked up, and two people are dead—and we get FBI business and I get a new identity and a law license. Somehow that doesn’t seem right.”

“No, it doesn’t. The alternative could be us raising hell with anybody who would listen, including the media, and seeing how much shit we could stir up. No doubt ending any chance of working with any law enforcement agencies and putting a target on your head for the Mexicans to aim at.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t sound too good, does it?”

“I don’t like it, but my feeling is that it’s in our best interest to keep our mouths shut and take the deal.”

“Jack Parker says Fucking A.”

Ray left Big Jack’s, went back to the cabin, and explained to everyone what he’d learned from the FBI, but he left out some of the sensitive parts.

“So it looks like the coast is clear. The FBI will be arresting the bad guys, including one of their own, and I think we can all feel secure. Monica, they were after you for the information your son had on them—mostly on Myers, the FBI guy in Albuquerque. Myers was the main guy running the operation, and Martinez was involved along with the previous sheriff. As far as we know there wasn’t anyone else directly involved with what happened to you except the two goons, and they’ve been picked up and charged with murder. Martinez is in the Dona Ana County jail and will be charged with a long list of crimes and may be charged with accessory to murder related to Mrs. Richards. Myers will be arrested today, or may already have been arrested. He’ll be charged with various crimes, and with some special federal crimes because he used his FBI position to commit the other crimes.”

“Can I go home, Ray?”

“Yes, Monica. You can leave whenever you want or you can stay as long as you want.”

“I think I’d like to go home now.”

Ray said he understood perfectly. Sue and Monica went off to gather her things and get Monica ready to leave. Ray told Clayton that he could leave too, along with his deputies, since everything seemed to be wrapped up. He told Clayton that he should assume the acting sheriff’s position immediately to keep the department running. Ray explained that he would contact some of the council members and county commissioners and make sure they understood all of the things that had happened over the last few days. Clayton and his deputies hurriedly left.

Tyee sat down at the table, saying that just to be on the safe side he thought he’d stay the night at the cabin. Ray said he was sure welcome to, but he really didn’t think it was necessary. He told Tyee about the FBI screwup and the fact that they’d known about Myers for some time but taken their time, probably to try to cover their own asses before they moved. That delay likely cost two lives. He also told Tyee about the agreement he’d made and how it impacted Big Jack.

Finally, Ray told Tyee he should go home and get some rest. Everything was fine now.

Saturday

The new phone in Ray’s cabin rang early. Ray finally found it after fumbling a bit.

“Hello.”

“Ray, this is Crawford. We had a foul up—Myers got away.”

Ray wasn’t sure he could say anything without screaming.

“What the hell do you mean he got away? You told me you had him under surveillance. How the hell did he get away?”

“Ray, we fucked up bad. Looks like he guessed we were onto him. I know it’s dumb but he’s an agent—he knows what we do. He managed to leave the building and just disappeared. I have fifty agents working on nothing else—we’ll get him.”

“Shit, that’s so bad it’s almost unbelievable. You have no idea where he’s gone?”

“Look, yell at me if you want—we lost him, it’s our fault—we’ll fix it. There is no way Monica Jackson is in any danger. He never cared about her. It was the information her son had that he was looking for and we already have that—he won’t bother her. Plus, I’ve stationed a team of people to watch her—she’ll be safe. Ray, it’s you I’m worried about. He hated you already from the old days, and I can imagine he’s blaming you for all of this coming out. I want to send some men to stay with you until we get him, okay?”

“No way in hell. I’m better off without your help. Once you get him, you let me know.” He hung up.

Ray thought about the fact that Myers and Emerson had been managing a major drug-running operation right under his nose when he was sheriff. This irritated him to no end. He couldn’t believe that there hadn’t been any leaks, or even hints, that the Sierra County sheriff and one of the richest men in New Mexico had been drug dealers—but to involve the FBI’s top agent in Albuquerque was almost beyond belief. And Ray was embarrassed. He was yelling at Crawford, but what he felt was humiliation that such an operation could have run out of his jurisdiction.

Sue came into the room. She looked worried. Ray realized that much of his conversation with Crawford had involved him yelling—no doubt she’d heard most of it.

“What’s going on Ray?”

“The bad guy got away. Stupid FBI couldn’t even arrest their own crooked agent. He was in his Albuquerque office and they let him slip out. Just unbelievable.”

“What does that mean to us?”

“Mostly it means you need to go home and go to work and not worry about this stuff. The FBI has really looked bad on this, but they’ll get their shit together and find this guy and get him off the street. So just get going or you’re going to be late.”

“You sure this is okay?”

“Of course.”

Ray wasn’t sure of anything at the moment. He needed Sue to go home, or go to work, so he could think about this and decide what he needed to do.

After Sue left, Ray and Happy went to Big Jack’s. By now Happy was right at home at Big Jack’s and immediately found a corner he could curl up in to take one of his many dog naps. Ray found Big Jack and Tyee drinking coffee and reading the El Paso morning paper.

Ray gave them a heads up on what he’d just learned about the FBI bungling Myers’s arrest.

“I think we need to consider this a threat, but a mild one. I can’t imagine this guy would consider coming after me, or any of us, a major priority. No doubt he’s focused on getting out of the country and has little interest in revenge, but I wanted you to be aware of the situation. Martinez is still in jail, and based on the charges they’re bringing he’ll more than likely not be able get bail. I’m sure that once the full weight of his crimes are revealed he’ll start to talk. All of the charges against Clayton have been dropped. I don’t know if Clayton would want to sue somebody, but I’d think he would have a good case against the government for bringing those charges in the first place.”