Better Late Than Never: Chapter 10
While Sydney dropped the .45 off at the forensics lab, Gage went upstairs to tell Walker about Marty and the recovered weapon. When he entered the office, he found Walker and Trivette huddled in front of Trivette's computer.
"Looks like you found something interesting," Gage commented as he walked over to join them.
"Take a look," Trivette offered. "Do these guys look familiar?"
On the screen were two mug shots, side by side. Gage didn't recognize either of the scruffy faces, but one of the names all but jumped off the screen at him.
"Hooper? That's this guy's name?" Gage inquired, pointing to the image of Tex Hooper.
"Yeah, do you recognize him?" Walker asked hopefully.
"No, not his face, but I just met a guy named Marty Hooper who could definitely be related to both of these guys. They're far from identical, but there's definitely a resemblance," Gage informed them, adding with a grin, "but that's not the best part."
"So, what's the best part?" Trivette asked anxiously.
"Marty turned over a Colt .45 to Syd and me that looks exactly like the one that was stolen from me," Gage stated.
Before Walker and Trivette could even react, Sydney burst through the door with the report from forensics and announced, "It is definitely your gun and they found clean fingerprints on it belonging to none other than Tex Hooper."
Gage collapsed into a chair beside Trivette's desk as relief washed over him. One part of this nightmare was over. Sydney and Trivette both gave him high-fives.
"So where did you guys come up with Tex and, who was the other guy, Johnny Bruno?" Gage asked, looking at the screen again.
"Mr. Chen and Mai Lee had both heard the assailants use their first names in conversation that night, so we started looking for known offenders with those names who might have been arrested together or arrested for similar crimes. We added in the physical descriptions like height, build and eye color and this is what came up. It also turns out that Tex and Johnny are cousins," Trivette explained.
"What did Marty tell you about how he got the gun?" Walker posed.
"Nothing, but it was obvious he was protecting someone. Syd, didn't Mai Lee say that one of them called another one 'little brother'?" Gage asked.
"Yes. They both said the big one called the smallest one 'little brother'," Sydney replied.
"Which explains how Marty got the gun. He was there," Gage said sadly.
"Why so glum, partner?"
"I don't know, Syd. You met him. Did he seem like someone who would participate in an armed robbery or a rape?"
"No. He seemed like a decent kid who was scared of his own shadow until he stood up to you and refused to tell you where he got the gun," she said.
"Right, so why would he turn the gun in to us, knowing it could incriminate him and his brother? It doesn't make any sense," Gage observed.
"There's something else to consider," Trivette interjected. "If he was there, then he saw you, Gage. He had to have recognized you and he has to wonder why you didn't recognize him."
"Well, when we got there, I explained to Mark about my memory loss and Marty was standing right there, so he knows I don't remember what happened."
"According to Mr. Chen and Mai Lee, they all wore ski masks, so you wouldn't have seen their faces anyway," Sydney put in, adding, "but you're right, Trivette, why would he risk it?"
"Unless he thought that by turning in the gun he could take some of the heat off of the three of them," Walker guessed. "As far as recognizing Gage goes, even Marty must have realized that was just an amazing coincidence, but if he's as scared as you say, then maybe he got roped into helping with the robbery, saw things get out of control, and now is looking for a way to get back on the right side of the law."
"If that turns out to be true, I'd like to see this kid get a break, Walker. I think he really did just want to do the right thing, but got caught up in his loyalty to his brother," Gage proposed.
"Can you get back in touch with him?" Walker inquired.
Gage nodded. "Yeah, I think I know someone we can call."
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"OK, Tex, where's the cop's gun?" Johnny demanded as he slammed the door to the motel room shut behind him. Darkness was falling and a chilly wind had started to blow outside.
"In the glove compartment where you put it last night," Tex responded without taking his eyes off the TV.
"No, it isn't. I just looked in there and it's gone," Johnny informed him.
"What do you mean 'gone'? Who would have…" his voice trailed off as he realized who must have taken the gun.
"Oh, glory be!" Johnny shouted. "I knew we should have stolen a car, but noooo, you said we should just take Marty's car and then Marty wants to know what for and…oh, hell, now look what's happened!" he raged.
"You said we could use a third man and nobody is better at watching my back than Marty," Tex snapped back. "He won't talk, Johnny. Besides, he doesn't even know about the drug deal. He thinks we did all this for kicks."
"What difference does that make? He knows where we are and if he does anything stupid with that gun and gets caught, he may try to protect you, but he will turn me in so fast my head will spin," Johnny wailed.
Tex shook a finger at him. "Well, now, that's what you get for beating him up every other day and teasing him and calling him 'runt' all the time."
"Oh, for crying out loud, just get your stuff together. We gotta get outta here and fast," he said, as he threw a duffel bag at Tex and swept the stolen cash off the kitchen table and into a motel pillowcase.
Johnny would have enjoyed giving that scrawny kid one more good beating, one he would never forget. It would almost be worth the risk of getting caught to do it. Almost.
As soon as they finished packing, they left the room. Johnny tossed their bags into the trunk of Marty's car and then climbed into the passenger seat as Tex slammed the car into gear and peeled out of the motel parking lot. If they hurried, Johnny figured, they would make Mexico by morning.
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Marty sat alone in the Company B interrogation room, silently kicking himself for buying that damn Camaro in the first place. If he hadn't bought the car, he reasoned, then it wouldn't have been there for Tex and Johnny to use and he wouldn't have gotten drafted into being the wheel man in those robberies and Tex wouldn't have hit that Ranger Gage and he wouldn't be sitting in this interrogation room waiting for Ranger Gage to bring the head Ranger in here to try to get him to tell where Tex was. Yeah, if only he hadn't fallen in love with that stupid car.
Of course, he was pretty mad at Mark, too, since he was the one who told Ranger Gage where he lived. He wasn't particularly surprised when the two Rangers had shown up at his house while he and his mom were eating dinner. He figured they'd put it together pretty quickly. At least, the Rangers hadn't let on to his mom about why they really needed to see him. They had just said that Marty had some information about an investigation they were working on and not to worry. They even said they'd have him home by ten o'clock. He looked at the clock on the wall above the mirror; it read 7:20.
On the other side of the observation glass, Walker and Gage watched Marty stew in his chair. They noticed he chewed his lower lip quite a bit and picked at his cuticles. When he started drumming his fingers on the table, Walker figured he'd had long enough to think about his options.
Gage opened the door and held it for Walker before entering the room himself and closing the door.
"Marty, I'd like you to meet my boss, Sergeant Walker. He wanted to thank you personally for turning in that weapon earlier today."
"I sure did," Walker smiled, extending his hand in greeting.
Marty gripped Walker's hand and gave it a firm shake. "I just did what anyone would have done," he said quietly, not meeting Walker's eyes.
"No, not everyone would have been honest enough to do what you did. A lot of guys would have kept that gun for any number of reasons, none of them good," Walker corrected him.
Marty nodded, still looking down at the table in front of him. "I guess you're right."
"I know I am. Marty, since you were so honest with us, I am going to be completely honest with you. We know where you got the gun," Walker stated.
Gage opened the file folder he had carried with him into the room and laid it on the desk so Marty could see what was inside. Two 4x6 photographs were stapled one above the other to the inside cover of the folder. One showed a gray and black Colt .45 pistol and the other was a close up view of the serial number of the same weapon. On the opposite side of the folder lay a typed paper labeled "Ballistics Report."
"This is the gun you gave me today, Marty," Gage told him pointing to the picture at the top. "And this is the serial number of that gun, which happens to exactly match the serial number of my department issued Colt .45. Now, since serial numbers are unique to each weapon, this has to be my gun. And since I know where I lost my weapon, I also know where you found it."
"I thought you said you lost your memory of Saturday night," Marty protested.
Gage fought to keep a straight face. He hadn't expected the kid to walk into the trap quite so fast.
"First of all, Marty, I didn't say when I lost the gun and second, I didn't say I remembered losing it, only that I know where it happened," Gage retorted, adding, "so how did you know it was Saturday night?"
"I…I…uh…," Marty stammered, his mind racing, trying to find a way out of the corner he just backed himself into.
"Let us help you, Marty. We know you're trying to protect your brother and your cousin…" Gage offered.
"I don't care what happens to Johnny. I hate him; he's the one that talked Tex into being a criminal like him," Marty blurted out. "Tex had a football scholarship to the University of Texas, but he blew out his knee during Liberty's last game of the season and it ended his career. Johnny filled him full of beer and bitterness and kept talking about how easy it would be to steal some money and use it to buy drugs and sell them to make more money. Tex was never good in school, just football, so he didn't think he had any other options and he started running with Johnny."
"How did you end up with them on Saturday?" Gage asked quietly, knowing that the dam had broken and Marty was going to spill everything now.
"They needed a car and Tex volunteered mine. It's a blue '78 Camaro Z28 that I restored myself. I've been working on it since I was fourteen! No way was it going anywhere without me," he boasted.
"I can understand why you feel that way. I have a '70 Chevelle myself," Gage affirmed, adding, "You gotta love a good muscle car, man."
"You can have your muscle cars, guys. Give me a big Dodge Ram truck any day," Walker put in.
"Whatever!" Marty disagreed.
"So, Marty, where's the car now?" Gage asked, bringing the conversation back on point.
"Tex has it. He brought me to school this morning and said he needed to keep the car. Besides, he said someone might recognize it from the other night if I kept it at school, so I let him take it."
"Where are they, Marty?" Gage looked the boy straight in the eye. "I promise you that we will do everything we can to bring them in safe and sound."
"Really? I know Tex hurt you and that girl and I know he has to pay for that, but I just don't want him to get hurt, you know?"
"And we don't want to hurt him either. But, you're right, he has to answer for what he's done and so does Johnny."
"I can tell you where they were this morning, but if they figured out that your gun isn't in the glove compartment anymore, then they probably are either looking for me or they've left town altogether thinking I ratted them out," Mark said.
"Where would they go?" Walker asked.
"Johnny was talking about heading for Mexico. I heard him talking on the phone to someone named Hector about meeting him in Nuevo Laredo."
Gage and Walker were both out of their chairs and moving toward the door before they realized Marty was still seated at the table.
"Well, come on," Walker prodded, as Marty got moving at last. Turning to Gage, he directed him to call the state police and Border Patrol with descriptions of Tex, Johnny and the car as well as their probable route to Mexico. "Then you and Sydney take Marty home."
"But I was part of the robberies, too. Aren't you going to arrest me?" Marty asked, wide-eyed.
"Did you say 'robberies', as in more than one?" It was Walker's turn to be surprised.
"Well, I waited in the car for all of them except the restaurant, but Tex and Johnny robbed a movie theater and two liquor stores that same night," Marty confessed as they all walked back to Gage's desk together.
"Did they shoot anybody in those places?" Gage wanted to know.
"No, the only time a gun went off was when the old man got shot at the restaurant."
"Marty, if I take you home tonight like I promised your mom, can I trust you to turn yourself in tomorrow morning? With any luck, Tex and Johnny will be in custody by then, too, and you can all be arraigned together. It might be your last chance to see Tex for a long while," Gage offered.
"Yes, sir. Just tell me when and where."
"Ah, if only all our collars were so accommodating," Walker said with a sigh.
"Tell me about it," Gage replied with a chuckle.
End Chapter 10.