CHAPTER 13
After finishing the call with CJ and Catey, Matt checked on the satellite and found it was right on target. He watched for a while, not seeing much movement, so he set the program to record and rummaged through his bag to find his trunks and went down to the pool for a swim. Unlike Boulder City, the pool was completely empty and he started doing laps. Over the years he had discovered that some of his best thinking was done while swimming.
The feeling in his gut told him that King was their man. It was probably going to be hard to prove though. King was careful: he rarely left the estate, had someone else taking care of the day-to-day business, and even the utility meters were outside the gate. Stopping at the edge, a thought occurred to him – the meters being outside the grounds could be a plus if he needed to make entry. Making a mental note of it, he went back to his workout.
Wally Simmons had said none of the help spoke English and Matt was figuring they spoke Spanish, which wouldn't slow him down a bit if he managed to talk to one of them. That was a plus.
Switching to a backstroke, he pushed off from the wall of the pool. Lone Pine wasn't a big place – the population was about 2,000 people. Rumors travelled fast in a small town and Matt was a stranger. The less time he stayed there, the better: King might get wind of him being there. He made his mind up to try to find out when the estate's employees came to town and then try to arrange meeting some of them and see if he could get any information from them. Otherwise, he was planning to head back to LA and keep the satellite surveillance going until King made his next trip. Then he could track him down. If he could manage to get one of his critters on the man's vehicles it would be a big plus. The fact that the electric meter was out front would help Matt make entry onto the estate to place the tracking devices if he really needed to do it. It wasn't his first choice, but definitely was an option.
After finishing his swim, Matt headed back to his room, hit the shower, and put on a pair of shorts before pulling out his phone to check on CJ and Catey. After another chatty conversation with his daughter, Matt went for some coffee and then came back to hit his fire investigation books before going to bed.
The alarm on the phone by his head went off at 5:30AM. Matt sat up and began thinking through what he had planned for the day as he headed to the shower. After dressing and packing his bag, the PI checked out of the hotel, stopped by the Burger Nerd for a sausage biscuit and coffee, and then headed for the Inyo County Sheriff's Department Sub-Station, a small square building on the north side of town. A handful of cars were in the parking lot. Matt sat and ate his breakfast and by the time he had finished his biscuit and was drinking the coffee, Wally Simmons pulled into the lot. Matt got out carrying his laptop case and met the detective in the parking lot.
"You're up bright and early." Simmons seemed somewhat surprised.
"Got work to do. How are ya?" Matt followed him inside the building and into a tiny office, the eyes of the two deputies at the front counter following him.
"Pretty good. Have a seat." Wally turned and hit the button for the coffee maker sitting on the window sill behind his desk. "Gotta make my own coffee. Those boys out there wouldn't know good coffee if it bit 'em in the butt." Both men chuckled. "So what can I do for you this morning?"
"I've got a couple of questions for you. First off, when do the workers at King's place come into town?"
"They usually come in on Saturday to shop and I've seen a couple of them head to church." He looked at his watch. "Mass isn't until 10:00."
"Okay." He thought for a minute. "I'm guessing they don't drive their own vehicles."
"Nope. Far as I can tell the only vehicles on the place belong to King and the foreman. But the employees use the Tahoe when they come to town."
"So King keeps a tight rein on everybody there it sounds like." Matt sipped coffee. "I'd like to put a tracking device on the Tahoe and I'd like to try to talk to the employees."
"I don't see a problem with the tracker but…" Simmons stopped. "Tú eresde Texas- apuesto aque usted hablaespañol,¿verdad?"
"Sí, desde la edad de cinco años." Matt laughed.
"Since you were five, huh? Let me guess: housekeeper?"
"Yep. She's still there and still makes the best fajitas going." He sat back and drank down the last of his coffee. "What do we know about the foreman? Is he a local?"
Wally nodded, leaning forward and hitting a few buttons on the keyboard. "Ramon Arino." He turned the monitor so that Matt could read for himself.
"Age 46, divorced…hmm, spent four years behind bars for assault and burglary…a real fine, upstanding citizen. So how did he and King get so friendly?"
"Ramon started hanging out with Loggenfelter while King was away at Berkley. They were big drinking buddies and used to go whoring up around Vegas. Then when King got back into town the three joined up and had a good time until Loggenfelter ended up doing his time. That's when King and Ramon got so chummy. They've been thick ever since." He turned to the pot of coffee that had just finished brewing. "Need a refill?"
"Sure." Matt popped the top off of the drive-thru cup and handed it to Wally. "Thanks." He took the cup back and popped the top back on as the detective filled his own mug. "Now that's some good coffee. You've sure got the Burger Nerd beat." Both men laughed.
Matt got quiet as he began thinking. "We need some way to get in there. Legally…" He leaned back in the chair and propped his ankle on his knee, thoughtfully drinking the warm brew. Suddenly the private eye snapped his fingers. "Does Arino have any kids?"
"Yeah."
"Does he pay child support?"
"We can find out." Simmons began working the keyboard. "He's supposed to, but guess who's about $8,000 in arrears?"
"There's our ticket into the estate." He grinned.
"Son of a gun." Simmons nodded his head. "So what's your plan?"
"Well, I reckon you'll need to get a warrant for him and that probably won't happen until tomorrow. When you have it, we can go in and while you're dealing with him and King, I'll try to slip around and plant some critters." Matt's statement was met with a questioning look.
"Critters?"
"Bugs. Tracking devices."
"That's just great, but that isn't in the county's budget."
"Maybe not, but we're going to plant some anyway." He reached into the laptop bag, removing a small box and took a tiny bit of electronic wizardry out of it, handing it over to Simmons.
"How in the world…this thing is…"
"Turn it over. See that little switch? Push it." Matt had a big smile on his face.
"Okay. Now what?"
Matt pulled out the laptop and hit a few keys. "Say cheese." He turned the computer so that Simmons could see.
"My God what an ugly mug." The cop cracked up. "If I wasn't so damn ugly I'd say that's a good picture. Wow." He nodded and handed it back to Matt who turned it off and closed the laptop. "So where did you get that thing?"
"I designed it – well, partially. I worked with Derwin Dunlap on a whole line of surveillance equipment. Those are our pride and joy."
"Derwin Dunlap…Holy crap." Wally sat back and took a sip of coffee, sizing up Matt. "You're a pretty sharp customer, Houston. That's some kind of impressive."
"Glad you think so." He put the critter back up. "So we put a critter on each vehicle and try to get one or two in the house." Matt drank more coffee. "But I'm worried. I'm a stranger in a small town and I'm hanging out with a cop. Word is likely to get around the longer I stay here."
"It is...but if you were to be staying somewhere outside of town, say in a private home, there wouldn't be too much talk, would there? I've got a spare room."
"I wouldn't want to put you out."
"Are you kidding? Tammy would kill for some company. She's been about to drive me crazy since our daughter left for school in San Francisco. Whadaya say?"
"You better ask first…I know my wife would like a little bit of a warning." Matt grinned.
"Alright…" Simmons dialed the phone and informed his wife of what he wanted. He gave Matt a thumbs up. "But you can't tell anybody, okay? We're trying to keep folks from finding out that he's here." Rolling his eyes, the detective laughed. "Yes, sweetie I promise. Okay, love you, too. 'Bye." He hung up. "It's a done deal and she is one happy lady."
"Okay. That's one less problem." Matt thoughtfully sipped coffee. "Do you know anything about the employees he has out there now?"
"Not much. But he must really like the housekeeper because she's been there longer than any of the others – about a year now. I've met her a couple of times here in town. Seems like a nice enough lady – about fifty or so, little bitty thing – not even five feet tall. She's at church every Sunday. I think we need to talk to her for sure."
"Does Arino keep an eye on her when she's in town?"
"Not anymore. He used to, but all she ever does is come into town to grocery shop for the estate on Saturdays and comes to church on Sundays."
"I wonder if we would be able to contact her before she went into the church?"
Wally considered the question. "Father Albertini is there now…we could go talk to him about it." He saw the questioning look on Matt's face. "He's okay – can't stand King so he would probably be willing to help us. Let's go pay him a visit."
They loaded up in Wally's SUV and drove about four blocks to the small church. There were a couple of cars in the parking lot and Wally parked toward the back. They entered through a small door located on the eastern side, both men removing their hats as they entered. Father Albertini saw the pair and greeted them. "Good morning!"
"Mornin', Padre. Could we have a word – privately?"
"Sure thing." He led them down the hall and opened the door to his office. "What can I do for you?"
"Father, this is Matt Houston – he's an advisor to the FBI." The two men shook hands. "We need your help." As Wally explained a little about what was going on, the priest's eyes got big.
"You've gotta be kidding me…I always knew he was evil, but…" He shook his head. "What can I do to help?"
"We need to talk to King's housekeeper."
"And she's here every Sunday." Albertini thought for a minute. "I'm sure you want to keep this quiet, right?"
"We do."
"Alright, I'll pass the message on to her and tell her to meet you in here, is that okay?"
"That would be great, Padre, thanks."
Matt and Wally had a seat and waited. Houston pulled out the laptop that he had brought in with him and began studying back over some of the files. King looked like the one and the PI just felt it in his gut. Glancing up to see that Wally was looking out of the window, Matt switched to the satellite program. He saw the Tahoe rolling down the driveway. Closing up the computer, he packed it into the case and stood up to stretch, catching Wally's attention. "She should be here in a few minutes." Matt walked around the office some trying to stretch his legs. He had been cooped up too much all week long.
"So how did you end up working for the FBI?"
The PI chuckled. "Not for them – with them for a change. This is the first time. I've been an advisor to the LAPD several years now, then worked with the ATF a while back, and the DEA, and the Coast Guard." He conveniently left out the Navy SEALs.
"Uh huh." Wally shook his head. "So when do you find time to work with Dunlap on that gear?" He pointed to the case.
Shrugging, Matt grinned. "It just all kinda falls into place – along with the video games and two ranches."
"You don't look like the gamer type."
"Not exactly – I work with Derwin on them. You know the Alien Armory series?"
"Yeah…you didn't?"
"Uh huh. It all started with a really weird dream I had one night." They both laughed.
"And two ranches…wow."
"Well, I can't take much credit for them anymore – I've got five cowboys working for me full time. Two here in California – it isn't a big place, and three more down in Texas. Now that one's getting pretty big. I've got 200 head right now with more due to be hitting the ground in about three months."
"Holy cow…"
"Wrong denomination, Wally." Both men cracked up as there was a knock on the door and Father Albertini came in with a tiny wisp of a woman who appeared to be in her fifties.
"Señores, esto es Mirta Zúñiga."
"Es un placer conocerte." Matt extended his hand and the petite housekeeper shook it gingerly.
"Yo también." The detective noticed that she was trembling as they shook hands and she saw the badge hanging on his belt. "No tienes nada que temer - sólo tenemos que hacerle unas cuantas preguntas, ¿de acuerdo?"
Mirta nodded shyly. Matt offered her a chair and leaned against Father Albertini's desk as he spoke to her in her native tongue. "First off, you aren't in any trouble, okay?" He gave her a reassuring smile.
"Sí." She looked nervously between the two men and then at the priest.
"We need some information about your employer. Do you think you can help us?"
"No!" She jumped up out of the chair.
Wally took her by the arm. "Just hear us out, okay? And if you don't want to help all you have to do is say so – but at least hear what we want. Is that fair?" She didn't answer but sat back down.
Without revealing too much, Matt asked her about the other buildings on the property and if she had seen anything odd or suspicious. A look of fear crept into her eyes.
"There is a barn, but no animals. And there is a large garage, but it isn't used for the vehicles."
"Do you know what it's used for?" Matt spoke quietly.
"No, we aren't allowed anywhere near it. The gardener has a small shed where the tools are kept and I never leave the house except to sit on the patio in the back sometimes in the evenings…or when I come to town to shop or come here." She paused, seemingly unsure if she should volunteer anything else. "I have heard from others who have worked there in the past that there is some kind of machinery in the garage. Like a pump or something. Sometimes when Sr. King returns from a trip he stays there until late at night and you can hear the machinery running." Shivering, she looked at Father Albertini. "I know nothing else. May I go please?" The priest looked between the two men.
"Un momento, por favor." Matt knelt down in front of her. "How long have you worked for Sr. King?"
"Eighteen months or so."
"He keeps you there longer than the others. Why?"
She gave a grim smile. "He likes my cooking."
"Please don't say anything about this meeting – okay?" He slipped her one of his cards. "If you have something else to tell us or you need help call this number here." He pointed to the cell phone number.
"Está bien. Muchas gracias." She stood up and the priest escorted her back out to the sanctuary.
Waiting until the door was closed, Matt blew out a breath. "That poor woman is scared to death of him. Can you imagine what it's like to live for a year and half with someone that scares the hell out of you?" He began pacing back and forth across the office.
"I don't think we're going to be able to get anything done until tomorrow, Houston." The deputy headed for the door. "How about we go on to the house? I only came in this morning to check up on you and see if anything had changed since last night." Matt nodded and the pair left the same way they had come in.
The trip out to Wally Simmons' home took about twenty minutes, most of which Matt spent on the phone to CJ updating her about what they had learned and where he would be staying.
"Hon, I know you're aggravated about not being able to get to this guy until tomorrow, but is there something else wrong?"
"Yeah – I'm pissed because I want to be home right now instead of chasing some jackass who likes to collect bones around the freakin' Mojave Desert."
"Sweetie, calm down, okay? Think of it like this: you're probably going to have a good time this afternoon hanging out with Wally. He sounds like a nice guy. Just relax and enjoy yourself for a little while and then tomorrow you can probably critter him." She used his favorite term. "And you might be able to come on home after that. Even if you need to stay a little longer it's okay: we understand." She waited but he didn't say anything. "Okay?"
"Yeah, I guess so." He still wasn't happy but she could tell she had at least calmed him down a little bit.
"Oh, I've got some good news for you. The truck that you ordered for Vince is right on schedule."
"Good." He thought for a minute. "You know, maybe I should talk to Michael about it before I drop the truck on him – so to speak." They both laughed. "It might not be a good idea from the department's point of view, you know?"
"That's true. How do you want to handle it?"
"Well, it's already ordered. If he tells me he can't accept it we could send it to the ranch in Texas."
"That sounds like a good idea. I've got a feeling that you're going to need some more help down there before much longer, hon."
"Yeah, Marty and I were talking about that over Thanksgiving. He's started looking around for another good hand. We're just gonna add them as we need 'em." He sighed. "I miss you, Babe."
"But that's good in a way, right? 'Cause when you get back home..." She used a sultry voice to speak the last part.
"See – now that's part of the problem..." He laughed.
"I'll be here waiting for you, Cowboy. You know that."
"Yeah. Guess I better get off of here and pay attention to where I'm going. Love you, CJ."
"Love you, too...and be ready, you might just get a surprise tonight." She hung up the phone and left him hanging on the other end of the line wondering just what in the hell she meant.