LAW & ORDER – TO CATCH A KILLER – PART V As told by Michael: The heavy metal door slammed closed behind Michael as he escorted Amber to the booking station within the Island County Jail. The ride to the facility had been quiet. Amber had remained steely-eyed, her gaze unwavering with defiance. The pair was soon joined by a jailer. “Put her in an interview room,” Michael directed. “I want to check something out before I book her.” The jailer did as requested. Meanwhile Michael borrowed the Jail Sergeant’s office to make a couple of phone calls. A few minutes later, the door to Amber’s cell opened and Michael stepped in. He purposely wore a grave expression. It caught Amber’s attention and for the first time her hardened demeanor began to waver. In the preceding minutes, Michael had learned little about the stolen gun; taken during a burglary in Compton, CA about a year prior. That aside, Michael’s plan was to make Amber think differently. It was his turn to use his street smarts. Michael took a seat directly across from Amber, their faces now feet apart. His eyes bore into hers. She blinked. Michael had his opening. He drew a deep breath, waited then said, “I just got off the phone with your Parole Officer.” Michael was lying. “She’s going to revoke you. You’re on your way back to the joint.” Amber slumped in disbelief. “It’s the gun.” Michael continued convincingly. “I don’t know anything about it,” Amber pleaded. “Doesn’t matter, you’re a convicted felon, any gun in your home is a first class ticket back to the joint!” Amber’s eyes welled up. Panic set in. “I won’t ever get to see my kids.” Michael nodded and waited patiently to see if his gambit would yield fruit. He could see Amber’s mind churning and he wagered that her sense of self-preservation would override any loyalties to the three men. Finally, Amber leaned forward. “Okay, what do I got to do to make this all go away?” “The dudes,” Michael intoned. “Who are they?” Amber gritted her teeth. “I walk if I talk?” Michael nodded. Amber drew a deep breath. “I don’t know the Mexican. He calls himself Pablo. The other two are, well…they’re my cousins, Sean and Billy. They just showed up this morning up from L.A.” Michael pulled out a pen and small spiral notebook from inside his jacket. “Their full names?” Amber hesitated. “Promise, they’re not going to know I told you, they’ll kill me.” Michael vowed he wouldn’t. Amber drew a deep breath, let it go slowly and in a barely audible voice provided her cousin’s full names and approximate year of birth. Michael scribbled the information down. When finished he said, “Let me check this out. Be back in a bit.” Michael rose and rang for the jailer. Shortly, he was back in the Jail Sergeant’s office and on the phone with a dispatcher. She took the names and ran them through the nationwide criminal information system. After a few moments, she said with disappointment, “Sorry, no records on either of them.” For Michael, that indicated Amber was lying. Everyone in Amber’s social circle had a record! Michael returned to the interview room. He parted the door. Amber’s head was down, buried in her folded arms. She was sobbing. “Okay, let’s try it again.” He said sternly. Amber looked up. “I told you the truth,” she blathered. Michael eyes narrowed. “I’ll give you one more try, that’s it, who are they?” There was silence. Michael was about to close the door when Amber mumbled, “Alright, alright, Sean and Billy use their stepdad’s last name it’s spelt like this…” Michael departed. Moments later, he was back on the line with the dispatcher. This time there was a hit. The phone nearly fell from his hand. “You’re certain,” Michael breathed. “Did the older one have a large tattoo of a black widow spider on his neck right below his left ear?” Michael reflected. “Yeah, he did.” “I’ll send all the information to the booking station. Good luck detective!” Michael dashed to the nearby printer and waited nervously. He wanted to see it for himself. Besides several arrest warrants from various agencies in East L.A. for burglary, armed robbery and assault, there was a new one just issued for Sean. The last convenience store he and Billy had robbed had gone bad. A clerk and several customers shot, all with the same caliber of pistol as the one still in Michael’s car trunk. Sadly, one of the victims had not survived the encounter. The arrest warrant now printing out into Michael’s waiting hand was for Murder in the 1st Degree.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 05:00:03 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015