| General Fiction posted September 12, 2010 | Chapters: |
3 4 -5- 6... 
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Dax and Lael Return to Scene of the Crime
A chapter in the book Redemption
The Plot Thickens
by bhogg
| Background Dax Connor was at the wrong place at the right time. He walked in on an attempted rape, but was able to subdue the two assailants. Returning to the scene,the two were found dead, both with gunshots to the head. Characters listed under author notes. |
Last Scene: "What you are telling me is that old man sitting in the car took out Jake and Donny without a gun?"
"Yes sir, that's the way it looks."
Bailey walked back over to the car that held Dax and Lael. Looking at Stanley he loudly said, "I want you to read Connor his rights and cuff him. He's under arrest for murder."
******************************************************************
No one moved for a moment. Sheriff Bailey's request to Stanley seemed strange to all.
Jimmy moved toward the Sheriff and putting his hand on his bicep, pulled him over to one side, out of earshot from the others.
"Sheriff, arresting Connor makes no sense at all. We have no evidence whatsoever to link him to the murder of those two. He came to our office on his own volition. "
"Damn it, Dent. Are you trying to tell me how to run this job now? I know you want my job, but I'm not ready to give it up yet."
"I'm not after your job at all. If I were, I'd just let you arrest him. The District Attorney, Charles Lucas, is already pissed at you. He suspects that you dropped the ball on the same two guys who are lying on that floor dead. He thinks you didn't do enough in getting a conviction for battery. If you walk a bogus murder charge in front of him, he's going to grab you by the throat and shake you like a rag doll."
"What makes you so all fire sure Connor didn't kill them? You know that the two dead guys were bad news, so it's just hard to believe he could take them down."
"Let's just say that I've gotten a bit more background on Connor than you. It doesn't surprise me at all that he took them down. Plus, if you arrest Connor, you have to arrest Lael at the same time. They are natural alibis for each other. Before you arrived, I did a visual check for gunpowder; none was evident. We then performed a formal exam with a DSR kit. It should be at GBI in Atlanta tomorrow, and I'll hear back in 48 hours. I'll bet you everything in my pocket that we will get a negative finding. Neither Dax nor Lael fired those shots."
Scowling, the Sheriff tried one more approach. "The two of them had a cell phone. Why didn't they just call you in?"
"That's a legitimate question, and one that I asked Connor on the way out here. He was concerned about Lael and wanted to get her far away from the scene. He was actually quite surprised that our little Lael is as resilient as she is. There are a lot of women who would still be huddled on the ground in a sense of shock."
Grumbling, the Sheriff turned to Stanley and cancelled his previous order. "Mr. Connor, just know that you should not have any plans to leave town until we've completed our investigation. If you don't have a place to stay, we can direct you to a local hotel, or if you want, we can put you in a cell for a couple of days."
With that, Lael loudly interjected, "Neither of those is going to happen! Dax can stay out at our place. We have an extra studio room off the barn."
"Ms. Jackson, I'm not sure that would be a good idea." It was almost like the Sheriff wanted Dax in Jail. "It's just you and your mama out there and you don't know this man at all."
"I know him well enough to know that without him, I'd probably be dead. We'll be fine, and I'm pretty sure that Jimmy wouldn't mind looking in on us."
A smiling Jimmy confirmed that he would. "Stanley, would you please run Dax and Lael out to the Jackson place? The Doc's just pulling up, and I've got to help on this crime scene. It will be late when we wrap all this up, so maybe I can visit with you for breakfast tomorrow."
Smiling back, Lael said, "Jimmy, you know you're welcome any time."
Dax noted more than just a smile between the two and remembered Jimmy's meeting with Lael at the steps of the sheriff's department. Just another part of his past training, behavior observation and analysis; something he was very good at. These two were beyond mere acquaintances.
Getting in to Stanley's car, they headed out to the Jackson place.
"Lael, I'm not being nosy, but when the Sheriff mentioned there were only your mom and yourself, does that mean there isn't a Mr. Jackson?"
"There is a Mr. Jackson. He is alive and well and practicing dentistry in Atlanta. He and my Mom parted ways about eight years ago. It was one of those situations where they just grew apart. To this day, they are still geniunely fond of one another, just not married. In fact, we keep the studio you will be staying in, primarily for my dad. He still visits. When I was younger, a lot more so, but still pretty often. He sends a generous check every month. Mom and I use very little of the money, so there is quite a nice nest egg out there.
"What do you and your mom do for a living?"
"I've been in and out of college, lately more out. Mom owns the newspaper company in town. It does pretty well. She has even won some contests for papers our size. Her editorials are occasionally picked up by the Atlanta or Macon papers. One of the reasons that I'm out of college right now is to help Mom some and just be around. The editorials she has written lately have gotten a lot of people angry. She has even gotten some nasty letters and phone calls.
"What's she writing about?"
"Mainly about drug problems in our town and in the county."
Stanley volunteered, "She has done a real service. In the sheriff's department, we see drug problems every day. The guy or gal on the street has no idea of what's going on. Lael's mom has been instrumental in focusing attention on a growing problem."
Dax took this in before commenting, "Both Jimmy and Lael have mentioned this guy Boudreaux. Is there a connect between he and the drug trade, and in particular, between he and the editorials in the paper."
Stanley hesitated before answering, "That might be something you and Lael want to talk about. I can't say much, because we do have some active investigations going on. If hypothetically, you were just to ask my opinion, I'd say Boudreaux is up to his ass in drugs. The paper hasn't mentioned any names, but the reading between the lines is pretty clear."
"Huh - up to his ass doesn't cover it." Lael was quick and biting on this response. "Mom's not to the point where she can name names, but yesterday's editorial did everything but. It had to do with the explosion of meth, speed, crank, chalk, cristy, or whatever else they are calling it these days. Where she has named names, is for some of the poor souls who have been affected. We've had two young teenagers who have recently died because of meth use. "
"What drives meth in a small town like Hurstville?"
Stanley had a quick reply, "Money. The street price for Methamphetamines is much lower than those for cocaine or heroin. It's safer for the dealer because it can be made locally, it doesn't have to be shipped in from anywhere. We've found Beavis and Butthead labs in car trunks and pick-up's and lab's in little old ladies garages. We bust them and they get re-built."
After pondering all this information for a moment, Dax turned to Lael as he said, "Maybe later, you can ask Jimmy to give you a bit more background on my past life. I used to work for the Government, and without getting into too many details, a lot of what I did was 'connect the dots'. We would take little snippets of information from different sources that alone might be nothing, but viewed together, paint a picture. Your situation here has all sorts of dots."
"I'll sure ask Jimmy, but I'm really confused on what you mean."
"O.K., let's talk through some of the points. The two guys who grabbed you were just found dead and they worked for Boudreaux. Your mom is writing exposes on drug trafficking in your town and county. While not mentioning him by name, there is an implicit understanding thatBoudreaux is involved. Maybe someone didn't want those two guys talking. It is quite possible that you were grabbed yesterday to get at your mom. It's also possible that she could be in danger. Are we close to your place?"
Covering her mouth and with a sharp intake of breath, Lael replied, "We're just pulling up!"
"Yes sir, that's the way it looks."
Bailey walked back over to the car that held Dax and Lael. Looking at Stanley he loudly said, "I want you to read Connor his rights and cuff him. He's under arrest for murder."
******************************************************************
No one moved for a moment. Sheriff Bailey's request to Stanley seemed strange to all.
Jimmy moved toward the Sheriff and putting his hand on his bicep, pulled him over to one side, out of earshot from the others.
"Sheriff, arresting Connor makes no sense at all. We have no evidence whatsoever to link him to the murder of those two. He came to our office on his own volition. "
"Damn it, Dent. Are you trying to tell me how to run this job now? I know you want my job, but I'm not ready to give it up yet."
"I'm not after your job at all. If I were, I'd just let you arrest him. The District Attorney, Charles Lucas, is already pissed at you. He suspects that you dropped the ball on the same two guys who are lying on that floor dead. He thinks you didn't do enough in getting a conviction for battery. If you walk a bogus murder charge in front of him, he's going to grab you by the throat and shake you like a rag doll."
"What makes you so all fire sure Connor didn't kill them? You know that the two dead guys were bad news, so it's just hard to believe he could take them down."
"Let's just say that I've gotten a bit more background on Connor than you. It doesn't surprise me at all that he took them down. Plus, if you arrest Connor, you have to arrest Lael at the same time. They are natural alibis for each other. Before you arrived, I did a visual check for gunpowder; none was evident. We then performed a formal exam with a DSR kit. It should be at GBI in Atlanta tomorrow, and I'll hear back in 48 hours. I'll bet you everything in my pocket that we will get a negative finding. Neither Dax nor Lael fired those shots."
Scowling, the Sheriff tried one more approach. "The two of them had a cell phone. Why didn't they just call you in?"
"That's a legitimate question, and one that I asked Connor on the way out here. He was concerned about Lael and wanted to get her far away from the scene. He was actually quite surprised that our little Lael is as resilient as she is. There are a lot of women who would still be huddled on the ground in a sense of shock."
Grumbling, the Sheriff turned to Stanley and cancelled his previous order. "Mr. Connor, just know that you should not have any plans to leave town until we've completed our investigation. If you don't have a place to stay, we can direct you to a local hotel, or if you want, we can put you in a cell for a couple of days."
With that, Lael loudly interjected, "Neither of those is going to happen! Dax can stay out at our place. We have an extra studio room off the barn."
"Ms. Jackson, I'm not sure that would be a good idea." It was almost like the Sheriff wanted Dax in Jail. "It's just you and your mama out there and you don't know this man at all."
"I know him well enough to know that without him, I'd probably be dead. We'll be fine, and I'm pretty sure that Jimmy wouldn't mind looking in on us."
A smiling Jimmy confirmed that he would. "Stanley, would you please run Dax and Lael out to the Jackson place? The Doc's just pulling up, and I've got to help on this crime scene. It will be late when we wrap all this up, so maybe I can visit with you for breakfast tomorrow."
Smiling back, Lael said, "Jimmy, you know you're welcome any time."
Dax noted more than just a smile between the two and remembered Jimmy's meeting with Lael at the steps of the sheriff's department. Just another part of his past training, behavior observation and analysis; something he was very good at. These two were beyond mere acquaintances.
Getting in to Stanley's car, they headed out to the Jackson place.
"Lael, I'm not being nosy, but when the Sheriff mentioned there were only your mom and yourself, does that mean there isn't a Mr. Jackson?"
"There is a Mr. Jackson. He is alive and well and practicing dentistry in Atlanta. He and my Mom parted ways about eight years ago. It was one of those situations where they just grew apart. To this day, they are still geniunely fond of one another, just not married. In fact, we keep the studio you will be staying in, primarily for my dad. He still visits. When I was younger, a lot more so, but still pretty often. He sends a generous check every month. Mom and I use very little of the money, so there is quite a nice nest egg out there.
"What do you and your mom do for a living?"
"I've been in and out of college, lately more out. Mom owns the newspaper company in town. It does pretty well. She has even won some contests for papers our size. Her editorials are occasionally picked up by the Atlanta or Macon papers. One of the reasons that I'm out of college right now is to help Mom some and just be around. The editorials she has written lately have gotten a lot of people angry. She has even gotten some nasty letters and phone calls.
"What's she writing about?"
"Mainly about drug problems in our town and in the county."
Stanley volunteered, "She has done a real service. In the sheriff's department, we see drug problems every day. The guy or gal on the street has no idea of what's going on. Lael's mom has been instrumental in focusing attention on a growing problem."
Dax took this in before commenting, "Both Jimmy and Lael have mentioned this guy Boudreaux. Is there a connect between he and the drug trade, and in particular, between he and the editorials in the paper."
Stanley hesitated before answering, "That might be something you and Lael want to talk about. I can't say much, because we do have some active investigations going on. If hypothetically, you were just to ask my opinion, I'd say Boudreaux is up to his ass in drugs. The paper hasn't mentioned any names, but the reading between the lines is pretty clear."
"Huh - up to his ass doesn't cover it." Lael was quick and biting on this response. "Mom's not to the point where she can name names, but yesterday's editorial did everything but. It had to do with the explosion of meth, speed, crank, chalk, cristy, or whatever else they are calling it these days. Where she has named names, is for some of the poor souls who have been affected. We've had two young teenagers who have recently died because of meth use. "
"What drives meth in a small town like Hurstville?"
Stanley had a quick reply, "Money. The street price for Methamphetamines is much lower than those for cocaine or heroin. It's safer for the dealer because it can be made locally, it doesn't have to be shipped in from anywhere. We've found Beavis and Butthead labs in car trunks and pick-up's and lab's in little old ladies garages. We bust them and they get re-built."
After pondering all this information for a moment, Dax turned to Lael as he said, "Maybe later, you can ask Jimmy to give you a bit more background on my past life. I used to work for the Government, and without getting into too many details, a lot of what I did was 'connect the dots'. We would take little snippets of information from different sources that alone might be nothing, but viewed together, paint a picture. Your situation here has all sorts of dots."
"I'll sure ask Jimmy, but I'm really confused on what you mean."
"O.K., let's talk through some of the points. The two guys who grabbed you were just found dead and they worked for Boudreaux. Your mom is writing exposes on drug trafficking in your town and county. While not mentioning him by name, there is an implicit understanding thatBoudreaux is involved. Maybe someone didn't want those two guys talking. It is quite possible that you were grabbed yesterday to get at your mom. It's also possible that she could be in danger. Are we close to your place?"
Covering her mouth and with a sharp intake of breath, Lael replied, "We're just pulling up!"
 Recognized |
List of Characters:
Dax Connor - medically retired from Secret Service
Lael Jackson - 20 year old lady that Dax rescued
Jimmy Dent - Deputy
Sheriff Bailey - Sheriff with some questionable background
Stanley Tate - Deputy
Boudreaux - Local drug kingpin
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. Dax Connor - medically retired from Secret Service
Lael Jackson - 20 year old lady that Dax rescued
Jimmy Dent - Deputy
Sheriff Bailey - Sheriff with some questionable background
Stanley Tate - Deputy
Boudreaux - Local drug kingpin
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