W. Griffin - The Last Witness

“And then it sank?” Payne said.

“After a few minutes. Meantime the inflatables moved in, the mule climbed out of the truck window, bloodied but okay, and they loaded him aboard. Then, as the pickup sank, the bundles started floating, and they grabbed them and motored back to grand ol’ Meh-hee-ko.”

“To wait and try again,” Payne said.

“And again and again. We have to hire a giant wrecker to come and recover all the vehicles. There’s no end to it.”

“Remarkable,” O’Hara said, then after a moment added, “Which just inspired me.”

He reached down to his feet and brought up his briefcase. He pulled out a small laptop and put it on the bar. After opening it, his fingers flew across the keyboard.

A couple of minutes later, he held out the computer to Washington.

“I am honoring our agreement that it’s off the record, Jason,” Mickey said. “But when you say that changes, this might help.”

Jason’s eyes went to the screen:

HOT HOT HOT — Proofread for typos only then IMMEDIATELY POST to website!!! -O’Hara

Breaking News. . Posted [[insert time stamp]]

Dog Stops Mule

Bust by Airport Police Nets a Million Dollars in Cocaine Hidden in Drug-Runner’s Luggage

A Philadelphia man returning today from a business trip in the Caribbean was arrested at Philadelphia International Airport after two kilograms of cocaine were found hidden in his luggage. The flight originated in Saint Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Calling the bust unsurprising, a police spokesman explained that baggage is constantly monitored at multiple levels for various types of contraband, from explosives to illegal drugs.

In this instance, the detection device was the nose of Molly, a two-year-old chocolate brown Labrador retriever. On a routine check of bags, Molly alerted on the suitcase containing the bricks of 100 percent pure cocaine powder estimated to have a street value of around one million dollars.

“In the last year Molly has sniffed out more than a thousand keys of marijuana, cocaine, and heroin. She has never had a false-positive,” the police spokesman said, referring to when a dog mistakenly indicates a suitcase as carrying illegal drugs or other contraband.

“The mule trying to smuggle the cocaine didn’t have a chance with this dog on the job,” the police spokesman added.

Police have not released the name of the man arrested. He now faces felony charges for possession with intent to distribute, which carries a mandatory four-year sentence.

More details to come.

— Michael J. O’Hara

Washington looked back at O’Hara.

“Good idea, Mickey. Do it, please.”

“What?” Payne said.

O’Hara turned the computer so Payne and Byrth could read it.

“It’s worth the chance,” Byrth then said. “Getting it in the news could help get Garvey off the hook with the bad guys. Whoever they are.”

“Then he’s back to dealing with going to jail,” Payne said. “I wonder how many innocent mules wind up serving time.”

“Or get whacked,” Washington put in.

Matt’s cell phone rang as Mickey, having quickly sent the drug bust article to be posted, was putting up his laptop computer.

When Matt saw the caller ID, he said, “Perfect,” then answered the phone with, “Hold that thought, Kerry. I need you to drop everything and punch up Philly News Now. Go to Breaking News, then ‘leak’ to every other news outlet in town the article on the drug bust that Mickey just posted there. Anyone asks why he got the scoop, blame me. Say I called them but their number was busy.”

“Matt-”

“Got it?”

“Got it, Matt. But-”

“But what, damn it?”

“We just got a couple units responding to a nine-one-one shots-fired call, on the scene at Mary’s House. Came in hours after Special Operations pulled their unmarked. Tony Harris is en route.”

“What scene? A homicide?”

Matt saw that that question caused eyes to turn to him.

“Almost. Two guys on a motorcycle shot up the place pretty good trying to take out one of the girl residents. Left a trail of nine-millimeter casings.”

“Anyone hurt?”

“Not this time,” Kerry said.

“What does that mean?”

“The shooters left a message-here, I’ll read it.”

After Kerry finished, Matt said, “What the hell? I’m guessing no word from Maggie?”

Eyes turned to him again.

“No. And there’s only thirty minutes until the hour is up. They have six girls unaccounted for. And the woman who is Maggie’s assistant, and witnessed the shooters on the motorcycle, sent an e-mail to Maggie and called her cell phone. It’s all she knows to do.”

Matt pulled the pen from his pocket, then stole Washington’s cocktail napkin. “Give me that phone number again.”

Kerry did, and added, “We are running it down. But dollars to doughnuts it comes up a go-phone dead end.”

Matt stared at the number. “Kerry, get word out right now that nobody calls or otherwise communicates with the number without my permission or Lieutenant Washington’s. Give whoever is in charge of the scene my number and instructions to call. And shoot me a copy of that note, please.”

“Done, Marshal. Last one first.”

Matt felt his phone vibrate.

The guy is good.

“And don’t forget to feed the drug bust article to the media, Kerry. Keep me posted.”

Matt broke off the call and went to pull up the image of the note left at Mary’s House. He found Rapier’s e-mail at the top of his in-box, right above an e-mail from Will McCain that was a forwarded e-mail of the one below it-Maggie’s reply to Matt.

“Shit!” he blurted. “How did I miss this?”

“What, Matthew?”

“Maggie answered my e-mail,” he said, as he opened her reply.

Matt saw that it had been sent almost a half hour earlier. He scanned through it, made a face as he shook his head in frustration, then opened the image she had attached.

“Huh,” he said. “Well, she appears to be okay. But she really is starting to piss me off with this control issue of hers.”

He forwarded it to Amanda- Maybe it will ease her mind, he thought-then he went to Kerry’s e-mail and opened the image of the greasy handwritten note.

He handed Jason the phone and said, “You were right. Again. They are connected. Looks like Maggie may be the last witness. But witness to what? To what was stolen? At least we have some idea as to motive.” He took a sip of his drink, lost in thought, then said, “But it doesn’t track that the same person who would professionally take out the Gonzalez girl with.22 rounds behind the ear would attempt pulling off a third-world assassination stunt with a motorcycle and a spray and pray of nine-millimeter.”

“And do not forget the note in the pizza box,” Washington said dryly, nodding as he looked at it all.

Then he passed Matt’s phone to Byrth, who then gave it to O’Hara.

“Congratulations, Michael,” Jason said, gesturing at the image that Maggie McCain sent as her proof of life. “You’re now part of the story the breaking details of which you have to sit on.”

O’Hara nodded thoughtfully as he handed the phone back to Payne.

Washington then said: “We need details back on both Mary’s House and the West Philadelphia Sanctuary.”

At the thought of another attack, Matt felt his temper flaring, and forced it back.

“That Sanctuary has at least twice as many residents as Mary’s,” he said, his tone frustrated. “It is going to be a helluva lot harder to secure-if we can find enough blue shirts available for however long it will take.”

He then rapidly replied to Maggie’s e-mail: “I have seen the note about blood on your hands. Who is this guy? He will kill again. You may be safe now, but that can change. And your girls are at grave risk. I need your help, Maggie. Call my cell phone now.”