Path To Revenge
Chapter One
Nick and Ana had their legs outstretched in the exit row of the Alaska flight back to San Diego from Maui. Nick had foregone his usual Jack Daniels for a rum and tonic—to maintain an island ambience as long as possible. Their two-week vacation on Kaanapali Beach had rejuvenated Nick after his two-month trial against the heads of the Baja Norte Familia drug cartel. For those precious two weeks, he was able to shut out everything about the case—all the hard work it had taken him and his task force to secure the convictions against the cartel chiefs, not to mention the personally devastating demise of one of the co-defendants, Luis Hernandez-Lopez, by his own hand. Nick closed his eyes and thought of the sea turtles he cavorted with while snorkeling off Black Rock.
Ana gently shook Nick awake and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Back to reality. We’re about to land. Have I told you how much I love you? I could’ve stayed in paradise with you for another month, another year.”
“I was so close to calling in and saying we’re staying for another week. But, the sentencing is coming up and there are other things to take care of. I’m the lucky man who knows you love me.”
Nick reached for his phone in his stark, one-bedroom apartment in
Pacific Beach. “Who’s calling at this ungodly hour?”
“Nick, it’s me, Pepe. We need to talk.”
“I missed you, too, Pepe, but can’t it wait? I just flew in last night.”
“Bad news can’t wait. How about breakfast in an hour at our favorite diner? You can say hello to Maggie. I’ll get us a table in the corner away from people.”
“Sure, but you’re making me nervous. See you there.” Nick thought, It must be pretty bad—Pepe didn’t want to talk about it on the phone.
Nick walked into Shamrock’s and saw Maggie behind the cash register. Maggie ran around the counter and gave Nick a big hug. “Haven’t seen you for a while. I began to wonder with all that publicity about you being a hero for shooting that scumbag drug dealer that maybe you didn’t have time for my diner anymore.”
“Bite your tongue lass. I always have time for my favorite hostess at my favorite Irish eatery.” Grabbing his stomach with both hands, Nick continued, “I have to keep my belly happy.”
“That I can do for you. Coffee is already at your table. Pepe got here a few minutes ago.”
Nick walked towards Pepe looking at his face, trying to discern what was going on. Pepe looked distracted and way too solemn. “Pepe, what’s so important to get me out of bed on my first day back?”
“We can get to that. How was the trip? Did you run into a beautiful wahine who wanted to get to know me?”
“The trip was great. Our room was on the fifth floor, overlooking the grounds, the beach, seven miles of ocean and the island of Lanai. We had pina coladas on the balcony every evening, watching the sun set over Lanai. For the first few days, we never left the room. Ana even followed the routines of yoga classes on the lawn below from our balcony.”
“That good? Now you’re making me jealous.”
Nick’s demeanor changed. He became serious and sounded tentative. “What’s going on? Just tell me. Don’t sugarcoat it.”
“It isn’t good. You know that asshole Deputy DA Devers? The one you don’t get along with who runs Internal Investigations. Our office had to give your shooting review over to the District Attorney’s Office to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Devers took the bit in his mouth and is charging forward. An old friend of mine, an investigator in Devers’ unit, told me on the QT that there’s a witness to the shooting.”
“A witness? How is that possible? There was no one in the alley except me and Luis.”
“An elderly lady from a couple of buildings down was looking out her window. She told the investigators that Luis had his hands over his head when he was shot. She didn’t see a gun in his hand. As soon as she saw the shooting and Luis fall, she turned from the window to find her building’s super. She didn’t see me come out of the back door of the Purple Flamingo after the shooting.”
“Shit! Maybe I should just give it up. She saw it right. I killed that miserable son-of-a-bitch in cold blood.”
“Excuse me boss—don’t be a fuckin’ idiot. The only witness is a little old lady from a couple of buildings down. It happened so fast. She can’t be sure what she saw. Who knows what her eyesight is like? Don’t panic. We’ll get through it. You and I both know that Luis deserved to die.”
“You’re right. If anyone deserved to die, it was Luis. Ana almost died twice and Deputy Marshal Perkins did die from brain trauma and burns from the inferno that engulfed the safe house on his orders. Still, it wasn’t right for me to be Luis’ executioner.”
“Remember, we’re both committed to this. I put my ass on the line when I placed my throw down gun by Luis’ hand at the scene to make it look like self-defense. You come clean now and you and I’ll be sharing cells together.”
“I know there’s more than me at stake. I’d never front you out. But, if they decide to prosecute, I don’t know if I’ll fight it.”
“You’re talking crazy. You need some emotional support. Have you told Ana or Judy?”
“I’ve wanted to tell Ana. But, she’s an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent through and through. She is about as flexible when it comes to right and wrong as a piece of titanium. Everything is black or white to her. I don’t think she could handle the fact that I shot Luis when he was surrendering to me. Judy would handle it better. She sees the various shades of grey in life. Maybe it’s because she has seen all types and circumstances as an emergency room nurse. But, I just don’t see how I can broach the topic to her. ‘Judy, I know we’ve been separated for two years and you want to get a divorce, but something came up at work that I need to talk to you about.’”
“Okay. I see your point. However, you need to get it together. My buddy tells me that Devers wants to push this to the grand jury as soon as possible while it’s still hot and before office politics can play a role in derailing it.”
“Look Pepe. And I mean this. If Devers takes it to the grand jury for a criminal indictment, I want you to stay out of it. I already feel bad that you laid it on the line for me with the gun. I don’t want you to get up on the stand and commit perjury before the grand jury.”
“No promises boss, either way. You could be looking at a murder indictment.”
Path To Revenge
Chapter One
Nick and Ana had their legs outstretched in the exit row of the Alaska flight back to San Diego from Maui. Nick had foregone his usual Jack Daniels for a rum and tonic—to maintain an island ambience as long as possible. Their two-week vacation on Kaanapali Beach had rejuvenated Nick after his two-month trial against the heads of the Baja Norte Familia drug cartel. For those precious two weeks, he was able to shut out everything about the case—all the hard work it had taken him and his task force to secure the convictions against the cartel chiefs, not to mention the personally devastating demise of one of the co-defendants, Luis Hernandez-Lopez, by his own hand. Nick closed his eyes and thought of the sea turtles he cavorted with while snorkeling off Black Rock.
Ana gently shook Nick awake and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Back to reality. We’re about to land. Have I told you how much I love you? I could’ve stayed in paradise with you for another month, another year.”
“I was so close to calling in and saying we’re staying for another week. But, the sentencing is coming up and there are other things to take care of. I’m the lucky man who knows you love me.”
Nick reached for his phone in his stark, one-bedroom apartment in
Pacific Beach. “Who’s calling at this ungodly hour?”
“Nick, it’s me, Pepe. We need to talk.”
“I missed you, too, Pepe, but can’t it wait? I just flew in last night.”
“Bad news can’t wait. How about breakfast in an hour at our favorite diner? You can say hello to Maggie. I’ll get us a table in the corner away from people.”
“Sure, but you’re making me nervous. See you there.” Nick thought, It must be pretty bad—Pepe didn’t want to talk about it on the phone.
Nick walked into Shamrock’s and saw Maggie behind the cash register. Maggie ran around the counter and gave Nick a big hug. “Haven’t seen you for a while. I began to wonder with all that publicity about you being a hero for shooting that scumbag drug dealer that maybe you didn’t have time for my diner anymore.”
“Bite your tongue lass. I always have time for my favorite hostess at my favorite Irish eatery.” Grabbing his stomach with both hands, Nick continued, “I have to keep my belly happy.”
“That I can do for you. Coffee is already at your table. Pepe got here a few minutes ago.”
Nick walked towards Pepe looking at his face, trying to discern what was going on. Pepe looked distracted and way too solemn. “Pepe, what’s so important to get me out of bed on my first day back?”
“We can get to that. How was the trip? Did you run into a beautiful wahine who wanted to get to know me?”
“The trip was great. Our room was on the fifth floor, overlooking the grounds, the beach, seven miles of ocean and the island of Lanai. We had pina coladas on the balcony every evening, watching the sun set over Lanai. For the first few days, we never left the room. Ana even followed the routines of yoga classes on the lawn below from our balcony.”
“That good? Now you’re making me jealous.”
Nick’s demeanor changed. He became serious and sounded tentative. “What’s going on? Just tell me. Don’t sugarcoat it.”
“It isn’t good. You know that asshole Deputy DA Devers? The one you don’t get along with who runs Internal Investigations. Our office had to give your shooting review over to the District Attorney’s Office to avoid any appearance of impropriety. Devers took the bit in his mouth and is charging forward. An old friend of mine, an investigator in Devers’ unit, told me on the QT that there’s a witness to the shooting.”
“A witness? How is that possible? There was no one in the alley except me and Luis.”
“An elderly lady from a couple of buildings down was looking out her window. She told the investigators that Luis had his hands over his head when he was shot. She didn’t see a gun in his hand. As soon as she saw the shooting and Luis fall, she turned from the window to find her building’s super. She didn’t see me come out of the back door of the Purple Flamingo after the shooting.”
“Shit! Maybe I should just give it up. She saw it right. I killed that miserable son-of-a-bitch in cold blood.”
“Excuse me boss—don’t be a fuckin’ idiot. The only witness is a little old lady from a couple of buildings down. It happened so fast. She can’t be sure what she saw. Who knows what her eyesight is like? Don’t panic. We’ll get through it. You and I both know that Luis deserved to die.”
“You’re right. If anyone deserved to die, it was Luis. Ana almost died twice and Deputy Marshal Perkins did die from brain trauma and burns from the inferno that engulfed the safe house on his orders. Still, it wasn’t right for me to be Luis’ executioner.”
“Remember, we’re both committed to this. I put my ass on the line when I placed my throw down gun by Luis’ hand at the scene to make it look like self-defense. You come clean now and you and I’ll be sharing cells together.”
“I know there’s more than me at stake. I’d never front you out. But, if they decide to prosecute, I don’t know if I’ll fight it.”
“You’re talking crazy. You need some emotional support. Have you told Ana or Judy?”
“I’ve wanted to tell Ana. But, she’s an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent through and through. She is about as flexible when it comes to right and wrong as a piece of titanium. Everything is black or white to her. I don’t think she could handle the fact that I shot Luis when he was surrendering to me. Judy would handle it better. She sees the various shades of grey in life. Maybe it’s because she has seen all types and circumstances as an emergency room nurse. But, I just don’t see how I can broach the topic to her. ‘Judy, I know we’ve been separated for two years and you want to get a divorce, but something came up at work that I need to talk to you about.’”
“Okay. I see your point. However, you need to get it together. My buddy tells me that Devers wants to push this to the grand jury as soon as possible while it’s still hot and before office politics can play a role in derailing it.”
“Look Pepe. And I mean this. If Devers takes it to the grand jury for a criminal indictment, I want you to stay out of it. I already feel bad that you laid it on the line for me with the gun. I don’t want you to get up on the stand and commit perjury before the grand jury.”
“No promises boss, either way. You could be looking at a murder indictment.”