Lady Justice and the Devil's Breath Read online

  Then he pointed to the two men in coveralls standing on either side of the cake with fire extinguishers. “It was a little more difficult getting permission to bring in the cake, but Captain Short gave us a hand there.”

  Needless to say, I was amazed.

  “Thanks, Dad,” I said, giving him a big hug.

  I had just wiped away a tear when my friends descended on me giving me hugs, handshakes, and good wishes.

  After a quick piece of cake, the lights flickered. It was almost time for the second act, and I still hadn’t been to the bathroom.

  I hurried into the men’s room and had just gotten underway when Jerry burst in.

  “Walt! They’re here!”

  “Who’s here?” I asked trying desperately to finish.

  “Them! The couple who drugged me! I saw them!”

  “Are you sure it was them?”

  “Absolutely! I’ll never forget that Clark Gable moustache and those Bette Davis eyes!”

  “Where were they?”

  “In line at the snack bar. I was going to get a drink to enjoy during the second half.”

  “Did they see you?”

  “They did. We just stood there staring at each other, then they took off and I came looking for you.”

  “Then we’d better hurry,” I said, zipping up. “Let’s find Ox, Kevin, and Judy.”

  As soon as we were together, Jerry breathlessly shared his encounter with the perps, complete with a description of what they were wearing.

  “If they recognized Jerry, they must know he’d get help,” I said. “Kevin, Ox, and Judy, why don’t you cover the exits. Jerry and I will go through the crowd and try to spot them. And Ox, call in for back up. If we find them we’ll need some help.”

  We split up, hoping we had caught a break. If we could get our hands on the elusive thieves, Jerry would be off the hook.

  Andre and Marcia stared in disbelief. The little man they had drugged at The Comedy Club was a mere ten feet away and looking right at them.

  It was obvious from his reaction that he recognized them.

  “What should we do?” Marcia wailed as Jerry took off looking for help. “There are security guards everywhere. How are we going to get out of here?”

  Andre looked around the lobby, spotted what he was looking for, and smiled. “Follow me,” he said. “I have a plan.”

  Marcia was shocked when she saw him pull a snub-nosed .38 from his waistband. “A gun! When did you get that?”

  “A while back,” he replied. “What we’re doing is dangerous. I figured it might come in handy someday, and today is that day.”

  Marcia followed Andre as he approached two nuns in full habit.

  He slipped behind one of them and pressed the gun into her back. “You two come with me and no one will get hurt. If you call out, I’ll shoot you and probably several innocent bystanders. Do you understand?”

  The two nuns nodded and went quietly with Andre and Marcia to a storeroom behind the snack bar.

  Within minutes, Kevin had alerted the security guards, giving them a description of the perps. In the distance I heard the wail of sirens. Now all we had to do was find the two.

  Since the intermission was over, there was a line of people re-entering the auditorium. We scanned the line, but no luck. I couldn’t believe they’d go back to their seats knowing they’d been spotted.

  At that moment, we heard a scream. It was coming from a store room behind the snack bar.

  We rushed to the room and found one of the women who worked behind the snack bar. She was obviously shaken.

  “What’s the problem?” I asked.

  She pointed into the room. Two women in their underwear were on the floor, bound and gagged.

  Once they were freed and covered up, they told us they were nuns and they’d been accosted at gunpoint by a man and woman, were led into the store room where they were forced to take off their habits.

  After tying them up, the two donned the habits and left.

  They had gotten away.

  The irony of the situation was that the purveyors of Devil’s Breath had made their escape disguised as handmaidens of God.

  CHAPTER 9

  Kevin was beside himself.

  “They walked right past me!” he moaned. “I even said, ‘Have a nice evening, Sisters.’ One of them said, ‘Bless you, my son,’ and made the sign of the cross. They were THAT close,” he said, holding up his hands.

  “Don’t beat yourself up,” Ox replied. “There was no way you could have known.”

  Nevertheless, we were all bummed that we let them slip through our fingers, especially Jerry. Since they got away, he was still on the hook.

  Except for that, it had been a marvelous birthday. I enjoyed my meal at Mel’s, the first half of the concert, and especially the surprise party which included a birthday serenade by my favorite vocal group.

  Unfortunately, we missed the second half of the concert. Everything was over by the time we gave our statements to the cops.

  I had one more surprise when we returned home.

  Maggie said, “Make yourself comfortable. I have a little something for you.”

  Not only was I surprised, I was a bit irritated as well.

  Early in our relationship, Maggie and I came to an agreement. We were both getting up in years and there was nothing either of us really needed, so we made a pact to not put pressure on either of us to find the perfect gift for birthdays, anniversaries, or Christmas. It had worked perfectly so far. While other couples were wracking their brains and scurrying around to buy just the right thing, we were spending that time enjoying each other’s company.

  A few moments later, Maggie emerged from the bedroom wearing the teddy she had worn on our honeymoon. Around her waist was a big red bow.

  “Think you can unwrap this, old-timer?” she asked seductively.

  “I’m certainly willing to give it a try,” I replied.

  Maggie had violated our agreement, but I forgave her.

  “That was too close,” Marcia said, as they left to rendezvous with Ramon. “I was scared to death.”

  “It was a bit dicey, for sure,” Andre replied, “but we got out.”

  “The problem is that the more of these we do, the greater the chance that we’ll be identified. No telling where we might run into the little funny guy again or Penny Adams or Angus Anderson or the guy at the loan company.”

  “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that too. Maybe we should get one more big score and hit the road.”

  “But what about Ramon and Carlos? Don’t forget what Carlos said about there being consequences for not cooperating.”

  “Yes, there is that. Let’s play it by ear and see what develops. One more thing. Let’s not tell Ramon about our narrow escape. We don’t want him thinking we are a liability.”

  Ramon was all smiles.

  “I hope the two of you are ready for a fantastic opportunity.”

  “Of course,” Andre replied. “What do you have for us?”

  “A chance to make more money than you ever dreamed of.”

  “We’re listening.”

  “A Brinks truck,” Ramon replied, handing Andre a sheet of paper. “An armored car. It will be carrying a cool half million.”

  “Hold on a minute,” Andre said, obviously alarmed. “Those guys are trained and they have guns!”

  “First of all,” Ramon replied. “It will only be one guy. In December of 2017, the Brinks company began experimenting with one-person routes, a cost saving measure. Second, the guard will be armed, but that’s of no consequence once he’s ingested the scopolamine.”

  “And just how are we to administer the drug to a trained guard?”

  “Look at the paper I handed you. The driver, Cory Malone, stops at Starbucks at 41st and Main every morning precisely at ten o’clock, and orders a caramel Frappuccino.”

  Andre was amazed. “How could you possibly know that?”

  “It’s my job to know th
ese things. That’s why Carlos pays me the big bucks. Can you handle this or not?”

  “Absolutely! We won’t let you down.”

  “For your sake, I hope not.”

  At ten minutes to ten, Andre ordered a Carmel Frappuccino and Marcia ordered an iced tea at the 41st and Main Starbucks. They found separate seats and waited patiently for the arrival of the Brinks truck.

  At exactly ten o’clock, the armored truck pulled into the Starbucks parking lot.

  Cory Malone got in line and when it was his turn, ordered his usual.

  The moment the barista called Cory’s name, Andre and Marcia made their move.

  Marcia moved directly behind the driver, having removed the lid from her iced tea. When Cory turned, he ran head-long into Marcia, sloshing the cold tea down the front of her blouse.

  “Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” Cory wailed. “I’m so clumsy. Let me help,” he said, setting his drink on a nearby table and reaching for a handful of napkins.

  “No, no, it’s my fault,” Marcia said, taking the napkins and blotting the tea. “I shouldn’t have been so close.”

  While Cory was distracted, Andre took the driver’s Frappuccino and replaced it with one spiked with scopolamine.

  “There that should do it,” Marcia said, wiping away the last drop of tea.

  “Again, I’m so sorry,” Cory said apologetically.

  “No harm done,” Marcia replied. “Have a nice day.”

  Marcia and Andre watched Cory return to his truck. He climbed inside, started the engine, and took a long drink of his Frappuccino.

  It was the last thing he remembered.

  I had just finished lunch and was thinking about taking a quick nap. I had never been a napper and in my younger years I had heard stories of old people settling in for a midday snooze. Back then, I thought it was funny. Now, not so much.

  I was heading to the bedroom when the phone rang.

  “Walt, Rocky here. They hit again.”

  “Another senior citizen?”

  “No, this time it was a Brinks truck.”

  “Holy crap! They took out two armed guards?”

  “Actually, it was only one. Brinks started experimenting with one guard routes several months ago.”

  “Still, a trained guard.”

  “They’re clever,” Rocky replied. “While the woman distracted the guard, her accomplice must have switched drinks and given the driver one laced with scopolamine. One minute he was in the Starbucks lot and the next thing he knew, he was in Loose Park a few blocks away and the truck was empty.”

  “How much did they get?”

  “A little over four hundred thousand.”

  “Good Lord!”

  “No kidding. I’d be willing to bet that Brinks will reconsider their one-man routes. It would have been very difficult to drug two guards at the same time.”

  “Let me guess, they left no evidence.”

  “Same as always. The spiked drink was gone and they left no prints.”

  This was disappointing news.

  Jerry’s trial was just a few days away and without the perps we still couldn’t prove that he was drugged.

  CHAPTER 10

  “Very nice,” Ramon said, counting the money. “Very nice indeed! Carlos will be pleased.”

  “I’m glad,” Andre replied. “I told you we could pull it off.”

  “Yes, you did. With this Brinks job, you now have more money than you’ve ever had before. Carlos said he would make you rich beyond your wildest dreams and he has kept his promise. Now it is time for you to keep your part of the bargain.”

  “I--- I don’t understand,” Andre replied, somewhat confused. “We’ve given you one third of each job.”

  “Yes, that’s well and good, but Carlos also said that you would be asked to perform special assignments from time to time. This is one of those times.”

  “What exactly does he want us to do?”

  “There is a very wealthy man, a friend of Senor Moreno. His wife is very ill. She is on dialysis and will soon die if she doesn’t receive a kidney transplant.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” Andre replied, “but what does that have to do with us?”

  “You are going to get her the kidney she needs.”

  Andre’s mouth dropped open. “A kidney! You must be kidding!”

  Ramon’s eyes narrowed. “Carlos Moreno doesn’t kid. The job is actually quite simple. We have found a matching donor. All you have to do is deliver him to a specified location. You will be well paid. Our client is paying $100,000. Your portion will be $25,000.”

  Marcia felt queasy. “It’s one thing to take a man’s money, but his kidney! That’s just not right!”

  Ramon smiled. “Think of it like this; the man has two of them. He only needs one to survive. By delivering this kidney, you are actually saving a life --- and getting paid very handsomely to do so.”

  “How will this work?” Andre asked.

  “The donor’s name is Art Fisher. He is a guard at one of the ritzy gated communities in Prairie Village. You will devise a plan to drug him with the scopolamine, then deliver him to an address I will give you. It’s that simple.”

  “When will this take place?”

  “Tonight. We will have a surgical team ready for your delivery. Once you have the donor secured, you will give me a call. That’s when I will give you the address. You will drop the donor at the door, ring a bell, and drive away.”

  “Why all the secrecy?”

  “As I said before, our client is a prominent man. The less you know, the better for everyone. Understand?”

  Andre nodded. “We’ll do our part.”

  “I thought you would,” Ramon replied, handing Andre a slip of paper. “Here is the address. Don’t let us down. Carlos would be very unhappy if we disappoint his friend. And trust me, you don’t want Carlos upset.”

  “I really hate this,” Marcia said as they drove to the Carriage Hills gated community.

  “I do too,” Andre replied, “but I see no way of getting out of it. Like Ramon said, the guy’s got two kidneys. He’ll live and so will this mystery woman.”

  “I suppose so. Do you have everything you need?”

  “I have six rolls of toilet paper. It will be dark soon. I’ll sneak in, TP one of the swanky houses, then make enough noise for the owners to hear me. Undoubtedly they’ll call security. You watch the guard shack, and when you see the guard leave, climb the gate and spike his coffee. I’ll meet you back at the car and we’ll take him as soon as he’s drugged.”

  “Okay but be careful. I’ll be waiting.”

  Marcia watched from a distance, and twenty minutes later she saw the guard answer the phone. Immediately, he climbed into a golf cart and headed up the hill. As soon as he was out of sight, Marcia climbed the low gate, slipped into the shack, and poured the powder into the guard’s thermos.

  A half hour later, Andre and Marcia watched the guard return to his post.

  “Damned kids!” Art Fisher muttered, retrieving a pen and clipboard. “Now I’ve got to write a report.”

  He grabbed his thermos, poured a cup of coffee, and took a long drink.

  That was the last thing he remembered.

  The next morning, I received a call from Ox.

  “You’d better sit down. This one is a doozy.”

  “They struck again?”

  “Yep, it looks that way.”

  “How much did they get this time?”

  “It’s not how much, but what.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “They drugged a guy and took his kidney.”

  “Jesus!”

  “I know. The guy was a guard at Carriage Hills, a gated community in Prairie Village. He got a call that some kids were tossing toilet paper all over a guy’s yard. He responded to the call. When he got back to the guard shack, he drank some coffee and it was lights out. When he woke up he was in the hospital.

  “911 received a call from a burner phone
. They found the guy on a bench a few blocks away from Research Hospital minus a kidney. He’s okay. It wasn’t a butcher job.”

  “I don’t suppose they left any clues.”

  “Not a one.”

  “Thanks for the call.”

  A few years ago, Kevin and I helped take down an organ trading ring. At least those guys paid the donor for his organ. All this poor schmuck got was spiked coffee, a scar on his side, and an unbelievable story to tell his grandkids.

  Rocky Winkler called Devil’s Breath the most dangerous drug in the world, and I was beginning to see why.

  Ramon handed Andre an envelope containing $25,000 in cash.

  “You did very well. Thanks to you, the woman is alive and well and can look forward to many more years with her husband. Carlos is pleased.”

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Andre replied. “I just hope the guard will be okay.”

  “He will. Our surgeon knows what he is doing. Now, since you accomplished that task so efficiently, Carlos has another special assignment for you.”

  Andre was skeptical. “What kind of assignment?”

  “Before I tell you, I must give you some background information. Your association with Carlos has involved the use of Devil’s Breath, but Carlos is an entrepreneur. He has investments in other areas as well.

  “One of those areas involves the export of marijuana from Columbia to the United States. This has been a very lucrative business for Carlos over the years but times have changed. Currently, nine states have legalized the recreational use of marijuana and twenty-nine states have legalized it for medical purposes. That has been bad for business.

  “Take Colorado for example. Before the law changed, Carlos had a thriving business in the state. Now it is next to nothing. The good citizens of Colorado may now go to dozens of dispensaries to buy their weed.”