Team Manager 2: SPRINT!
Chapter 6
“STATE POLICE have an APB out on Tom Perkins,” Reg said as he came through Brisco’s door.
“On what grounds?” Brisco asked. They’d been watching Perkins’ movements for a week now and he’d visited nearly every town with more than 1,000 people in a six-county area. Brisco wanted to close the gap and make the arrest.
“Assault and attempted murder. That last could go to murder if the girl doesn’t survive.” Reg said. “Oh, and for speeding.”
“Who’s in charge?”
“Your old friend Tom Moran,” Reg said. Brisco reached for his phone and dialed Moran’s number. It was picked up in just a couple of rings.
“Isn’t Ames a little far from your usual segment?” Brisco demanded.
“Hello to you, too, Brisco. The State is my beat; I just spend more time around Bartley County these days. What’s up?”
“Trying to find out what your interest in Tom Perkins is. We’ve been observing him for a week.”
“No kidding? Where was your observer when he threw a girl out of his car in Bartley and sped out of town?”
“Christ! He was in Bartley?” Brisco covered the phone and turned to Reg. “Find Thomas.” Reg nodded and left the office. “What’s this about a girl?” he asked, returning to the phone. “Anyone we know?”
“She’s been mentioned, but not in any direct way. Name’s Carol Reston. But get this: He dumped her right in front of the Enders’ house,” Moran said.
“Those poor people,” Brisco moaned.
“More a lucky choice. The kid probably saved her life. What’s your interest?”
“We’ve had a guy watching Perkins for a week and tailing him. It looks like Perkins is the missing link between the suppliers and the dealers. Has quite a network spread out around the western part of the state. Did you see him?”
“Your man? If he was following Perkins, he was invisible.”
“I’m on my way to Bartley. I think I know someone who might be able to shed some light on why Perkins would have come to Bartley to dump a girl.”
“I’ll see you there. I have some questions of my own.”
If word got out that Perkins was wanted, his distribution network would go to ground and they’d never ferret them out. This had all depended on sweeping them all up at once. What a mess.
And where was Agent Thomas? Something wasn’t adding up and that made Brisco very nervous.
“We have errands and stuff and have to explain to Mom and Dad about last night. I’ll swing by at five to pick you up and we’ll go to the movie in Audubon, ’k?” Natalie went to the door and after a quick look around, Dennis snatched one of the boxes of condoms off the coffee table and handed it to her. She giggled and kissed him. “It’ll be under the front seat when we need one,” she whispered. The four girls left the house, Leanne to walk across the street to her own home and the Armors to get in the car. Dennis waved at them and went inside.
Neither Dot nor Peg had the day off and had left early enough that the five teens could fool around some more before the girls said they had to leave. What was exciting at night was even more so by day. Dennis had eaten Leanne while Natalie rode her face. No one bothered to muffle their orgasmic screams, though Roberta and Daniella were muffled in each other’s pussy as they sixty-nined. They managed quick showers with only a little fooling around and Dennis was surprised when Daniella joined him in the shower to suck him off.
After they’d left, he looked around the house and began cleaning and tidying. There were fewer overnight girls since basketball season ended and some of the housework wasn’t getting done. Dennis buckled in to do the laundry and run the vacuum. He looked at the remaining eight boxes of condoms and gathered them all up to put in his room. No one ever slept out in the living room when girls came over, so there was no sense having them out where everyone could count them. Dennis wondered when Amy had brought a box over and where she’d gotten them. He was sure the night of his birthday party, there had been only eight new boxes added to the one his mother gave him. He wondered if he should be wearing a condom when he pressed into either Brenda’s or Amy’s bottom.
He was folding laundry when Brenda called him.
“Hey, lover. How are you doing?” Dennis asked.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Brenda almost screamed. “I just found out what happened last night. That’s crazy.”
“I just didn’t have time to think, Bren. I punched the first number in my list and then I had to call 9-1-1. By the time we made it to bed, my phone was dead and I just didn’t think of calling anyone else that late at night.”
“So, you just slept with Natalie again,” Brenda sighed.
“Yeah. And Leanne and Roberta, and Daniella.”
“Gees! After doing both Amy and me until we passed out? Your dick must be ready to fall off!” Brenda laughed.
“Well, we didn’t everybody… you know.”
“Yeah, I know. Just remember we all love you and worry about you.”
“I suppose I’d better call Diane, Judith, and Rosie, huh?”
“And Lana. They all know now, but you should still call them and tell them you love them.”
“Lana?”
“Well, maybe just that you care about her,” Brenda said. “Anyway, that DEA agent called Amy this morning and found out she was here so he came by to visit.”
“Agent Brisco? Why was he in town?”
“He’s working with the State Police investigating what happened last night. They he wanted to know if we knew about a relationship between Tom and Carol. Of course, how could we not know with the way she’s always going on about it. Besides, we saw her topless in the front of his car with the Gang of Three. It was a real shock to find out she’d been dumped in front of your house.”
“Yeah. I can’t figure that out at all. I’m sure she wasn’t dumped there so I could save her. Who’d figure that I’d even try after basketball.”
“Well, that’s what I told Agent Brisco. Anybody who dumped her at your house had to figure you wouldn’t try to save her and you’d just watch her die. He was really interested in that because they think Tom was related to the drug bust in some way and that Amy might not be safe yet. He might even have gone to her house before he drove to yours,” Brenda gossiped.
“Wow! Have they caught him yet?”
“No. Not when the agent was here. He says he’s disappeared, which means we could all be in danger, including you.”
“Great. That’s just what we need. Are you and Amy okay?”
“Yes. We convinced her parents to let her spend the weekend with me. Maybe we’ll have another chance for the three of us to get together. That was really fun.”
“It was. I’m worried, though. With Amy not on the pill, I shouldn’t be fooling around with my cock down there. Maybe if she wants to play like that, I should wear a condom,” Dennis said.
“Oh. We didn’t make a big deal about it, but in the aftermath of the drug bust and running up to the tourney, I took Amy to Planned Parenthood in Des Moines. She got an implant like mine. She’s safe now,” Brenda said.
“Isn’t Planned Parenthood the abortion people?” Dennis asked.
“You, too?” Brenda sighed. “Less than three percent of what Planned Parenthood does is abortion. It’s still pretty much the only place where women can dependably get counseling, birth control, health exams, and pregnancy care. And in Iowa—at least right now—minors have full access to services without parental contact. Unless there is an abortion, in which case a parent or grandparent has to be notified. So please don’t go joining the idiots who claim Planned Parenthood is just an abortion clinic and that the government pays for abortions. It just isn’t true.”
“Gosh, Brenda. I didn’t mean to insult anyone. I didn’t know all that. Or maybe I didn’t listen closely enough in health when they did the sex ed talk.”
“Or it could be because Miss Niedermeyer whispers during that part of the class,” Brenda laughed. “She’s really old school when it comes to talking about that kind of thing, but believe me, if a girl is in need of help, she’s the first one they want to talk to.”
“So, anyway, that means Amy is on birth control. I’m relieved.”
“It’s also why there was a tenth box of condoms left on your table. Um… Are there still ten?”
“No. You know that. Natalie and I opened a box and have used a lot of them. And, um… she took a box to put in her car just in case we were on a date and suddenly needed one,” Dennis whispered.
“Smart thinking. There should be a box in my car and in Diane’s car in case of emergency. Not that anyone expects to use one there, but just in case.”
“I put them all in my bedroom instead of leaving them out on the table,” Dennis said.
“Where’d you put them?” Brenda asked. “Just in case we need to know.”
“In the top right drawer of my dresser,” he answered. “Along with all the girls’ panties from during basketball season.” Both laughed, said ‘I love you,’ and disconnected.
“This is Moran,” the trooper said as he answered his phone.
“Tom, it’s Ray. I think you should get out here to Sheriff Perkins’ house. We found the vehicle.” Trooper Ray Lenin had been assigned the sheriff’s house during the investigation as Moran continued to contact people known to associate with the younger Perkins. His visit with Carol Reston’s parents was disappointing. Parent. She lived with just her mother, a woman so vacuous Moran was concerned he would be sucked into her head by the vacuum. She’d listened, nodded, and said she would visit her daughter in the hospital. As soon as she had her makeup on. The rest of the conversation was unproductive.
“No sign of Perkins?” Moran asked the other trooper.
“Not exactly. We have an apparent suicide. The sheriff was in the car in an enclosed garage. The car was out of gas and the garage smelled of exhaust. And what we assume were the girl’s clothes were lying on the floor.”
“Thanks for calling me first,” Moran said. “I’m on my way. Call it in to the medical examiner.”
“You got it.”
Moran had intended to go visit the Enders family again to check up on them, but instead he turned on his lights and headed out into the country west of town.
By four in the afternoon, Brisco had given up hope. He and two FBI agents had made the circuit of the eighteen known dealers Perkins serviced. None of them was found. It was obvious that Perkins had notified them that the jig was up and they all fled. He turned from Coon Rapids to head back to Des Moines. His phone rang and he tapped his headset to answer.
“Brisco.”
“It’s Reg. I found Thomas. He’s dead, sir.”
“Fuck!” Brisco shouted. “Where are you?”
“In Ames at what was apparently his stakeout location. He was shot in the head. Tell me you know where Perkins is so I can go kill him.”
“Take it easy Reg. We aren’t the executioners. Call in the state medical examiner. I’ll call the FBI and get you cleanup so we don’t need to get local cops involved. I’m on my way.”
Federal cars seldom used emergency flashers, but Brisco carried a magnetic flashing light that he set on the roof of his car and changed his direction toward Ames.
As Reg was making his call, the APD was nearby, standing outside an apartment door with a warrant for the arrest of Tom Perkins. The apartment manager gave them a key and retreated to safety. Officers entered the room with weapons drawn and announced their presence.
“We are on-site,” Detective Jeffries said into his mike. “There appears to be no one here. In fact, the apartment is utterly cleaned out as if no one lived here at all.”
“Relaying information to the DCI. There is an agent down a block from you. Assistance has been dispatched. Proceed with the apartment search.”
Jeffries looked around as the officers made sure the apartment was clear. The apartment looked like it had been totally cleaned out and was ready to rent. Nonetheless, DCI dusted every possible surface in a vain attempt to collect prints.
Dennis’s mother had given him twenty dollars before his big date.
“You can’t be going out with girls and expect them to pay for everything,” Dot said. “This isn’t enough to go wild on, but it should pay for your movie and popcorn.”
“Thanks, Mom. We’re going over to Audubon for the movie at seven. It’s a ways over there and back, so we’ll try to be home by eleven,” Dennis answered. If they’d chosen to go to Ames for the movie, the twenty would scarcely have covered the movie. Tickets in Audubon were only four dollars.
“Well, try to be quiet and not disturb me when the two of you come in. Just go on to bed and I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Dennis paused and considered what she’d just said. “We’ll be quiet.” He caught his breath as he left the house to jump in Natalie’s car.
The movie was a thriller and the two kids hung onto each other as they watched the battle on screen. They never got around to the fun part of kissing during the movie. Natalie had bought burgers before the movie and Dennis bought the tickets and popcorn.
“We need to find cheaper things to do on dates,” Dennis said. “That was like thirty-five dollars. And I know you spent more than that when we went to Ames. It’s not fair to all be spending money on our dates. I just don’t have much. Brenda buys me shakes at PJ’s when we go out. Diane even paid for the dance ticket when we went last fall.”
“I know one thing,” Natalie said as she leaned across the console to kiss him. “Condoms only cost a dollar. We could go park.” There were lots of county roads with little or no traffic on them in Iowa. She kissed him again.
“Um… Nat, we don’t have to go park, you know.”
“What? Don’t you want…? Are you tired of me?” Natalie jumped to entirely the wrong conclusion.
“No, that’s not it! I do want you. I want you so much I get hard when we just hold hands. That’s not what I meant at all.”
“What did you mean?”
“I mean that when Mom said goodbye at the door this evening, she told me not to make too much noise when we come in tonight. We. Us. You and me. All we need to do is be quiet and go to my house. I mean, if you really want to make out and stuff.”
“Oh, yeah,” Natalie sighed as she kissed him again. “I want to go to your place to make out and get stuffed.”
Brisco had been ‘invited’ to attend the meeting at Department of Public Safety at the Capitol Complex in Des Moines. It made sense that the State Police and Division of Criminal Investigation had a larger meeting area than the DEA had in Des Moines. DEA division headquarters was in Omaha. Brisco had called in to the Special Agent in Charge immediately to report his man down and request additional resources which were promised the next day.
He walked into a room filled with familiar faces, all of whom had a stake in the current investigation. Trooper Tom Moran, with whom Brisco had worked on several occasions. The FBI Special Agent in Charge and Agent Leah Reichman, who were both present at the drug bust in Bartley and had taken custody of the children. Alan Lapinski, one of the DCI investigators. Leon Reisner, the state medical examiner. Detective Jeffries of the Ames Police Department. Various others who joined together to create a cross-departmental task force.
“We’re working this from several different angles,” Moran said to start the meeting after everyone was introduced. “The pieces seem disconnected at first, but all seem to point the same direction once we look at them together. From the State Police side, we were called to a scene in Bartley where an unconscious young woman was pushed from a car to lie naked in the street. She was found by a young man who had run-ins with her before, but acted quickly to save her life. We have the apparent suicide of the former sheriff of Bartley County in a closed garage. The interesting thing here was that the sheriff was holding a handgun, but apparently chose to asphyxiate himself rather than blowing his brains out. And the car was identified speeding out of Bartley shortly after the girl was thrown into the street. Agent Brisco?”
“Thanks, Trooper. From the DEA side, we had intelligence that tied one Tom Perkins, son of the deceased sheriff, to the drug bust in Bartley a few weeks ago. We had his apartment staked out and had followed him to eighteen different towns where we believe he had drug distribution points. This afternoon at three o’clock, the body of the agent on the stakeout was found with a bullet through the head. By that time, the Department of Public Safety had already issued a warrant for the arrest of Tom Perkins in association with the girl in Bartley. Detective?”
Jeffries looked at his notes and at the group. “Ames Police Department served the warrant on Tom Perkins’ believed residence and found it empty. Investigator Lapinski was called in. Alan?”
“We dusted the entire apartment and found it extraordinarily clean. No prints on any surface, no clothes in the closets, no food in the pantry or refrigerator. It was in ready-to-rent condition.”
They sat at the table looking at each other.
“And we have no lead on where this Tom Perkins is now?” the FBI SAC asked.
“He may have had an accomplice,” Moran said. “The car the sheriff was found in, that was speeding out of town, was his son’s. The girl’s clothes were also in it. He had a gun in his hand. To all appearances, it was the sheriff who drove Perkins’ car, shot the agent in Ames, dumped the girl in Bartley, and then committed suicide at his home in the country. No reason to pursue Tom Perkins for any of this.”
“You believe that?” Brisco asked.
“Not in a million years,” Moran said. “All very neat and tidy means someone set it up to look that way.”
“So where is Perkins now?” the SAC asked. Everyone was silent.
“If he’s trying to wrap up all the loose ends, he may try for the girl again,” Brisco said. “And there are others in Bartley who could provide testimony pointing to him. Notably, the boy who saved the girl’s life and two of his girlfriends. Let’s not forget there are two others arrested the night of the drug bust who are still alive. One is the Mexican kid helping with the delivery and the other is the local dealer who was wounded in the action.”
“Damn! The whole place is a powder keg. You guys need to find that Tom Perkins fellow,” Detective Jeffries said. It wasn’t his jurisdiction and he was in the clear. So he thought.
“We’d like to transfer surveillance of the Perkins place in Ames to the APD,” Moran said. “He could come back if he thinks the heat is off. He may have fled the state, which makes this an FBI matter.”
“We need forensics on the weapon the sheriff had to determine if it was the murder weapon used on the DEA agent. And an autopsy on the sheriff to see if he actually died of carbon monoxide poisoning,” Lapinski said.
“And we need to talk to the girl. She’s been awake but incoherent on and off today,” Moran said. They worked on dividing up the tasks and setting up a central clearing house for information as it was gathered. Very weary agents and investigators made their way home after the meeting.
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