Page 33 of Kevin's Destiny

“No, Sir, I’m here to discuss something with you.”

Before she started her tale, she told him he was on speaker, and who was with her. For the next hour, she and Kevin laid out what had happened in Seattle, and where things stood now.

“Where are these gang members now?” Tom asked.

“When I left Seattle two weeks ago, they were still sitting in jail. I have not been in contact with anyone since I moved. If youwant them, I have numbers, both personal cell phone and work, along with e-mail address for my former captain at Seattle PD, and the District Attorney in charge of the case.”

“Give them to me,” he said, and Kevin told him, having them repeated to him to make sure they were correct.

“Sir,” Yvonne said when it sounded like the call would end soon. “Mr. Lassiter would like to see if his ex-wife, the woman who allegedly killed Abby Strokes, the opportunity to be transferred to a Federal facility. This is the original case number for her file.”

“Mr. Lassiter, are you asking this to give your wife a free ride?”

“Ex, Sir, she is my ex-wife, and I have absolutely no feelings for her. I know she still has years left on her sentence, and I’m not advocating for it to be reduced. She needs to stay there, I’m only requesting the possibility, not written in gold, but the possibility of moving her, for two reasons.”

“What are they?”

“First and foremost, her life may be in danger. As much of a bitch Karen has been over the years, she doesn’t need to be killed while in prison.”

“The second reason?”

“I wouldn’t have said this about her in the past, but since going to prison she’s changed. She could be a wealth of information against the gang. Talk to Brooks, the District Attorney, when she told us why she took out Strokes, he recorded it, and he had everything she said verified. There wasn’t anything that didn’t turn out to be true.”

“Interesting,” Tom said. “Thank you for that. Let me read the file on her case first, before I contact my SSA in charge of this gang file.”

“Sir, when you read that file, your first instinct will be to think I’m lying to you. Karen was not, I repeat, not, a goodperson. That is why she’s sitting in jail right now. Since going in, she’s changed. I’m not saying she’s a perfect angel, God forbid that would ever happen, but I’m sure she would be willing to help you out if you ask. I can only say that if anyone goes to talk to her, that they don’t judge her by what they read of her past. Karen in that file is not the Karen in real life. Not anymore.”

“Okay, I’ll take that into consideration. If something happens that we need to get ahold of you?” He let the questions trail off and Yvonne jumped in.

“Call my cell phone.”

“Okay, thanks for the heads up. If these gangs are connected, then the people in Seattle might be our ticket to getting them wiped out, if not completely, then we can make some significant arrests to get the point across that they aren’t as untouchable as they think they are. I’m not saying it’s going to happen overnight, but it gives us a direction to head in. I know SSA Harmon has been frustrated with the leads drying up.”

“Thank you for hearing us out, Sir,” Yvonne said, and they hung up. “What now?” She asked into the silence after the call.

“Now, we dress our feet and I’ll give you a tour of New Double. I’m going to run across the road to my cabin in order to change my shoes, and I’ll meet you outside in ten minutes.”

“Deal,” she laughed as she rose, took care of their cups and nodded when he hurried out the front door.

CHAPTER 12

Kevin rushed overto his house, and after he kicked off his sneakers, he dressed his feet in his work boots, and because he could, he hurried into the bedroom, then into the bathroom. He practically screamed when he realized he hadn’t brushed his hair that morning and it was sticking up all over the place. He shook his head as he wet it down, combed it out, and then he studied his five o’clock shadow, debating whether he should shave it or not. He didn’t know how he felt about the gray coming in, but then again, he was damn near fifty years old, and he’d earned every single one of those gray hairs either from his job or marriage. He shrugged it off, put on deodorant, a little bit of aftershave, though he hadn’t shaved, and walked out of the door. He grinned when Yvonne came out of her door at the same time. They met in the middle of the road.

He lifted his arm and pointed. “Tony and Staci live there. I live here. The last cabin on your side is where Shay and Faith live, while Pedro and Myrna live beside them, then there is yours.” As he talked, they had walked toward the last two cabins, around a bend, and he saw her expression.

“What are those?”

“Bunktels.” He grinned at her shocked expression and took her into one. When she was done looking, she only had a confused look on her face.

“Why something like this?”

“Okay, think of it this way. Over at Broken Wheel, both adults and children come to use the horses for rehabilitation for whatever reason. Think of a ten-year-old child coming for six weeks. If you were the parent, would you want to stay in a hotel and drive in from Fool’s Gold or even Colorado Springs every day, then drive back every night? Or would you like your family to be able to stay with you, all together. The rooms are like a hotel room, but there’s privacy also in case another family is here.”

“Leaving the kitchen and living rooms common areas.”

“Correct. While we don’t have any rehabilitation services here, we’ll probably use the bunktels for any owners, trainers, or jockeys that come to look at the horses that will be for sale. It’s not written in blood, but it’s my understanding the cabins are for the workers of New Double.”

“And that’s who we’ll be doing the background checks on?”