Chapter Text
Joey thanked the nurses as they walked his wheelchair back into the main entrance of the hospital. Turning he saw his partner, Levon Lundy, sprinting toward Guthrie’s white Lexus.
“You’re letting Lundy drive your Lexus? Hell, you don’t let me drive it. Something has definitely changed here.”
“We got to know each other over the last week. I told him you belonged to me and no one else… and he could enjoy John who, by the way, is extremely happy living on Levon’s ranch”
LaFiamma watched two cars enter the parking lot and come to a stop in front and in back of the Lexus as Levon parked in the circle drive.
“Okay Lee! What the hell have you done now? We have the FBI and HPD’s Fraud detectives here.”
LaFiamma slowly got up from the wheelchair to greet the Assistant FBI Director with a handshake and a slap on the shoulder. “Okay, Franklin, what brought you out of your office on a nice day like this?”
Franklin Montgomery laughed. “For one, Samantha wants an update on your health. I am beginning to believe what she says about you. You are indestructible. I’m looking for Colonel Guthrie.”
“I’m Guthrie.”
“I have a warrant for Nancy and Martin Chase. I was told they work for you.”
“I have employed Mr and Mrs Chase for three years. I couldn’t get along without them.”
“Well, for one. They are brother and sister not husband and wife. Two, they have worked for you the longest of anyone who has hired them. And three, everyone who has hired them has died of arsenic poisoning within days after they leave town…and all bank accounts were emptied. We have warrants for pre-meditated murder and embezzlement.”
“Hand me your phone!” Joey barked sharply into Lee’s face. Shaky hands lifted it from a buttoned pocket.
Stepping away from the car, Joe speed dialed Devlin.
“It’s Joey. Don’t say my name. Go into a secure area and let me know when you’re there.”
“We were just leaving the hospital when the FBI arrived. Nancy and Martin Chase are wanted for murder and embezzlement. Box up whatever she has put in the break room. All their victims died of arsenic poisoning. Get Amy, Jesu and Carter on the bank accounts now! Any employee that has given Martin access to their funds had better call their bank. Tell Hulk to get his robotic mouse up on the Chase’s floor and then call them to say that animal that Nancy mentioned has been seen and to stay in their apartment. The FBI is on the way and we are right behind them.”
“She brought in a big cake with fancy frosting; am on my way back there now. Hulk is here. I’ll alert him. Fraud detectives were here earlier. Your realtor is a scammer. They want to set up a sting.”
“Yeah, they are here too. I’ll have them follow us back. Have someone met us at the security gate. I want Guthrie and Lundy kept away from the take down. And Devlin, I want everything you can find on 1935 Iris Lane.”
“You got it. Take it easy on the Colonel; he’s been worried sick about you.”
Joey walked back to the car and tossed Lee’s phone back to him. “Tell Levon to move over, I’m driving.”
Walking around the front of the Lexus, LaFiamma looked at one of the detectives. Then he stopped and stepped up close so only the two Houston Police detectives could hear him.
“You pay someone off, Hanson. Levon gets fired but you and your buddies still keep their jobs. How does that work?” LaFiamma growled low in his throat.
“We don’t make porn films….”
“Look up ‘Quentin Browning’ online. You’ll see all kinds of things he and his photographer friend have filmed. Five of you were also at that bachelor party for that rodeo star,” Joe ground out as two faces stared back at him.
“Walker’s bachelor party? That’s what that was?” One detective gasped his face going white.
“Shit!”
-=-=-=-=-
“Joseph! What are you doing?” Lee growled as Joe tapped the bumper against the security gate.
“Just seeing if anyone is awake, Lulu. Don’t get yourself in a funk.”
“Joey! Boy, are we glad to see you!” A hunk of man said as he bent low to see who was in the car.
“Jimmy. Behind us are two FBI agents. Be sure you scan in their ID. They have a van coming too. Make sure the guys in the back of the van are scanned also.”
“Behind the FBI are a couple of Houston officers. They were here earlier. Smart mouths,” Jimmy said.
“Yeah. Scan them in and have someone escort them to Guthrie’s office on the first floor.”
“Joe, you sure you want them in the Colonel’s office. It’s kind of a tribute to you, man.”
Joe looked at Lee who just shrugged.
“What’s there?” Joey questioned.
“You shaking hands with the President. Guthrie’s team and you. You sitting in a chopper signing with someone. And one that says triplets…”
“Triplets are me, Allan and Tony. Not a problem. Escort them there and be sure they stay. Don’t want them involved in the FBI take down.”
-=-=-=-=-
Nancy Chase slowly opened her apartment door only to have it pulled from her hand.
“NANCY! Stay inside!” Hulk bellowed. “That rodent you told us about … it’s on this floor. If it gets in there we’ll never find it.”
Nancy Chase leaned against the back of the door staring at her brother. “I’ll be so damn glad to get out of this place.”
Minutes later the all clear came. Nancy and Martin opened the door and stepped into the hall to see a metal cage being carried into the elevator. They never noticed the four men on their right.
“Nancy Chase. Martin Chase. FBI! You’re under arrest for premeditated murder and embezzlement.” Agent Montgomery barked as he motioned his CSI team into the apartment.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” Martin yelled. “YOU CAN’T GO IN THERE WITHOUT A WARRANT!”
“Actually they can,” Joey answered quietly. “The same as the manager of my apartment let you in. For security purposes, Guthrie, Devlin or I can go into any living quarters here. However, we do have a warrant and I will be glad to get it for you.”
Franklin walked with LaFiamma to the elevator. “Joey. It will take hours to get…”
“Frank… I have a special judge who will do it in a matter of minutes,” Joe responded with a grin.
“I do not want to lose this case.”
“You won’t.”
-=-=-=-=-
Joseph walked into the main hub of computers and was accosted by Lundy, Guthrie and Devlin. He pushed them all aside and went to one cube in particular. Bending down he explained what he wanted to a young man in a wheelchair. He watched as Thomas talked to a man on the phone explaining what was needed and why. Joe grinned as he walked to the fax machine and put in white brochure paper. Two copies were printed out - one official, one a copy.
“Thanks, Tommy. Dinner’s on me.” Joey said with a smile.
“Hey. We’re both glad you stepped in and got me this job.” Thomas replied with a grin.
“Hey. Just because your legs don’t work, doesn’t mean your brain is dead. More people need to realize that.”
-=-=-=-
Upstairs Martin Chase was refusing to let the FBI into the apartment. Handcuffed and belligerent, he was standing his ground.
Everything stopped as LaFiamma stepped off the elevator with a folded piece of paper in his hand. Walking briskly towards Franklin, Joey couldn’t keep the grin off his face.
Agent Montgomery took what he hoped was a warrant, opened it and read it aloud to Martin Chase. Then he ordered the Chases to be transported to ‘the dungeon’ at the Federal Building.
Once CSI was in the apartment and The Chases were gone, Franklin tapped the warrant on Joe’s shoulder saying, “You want to tell me how you got this in less than ten minutes.”
Joey just grinned at the man.
“Joe. This is a legal document. I’ve never known a warrant to be issued this fast.”
“Last year Godfrey’s favorite nephew was in a bad accident. He was top in his class in Computer Science at Rice. Graduated with honors but nobody would hire him because he’s in a wheelchair. I talked to Annie Hartung about him. She said some companies were under the impression that your brain died if you couldn’t walk and talk. I told Guthrie to hire him. He’s been here a month. Exceptional young man. I played pool with Godfrey at Chicken’s once. After Thomas was hired, the judge called me. Said if I ever needed anything on the spur of the moment to give him a call. This is the first time I’ve called him.”
“Hell! I sure am glad you’re on our side.” Franklin rasped, shaking his head as he walked back to his team.
-=-=-=-
Joey stripped off his clothes as he walked through Guthrie’s bedroom toward the bathroom and the large glass shower. As the hot water cascaded down his back he finally began to relax. All the tension of the jungle trip, the pain of the lizard’s tongue, and the hospital washed off him and disappeared down the drain. He wasn’t really conscious of anything until the water suddenly stopped.
LaFiamma tensed and turned to meet the person who dared to disrupt him.
“I believe the doctor gave you orders not to get that wet,” Guthrie said tightly.
“He said no soaking in a tub. Showers were okay…”
“Showers were okay if they were quick!”
“Want to join me?”
“Yes. No! We don’t have time.” Colonel Guthrie muttered as his lover stepped out of the glassed-in shower.
“I know you were worried about me Lee. Everything you and Levon talked about… everything the twins talked about I absorbed.” Joey answered quietly, lifting his lover’s chin up.
“You know I will never leave you… not willingly. Since the first time I took you in that shower, I knew you were my lifetime love. That will never change, Lee. Not ever,” Joey purred.
“I brought the information on that house up. It’s on the bed. You’re not going to like it. We’re trying to track down the trustee that controls it. The owner disappeared fifteen years ago, shortly after his wife and her brother disappeared.”
Grabbing a large bath towel off a warming rack, Joey walked into their master bedroom as he dried himself off. “I’ll get dressed and we’ll look at it. But first I need to call on my apartment. All Martin did was bring clothes from the bedroom. Nothing was brought from the kitchen or the laundry room which is where my Marine uniform is hanging.”
-=-=-=
“Joey! I’m so glad you called. I was on vacation when this Mr Chase came. He didn’t have any of the proper paperwork.”
“Sandy. I never gave him permission to do that. Besides according to my contract you need thirty days written notice…I”
“Don’t worry, we haven’t rented it. I did put a bunch of mail from your box on the kitchen counter. When I saw all your kitchen stuff still there and your uniform, I almost called the police on him. Then I heard you were in the hospital, so I just thought I’d wait to hear from you. So glad you are going to stay. I already got the automatic payment for this month, so I knew that guy was in the wrong.”
“He was definitely in the wrong, and he’s just been arrested. I’ll swing by later today and pick up the mail. Thanks Sandy.”
-=-=-=-
Joey dropped the phone back onto the charging stand and turned his full attention to his lover.
“Joseph! We don’t have time. You have detectives waiting….” Guthrie rasped hoarsely as the towel dropped on the bed and he saw his lover’s full blown hard-on.
“In front of the urinal, Colonel. Drop your pants. It will be like the first time I took you.” LaFiamma answered, his eyes dark.
Colonel Leland Guthrie obeyed immediately. He always did as his lover commanded. Ever since that fateful day when Lieutenant Joseph LaFiamma did a strip tease in the middle of the Commons at Quantico, Guthrie knew that man would be his. What Lee didn’t realize was the bedroom was the one place that Guthrie would never ever be in charge.
The orders were rasped tight into his ears. ”One hand on the wall, the other on your cock. Work it hard. HARDER … Guthrie!”
Using his thumbs, the Italian stallion spread the cheeks in front of him and plunged his rock hard cock into the wet warm enclosure.
Joseph mumbled words in Italian that Lee didn’t understand but the electric charge that went through him with every thrust of his lover shattered all the stress of the last month.
-=-=-=-=-
Dressed in black TBC cargo pants and shirt, LaFiamma paused for just a minute to observe his half naked lover asleep on their king-sized bed. He picked up the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign and hung it on a small hook on the door as he gently closed the door and headed to the elevator.
Speed reading the papers on the Iris Lane house, the Italian suddenly gasped and barked into the camera that was overhead. “THOMAS! PULL UP THIS ADDRESS IN CHICAGO! I’ll be right there.”
Minutes later he walked into the security command center where men and women in cubicles hovered over a computer doing research or checking on businesses that TBC kept safe.
Devlin looked at the closing door and was surprised when Colonel Guthrie didn’t enter.
Quietly, Joey said to Devlin only, “He’s sleeping. He was exhausted. Do not disturb him.”
“Who are you?” Devlin questioned.
A smile spread across Joseph LaFiamma’s face. “I am the man who invaded the Colonel’s shower at Quantico. An Italian Stallion is always in charge of his bedroom.”
Still staring into Devlin’s blue-grey eyes, Joe rasped, “Let me know if you are in need…I would love to see you get rid of all the prickly things that keep you so uptight.”
“JOEY! I’M PUTTING THE TWO HOUSES UP ON THE MONITOR. OH MY GOD THEY ARE BOTH THE SAME!” Thomas shouted.
Asking no one in particular, Joe questioned, “Is there a monitor in Guthrie’s office?”
“Yes.”
“Wait!” Thomas shouted. “Here is a picture of the man who is listed as the Trustee of the property. It says he used to be a Chicago cop.”
Joseph Anthony LaFiamma stared hate filled eyes at the dirty cop who killed his father. Swearing in Italian, German, French and a few others, caused several men to stand and look at him.
“That stinking bastard killed my father!” Joey’s voice was laced with venom. ”I was eight years old. He and his partner walked into our house and dragged my dad through the kitchen into the garage. I was home with the flu. I watched this cop pull a weapon and fire point blank into my father’s chest. When my Dad spit at him, the cop raised the gun and shot him in the head.”
Turning to Devlin, speaking in a voice even he himself didn’t recognize, Joe rasped, “You better have some guys go with me to this house. If I see him I will kill him with my bare hands and then I will throw him in Garbanzo's piranha tank.”
Half the room erupted with the word, “PIRANHA!”
-=-=--=
“Can those detectives come up here? We’re going to need back up going into that house.” Joe asked, before shooting off questions to others.
“Amy! Do some research on missing kids or people in this area? What is the terrain like? Are there any ponds around? “
“Thomas. How long has this house been empty? Is this cop supposed to be checking and how often?”
Devlin lightly touched Joe’s shoulder. “You want to tell us what is going on?”
“Get those cops up here, and I will explain everything. But do not disturb Guthrie.”
-=-=-=-
The two Houston detectives were bitching at Lundy as they walked through the double doors into the command center of the Texas Bond Company. One look at what was going on shut them up immediately.
Devlin directed the two men to chairs near Guthrie’s office.
Lundy walked up to Joe who was standing on an elevated platform using a laser pointer.
“Shouldn’t Lee be here?” Levon asked as his partner stared down at him.
Stepping down, Joe motioned Lundy into Lee’s glassed in office.
“Lee is asleep upstairs. He was exhausted. We pushed a heavy pace in that South American jungle. He is not to be disturbed. I don’t care if he sleeps for ten hours or two. I do not want him disturbed until he wakes up naturally.” Joe remarked gruffly.
“LaFiamma. Guthrie owns this whole damn place. We work for him. How can you just walk in here and take over?” Lundy growled not understanding why LaFiamma was suddenly in charge. As cops, the Northerner was never in charge.
“You were never in the military, were you?” LaFiamma quizzed.
“No.”
“Then you wouldn’t understand,” Joey replied his hand on the door knob.
Swallowing hard, the Italian said something that he’d held back for five years. “As cops you always figured you were the boss because this is Texas and you are a born and bred Texan. That’s not how it works in this place, Levon.”
In typical Texas fashion Lundy pushed past his partner. He stormed through the Command Center and pushed through the double doors.
Devlin jogged after him catching him before he reached the elevators. “Lundy! Do not disturb the Colonel!”
“Guthrie owns this place! How can you just let Joey walk in and take over?” Levon growled. “We’re just hired help.”
Devlin blinked. “You don’t get it, do you? Maybe because you have no clue how the military chain of command works. If the Colonel is unavailable, the next officer of rank is in charge. That would be Captain LaFiamma.”
“He said he was a Lieutenant.”
“He was promoted to Captain when he returned from their rescue mission. It’s probably in his mailbox at his apartment. Still, the rank doesn’t matter. Guthrie brought Joseph on as a full partner. Either man can be in charge. Guthrie hasn’t slept more than two hours a night since Joey collapsed. Let him sleep.”
“And if I don’t?” Levon growled.
“Then I can guarantee you will not have a partner when you return with the Colonel.” That said, Devlin did an about face and walked back to the Command Center.
-=-=-=-
It was quiet when Devlin returned to the Command Center. Joey was on his cell setting up an appointment to meet Ms. Davis and the seller. There were four images on the big screen – the house in Houston, the house in Chicago, a room with an odd looking pool table and a backyard that encompassed a small pond.
Walking up to Hulk, Devlin asked for an update.
“The house on the right is Joey’s grandmother’s house. Built by this Garbanzo guy.as a wedding present for them. But her father nixed the deal because she was promised to someone else when she was twelve. Can you imagine that? He got pissed off and left town building the exact replica down here. In Chicago, he sold exotic fish. Had a tank of piranha. Got mad at someone who came in the store and grabbed the man’s hand sticking in the tank. The guy lost two fingers up to the second knuckle in a flash. God, I can’t even imagine.”
“Devlin,” Joe’s voice was calm. “Did he go upstairs?”
“Yes. You want me to stop him?”
“Yes.”
Devlin smiled saying, “By the way Joseph, you’re a Captain now. Ordered by the President. You were the only one the wife would have trusted. It’s probably in your mailbox at your apartment.”
-=-=-=-
Captain Devlin Harding ran toward the stairwell. Taking the steps two at time he was up the four flights in minutes. There were only two apartments on the top floor and Guthrie’s was closest to the stairs.
Walking through the open door that had a DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging on it. Devlin headed for the bedroom. Arriving there he found Lundy about to grab the Colonel by the shoulders. Roughly grabbing the Texan, he swung the man around and practically threw him out the bedroom door.
“What about ‘do not disturb’ don’t you understand Lundy?” Devlin fiercely growled.
Pushing the man toward the living room and the front door, Devlin grabbed a paper and a marker off the small desk.
Levon watched the man write something on the paper and then take two pieces of tape off a scotch tape roll.
“Out the door, cowboy.”
The Texan looked at the sign.
“DO NOT DISTURB THE COLONEL
OR YOU WILL BE SHOT BY
CAPT LAFIAMMA !!
Devlin”
“Downstairs, let’s go.”
-=-=-=--
Okay,” Joe said, closing his phone. “We’re set up with Ms. Davis for two-thirty. Hopefully you can arrest her before the school buses invade the neighborhood.”
Joe glanced up to see Devlin and Lundy walk in. Levon looked unhappy. Devlin gave Joe a smile.
“Joey,” Amy called standing. “I have the name of two officers who have investigated the disappearance of several children in that area. Do you want me to call one of them? Maybe you need to.”
“What did you find out about Ms. Davis that the detectives haven’t told us?”
Amy looked at the two detectives and then back at Joey, a glint of humor in her eyes.
“She has done this scam in several cities in Texas. Numerous complaints about her and her husband. Her husband is always the Seller but also has impersonated a banker. Usually a small new bank looking for business. Jesu is tracking their bank deposits. They don’t seem to have any accounts outside the state. He said he’s tracking millions… in at least three separate banks.”
“Good work, guys!” Joey responded empathically.
Looking at Lundy, LaFiamma’s whole demeanor changed. “Levon, the detectives will fill you in. You’d best hang with them since you also met this woman. You can give them some insight about her.”
Changing back to investigative mode, Joey asked the group at large, “Who’s working on the Chicago cop?”
A young redheaded man stood up and looked at Joey. “That would be me. Carter. He goes by the name of Jefferson Barkley now. Retired down here from Chicago, though the Jefferson Barkley of Chicago that I found, that matches his description, died in the 1940’s which Hulk said is how elections are won up there.”
LaFiamma burst out laughing. “Yes. Many dead people vote two or three times in Cook County. That political machine has operated like that for years.”
Carter’s eyes went wide. “Wow. Well, he retired here because Garbonzill asked him to. Barkley was also a partner in the exotic fish store. I talked to Barkley’s secretary. It seems he travels a lot, visiting old friends around the country. He is supposed to check that house at least twice a month to make sure no one has tried to get in it. She was appalled to learn that some realtor has it listed for sale. She also has the building plans at the office. I asked her some questions. She said there was a huge exotic fish tank in the basement which is kind of a 1930’s speakeasy.”
“OH HELL!” LaFiamma growled loudly. “Amy, give me the name and number for the Cold Case detectives.”
-=-=-=-
LaFiamma stood in Guthrie’s glassed-in office talking to Lieutenant Jerry Anderson, the man in charge of HPD’s Cold Case division.
“Hell, Joe. Piranhas! Not the way I wanted to start my weekend.”
“Tell me about it. I got out of the hospital this morning and am supposed to be resting. This guy Barkley hasn’t checked in with his secretary in two months. She’s worried about him. There is an exotic fish tank in the basement. Over all these years it is sure to have leaks or even busted open. Anyone going down the stairs into the basement ….that might be the reason he is AWOL.”
“Okay. Harry has pulled up something we came across earlier. Four houses on that side of the street are not hooked up to city water. This means they could well have flesh eating fish in their toilets or even their septic tanks. What time are you meeting this so called realtor?”
“2:30…I’m sure she will be there before that, so I want to get there soon.”
“There is a pond back there. Kids have disappeared around there. We’ll call in the police chopper. Drop in some dye packs and frozen beef… if it disappears we will know we have a real problem.”
“Have him drop a dye pack in the backyard of that house. If that tank has leaked into the underwater system, we should be able to tell which houses are affected. Jerry…his missing trustee was a dirty cop in Chicago. Who knows what is in that fish tank?”
“Depending on what the dye shows us, we will probably have to evacuate the neighborhood. Especially that side of the street. Damn, Jerry. This could become a nightmare.”
“Joe. I think that is the understatement of the year. We’ll meet you out there a bit after two.”
-=-=-=-
Joe walked out of the office and straight to where Devlin was standing. Quietly, he said, “I’m going up to check on Guthrie. I don’t want him on site or involved in this… if we can help it.”
“What about Lundy?”
“He’s out of the loop on this, though I’m sure he’ll butt in because after all the house is on his ground – Texas.”
“I’m beginning to understand the frustration you had with him.”
-=-=-=-
Joseph quietly walked into the Colonel’s top floor apartment, grinning at the sign on the front door.
Pushing open the bedroom door, he surveyed the room walking around picking up clothes and the still damp bath towel.
Carefully opening one side of the bed, Joe whispered in his lover’s ear and the man rolled over taking the pillow in his arms with him. Deftly stripping Lee down to his shorts he pulled the blankets up.
“Sleep my love,” Joey whispered into Lee’s ear.
-=-=-=-
Walking toward the command center, Joe pulled his phone and called his brother. John was astonished to learn about Garbanzo and that there was a duplicate house here. John told him the horses were here from Illinois and everything was good.
“You want me to come in. Keep Levon out of your way?”
“How often were you in Grandma LaFiamma’s house? Do you have a key?”
“A key? You have a key?”John gasped surprised at that fact.
“I have a key and I know some things about her house no one else does. Hell, some of the things she told me, are coming back to haunt me.”
“Her mother was a gypsy. Did you know that?” John said quietly. “Grandma LaFiamma saw things no one else did.”
“You better stay where you are. If I could, I would send Levon home but he’ll want to butt in even though he knows nothing about the background of Garbanzo.”
“I can call him; tell him I need help here. God, Joey, do you think those fish are loose?”
“Better turn on your TV John. This is going to make worldwide news.”
=======
Devlin watched LaFiamma walk in and stop abruptly. The Italian’s eyes scanned the room taking in every single movement.
“ATTENTION! I want to thank everyone who has worked so diligently on this. This is just a toe hold on what is about to happen. I need everyone who has worked on this to print out their information so it can be given to the Cold Case detectives.”
“Hulk” Joe said as he continued to scan the room. “Suit up! You’re coming with me. Matthews, Lundy goes with you. Need you to get in there … arrest the woman and her husband and get out. Anderson and others will be coming in soon after.”
Lundy was dumbfounded. “Who the hell do you think you are? You’re not a cop anymore, LaFiamma. You can’t go charging around like some Chicago hothead! This is Texas, we…”
“Shut up, Levon!” Detective Hutchins barked. “We are all damn tired of you pulling your Texas card! LaFiamma’s in charge because he knows the people and the house. You’d walk in like you owned the damn place and probably get eaten alive and even after that you’d still be bitching. How the hell LaFiamma has stood being your partner for five years nobody on the whole damn force knows.”
Total silence fell over the room. No one said a word. It was the ringing of a phone in Guthrie’s office that pushed Joe to continue on his way.
“LaFiamma. Yes sir. Hang on, they are here.”
Walking to the doorway, Joe looked at Matthews. “It’s Captain Rice. Ms Davis and her husband are having a late lunch at that place called a Truck Shop near the mall on Hall. He wants them arrested away from the house. Take Levon. He knows who she is.”
Turning, the Italian walked back into the office closing the door behind him.
Picking up the phone, Joe listened intently as his former Division Commander told him the chopper had already dropped dye in the backyard and the pond. And the pond behind the Iris Lane house was connected to two others. Captain Rice also informed Joe that there was already one news chopper in the area.
Joe informed the man that he still carried a key to his Grandmother’s house and he believed that it would open the front door of this house. As he talked with Captain Rice, Joe realized that every room was decorated the same as the one in Chicago. Right down to the lemon drops in the purple frog dish.
-=-=-=-
Arriving at Iris Lane Joey did a slow roll through the police vehicles, noticing there was already an EMT unit halfway up the block.
“Looks like we got a victim already,.”
“Hey! That lady with the little boy is a chef at the Colonel’s favorite restaurant. She should be at work today,” Hulk remarked pointing towards the EMT vehicle.
“Let’s drive up there and turn around, face the other way in case we need a quick exit.”
-=-=-=-
“Ms Schroeder. What are you doin’ home today?” Hulk asked as Joe unlocked the tailgate to take out a bag.
“Got fired yesterday, Jamison.” The blonde answered. “Seems the owner doesn’t want anyone working there that has children.”
Jam-a-son? Joey mouthed to his friend.
“It’s my real name,” Hulk growled back.
LaFiamma laughed, then turned to move the other black bag in the back to the back seat.
“Why don’t you sit up here and read that?” Joey said lifting the five year old boy up into the back.
“And ma’am… why don’t you sit up here too. It will keep you out of EMT’s way.”
“They called for the coroner,” Irene Schroeder replied quietly. “Something bad was in her toilet.”
Hulk and Joe exchanged distressed looks. It was Hulk who said, “If she has it, ma’am, then you have it too. Good thing Ryan the Third didn’t investigate.”
“It’s deadly?
“Yes ma’am.”
“Hulk. Put the other bag in the front seat, then I have to open up the house. Ma’am. I need you to stay in this vehicle …no matter what happens. You understand?”
“You’re a military man, aren’t you?”
“I was, yes.”
“My husband’s in Kuwait. He was due home three months ago but the General in charge has gone nuts-oh. No one can leave and no one is allowed in.”
“Army?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the General name?”
“Killman…Killer…?”
“Keller?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
“I was a Marine, but yes, I’ve heard of him.”
-=-=-=-=-
As Joe and Hulk walked down to 1935 Iris Lane, Joey cell buzzed. “Yeah.”
“Just want you to know that you are on the air - CNN and local news.” Delvin informed Joe.
“Colonel still asleep? Good.”
-=-=-=-
LaFiamma stopped at the edge of the front walk. He looked at the CNN van with a camera on the roof and then over to the local FOX network SUV, nodding to a man he knew wearing a headset.
Joe’s eyes took in every aspect of the front of the house. The only difference from the one in Chicago was the garage.
Looking at the two men with Capt Rice, Joe asked, “Do you have the blueprints?”
“Hank Carleton. I was the architect that drew up the plans. Capt Rice says there is an identical house in Chicago.”
“The main part of the house is the same but the Chicago house does not have a garage or a room off the kitchen. What I also need to know if how you get into the basement and what kind of reinforcements were done there.”
“Well, the house was built first. It wasn’t until five or six years later that he called me to have the garage and the billiard room put on. Plus he wanted the basement extended. The addition to the basement is double thick concrete with a huge bullet proof type square in it. There is an opening in the pool table that looks down into that bullet proof square. There is a laundry room off the garage and stairway in there also that goes down to the basement.”
“Have you ever been down there?” Joey asked.
“No.” Came the curt reply.
“Any other odd things related to the basement?” Joe asked looking back at the garage.
“There is a slide…” Hank Carleton began.
“Slide?” Joe and Rice quipped in surprise.
“French doors opposite the pool table open wide into the room. Lock one door and open the other, some kind of a slide appears and goes right into the pool in the basement.” Carleton explained.
“The pool?” Rice questioned. “The bullet proof glass pool?”
“Yes.”
“Shit!” LaFiamma groaned. “That means Garbanzo could invite his ‘friends’ … ones he wanted to get rid of to come in the side entrance. Step on the slide and whoosh … dead in thirty seconds.”
“Dead? What are you talking about?” Hank Carleton asked looking from one man to the other.
Joey LaFiamma looked to the sky. Walked to the garage and looked inside at a red sports car. Turning back to the architect he quietly answered the man’s question.
“In Chicago, Mr. Garbanzo had an exotic fish store. His favorite tank of fish terrified everyone. He loved showing visitors these fish and what they could do to five pounds of frozen beef… in less than ten seconds. The fish in that tank were piranha.”
“P-P-Piranha?” Carleton gasped. His eyes rolled back as he fainted, barely being caught by his assistant and Capt. Rice.
Hulk was there in seconds ripping open a first aid bag as he sprinted from a police car with a paramedic behind him.
-=-=-=-=-
“Captain. Hulk and I are going to do a walk-through of the house only. Just to make sure we don’t have fish in the toilets and the sink.” Joe said pulling out his key chain and motioning Hulk away from the fallen architect.
As Joe pulled out his latex gloves, Hulk did the same.
“You want me to look in the toilet bowl only. They wouldn’t be able to get into the tank.”
“Yes. There is a main bathroom and a half bath by the kitchen,” Joey answered as his key opened the front door.
“Pull back the covers on the bed too. Just in case it is a water bed. This guy had some real quirks. I’m going to check the attic. I saw movement up there.”
The two men stepped into the living room and looked around.
“Wow! This is old stuff,” Hulk exclaimed. “Some of this is worth a lot of bucks.”
“Okay, the door to the attic is right….” LaFiamma gaped at the rug on the wall.
“Looks like someone doesn’t want us to go in the attic. Okay, big guy, let’s lift this thing off the wall and lay it … there should be a sitting room around on your left.”
Joey stared at the wall safe as Hulk laid the rug in the sitting room. When the big man walked down the hall toward the bedrooms Joe’s hand went up to the safe and tried the numbers that Grandma LaFiamma had taught him as a boy.
To the left 25….back to 10 … left again past 25 to 30 … open. Use the rack to pull out what is in the safe.
Joey was shocked when the safe opened. He then looked at the backscratcher hanging on the wall. A rake.
Unzipping a cargo pocket, he used the rack to pull out two bank passbooks and three letters. Then quietly closed the safe and spun the dial.
Grandma LaFiamma, I hope to hell this doesn’t get me in trouble.
“Hulk! I’m going in the attic.”
“Toilet bowl is clear. Tank too. Checking the bed.”
Joe eased open the attic door and slowly walked backwards up the stairs so he could see what was there,
“Good god!” In front of him were two people, a man and a woman. Each one was sitting in a rocking chair. Hands and feet tied to the chair. Each body was encased in a huge airtight plastic bag. The man’s head was down. Joe figured he probably never regained consciousness. The women’s eyes were wide open as was her mouth. Movement at the other side of the attic caught his attention and his slid on his butt down the stairs just as the shotgun blasted in his direction.
-=-=-=-=-=
At the Texas Bond Company, Devlin was just walking into Guthrie’s apartment when the Colonel bolted upright in bed screaming, ‘NOOOOOOOOOO! JOOOSEPH!”
Devlin Harding burst through the apartment and into the bedroom. “Colonel?”
“Joseph’s been shot. Shotgun….oh god!”
-=-=-=-=
Hulk came running as did Captain Rice. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?” They shouted in unison.
Joey gawked at them as he fumbled for his phone and speed dialed Devlin.
“Devlin.”
“Tell the Colonel I’m fine.”
“Tell him yourself!. He woke up screaming you just had your head shot off!”
“Colonel…” Joe listened to his lover rant. “Guthrie! If I had my head shot off, would I be talking to you now?”
“Yes sir. Hulk and I will be careful. By the way, I am hiring a new chef, though she doesn’t know it yet, and her family will need housing. Hulk will fill you in.”
Handing his phone to Jamison, Joe stood and motioned Rice back outside.
-==-=-
“WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED IN THERE? SOMEONE JUST SHOT THE WINDOW CASING TO SMITHEREENS!” Several people shouted as the two men walked outside.
The former Marine walked around the side of the house and looked at the shattered window. “Four more inches and I wouldn’t have had a forehead.”
“What’s up there?” Capt. Scott Randolph Rice questioned looking up at the splintered window frame.
Hulk jogged up to Joey with Joe’s phone extended out to the man. “It’s Dilly. He’s assembled your squad and they are on the perimeter. Saw what was happening on the news.”
“Dillard.” LaFiamma said tightly.
“Actually sir, the President called me. Then Guthrie called me. The President doesn’t want this to turn into a three ring circus and wants you to update him ASAP. What exactly do we have?”
“We have piranhas, Lieutenant. In the basement. In the backyard. In the pond and in the johns of three houses. Plus we have two corpses in the attic protected by a shotgun triggered by something on the stairs.”
“Shit!”
“My sentiments exactly.”
“I stopped by your apartment and picked up your day uniform. Pulled out your Captain bars that were peeking through an envelope and put them on. Our President wants these yahoos to know who you are… and he has given you permission to talk to the press.”
“What are you driving?”
“A big Humvee. Gabby painted it lavender. Stenciled on the side is “Fiamma Squad.”
LaFiamma rolled his eyes. “Okay. Get in here. We have work to do.”
-=-=-=-=-=
“Hulk. Need you to bring the Lexus down. I need to talk to Mrs. Schroeder. Then I want you to drive them to TBC. Call Guthrie and tell him to bring John in.”
“You want ME … to call Guthrie?! The meanest Marine Colonel that ever lived?”
“Yeah.”
“You got a death wish me, Joe?”
“Doesn’t he talk to any of the staff there?”
“Nancy and Martin. Devlin and a couple of others. Devlin relays most of his orders …and you are the only one in history that has ever…EVER shut him up and told him to back off.”
“Hmmm. Okay. Bring the Lexus down. Wait! What about the master bedroom bed?”
“It was a waterbed and it is full of creepy, crawly things that used to be alive. And I don’t even what to know what he used it for.” Hulk said backing up the driveway.
LaFiamma turned and looked into the confused faces of several police officers. Sighing heavily, Joe explained to Capt Rice and the others that the President was turning the house investigation over to him because of his connection to the house and the man.
“Really all that means is, I get to call on all the resources the city has to offer … which are the neighborhood cops that know the area. But also any other city or state resources that are needed. I’ve also been informed that we are on the air. Local news, CNN and who knows what up in the air.”