No offence Intended - Barbara Seranella Read online

  "I can't tell you how long I've wanted to do that," she said. "He really was an asshole, wasn't he?"

  "Put your hands over your heads," came an almost hysterical scream. Men in dark parkas and ski masks streamed out of the surrounding woodlands. One of them jerked Munch's hands behind her and then pushed her to the ground. Another found Roxanne in the pickup. He dragged her out and dumped her next to Munch. Deb received the same treatment.

  Blackstone pushed his way into the melee and pulled Munch to her feet. "You all right?" he asked, brushing her off.

  "Yeah, I'm fine."

  Agents cuffed Tux where he lay and dragged him off, still unconscious. Deb and Roxanne were shoved against the front of the pickup. "Hey go easy" Blackstone said. "Save it for the guys up there." He pointed up the hill.

  Moody emerged from the sleeper portion of the cab carrying four burlap bags. He opened one and pulled out a stack of bills.

  Claire Donavon, in full SWAT attire, jogged up the road. "I'll take those," she said. She motioned for two similarly dressed agents to take over. "Thank you for your help."

  "Sure, darlin'," he said.

  She walked over to Blackstone, casting a wary glance at Munch. "What's the situation?"

  Munch told them both about the meth lab and how she'd disabled the weapons. "You got about I twenty guys up there," she said. "About six women. Everybody is pretty loaded. I don't see how they have anywhere to go, either."

  "All right," Claire said. "We'll set up a barricade at the bottom of the road and flush them out with chopper teams."

  "What about your informant?" Blackstone asked.

  "He'll just have to sit tight," Claire said. "What are you going to do now?"

  "I'm going to take a statement from Tuxford when he comes around and then I'm heading back home."

  "Will I see you in L.A.?" she asked.

  "Only when it can't be avoided," he said. He grabbed Munch's arm and led her to his sedan.

  "What are you grinning about?" he asked.

  "I'm just glad that part of it's over," she said. "Let's go get my baby"

  29

  "THE BABY IS over at Deb's neighbors house," Munch told Blackstone as they got on the highway. "Why don't we go over there now? It might take a little while for Tuxford to come around."

  She giggled, still high on adrenaline. "Wasn't Deb great?"

  "Yeah, she really came through for you."

  "What's going to happen to her now?"

  "Mo0dy's going to handle that part of the case. For tonight he's just going to question her and let her go. We'll both put in a good word for her in our reports."

  '"Thanks, I appreciate that."

  They pulled up in front of Stella's house. The TV was on in the front room. Just then, the door opened and Stella herself emerged. Her feet spilled out the sides of rubber flip-flops. Something squiggled inher massive arms, dwarfed by the flesh of her wobbling biceps. The bundle in her arms let out a familiar cry

  Munch ran to where the woman stood and held her arms out.

  "I can't get her quiet," Stella said, handing over the baby

  "She'll be all right now," Munch told her. Asia clutched her shirt with surprising strength.

  "You picking her up?"

  "Yeah, I sure am."

  '"The guy who dropped her off said he'd give me twenty dollars."

  Munch opened her wallet. She had exactly twenty dollars left. This fact shook her. Ruby always said that That Old Boy Upstairs gave you exactly what you needed and no more than you could handle. The exact change was one of the more definite signs that Munch had ever gotten from Him. He sure went to a lot of trouble to make His point.

  She handed over the money Stella returned to her television. Munch grabbed her duffel bag from Deb's house, leaving Boogie a note saying that she loved him.

  Munch, Blackstone, and Asia returned to Moody's house. Moody provided pillows and blankets. Munch slept on the couch with Asia nestled in her arms while Blackstone interrogated Tux.

  When she woke the following morning, Blackstone told her that he had booked them an earlier flight home and to collect her things.

  "What about the rest of the Jokers?" she asked.

  "They were taken into custody at three this morning. They've being shipped to Roseburg. That was the closest town with a big-enough jail."

  "Was anybody hurt?" she asked.

  Blackstone laughed. "The feds had their hands full getting half of them to wake up to be arrested."

  On the drive to the Medford airport, Munch held the baby in her lap. "How soon will I get the money?" she asked.

  "Within the week," he said. "Don't worry they won't screw us around."

  "Tell 'em I want my car back, too."

  "Already handled. It'll be waiting for you at the airport. What are you going to do now?"

  "You mean with the rest of my life or when we get back to L.A.?"

  "I meant your immediate plans."

  "I'm going to church."

  "To give thanks?" he asked.

  "Nah, I did that already I need to get this kid baptized." She didn't explain how a baptismal certificate was as valid a form of ID as a birth certificate. Or how to keep things simple, she planned to list herself as the mother.

  Blackstone smiled uncertainly "That's nice. I didn't know you were that way Religious, I mean."

  "There's probably a few things you don't know about me," she said.

  "I'm sure."

  She decided to keep him guessing.

  30

  BLACKSTONE WENT STRAIGHT to the hospital from the airport. Alex, he soon learned, had regained consciousness that morning and was alert and responsive. When Blackstone entered Alex's private room, he found his friend fast asleep.

  "Hang in there, buddy" he said quietly.

  Alex opened his eyes and studied his partner.

  "Who the fuck are you supposed to be?" he asked. "The Marlboro man?"

  "How do you feel?"

  "All right," Alex said. "Except there's this goddamn phone that rings all the time and then when you finally answer it, nobody's there."

  "You just get your rest, all right? Don't worry about anything else. It's all taken care of."

  "Hey Jigsaw."

  "Yeah?"

  "We got the guy am I right?"

  "That's right, buddy"

  "Tell me again. Who did what?"

  "Tuxford was the driver of the freeway hit on Garillo. Then Tuxford turned around and did his partner, Darnel Willis, after he saw the guy had gone crazy and was shooting cops."

  Alex's hand went to his bandage.

  "And this Willis guy was the sniper on the freeway am I right?"

  "You're getting the picture. He also did the couple in Venice, thinking he was popping Garillo."

  "And Willis hit Garillo, because Garillo was an informant."

  "But not really Tuxford and Willis were just led to believe that. The feds set Garillo up to divert suspicion from their real snitch."

  Alex brought his arms up in frustration, trailing wires and IV lines. "So who was that?"

  "Garillo's brother-in-law, James Slokum. And now Slokum, Lisa, and her kids have been relocated. You know how big the feds are on their protected witness program."

  "Yeah, all that cloak-and-dagger shit." Alex picked at a bandage on his hand. "So they knew these crazy shitheads had those weapons all that time and didn't stop them?"

  "That's the rub."

  Alex yawned. " think I need to sleep now, Jigsaw."

  "You do that, buddy"

  * * *

  The next day an article appeared in the Los Angeles Times—fourteen short lines on page twenty above an ad for the new Ford Station wagon:

  The FBI disclosed today following a month-long investigation, that a large cache of military weaponry stolen from the Kern County National Guard Armory was recovered. Large quantities of methamphetamine and marijuana were also confiscated in the early morning raid of the Gypsy Joker motorcycle gang's clubhouse
in southern Oregon. Working closely with the LAPD and the Josephine County Sheriff 's Department, the federal investigation discovered evidence that a member of the same smuggling ring of outlaw motorcyclists was responsible for the shooting death of felon Darnel Willis earlier this week in Venice Beach. Detective Alex Perez, also wounded in the shooting incident of October 24, is out of intensive care and doctors are guardedly optimistic that he will make a full recovery Blackstone clipped out the article and taped it to his wall. He noted that there was no mention of the cash.

  Epilogue

  THREE DAYS BEFORE Thanksgiving, Happy Jack told Munch that she had a visitor.

  She looked up from the tune-up she was performing on a Ford Pinto and saw Roxanne emerge from an aged but clean Buick.

  "What's up?" Munch asked.

  "I've got twenty days," Roxanne said.

  Munch saw her clarity of eye, the glow in her cheeks, and knew she was speaking the truth.

  "That's terrific."

  "I saw how good you were doing," Roxanne explained, "and I thought maybe that program of yours would work for me. I mean, if you could do it—" She stopped in midsentence, embarrassed.

  "It's okay" Munch assured her. " know what you mean. What happened up north after I left?"

  "The cops took us to jail. I was cut loose the next morning. Deb was charged with receiving stolen goods. She's got a new old man, by the way"

  "There's a surprise," Munch said.

  "Some con she met at the courthouse. He took her and Boogie to Belgium."

  "Belgium? Why Belgium?"

  "No extradition treaty."

  "I hope she makes it," Munch said. " hope we all do."

  Acknowledgments

  I'd like to thank all the police personnel—active, retired, and otherwise—for taking the time out of their ' busy schedules to assist me, with special mention to Deputy Mike Blackwood, Investigator Patricia Brookman, and Deputy Rick Simms of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Mike Walker, formerly of the LAPD and the Oregon Sheriff's Department, and Deputy Tom Rice of Joshephine County, Oregon.

  I am also deeply indebted to my agent Sandy Dijkstra, and her fine staff; my editors at HarperCollins, Carolyn Marino and Marjorie Braman; my publicist, Jackie Green; and the wonderful, supportive world of independent and mystery bookstores: Mysterious Bookshop West in Beverly Hills, Mysteries to Die For in Thousand Oaks, Mystery Annex/Small World Books in Venice Beach, Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego, Coffee, Tea, and Mystery Book Shoppe in Westminster, Dutton's Books in Brentwood, Mystery Ink in Laguna Beach, Book Carnival in Orange, Bay Books in Monterey, A Clean Well-Lighted Place in Cupertino, San Francisco Mystery Bookstore, Latitude 33 Bookshop in Laguna Beach, M is for Mystery in San Mateo, Village Books in Pacific Palisades, Little Professor Bookstore in Temecula, The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, and all the other privately owned and operated book merchants devoted to the written word, writers, and readers. Thank you for treating us all with respect.

  And lastly, to all the children I've had the honor to love and foster, in order of appearance: Jeremy Seth, Solo, Michera, Maryanne, Cameron, Jamie, Shannon, Carrie, and Savannah.