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CHAPTER 33
Pond sat across from Henry and Alex and smiled. She said she was prepared to offer immunity for Alex in the attack. She wanted to hear from Alex, however, what Dean had heard from Henry.
Alex repeated the story as she held her index finger to her lips. When he was finished, she set a leather satchel on the table and pulled out a folder. She set the satchel on the floor beside her feet and opened the folder. She flipped it around and slid it to Henry. It was a one-page document outlining the immunity in return for honest statements, including full details of his criminal activities and accomplices, and appearing as a witness.
Henry tapped at the line requiring Alex to appear as a witness. “I’m not a fan of this.”
Pond frowned. “It’s a requirement. You know we’re not going to let Alex sing to us and then not use it. You wouldn’t let that happen either, Henry.”
Henry patted his son’s shoulder. “You’ll have to testify.”
“You don’t understand who you’re dealing with. They won’t let me live long enough to testify.”
“We’ll provide protection until the trial’s over. I can ensure you will have a detail outside your home and work until then. Once the damage is done, I doubt they’ll do anything.”
“You doubt?” asked Henry.
“He’s not going into some witness protection program for cooking up meth for a local biker gang. A uniformed officer was killed.” She pointed a finger at Alex. “He is the one who started cooking meth. He’s not innocent in this. And I’m not going to treat him that way.”
Henry pursed his lips. Alex looked at his dad and back at Pond.
Henry sighed and nodded. “It’s the best you’re going to get. I suggest you sign it.”
Alex dropped his head in defeat, took the silver pen his father handed him, and signed the document. Henry pulled the folder and document over, gently pulled the pen from his son’s hand, and signed. He put the pen back in his pocket, flipped the folder around, and pushed it across the desk to his deputy. She signed and said, “Start.”
“Early last year, March I think, Sam Darwish, he’s with the Grim Devils, and me were sitting around drinking. I was having money issues at the time. Not enough. And I was getting ready to leave, but I was pretty far gone already. Anyways, I end up telling him why I couldn’t stay. He insists I do, that he’ll buy my beers. I thought, ‘Why not?’
“After a while, he tells me there’s a way I can make a lot of money fast. He says the Devils can pay me to cook crank for them. They’d finance me to set up, I make enough to pay off the loan, and then I can keep making and they’ll buy and I get the profits. So like I’m pretty far gone, and I wasn’t thinking. And I wake up at home. Head’s hurting. But there’s this paper bag next to my bed. It’s got ten thousand in cash. I don’t recall the night before well, but I remember Sam.
“I figure he’s down at the Devil’s garage and head down there before work. He’s there. He reminds me. I say I don’t want to. I mean, shit, I don’t want to be doing that. Sam says fine, but because I had the money some time, I owe interest on it. I know I’m screwed then. So that’s how I got into making crank. Stupid, I know, but shit, I didn’t have the money to pay them back. And Sam wasn’t talking like he’d really want it back anyways.
“I happened to know of a couple of buses out in the woods that were abandoned. Not very old, but not new. I think the old Pike family left them there a few years ago. Anyways, I cleaned them up a bit and started. They had some guy from California in one week, and he taught me. I think he taught a few others in the area too. They said that crank was the next great drug. And things went fine. Fine until two nights ago. Sam finds me at the Shambles and tells me he’s got it on good authority the cops are going to raid the place in the morning. He tells me to keep away.” Alex leaned back and raised his hands as if there were no more to tell.
Pond looked at Dean. “Detective?”
Dean nodded. “I’ve got a few questions. Let’s start with why did Sam just ask you to start cooking crank? Seems a bit of a stretch to ask the son of the DA to do this. At a bar.”
Alex pursed his lips and looked at his dad.
Henry sighed. “He’s family. Not close. A cousin of mine. Son of my uncle.” He scratched his chin. “He was also probably looking for leverage over me. Something he could use if the Devils got in trouble.”
“So you’ve been cooking meth, crank, for the Devils for a little over a year now?”
Alex nodded.
“And how’d Josh get involved?”
“I asked him. Told him I was in deep shit and needed his help. He was a good friend.”
“When did that happen?”
“Him helping me?”
“Yeah. When did he start helping you?”
Alex dropped his head and rubbed his temples with his right hand. “Must’ve been a month or two after I started. I knew I needed some help. So I asked him.”
“And he agreed?”
Alex shrugged with his eyebrows. “He’s a good friend.”
“Did you know what the Devils were planning after Sam told you to keep away?”
“No. No I didn’t.”
Guthrie took two steps away from the wall. “Why should I believe you?”
Henry looked at his son. Pond looked back at Guthrie and then at Alex. Alex rubbed his hands. “I don’t know. All I can tell you is that I didn’t. I didn’t have anything to do with it. I thought he was just warning me to keep away from the lab. Lay off. Like he did a few weeks ago. And then they told me the coast was clear.”
“A few weeks ago?” Dean leaned in.
Guthrie drifted back to the wall.
“Yeah,” said Alex.
“What do you mean? What happened a few weeks ago?”
“I got a call from Sam again—I mean the first time. He told me to keep away from the lab. The cops were interested in it and that he’d let me know when it was clear again.”
“When was this?”
“Sometime in March. I can’t remember.”
“And he called you back when it was all okay?”
“Yeah. A couple of days ago. Said, get back to it.”
Dean tapped his fingers on the table. “That’s it? He didn’t say anything more. Where’s he getting the information?”
Alex shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Dean leaned back. The Devils knew about the surveillance. Knew about the raid. How?
Pond said, “Detective, any more questions?”
Dean looked up. He had drifted into his own thoughts for a while. “Yeah, two more. Was Paul Zorn a party to any of your conversations with Sam?”
Alex said, “No.”
“And William Nimitz. Was he part of your work or was he doing something similar on his own?”
Henry put his hand in front of Alex. “Hold on. What’s Billy got to do with this?”
Pond narrowed one eye and looked at the detective.
Dean said, “If he was into something similar with the Devils, it might mean we have a motive for his killing.”
Alex shook his head. “All this time investigating Billy and you really have no clue who he was.” He tapped his fist on the table. “Billy wouldn’t touch drugs. Dude was turning all commie and shit. I couldn’t stand him anymore. Asshole—”
Henry raised his hand higher. “We’re not talking about Mr. Nimitz now.”
Pond smiled. “Okay. So I have one last question.” She clasped her hands together. “Did you pay off your debt?”
“Yes.” Alex twisted his lip.
“And you still kept making these drugs, right?”
“Yes.”
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