Thread of Innocence (Joe Tyler Mystery #4) (11 page)

“
Yep.”

“
Okay, well, I guess we can't hash it out any further.”

“
Not sure what there is to hash out, Joe.”

She was right. I wasn't sure, either. It was just going to be a bumpy road.

“You do anything interesting today?” Lauren asked.

I felt myself blush, knowing I hadn't told her where I was and that I was about to lie to her. “Not really. Same old, same old.”

“I'm not really sure what that is for you, Joe.”

I laughed. “Me either.”

“I'm tired,” Lauren said. “I need to get in bed.”

“
Call me tomorrow?” I asked.

“
Of course.”

“
Okay. Hang in there, Lauren. She'll come around. It's just gonna take awhile.”

She cleared her throat. “I hope so. I really hope so.”

We hung up and I set the phone on the nightstand next to the bed. I clicked off the light and un-muted the TV. It was on ESPN and the announcer was selling some story on a football player. But I really wasn't listening.

I was staring at the ceiling, wondering if and when our daughter would come all the way back to us.

TWENTY TWO

I was up early the next morning. I'd slept soundly for about two hours and then my mind wouldn't stop churning and I couldn't get myself back to sleep. I ended up watching crappy middle of the night television while I worried about Lauren and Elizabeth.

When the sun finally started to peek through the curtains, I took a quick shower, dressed, found coffee in the lobby and headed to the airport.

I toyed with the idea of staying in Phoenix but there was no reason. I wasn't going to hear back from Bandencoop. She was probably halfway to wherever she was going to go hide. My threats weren't going to do anything more than scare her into running. I made them more to make myself feel like I was making headway rather than because I thought I might get an answer. At some point, I'd pass her name to Blundell and they could chase her down. If I needed to come back to Phoenix, I could always come back. I found a flight back that left an hour after I returned the rental and I was back on the ground in San Diego by mid-morning.

The fog was completely gone and a light breeze was coming off the water when I got to the house. I opened all of the windows, airing it out after having it closed up for a day. Something about fresh air and finding fresh ideas crossed my mind. I changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and spent two hours cleaning the house. Vacuuming, sweeping the floors, laundry, washing the counters, anything I could think of. When I was finished, I was covered in sweat, the house looked good and I felt like I'd cleared my head, taking a mental break from the chaos that had become my life. Hopefully, Lauren wouldn't mind that I'd gone on a cleaning spree in what was no longer really my house.

I showered again and pulled on a clean pair of shorts and a fresh T-shirt. I found my phone on the kitchen table and texted Lasko, seeing if he had some time to meet. He responded immediately, telling me he could shake loose around two if I wanted to get a beer somewhere. I said that worked and he named a place not too far from the deli we'd lunched at.

He was already in a back booth when I walked in, out of uniform and dressed similar to me.

“
Do you ever work?” I asked.

He smiled over the beer in his glass. “I'm pulling nights right now. Covering for a buddy who needed some time with his family. Hence, the casual daytime attire.”

“You should be home sleeping then,” I said.

“
I don't sleep great during the day.” He shrugged. “I'm fine.”

The waitress came and I ordered a beer. Three minutes later it was on the table in front of me and I took a long swallow before setting it back down.

“I went to Phoenix,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow. “You have a need to experience extreme heat and crazy lawmakers?”

I laughed and shook my head. “No. Did I tell you about what the family in Minnesota told me?About how they got my daughter?”

“
Just vaguely.”

I recounted what the Corzines told me, then explained going to Arizona to confront Bandencoop.

“How'd you find her?” Lasko asked.

“
A friend,” I said.

“
What kind of friend?”

“
The kind that can find stuff other friends can't.”

He nodded, took a drink from his beer and set it on the table. “So this woman in Phoenix was involved?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“
And she's going to turn over some details to you?”

I shook my head. “I doubt it. It's going back awhile and I believe her when she says she doesn't keep records. Why would she? It'd be a stupid thing to do. I scared the hell out of her, but I'm pretty sure she's in the wind now. I don't think I'm going to hear anything from her. But at the very least, I know she was probably the middle cog. If I get totally stonewalled, it's a name I can turn over to the Feds at some point.”

“Since I'm still a cop as of this moment, I'll refrain from asking how exactly you scared her,” he said. “Or anything more about the friend.”

“
Probably a good idea.”

We sat and drank quietly for a few minutes.

“So I'm thinking about a couple of things,” I said.

“
Okay.”

“
One, I'd like to see what we can find out about trafficking here in San Diego,” I said. “Names, cases, whatever. I can do my own research, but figured you might be able to see what else is out there.”

He nodded. “Sure. That makes sense.”

“I'm not sure Bandencoop's name will pop up here, but it might be interesting to see if there were any active cases around the same time and see if any other names show up,” I said.

“
Didn't they do that when your daughter was first taken?”

I nodded. “Yeah, pretty sure. But I have no idea to what extent it was pursued. I think, now that  I know she was taken and essentially sold twice, it makes sense to look again.”

He finished his beer and motioned to the waitress for another. She brought two and set one in front of me, as well.

“
Okay,” he said. “I can do that. What's the other thing?”

“
I wanna look at the initial bust,” I said. “The one the money went missing from.”

Lasko picked up his new beer and smiled. “I'm already ahead of you.”

I waited.

He set the glass down and wrapped his hands around it. “It's the first thing that looks funny, right? I mean, the first thing that isn't directly tied to the abduction. Money goes missing, the IAD shit and your detective buddy was the buster. It's the first funny thing.”

I emptied my first beer and started on the second. “That's what I was thinking.”

“
Me, too,” Lasko said. “So I pulled the file. Nothing crazy about it. Local gangbangers get caught with a bunch of dope from runners from Mexico.” He shrugged. “Totally routine stuff. Nothing jumped out at me. So I started looking at the names listed.”

I leaned back in the booth.

“Ben Dailey,” he said.

I thought for a moment, then shook my head. “Doesn't mean anything to me.”

“Me either,” I said.

“
Didn't think it would.”

“
Well at least we're making headway.”

He laughed. “Like Holmes and Watson.”

“Something like that.”

He pushed the half-empty second beer to the side. “I didn't think you'd know the name. Just a guy who was involved and did some time for it.”

“Okay.”

“
Got out a year and a half ago,” Lasko said.

I nodded.

Lasko smiled. “And I've got his address.”

“
Current?”

“
Far as I can tell,” he said. “And since I can't sleep for shit when the sun's up, I thought we could take a drive over to Sunset Cliffs where he lives.”

TWENTY THREE

We drove our own cars and I followed him out of downtown, past the airport and along the harbor into Point Loma. The streets became narrower and more crowded as we drove across the strip of land that lies between the harbor and the Pacific. We crested the hill in the middle of the point just south of Point Loma College and stayed up on the hill, coming into Sunset Cliffs.

It was a weird area, an eclectic mix of well to-do's who could afford the amazing ocean views and beach bums who refused to vacate the areas. Chains and corporate entities were not welcome, as evidenced by all of the local, independent shops and restaurants on the streets. Bikes were the most prevalent mode of transportation, navigating much easier than cars on the tight streets.

I followed Lasko into a neighborhood of small ranch homes and big trees about two blocks west of the actual cliffs and pulled in behind him at the curb.

“
Address is another block over,” Lasko said when I got out. “But figured we'd park here and make the walk.”

The unspoken sentiment is that we had no idea what we might be walking into. “Yep.”

We walked along the cracked, uneven sidewalks. The houses reflected the independence of the community – no two were alike, all painted different colors, with old, mismatched outdoor furniture on the porches. The yards weren't neatly manicured and junipers hadn't been tended to. It wasn't rundown, but it certainly wasn't what you'd see in the newer suburban communities. The houses retained their own unique character, like the rest of Sunset Cliffs.

“
That's it,” Lasko said.

He nodded toward a house on the corner, light blue with a screened-in front porch. A massive tree leaned toward the home and an old orange VW bug was parked in the driveway. The screen door to the porch was just slightly off, not quite shutting all the way.

“How do you wanna play it?” Lasko asked.

“
Straight,” I said. “He's an ex-con, probably still on probation. We aren't here to threaten him. Let's just see what he says.”

“
Okay.”

I opened the crooked screen door and knocked on the interior door off the porch, which was empty save for a poor attempt to cover the floor in astroturf. I heard feet on the other side of the door and it opened. A guy around thirty with short dark hair and a day's worth of stubble answered, clad in jeans and a red golf shirt. He eyed us for a moment.

“Help you?” he asked.

“
I'm hoping,” I said. “Are you Ben Dailey?”

He looked over my shoulder at Lasko, then back at me. “Yeah. Who are you?”

“My name's Joe Tyler,” I said. “This is Paul Lasko. Do you have a minute to talk with us?”

He stared at us both for a few seconds. “You guys are cops.” He didn't say it with disdain or disgust. He was just stating what he thought he recognized.

“He is,” I said. “I'm not. I used to be, though. We aren't here to hassle you. Promise.”

“
What are you here for then?” he asked, squinting at us.

“
We're looking into an old case,” I said. “Involved my daughter. Just some questions about what went down. Just background info, more than anything else. I promise we won't take up much of your time.”

He glanced at the watch on his wrist. “I've got a job interview in an hour.”

“We'll be gone in half that time,” I said.

His mouth twisted as he thought. “You put in a good word with my P.O. if I help you out?”

I nodded. “Absolutely.”

He opened the door wider and stepped to the side so we could pass.

We were immediately in a small living room with wood floors. There was a slip-covered sofa against the back wall, a rectangular wooden coffee table on a bamboo mat and two sitting chairs that were also slip-covered. Off to our left was a small eating area with a square table and a couple more chairs. The furniture wasn't new, but all of it gave me the sense that someone cared for it, took care of it.

Dailey gestured at the chairs and he sat on the edge of the sofa. He was attentive but not anxious, not your typical ex-con sitting with a couple of cops.

“Been out a couple years?” I asked, more to break the ice than anything else.

He nodded. “Twenty two months, actually.”

I looked around the room. “Nice place.”

“
My sister's,” he said. “Actually, her husband's. They rent it to me. Long as I'm straight, it's mine.”

“
Nice.”

He nodded again. “Better than a halfway or some crap apartment. They've been good to me. I appreciate it.”

He spoke directly to both of us, making eye contact. There was no fidgeting, no ducking our looks, no posturing. Again, he was ruining the ex-con stereotype.

“
What kind of job interview?” Lasko asked.

“
Construction,” he said. “My brother-in-law again. I've had a hard time finding anything permanent. Not surprising, given that I have a record. So I've had to scramble for stuff. This is for a full-time, regular gig. Drywall for a sub that's tied in with a couple of big homebuilders. Brother-in-law's an architect and set it up.” He paused. “Once he decided I wouldn't embarrass him.”

“
And you won't?” Lasko asked.

Dailey looked him right in the eye and shook his head. “No. I won't. I'm done with everything from before. You probably hear that a lot. But I mean it. I'm out and done and not going back.”

He was right. Cops did hear that a lot. But there was something in the way he said it that made me believe Ben Dailey.

“
So, if you don't mind,” Dailey said, looking from Lasko to me. “If you could ask your questions...I don't want to be late.”

“
Fair enough,” I said. “The bust you went in for. Drug deal is our understanding?”

Dailey nodded and folded his hands together. “Yep. Heroin. Guys down south were bringing it up for us to distribute.”

“Guys down south?” I asked.

“
Cartel. Tijuana.”

“
And who was us?” I asked.

“
19
th
Street Kings,” he answered. “We ran out of I.B.” He chuckled. “Such a stupid name. I don't even think they're around anymore. At least not in an organized way.”

I looked at Lasko. He shrugged.

“We were low level,” Dailey explained. “Thought we were way more badass than we were.”

“
How long were you in?” I asked.

“
Too long. Got jumped in as a stupid kid. I was the number two when the bust went down.”

“
You guys sold drugs? What else were you into?”

He hesitated. “Look, man. It was awhile ago and I don't want the past screwing me up now, alright? If you're trying...”

“Swear to you I'm not,” I said. “And either is he. It'll make sense in a minute.”

He rubbed at his chin and his mouth set into a firm line. He took a deep breath. “Yeah, mostly drugs. We did guns, too. But that was it. Nobody really knew what they were doing, you know? Most guys, they just wanted to sit around, drink beer and get high. Only a few of us were trying to make money.”

I nodded. “Okay. How'd you hook up with the cartel?”

“
Another guy in the gang,” he said. “He had a cousin who had a cousin. Something like that. I don't remember exactly. But they came to us. Think they'd tried to work with some other sets and it didn't work out.” He frowned. “We'd done some low level dealing and I had a rep for being straight up. I guess they liked that.”

I nodded again. “Sure. So night of the bust. What happened exactly?”

He leaned back in the sofa and shook his head. “It went bad. Cartel guys told us that we'd be clear to do the deal. But as soon as everything got laid out, there were sirens and cops everywhere. They got all of us, even some of the mule guys the cartel sent.”

“
But they told you you'd be clear?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Said they had it covered. I don't know how, but they told us they had it covered.”

“How? Like with a cop?”

“
Maybe,” he said. “Who else could've offered protection? And not like the cartel doesn't have cops on the payroll, right?”

I looked at Lasko. He nodded in agreement.

“But I don't know for sure who offered that,” Dailey said. “Like I said. They set it up. But what they didn't know was they had a DEA guy inside.”

“
Inside the cartel?”

Dailey nodded. “Yep. They had some deep cover guy who blew the whole thing up. I've always assumed that whoever the cartel paid to clear the area didn't know about the undercover dude. Because when everything went crazy, it wasn't local cops. It was feds. All feds.”

That was pretty interesting. I wasn't sure if it helped me at all, but the story was interesting.

“
Wow,” I said.

“
Yeah,” he said, shaking his head. “Wow. It wasn't good.”

“
So everybody went down?” Lasko asked.

Dailey nodded. “More or less. Some guys took smaller hits. But I was the contact guy. Cartel mules knew my name. I took a bigger hit.” He paused. “Supposed to be fourteen years, but the day I walked in, I knew I was done with that crap.” He shrugged. “So I kept my chin down and nose clean and I was out early. Worked on my degree while I was inside.”

“Why?” I asked.

He rubbed his chin again. “I just remember lying on the ground, DEA guys screaming all around and it was surreal. Like, I couldn't believe I was there. Just because I was lazy and stupid.” He shook his head again. “I just decided I wasn't going to be stupid anymore. Take what I had coming and move on. I'm lucky it happened, you know? Now I just gotta back it up.”

I nodded. He had a good perspective. I hadn't come to the house expecting to like him, but I did.

“
Any of that help?” he asked. “Since I still don't know what you're looking for.”

“
You said there were no local police there?” I asked. “Only feds?”

He thought for a moment. “I'm sure there were a few locals there by the time we were done. But it was mostly feds, yeah.”

I wondered about Mike's role in the bust and how Coronado ended up with the money from the deal. Dailey wasn't going to know that, but I still wondered.

“
My daughter was kidnapped,” I said. “Right around the time your bust went down. She's back now. We just found her. But I'm just chasing down some stuff that might be tied together.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Wow. Okay.”

“Weird question,” I asked. “Your gang. You guys involved at all with trafficking?”

“
Yeah. Drugs for sure.”

“
No. I mean kids.”

His eyes went wide and then his entire face took on an expression like he couldn't believe I was asking the question. “The kings? Seriously?”

I nodded.

He chuckled then caught himself. “Sorry. I don't mean to laugh. But you gotta understand. The guys that I ran with? They could barely count, alright? They weren't sharp. They weren't even real criminals. They were a bunch of poseurs. Guys who acted tough, but were just...lost. Push came to shove, they usually got shoved.” A sad smile crept onto his face. “They could barely handle ripping off a 7-11. Anything more than that?” He shook his head emphatically. “No way.”

“But you guys were gonna deal for the cartel,” Lasko said. “They could at least do that.”

“
Stand on a corner and deal heroin?” Dailey said. “Sure, they could handle that. Because they didn't have to think. The heroin was going to be given to us. All we had to do was sell it. But there was no big organized effort, okay? The cartel just wanted some traction in I.B. That was it. And my guess is the percentage I negotiated was far less than what other locals would've wanted. We were cheap labor.”

I appreciated his candor and I thought he was telling the truth.

“So no possible way any of your guys would've been involved with trafficking? Of kids?” I asked.

He shook his head. “None. None. Most of the guys were teenagers themselves. No way they would've been into something that heavy.” He paused. “And most of those guys deferred to me. They did what I said. And there's no way I would've gotten into that.”

“Why not?” Lasko asked.

Dailey leaned forward again, back on the edge of the sofa. “Because I'm not a piece of shit. I was a stupid, lazy kid and I did some dumb things. I sold drugs, I beat up some other kids, I jacked a couple cars, stuff like that. But what you're talking about? Selling kids?” He stared at Lasko. “I wouldn't have done that for a million bucks. That isn't me and it never was.”

I stood. “I don't want you to be late for your interview. We've taken up enough of your time.”

Dailey and Lasko stood.

I pulled out a card from my wallet and handed it to Dailey. “I'm kind of on hiatus at the moment, but normally I work as a private investigator. Construction thing doesn't come through, give me a call. I can probably find you some work.”