Chapter 20
Several weeks later, Petra looked over at Paul as he entered the kitchen to make a beeline to the coffee pot.Neither of them spoke until he had filled his cup and joined her at the table.
“You okay?”Petra asked as she studied him intently.“You came to bed late last night.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, I ended up going down a rabbit hole with my research.”
“About?”
“Information from Eddie’s book.”
“Speaking of...”she trailed off, and reached for her laptop.Instead of saying anything, she had the news reel already to play.She turned it and reached out and pressed the button, then sat back and watched his face go from disinterest, to shock, then to a gigantic grin.
“They finally caught him.”It was a statement, not a question.He played the news clip again, where it showed several agents with DEA and ATF across their chest and back, carrying guns, kicking down a door to a rundown house, and storm inside.Within minutes they led Eddie Brickman out with his hands cuffed behind his back and put him into a black SUV.Then others went inside.The clip went back to the reporter where she stated that Eddie Brickman had been arrested on several federal felony warrants for drug possession, money laundering, failure to appear summons, and several other charges.
“Damn, where did they find him?I thought he was in the wind.”
“He was.Cass called me last night and said that the federal BOLO helped locate him.They picked him up in Minnesota.”
“North of here.When did he leave Iowa?”
“No clue, Cass said he’s going to write his questions down so the agents up there can question Brickman.They know all about the drugs you found, however, those agents know nothing about you nor Tainted Shield.Cass thought it would be better to leave you out of it.”
“Good, how did he explain about the drugs?”
“A concerned citizen found the bag, saw the drugs, and called the local police.The police reached out to the ATF and DEA when they realized owner of the license found with the drugs had felony warrants out for his arrest.”
“Ah, so a few little white lies, but it got the point across.”
“Correct.He’s not going there, because he doesn’t want to be seen by Eddie.Not that he’s getting out of jail anytime soon, but we don’t know if he’s going to be awarded bail, and if so, who will bail him out.This wasn’t discussed, but the thought I had was that with him being arrested in Minnesota, then Dawson can’t magically get the charges reduced or thrown out.”
“Ah, I take it that Cass is staying away in case Dawson turns up and later Cass is recognized.”
“Yes.”
“Good thinking.”He scrubbed his face and rose to get more coffee.“What time do you have to go into work today?”
“I don’t, it’s my day off, and it’s also that Toys for Tots run sponsored by the Bastards.”
“Shit, that’s today?”Paul asked and looked around frantically.“We don’t have any toys here.”
“I purchased something.It’s out in my car.We can also pay the entrance fee, that money is supposed to go toward picking out gifts.”
“Thank you.I know it’s Toys for Tots, but what organization?”
“The local hospital’s children’s ward.”
“Good, good,” Paul said with a nod as he grabbed a loaf of bread and stuck two slices in the toaster.As he waited for it to cook, he looked at her.“Have you eaten?”
“Yes, I let you sleep because it was after two when you came to bed.It’s nine now, and Warren and Sally should be here by eleven.We’re riding together.”
