Book Four
Lie To Me
LiE TO ME
Posted 9/1/2009
CHAPTER ONE
Spring 2007
Again, as so many times before, the frightening
experience of the past flashed before him.
He could not help but recall the time the feeling of cold earth
beneath his hand made a surprising change to the contact with warm
cloth. The sudden
illumination by a flashlight and the hair-raising announcement of,
“Border Patrol: ‘Freeze’,” brought a cold chill over him, the intake of
breath, tingling of his skin and the rush of his heart creating the
fight or flight response.
It was more out a fearful reflex, than intent, when he swung out with
the eight inch hunting knife that ended the officer’s life. At that
instant, a trap door was thrown open and the end of the tunnel was
flooded with light. The
sound of the second agent’s voice faded behind him as he ran for his
life. He had just retreated
through the hole behind the storage shelf when he heard the shots that
echoed through the darkness of the passageway.
Fortunately for him, the
American side was somewhat distrustful of the Mexican side.
They didn’t keep his countrymen informed or the Federal
Preventive Police would have caught him as he re-entered, and it would
have cost him more pesos than he had.
Since certain Mexican authorities were behind his cause, he
didn’t have that problem now.
The money sent home from the immigrants in the
He was now an important person with that
agencia and enjoyed his
status and the adrenalin pumping danger that accompanied it.
He exited the tunnel in the basement of the small, earth colored
CBS house he had purchased under a very American sounding name in
*
*
*
A month later
The town of
The busiest area seemed to be between Third and
Fourth Streets. This was
home to the Police Station, City Hall, Cantina Mexicana, a book store
and library on one side and The Towne Café, Bank and miscellaneous mom
and pop retail stores on the other side.
The hospital was located on the south side of town with the fire
station on the north side.
There was an exciting rumor that a Wal-Mart was to be built down at
State Road 124 at the intersection that led to town.
The promise of additional employment and shopping convenience was
well received by the peaceful little community.
The five foot-nine inch medium built frame vibrated
in time with the powerful motor of the four-wheel Yamaha Kodiak 400.
John Bodie’s years of pitting himself against, murderers,
arsonists, sex offenders and other unscrupulous human beings had more
than prepared him for the decision that had to be made.
His mind played mental gymnastics with the alternatives he faced
in the next few minutes. He
looked ahead, he had to make a decision soon; the cantina was in sight.
John smiled as the possibilities narrowed down to two.
The arrozo con pollo was his favorite but the burrito was
quicker. His mind screamed
out ‘burrito’ as he eased his camouflaged quad onto the gravel area
beside the cantina.
The retired investigator slid off the seat and
removed his helmet, placed it on the seat and ran a comb through his
salt and pepper hair. He
brushed the dust off his blue jeans as he walked.
John unzipped his leather jacket
and displayed the black sweat shirt with the word ARMY emblazoned in
white across his chest as he entered the cantina.
He had several failed marriages.
His military missions and other investigative commitments
contributed greatly to those failures.
There were also a vast amount of unsuccessful relationships for
the same reasons. He killed
men, was shot by men trying to kill him and had been blown up, and
beaten. Yet, he still had an untiring sense of humor.
The man loved dogs and other
four footed animals more than humans.
However, he tolerated them out of necessity.
After retiring from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel,
John started a private investigation and polygraph agency in the
He sold his highly successful business and looked
forward to a life of peaceful relaxation.
His attempt to retire quietly seemed to be continually
interrupted with someone’s major crisis.
The last three months of rest and relaxation since his last
crisis in
“I told you before my name is
“I can’t help it;
“I am Spanish you dumb gringo, if you haven’t
noticed. You got a problem
with that?” she pinched John on the cheek with an exaggerated glare.
“I could never have a problem with anyone as nice as
you, Rosie. You are not
only a beautiful person; you have such a sweet disposition.”
"Would you like to drink this iced tea or would you
prefer to wear it, Mister Smart Guy?”
“Why don’t you sit down and let’s talk about it.
I’m sure we can come to so some mutual agreement.”
“That’s sad you should feel that way.
Did you ever think that I just enjoy talking with you?”
John dropped his head in mock sadness.
“You tease me all the time, with those brown eyes of
yours, but that’s okay, I know you are bluffing.”
She reached across the table and patted his cheek with her right
hand. Then she stood to her height of five foot-two inches and looked
down at him. Her lengthy
black hair hung down to the middle of her back.
“I like talking to you as well.
Now what would you like to eat?”
John ordered and as
“That’s pronounced ‘Bow dee’ not ‘Body’, young lady.
What can I do for you?”
The dark haired beauty in the multicolored crinoline
dress with the starched white blouse whispered, “My Diego, he is in
danger and he needs to talk to someone that can help him.”
She held her hands tightly in front of her chest.
The young lady was 22 years
of age, five foot-six inches tall, slender and was graced with long
shiny black hair. She was
very coquettish and attractive.
She had passable English and had been in country less than a
year. She shared a house
with
“Well, you should call Fred Ortega, you know him.
If anyone can help, he can.”
“I cannot involve the police.
Please talk to him and hear what he has to say.”
“Why are you coming to me?
You know that Chief Ortega and I are good friends.”
“People say that you are a good man and you can be
trusted to do what is right.”
She placed her hand on his shoulder and looking down at him with
sad eyes and a worried expression.
“Do you know what he wants to talk about?”
“I know what he wants to talk about, but he must be
the one to discuss it with you…and Mr. Bodie, it must be tonight,
please.”
The sound of a sigh slipped from John’s lips and he
gave a slight shake of the head.
“Where do I meet him?”
“If you will, please come to the cantina after
closing tonight. I will
have him here “
“Fine, I’ll be here but I’m not to sure about this.
There isn’t anything illegal involved here is there?”
John looked at her suspiciously and leaned back in his chair.
She just smiled and removed her hand from his
shoulder and quickly walked toward the kitchen.
Damn that woman is going to make me hurt myself if
she doesn’t stop that. “I
was trying to find out how I go about getting your…I mean you, to go out
with me.” John smiled and cocked his head to the side.
He forced his eyes up to her eyes.
“More of your lies, Mr. Detective Man, I tell you, I
only go out with men who I can trust and don’t lie to me.
I don’t think such a man exists.
So good bye to you now and don’t forget the tip.”
“Adios, chica.”
“Your Spanish sucks” with that
*
*
*
At the other end of the block and across
“Hi Chief, it’s been a few weeks.
How have you been?
You are looking well.”
“No worse than usual Jorge my friend.
How about you, how have you
been?” Ortega arched his
back a little in a stretch and smiled.
The waitress, Dede, came over and stood by where De
La Cruz was sitting. He
reached out from the booth and put his arm around her and said, “The
trip was good, but things are better now that I am back.
And they are going to get better, right babe.”
Dede was a fair skinned blonde with pale blue eyes
that sometimes looked green and seemed to change with her mood.
She was one of the most attractive women in town.
The native of Hardy,
She had a serious relationship with John until he
left for a few weeks to
Dede didn’t bother to return his look as she asked
the chief what he wanted.
He gave her his order and she removed De La Cruz’s hand from her waist
and left for the kitchen.
The handsome forty year old Mexican watched as she
walked away. His slick
black haired, five foot eight inch frame was a little overweight but he
carried it well. His plaid
shirt with the button down collar was freshly starched and his black
jeans were pressed with a fine crease.
His snow white Nikes looked as good as new.
This was nothing new for him he was always a dapper dresser and
well groomed.
“What’s going on old buddy, she didn’t seem too happy
with you today, Jorge?”
“Chief, you know she hates it when I leave town.
She said that’s what caused her break-up with her last
boyfriend.” He looked away
from her and back to the chief.
“Anyway, how goes the police business?”
“Since the construction workers left it’s been pretty
quiet. Once in a while one
of the worker bees at the printing plant has a little too much to drink
and we have to let him sleep it off in my hospitality room.”
“Now that I am back I will have a talk with my crew
at the cantina about over serving.”
De La Cruz answered him in Spanish.
“I’m over twenty years removed from Spanish speaking
and I don’t intend to go back now.
Some people around here get upset when you don’t speak English.”
“I’m sorry my friend, I did not know that.
My apologies, I do not wish to upset anyone.”
They received their meals and continued their small
talk, catching up on news since De La Cruz went out of town with a joke
thrown in now and then throughout the lunch.
The chief of police came to this country from
He tested for the state, two counties and four
municipalities. The first
offer to come through was the Vallejo Police Department.
After he accepted the job, he received three more offers all
offering more money. But
Fred was loyal to a fault.
If
That was over twenty years ago and for the last
eleven years or so he’s been the chief of police of this town of
approximately 6000. He’s a
little over weight for his five foot-ten inch height.
He was starting to show a little gray in his full black head of
hair. He had just begun
wearing glasses and was still a bit self-conscious about them.
He wore the light blue summer uniform shirt of the Vallejo Police
Department, but wore blue jeans in lieu of the uniform pants.
When his officers asked why they had to wear the uniform pants,
he told them because they weren’t the chief.
Ortega was thinking to himself, Jorge has the
salesmen personality; you couldn’t help but like him.
He was funny and could charm anyone.
It was no wonder that Dede succumbed to his charms.
He felt as though he was betraying his friendship with John Bodie
and tried to spend time with him also.
Fred missed the bantering that John and Dede did with him in the
past.
*
*
*
The printing plant located on the north end of town
was a 150 by 150 square foot white concrete block structure.
This was surrounded by an 8 foot chain link fence approximately
fifty-feet away from the building.
The fence had a three strand barbed wire top-guard facing inside
at a 45 degree angle. A
small building by the only access gate and located on the east side in
the front of the facility, housed an armed security guard from 7 a.m. to
11 p.m. The gate remained
secured the remainder of the time.
“I am beginning to hear bad rumors
regarding your employment here Diego.
I’m sure that you are not foolish enough for them to be true.”
“
“You speak like a man who has a choice.”
“I am here because I owe the company money for
getting me into this country.
You pay the same money I would make in
“Look you stupid little man,
you knew all this before you signed on,” growled
“I can make four times as much working for the
gringos. I can pay you off
faster and still have money to live on.”
“You could.”
“You cannot do anything to me or I will go the
American police and tell them all about what you do in the plant in
exchange for my citizenship.
Think about that.”
“You think about how you will do it with your throat
cut.” With that,
The young Mexican felt a wave of relief come over him
as he practiced his speech for later.
He felt free for the first time since coming to
Diego Maradona was a twenty-three year old man who
had been smuggled into this country illegally and had been required to
work off the cost of being smuggled into the