CHAPTER THREE

“John and I have been happy here, The people at the Charity Children’s Center have been so nice and generous. They helped us find this place and paid John an advance to help get all the utilities turn on. The hours worked out good for us, and I was really beginning to think that this move was really a blessing.”

She paused and wiped a tear,

“About six months ago things started to change. The Center was sold, and pressure was instantly put on John to not only make budget cuts, but to find other location for over half of the kids that were being cared for at the Center.”

Mary paused again.

“It was eating him alive, Peter. He was not sleeping, beginning to lose weight, and becoming very withdrawn. I suggested he look for another job, or even move back to Detroit, but he loved those kids so much. He was not going to abandoned them. He did everything he could to cut expenses. He even offered to take a cut in pay, if he didn’t have to move the kids.”

Mary had to stop to keep her emotions in check.

“We can talk again later.” Peter offered.

“No, it’s okay, I want to finish. The new owner would not agree to any kind of compromises. They wanted the kids out in two weeks. John called in all his favors with other centers in the state and got the kids moved. It killed him Peter, but I hoped that would at least take some of the pressure off of him, and maybe after a few months, I would approach him about moving again.”

“Things didn’t get any better, did they?”

“No, more and more things were going on that John had no control over. Kids were being moved out of rooms that they had been in for years, and the disruption of routines made a lot of them more difficult to handle.”

“Mary, did John ever say who these new people were, or why they were making all these changes?”

“That was another thing that was so strange, John said he never actually saw any of them. All the new demands were always made over the phone, and his salary was put in a post office box in cash in a blank envelope.”

Peter stood up and let out a deep sigh,

“I sure wish he would have told me all this. I have seen this happen all too often. This has black marketers written all over it.”

Peter sat back down and looked Mary in the eyes.

“Now comes the toughest part. Detail out for me his last week.”

Mary took a deep breath,

“The first three days, I am quite sure John never slept. He never would tell me anything that he was doing, or what was going on, All he would say was that it was for my protection.”

Peter slammed his fist in his hand.

“He is a James, alright.” Peter said in an angry tone.

“What do you mean?” Mary asked.

“He figured out what was going on, That was at the beginning of that week. He worked twenty-four hours a day, and did not tell a soul what he discovered, including me, because he knew I would immediately get involved. I can guess that he never came back home after that third day, right?”

“Yes,” Mary answer answered and burst into tears,

When she recovered a bit, she continued,

“I went to the police, but they told me to fill out a missing person’s report, and it would be a week before they could even begin to investigate.”

“Mary, I am deeply sorry I had to put you through that. However, you have given me plenty to work with.”

The next morning Sparky dropped Becky off to speak to the clerk of the court, and then he drove to the scene of the crime. Peter and Sparky both knew that the N.Y.P.D. would not let either one of them anywhere near the crime scene. What they didn’t expect was that Sparky would be pulled over by the same two officers that had been “listen in” to their conversation in the park.

“Well good morning officers, did I do something wrong?” Sparky asked politely.

“That would depend on how well you follow instructions. Now listen to me good, for I am only going to say this once. You turn this car around, go back and pick up the dame you just dropped off, then go pick up your partner, and the three of you head back to Chicago.” The first officer said, as the second one had made his way over to the passenger side of the car and had pulled out his weapon.

Sparky could have easily knocked both of them out in a matter of seconds, but he noticed that two more police cars had parked nearby in front of him, and two more behind him.

“You know officers, I am really beginning to dislike the lack of hospitality around here.”

Sparky started the car and made his way back to the courthouse, with all five of the patrol cars, staying close. When he went inside, he could see that Becky was being hassled by a few of the security guards.

“There you are Sis, are you in some kind of trouble?”

“Nothing, I can’t handle. I thought you were going sightseeing.” Becky said as she snatched her arm away from one of the guard’s grip.

“I was, but it was strongly suggested to me that today would not be a good day. Did you get those deeds you needed?” Sparky asked.

“What? Oh yes, I have them. I was hoping to collect some other important papers as well.” Becky replied.

About that time Sparky noticed three officers entering the building and heading their way. He went over and gently took her by the arm.

“Maybe another day, I am sure what you have right now will be enough to get us started.”

He pulled her away from the counter. He whispered to her he would explain in the car.

“We are on our way officers, have a nice day.”

The officers followed them out the door, and three of the patrol cars followed them at a distance back to Mary’s house. To Becky’s and Sparky’s surprise. Peter had already had their bags packed and had them waiting at the door.

“Sparky get all these in the trunk but put this one in the back seat.” Peter told him.

“I can’t believe that you would run out on a case.” Becky said in a shocked tone.

“Trust me, I know what I am doing, I have several priorities here, now go get in the car.”

Becky didn’t move,

“Yes, and I think the biggest one is to your sister-in-law, and your brother!”

“Either you get in the car, or I will have Sparky put you in. We are out of time here, it is up to you!” Peter said firmly.

“Oooh, if you weren’t my boss, I would slap you silly, right now.”

After another few seconds of a death stare at Peter, she stomped off and got in the car. Peter left the driveway, passing three patrol cars. No one said a word until they had crossed the state line.

“Okay Sparky, lean back there and open that suit case.”

When he did, Mary climbed out.

What is all this?" Becky asked.

“My first obligation is to Mary’s safety. It won’t take O’Malley long to figure out that you got some of the records from the courts. His next move would be to either kill Mary, or use her to lure me back, and then kill both of us.” Peter stated.

“That’s crazy, what does he have against your family?” Becky asked.

“It took me some time to put it together. Sargent O’Malley’s father was R.T. O’Malley. Lieutenant Commander of the Detroit P.D. when I was just a young cop on the street.” Peter started out.

“Wait a minute, I remember reading something about him, when we were doing research for another case. Sparky said slowly.

“Now I remember, he and twenty other officers were arrested and convicted on corruption and racketeering charges.”

“Sparky, you have a memory like a steel trap. Your research probably didn’t tell you who was instrumental in bringing everything to light.”

“The record stated it was an in-house investigation.” Sparky stated.

“That is because the rooky Hustler, had no desire to take credit for putting so many officers that he had worked with only two years prior, in jail. The only one I wanted to see punished was O’Malley. Because of his greed, many a good officer either left the force, or was killed to shut them up.”

“Peter, what does this have to do with your brother?”

“It appears that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Racketeers began using the Charity Children’s Center as a front. They bought the place and was forcing John to clear house for them. Well, he could have quit, but John was to kind-hearted to abandon the kids, and to naive to figure out what was going on until the end.”

“Okay, then where does O’Malley fit into this?” Becky asked.

“As you are aware, most successful criminals, have a few crooked police on the payroll. I suspect that John made the mistake of reporting his suspicions to O’Malley. This was a chance for him to kill two birds with one stone. He discovered that John was my younger brother and was, in his mind, the perfect way to get revenge. He also figured he could double cross the crooks that were paying him.”

“So, he set John and the others up?” Becky asked.

“That’s the way I figure it. One thing that crocked cops never learn, is there are always too many loose ends. Now, once we have Mary completely out of harm’s way, we will go back and give O’Malley just enough rope to hang himself.” Peter concluded.