No offence Intended - Barbara Seranella (32 page)

Munch told them both about the meth lab and how she'd
disabled the weapons. "You got about I twenty guys up there,"
she said. "About six women. Everybody is pretty loaded. I don't
see how they have anywhere to go, either."

"All right," Claire said. "We'll set
up a barricade at the bottom of the road and flush them out with
chopper teams."

"What about your informant?" Blackstone
asked.

"He'll just have to sit tight," Claire
said. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to take a statement from Tuxford when
he comes around and then I'm heading back home."

"Will I see you in L.A.?" she asked.

"Only when it can't be avoided," he said.
He grabbed Munch's arm and led her to his sedan.

"What are you grinning about?" he asked.

"I'm just glad that part of it's over," she
said. "Let's go get my baby"
 

29

"THE BABY IS over at Deb's neighbors house,"
Munch told Blackstone as they got on the highway. "Why don't we
go over there now? It might take a little while for Tuxford to come
around."

She giggled, still high on adrenaline. "Wasn't
Deb great?"

"Yeah, she really came through for you."

"What's going to happen to her now?"

"Mo0dy's going to handle that part of the case.
For tonight he's just going to question her and let her go. We'll
both put in a good word for her in our reports."

'"Thanks, I appreciate that."

They pulled up in front of Stella's house. The TV was
on in the front room. Just then, the door opened and Stella herself
emerged. Her feet spilled out the sides of rubber flip-flops.
Something squiggled inher massive arms, dwarfed by the flesh of her
wobbling biceps. The bundle in her arms let out a familiar cry

Munch ran to where the woman stood and held her arms
out.

"I can't get her quiet," Stella said,
handing over the baby

"She'll be all right now," Munch told her.
Asia clutched her shirt with surprising strength.

"You picking her up?"

"Yeah, I sure am."

'"The guy who dropped her off said he'd give me
twenty dollars."

Munch opened her wallet. She had exactly twenty
dollars left. This fact shook her. Ruby always said that That Old Boy
Upstairs gave you exactly what you needed and no more than you could
handle. The exact change was one of the more definite signs that
Munch had ever gotten from Him. He sure went to a lot of trouble to
make His point.

She handed over the money Stella returned to her
television. Munch grabbed her duffel bag from Deb's house, leaving
Boogie a note saying that she loved him.

Munch, Blackstone, and Asia returned to Moody's
house. Moody provided pillows and blankets. Munch slept on the couch
with Asia nestled in her arms while Blackstone interrogated Tux.

When she woke the following morning, Blackstone told
her that he had booked them an earlier flight home and to collect her
things.

"What about the rest of the Jokers?" she
asked.

"They were taken into custody at three this
morning. They've being shipped to Roseburg. That was the closest town
with a big-enough jail."

"Was anybody hurt?" she asked.

Blackstone laughed. "The feds had their hands
full getting half of them to wake up to be arrested."

On the drive to the Medford airport, Munch held the
baby in her lap. "How soon will I get the money?" she
asked.

"Within the week," he said. "Don't
worry they won't screw us around."

"Tell 'em I want my car back, too."

"Already handled. It'll be waiting for you at
the airport. What are you going to do now?"

"You mean with the rest of my life or when we
get back to L.A.?"

"I meant your immediate plans."

"I'm going to church."

"To give thanks?" he asked.

"Nah, I did that already I need to get this kid
baptized." She didn't explain how a baptismal certificate was as
valid a form of ID as a birth certificate. Or how to keep things
simple, she planned to list herself as the mother.

Blackstone smiled uncertainly "That's nice. I
didn't know you were that way Religious, I mean."

"There's probably a few things you don't know
about me," she said.

"I'm sure."

She decided to keep him guessing.
 

30

BLACKSTONE WENT STRAIGHT to the hospital from the
airport. Alex, he soon learned, had regained consciousness that
morning and was alert and responsive. When Blackstone entered Alex's
private room, he found his friend fast asleep.

"Hang in there, buddy" he said quietly.

Alex opened his eyes and studied his partner.

"Who the fuck are you supposed to be?" he
asked. "The Marlboro man?"

"How do you feel?"

"All right," Alex said. "Except
there's this goddamn phone that rings all the time and then when you
finally answer it, nobody's there."

"You just get your rest, all right? Don't worry
about anything else. It's all taken care of."

"Hey Jigsaw."

"Yeah?"

"We got the guy am I right?"

"That's right, buddy"

"Tell me again. Who did what?"

"Tuxford was the driver of the freeway hit on
Garillo. Then Tuxford turned around and did his partner, Darnel
Willis, after he saw the guy had gone crazy and was shooting cops."

Alex's hand went to his bandage.

"And this Willis guy was the sniper on the
freeway am I right?"

"You're getting the picture. He also did the
couple in Venice, thinking he was popping Garillo."

"And Willis hit Garillo, because Garillo was an
informant."

"But not really Tuxford and Willis were just led
to believe that. The feds set Garillo up to divert suspicion from
their real snitch."

Alex brought his arms up in frustration, trailing
wires and IV lines. "So who was that?"

"Garillo's brother-in-law, James Slokum. And now
Slokum, Lisa, and her kids have been relocated. You know how big the
feds are on their protected witness program."

"Yeah, all that cloak-and-dagger shit."
Alex picked at a bandage on his hand. "So they knew these crazy
shitheads had those weapons all that time and didn't stop them?"

"That's the rub."

Alex yawned. " think I need to sleep now,
Jigsaw."

"You do that, buddy"

* * *

The next day an article appeared in the Los Angeles
Times—fourteen short lines on page twenty above an ad for the new
Ford Station wagon:

The FBI disclosed today following a
month-long investigation, that a large cache of military weaponry
stolen from the Kern County National Guard Armory was recovered.
Large quantities of methamphetamine and marijuana were also
confiscated in the early morning raid of the Gypsy Joker motorcycle
gang's clubhouse in southern Oregon. Working closely with the LAPD
and the Josephine County Sheriff 's Department, the federal
investigation discovered evidence that a member of the same smuggling
ring of outlaw motorcyclists was responsible for the shooting death
of felon Darnel Willis earlier this week in Venice Beach. Detective
Alex Perez, also wounded in the shooting incident of October 24, is
out of intensive care and doctors are guardedly optimistic that he
will make a full recovery Blackstone clipped out the article and
taped it to his wall. He noted that there was no mention of the cash.

Epilogue

THREE DAYS BEFORE Thanksgiving, Happy Jack told Munch
that she had a visitor.

She looked up from the tune-up she was performing on
a Ford Pinto and saw Roxanne emerge from an aged but clean Buick.

"What's up?" Munch asked.

"I've got twenty days," Roxanne said.

Munch saw her clarity of eye, the glow in her cheeks,
and knew she was speaking the truth.

"That's terrific."

"I saw how good you were doing," Roxanne
explained, "and I thought maybe that program of yours would work
for me. I mean, if you could do it—" She stopped in
midsentence, embarrassed.

"It's okay" Munch assured her. " know
what you mean. What happened up north after I left?"

"The cops took us to jail. I was cut loose the
next morning. Deb was charged with receiving stolen goods. She's got
a new old man, by the way"

"There's a surprise," Munch said.

"Some con she met at the courthouse. He took her
and Boogie to Belgium."

"Belgium? Why Belgium?"

"No extradition treaty."

"I hope she makes it," Munch said. "
hope we all do."
 
 

Acknowledgments

I'd like to thank all the police personnel—active,
retired, and otherwise—for taking the time out of their ' busy
schedules to assist me, with special mention to Deputy Mike
Blackwood, Investigator Patricia Brookman, and Deputy Rick Simms of
the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, Mike Walker, formerly of
the LAPD and the Oregon Sheriff's Department, and Deputy Tom Rice of
Joshephine County, Oregon.

I am also deeply indebted to my agent Sandy Dijkstra,
and her fine staff; my editors at HarperCollins, Carolyn Marino and
Marjorie Braman; my publicist, Jackie Green; and the wonderful,
supportive world of independent and mystery bookstores: Mysterious
Bookshop West in Beverly Hills, Mysteries to Die For in Thousand
Oaks, Mystery Annex/Small World Books in Venice Beach, Mysterious
Galaxy in San Diego, Coffee, Tea, and Mystery Book Shoppe in
Westminster, Dutton's Books in Brentwood, Mystery Ink in Laguna
Beach, Book Carnival in Orange, Bay Books in Monterey, A Clean
Well-Lighted Place in Cupertino, San Francisco Mystery Bookstore,
Latitude 33 Bookshop in Laguna Beach, M is for Mystery in San Mateo,
Village Books in Pacific Palisades, Little Professor Bookstore in
Temecula, The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, and all the other privately
owned and operated book merchants devoted to the written word,
writers, and readers. Thank you for treating us all with respect.

And lastly, to all the children I've had the honor to
love and foster, in order of appearance: Jeremy Seth, Solo, Michera,
Maryanne, Cameron, Jamie, Shannon, Carrie, and Savannah.