WHEN THE MUSIC DIES (MUSIC CITY MURDERS Book 1) (27 page)

“But, I did not insert the detonators. They are separated from the Semtex for obvious reasons, but still provide the same challenge for Hoover and Doc since they are inside the bags with the explosive. The same spraying and double bagging process I described earlier was used last night when I prepared this device for today’s demonstration.

“Frank, if you and Don will take your boys outside for a ten minute break, Carl and I will hide the device and we’ll call you when we’re ready.

“Follow me,” Roger said as he cradled the device. “We are going through this door into an area where I have set up distractions and hiding places for the device.”

Brad could tell the direction they were walking was taking them into the hillside, underground.

“Brad, if you’ll flip on the light switch inside on the left.”

Brad opened the door, reached inside and turned on what looked to be at least twenty-five four bulb florescent fixtures suspended beneath a fifteen foot steel-decked ceiling. The lights illuminated a single room of more than 10,000 square feet.

“Good Lord,” Garrison said. “How in the world did you—”

“It took a while,” Roger interrupted. “Let’s go over here.”

Roger walked the men and the device toward the near corner of the large room where he had assembled numerous boxes, wooden crates, metal cases, a forklift, a pickup truck and numerous other distractions, all with numbered stickers on them.

“Brad, see that fridge over there?” Roger nodded in the direction of the refrigerator. “There is a tray of snacks on the top shelf. Grab that and bring it over.”

Brad retrieved the tray and handed it to Roger. Roger picked a rolled up slice of ham filled with cream cheese and extended the tray toward Garrison, and then back to Brad. Both men took a snack, and Roger placed the tray on top of a stack of wooden crates. “This will be another good distraction for the pups,” Roger said.

“Gentlemen, I’d like to be able to tell you I staged all this for you, but the truth is I have two other men coming in later this week for this same demo. Okay, where do we put it, Carl?”

“Let’s make it easy,” Garrison said. “Put it in one of the corrugated cartons. If there is a scent it’ll come through the carton easily.”

“Good, I’ll put it here,” Roger said. “One carton on top of it, and one underneath.” He cross-folded the flaps and restacked the cartons. “Let’s call the dogs.”

Roger walked to the entrance and shouted for the men and their dogs. Everyone gathered inside the entrance to the large room for instructions.

“Gentlemen, the device has been placed somewhere in the hodgepodge of items here in this area. None of the enclosures are sealed so any scent inside can travel out and be easily detected. There are a few intentional distractions much like you could expect to find anywhere this device might be hidden. Also, the target box is not marked in any way that could attract one of the dogs or one of you, but I assure you the box containing the device is not out of sight. It is visible and accessible. If you think you’ve found it, stop and give me the number off the container.”

“Hoover will find it,” Frank said.

“Good, I like a positive attitude. But don’t expect this to be easy. If this device can be detected by a bomb dog, we want to know it now. So, if your dog locates the device, he gets a twenty-four ounce Porterhouse steak.”

“Hoover will like that,” Frank said.

“And you,” Garrison interrupted, “will get a one thousand dollar bonus in addition to whatever Roger is paying you.”

“Carl. Are you sure?” Roger asked.

“I need to know now if this is going to work,” Garrison said.

“Excellent,” Don said, as he rubbed Doc’s head.

“The dogs will be brought in one at a time and allowed to examine the area on all sides,” Roger said. “Your dog should be able to detect the target box quickly if he is going to find it. So, you will get five minutes to inspect everything here. Neither you, nor your dog, is allowed to touch the containers or equipment in any way. I will tell you when the time is up. Gentlemen, if you’re ready? Frank, call it in the air.”

Roger flipped a quarter into the air.

“Heads,” Frank said.

Roger caught it and said, “Tails. Don, you go first. Frank, if you’ll step outside with Hoover, I’ll call you when Doc’s time is up.”

“Okay Doc,” Don said, “we’re on duty.”

The man and his dog approached the mass of containers and equipment.

“Search,” Don commanded. The dog’s nose went to the ground and he began to sweep left and right until he reached the boxes. His head began a series of jerky movements in all directions as he processed the multitude of scents fed into his olfactory sensors. His unceasing minibreaths continued to pull in the room’s scents.

The Labrador worked his way around the stack of assorted items then, on his second pass, he alerted and sat next to wooden crate with the number nineteen.

“Is that his choice?” Roger asked Don.

“It looks that way.”

“Number nineteen,” Roger said, “has a paddle holster inside.”

“You’re kidding?” Don said.

“Sorry.”

“Brad, ask Frank to come in.”

Don left the room with his dog as Frank and Hoover prepared for their search. Hoover was aggressive and Frank had to wrestle with him to keep him off the boxes. He completed his search after alerting on three of the containers. His time was up and Frank was asked which case was Hoover’s choice. Since Hoover alerted on it twice, Frank chose number twenty-six.

Garrison gave Brad a big smile.

“Sorry Frank,” Roger said. “Twenty-six has an empty M16 clip. I hate to tell you, but neither of the other two cases he alerted on had the device either.”

“Brad, call Don back in, please.”

Don and Doc joined everyone in the big room and Roger walked over to the containers. “Gentlemen, the explosive was in box number twenty-three.” He opened the carton and removed the device.

Brad looked at Garrison who was still smiling.

“Sorry guys,” Garrison said. “No bonus today.”

“Well Carl, what do you think?” Roger asked.

“I’m sold. Where’s my Semtex and the magic liquid?”

“I have it packaged and ready for you,” Roger said.

“And I have your cash,” Garrison said.

“That was quite an impressive display,” Garrison said when they were back on the highway. “Do you feel confident I can expect the same results?”

“Yes. If you couldn’t, Roger would have told us. You have to follow all the same procedures, and make sure the heat seals are intact.”

“I can’t help but think the formula for that masking agent is worth millions,” Garrison said.

“I think Roger wants to be selective on who uses it or even knows about it. You should feel honored, and we should honor him by keeping it quiet.”

“Oh, I am honored,” Garrison said. “I am.”

“I’m sure Roger’s concerned it could get into the wrong hands.”

Garrison nodded and dropped the subject.

Garrison’s cell phone vibrated.

“Hello.”

“Carl, it’s Harlan. We’ve got a problem.”

“It seems lately that’s all you tell me. What is it this time?”

“Those two homicide detectives are at Jimmy Dan’s farm with a search warrant.”

“Does he still have—”

“Oh, yes.”

“Damn. What are the chances they’ll find them?”

“I don’t know. He says the door is hidden and they can’t see it.”

“Harlan, are you sure he wasn’t involved in the murder at Cumberland Plaza?”

“No way.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I can tell when we’re alone; he’s pissed off about it. He swears he would have used a gun, so he wouldn’t have to touch the Arab. You have to admit, Carl, the man had access to any number of guns and suppressors. Why would he use a damn knife?”

“So, what do we do with this fiasco if they find the vault? What will the police do?”

“I’m certain Mullins will be arrested on weapons charges. If I know the Nashville police and Jimmy Dan, you can rest assured they will play him in order to climb higher on the ladder; higher, of course, being you.”

“Harlan. Damn it. I pay you to deal with shit like this. That means you actually have to come up with viable solutions.”

“I told you,” Norris said, “when you decided to hold those weapons under his house, it was a bad idea.”

“Thank you, but that doesn’t help now. I had nowhere else safe to put those guns while our armory is being completed at the lodge. We filled up the other men’s gun vaults first. Hell, what’s stored at his house represents less than ten percent of our arsenal.” Garrison took a deep breath. “What about denying we have any involvement and saying we don’t even know Mullins? It’s his word against ours. We can afford to lose those guns if we have to.”

“If you do that, Carl,” Norris said, “he can prove relations. I’m already on record as his attorney and it wouldn’t take much to uncover my relationship with you. Plus, you deny him now, and he’ll talk like a parrot to the detectives and then all of TARPA will collapse.”

“Okay, forget that.” Garrison knew he was running low on options.

“Hang on, Harlan.” Garrison took the phone from his ear.

“Brad, I’ve got a problem, actually a person, that’s becoming unmanageable and putting everything I’ve worked for at risk.”

Brad looked at Garrison as if to say, “And?”

Garrison returned the phone to his ear. “Harlan, let me call you back. I need to talk with Brad.”

Chapter 37

Jimmy Dan Mullins’s Farm

Nashville, Tennessee

Wednesday Late Morning

“You can open it, and allow it to remain intact along with whatever you have inside, or we can get the bomb squad out here to blow it open.” Norm offered Mullins his most serious expression. “You know, they enjoy that kind of stuff, and they don’t get to do it very often. Everyone seems to always comply; then the bomb squad has to go home. It really pisses them off. Oh, by the way, if we have to blow it; anything that gets damaged is not considered our responsibility. It’s true. The District Attorney considers it collateral damage due to an uncooperative suspect.”

Mike sat on a stack of boxes, enjoying Norm’s performance.

“And,” Mike looked around at the basement ceiling and walls, “this place doesn’t look all that sturdy.”

“You may want to make some plans for another place to live,” Norm said, as he reached his long arms over his head grabbed the floor joists and acted as though he was shaking them, “assuming of course, your insurance covers that sort of thing. What do you say, Mullins?” Norm asked. “You don’t want to open it, do you? You’d rather let us blow it, right?” Norm nodded his head feigning excitement.

Norm turned and faced his partner, acting as though he had a cigar in his fingers he raised his eyebrows several times. He elevated his voice enough that Mullins could hear. “I think it would be amazing to watch this place turned into splinters.”

“Alright, damn it.” Mullins stomped to the door. “Freakin’ Gestapo,” he mumbled.

Mullins punched six digits on the keypad and rotated the five spoke handle until the plungers were retracted. He grabbed the handle with both hands and stepped backward until the door was open.

“Damn.” Norm’s eyes grew large as he walked toward the open door. “You were right Mike. It is a gun vault, but it’s larger than you thought.”

Mullins stood to the side and watched the detectives marvel at the collection of weapons and the size of the vault. Mullins looked as though he wanted to be elsewhere.

“What is this room, ten feet by fifteen?” Norm asked.

“Twelve by eighteen,” Mullins groaned, arms folded and staring at the floor.

“A Barrett M82A1
and
an M99, look at the size of those things.” Norm strolled the room like it was a sporting goods store. “Hey, Mike. Here’s two fifteen-count racks full of M4s complete with M203 grenade launchers. Mullins, where the hell did you get all these?”

Mullins didn’t answer.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Norm shouted as he pulled open a set of large cabinet doors to expose thousands of rounds of ammunition for all the weapons in the racks and on the walls.

“Here’s a rack of twelve gauge Remington 870s like ours,” Mike said. “Look at this wall, H&K MP5s and G36s. What the hell is this, Mullins? Aren’t you aware that many of these weapons are Class Three firearms?”

“What does that mean?” Mullins asked.

“Mullins, you’re not
that
uninformed are you? What kind of gun collector doesn’t know that? Class Three weapons are the full autos made since ‘86,” Norm said, “the ones you’re not supposed to own unless your last name is Government.”

“What do you mean?” Mullins asked. “This is America. Check the constitution. We’re allowed to own guns.”

“You have the right to keep and bear arms,” Mike explained. “You do not have the right to possess armament equal to America’s military. There are laws meant to prevent the ownership and operation of fully automatic weapons, explosives and shortened long guns modified for concealment. Many of these weapons break those laws.”

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about. I’m callin’ my lawyer.”

“Good idea,” Norm said. “He can explain it all to you before the door to your cell slams shut.”

“I’ve also got a call to make,” Mike said as he turned to go back upstairs.

Chapter 38

Captain Al Moretti’s Office

Criminal Justice Center

Nashville, Tennessee

Wednesday Late Morning

“Captain Moretti.”

“Captain, this is Lieutenant Ray Samuels with the Tennessee Highway Patrol.”

“What can I do for you, Lieutenant?”

“Do you have a dark blue Crown Vic Interceptor that would have been on Interstate 40 in Cheatham County about an hour ago?”

“I wouldn’t think so, but I can find out. Why?”

“One of our troopers clocked this unmarked vehicle doing ninety-three miles per hour westbound outside Metro jurisdiction. We thought it was unusual for a Metro vehicle to be operating at this speed without emergency equipment. We ran the tag and wanted to be sure you had an officer operating this vehicle and it wasn’t stolen. The trooper who clocked the vehicle was in pursuit when the driver lit it up. So the trooper backed off after acquiring the tag number.”

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