Page 96 of Left Behind

Gardner was in the conference room with his captain and the Bowling Green police chief, on a Zoom call with the district attorney. It didn’t take long for them to come to a consensus. Taking Carl Henley down mattered. A lot. They knew the court would agree that both Eggers and Pryor had fought, because Eggers’s knuckles had been bruised and bloody. With a good lawyer on Pryor’s side and evidence of a fight between the two men, the court would have a difficult time proving premeditated murder. But Pryor wasn’t getting off of the attempted murder charge. That bit about tracking prey through a storm and shooting her in the back was in cold blood.

Gardner had his orders. He and his partner went back into the interview room, resumed the recording, and began again.

“Your charges will be reduced to manslaughter for Eggers, but you do not get a free pass on hunting down an innocent woman and shooting her in the back. That’s attempted murder any way you look at it. And you can’t admit to one and deny the other, because the same gun was used in both crimes. Now start talking.”

Lonny sighed. It was the best he could expect, and he wasn’t going down alone. If Junior Eggers hadn’t sent him there with a gun, none of this would have happened. But he was glad the woman was still alive. That shit had bothered him to no end.

“Junior Eggers called me to come to the house, so I did. Carl wanted Junior to pay Eggers a little visit, and Junior didn’t want to go, so he sent me instead. All I was supposed to do was talk to him. Tell him what Carl had heard and ask him if he was involved.”

“What had Carl heard, and involved in what?” Gardner asked.

“Drugs. Word on the street was some new crew was about to muscle in on Henley’s territory, and he wanted to know if Eggers knew anything about it, or if he was involved. So, as I’m about to leave, Junior hands me this gun. I didn’t know it was Carl’s until later, and yes, I was driving Junior’s truck. I drive up. The only car there is Billy’s. I didn’t know anyone else was there, and it wouldn’t have mattered to me anyway. I was just asking questions and delivering a message.

“Eggers let me in. I asked him about what Carl wanted to know and warned him that if he was involved, Carl would not let it slide. Billy freaked out on me. Started shouting, telling me I was wrong and full of shit. He took a swing at me. Then we fought, and I panicked in the fight and pulled the gun, thinking he’d back off and that would be that. But he jumped me. The gun went off. And he was dead. None of that was supposed to happen.”

“So how did you come to go after his sister?” Gardner asked.

Lonny shrugged. “I didn’t know until later that it was his sister. But I think that’s why he freaked out on me. When he saw the gun, I reckon he was thinking about protecting her. I saw her running to his car from the living room window. By the time I got outside, she was already out of the driveway and flying. I ran back inside in a panic, grabbed Billy’s phone to see if he had a tracking app on the phone for his car, and he did. That’s how I found her. I couldn’t let her get away and give me up.”

“She never saw your face. She never heard your name. She didn’t hear anything that was said between either of you. She just heard the gunshot and ran, like her brother told her to do. She could never have fingered you. Not in a million years,” Gardner said.

Lonny sighed. “I’ll be damned. Well, it don’t matter. I’m glad she lived. I’m sorry about Billy.”

Gardner kept pushing. “We need the names of Carl’s fences and everything that has to do with his involvement. How does he transport the drugs? Where does he get them? Who are his suppliers?”

“I can answer some of that, and I will testify against the both of them in court.”

Gardner nodded.

Lonny added. “Just know that you’re gonna have to keep me alive to make all that happen, which means you better get Carl and Junior off the street before he gets a chance to put a hit out on me, and the moment they go to jail, the people he does business with are going to go to ground or disappear.”

“So, start talking, Lonny. We need names. We’ll make a sweep and pick the whole lot of them up at once. They’ll be so busy trying to make deals for themselves, they won’t have time to worry about you.”

“Carl will want revenge. He’ll want me dead anyway. If you want to nail him to the wall, Junior is the one who will break. He’s only along for the ride on Daddy’s money anyway. Daddy is the one who lowers the hammer on what’s happening, and who lives and who dies.”

“Duly noted,” Gardner said. “So, we’re listening. Start talking.”

“I only know what I saw when I was with Junior, or what I heard him talking about. There are food trucks and a pawnshop he drops drugs off in. Carl has a storage unit on the outskirts of the city. I went there with Junior once to drop off some boxes, but I don’t know what was in them, or what’s in the storage unit. I’ve seen a couple of invoices from trucking companies, and I think he has a shell company somewhere around the seaports in Houston bringing stuff in from overseas. One night I drove Junior home from a club because he was too drunk to drive, and he kept talking about wanting to go on the next run into Mexico to pick up a new shipment. I thought he meant drugs, but he was talking about girls for the sex trade. That’s about all I know for sure,” Lonny said.

Gardner nodded, and ended the interrogation.

“Lock him up,” Gardner said. “No visitors but his lawyer.”

The guard took Lonny out in shackles and cuffs as Gardner began stirring the pot. They had but a short time to find the leads and evidence needed to get search warrants and arrest warrants before Henley got wind of what was happening and destroyed the evidence.

Gardner went back to the office, gathered a half-dozen detectives around him, and began issuing orders about researching properties in Henley’s name.

“I want around-the-clock surveillance on both Carl and Junior. Take note of everywhere they go and who they meet with. Now get cracking. We don’t have much time.”

***

Linette was, as of today, officially moved out of her apartment, her furniture was in storage, and she was at the elevator with a briefcase containing her personal papers, waiting for her ride down.

When the elevator car finally arrived and the doors opened, Cecily Michaels was standing against the wall, staring at her.

Linette stepped inside and then leaned against the opposite wall and stared her down.

“I haven’t seen you around much,” Cecily said.

---