Page 53 of Ava
“Carl,” Tom said, and hurried over to him. When the two returned, Tom turned to Justin and Ava with a smile. “This is Carl Miller, he’s from yet another bowl of alphabet soup.”
“Which one?” Ava asked as she lowered her arms, and went to stand next to Justin.
“BCI,” Carl said, and held out his hand. They shook, and it was Ava who turned to Justin with a smirk. “BCI stands for Bureau of Criminal Investigation. They are at the state level, not federal, like the FBI.”
“Does that mean you take care of the cases, and only call in the FBI if they’re needed.”
“Yes. It also means that we can issue permits for you to carry legally. I’m sure you were told that it’s not illegal to carry openly, but Tom read me in on what he suspects, and when you came in here and filled out papers when you first arrived here in the state, we ran a background check on you. You passed, and I’m here to issue you a right to carry a concealed permit.”
“Which means?” Justin looked at the three of them.
“Which means you can carry a gun on your ankle for where you’re going tonight. Tom read me in, and I’ve seen the video. Our department has been trying to get some goods on the police in that county, but no one will help us. Ava’s video is the first solid evidence we have that they are bad, or at least Tanner is.” He held up his hand and shook his head when Ava went to say something. “We suspected the judge was dirty also, but the judge you’re going in front of tonight has only been on the bench for two months.”
“Why?” Ava asked, intrigued by the shared information.
“The previous judge dropped dead of a heart attack, and the current judge was quickly elected to fill the empty spot.”
“Do you suspect this new judge? And what about the DA?”
Carl shrugged with his hands out to his sides. “I have no clue. That’s why you’re going in wired. As I said earlier, Tom read me in on what you’re doing here, Ms. Hanson. I have to say it’s smart that you’re taking someone with you. Again, I can’t prove anything, but a lot of women have come up missing from that area.”
“That’s what we suspect.”
“Okay, let me finish filling out these papers, and you two can get on the road. Oh, I’m going to be along this road.” He went over to the map, and pointed. “When you leave the court house, come this way, and stop to see me. I don’t have to tell you that if there are any other people there to try and get their faces on video.”
“Got that covered.” Ava nodded, and in twenty minutes Carl handed the permits over to Justin, along with a gun. Ava instructed him how to strap it to his ankle, and had him walk around with it. “You’re going to want act naturally. Like you said earlier, I don’t know how high tech this court house is, whether we’ll have to go through a metal detector or not.”
“You packing?” Carl asked her.
“I am.” Ava nodded and lifted her jeans leg to show her gun strapped to her ankle.
“Okay, you guys better get on the road.” Tom clapped his hand and walked them to the door. “If anything happens, tell Carl when you stop to see him. I’ll pick up the video later.”
“Thanks Tom,” Justin said, and held out his hand to the other man. In under five minutes, they were on the way. They knew they’d have at least two hours to make it there. At first they didn’t talk, until they looked at each other and grinned.
“When will your parents get in?” Ava asked. Thinking the subject of his parents would be safe, and not embarrassing them if the others listened.
“They had a setback, but should be at the ranch by eight.”
“What type of setback?”
“Dad not only got a flat tire on the trailer hauling his bike, but also on the truck. Luckily he was able to change both of them, and it only set them back two hours.”
“Wow, what bad luck.”
“Yeah, but at least he knows how to change one.”
“How was the pig?” she asked after several minutes of silence.
“Good, we were able to pick it up, and get it back to the barn. We stuffed it, sewed it up, wrapped it, then got it on the spit a little after noon. If all goes well, we can take it off between twelve and twelve thirty tomorrow afternoon.”
“I have to ask, what would you stuff a pig with? You don’t put the innards back in do you?”
Justin laughed, and looked over at her with a grin. “Never been to a pig roast?”
“No.”
“Okay, we stuff it with apples, pears, and cinnamon sticks. But it’s enough that as the pig cooks, the fruit melts, and the flavors from them, and the cinnamon permeates the meat. It’s subtle, but has a wonderful taste.”
