Page 42 of Ava
“Thank you, but that won’t get you any Brownie points. Can I ask what’s gotten you so hot under the collar?”
Ava pulled the bag she used as a purse closer to her, and dug out the information she’d written on the receipt, along with the ticket she received. “I went out to investigate the area,” she began, then looked at Morgan. “I took the blue Jeep.”
“Okay.” Morgan looked at Chip, and said, “It’s one of the vehicles you commissioned Tom to get for us.”
“Ah, what happened, did it break down?”
“No, it might not look like a new penny, and has rust spots, and dents, but the engine and drive train are in perfect working order. Everything is legal on them.” She walked over to the map on the wall, then sighed in frustration. Grabbing two more maps off the table, she changed tactics and spread them out. “Come over here and look. I was here.” She pointed to the map and waited for the others to join her. “I thought I could come down this road, and come all the way here.”
“I’d do that,” Chip said as he studied the maps. “What seems to be the problem?”
“The problem was that as soon as I crossed the county line, I was pulled over.”
“By the locals?”
“Yeah, this guy…” she pointed to the information she’d written on the receipt “His name tag said Tanner, and his voice sounded like he’d been huffing helium before getting out of his car. Anyway, he asked for the required papers, and I never asked why I was pulled over. He went back to his car, ran my information, and on his way back, he did this.” Instead of telling them, she accessed the video on her phone, set it in the center of the map, and pressed play.
“What the fuck?” Chip demanded after he played it twice. “Did you get his badge number?”
“I did, and his name, the location of the incident, and the plate number on his vehicle.” She walked back over to Morgan’s desk and picked up the receipt. “I think maybe tomorrow we should go into town and get a supply of tail lights, and headlights for all the vehicles. Not only keep them on hand here in the garage, but also keep some in the individual vehicles, along with a toolbox.”
“I agree.” Both Morgan and Chip nodded. Morgan asked the next question. “Did you continue further into the county?”
“No, I didn’t want to get pulled over by every freaking cop and issued another ticket for a broken taillight. No one would believe me, and what’s to say he wouldn’t radio his buddies and have them waiting for me to drive by. The registration for the Jeep is for this area.”
“Crap,” Morgan said. “But, you’re okay?”
“Yeah, just pissed.” She looked around, slumped in a chair, then sighed heavily. “We need more computers in here. I could run a background check on this asshat.”
“They’re coming,” Chip assured her, then went over to the blank wall and began putting up the three large county maps. He grabbed a red pen from Morgan’s desk and put a large X on the location where Ava had her encounter with Tanner.
“This is something we’re going to have to be on the lookout for. Do you have a close-up description of him?”
“About five ten, late thirties. The entire time he stood by my window, he had his hand on the butt of his gun, and he unsnapped it.”
“So, he might be the type to shoot first and ask questions later?” Morgan asked.
“On a scale of one to ten, I’d say yes being a nine point five. As I mentioned earlier, his voice sounded like he’d done a hit of helium before getting out of his car. High and squeaky. When he smiled at me after giving me that ticket...” She pointed to the paper on the center of Morgan’s desk. “He’s missing the two bottom center teeth, and the teeth on either side are black with rot. Oh, and he has dark brown eyes, and brown hair. I couldn’t distinguish if his eyes were brown or black. His pupils were huge.”
“Which might indicate he could be on drugs.”
“Could be.”
They went back to the desk, and Morgan frowned as she looked at the ticket. “Shit.”
“What?” Chip said as he took it and read it.
“What?” Ava asked.
“It says here that you have to go to court on Friday.”
“This Friday? Don’t they usually do court the next month?”
“Yeah, makes me wonder if there’s a judge, a DA, or some lawyer in on this. We don’t know if it has anything to do with the preppers. It might just be a corrupt police officer.”
“Yeah, but I’m not going to take my chances. Do we have any wire device I can wear to court?”
“Not until Montoya gets here by the end of the month,” Morgan sighed as she scrubbed her forehead. She frowned when Chip stood, walked out the door, then was back in under five minutes. He laid a large leather satchel in the center of Morgan’s desk.
