ANGELO'S GUEST

ANGELO’S GUEST is John E. Mann’s third Mystery novel. It reaches back as far as the Korean war and winds it’s way to the modern day world of Detective Joe Kepper. Most of the story takes place on and around our nation’s capital where high level officials with connections to the DEA decide on new approaches to operate the drug trade. There are shoot outs, attempted murders and a bit of romance. Joe Kepper and his aide, Sam Stevens are pushed to the limit and his Dad’s old friend Angelo comes to the rescue by insuring the safety of a mysterious guest.

From Chapter 2 of ANGELO'S GUEST:

While Patrolman Crawford was calling to headquarters to arrange for backup, Jesse and Selena stood handcuffed over at the side of their car. Selena figured Jesse was embarrassed because he had been caught flirting and even more so now that he had been stopped by the police in another state and was not sure what the outcome would be resulting from his arrest. She suspected it was beginning to make him angry. The way he paced back and forth alongside the car, his head down and that hang-dog look. They were supposed to be reporting back to work in a couple of days, but would these crazy cops try to keep them here in North Carolina? She was beginning to get concerned about Jesse so she decided to start a conversation with him.

“I know I was wrong in hitting you, Jesse, and that caused the reckless driving charge but what’s with the handcuffs and the dog sniffing at the back of the car?” Selena asked. “Tell me, are you carrying drugs back there?”

“Hell no! You know I don’t do drugs. I don’t know why they’re treating us like this anyway. I’m clean. I’ve never done drugs in my life,” Jesse said.

“Yes, but are you carrying drugs for someone else? That’s the question.”

“How can you say that? I’ve been with you ever since we left DC. You know that. I don’t know nothin’ about no drugs,” Jesse said, turning around and looking at her directly.

Selena was skeptical. She’d read about police dogs and how they sniff and can detect drugs and people carrying drugs. She knew Jesse and most of his faults. He smoked cigarettes and she never knew him to have more than one or two drinks when they went out. As clean cut as he seemed to be, there was a very mysterious side of him. At first she thought he might be married, because of the weird unscheduled visits and because he had never asked her to visit him. He didn’t give her a home phone number and she wasn’t sure what kind of work he did. He rarely called except when he was coming over, and she knew nothing about his family. Jesse was sort of an enigma.

On the other hand, he treated her well, especially when they went on trips; she liked the way he made love, drove a car, and he was fun to be with. But there was little else to share.

The late model Acura they were using was not Jesse’s. He said he had borrowed it from a friend. The car he used to take her out on dates was an eight- year-old Taurus. Jesse said he doubted whether his Taurus could take the beating it took to get to southern Florida and back which made her believe in his honesty. Selena weighed his good points and his bad. She came to the conclusion  she didn’t really know Jesse. She wondered what he had gotten himself into and would she be looked upon as a part of the trouble he could be in. If he was in trouble with the law, she could very well be held as an accessory.

                                                *       *       *

Another police cruiser pulled up in front of them. Two officers got out and walked back to where Officer Crawford was filling out a report of the arrest. The short officer looked a bit older, wore two stripes on his arm and appeared to be in charge.

“ Hi Bobby, understand you need some help. What have you got here?” the short officer said.

“Sure thing, Corporal Wells,” Officer Crawford said. “Had a little fight going on while moving along at sixty-five miles per hour causing the car to shift between lanes and nearly causing an accident. It appears the young lady was mad as hell about something. Her name is Selena Valdez. The driver is Jesse Romano and I guess he was trying to defend himself.  I’ll need some help in verifying whether Mr. Trapuzzi loaned his car to this gentleman. We need to be sure the car isn’t stolen. I’m writing Jesse up for reckless driving but thought we’d better hold them while we get a thorough  check of that trunk. Missy has been sniffing around and she seems to think there’s something in there we should look at and she’s seldom wrong,” Officer Crawford said.

Jesse and Selena had moved over close enough to listen in on the conversation between the officers. Jesse spoke up. “There’s nothing in there, I keep telling you.”

“May we have permission to search your car, Mr. Romano?” Officer Crawford said.

“Sure, go ahead,” Jesse said, apparently ready to accept his ticket and get on with it. Officer Crawford handed the keys to Corporal Wells, who moved over to Jesse’s Acura and unlocked the trunk.

The two officers began  removing a few loose items on top of the suitcases and then the two heavy bags. They left wrenches, the jack and handle, a first aid kit, two reflectors and a kneeling pad used for tire changing. Missy attentively watched the procedure as an interested bystander like everyone else. Finding nothing of substance, one of the officers went over to his cruiser and brought back a blanket and layed it on the ground as they proceeded to take items from one bag piece by piece until it was empty. Finding nothing other than personal items of clothing and a few souvenirs, they continued the same procedure with the other bag. Nothing.

“Sorry Bobby, there’s nothing unlawful in the trunk. The same goes for the bags. Where’s your handbag, young lady?” Corporal Wells asked.

“It’s inside our car,” Selena said glumly.

Corporal Wells found the handbag in the back seat, brought it back and began to empty Selena’s bag, which looked as if it contained everything except the kitchen sink. As the officer proceeded with the inspection of the bag, Missy jumped into the now empty trunk and began sniffing around. All three troopers stopped to watch. She began making growling noises as she moved from corner to corner a bit excitedly. It was as if she were saying, I know there’s something illegal in here,  why can’t you humans figure it out?

“We obviously missed something,” Officer Crawford said. “I think we’d better take the car in and let the experts look it over.”

Corporal Wells nodded. His partner whose nametag identified him as Decker said, “I agree, they’ve got all the tools and scientific know how to determine whether your partner’s hunch is correct. If no drugs are found, we’ve got no grounds to hold them. If they do find something, then those two have a problem. It’s all in the hands of the experts. Hey you two,” he yelled over to Jesse and Selena, “get in the back seat of my cruiser,” Corporal Wells said. “Officer Decker here will drive their car in and Bobby, you and Missy can lead the way. That sound OK?”

“Yep,” Officer Crawford replied. “Sounds good to me. Did you get all of that, folks?” he asked, looking over at Jesse and Selena.

“Whatever it takes to get us going back to DC. I'll want to get some sleep before heading off to work on Monday,” Jesse said.

Selena was quiet. Whatever they decided, she had little control over. Already she was thinking of who she might use as a lawyer in the event Jesse was lying and they did find drugs in the car someplace. A couple of her friends were lawyers but, one dealt in real estate, the other taxes. Well at least if it became necessary to get a criminal lawyer, those two could probably recommend someone who was into criminal law. But this whole thing was so ludicrous she couldn’t see how they could be charged and put in jail. It was just plain mind-boggling. She had never been in trouble all her life not even a parking ticket. There was no way that she would be arrested and jailed. She hadn’t done any wrong and there was no proof she had done something wrong. Within an hour or so they would be cleared and on their way. The dog seemed pretty smart, but that doesn’t make her infallible.