Respot the Pin

By Timothy Sawyer

They say that nice guys finish last. Not this time.
Jan 'Jesse' Schild is the quintessential nice guy who lost his wife and daughter when their California home exploded in a chain reaction caused by a drug lab explosion. The lab, operated by the infamous Nikitin drug cartel was being raided by the DEA at the time of the explosion. To ease his pain and begin the process of rebuilding his life, Jesse moved halfway across the country at the behest of his best friend, Piet Raat, M.D. In a most unconventional manner, he met a homeless Marjorie 'Maggie' Collins. Maggie was in the wrong place at the wrong time because she was sleeping in a warehouse and became a witness to some of Nikitin's activities. As a result, she was pursued by Nikitin's thugs because she knew too much. Jesse, with a soft spot for a damsel in distress, took Maggie 'under his wing' as it were because he swore to himself that Nikitin would never take another innocent life.
Frank Price is the team leader for the Metro Police drug task force. As a twist of fate, Frank was part of the very raid on that California drug lab where he first met Jesse. Frank also vowed not to retire until Nikitin was either behind bars or occupied a slab at the county morgue. Frank is always looking for that one break; that one tidbit of information that could eventually bring the cartel down, but Nikitin is so careful with his operation that it seems to be ever elusive.
With twists and turns, cops 'on the take', bad guys turned informant, an attorney with questionable ethics topped off with some unexpected romance and good-natured humor, this is the novel that readers won't want to put down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Timothy Sawyer
• Release date: Mar 24, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301281527

Timothy Sawyer

Tim has authored five books to include three self help books: A Patzer's Story, My Email to God Bounced, A Patzer's Journey and two novels, the latest being "Respot the Pin". He is an IT security professional who specializes in data security. When not working or writing, he is an avid bowler and a member of the Professional Bowlers Association, an avid chess player and dog lover. He lives in Erlanger, Kentucky with his wife, stepdaughter and four dogs.

Book preview

RESPOT THE PIN

Copyright © 2013 Timothy Sawyer

Smashwords Edition

Edited by Michelle Sawyer

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 9781301281527

To Shellie. My wife, my love, my best friend.

FOREWORD

A Note from the Author

Those of you that are familiar with my work will see a lot of familiar people in this book. I decided to take the original version of ‘Trip Four’ and rewrite parts of it. The reasons why are something that I can’t disclose at this time, but as the dust settles, everything will come out in the open. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this redeux as much as the original version.

To explain the title, what sometimes happens while bowling is that after a shot, the pinsetter may accidentally knock over a pin. In sanctioned league play, we have to have the bowling center ‘respot’ the pin (or pins) to their original position. See if you can spot (pun intended) the theme here.

As always, feel free to drop me a line at [e-mail]. Also, don’t forget to visit my main author site at http://www.authorsden.com/timothysawyer. In addition, you may want to check out my new affiliation with Books in Sync (booksinsync.com) where you may find works from other authors that will interest you.

Thanks for your interest in my books, and as always, enjoy the Trip!

Timothy A. Sawyer, CISSP

December, 2012

All characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

CHAPTER ONE

The Catalyst

Crime is blind. For some, it destroys fortunes, families and sometimes lives. For others like Kirill Nikitin, crime is a highly profitable venture. The basic rule of a market based economy is supply and demand. If someone demands something, someone else can benefit by supplying it. This basic principle applies to anything from food to clothes and yes, especially drugs. Since Kirill Nikitin, leader of the notorious drug cartel that bears his name, makes as what is known in this Midwest city as some of the ‘best shit’ money can buy, it is no wonder that Nikitin owns a sprawling villa in central Mexico, many safe houses in the United States from which operations are carried out, many other houses from which the ’shit’ is manufactured or grown, cars and yes of course, guns. Besides having a reputation as putting out a quality product, he also has the reputation for leading one of the most ruthless organizations in the world. With Vasily Rostov as his ‘right hand’ man in the area, those that run afoul of Nikitin have been rewarded with a bullet to the head, or if extremely lucky, a severe beating by one of Nikitin’s many hired thugs.

Though the cartel has many hired thugs, it also employs many educated people to run portions of the operation. Craig Remke is one of those people. He manages a highly profitable lab in the city, whose existence has been kept a secret and has baffled the local Metro Police for some time. It has frustrated the police to the point where they wonder if there is a mole in the department, or close to the department, that is giving Nikitin information for money, which Nikitin has plenty of.

Craig Remke is a highly intelligent man, having graduated with his MBA from a prestigious Ivy League school, yet after several corporate positions, he desired something more rewarding, or a portion of the pie if you will. For all of Craig’s knowledge, he has two weaknesses, women and money. His opinion was that the money would lure the women, and in corporate America, he wasn’t making the money he wanted. When approached by one of Nikitin’s recruiters, he couldn’t turn down the six figure salary that was offered, even if it did mean almost guaranteed incarceration if he were caught. This allowed Craig to get the Porsche, the fancy clothes and the means to wine and dine women to his home, and eventually to his bed.

Craig’s current sexual interest (as Craig is not one to commit) was a pretty twenty-something brunette by the name of Cindy Brown. Craig met her at a local bar he frequented and immediately hit it off. However, after several expensive dates and equally expensive gifts, he was getting no closer to getting Cindy to his bedroom. He finally played his trump card and told Cindy what he actually did for a living. At first, she seemed shocked but lately, in Craig's opinion, she was warming to the idea of being the ‘mistress’ of a high ranking crime boss.

Shocked, Cindy asked, Am I in danger?

Craig shook his head, Of course not. Nobody is going to hurt you.

Can I see where you work? The danger kind of turns me on. Cindy grinned and winked.

Craig resisted taking her to the lab at first. Secrecy was paramount in this type of business, and any mistake would be catastrophic for Craig. However, Cindy's charms were too much for Craig to resist, and after one steamy night at his house, he finally relented. So looking at his watch, he surmised that the lab workers would be gone by now. He didn’t see any real danger, and how would anyone know?

An hour later, they arrived at the lab, and as Craig showed her around, they ended up in Craig’s office. No sooner had they ended up in the office that the clothes were off, making love on the desk. Unbeknownst to Craig, Cindy had her cell phone out, snapping pictures where she can.

After Craig had dropped her at her apartment, Cindy took out her cell phone and sorted through the pictures she had taken. She went to a drawer in her desk and pulled out another cell phone and turned it on. With that phone, she made a call.

Frank Price

It’s Candy. We hit the jackpot.

CHAPTER TWO

The Bust

The one person who was not afraid of running afoul of Nikitin was Sergeant Frank Price of the Metro Police Department. Frank currently heads a task force responsible for putting the drug dealers and manufacturers out of business, or at least getting their business away from his city. Before taking the task force, he was contemplating retirement. On the police force for twenty-five years, he had only risen to sergeant, mainly because he is not ‘politically correct’ like his boss, Walter Jorgenson. Walter had only been on the police force for fifteen years, but managed to stay on the good side of his superiors, which helped his promotion to captain. However, that changed when Mayor Tolleson himself asked Frank to create the task force, with the final straw being right after his election when a drug bust took place down the street from the mayor’s house.

The job offer from the mayor and the chief of police, Jake Donaldson, was impossible for Frank to turn down, mainly because of a promise he made to himself and another man almost five years ago. On that day, he was working with the DEA in California when a suspected lab they were raiding exploded, which also caused the house next door to explode. The explosion of the other house killed a young woman and her daughter. Frank could never get the image out of his head; the charred bodies of the woman and young girl, and having the unsuspecting husband pull up to the house after returning from a business trip. He could still see the shock in the man’s face. From that moment in time, Frank vowed not to rest until Kirill Nikitin is in a jail cell or a coffin. It was his hatred for drugs and Nikitin, as well as that promise which convinced Frank to accept the mayor’s offer, build the team and work tirelessly to eradicate the drug trade.

At first, building the team was tough. Politics got in the way. Frank wanted to select the team on his own while the mayor and chief wanted to repay political favors by putting certain people on the team, whom Frank judged to be incompetent. Frank finally got his way when he threatened to retire. He said to the chief and the mayor one day, I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to let some fucking desk weenie pick out who is going to have my back in a shootout. Either give me full rein or I’m putting in my retirement papers. Chief Donaldson and Mayor Tolleson relented.

As time went along, Frank was becoming more accustomed to his role. He gathered information from many sources, such as people on the street who owed him favors as well as making sure certain people were compensated for their efforts. One person who didn’t need compensation or was in debt to Frank was Candy Browning, who has been on the force for five years. Like Frank, she despised Nikitin and everything he stood for. Candy’s father, a DEA agent, was gunned down by Nikitin’s associates in Mexico a year ago. She approached Frank with an offer to do anything that would help bring Nikitin down. When Frank received information on Craig Remke, he asked if she would be willing to go undercover and befriend Remke. Candy agreed wholeheartedly, and it was the information she gathered that finally landed him the search warrant for the ever elusive lab. Candy’s real job function on the force was known only to Frank, Walter and Chief Donaldson.

On this July day, it was hot and humid. Not even the central air conditioning in the police station could stave off the heat, and sweat was trickling down the side of Frank’s face as he prepared for a briefing to his team on the raid. As the team was filing in, Frank visually accounted for everyone that needed to attend the briefing. Every member of the team was handpicked and interviewed by Frank. The first person to walk in the room was Renee Abrams, the newest member of the team, followed by Andy Teeves, his second in command, Jorge Celesta, Tim Stanton, Shannon Long and Tony Condiotti. Also along for the ride was Hank Turner, the DEA agent that he was in California with that fateful day some years ago. Since then, Hank and Frank had become close friends, and even Hank was a sort of mentor to Frank, especially in the area of drug enforcement. Once the room settled down, he tapped a pen on the desk. Okay, people let’s get this show on the road. Today we are executing a search warrant. Renee, you want to get the lights, please?

Renee Abrams had been on the force for five years, working in a patrol car before joining the team. Renee’s supervisor had recommended her to Frank as a possible candidate. Frank had taken an instant liking to Renee on the first interview. Like Frank, she had a reputation for being outspoken and had a personality as fiery as her short red hair. What Frank would never admit, even to himself, is his attraction to Renee, but could never act on those feelings while he is Renee’s supervisor. He has seen these types of workplace relationships before, and most of them didn’t work out. It was even rumored that Tim and Shannon are dating, but it couldn’t be confirmed, and nobody has asked, although it was the running joke on the team. Wherever you saw Tim, Shannon was not too far away and vice versa.

Renee shut the lights and then on the wall flashed a picture of a nondescript house. With neatly trimmed lawns and shrubs, it could have been any home in any upscale neighborhood. Frank pointed to the screen as he continued; We have good intelligence that this house is a drug lab for Nikitin Murmurs could be heard in the room. To this team, Nikitin was public enemy number one, even ahead of the worst of terrorists. They shared the same wish as Frank, which is to take down Nikitin. There was also an unspoken agreement that if Nikitin’s head needed to be drilled with a .40 caliber slug, that honor was Frank’s and Frank’s alone. Frank continued, We have had the house on surveillance for about two weeks. It fits the profile. With video and other information we have, we were able to get the judge to sign off on the warrant.

Judge Schwartz? asked Andy Teeves. Laughter could be heard through the room. Judge Jacob Schwartz is known as a ‘friendly judge’, one who had a loose interpretation of probable cause. Judge Schwartz admired the work that this team did, and is also known to approve warrants for the team even when the probable cause or PC was somewhat subjective.

Andy was an ex-Army Ranger who had seen action in the first Gulf War. Frank and Andy’s friendship went all the way back to the days when they patrolled the streets.

Frank chuckled and nodded. He looked around the room at his team. All handpicked, all with their own, yet complementary, specialties. This team had gained a reputation not only in the city, but also in the state for being innovative, persistent and successful. Frank flipped through the other pictures. Manufacturing takes place in the house. The office is also in the house. These are the only pictures we could get of the inside.

Tony raised his hand off the conference table. How in the hell did we get inside the lab? I don’t remember ever getting pictures from the inside before a bust!

Frank broke out into a wry grin. This cannot leave the room. We had an undercover agent cultivate a relationship with one of Nikitin’s lab managers, who from what I understand, has a problem keeping it in his pants. On top of that, the agent is intelligent, attractive, and I can say that she has nice tits Laughter erupted in the room. In order to get into her panties he inflated his importance probably in proportion to the boner he had. The room, including Shannon and Renee, busted out in more laughter. Being in a man’s world, Shannon and Renee accepted long ago that this was part of the job, and to their credit even learned how to dish it out.

Frank continued, I withheld the existence of an agent until now because I didn't want her in any further danger. Everyone nodded in agreement. Frank’s judgement was respected by the team, and nobody questioned a decision that would keep a fellow cop safe. So, for his sake, I hope that he got laid or at least got a blow job because by close of business today I want him in cuffs, in jail and somebody’s prison bitch. More laughter filled the room. Okay, people. This is serious stuff here. According to the agent, there is an outbound shipment at three o’clock this afternoon. We don’t know where it is going, but we’re going to tail it until we find out. He pointed to two plain-clothes officers standing in the back. Once the shipment clears the area, we’ll hit the house. Andy, Tony and Shannon, you will be in another car at the back. The rest of us will hit the house from the front. Everyone goes in at the go order. Questions?

A voice sounded out from the back of the room, Do we know what weapons they have? Everyone turned back to see Hank Turner.

Frank looked at Hank and said, Hank, glad you are along for the ride. We can assume that they may have the normal shit like AK-47s since they probably get their guns smuggled from Mother Russia. Do not hesitate to drop the bad guys if they so much as look at you wrong. I do not want anyone in this room to get hurt. Understand? Frank looked to everyone for acknowledgement. Satisfied that everyone agreed, he gathered his papers and said, That’s all I have. Lets gear up and get ready to move. Frank looked at his watch. It was 12:30 pm. Almost show time.

The door to the warehouse was slightly ajar. Marjorie cautiously approached it to take a look inside. From the outside, it looked empty. There were no cars in the parking lot. She slightly pushed the door and poked her head in the opening. No noises or voices. It looks harmless enough. After all, what would happen if she got caught? Having to spend the night in jail is better than that damn shelter, she mused. Judging that all was clear, she stepped inside. It was a bit musty, but cool, certainly cooler than outside. Maggie spotted a stack of crates in the corner, an ideal spot to lay down. At least she can have some quiet as opposed to the bowling alley across the street. Walking over to the crates, she sat down and took a bottle of water from her backpack. Taking a couple of gulps, she closed the bottle and put it back in her backpack. Sleep came quickly as she closed her eyes and dreamt of better days.

Frank and the crew loaded into three Chevy Tahoes. The plainclothes officers took off in their unmarked cruiser to check the house beforehand, and alert Frank of anything amiss. After they checked the house, they would wait for any vehicles that may include a shipment. Frank was not a fan of daytime raids. Everyone in the house will likely be alert and armed. Nighttime was better, especially in the early morning hours because of the element of surprise. He chuckled at that thought as he remembered a recent raid where the target and his girlfriend were naked, and in a compromising position as they busted down the door. Nothing like getting arrested to lose the mood. Today, though, they would just have to charge the house and hope they did not walk into a hail of bullets, or worse, an inferno from the explosion of chemicals. He has never lost anyone on this team, and today was not going to be the day. He has seen enough funerals for fallen officers and did not want to go to another one. He also did not relish the task of explaining to a spouse or relative how it happened. Focus, he thought. Lack of attention is what gets people killed. Frank got on the secure radio.

Andy? Hold short about half a block. We’ll have to storm it when the time comes. There’s no cover.

Andy replied, Yeah, I see that. We have good visual on the back.

The radio crackled again, this time the plainclothes team, One Ford Escalade in the driveway, and two guys outside on the lawn. Not sure if the Escalade is the shipment vehicle.

Frank pressed the radio microphone key, Did you get that Andy?

Got it, boss. No movement here. was Andy’s response.

Frank had to chuckle. For as many years as he has worked with Andy, spent time with his family, even the godfather to Andy’s kids, he still calls him boss.

~~~

Kirill Nikitin was frustrated. His labs, or zavody as he likes to call them, were dwindling in numbers. The politsiya were getting better, he thought as a sexy Latino woman poured another vodka for him. Nikitin had everything a man could want. Houses in different countries, business interests all over the world, and of course all of the women that he wanted at his command. All this because the amerikantsy liked the product that he sold. Nikitin himself hardly went to the States for business. He was happy in his large villa in Mexico, where the dollar bought him a lot more than in Russia, the weather was more agreeable, and so were the women. Also, a few dollars went a long way to the local authorities to ensure Nikitin's privacy. He thanked the woman who poured the vodka as he lit another cigarette. Eyeing the girl up and down, he thought about inviting her up to his private office for the evening. Maybe a little fun might ease the frustration and help him tackle the problem of dwindling supply. At least, he thought, Vasily was going to supervise this next shipment so he will have some more in that region of the country.

In the house, Craig Remke was quite happy. Not only is he sending off a fair-sized shipment to Nikitin, or Mr. Nick as he was called by everyone in the organization, he finally had some success with a woman he had been seeing. As difficult as it was to get this girl into bed, she was worth the effort as she has some excellent talents. What made this connection more exciting is that their first sexual encounter was in this very lab. His mind wandered to their date that night, and he was looking forward to that. At the moment though, he had to focus on the task at hand, which was getting the shipment out the door. The plan was to take the shipment to a warehouse that was recently abandoned, but bought by one of Mr. Nick’s ‘front companies’, this one being a publishing firm.

With the lack of success and Nikitin’s anger, he dispatched Vasily to manage this delivery. What Vasily lacked in physical stature he made up for in ruthlessness, having personally dispatched a few incompetent lab workers, and a few more people while a member of the now defunct Soviet Army. Vasily was a friend to none, an enemy to many, and feared by most people that crossed his path. To Craig and others, he was simply known as Victor.

Craig supervised the Ok, Victor. I think we are ready to load the truck, he said to Vasily, who then stepped outside to check with the two men that were keeping an eye on things.

The radio crackled, Movement outside the house. They may be getting ready to move.

Frank pressed the send key, 10-4. You get that, Andy?

Got it, Frank. We’re ready, was Andy’s response.

Frank went on with the takedown plan, "If the two guys are still outside, Tim and Renee will take them