The Merger – 41

 

"Are we ready?" Josh asked Saturday evening as he got into Mike's car.

"As ready as we're going to be," Mike replied. He double-checked that he'd packed the night-vision scope for his camera, although he doubted he'd need it. "After all," he'd said when Josh had asked, "there should be enough light from the one over the loading dock, plus whatever comes from the warehouse when the door is open. For damned sure they don't off-load the goods in the dark."

Josh had chuckled. "But if they do, you're prepared."

They each carried one of Josh's Tasers and Mike also had a pistol in the inside-the-waistband holster concealed at the back of his jeans.

The drive to the warehouse had been done virtually in silence. They were dressed in dark jeans; black, long-sleeved T-shirts; and dark running shoes. When Josh had suggested, tongue in cheek, that they should darken their faces and hands, Mike had considered it for all of two seconds then replied, "We'd scare the hell out of anyone who saw us walking around down there."

It was just after nine when they arrived in the virtually empty warehouse district. Mike parked a couple of blocks from their destination, they got out, each of them instinctively touching the shoulder bags containing their gear, then began the walk down the side street leading to the warehouse next to Leades' Distributors.

"We have company," Josh said under his breath.

Mike saw what he meant. Two obviously homeless men were eyeing the fire escape he and Josh needed to use to get up to the roof. He quickly went over to them, saying, "If you're thinking of crashing up there, don't."

"Why not?" one of the men asked, eyeing him warily.

"I've seen cops checking it out when I was on my way to work."

"You work around here?" the other man asked.

"Yep. Me and my friend here are security guards for a warehouse a block from here." Mike pointed down the street. "We're running late 'cause my damned car decided to run out of gas."

"Serves you right." The first man cackled then said, "Still, thanks for the warning."

"No problem." Mike grinned. "We guard the warehouse, not the whole damned area. So if you're going to sleep somewhere around here, it's no skin off our noses. I just figured I'd warn you that rooftops probably aren't your best bets since the cops have started checking them pretty regularly."

The two men nodded, the second one giving him a thumbs-up as they walked away.

"Let's hope the cops really don't do that," Josh said while they waited for the men to disappear from view.

"No kidding." Mike jumped for the bottom of the fire escape ladder, pulled it down, and moments later they were on the second-story landing. As they had the previous evening, he boosted Josh up so he could scramble onto the roof, then with Josh's help, got up there as well.

Silently, they crossed to the far side, staying well away from the edge. Josh inched over, close enough to see down into the lot behind Leades' Distributors. Mike waited for Josh to signal it was okay before joining him.

The lot looked just as it had the last time they'd seen it—lit by the light over the loading dock and the one by the gate in the fence.

Mike took one of his cameras from the bag. Lying on his stomach, he looked through the viewfinder, focusing the camera in on the roll-up door. The image was so sharp that even in the less-than-optimal light he could make out the scratches and minor dents on the individual slats. He widened the focus to take in more of the lot then checked again. Now the view encompassed the area from the door back to approximately ten feet into the lot.

Satisfied, he left the camera where it was and retrieved a second one from his bag. Moving down to the corner of the roof, he got on his stomach again then looked through the viewfinder to check if the angle was right for getting shots of the truck's cab and front license plate. It was, so he beckoned for Josh to join him, handing him the camera when he settled down on his stomach.

"Remember," Mike said softly through the mic he was wearing, "we want pictures of the plate and the DOT number, which should be on the door."

Josh took a look then nodded, replying just as quietly through his mic, "Now we wait and hope they make a delivery tonight."

Mike gave him a hug, slithered back far enough to stand without being visible from the lots—the main one and Leades'—then went back to the first camera. Lying down again, he took a shotgun mic from the bag to record anything that might be said by the men as they unloaded the truck, and then settled down to wait.

The Merger – 40

 

As soon as they closed the agency for the day, Mike and Josh headed to their respective apartments to change from their work clothes to something more comfortable—and darker. Then Josh picked Mike up, since there was no reason for both of them to drive, and they stopped at a diner close to their destination to eat supper.

It was just after eight thirty and beginning to get dark when they left the diner. As they drove to their destination, Josh noted, unsurprisingly, that ninety percent of the buildings they went past were warehouses, with an occasional convenience store or small eatery interspersed on the main road going through the center of the ten-block square area.

"There," Mike said as they drove down one of the side streets, pointing to a small warehouse. It sat between two much larger, two-story ones that took up most of that side of the block. "The delivery entrance must be in back."

Josh turned at the next corner then into the area running behind the buildings. The two larger ones had several loading docks set directly on a paved lot, which was wide enough to let trucks access them. The warehouse belonging to Leades' Distributors had a narrow, fenced-in lot of its own off the main one, allowing a truck to back up to the small loading dock in front of a tall, roll-up door.

"They don't want anyone seeing what's being delivered," Mike said.

A logical conclusion, Josh thought, since deliveries to the other warehouses would be visible to anyone walking or driving by when they were happening.

Josh snorted. "Gee, I wonder why?"

Like the others, the Leades' warehouse was dark, no light shining through the two windows at one side of the entrance. The lot, however, was lit by two floodlights, one over the loading dock and the other by the entrance gate.

"They don't want trespassers," Josh said, slowing the car so they could get a better look. Since, at the moment, the area was empty, he pulled to a stop to study the fence and gate. "No trespasser is getting through or over that without setting off alarms, unless they know what they're doing."

"You can bet the same holds true for the building."

"No kidding." Josh continued driving, looking for somewhere they could leave the car so they could do a walk-by of the warehouse. He found it in the lot behind one of the convenience stores two blocks away. He slung his bag over his shoulder when they got out of the car, and then they returned to the street fronting the warehouse. The only illumination came from the streetlights on the corners of the block, lights over the entrances to the warehouses, and the occasional headlights of a passing car.

"A mugger's paradise," Mike said as they strolled with apparent casualness past the Leades' warehouse.

Josh nodded as he read results of the scan he was doing that would tell him what sorts of security were on the doors and windows of the warehouse. "Very high-tech," he murmured. "Not that we're going to break in, but interesting." He did that again with the warehouse next door for comparison. "Also good, but not nearly up to what Leades has on his building. I'd say that's a good clue that Leades doesn't want anyone coming in to check out his merchandise without him being there. You'd think he had drugs or illegal firearms in there, too."

"Hell, for all we know, he might," Mike replied. "Not that there's any way of finding out, even if we get inside as potential buyers for what he sells to people like Palmer."

"True. Now, let's check out the back to find a good vantage point to watch the warehouse."

That turned out to be relatively easy. One of the warehouses—across the alley from the lot belonging to the one to the left of Leades' building—was three stories tall and had a fire escape that went to the roof. The jump from there to the roof of the two-story warehouse opposite the one belonging to Leades was no more than ten feet, so getting to it was doable, as they discovered when they tried. There was a parapet running the length of the roof, giving them relatively safe cover to take photos, using a telephoto lens, of any trucks making deliveries to Leades' warehouse.

"I wish we could get closer, though," Mike said when they were back on the ground. "We'll be a good fifty feet away."

"Let's not press our luck," Josh replied.

"Still, if you could get me through the gate, I could hide behind that—" Mike pointed to the dumpster next to the loading dock, "—and get close-up shots of what was being delivered and the men doing the work."

"No," Josh replied adamantly. "You're not risking your life. You'd better believe they're armed. They'd have to be, to have hijacked the truck in the first place."

"Okay. You're right. Now, if we could get to that roof—" he gestured to the building on the right, next door Leades' warehouse, "—we'd have a better angle for photos and we could hear anything that was being said."

Without replying, Josh walked to the side street they hadn't driven down yet. "We can," he said. "Another fire escape. Of course, it doesn't go to the roof, but… Come on." After making certain there were no cars or people in sight, he jumped, grabbing the lower rungs of the ladder to pull it down. Then they climbed up to the second level. "Give me a boost," he told Mike. When Mike did, Josh was able to crawl onto the roof. Lying flat, he held out his hands, Mike took them and pulled himself up to join Josh.

"You're stronger than you look," Mike said. "But then I knew that." He winked, getting a grin from Josh in return.

They crossed to the edge of the roof, where they'd have a good view of the Leades' loading dock.

"Perfect," Mike said. "Thankfully, there's no moon to silhouette us while we're up here, so we're set for tomorrow night."

"And Sunday, if necessary," Josh replied. "It won't be this easy if we have to do daytime surveillance during the week."

"We bring our gear at night and camp out up here."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Not."

Mike laughed as they returned to the street the way they'd gotten up to the roof—then back to where they'd parked the car. "Your place or mine?" Mike asked once they were driving out of the area.

"Mine. That way I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to go home to change clothes before meeting my Saturday morning client."

"Let me pick up my car, then, or I'll be cabbing it home."

Josh grinned. "You can get up when I do and I'll drive you home."

"Umm, no? Saturdays I like to sleep in, no matter which bed I'm in."

"I know. Lazy man." Josh shook his head when Mike gave him the finger. Half an hour later, with both their cars parked in the lot next to Josh's building, they'd showered and were in bed, doing what they liked best—making love before falling asleep spooned together.

The Merger – 39

 

"Why not just check some of the items Palmer bought from them?" Josh asked.

"Because, if we can prove they're stolen, the man, or men, running Leades' Distributors could claim they bought them in good faith from whomever—probably someone who was going out of business and was willing to take pennies on the dollar to get rid of their inventory," Mike replied.

"If they do go that route, of course they'll have the paperwork to back it up."

"Exactly. I want to find out what goods are delivered to them this weekend then see if we can associate them with reports of hijacked shipments that happened within the last few days. That way, if we do decide to pose as buyers interested in what they have to offer, we'll go in Monday morning, knowing that we're purchasing stolen goods and can prove it, before they can mock up faked invoices."

"It's worth a try," Josh replied. "It's too bad that legally we can't enter the premises without permission. Unfortunately, if we did, any evidence we found would be thrown out of court."

"Which is where posing as a buyer comes in," Mike pointed out. He tapped a finger to his lips. "Obviously, they'll want to make a delivery appear legitimate if anyone is around who might see a truck arriving. And by doing it at night there's less chance of that happening. But first, and I know this is one ploy hijackers use, they take the stolen truck some place safe where they can switch out the license plates and alter the US and/or state DOT numbers. That wouldn't take long, and it's cheaper than owning their own trucks and transferring the goods into one of them to bring them to their warehouse. Using the original trucks makes it seem as if the deliveries were coming from the source—if, as I said, someone did see it happening."

"How will we prove differently?"

"See who the plates really belong to, for starters. The same with the DOT numbers. I can do that on the spot with my iPhone."

"Do we…? Okay, probably not."

"Hmm?"

"Want to start staking the place out tonight? You sound as if you think the merchandise, if it is stolen, is only delivered on the weekend."

"I do. As I said, probably at night, when everything around the warehouse is closed. That way, it minimizes the chance of witnesses. Hijack a truck, alter the ID, and get the goods to the warehouse fast—hopefully before the hijacking is reported to the police and they start looking for the perps."

Josh nodded. "Then dump the merchandise on unsuspecting buyers just as quickly. On the following Monday, if what happens with Mr. Palmer is the norm."

"Yep. Of course, all of this is pure conjecture, and I may be way off base, but we have to start somewhere. If I am wrong about the delivery time, then I—we—get to spend all next week staking out the warehouse."

"Gee, just what we want, to lose clients if we have to do that during the day," Josh said wryly, "and lose sleep if we do it at night as well."

"Tell me about it. So, we'll hope to hell my thinking is correct."

"Let's take a drive-by tonight, to see where we can set up surveillance without being spotted."

Mike chuckled. "Are you reading my mind?"

"Nope. I know you and how you operate after all this time."

The Merger – 38

 

"Our plans for the movie are on hold," Mike said early Friday afternoon after Josh had returned to the agency. He had been checking then debugging the offices of one of his regular clients who was dealing with someone trying to steal company secrets. The man knew who was responsible but needed to be certain that what was being said during in-house conferences about the problem wasn't being picked up by the perpetrator. The client didn't want the man to know he was on to him until he could gather all the evidence he needed to have the man arrested. Josh had tried to get him to hire Mike to handle the investigation. The man had demurred, saying he was quite capable of doing it on his own.

"New case?" Josh asked, settling down in the client's chair by Mike's desk.

"Yes. And I could use your help."

"You got it. What's going on?"

Mike handed Josh the notes he'd taken while talking to Mr. Palmer that morning, then proceeded to give him the basics of the case.

"Mr. Palmer owns an electronics store," Mike said. "Recently, he added a new company, Leades' Distributors, to his list of suppliers, because their prices for certain items were considerably less than his normal suppliers charged."

"Really?" When Mike nodded, Josh said, "That should have been a tip-off right there that something might be wrong, which I presume it is."

Mike chuckled. "You'd think it would have been, but Mr. Palmer just thought he'd gotten lucky. That was, until he began to wonder if some of the merchandise he'd bought from the company was stolen. He can't prove it and admits he could be wrong. That's where we come in."

"You want to do surveillance on the company's what? Warehouse?"

"Yes, on the warehouse. One of the purported salespeople gets in contact with Mr. Palmer every Monday morning to tell him what new items are available then has what Palmer wants to buy delivered to his store the same day. To my way of thinking, they might be hijacking shipments then quickly getting rid of the items by selling them to small companies like Palmer's."

"Didn't he check them out first?"

"He says he did and didn't find anything negative about the company. I have the feeling it was only a cursory check, at best. Palmer's business is having money problems, so when someone from Leades' Distributors contacted him, offering him much lower prices—"

"Hold on. Someone contacted Palmer, not vice versa?"

"Yes. Palmer admits that should have made him think twice, but he says it happens occasionally—high-powered salesmen looking for new customers, according to him," Mike replied. "Anyway, I did some investigating into the company after Palmer left this morning. The owner of record is one David Leades. The company opened for business three months ago. Since then, there have been no complaints filed against it—that I could find, anyway. It has a website, albeit a small one. One page lists the company address and phone number, a blurb about the owner—which really says nothing other than that David Leades is, quote, the president and CEO—and what types of merchandise they handle, which is mostly electronics, sports equipment, and small household appliances. On the surface, everything looks on the up-and-up. However"—Mike held up a finger—"Mr. Leades doesn't seem to exist, despite the fact that when he filed the company with the state as an LLC corporation, he listed himself as the sole owner with two additional members, as required by law. The members are designated as managers of the company."

"Are they actual people or made-up names to meet the legal requirements?"

"I haven't been able to find out, so far. I suspect that Leades had a very good tax attorney set everything up and they made it seem that the three men are actual people."

"Why do that in the first place?" Josh asked.

"To make the company appear legitimate to their potential customers."

"In other words, to con small business owners who are looking for cheap prices for what they sell," Josh said sourly. "Do they operate solely out of a warehouse? And where is it?"

"They do, and where else? In the warehouse district," Mike replied, grinning momentarily. "I think we should stake it out, for starters, to see when and how the goods are delivered. I mean, obviously they use trucks, but whose? Then, maybe, we'll pose as buyers to document a transaction and get physical evidence, if we find out that they are dealing in stolen goods."

The Merger – 37

 

The next two weeks passed as they normally would for Mike and Josh, with the exception, that is, of the fact that they'd spend the night together whenever possible in one of their apartments—eating, relaxing, and making love.

There were three nights when Mike had to work, doing surveillance for a client. By the time he'd finished, he went home and collapsed into bed—alone. And Josh spent the whole of one weekend as part of the bodyguard team for the same political candidate he'd protected a few weeks previously. The man was in the final days before the special election and was campaigning hard, as a result.

On Thursday of the second week, as he was on the way back to the agency after talking with a runaway teen, trying to convince him to return home, Mike got a call from Detective King.

"I thought you'd like to know," King said, when Mike pulled to the curb to answer his phone, "that Comstock was moved to the prison hospital at the beginning of the week then into a cell two days ago. His arraignment was this morning and the preliminary hearing is set for next Monday."

"Was he granted bail?" Mike asked.

"That won't happen, one way or the other, until the hearing. The prosecutor doesn't think he will be, given the gravity of the charges and the fact that he's a flight risk."

"What about Nowell and the others?"

"They were all given high bails. Only Nowell bonded out."

"Great. So we get to look over our shoulders until he goes to trial."

"Actually, no. He had a long talk with the district attorney and decided to turn state's evidence rather than face murder charges for the death of Mr. Walker, the man who rented the safety deposit box. Plus, there was a great deal of information in the papers we found that linked Nowell to Comstock's various activities."

"You know for certain Walker was murdered?" Mike asked.

"Yes. We received an anonymous tip about where to find his body. When the DA told Nowell, he quickly decided his decision to turn state's evidence was definitely preferable to facing trial for his part in the killing."

"Smart man, I guess."

King chuckled. "He'd have been smarter not to hook up with Comstock in the first place."

"No kidding."

After the call ended, Mike continued on to the agency. Josh was already there, inventorying his supplies in preparation for ordering what he needed for the next few jobs. When Mike told him about the detective's call, Josh pumped a fist.

"So, unless or until we're called as witnesses at Comstock's trial, this is over."

"That's my take on it," Mike agreed. "I doubt his people are so stupid they'd come after us because of our involvement in his arrest. Nowell might have tried something, but he's out of the picture now and undoubtedly in a safe house for the foreseeable future."

"We should call George to let him know," Josh said.

"I'm sure Detective King's already done that. How's Stockton doing, by the way? Have you talked to him recently?"

Josh nodded. "This is George we're talking about. He was back at work the day after they released him from the hospital. I thought I told you that."

"Nope. Next time, make a sticky note when you've got something non-business related to tell me and put it on your forehead."

Josh laughed. "I'm not that forgetful—usually. Besides which, how can I see it if it's up there?"

"You can't, but I can," Mike pointed out. "Are you ready to leave?"

"Just about. I need to get in touch with my supplier, first," Josh replied, tapping his list before going to his desk. He brought up the company's website on his laptop, placed the order, adding the cost of rush shipping so he'd get it in the morning then closed down. "Now, I am."

Mike went into his office to shut everything off, saying goodnight to Rosie when she came to his doorway to tell him she was leaving.

"Do we want to pick up dinner or do you feel like cooking?" Josh asked as Mike armed the security boxes then locked up when they were in the hallway.

"Since I'm not in the mood for cooking—and apparently you aren't either—let's stop at the deli. We can eat there then catch the movie we've been talking about seeing."

"On a Thursday night?" Josh replied in mock disbelief. "Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Mike grinned. "I'm feeling fine. We could skip the movie and move directly to my place and bed."

Josh appeared to give that some serious thought as they walked to the elevator. "I guess we could postpone the movie until this weekend. Miracle of miracles, we're both free Saturday night."

"Works for me." Mike hugged him as they waited for the elevator to arrive then kissed him quite thoroughly on the ride down since they were the only ones on it. They held hands as they walked to the deli, which was only a couple of blocks away. Then, their hunger for food sated, they went to Mike's place, where they sated other needs to their mutual satisfaction.