The ‘den’ Triplets
by: E Walk
(© 2009-2010 by the Author)
 

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Chapter 11  

Meet Mr. Smith?

When I walked into the office, Mr. DeLuca was pacing back and forth in front of the desk, mumbling to himself.  I decided to take the bull by the horns, “Mr. DeLuca, relax.  Pacing back and forth isn’t going to solve anything.  Please sit down.  Can I get you something to drink?”

“I’m fine.  Mr. Naylor, I probably shouldn’t be bothering you with my problem.  You have a much bigger problem that you are taking care of.”

“Mr. DeLuca, you must have thought that your problem was important enough to come here.  Let me decide if I might be able to help you.  Please sit down and tell me why you came to see me.”

Mr. DeLuca finally sat down, “Mr. Naylor, my English not so good.  I come about my daughter, Antonia (an-toe-knee‘-a).  She really good girl, but she make a mistake.  Her and her boyfriend love each other very much.  The police see them make love and make Nia work for them or they show this picture to everyone and make Nia look like bad person.  They give this picture to her, so she know that they have picture.  They say they gonna show everyone this picture if she no do as they tell her to do.”

Mr. DeLuca handed me a picture and there was no doubt that a couple was in the act of making love.  The young woman’s face was visible, but her male companion’s was not.  I handed the picture back to Mr. DeLuca, “Mr. DeLuca, do you know the name of the young man who is in the picture with your daughter?”

“He was Nia’s boyfriend, before he disappeared.  His name was Jacob Stocker.  His daddy was a big preacher man.  I talk to his daddy and he say he didn’t have a son who would do what that Jacob did.”

I was confused, “Mr. De Luca, what is it that you want me to do?”

“I want you to find Jacob and make him and the bad guys pay for ruining Nia’s life.”

“Mr. Deluca, why do you say, they ruined her life?  People are going to say that she was as guilty as anyone.”

“The men not have two baby girls like Nia did.  Now she no can go to college anymore, and I not make much money.”

I sat forward, “Mr. DeLuca, when did Nia have the two little girls.”

“The bambinos come on New Year’s day.  They born in the hospital.  Their names are Nina and Tina.  They no look the same.  The doctor do test and the bambinos have two different daddies.”

I fell back against the chair, “Why did the doctor’s say that your granddaughters have two different fathers?”

“They do DNA test.  They say that the girl’s papas related but the bambinos have two different daddies.”

I looked at my watch, “Mr. DeLuca, I have a meeting over lunch time.  Is there any way that you can have Antonia and her daughters here in my office at four o’clock?”

“My boss not be happy.  I have Nia and her bambinos here at four o’clock.”

I stood and shook Mr. Deluca’s hand, “I’ll see you, Nia and your two granddaughters at four o’clock.  In the meantime, I’ll be thinking about how I might be able to assist you.  This might be the break that I need.”

I ushered Mr. DeLuca to the door and turned to Gloria who was the only person in the office, “Where are Jeff and David?”

Gloria shrugged her shoulders, “Don’t ask me.  I’m only good for answering the phones.  When they left here, they were running at top speed.  If you’re going to have any time with the ’den’ boys you'd better be on your way.  Your afternoon is scheduled.”

“I just scheduled the DeLuca family for an appointment at four o’clock.”

Gloria threw up her pad, “We’ll never get out of here, tonight.”

“Watch it, lady, or Aiden, Jaden and Kaden will be after you.  I may die of cardiac arrest and then you will have to take care of business by yourself.  I’m out of here.  Lock the doors and turn off the phones and take a nap like you’ve been doing for years.”

“Watch it, buster or I’ll quit.”

“Wait until next week, after the trial, please.  I‘m never taking a case like this again.”

As I was pulling into the driveway, I noticed an older beat up car sitting in front of the house.  As I was climbing out of the car a young man with a green parka approached me, “Mr. Naylor, I’m Smith.”

“Mr. Smith, why didn’t you ring the doorbell.  My sons’ nurse doesn’t bite, and he knew you would be here for lunch.  You’re much younger than I anticipated.  Let’s go inside so we can get comfortable. I’m starved.”

Todd was bent over the boys when we went into the kitchen, “Todd, I’m home and I have our visitor with me.  What do you need for me to do?”

“Here feed Kaden.  The other two boys have been fed.  They’ll be fine.”  Todd turned around to hand me Kaden and stopped, “I thought you said that you were bringing a Mr. Smith.  Unless I’m losing my mind that’s Jacob Stocker.  Jake, I haven’t seen you around for a while.  It looks to me as if you’ve been somewhere where there was lots of sun.  What on earth did you do to your hair?”

The visitor started to laugh, “So much for my disguise.  Leave it to a quack nurse to see through it.  Todd, how are things hanging, these days.  Still living with that phony, Ryan?”

Todd frowned, “Watch it, Stocker or I’ll tell my boss all about your sordid past.”

I interrupted, “Look, you two, I only have a limited amount of time for lunch.  You two can play the memories game later.  Mr. Smith or Mr. Stocker, I have to ask.  Are you related to the Reverend Stocker who was in to see me this morning?”

The young man grinned, “The name’s Jacob Stocker, and I was the son of the man who probably was in to see you this morning, if he was brandishing his clerical collar and his gaudy cross.”

“Jacob, do you know Antonia DeLuca?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“Just a hunch.  Did you ever have sex with the young woman?”

Both Jacob’s and Todd’s mouths were hanging open.  I had finished feeding Kaden, so I put him in seat and sat down at the table and started to eat the food that Todd had prepared, “Sit down, you two.  We have a lot to discuss in a short time.”

When the three of us were seated, I looked at the visitor, “Mr. Stocker, you said that you could be of some help in the prostitution case.  I’m still confused as to why you were hesitant to come see me and tell me what you know that might assist me in the case.  Why did you feel that you needed to hide your identity?”

The visitor looked at the food on the plate in front of him, “Mr. Naylor, could I take a couple of bites of food before I unload.  I’m a little rattled by your question about having sex with Nia.  It’s as if you are a clairvoyant.  How did you know about my association with Nia?”

“Easy, my dear Jacob, Nia’s father was in to see me this morning as was your pompous father.  Did you know that you might be a father of a little girl?”

The food that Jacob had in his mouth went flying and it was as if he was choking.  Todd jumped out of his chair and wrapped his arms around Jacob to perform the Heimlich maneuver if needed.

Jacob finally regained control, but he was looking rather peaked. “Mr. Naylor, do you have any more surprises up your sleeve.”

“No, but I have another question for you.  Did you per chance know Danny Howard?”

Jacob started to shake, “Mr. Naylor, you’re scaring me.  How did you know of my association with Dan?”

“A lucky guess.  Did you know that he committed suicide?”

Jacob put his head on the table and started to moan.

I stood, “Todd, keep Jacob here until I can decide what to do.  Can you do a DNA test on Jacob?”

“Mike, I don’t have the things to do a test, here.  That’s not something I’m really familiar with.”

“Jacob, please stay here with Todd until I get home this afternoon.  Guys, be ready for anything when I get home tonight.  I’m going to take the rest of my sandwich with me.  I’ll try to call you and tell you what’s happening, this afternoon.”

Jacob looked lost, “Mr. Naylor, what do you want me to do?”

“Nothing for the time being.  Stay here and stay out of sight of someone who might recognize you.  I need to know your entire story before I can decide what to do next.  One last question before I leave.  Do you have any male relatives who live in the area?”

“Mr. Naylor, you ask the strangest questions.  My father was an only son as am I.  Any relatives that I might have on my father’s side live in Oregon.  My mother’s family lives in Georgia.  My parents met when my father was in the Air Force.”

As I was driving back to the office, my mind was traveling faster than a comet through space, and all I was getting was debris.

When I arrived at the office, Gloria looked at me and rolled her eyes, “Welcome back from lunch, Mr. Naylor.  Mr. Shoemaker is in your office and these other people are waiting to see you.  I tried to tell them that you only see people by appointment, but they insist that it is important that they see you today.”

Gloria handed me a note as I was passing her desk, "Jeff and David called.  They are making headway identifying the young people who were being blackmailed.   They still haven’t talked to the high school students.  Jeff said the ring was bigger than anyone could have imagined."

When I walked into the office, Mr. Shoemaker was sitting in a chair.  I decided to be sarcastic, “Mr. Shoemaker, I hope you realize the mess you’ve gotten me into.  After what has already happened today, I may never be able to sleep again.  Don’t tell me that there is more trouble here in River City that I need to take care of?”

Mr. Shoemaker laughed, “Me thinks thou dost protest too much, Mike.  The reason I’m here is to tell you that Aaron will be willing to testify at the trial, if necessary.  He and I sat down last night and talked.  I think he understands that it would have been far better to mess around with his friends at home than in a public place.”

“Mr. Shoemaker, I'm hoping that I don’t have to expose any of the young people, but I want to thank Aaron for being brave enough to put himself in a position were he would be ridiculed and ostracized.”

Mr. Shoemaker offered, “Mike, I’m willing to pay you for taking on the case.”

“That won’t be necessary, Roy.  I’m sure the governments have the funds to pay a special prosecutor.  Look at it this way: if I catch the varmints, I’ll probably have more business than I can handle.  If I botch the case, my three boys will be on the street begging for funds to feed their poor starving Dad.”

Mr. Shoemaker started to laugh, “It’s good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor.  Call Aaron or me if there is anything you need us to do.  Talk to you later.”

After Mr. Shoemaker had exited, Gloria entered the office, “Councilman Barnett and County Commissioner Ostransky are waiting to talk to you.”

“Gloria, what do they want to talk to me about?  I thought I made it abundantly clear that I would not tolerate any interference if I were to handle the case.”

“Mike, I don’t know what they want, but they sure are persistent.”

“Show them in.  Give them ten minutes and then come in and tell me my next client is here even if I don’t have one.”

Gloria entered with two gentlemen in their late forties or early fifties, “Mr. Naylor, City Councilman Brad Barnett and County Commissioner Ryan Ostransky are here to talk to you.”

After the greetings when the two gentlemen were seated, I asked, “Gentlemen, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

Mr. Ostransky laid it on the line, “We came to inquire on how your investigation is going and to provide any assistance that you might need.”

I took a deep breath, “Mr. Barnett and Mr. Ostransky, I just took the case and am only beginning to collect the data and information I will need, to prosecute the persons behind the prostitution ring.  I thought I made it clear when I took the case that I would not tolerate any interference by the officials of this city or county.  I’m capable of handling the case without people telling me what to do and when to do it.”

Mr. Barnett stood up, “Mr. Naylor, the people of our jurisdictions have every right to know what’s being done to stop illegal activities like these.  I’m going to call the state Attorney General and lodge a complaint about the way your conducting this case.”

“Go to it.  Now, if you will excuse me, I have some regularly scheduled clients who actually have appointments.”

I wasn’t very hospitable. In fact, I didn’t even escort them to the door.

Gloria came in with Pastor Miller and two other gentlemen I didn’t know.  They turned out to be pastors, as well.  I was beginning to dread what they might want to talk about.  Pastor Miller spoke for them, “Mike, we understand that you’re going to be the special prosecutor in the case of the prostitution ring.  We’d like to offer our services.  When the smoke dies down, we are of the opinion that some of the young people who were blackmailed may need some counseling help.  We’d be glad to offer our time and facilities to accommodate any needs the young people might have.”

“Pastor Miller, I very much appreciate your offer.  I wish that all clergy would be so willing to help.  I had a visit from one of your members, this morning, telling me the young people were as guilty as those people who were operating the ring.”

Pastor Miller grinned, “Mike, we probably could guess who your visitor might have been.  Please let us know when and if you need our assistance.  I’ll leave a list of those of us who are willing to assist in anyway we can, with Mrs. Hawkins.”

I took the opportunity to call District Attorney Howard, “Ray, is there anyway that you could have a DNA expert come to my house this evening and take some DNA samples?”

“Mike, that’s a very strange request.  What does that have to do with the prostitution ring?”

“Ray, unless I miss my guess.  It can go a long way in the case.  Oh, by the way, Danny’s friend who abandoned him according to Danny’s note is back in town, and he's at my house as we speak.  He is one of the persons who needs to be tested.”

“Hold on, Mike.  Let me see what I can do. … Mike, Larry Kauffman will be at your house at seven o’clock with the DNA testing materials.  I’ll be accompanying him.  See you then.”

I hung up thinking, ’I guess I pissed Ray off.  I need to call the DeLucas and advise them of the change of plans.  Everyone is going to think that I’m a complete ditz, if this doesn’t work out.’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: Someone once said that sometimes bad things have to happen, so that good things can.  Let's hope that somehow that is the case here. 

I have a suspicion as to just who the other person was who impregnated Antonia, but I don't think I should say, since that is most likely a big clue, but Sherlock Holmes once said, "When all most likely possibilities have been examined and eliminated, then whatever is left, no matter how unlikely the case may be, then we must examine that possibility, for it is most likely the answer.

I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 11/12/10