Imperfect Escape by Gregg E. Brickman

Author:Gregg E. Brickman [Brickman, Gregg E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-01T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Ray

On Tuesday morning, Ray finished updating Chief Mullins on his Monday meeting with Charles "Bubba" Flocker.

"You believe he blew his own place?" Mullins raised a questioning brow.

"I do." Ray leaned forward a bit in the chair. "First, it's too damn stupid to not be true. Second, Flocker appears to be a reasonably honorable man."

Mullins raised the brow higher this time.

"He takes care of his sick mother, farms, and works part-time for Silken. I think his meth lab involvement was a convenient opportunity to earn money, then Silken sucked him in. His response was to blow up his structure and settle the matter."

"I'm surprised he didn't start a forest fire in the process."

"Could have, I suppose. He called 9-1-1, then started pumping water on the mess. Luckily, he has a generator-powered well and pump close by."

"He probably put that in so the lab had running water."

"That's what he said."

Mullins looked thoughtful. "The county will go after him anyway."

"Maybe not. Shim has it worked out. If Bubba testifies against Silken—and Vast when we get our hands on him—they'll cut him a deal. He'll get minimal time, plus probation."

"Then what? Silken, if I guess right, has the capability of ordering a retaliatory hit—make an example of him."

"My sense is Flocker has no real threat from Vast, who is just a worker in the supply chain—but Silken's a bigger player." Ray paused a moment. "There is a long-standing connection between Silken and the drug traffic in South Florida. He left there some years ago, but has, I think, maintained his connections. He may even be a supplier for them, as well as for product along the meth belt."

"Go on."

"I've contacted my former partner in South Florida, Deg Lewis, and asked him to check things out for me on the quiet. If what I believe is true, then not only the raw supplies but the finished product are moving across county lines and state lines in a big way. The county will then bring in TBI and the DEA."

"The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration will complicate things."

Ray nodded. "Yup, but for Flocker, it'll make things easier. Likely, Silken would be incarcerated out-of-state, and the Federal Witness Protection Program would then be a possibility for Flocker."

"When do you expect to hear from Lewis?"

"He's going to Miami to ask informal questions tomorrow. If it pans out, Shim can follow with TBI, then the feds. They'll pull all the pieces together."

"Meanwhile, to maintain focus, our piece of the puzzle is the incident in Vast's lab and the resulting deaths. We have an open murder case—more than just a drug case—even though it's all mixed together."

"I know that." Ray felt offended, but understood Mullins need to supervise his activities until he was a known entity. He swallowed the comment he wanted to make. "Flocker saw a huge, unknown person driving away from the explosion at Vast's in what looked like a sub-compact rental, at least based on the Budget logo on the license plate frame.

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