Captain – Brothers At Arms #6

Marty looked at Zeus and said, “We gave the gold and the money to Leon. What do we have left to turn over to the Marshals?”

“The stash of the diamonds we found and the money from Barrett’s well.” Zeus ran his hand over the back of his head.

“We also have the diamonds we found in the kitchen and the Sheriff has the money from the safe we found in the old safe in the wall of your office,” Diabolus told them. “And the money we found in the broken stills.” He looked over at Marty.

She was shaking her head.

Zeus stared at her. “Babe, we have to turn over everything, even Vincent’s money. What he did was illegal as hell and it needs to go in with everything else we found.”

Marty hung her head and while she understood what he was saying, she didn’t want Vincent to be able to come back and claim Lily. She felt like if she didn’t keep her part of the deal that’s what he would do.

Zeus joined her and wrapped his arms around her. “Look, no judge on this earth would ever give that man custody of that little girl. Not an excon just getting out of jail with no job and no real marketable skills. Not when with you she would have a stable home and her mother’s money. The fact that he never married Sam will work in your favor here.”

“One thing we can’t do though is turn over Alfonzo’s own journal,” Memphis told them. “He wrote everything in that journal and it includes what he stole for the family. We can’t give them anything that links him with Leon.”

Gina shook her head. “No we can’t but we can tell them about things that Alfonzo said, then we can tell them it was all lies and tall stories. Stories that made Barrett think the money was here even if it wasn’t.” Shaking her head she said, “We have to give them enough of a reason that they think this place housed more than just what we turn over to them.”

Marty looked up at Zeus and finally she nodded. “Ok. I guess I’m still in charge of the trust fund anyway. And as Sam is gone and Lily is a minor I would have to ok any withdrawals from it anyway.”

Gina looked over at Zeus. “Gary Felder, my boss said they would be here as soon as they could get a team together and that should be as soon as they can fly down. Maybe a day?” She walked back over to her laptop and checked the responses to her email. Reading some, she froze in shock. Looking up at the group standing there, she said, “Ummm guys… you aren’t going to believe the responses I’m getting here.”

Marty, Zeus, Memphis, and Lindy all came over to see what she was talking about. Diabolus joined them and even his eyes widened with disbelief as he read the remarks. There were over a hundred responses and they weren’t all from law enforcement departments. Some were from citizens that piled on even more outrageous charges on the Raggetti family, mostly on Barrett and his three sons.

More and more people joined them and they soon were all watching the comments from Gina’s laptop. When Alfredo and Delaney joined them, Gina looked over at the pair and cleared her throat. “Alfredo, your story went viral this morning.”

Alfredo frowned. “I don’t know what that means.”

Delaney came over and read some of the comments and she had to shake her head. “Grandpa, that means every one of dad’s secrets are coming into the light. All of Dad’s secrets are being exposed along with my brother’s bad deeds. They are getting hammered in the comments.”

Gina nodded. “And the Marshals will look at each and every comment and follow through if they pan out.”

For a while, they all stood there and read the astonishing fallout from the Raggetti’s infamous reign. Stories of mayhem, ruin, blackmail, rapes, shakedowns, and the list of crimes just went on and on.

Alfredo couldn’t look at any more of them, so he used his cane to walk over and sit down. He looked so dejected. This wasn’t a happy day for him, even if it did what he had wanted.

Delaney looked over at Desi as she had been reading it all too. They both turned and went over to him. Each one sat on either side of him and took his hand.

Desi spoke first, “You have us as family now. Just think of it as a new beginning.”

Delaney nodded. “You will get to make the family shine again with pride. Then maybe there will be great grandchildren for you to brag about?”

He grinned at her.

“Nooo, not yet.” Delaney laughed as she raised her hands up.

“But you can look forward to that,” Desi added with a chuckle.

He looked a bit happier. “You girls are right. I need to move on.”

Marty and Lindy began cleaning up the brick and mortar stuff so it wouldn’t look like they had just replaced the fireplace. A half an hour later they had everything ready. The main room had been cleaned up and the braces for the fireplace had been taken down. Now all they had to do was wait for Gina’s boss to get there.

Gina sat there watching the comments pile up against the Raggetti men.

Captain sat down next to her. “How’s it going?”

Gina shook her head. “These guys are toast,” she informed him softly.

Captain nodded. “And I think they know it too.”

Gina turned her head and stared at him. “What’s going on?”

“Click has eyes and ears in the cell area.” Captain shrugged. “The men in those cells are talking and what they are saying isn’t making much sense. They’re talking about getting together outside these walls. Kind of sounds like they are planning a coup.”

Gina sat back and stared at him for a moment then she shook her head. “Damn they got a backup plan, don’t they?”

Captain stared at her. “What do you mean? Backup? We got all his men. Who else is out there?”

Gina shook her head. “Did we get his men? Or are they still in hiding? Several men disappeared on us when we called them out but did they really go away or just out of camera range?”

Captain paused to look around the room and saw everyone relaxing and not a bit worried. Then he looked back at Gina. “You really think he’s got something in the works?”

Gina nodded. “Yeah, he’s got a backup plan. He has no choice now. He has to escape custody. If he goes back inside, he will be a dead man.” She picked up a piece of paper and handed it to him. “I have a conversation on there that could be taken as a call to arms.”

Captain read the passage. “Cappo down, needs rescue.” It was short and sweet. He growled when he read it. Gazing at Gina, he shook his head. “Damn it. So they are calling him Cappo?” His eyes returned to the paper in his hand and then he noticed another passage down the page she had highlighted. It was a name and he frowned at it. “What the hell is this?” He demanded as he pushed the paper toward her.

 ”You saw it too?”

Captain nodded. “But what does it mean?”

The highlighted name was simple enough, it read, Hollowmat.

Gina sighed and explained it, “The first time Barrett went to prison he had a cellmate named Robert Harlow. Robert was in there because he was known for being a mild mannered man, then one day he snapped. He worked a mechanics job and there was a man in his shop that mocked him daily. Robert was a hell of a mechanic and could fix any vehicle that came in. The other man was barely making it and one day he began sabotaging Robert’s work. Robert had to redo his work to keep his customer’s safe on the road. The boss was a dickhead and started blaming Robert for taking too much time on his jobs. He did his best to get Robert to quit his job but Robert wouldn’t do that. Then one day Robert had checked and double-checked his work but the other guy had done something that Robert missed. It caused an accident that cost a customer her life in a crash. The family came after the shop and the shop turned on Robert. No one listened when Robert tried to tell them what happened, but he went to trial. Robert was convicted and the other man got off with nothing.”

Several in the room came closer as she told the story that she had researched.

“Well when it happened again and this time the crash killed an entire family. The police looked at the first case but before they could arrest the guilty guy, he disappeared. But Robert had disappeared from behind the prison walls as well. The man in question, Bill Hollow was gone but when the owner found out that Robert had escaped prison, he went to the police and told them that Robert was coming for him because he lied when he laid the blame on Robert’s shoulders. He was afraid for his life and if he disappeared and was found dead, it would be because Robert found him. You see Robert had told him he knew the truth and when he was free, he would be coming for him and Bill. Robert told him he was being hung for a crime he didn’t commit so if he was being hung out to dry he might as well do the crime after all Because what were they going to do to him, hang him twice?” She shook her head. “The Marshals got involved and when we found Bill we knew exactly what happened. Robert had killed him but using the very tools Bill used to sabotage the car he was working on. It was very graphic and seeing those photos gave a person nightmares for weeks. Then we found the owner. Robert had killed him in his own shop and what he did to that man was horrible. Lies and framing Robert had flipped a switch in Robert that turned a mild mannered man into a killing machine.”

The room got quiet as they all shook their heads.

She went on, “We found Robert sitting on the curb in front of our offices. He turned himself back in after taking out the two people that put him in prison. Believe me when I say the people who harassed Robert before he escaped didn’t say a thing after he returned. Prisons are gossip mills and word spread fast what he did to those two men and everyone pretty much left Robert alone when he returned. The prisoners called that episode Hollowmat.”

Captain furrowed his brows in confusion. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Like I said, Robert was the first cellmate Barrett had when he went to prison. His prison records indicated that there were problems between the two men. Barrett tried to act the tough man and he put the mild mannered man in the Infirmary several times before the warden finally separated them in two different cell areas. Robert avoided Barrett every chance he got and Barrett thought he had the other man beat but I just got an email from the warden and he told me to watch out for Robert. He changed in the last few years and finally established his own pecking order behind bars. He’s worried that if the two of them are put in the same prison only one will see the dawn’s light. He’s afraid that man will be Robert.”

Captain looked down at the message and he looked at her again. “So are you saying Robert might find a way out to come after Barrett?”

Gina shrugged. “Maybe. It might not even be Robert that comes after him or maybe it will be one of the men Barrett has betrayed over the years. There were at least five men that ended up in prison because of Barrett. One or more of those men might be out now and they all heard the stories of what Robert did when he escaped. Like I said, the prison system is a gossip mill and when one story is told over time it tends to grow as the tellers embellish the details.” She shook her head. “I don’t think this story is going to be over anytime soon.”

“Well, shit,” Captain swore under his breath.

Zeus had come over and sat down at the table. He heard everything Gina told Captain. Memphis, Diabolus, and Delaney were all sitting there as well.

 ”So what does this mean for us?” Diabolus asked finally.

Gina looked up at him. “Hell’s coming this way, boys. I’m thinking Robert will try to nab him, not rescue him. So as long as Barrett and his sons are in your custody, this is where hell is coming.”

Diabolus snorted. “Maybe we should see if Barrett knows this word Hollowmat. I’d like to see that boy sweat some before the Marshals come to get him.”

Gina nodded. “Oh, he’ll sweat all right. When Robert came back to prison, he watched Barrett carefully, almost methodically. You know, like he was thinking of all the ways he could kill the man. Barrett was nervous for a long time. Funny thing though, he got really nervous just before he was let out. When he wasn’t at meals, he stayed in his cell all the time.”

Diabolus got to his feet and smiled. “Maybe I’ll just ask the man and see what he has to say. Could be interesting.”