Burn Out (8 page)

“
Mack seemed to think the
fire was intentional.”

“
Mack was with her that
night. He should have never let Sam out of his sight. He should
have never let her go back into the building. If anything happened
to her, I blame him,” Ken said.

“
In his defense, I don’t
think he knew. Their focus was on getting the victim out of the
building and getting him medical attention. He said he thought Sam
was behind him the whole time.”

“
Well she wasn’t. Was
she?”

“
Look, Ken. I will do
whatever I can to help find Sam. We’ll be in touch.” Rachel stood
to leave. She smoothed out the wrinkles in her white linen skirt
and looked back at Ken. His last words stopped her in her
tracks.

“
I would talk to Mack again
if I were you. Since he and Sam were having an affair.” Ken got up
from his chair, scraping the legs across the linoleum tile. “Guard,
I am ready to go.”

Santa Rosa Beach, Thursday
10am

Rachel went to the airport to pick
Stacy up. It was the least she could do for asking her friend to
cut her vacation short.

Stacy was waiting outside the baggage
terminal for her. She threw her one bag into the backseat and
climbed in Rachel’s truck.

“
Travelling lightly, huh?”
Rachel asked.

“
No need for a lot of
clothes at a health spa. Bathing suit and a couple pairs of workout
clothes.”

“
Did you throw Guido in
your bag too?”

Stacy laughed. “No. Guido has lots of
women to keep him company at the ranch. I am but one in his long
line of conquests.”

“
Are you sure you went to
Canyon Ranch and not some nudist colony? I don’t remember anybody
named Guido when I went there. Only Helga. Large Swedish woman with
hands the size of ham hocks.”

“
Yes, Helga. She’s still
there. Best massage ever.”

“
Well, thanks again for
coming back. You look well rested.” Rachel admired Stacy’s healthy
glow. Stacy wore her honey blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail
and she looked ten years younger than her thirty-five years. She
was petite, only 5’1 and about 115 pounds with inquisitive green
eyes and deep dimples in both cheeks.Stacy could light up a room
just with her presence.

“
Oh, there will be
payback.”

Rachel laughed. “I was expecting
it.”

“
I started looking into Ken
Collins last night,” Stacy said, adjusting her seat.

Rachel expected nothing less. Once
Stacy got a sniff of a good story, she was like a bulldog.
Persistence and determination were her middle names. She may be
small, but she was feisty.

“
What did you find out
about the marijuana operation?”

“
Well, I did some digging
around and found out a few things,” Stacy answered. “As you know,
Ken got started after the arrest of Jason Blum and Pedro Gonzalez.
He partnered with Paul Hart and they ran the grow operation out of
his barn. They produced a particular brand of marijuana called
Cush.”

“
Wait. There are different
types of marijuana?” Rachel interrupted.

“
Yes.” Stacy laughed.
“Remember when you could buy a huge dime bag for $10?”

“
I never did that kind of
stuff growing up.”

“
Yeah, right. I forgot –
you were a goody-goody cheerleader.” Stacy rolled her eyes.
“Anyway, now you can get all kinds of marijuana and it’s more
expensive than it was back in our day. It gives different kinds of
effects when you smoke it. Some highs are longer than others,
depending on what type of marijuana you smoke,” Stacy
explained.

“
I see you did your
homework. What kind of high does Cush have?”

“
Well, Gary, the guy I work
with at the Miami Sun, originally did the story on Ken. He was a
big help.” Stacy continued. “Cush is very popular with the younger
crowd, but also people who smoke it for medicinal reasons. It gives
a quicker and longer-lasting high. It’s costly, but it will last a
long time.”

“
So how much money were
they making?”

“
Gary said they were
clearing about fifty grand every couple of months. And here is the
interesting part. The guy Ken first arrested – Jason Blum? He was
cut a deal with the DA’s office in order to catch the bigger fish,
Pedro Gonzalez. So he got a slap on the wrist and probation. So
when Ken gets ready to start his little business, who does he turn
to handle distribution?”

“
Jason Blum?”

“
You got it. Smart, huh?
Jason already had the contacts. So Ken and Paul would sell to
Jason, who in turn distributed to other small-

time dealers. We are talking a street
value of about a couple million dollars worth of marijuana a year,
with plans to produce more.”

“
Wow. Not too bad for a
couple newbies.”

“
Of course, Ken thought
they were invincible. With him being a captain at the police
department, he had the perfect set-up. He kept his hands clean by
selling to Jason, the middle man, and kept his name out of where
the dope was coming from. Working at the department, he could keep
an eye on Jason and also an ear to the ground about any drug busts
going down before it happened.”

“
Well, if he had it so
good, then how did he get caught?” Rachel asked.

“
Good question.” Stacy
paused. “Ready for this? An anonymous tip. Somebody blew the
whistle on his operation.”

“
An anonymous tip brought
it all down?” Rachel asked, stunned by this information.

“
Yep. A couple of
undercover officers went sniffing around the Collin’s property
without a warrant. They couldn’t see much from the property line,
but apparently smelled marijuana, so they went back to the judge to
get a warrant. They raided the property while Ken was on duty. Sam
was home with the kids and let them in. They confiscated about a
million dollars’ worth of plants and several thousand dollars’
worth of equipment. They also searched the home and got a couple of
computers and other stuff,” Stacy said.

“
And Sam was implicated as
well?”

“
Yes, she was. Even though
she denied she knew what was going on. DA’s office decided there
wasn’t enough evidence she was involved so they dropped the charges
against her.”

“
And Paul?”

“
He got it easier than Ken.
Since the grow operation was on Ken’s property, Paul was only
charged with accessory and money laundering. They both got bail.
Then Ken violated his bail a couple of months later when he left
the county to visit family without permission. Ken said it was a
misunderstanding, but the judge threw him back in jail without any
fanfare. Now Ken’s trial is being postponed due to Samantha’s
disappearance. Paul is being tried separately.”

“
So, hubby is in jail, the
bad guys are after you, money troubles piling up and no job
prospects. Sounds like someone who would run far, far away,” Rachel
said.

“
But she has two kids who
she adores, right?”

“
Yeah, there is that.”
Rachel pulled into the driveway of the beach house and they sat
with the truck idling.

“
But you could have read it
all in the papers and on the internet,” Stacy said. She had that
trademark look on her face. Like the cat that ate the canary. “Want
to know something that wasn’t in the papers?”

“
Of course.”

“
Some people think Mack was
the anonymous tip.”

“
Really? Why
Mack?”

“
Because Mack is in love
with Sam. Always has been, according to my source.”

“
Your source sure has a lot
of inside information. Are you going to tell me who it is?” Rachel
said, half-jokingly knowing Stacy would protect her sources to the
bitter end.

“
Yes, they do, and no, you
know better than to ask.”

“
Ken did mention to me, as
we were wrapping up our interview, that Mack and Sam were having an
affair.” Rachel gave Stacy the details about her meeting with Ken
at the jail.

“
Sometimes the husband is
the last to know. Did he think that had something to do with Sam’s
disappearance?”

“
If he did, he didn’t say.
We didn’t exactly leave things on a good note.”

“
Have you given it any
thought Mack may have had a hand in Sam’s
disappearance?”

“
Yes, but he is not on the
top of my suspect list. I think he is truly stumped about what
happened to her. The drug cartel – or what the locals call the
Mexican mafia – they are at the top of my list.”

“
I would suppose so.” Stacy
patted her on the leg. “Be careful. These so-called Mexican mafia
are dangerous people.”

“
I heard about
Pedro.”

“
Pedro Gonzalez is just a
little fish in a big pond. It’s Richard Flores, the head of the
gang, you need to worry about. He is famous for cutting people’s
appendages off for messing around in his business.”

“
So you think these guys
have something to do with Sam?”

“
I don’t know. I’m just
saying to be careful who you talk to and what you do.”

“
Thanks. When you heading
back?”

“
I thought I would stick
around here for awhile. I have some vacation time left and besides,
this could be another big story for me.” Stacy smiled.

“
Then let’s go get you
settled in. Wait till you see this place. The views of the beach
from your room are stunning. Then we can get some lunch and plot
our next move.”

“
Sounds good to me,” Stacy
said reaching for her bag. “Here is the first article written about
Ken’s arrest. You can read it while I freshen up.”

They walked inside the beach house and
put their things down. While Stacy went upstairs, Rachel took the
article outside on the deck to read it. The beach was dotted with
brightly colored umbrellas and there were a ton of people taking
advantage of the lovely day. Teenagers playing volleyball and
sunning themselves, kids building sandcastles, and surfers catching
small waves. She started reading the article Stacy handed her. It
was dated several months ago, when Ken was first
arrested.

Police Officer Charged With Running
Marijuana Grow Operation

A captain with the Santa Rosa
Beach police department has been charged with running what
officials describe as a multi-million dollar marijuana
operation.

Kenneth Jay Collins, 35, has been
charged with trafficking marijuana, possession with intent to sell,
plus manufacturing a hallucinogen, according to arrest records. He
is being held without bond in the Walton County jail.

His attorney, Suzette Breland
said, “I haven’t had a chance to get into the allegations with my
client.”

He is scheduled to be in court
next Tuesday.

Collins owns a home on fourteen
acres in the rural part of Santa Rosa Beach, where undercover
officers found over 600 marijuana plants, 40 pounds of marijuana
and several grow rooms with high tech watering and lighting
systems, which operated on a $30,000 generator, police spokesman
John Paulsen said.

Paulsen also said an accomplice
would be charged in the next couple of days.

Rachel thought it was time to meet
with Paul Hart. If Ken was getting threats, maybe Paul was too. She
picked up the phone book to see if he was listed. There was only
one Paul Hart in the directory. Here goes nothing, she thought as
she dialed the number.

Santa Rosa Beach, Thursday
1:20 PM

When Rachel first talked to
Paul, he was initially reluctant at first to meet with her. She was
used to it. Most people didn’t want to get involved in an
investigation which involved a missing person. She played the guilt
card,
don’t you want to help your best
friend find his wife
, and she hated to do
that, but it worked. She got lucky and was able to get him to agree
to meet with her. After having a quick bite with Stacy at the beach
house, she drove over to the Donut Hole to meet with
him.

She walked into the popular diner and
spotted him immediately. He looked just like the picture that ran
along side of the article she had read. He was the only redhead in
the diner with a thick, bushy handlebar mustache. She walked up to
his table and introduced herself.

“
So you want to talk to me
about Sam.”

“
Yes,” Rachel said, sitting
down at his table. “Thanks for meeting with me.”

“
You realize I’m not
supposed to talk about this. My attorney didn’t think it was a good
idea with the trial coming up and everything.”

“
Yes. I know.”

The waitress came over and took
Rachel’s drink order of sweet tea with lemon.

“
You should try the
special. Meatloaf is good today,” Paul suggested.