CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
John Jackson Hastings, Major General, U. S. Army, retired, and now, murder suspect, had finished lunch at the Bistro, an informal restaurant in the Prairie Plaza Hotel and returned to his room. He had spent a good bit of Sunday, the day before, talking back and forth with his wife, trying to patch things up. She had listened to his pleas of innocence in the murder of Diana Ricci and even seemed sympathetic. But she was clearly, and rightfully hurt.
“Jana,” he pleaded. “I love you. I would never hurt you on purpose.”
“I believe you love me, Jack,” she had responded. “But, you have hurt me. You have hurt me very deeply. And you have humiliated me. I don’t believe that you killed that woman but it seems clear that you were involved with her.”
He saw no point in denying it. “Ironically, I went there on Friday night to pick up my computer, just as I told you. I had broken things off with her earlier. It was over, Jana.”
“It may have been, Jack,” she said. “But you know, over the years I have suspected you of other… liaisons. I always chose to ignore what was going on. Long ago I decided that living a life of suspicion wouldn’t be living at all. I never pried or tried to investigate you. But I won’t be made a fool of, Jack. You have to live with yourself for your actions. But, I don’t.”
Hastings knew that she was right. He also realized that arguing some feeble case to support what he had done would be a fool’s errand.
“Jana, please… can you find it in your heart to forgive me. I’ve made some poor choices. I… I need you in my life,” he said.
“The damage to our relationship didn’t happen on Friday night, Jack. It just all blew up then. I don’t know what I’ll do,” she said. “But right now you are facing a murder charge and it appears you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
They said little more in that first conversation. He called her several more times throughout the day feeling that he needed to hear her voice. She always took the call and spoke with him. But, once trust is lost, he’d heard, it was almost impossible to regain. Hearing his wife of over thirty years speaking with him as if he were a stranger brought home that fact that, indeed, the trust was lost.
Now on this Monday, he was standing in the suite that he had rented for him and his wife to enjoy for the weekend. It seemed like years ago. Looking out through the floor to ceiling windows at the snow that had rolled through the city, he could not help thinking how much the landscape had changed, literally and figuratively, in just a matter of hours. It was that thought that was interrupted when he heard the ringing of his cell phone.
“This is Hastings,” he answered.
“Buenos dias, General Hastings,” a thickly accented voice greeted him.
“Who is this?” he asked.
“I am a man who wants to purchase the MX21pistoles for my compadres, Señor,” the voice said. “But you do not want my money.”
“Our sales are strictly regulated. If you represent who I think you represent, I will not sell you anything,” Hastings said.
“General Hastings, I would think that the events of this weekend would change your mind,” said the voice.
“Who is this?” his voice rising in volume? “Who?”
“Oh Señor Hastings, we knew about you and your whore. You know that the same thing can happen to your wife. That is a very nice place you have in Lawton,” the voice said. “It would be to your benefit to consider selling us your MX21… and to your wife’s.”
It seemed that all the blood in his body was rushing to Hastings head. So, this was Diana’s killer and he was now threatening Jana’s life. His hands were shaking. His skin broke into a cold sweat.
“You lay a hand on my wife and I will hunt you down and kill you like the rattlesnake that you are… Do you hear me?” he asked. Then, more loudly, “Do you HEAR me?”
“Are you there alone with your wife now, General?” the voice asked. “Perhaps you should express your appreciation to her. Then you should come down to my country and make a deal with me for these weapons.”
What? He seemed ignorant to the fact that Hastings was virtually on house arrest for the killing.
“Carmello?” Hastings asked. “It’s you, isn’t it?”
“Ah, you remember. Si, it is. We have already taken care of your compadre… Von Karmenn,” said the voice of Rafael Carmello, procurement kingpin of the Sinaloa Cartel. “By now you should know that we mean business. We want to buy your guns, Señor Hastings. What could be so difficult about that? You make money, we get your guns.”
Hastings paused. He tried to collect his wits. He knew that he must deal with Carmello if he was to clear himself of Diana Ricci’s murder and keep Jana safe.
His voice softened. “Perhaps I should reconsider. What is it you want?”
Carmello answered, “Well, that is better, General. We have the 700 weapons that you sent before.”
“Those were to go to the Militia in Sonora,” Hastings protested.
“Oh, General, please…” Carmello didn’t feel the need to explain his network within the Mexican government. “Now, I want to buy 1,000 more. I will pay 200 USD for each one,” he said.
“That is less than our price. We must get $250,” Hastings said. He didn’t care what the price was, but he knew he had to keep Carmello interested.
“General, we can buy other pistols. But yours has properties that we like. We will give you $200. And we will leave Señora Hastings alone,” Carmello said.
“Let me see what I can do. How can I contact you?” asked Hastings.
“You must call the office in Sonora. Speak with Capitán Lopez. He will reach me and I will call you back.” Rafael Carmello sounded pleased. He would be getting his guns. And that would make his customers very happy.
“Give me twenty four hours. I will contact you tomorrow,” Hasting said. He hung up with his mind spinning.”
Without putting down his phone, he searched its directory and pushed the button to call his attorney.
“Ms. Stillwell’s office, this is Jeanine. May I help you?” the pleasant voice of Jeanine Spence answered.
“Yes, this is Hastings… Jack Hastings. I must speak with Sally right away,” he said.
“Please hold, General. I’ll see if she is available.”
“This is incredibly important. Please put me through,” he insisted.
“Yes. Please hold.” Jeanine placed the call on hold and looked through the glass wall. Sally was on the phone. Jeanine quickly wrote a note on a post-it. She got up and walked into Sally’s office and held the note in front of her.
Sally scanned the note quickly and said into the phone, “Hey Sis, I’ve got a call here that I need to take. Can I call you back in a few?” She paused. Then, “Okay. Yes. As soon as I can.” She hung up the phone and looked up at Jeanine.
“He says it’s very important,” Jeanine offered.
Sally nodded and picked up the phone. “Yes, Jack,” she answered. “What’s up?”
“I just got a call on my cell. It was a Mexican who had contacted me months ago and wanted to buy some of our weapons. I turned him down and now he’s telling me that he could do to Jana what he did to the girl Friday night. I’m sure he means it and I need to get Jana out of here and this guy has as much as admitted to the killing.” Hastings was talking a mile a minute. “He says that he will leave her alone if…”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa… Stop,” said Sally. “Take a deep breath. Now, let’s go back and start again.”
He relaxed for a minute. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she said. “Just tell me again about this call. When did you get it? And who was it?”
“The call came in just minutes ago. It was Rafael Carmello. He’s in the upper echelon of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. He’s equivalent to a Quartermaster in our Army,” Hastings explained.
“Okay…”
Hastings continued. “Carmello had contacted us months ago wanting to buy some of our firearms. As much as we nee
d the business, I wasn’t about to sell them to him. His cartel is the biggest exporter of drugs and crime into the U.S. They are all over our border and they have known ties to various groups of Islamic terrorists. I turned him down flat. We later made a deal to sell to the militia of Sonora, one of the Mexican states. I cleared it with our own government and sent a guy down there six weeks ago to close the deal. He was killed the same night he completed it.” Hastings paused giving Sally time to digest his story.
“Go on…” she said. “I’m with you.”
“So in this call, just minutes ago, Carmello tells me that he ‘took care of’ my guy down there, and admitted that they had killed the woman, he didn’t call her by name, on Friday. He still wants me to sell him guns and has threatened to kill Jana if I don’t.”
Sally thought for a moment. “Tell me exactly what he said about the murder Friday night. That is our immediate concern.”
Hastings tried to remember the words Carmello had used. “Let’s see… he said something like he knew about me and my whore… and the same thing can happen to my wife. Clearly he has admitted to the killing.”
“Well, it sounds like it,” Sally said cautiously. “But we have another problem.”
“Sounds like it, did you say? Well, hell yes, Sally,” Hastings exclaimed. “He’s as much as admitted it. This should get me off.”
“Hold on, Jack,” she said. She was conscious of the fact that she used his first name. “I said we have another problem. I was going to call you earlier, but I got a call from my sister and was delayed. Just before lunch I spoke with Nora Quinn. She is the assistant district attorney who is handling the prosecution of your case.”
“So?” he asked.
“Nora’s boss has gotten the Police to issue a warrant for your arrest. It seems the circumstantial evidence is just too much for them to overlook. They have your footprints in the bloody carpet. They have your fingerprints all over the place. And…”
He interrupted her. “I’ve never denied being there, Sally. I told them all that.”
“I know. But, the bad news is that they have issued the warrant and we are to appear in court for the arraignment this afternoon at four o’clock. The D.A. wants you behind bars.” Sally let the news sink in.
Hastings was silent for a moment. Then he asked, “What happens at the arraignment?”
“It is a hearing to decide whether or not to put you back in jail until the trial,” she answered.
“And what is your opinion?” he asked.
“I know the judge, and he is fair. I know Nora Quinn, and she is fair, too, but she says her boss isn’t going to ignore your obvious presence at the scene.”
Hastings’ grew contemptuous. “Listen to me,” he said. “I was a major general in the United States Army, a West Point graduate. To tie me to something of this nature, this brutal, is beyond reprehensible. Pure nonsense.”
Sally fired back without hesitation. “You are also the man who left the apartment of your former lover within minutes of her death. General Hastings, you are facing the consequence of your own actions and the law will take its course.”
“Well what about the phone call I just told you about? The man admitted to the killing,” he pleaded.
“Maybe so,” she countered. “But think about what you just said to me…‘What about the phone call I just told you about.’ That’s right… you just told me about a phone call. That’s not a defense.”
Jack Hastings hesitated, looking out the window of the hotel suite that had become his home. “Yes,” he said. “You are quite right.”
“Please be at my office no later than 3:15 this afternoon. We need to have a good response when we go before the judge. Any problems with that?” she asked.
“No,” he answered. “I will see you then.”
Hastings was worried. He was worried for himself and the legal entanglement in which he found himself but he was more worried for Jana. He had to get her out of Lawton. He didn’t know how far the Sinaloa Cartel’s tentacles reached. But obviously they had gotten to Diana Ricci and he knew that Jana wasn’t safe at the ranch. He had to get her out of there.
Jana answered his call on the second ring. “Hello, Jack,” she said.
“Uh, hi, Jana,” he said. “Doing okay today?”
“I guess. You?” she asked.
“Yeah, okay.” He did not want to worry her. But he wanted her away from the ranch. “Uh, look. I’m thinking it might be good for you… for us… if you could get away for a bit. I was thinking… why don’t you go back to Fairfax for a while?”
“Why would I want to do that?” she asked.
“Frankly, I think it might be better if you didn’t have to endure all this legal mess by being here while it’s going on. It’s embarrassing to me and I know it is to you…”
“You are sure right there,” she said.
“So, why not just go spend some time back east? The house is just sitting there empty. I think you would enjoy it.” Hastings wondered if she suspected anything from his suggestion.
“Actually, I had considered that. I’m sure you would understand if I told you I just didn’t want to see our life splashed across the evening news every night,” she said.
“I don’t blame you.” He paused, silent for a moment. He thought he could hear her breathing. Then, “Uh, Jana… I, uh…”
“Oh, Jack,” she interrupted, “don’t let’s go through this again. I agree that it would be good for me to get away. I’ll think more about it and let you know.”
“Yeah. Good,” he said. “Good.”
They hung up. Jack Hastings sank down into the club chair facing the large window that was open to the chilly Oklahoma afternoon. He looked out the window without seeing anything other than a vision of his beloved Jana. He first saw her as the young woman he encountered at Trophy Point the day he got his class ring at the Academy. She then morphed into the middle aged woman that she had become; still smiling, still as lovely as ever. He thought about his actions through the years. He thought of how he had fooled himself into thinking that a night in the arms of another woman was harmless, a victimless crime. His vision of Jana was as clear and as real as if she were standing before him. He looked into her eyes. And for the first time in his memory, Jack Hastings wept.