Chapter 16
It was early in the evening, and the sun dropped to the west in Denver.
Jesse’s GTO pulled into a cheap one-story motel with about forty rooms called the Rocky Mountain High Motel. It was located on the south side of Denver not too far from Interstate I-25.
Jesse drove his GTO through the parking lot
He and parked at the far end of the motel away from the office.
Rose got out of the GTO and walked to the office. Jesse and Frankie waited inside.
In some Colorado woods off Interstate I-70, just across the Kansas and Colorado border, Joey and Kathy are camped in the woods with their campfire.
Joey looked bothered while he lay on his sleeping bag. Kathy wasn’t there.
A few minutes passed, and Kathy walked out from behind some trees.
She walked back to the sleeping bags and noticed Joey looked bothered.
“What’s wrong?” she asked while she got down on her sleeping bag.
“Oh, nothing. I guess not knowing how things will turn out is weighing heavily on me,” he replied.
She cuddled up to Joey to comfort him. “Don’t worry. I have this feeling that things will work out just fine,” she said then rubbed his bald head.
He looked at her and smiled. But there was one thing that still bothered him. He didn’t tell you about the phone call from Angie. He debated while they drove down the Interstate if he should tell her. But he decided that maybe it would be best if he didn’t.
In the Rocky Mountain High Motel, Rose slept in the bed next to Jesse. He sipped on a beer while he counted the bundles of hundred dollar bills from their successes.
Frankie walked out of the bathroom and zipped up his pants. He saw Jesse as he counted their booty. “How much?” he asked while he lay on his bed.
“One hundred and fifty-nine thousand dollars,” Jesse said while he smiled then picked up a couple bundles and kissed it.
“Sweet,” Frankie said while he lit up a cigarette and ignored the “No Smoking” sign on the wall.
Angie walked down the baggage claim area of the Denver International Airport.
While she waited at the baggage carousel, her cell phone buzzed from inside her purse. She removed her cell phone and opened it up. She opened up her text message from Lane.
“There are six Tony Rodman’s listed as being the Chicago area. The only one that stands out is one that drives a nineteen sixty-six GTO. The tag number is five, eight, K, U, one, P,” Lane’s text message stated. She smiled while she placed her cell phone in her purse.
She waited fifteen minutes then her suitcase finally came down the carousel.
She grabbed her suitcase off the carousel and walked away.
She saw a Denver police officer as he held up a “Detective Williams” sign near the exit doors.
She walked over to him.
“I’m Detective Angie Williams from the Orange County Sheriff’s department in Florida,” she told the officer.
“Glad to meet you, Chief Clark Winston wanted me to pick you up and take you to our station. I’m Officer Whitfield.”
“Thank you,” Angie replied and followed him to the exit doors.
Later that evening, Angie sat in the office of Chief Winston.
“So Angie, your boss called and told me about your reason to visit our city,” he said.
“I know for a fact that my suspect is on his way to Denver. He believes a friend of his is going to be set up to rob one of your banks,” Angie said.
“How’s that?” Chief Winston asked.
“He called me earlier today,” she told him.
“He did? I never had a suspect call one of my detectives,” Chief Winston looked surprised.
“I don’t believe he’s guilty of robbing our bank in Orlando. I know the evidence points to him, but I have strong feelings he was duped into robbing the bank,” she said.
“Duped? How’s that?” Chief Winston asked curiously.
“My suspect and three of his old college buddies are being sought out by some guy from Chicago, and he’s using a prostitute. She has these guys believing they have a shot at love with her. I think they’re all virgins. She asks for a ride to the bank, and they use the drive-thru. She sweet talks them into putting her so-called deposit slip into the plastic tube. But it’s really the robbery note. Then she runs off with the cash,” Angie said.
“I guess some people can be real gullible,” Chief Winston said.
“Yes. And now I believe they will target a Lenny Roth. And here’s his local address,” Angie showed him her note pad.
Chief Winston sipped his coffee while he looked at it. “I have to be honest with you. I don’t have the manpower for my men to stake out the residence of this Lenny Roth,” he told her.
Angie looked disappointed.
“But, I can let you use one of my unmarked cars, and you can stake him out,” he said.
Angie thought about his offer for a few seconds. She nodded that she accepted.
Chief Winston picked up his cell phone and made a call.
“Hey, Charlie. Sorry to bother you so late. I’m going to let a Florida detective use one of our unmarked cars to stake out someone here in Denver. If she needs something or discovers something’s going down, I want you to be her point of contact,” he told Detective Charlie Tibbets over his cell phone.
“What does she suspect might go down?” Detective Tibbets asked over the cell phone.
“A bank robbery,” Chief Winston told him.
“Okay. I’ll meet her in the morning around seven,” Detective Tibbets said.
Chief Winston disconnected his call.
“Let me find you a hotel room, and you can meet Detective Charlie Tibbets at seven in the morning,” Chief Winston told her.
“Thank you for all your assistance,” Angie said with a smile.
Chief Winston got up from his desk and escorted Angie out of his office.
Back in the woods, Joey lay on his sleeping bag while Kathy cuddled by his side.
He stared at the stars in the sky. He couldn’t sleep. He got scared as he thought what would happen if tomorrow failed.
Kathy woke up and noticed Joey while he stared at the sky.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“I’m worried about tomorrow,” Joey said then sat straight up.
Kathy sat up and looked at him.
She put an arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I know. I’m also nervous about tomorrow, but we have to give it our best shot,” she said then kissed his cheek.
He gazed into her eyes. Joey wanted to kiss her so badly but got scared.
He decided to be brave for once in his life.
He leaned in and kissed her lips. She accepted him.
They kissed for a few minutes. They separated.
“Let’s try to get some sleep. Tomorrow will be hectic after we find Lenny,” she said then pulled Joey back to the sleeping bag.
She cuddled next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.
It was her kisses that made Joey feel better.
Angie settled in her hotel room. She finished her shower and dried off with the hotel towel.
She wrapped another towel around her body and walked into her room.
She lay on the bed then called Wayne earlier and also spoke to Lela. She cried a little but knew her mommy was on a critical mission.
Angie set her hotel digital alarm clock for 7:00 a.m. She turned off the room lights and closed her eyes as soon as she hit her pillow.
It was morning, and the sun peeked through the trees in the Colorado woods. The birds sang, and it was the start of another beautiful day.
The sunlight has woken up Kathy, and she sat up and looked around.
She leaned over at Joey. “Wake up, Joey,” she said while she shook his body.
Joey woke up in a little bit of a daze. He smiled when he saw Kathy stand up. He got up and stretched.
They rolled up their sleeping bags and walked them to their Harleys.
They secured them to the rear of their Harleys with those bungee cords.
Kathy reached in one of her saddlebags and removed some granola bars.
She tossed Joey two. He caught them.
They ripped open the packages and ate them in a hurry.
“We can get a good meal once we get to Lenny’s,” Joey added while he took his final bite of a granola bar.
“Pizza sounds good. With some beer,” Kathy said.
Joey nodded in agreement.
Splat. A bird on a branch above Joey crapped on top of his head.
He cringed not knowing what that wet feeling was he felt on his head.
Kathy looked at the bird poop on the top of his bald head.
She looked up just in time as the bird flew away. “A bird crapped on your head,” she said then laughed.
“You know what they say about that?” she asked Joey.
“No, what?” he replied.
“It brings good luck,” she answered.
“I sure hope so,” he said.
Kathy grabbed a leaf off the ground. She used it and wiped the bird crap off his head. She then walked him to her Harley, where she opened up one of her saddlebags. She removed a bottle of water, opened it, and rinsed off his head. She put the bottle back in the bag.
“Let’s go. We have about a three-hour ride to Denver,” she said then kissed Joey on his cheek.
She got on her Harley.
He smiled while he walked over to his Harley.
They both started up their Harleys. They drove off into the woods.
It was seven in the morning in Denver, and Angie was chauffeured by a police officer to the station where Detective Tibbets worked.
He parked his car at the station and escorted Angie inside.
The officer escorted Angie through the station and walked to Detective Tibbets desk, where he reviewed some case files.
“Good Morning Detective Williams,” Detective Tibbets said while he sipped on his coffee.
“You can call me Angie,” she said.
“Would you like some coffee?” he asked.
“Oh please, I need that quick jump start,” she said, followed by a yawn.
Detective Tibbets got up from his desk. “Follow me,” he said, then walked away from his desk.
Angie followed Detective Tibbets to a coffee table way across the room. “So, I hear you believe there may be a bank robbery going down in our city,” he asked her while they walked to the coffee.
“Yes, I do,” she replied.
“How did you come across that all the way from Florida,” he asked curiously.
“While I was running down some information on a bank robbery suspect in my jurisdiction, I uncovered three of his buddies also got arrested for robbing a bank. But there was a common denominator. A girl, named Rose Cain, with a red rose tattoo on her hand. And Lenny Roth here in Denver is a friend with these guys. But I have reason to believe a Tony Rodman is having Rose set these guys up for revenge by unknowingly robbing the bank. One of the guys previously sent him to prison as a witness for him robbing a bank in Chicago,” Angie told him while she poured a cup of coffee. She sipped her coffee.
“They didn’t know they were robbing a bank?” he asked while they walked back to his desk.
“No. I think this was the first time a woman has ever shown an interest in them. So they weren’t thinking with their right head,” she said then sipped her coffee while they walked.
“I guess they could have been duped,” Detective Tibbets said while they arrived back at his desk.
Detective Tibbets grabbed some car keys off his desk. “You can use one of our unmarked cars,” he said while he handed her the keys. “Here’s my cell phone number. Call me when you think this robbery is going down,” he said, then gave her his business card.
“Here’s my number. My guy, Joey Austin and a girl named Kathy Spencer are probably driving Harley Davidson motorcycles with Georgia tags and are on their way where,” Angie said then handed him her business card.
“How does this Kathy Spencer play in this?” he asked.
“Her brother was one of the guys Rose set up for robbing a bank in Columbus, Georgia,” she replied.
“Got it. I’ll pass this on to the street units,” he said.
“Thanks for all your hospitality,” she said and smiled.
“I’ll show you where your car is parked,” he said then walked Angie through the station.