PURSUIT OF JUSTICE

Paco was sound asleep when Chi Chi got back. A few church members were still hanging around keeping an eye out. Chi Chi looked in on his room and then looked in on his two small toddlers praying over each of them and giving them tender kisses. His wife Yolanda was still up waiting for him in the study watching a videotape on relationships.
" Hi honey." He said.
She looked up. " You're finally home. I decided to wait up for you. Your crusade hasn't given us much time together."
" I know. I'm sorry. I guess I've been neglecting us lately. How about tomorrow just the two of us go to Maroni's for dinner. It'll give us a chance to talk and get caught up. We can ask your folks to come and watch the kids."
" What about Paco?" She said looking at him for his reaction.
" Paco can fend for himself. The church members will be around. I don't have watch him twenty-four hours a day. What's wrong Yolanda?" He walked over to her sat in front of her and touched her hand. "Do you feel I care more about him than my family ?"
" A little." She said. "I know it sounds selfish but I feel like you've abandoned us for this quest to help this kid out. A kid that just dropped into our lives."
" I know it looks like that but what else can I do. I'm trying to balance both. We've got an innocent kid about to go to the electric chair because nobody is around to defend him. There is no justice unless we fight for it. The Bible tells us to defend the defenseless. That's what I'm trying to do."
" You're gone at television stations, newspapers, making speeches and I'm alone with the kids. They need defending too. So do I."
" You are right. I have been gone too much but tonight I found some good news. I think we have identified the real killer. The tip I got on the reward hotline was for real. Rollo is a real person and he looks just like Paco described him."
" Did the police bring him in?" She asked looking hopeful wiping the tears of pain from her eyes.
" Not yet. Maybe if we pray God will bring the right person to justice. Would you pray with me that justice will be done?"
" Sure. If you want I'll call our women's prayer line and get them to pray as well."
" That would be great. I'm going to get something out of the refrigerator and I'll come back in and sit with you a while."
*

Within the next two days Yolanda had mobilized hundreds of prayer groups across the valley and across the United States. The wheels of justice continued to grind slowly. Tommy was able to get the police to run a rap sheet on Rollo and also get them to do a national trace on all numismatic coin sales and auctions. It took a lot of arm-twisting but Rollo's juvenile record was unlocked and it revealed several convictions for car jacking and dealing in stolen property. His fingerprints were nowhere to be found at the crime scene so the fingerprint search went nowhere.
*

Tommy went out to lunch with Marisa. They were getting tighter with each other and love was in the air.
" You look hot for a shark in a suit." Tommy joked with her admiring her professional white wool two-piece suit. "By the way did you hear it was so cold in Alaska that lawyers had their hands in their own pockets?"
" Thanks. Real funny. I guess working seventy hours a week has to have a few perks. You look great yourself." She responded kissing him on the cheek. "I don't suppose you found Rollo yet I can't believe you're going out of your way this much for me."
" I believe in the kid too Marisa. Don't get me wrong I'd do anything for you but this kid has been set-up I couldn't sleep at night if I wasn't doing everything in my power to help him out of this mess. Plus he has a cute lawyer." He studied her hard trying to gauge her reaction.
" Thanks." She said. "You're sort of cute yourself. Say after this trial is over I was thinking maybe you'd like to go to California."
" What's in California?" Tommy answered.
" I've got a big family. My mom wants me to come to my cousin's wedding. She told me to bring a date."
" So you want me?"
" It would be fun. Perhaps if you met them all you'd be forewarned about me. Everybody says I'm just like my momma."
" I'd love to go these trials can drag out though." Tommy suggested. "You sure you're going to be able to make it."
" My mom will be on trial for my murder if I don't visit home. It'll just be a weekend visit. Why don't we order I'm starving?"
They finished their lunch and Tommy returned to police headquarters where he worked up the trace on the stolen coins. He took out a map and circled every major city within a day's drive and decided to concentrate on those markets.

*
Telli's uncle Gabriel was initially quite excited to see Rollo. His house was a small bungalow in the old city not too far from the University of New Mexico. Gabriel wasn't married but had a long time girlfriend Delores who dressed like a biker chick in old denim jeans and tight tube top t-shirts.
" So you got some hot goods you need me to dispose of?" Gabriel said. "Let me take a look would you?
Rollo glanced over at Delores. "Can I talk with you in private?"
" Anything you have to say to me you can say to my woman." Gabriel had been smoking crack and was a bit wasted.
" I need a place to crash and I need help moving some merchandise. Top quality stuff." Rollo pulled out a coin. "I have several of these and they are worth big money two to five thousand a piece. Solid gold uncirculated coins."
Gabriel sobered up. "I don't know. I'll see what I can do. How hot are they ?"
" A month maybe five weeks."
" Still on the burner. This kind of stuff is not easy to move. I'll have to check the hot sheet the police send around to all the pawnshops. What's in it for me?"
" We split 50/50 whatever the take."
" That sound quite generous why are you in such a rush?"
" Let's say I need to hide away for a bit. This money will keep me out of circulation."
" I'll make a few calls. You can put your stuff in the back bedroom. Have yourself a beer the frig is stocked." Gabriel pointed to the hallway. "Let me see the package with the coins."
Gabriel took them and examined them while Rollo went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer. He came out drinking it.
" You got someplace I can park so my car is not so noticeable." Rollo asked.
" You gonna bring in your stuff?"
" I don't have anything with me. I left in a hurry."
" Sounds like your running from the law." Delores added.
" Not too wrong. How about it? Can I park in your garage?"
" It's full. Pull it into the backyard. I've got a tarp we can put over it. Nobody will be nosing around back there. Why don't you tell me the whole story?"
" I can't. Let's just say somebody is fingering me for a rap I don't want to take. Hopefully in a few he won't be singing."
" You've got somebody gonna off a police witness?" Delores asked. "How do you know they won't put him in protective custody where you can't get at him?"
" Cause he's the one they charged with the crime and he made bail." Rollo responded. "I've got it all worked out. He won't be talking much longer."
Rollo was exhausted after driving all night and went immediately to sleep. In his dreams a large wolf loomed over him. He could sense it's yellow eyes burning a hole through his heart. There was no escape. He was trapped in a cave and the further in he went to get away from the wolf the narrower the cave grew until he could move no longer. He awoke in a sweat. His heart was beating rapidly. He walked into the living room Gabriel and Delores were both gone. They had left him alone in their house with a note telling him to make himself at home. He turned on the television and saw Dallas Cowboy Deon Sanders talking to a group of prisoners.
" When God calls you." Deon addressed the crowd of prisoners hanging on every word. "He doesn't call you to be a spectator. Its not like professional football where there are eighty thousand people watching twenty-two people playing. He wants us all to be players. The problem is most of you have already conceded the game to your opponents. God has not created us to live in bondage to our enemies. He has created us for freedom. Some of you sitting here right now are tormented by what you have done. The crimes, cruelty, utter lawless way in which you have lived haunts you. You don't expect any mercy from God. You know you expect to die and go straight to hell. You don't pretend that you are good you know the depth of your depravity. You can feel the blackness pouring in around you. Sin has got its teeth into you and it's taking a bigger bite out of you day after day. You thought you could control it but you can't. You are swimming in its filth and depravity. You hate what you've become but your powerless to do anything about it. Paul the apostle and murderer said. 'The very things that I hate I do.'
Well I've got some good news. You can be free. Maybe not from these prison walls and bars but free where it really counts inside your heart. You don't have to live in the blackness. You can live in the light. Jesus said. 'I am the light of the world. He who follows me will never live in darkness but shall have the light of life.'"
Rollo switched off the television; he had no idea that hundreds of people were praying for him, praying for him to give himself up. He thought for a moment on giving himself up, finding peace. He dismissed the thought like it was crazy. He had no desire to spend his life behind bars. He withdrew further into the darkness.

*

Gabriel found out the coins were hotter than molten lava. There were hundreds of coins listed on the hot sheet and the twenty he had were identified amongst them. He knew he could pass off a few but the odds of passing off so many especially after they had been grouped together would be impossible. He called a contact at the police station to ask him about the case.
" Madden. Yeah this is Gabriel over at Two Time Pawn. Look I noticed on the hot sheet a bunch of stolen coins. Can you tell me anything about the case."
" Yea. I know what you've talking about. We just got another notice today from the Phoenix Police department. It was big news down there, murder and a million in missing gold. You got some information for me? Don't hold out you know you owe me and this one has got a nice reward with it."
" How much?" Gabriel asked wondering if he should go for the easy money.
" You finger the right guy you could make yourself twenty-five thousand tax free dollars." Madden stated lighting up another cigarette. "Look you think about it. Whoever stole the coins murdered the guy in cold blood left him to rot in a dumpster. I wouldn't be feeling no remorse turning him over. You'd be doing everyone a favor."
" Right." Gabriel said. "If I hear any more I'll get back to you."
Gabriel had ratted out people before. The police allowed him certain immunity in dealing with questionable goods and in exchange he fed them information from time to time. This time it was different. There was a lot of money at stake and one of his nephew's homies' freedom. He knew his nephew Telli was crazy and he decided to play it straight up. He got in his car and headed out to Santa Fe.
A few moments after Madden hung up the phone he was on the line to the Phoenix Police department and talking with Detective Tommy Mendoza.
" Can I help you? This is Tommy Mendoza." Tommy wondered why a call would come in from out of state for him.
" Detective." Madden stated. "I got your name from the sheet on the stolen coins and just got an inquiry about them from a local pawn dealer. I was wondering if you had any leads as of yet?"
" Yes, we had a tip on the supposed perpetrator but missed him by a few hours. The local Latinos Por La Causa put up a big reward for a kid Rollo Rodriquez. The D.A. has already made an arrest on an illegal named Paco Mendez but nobody except the D.A.'s office thinks he is guilty. He drew up a sketch of the man he said abducted him before the fatal shooting and robbery why don't I fax it over to you. Maybe he's in Albuquerque. You think your informant will help make the I.D.?" Tommy wondered.
" Too early to tell. I know he's thinking about it. Most of the I.D.s he's made in the past were for pretty small time robberies. There was nothing that involved a murder. He may not want to have his name tagged to this. There are a lot of collectors who will just take the coins underground into their own private collections. They may not surface again for twenty years."
Mendoza was thinking. He knew the call might be his only chance to help Marisa on the case and find the real killer. "Officer Madden. I'd like to ask you a favor. My girlfriend is the accused' public defender. Would you mind if I came there and had a talk with your informant?'
Madden took a moment to chew over the request. He imagined himself in the same spot trying to impress a girlfriend and getting caught up in the ever-present red tape of procedures. "Look, if you come up let me know when your flight arrives and I'll take you over to talk with my man. Maybe he'll talk maybe he won't but it's worth a chance."
" I'm going to try to come this afternoon. I'll call you with my flight information. And thanks for letting me know what you found out."
*

It took a few hours for Tommy to clear his afternoon schedule pack and drive to Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport where he caught a commuter flight to Albuquerque. It was Friday afternoon and he was lucky to get a seat. He used his cell phone and dialed Marisa just before they started boarding the flight.
" Marisa. Look I know we had plans tonight but I've got to go to Albuquerque. Something came up about your case and I want to track down this lead."
" That's great." Marisa said weighing her words more carefully. "Not that you are going out of town but that you heard something about the coins. When will you be back? Do you need a ride to the airport?"
" No I parked my car right here. I plan on coming back tomorrow night. Somehow I don't think this murderer is going to get away with it." Tommy looked at the line forming at the gate. "I'm going to hang up now. I'll miss you. How about a rain check for tomorrow night?"
" I'd love it. I'll make you a nice dinner, how'd you like that?"
" It would be great. Take care."
As they flew over the Mogollon ridge, Showlow and on into New Mexico, Tommy was impressed by the vastness and the variety of the topography. From high desert to mountains to sheer cliffs. The colors changed from greens and browns to dark oranges and reds. Before he could finish his complimentary can of cranapple juice the seatbelt sign came on and the plane began its downward descent.
True to his word Madden was waiting for him. He was sipping a cup of coffee out of a Styrofoam cup and checking out each passenger as if he was on a surveillance detail. Tommy could make out the slight bulge from his shoulder holster and approached him.
" Lt. Madden." Tommy extended his hand. "Tommy Mendoza Phoenix Police, thanks for picking me up."
" I registered you at the Holiday Inn Express down by the police station. We get good rates there and it's pretty close to some of the old town restaurants. They make some great Sonoran style Mexican food. Have you eaten?"
" No. What are the chances the pawn shop is open where your guy works."
" I already ran by. It's open but he's not there."
" Do you have his home address? Can we go visit him?"
" Yea. We need to wait till later his girl friend said he had to go out of town. Your hotel is only about a half mile away. You got any bags?"
" Just this one. A guy from surveillance let me check out a few things."
" You need a handgun?" Madden suggested.
" You got one I could borrow. I feel a little exposed without one. I didn't have time to fill out the forms and check mine in."
" I know the feeling you go your whole life with a gun and then you come to rely on it for security. You ever have to use it?" Madden asked the question that separated the men from the boys as far as he was concerned.
" Just once. I had to drop an armed drug dealer. I tried to shoot away from his vitals but he moved right into it. They put me on one month paid leave while they investigated. Lucky for me the guy had already had a record otherwise who knows what kind of civil suit I would have been slapped with. It was pretty brutal."
" Makes you feel a little like their final judge and jury." Madden looked at him sizing him up while they walked out into the brisk night air and approached the unmarked car.
" No. I know he's going to a much worse judgment than the one I gave him. I believe that this world is just our preparation for the next. It's a test we either pass or fail. We either get acceptance and forgiveness by God through Jesus Christ or we are separated from him for eternity that's what Hell is all about. It's a place where the fire never stops and the worm continues to devour."
" Sounds pretty gruesome. I don't know if I buy that stuff. My mother used to try and shove religion down my throat. The picture of God she painted for me was an old man with a big hammer who was going to nail you each time you messed up."
" It's hard to see Hell as part of God's love but it is. The fire God created in Hell is both to punish us for our self will and to cleanse those who refused to serve God while in this life. Without the continual consuming fire Hell would keep expanding."
" You are saying that love motivated God to create Hell?"
" Yea. God is love. Everything He does is motivated by love. It sounds pretty crazy but nonetheless, it is true."
They drove the rest of the way in silence. Tommy let Madden absorb what he had said. He knew from experience that it was something that would take a while to absorb. He just hoped he planted the seed in him deep and that it would sprout up and make a difference in Madden's life. He knew how much police work could harden a person and make them cynical to nearly everything in life especially love.

*

Gabriel drove back from Santa Fe a thick roll of hundred-dollar bills in his pocket. He took several thousand off the top and stuffed them in his glove box. He patted his pocket where he had stashed one of the coins. He knew Rollo would never miss it. Rollo would just have to trust him on how much he had sold the coins for.
" Eighty thousand dollars." he muttered to himself feeling like he was the king of the world. He hit the pedal on the gas and raced back towards Albuquerque He didn't know what Rollo was expecting but knew that if he handed him thirty eight thousand dollars that would be all he'd see of him. He pulled one package out and looked at the St. Gaudens, a souvenir he told himself something to save for a rainy day. He stuffed it back into his shirt pocket close to his heart. His mind raced to the many way he would spend his new fortune. New car, DVD player, Caribbean cruse for once he thought he'd live like the rest of the world the world of the white man who seemed to own everything.
He got out of his car and walked in the front door. "I'm home." He yelled wondering where everyone was. Rollo stumbled out into the living room shirtless a big thirty-eight hanging in his waistband.
" You do it?" Rollo asked.
" Yea." Gabriel said. "Where's Delores?"
" She said to tell you she's over at her sisters. She locked up the pawnshop early. They are having some kind of party you're supposed to go over. She's waiting for you. So did you sell them all?"
" Yea." Gabriel avoided his eyes. "I got seventy six thousand." He pulled out the money looking at Rollo's face and put it on the coffee table.
Outside Tommy had planted himself in a rental car with a listening device pointed at the house. He reached for his phone and called Madden.
" Rollo is in there with Gabriel they are splitting up the money right now."
" You're just going to have to trail him when he leaves. We've got no search warrant or arrest warrant and your listening device is not court approved."
" Still, this kid murdered somebody for those coins. I don't want to let him get away. Isn't there anything I can do?" Tommy was desperate. Who knew how long it would be before Rollo left and went on his own.
" There is something. Call in a disturbance report to 911. They'll send officers over to knock on the door maybe they'll see something when they get there."
" That's it?" Tommy was growing despondent. "I'm a police officer I can't go making phony 911 calls. I'll think of something else but get over here quick because one way or another I'm going into their house and arresting him."
Tommy's mind was racing all of a sudden it hit him a scene from the Fight Club. He decided what to do. He got out of his car and rolled in the dirt. He tore his shirt and hit his nose with a small brick laying on the ground. He drug himself up to the door and knocked waiting for it to open. Gabriel stuffed his money away and went to the door. Rollo looked on while he answered it.
Tommy was laying down by the door. "I've been robbed call the police."
Gabriel was shocked. "Sure man. Rollo help this dude in. I've got to call the police."
Tommy glanced up at Rollo he was the mirror image of the small drawing. "Thanks."
Rollo pulled him in and then looked at him. "I'll get you a washcloth from the bathroom."
With both of them out of the room Tommy made his move. He rolled into the corner by the easy chair pulled out his gun and waited for either to make their entrance hoping neither was carrying a gun. Gabriel walked out first from the kitchen door.
" What's up? What is this a robbery?"
" Get over there and keep your hands where I can see them." He motioned to the tattered couch sitting on the opposite wall. Gabriel stepped over and sat down unsure of what to do. The minute Rollo came out carrying the towel Gabriel caught his eye and motioned towards Tommy standing in the corner. Rollo made a move for his gun.
" Don't tempt me Rollo. I'm bringing you back to Phoenix for questioning about the Big Pete murder and robbery."
" Who are you?" Gabriel asked. "What sort of game is this?"
" The type of game you just lost. I know you just fenced a bunch of stolen coins so they'll be taking you in as well. One plus for you Gabriel at least you are not going to have a murder one hanging over your head especially if you cooperate."
As he talked Rollo inched back towards the hallway. As he dropped the towel he reached for his gun and fired nearly point blank at Tommy. Tommy operating from a sixth sense ducked out of the way of the bullets and rolled towards the coffee table opening fire deliberately aiming low. He fired off four consecutive shots and one caught Rollo in the leg bringing him down with a scream. Tommy ran over and disarmed Rollo rolling him on his stomach and cuffing him. He turned and looked at Gabriel moaning on the couch. A stray bullet had hit him in the shoulder and he was in shock. Tommy grabbed the towel and immediately went over to administer first aid. He picked up his phone and dialed Madden's mobile number.
" I'm in the house. You need to get some emergency vehicles over here right away. The kid opened fire at me. I had to put him down."
Within moments the police had descended on the house. A helicopter blazed it's spotlight overhead and vehicles blocked off both ends of the street. Gabriel was wheeled out to a waiting ambulance an oxygen mask over his face. Paramedics were tending to Rollo, still in cuffs. Tommy was in cuffs sitting in back of a patrol car when Madden showed up. He watched Madden talking to the officer in charge and then came back to the car and helped him out.
" Now tell me what the hell happened here. Apparently Gabriel made his own 911 call reporting a robbery he never said anything about gunshots."
" Rollo came out firing. I had to put him down. I must have hit Gabriel with a stray bullet. I aimed my shots low to bring him down and then cuffed him."
" How am I going to explain this to my captain?"
" I'll take sole responsibility for everything that has happened here today."
" No." Madden thought aloud. "I'm not going to let them put you in jail till you rot especially since your gun is registered to me. Let's go we'll tell the story to the captain. Let him sort it out. Let's get out of here before the news media has us blocked off." Overhead several news helicopters were circling. Madden marched Tommy off still wearing cuffs.
Both Rollo and Gabriel were taken to the city hospital and put under police custody. Gabriel was touch and go. They wheeled him into the operating room but everyone could see his life signs were fading fast. The police property room took all their clothes including the sizeable bankroll and coin Gabriel had kept. Rollo's leg wound was stitched up the bullet having made a clean exit and he was handcuffed to the bed. His clothes were taken to the property room as well.
Rollo looked around in desperation. 'How had the police known to track him to Albuquerque?' Nobody had known his destination except two of his closest homies. How did the Phoenix Police officer track him to Gabriel's house? He saw the look on Gabriel's face when they rolled him out and wondered if he was going to make it. Either way he looked at it he knew he had reached the end of the line. His getaway train had derailed leaving him chained to the rail. He began to grow cold with worry sensing his impending judgment. He wanted to pray but knew God would never hear him.