Chapter Seventeen
Waiting was unproductive. Veronica knew she had to take action and quickly too. Picking up her phone, she dialed Burton as she walked out of her office toward Tony's desk.
“Where did he give you the slip?”, she asked curtly.
“Just after a boutique on Market. His car's still there.”
“And lemme guess, you still haven't found him?”
“I'm trying my best ma'am b...”
“Just find him.”
She disconnected the call just as she reached Tony's station. Standing beside him, she folded her arms and focused on his computer.
“Pull up traffic cams for Market Street.. few blocks from here.”
“What am I looking for?”
“Raids. Burton lost him after a boutique. He said his car's still there.”
“You had him followed?”, Tony asked, clearly surprised.
“Excuse me, Agent Aurello,” Veronica turned on him, fury in her eyes. “Do I need to ask for your permission before I do my job?”
“Sorry, ma'am,” Tony muttered.
“Just find him!”
With that, she turned on her heels and headed back to her office. Falling into her chair, she held her head in her hands and sighed deeply. He was her only lead. She wished she had not let him go in the first place, but how could she have stopped him? No, what she did was the best.. but how had it turned out? She just did not know what to think. The fear of what Jason would do while looking for Randy and the possible aftermath of it all was driving her crazy. The more she speculated, the more scared she became. She was still in this position when her desk phone rang. It was Tony requesting her attention. Quickly, she made her way to his station.
“What do you have?”, she asked even before she reached him.
“I found him taking a taxi after leaving Market and heading South, but that's as far as I can go with...”
“Then call the cab company or...”
“I figured that route would take too long and since he didn't head on in the direction he'd been heading when he left here, I ran the owners of businesses within...”
“And.. and? What did you get?”, Veronica demanded impatiently.
“I found one match. Ronald William Bauch. Ex-army. Runs a tech shop in the area.”
“So what about him? What's his relationship with Raids?”
“They were in the Army together. Served together a couple times, but the fun part is that they were both close friends with Randy Barl...”
“Tell Miller to get a team ready now! We're going to that tech store!”
“Yes ma'am.”
Veronica was already halfway to her office. She wanted to be at the tech store as fast as possible before Jason would slip through her fingers, assuming he hadn't already done so.
*****
As he sat in the back of the speeding taxicab, Jason thought hard about what to do with Ron's phone. Sending it to Tony was not very different from arresting Ron. Not that he couldn't trust Tony, but Veronica could hijack it and Ron might get exposed. Returning the phone to its owner on the other hand was out of the question. He needed to look through everything Ron had on the phone. He was convinced his friend had more information on the phone that might be useful in his operation. Making up his mind, he decided to call Tony to find out if he could receive the phone without Veronica finding out about it. He didn't have long to wait; Tony picked up on the first ring.
“Hey Tony, you busy?”
“No. Why?”
“I need you to do something. Is Nika with you?”
“Nika?”, Tony whistled. “Wow. Who woulda thought? How long have you guys been sharing a bed, huh?”
“Mind your business, Tony, or you could get burnt.”
“Okay, okay, just curious. And by the way, your Nika's off to Ronald Bauch's tech shop in search of your elusive ass.”
“That was fast.”
“Yeah, I made sure it was.”
“Whatever. But right now, I need you to send someone over to the address I just texted you to pick up Ro.. I mean, Bauch's phone. I need you to look through everything related to Randy and keep this away from Nika for now. Clear?”
“Not really," Tony scoffed. "What do I get for all the trouble?”
“Nothing.”
“And you think that's incentive enough, huh?”
“Just send someone to get the phone, Tony. I'll call you in a few minutes.”
“Hey, that's not enough t...”
Jason disconnected the call and climbed out of the taxi as it rolled to a stop. After paying the cabman, he strolled into the bar at the roadside and took a seat with a view of the entrance, but not without scanning the area with his eyes. After ordering a beer, he called his daughter.
Chrissie picked the phone, but after a lot of scrambling and arguments at the background, the call was disconnected. He decided to call Tracy next.
“Hello Jason.”
“Hey Tracy, you guys having a party or something?”
“No. Why?”
“I called Chrissie, but um.. there was a lot of noise and scrambling.”
“Oh, that,” she laughed. “She's with the boys. They just had lunch. It makes them more.. rapacious.”
“Ha. Hope those boys of yours won't kill that only daughter of mine?”
“You're a godsend, Jason. Here I was, thinking of who to send the boys to, so I could get a little breathing room for a while and then you brought their favourite! I owe you, Jason.”
“Whatever you say, ma'am,” Jason chuckled. “Just wanted to check on you guys. Tell Chrissie I called and tell her I still don't know when I'll be back.”
“Kk. Take care. Bye!”
“You too.”
Jason checked his watch and decided it was time to call Tony.
“Got the phone yet, Tony?”
“Not really. In fact, my guy's hardly left.”
“I need you to do something for me.”
“Hey hey! I didn't get employed by you, so why do you think you can order me around, huh?”
“Just sent you an address. Look into it for me, will ya?”
“I'll reposition the satellite and get back to you.”
“Good. Is Nika still at Ron's?”
But Tony had already disconnected the call. Jason muttered a curse beneath his breath and finished his drink. He needed to get over to Randy's location, but he was not very sure how to go about it. Going in hard and strong was very risky, if not deadly. The best and safest option would be to go in nicely and quietly. Randy didn't worry him, but Canty and his men were the potential sources of danger. Since time waited for no one, he would have to think on his feet. Quitting the bar, he took another cab and headed straight to the location on Ron's phone.
*****
Veronica was feeling more and more helpless as Jason moved farther and farther from her reach. After releasing Ron from the tight bonds that Jason had bound him with, she hoped to get useful info from him, but was disappointed to find out that he had no idea where Jason might be. She had called a forensic team and asked them to scour every inch of the room, but she knew it was more or less a waste of time. Now, she could not help but pace impatiently about the room. Her eye soon settled again on Ron who was sitting a few feet away, keeping a close watch on the forensic guys.
“So Mr. Bauch,” she called out, walking toward him, "you convinced Jason that you have no idea where Randy Barlough can be found... right?”
“Yeah,” Ron mumbled. Then realizing his mistake, he quickly added, ”I mean I.. I actually have no idea where Randy is.”
Veronica looked doubtfully at him, but he looked away to avoid her penetrating gaze.
“So you mean to tell me Jason went through all this trouble and finally gave it up without getting any useful information?”
“Like I said, Agent, I have no idea where Randy is.”
“Fine. I'll just shut this place down and take you into custody. We'll find time to continue this later. Miller!”
“Wait!”, Ron stopped her. “Look, I don't wanna uh.. suspend my business over some crazy issues, but before I say anything, I need assurance that me and my business will be kept out of all this horseshit.”
“You have my word.”
“That's what Jason said too.”
“Look here, Mr. Bauch,” Veronica began impatiently, already irritated, “that's the best I can give. Take it or leave it!”
“Fine,” Ron sighed after a little hesitation. “Just as long as you get those two properly locked up and on a very tight leash too. The bastard took my phone. I had the address in there. Can't remember much 'cept it's somewhere in Valencia.”
“Is that all?”, Veronica asked, greatly surprised.
“That's all I remember,” Ron grumbled.
“Shoulda thought twice before giving my word,” she muttered angrily as she walked away.
“What? Wait!”
She didn't pay any attention to him. Pulling out her phone, she dialed Tony.
“Aurello, do you have anything new?”
“No ma'am.”
“Well, Bauch says his friends are somewhere in Valencia...”
“Where exactly in Valencia?”
“The buffoon has no idea.”
“Don't you think he's lying?”
“Can't say for sure, but there's just no time to press him for more. Let's work with what we have.”
“We have almost nothing to work with, ma'am.”
“Yeah, yeah I know,” she breathed, trying to calm herself down. “Do we have any old location for the Canty crew in Valencia?”
“None.”
Tony could hear her breathing hard and he could almost pity her.
“Fuck you, Jason,” she swore under her breath. “We have to do something, Agent Aurello.”
“Yes ma'am,” Tony answered mechanically.
“Bauch says his phone... Damn!”, she suddenly shouted, startling him. “I forgot all along! Track his phone.. now!”
“But ma'am...”
“No buts! Track his fuckin' phone! You should've thought of this long before now!”
“Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am.”
The connection was closed and Tony found himself in a difficult position. He had just been ordered to track his friend's phone and he dared not disobey, not with the boss in her current state of mind. Warning Jason, on the other hand, had its own risk. If Veronica were to find out, he'd be in big trouble. He breathed deeply and tried to think of an easy solution. At last, he settled on warning Jason.
Picking up his phone, he dialed him up. With each ring, his heart thumped faster and his hand hovered over the hang-up button. But after the first call went unanswered, he became surprised. He called two more times, but still, there was no answer. With a sigh of relief and a little worry over his friend's safety, he began the trace.