Read Online Copp In Deep, A Joe Copp Thriller (Joe Copp Private Eye Series) by Don Pendleton - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Don Pendleton
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to do, but what he told me did not make me much happier about the reality we were referencing.
Seems that he worked for PowerTron as a security officer. Tom Chase was his boss but there were several layers of management between them, didn't know Chase personally, didn't know anything about his trouble with the feds. Didn't know Cherche LaFemme , didn't know any Gina Terrabona and had never heard the name before, had also never heard of Nicholas Gudgaloff .
I gave the guy some breathing room and handed him a first aid kit. Things got almost chummy after that. He treated his cuts while we continued getting acquainted.
"What is your interest in Joe Copp ?"
"Never heard of him either."
"So why were you tailing him?"
"Oh!—is that you? My God, are you a cop? I didn't know . . ."
"Tell me about the tail."
"This is like moonlighting. I work for PowerTron but this is extra, personal work for Mr. Putnam."
I had to challenge the guy. "Who is Putnam?"
"He's the executive vice-president of the company."
"So how does personal work for Putnam put you on my tail?"
"They just gave us the description of the van and said we should keep tabs on it."
"When was this?"
"This was at six o'clock tonight."
"How did you know where to find me?"
"Not you, the van. They sent us to the address in Beverly Hills, said look for it then stay with it. We saw it going in and we stayed with it."
"You were keeping a log or something?"
"Yeah."
"Time in, time out?"
"That's right."
"You keep saying 'they.' They who?"
"Well . . . dispatch. Whoever is dispatching."
"You said this was personal work for Putnam."
"Right. I didn't mean official PowerTron dispatch. I don't talk to Putnam directly but . . ."
"So where is it dispatched from?"
"His house, maybe, I don't know. We have a radio in the car."
" PowerTron car?"
"Yeah."
"How many people involved in this?"
"What do you mean?"
"How many like you working directly for Putnam?"
"Oh. I don't know. Quite a few, I think."
"How many people in PowerTron security?"
"It's a big department. Several hundred, I guess, just at my plant. I mean, you know, it's three shifts plus all the clerical and administrative."
"So we're talking about a small army, if you put them all together from all the plants in the area."
"Probably a thousand people, yeah."
"Tom Chase headed all that?"
"Yes, he's director of security for the whole division."
"He's in jail."
"No!"
"Oh yeah. The feds took him in last night. Charged with espionage."
"Espionage!?"
"Yeah. How does that cut with you?"
"My God! I guess that explains why . . ."
"Why what?"
"Why Mr. Putnam took direct control of security."
"But you seemed to think you've been moonlighting."
"Well that's the way they made it sound, swore us to secrecy and all that, but . . ."
"But now you're seeing it differently."
"Yeah. God, what a bomb this is!"
I was beginning to see the faint dimensions of something far bigger than Chase himself had hinted at when I was recruited into the mess. And no comfort whatever for either Tom or myself.
As for Gina . . .
I did not want to think about Gina.
I took the guy back to the coffee shop and let him out. Didn't seem to be at all mad at me, even wished me good luck. I watched him inside, saw him head straight for the telephone. There was only one way in and out of the parking lot, so I circled the block and came back up the street, went to the curb at almost exactly the same spot the other guys had used to wait for me, had the place in good view.
It was a short wait. The same car came back from the opposite direction and made a left turn into the coffee shop lot. My pigeon came out immediately and entered the car, they went around the loop and came onto the street toward me. There was a lot of gabbing and arm waving as they went past totally absorbed in each other. I gave them a block then did a U- ey and fell in behind.
They led me straight to Pasadena via Coldwater Canyon and the Ventura freeway,
Seems that he worked for PowerTron as a security officer. Tom Chase was his boss but there were several layers of management between them, didn't know Chase personally, didn't know anything about his trouble with the feds. Didn't know Cherche LaFemme , didn't know any Gina Terrabona and had never heard the name before, had also never heard of Nicholas Gudgaloff .
I gave the guy some breathing room and handed him a first aid kit. Things got almost chummy after that. He treated his cuts while we continued getting acquainted.
"What is your interest in Joe Copp ?"
"Never heard of him either."
"So why were you tailing him?"
"Oh!—is that you? My God, are you a cop? I didn't know . . ."
"Tell me about the tail."
"This is like moonlighting. I work for PowerTron but this is extra, personal work for Mr. Putnam."
I had to challenge the guy. "Who is Putnam?"
"He's the executive vice-president of the company."
"So how does personal work for Putnam put you on my tail?"
"They just gave us the description of the van and said we should keep tabs on it."
"When was this?"
"This was at six o'clock tonight."
"How did you know where to find me?"
"Not you, the van. They sent us to the address in Beverly Hills, said look for it then stay with it. We saw it going in and we stayed with it."
"You were keeping a log or something?"
"Yeah."
"Time in, time out?"
"That's right."
"You keep saying 'they.' They who?"
"Well . . . dispatch. Whoever is dispatching."
"You said this was personal work for Putnam."
"Right. I didn't mean official PowerTron dispatch. I don't talk to Putnam directly but . . ."
"So where is it dispatched from?"
"His house, maybe, I don't know. We have a radio in the car."
" PowerTron car?"
"Yeah."
"How many people involved in this?"
"What do you mean?"
"How many like you working directly for Putnam?"
"Oh. I don't know. Quite a few, I think."
"How many people in PowerTron security?"
"It's a big department. Several hundred, I guess, just at my plant. I mean, you know, it's three shifts plus all the clerical and administrative."
"So we're talking about a small army, if you put them all together from all the plants in the area."
"Probably a thousand people, yeah."
"Tom Chase headed all that?"
"Yes, he's director of security for the whole division."
"He's in jail."
"No!"
"Oh yeah. The feds took him in last night. Charged with espionage."
"Espionage!?"
"Yeah. How does that cut with you?"
"My God! I guess that explains why . . ."
"Why what?"
"Why Mr. Putnam took direct control of security."
"But you seemed to think you've been moonlighting."
"Well that's the way they made it sound, swore us to secrecy and all that, but . . ."
"But now you're seeing it differently."
"Yeah. God, what a bomb this is!"
I was beginning to see the faint dimensions of something far bigger than Chase himself had hinted at when I was recruited into the mess. And no comfort whatever for either Tom or myself.
As for Gina . . .
I did not want to think about Gina.
I took the guy back to the coffee shop and let him out. Didn't seem to be at all mad at me, even wished me good luck. I watched him inside, saw him head straight for the telephone. There was only one way in and out of the parking lot, so I circled the block and came back up the street, went to the curb at almost exactly the same spot the other guys had used to wait for me, had the place in good view.
It was a short wait. The same car came back from the opposite direction and made a left turn into the coffee shop lot. My pigeon came out immediately and entered the car, they went around the loop and came onto the street toward me. There was a lot of gabbing and arm waving as they went past totally absorbed in each other. I gave them a block then did a U- ey and fell in behind.
They led me straight to Pasadena via Coldwater Canyon and the Ventura freeway,
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