Read Online Replaceable: An Alan Lamb Thriller by J.W. Bouchard - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: J.W. Bouchard
Ads: Link
speak.”
“What is it you aren’t telling me?”
Darrow was still smiling, but it faltered the tiniest bit. “I told you, you know as much as I do. Anything more than that…let’s just say you’d have to speak with the men above my pay grade.”
“You aren’t with the Bureau, what does that make you? A spook?”
“I’m not a fan of labels, Agent Lamb.”
Alan scanned the room. A group of casino security guards, three burly men who could have been former football players and a petite brunette woman, stood huddled together, speaking in hushed tones. No doubt they worked closely with Hammond. Probably discussing how one of their own could have pulled off the heist.
He glanced back to Darrow. “CIA?”
“We’re about finished up here,” Darrow said. “I’ll drop by County and interrogate Hammond and Baier if it suits you. Save you some time. I assume we won’t get anything more out of them.”
“That’s mighty kind of you.”
“We’re all about building healthy relationships.”
Darrow reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. He handed it to Alan. When Alan looked it over, he wasn’t surprised to find that the card was completely blank except for a handwritten phone number on its face in blue ink. “Do you drink?”
“Rarely,” Alan said.
“Tonight might be a good time to start.”
Chapter 7
Alan hadn’t left the Painted Horse until close to midnight. It had been a rough night after that.
Prior to leaving the Painted Horse, he had interviewed several of the security guards who had been working the floor, a cage boss, a banker arriving for the swing shift, and one of the employees that monitored the security cameras.
The banker he interviewed, Rebecca Sanders, was a slender woman with brunette hair and green eyes. She worked the 3 to 11 swing shift on Thursday through Sunday. She was cute in a plain sort of way, reminding him of Lucy for some reason. At first, she wouldn’t believe what Alan was telling her, couldn’t believe the Baier woman was capable of stealing from her employer, let alone masterminding a complex heist which entailed clearing out the casino’s vault. While they rarely worked the same shift (Baier typically worked the 7 to 3 shift), their time at the casino did occasionally overlap. Sanders described Teresa Baier as timid and soft-spoken, friendly and reliable. A woman who always showed up on time and didn’t have a bad thing to say about anyone. “A person tends to remember things like that,” Sanders had said. “Around here, everybody talks smack about everyone else. Teresa was the rare type of person that kept her judgments to herself.”
Jose Herrera was a short Hispanic man in his late twenties that worked the floor during the same shift as Sean Hammond. Herrera’s description of Hammond was essentially the same as Sanders had given of Baier. Aside from the timid part, Hammond was considered to be soft-spoken, even-tempered, and completely trustworthy.
Unlike some of the other security personnel, Herrera had said, Hammond knew how to keep his cool when the shit hit the fan. Herrera had said, “Most of these other guys, they think they’re cops, only they don’t have what it takes to be real cops, so they try to act tough to compensate for it.”
It seemed like remarkable insight from a security guard bringing home less than 30K a year.
The man surveying the monitors in the surveillance room during the time the robbery had taken place was Archie Mayberry.
The casino was equipped with over three hundred cameras, most of them color, many of which had the capability of zooming in and out and tilting and panning.
Mayberry showed Alan the footage the cameras had captured, which showed Baier moving toward the entrance, heavily saddled with the strap of a duffle bag slung over each shoulder. In the video, she appeared to be having issues lugging around that much weight. She reached the glass exit doors, at which point the video showed
“What is it you aren’t telling me?”
Darrow was still smiling, but it faltered the tiniest bit. “I told you, you know as much as I do. Anything more than that…let’s just say you’d have to speak with the men above my pay grade.”
“You aren’t with the Bureau, what does that make you? A spook?”
“I’m not a fan of labels, Agent Lamb.”
Alan scanned the room. A group of casino security guards, three burly men who could have been former football players and a petite brunette woman, stood huddled together, speaking in hushed tones. No doubt they worked closely with Hammond. Probably discussing how one of their own could have pulled off the heist.
He glanced back to Darrow. “CIA?”
“We’re about finished up here,” Darrow said. “I’ll drop by County and interrogate Hammond and Baier if it suits you. Save you some time. I assume we won’t get anything more out of them.”
“That’s mighty kind of you.”
“We’re all about building healthy relationships.”
Darrow reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. He handed it to Alan. When Alan looked it over, he wasn’t surprised to find that the card was completely blank except for a handwritten phone number on its face in blue ink. “Do you drink?”
“Rarely,” Alan said.
“Tonight might be a good time to start.”
Chapter 7
Alan hadn’t left the Painted Horse until close to midnight. It had been a rough night after that.
Prior to leaving the Painted Horse, he had interviewed several of the security guards who had been working the floor, a cage boss, a banker arriving for the swing shift, and one of the employees that monitored the security cameras.
The banker he interviewed, Rebecca Sanders, was a slender woman with brunette hair and green eyes. She worked the 3 to 11 swing shift on Thursday through Sunday. She was cute in a plain sort of way, reminding him of Lucy for some reason. At first, she wouldn’t believe what Alan was telling her, couldn’t believe the Baier woman was capable of stealing from her employer, let alone masterminding a complex heist which entailed clearing out the casino’s vault. While they rarely worked the same shift (Baier typically worked the 7 to 3 shift), their time at the casino did occasionally overlap. Sanders described Teresa Baier as timid and soft-spoken, friendly and reliable. A woman who always showed up on time and didn’t have a bad thing to say about anyone. “A person tends to remember things like that,” Sanders had said. “Around here, everybody talks smack about everyone else. Teresa was the rare type of person that kept her judgments to herself.”
Jose Herrera was a short Hispanic man in his late twenties that worked the floor during the same shift as Sean Hammond. Herrera’s description of Hammond was essentially the same as Sanders had given of Baier. Aside from the timid part, Hammond was considered to be soft-spoken, even-tempered, and completely trustworthy.
Unlike some of the other security personnel, Herrera had said, Hammond knew how to keep his cool when the shit hit the fan. Herrera had said, “Most of these other guys, they think they’re cops, only they don’t have what it takes to be real cops, so they try to act tough to compensate for it.”
It seemed like remarkable insight from a security guard bringing home less than 30K a year.
The man surveying the monitors in the surveillance room during the time the robbery had taken place was Archie Mayberry.
The casino was equipped with over three hundred cameras, most of them color, many of which had the capability of zooming in and out and tilting and panning.
Mayberry showed Alan the footage the cameras had captured, which showed Baier moving toward the entrance, heavily saddled with the strap of a duffle bag slung over each shoulder. In the video, she appeared to be having issues lugging around that much weight. She reached the glass exit doors, at which point the video showed
Similar Books
