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John Adams was a single 30 year old man and well respected in the small town of Wheatland in Central Washington. His handsome features made him a magnet for the women in the community, but it all ended when one cold December morning he was shot and killed in his front yard.
Marianne Shutt was a current girlfriend of John Adams and told the investigators the only person she could think of that might have committed the murder was her ex-boyfriend Dustin Silver.
The wheels of the police investigation began turning to gather evidence that would support their suspicion that Dustin Silver was the perpetrator.
An early arrest was made on Dustin Silver and he was charged with First Degree Murder and the police reported to the local news media that Silver had the means, opportunity and motive to commit the crime.
In comes experienced Seattle Attorneys Jackie Skelton, Mark Scalia and Colin Thurgood to defend Dustin Silver.
Private Investigators David Anson and Monty Victor joined the Defense Team.
The Private Investigators soon developed information that two local well known criminals, Ryan Bates and Juan Garcia were the actual killers. Their crime spree continued after the death of John Adams and exploded into violence that killed gang members and drained local law enforcement resources to control the spiraling violence.
Detectives David Anson and Monty Victor went into the underbelly of the drug and criminal scene to locate witnesses that would not speak to the police and gathered evidence to exonerate Dustin Silver.
Much suspense and a page turner to the end.
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David A. Wiyrick
The Innocent Project
All rights reserved
Copyright ©️ 2022 by David A. Wiyrick
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Published by BooxAi
ISBN: 978-965-578-044-4
The Innocent Project
David A. Wiyrick
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Conclusion
Prologue
Wheatland is the county seat for Canyon County and had initially been created as a small railroad stop at the turn of the century where the trains traveling through would stop to take on water for their thirsty steam engines.
It is mostly desert area with vast scablands and deep canyons created from the ancient Missoula Ice Dam bursts that flooded and carved the region thousands of years ago.
The soil washed from the land scoured by the floods settled in great deposits that provided rich soil nutrients for a variety of crops.
A defunct World War Two Air Force Base sits in the center of this vast region near Moses Lake, WA where the aircraft industry has assumed control over the Base and is valued as a pilot training center for world airlines.
Local residents have been offered a steady job with good pay and benefits, to support the aviation training industry.
Today Wheatland, Washington is the County seat of Canyon County, and has a fair and healthy population of 1,100 citizens from all ethnicities and income levels.
A slow but steady influx of Methamphetamine, Heroin, Fentanyl, Cocaine and illicit Marijuana grow sites brought organized gangs and increased violence and a means for enterprising young men to get rich.
Chapter1
The night was still young when 26 year Ryan Bates laid on his girlfriend’s couch in her home on the northeast part of Wheatland and was bored watching the local news story on TV.
Carlene was his girlfriend that he described as his flavor of the month, and her house was clean and comfortable.
He was living there, freeloading off Carlene’s income from her job at a local fast food joint.
It was about 9:00 P.M. mid week and Ryan thought, “God, I am starting to get sick,” and had the urge to start heaving his guts out and having the shakes from drug withdrawal.
“I’m going out for a while to get something for this fucking withdrawal shit,” and headed for the door.
Carlene didn’t ask where he was going, she was just glad she had a man in her life.
Ryan would strike her with his fists when he was high on meth and she always thought it was her fault because she hadn’t taken care of his wants and needs.
“OK, I will be right here at home and call me if you need a ride home,” she told him.
She knew that he was not headed to a friend’s house, but was going out to get meth from his dealer at a trap house several blocks away as he had done many times before.
She suspected that when he went out late at night he would be breaking into cars and closed businesses and would sell the stolen property he had acquired to supply his drug needs.
At times she had shamefully asked her parents for money to help with her rent and utility bills and survived on groceries from the once weekly open food bank in nearby Soap Lake.
Ryan knew it was the effects of two days of using high amounts of meth and attending a party at a friend’s cabin at nearby Soap Lake in neighboring Grant County.
He was weak and becoming agitated, and his arms were dotted with small red scabs with some sores infected from meth injections.
Tonight, he had no cash to buy meth to quench his fierce addiction and downslide of his body.
Ryan walked to his dealer’s trap house and knocked on the door.
“Who’s there?” came a voice from the other side of the door and the lights were turned off inside the house except for the front porch light.
A face peered out from a small curtained window at the upper part of the door.
“It’s Ryan, man, let me in, it’s cold outside,” he said softly.
Light snow was falling as it had been most of the day and the night temperature was falling to a few degrees below freezing.
The sound of a sliding lock was heard and Ryan stepped in from the cold to a house that was too warm and smelled like cat urine from the meth that was being cut, weighed and packaged on the small kitchen table.
The man at the door commented, “What the hell do you want man?” Jacob Hunt said as he spun Ryan around and checked him for firearms, and for wires that would reveal Ryan was a snitch for the cops.
Ryan had worn wires for the cops before but not tonight, because this deal was for personal use.
A black revolver laid on the kitchen table within easy reach of a second person named Josh that was processing meth on the table.
Ryan was sweating from his drug withdrawal and felt like he was going to throw-up in the dealer’s living room.
He stared hungrily at the bindles of meth and tried to suppress his urge to grab the revolver on the table.
Josh looked up at Ryan and saw the wild look in his eyes.
Josh picked up the revolver and pointed it at Ryan.
“Get the fuck back from this table man, go sit on the couch,” he said.
“I know you are starting to get crazy and you better not try to grab our meth, or I will put a round in the middle of your forehead,” he said menacingly.
Ryan looked into Josh’s unblinking eyes and knew he would die if he tried to take any meth by force or approach Josh.
“Look man, I’m really getting sick and I need a fix to get me by so I can collect some money later tonight.”
“If you’ll front me a bindle of meth tonight, I will have the money tomorrow,” he pleaded.
Ryan pleaded, “Look man, I’ve been a steady longtime customer of you guys and you have fronted me before, and I’ve always paid you back.”
“I’m one of your best customers,” he continued.
Jacob looked at Josh and said, “Give the man a bindle, but Ryan, if you are not back by tomorrow night with the $200.00 for the bindle, I’ll hunt you down and get it from your skin.”
Ryan looked astonished, “Fuck man, this shit is selling for $100.00 a tenth elsewhere, why are you jacking the price up on me?”
“Supply and demand,” said Jacob with a slight smile as he reached over and patted Ryan on the cheek.
You come back tomorrow with the money to buy a full quarter pound and I’ll give you a special deal since you have been a steady customer.
“Now get up and take your bindle and get the fuck out of here, you know I don’t like the neighbors to see steady traffic in and out of this place.”
Ryan got up from the couch and greedily put his hand out as Josh placed the bindle in the palm of his hand.
Jacob looked out onto the street through the door window and not seeing anyone he unlocked the bolt of the door and Ryan stepped outside, hearing the bolt slide back into place.
Ryan walked about half a block down the street and stopped on the sidewalk between street lights.
He placed a small pinch of the powdery substance in a small pipe and lit it up.
“Ahh,” he said as he took a deep drag from the pipe and the hot acrid smoke filled the deepest part of his lungs.
Ryan’s urge to throw-up started to diminish and he started to feel like he could run for miles without tiring.
He was invincible again.
“Now how am I going to get money to pay my drug debt and buy more,” he thought to himself.
“I know a way,” he thought as he reached into his coat pocket for his cheap burner phone.
Chapter2
Juan Garcia
Juan Garcia was 23 years old and a lifelong resident of Canyon County and was born at the local hospital in nearby Moses Lake.
His mother had raised Juan, an older brother and two younger sisters, and worked long and hard hours at a potato warehouse, leaving Juan to take care of his younger siblings during the day at the low income apartment complex where they lived.
His father was just a faded memory and had died in an industrial accident when the tractor his father was driving had rolled over on him.
Juan was bitter towards his older brother Chris who had let his anger get away and he had beat a neighbor with a golf club.
The attack was particularly vicious and the victim was robbed by Chris to support his drug addiction.
When medical response from the local fire department arrived, it was just a few minutes before there was a pounding on the apartment door and Chris was taken away in cuffs by the cops and later sentenced to 6 years in prison.
Chris’s girlfriend Susan Mattern was loyal to him while he was in prison and would often come to his mother’s apartment and spend the night on the living room couch.
She would make frequent trips to Coyote Ridge Prison in Connell, Washington to visit him.
Juan would often hook up with Ryan Bates from the time they were teenagers.
They would scope out homes for burglaries when there was opportunity and were also prolific car prowlers, often hitting as many as 20 cars in one night.
Whenever Ryan and Juan were observed walking through a neighborhood by the police, the officers would be on high alert, knowing there was a good chance that either burglary or car prowling reports would be reported the next day.
The officers assigned to Crime Analysis would monitor and record property type crime locations and actually kept a connected map of known burglars that had been contacted or observed in the area of the related crimes.
Ryan and Juan usually were at the top of the list as suspects.
On a late evening in December Juan had settled into bed with Tiffanie Weeks after smoking marijuana and putting away a couple of longneck beers.
His brother’s girlfriend Susan Mattern was sleeping on the couch in the living room that evening.
Juan was lying on his back and had Tiffanie snuggled onto his left side with her warm breath gently blowing on his neck.
Juan gave a start as he felt the silenced buzz of his cell phone lying beneath his pillow.
Tiffanie stirred and turned away from him with her backside pressing into his side.
“Who is this?” whispered Juan into the phone and was irritated from being disturbed from a comfortable dream like feeling.
“Hey man, it’s me Ryan, let’s go out and boost some cars, I’m tapped out and have to get some money to pay my dealer for the debt I owe. I know of some places in town where the owners leave their cars parked on the street at night and there are not many streetlights. There has been good stuff in their cars in the past,” Ryan spoke quietly over the phone.
“A neighbor that lives on 3rd down the street from my mom’s leaves guns in his pick-up truck,” said Ryan.
“Should be pretty easy to get in his truck and grab any guns he has in there. We can sell the guns or use them to boost the norteno gang pukes from their meth,” he said.
“I know their trap house in Othello gets a large shipment every Thursday from Yakima, Washington. Their source is supposed to be the main man for the area so if we hit them during an early evening there should be a stash of cash and meth. We will have to leave no trace of who we are because the norteno’s source is the Sinaloa Mexican Drug Cartel,” he continued.
“A gun pointed at the norteno's will open the doors for us,” said Juan, relishing the excitement of a takedown robbery.
“I’m with you, let me slip out of here and not disturb Tiffanie and I’ll meet you at the church on Division on the hill in about 10 minutes,” Juan said before hanging up.
Juan quietly got dressed and placed a pair of gloves into his coat pocket.
He had forgotten Susan Mattern was sleeping on the couch in the living room and was startled when he saw her still form lying on the couch with her back to him.
“Oh hell, I hope she doesn’t hear me,” he thought to himself.
He slowly and quietly made his way across the living room to a slider door that was always unlocked.
The door made a low scraping sound as it slid open and he watched Susan’s form and listened to her breathing.
There was no indication the sound of the door slider had disturbed her.
He carefully slid the slider door closed and then walked across the back lawn of the apartment complex and headed towards the park behind the church parking lot to meet Ryan.
The night was just below freezing and a light snow was falling.
The ambient light of the snow on the ground lit up even the shadows of the houses and cars parked on the street.
The sounds of the night were muffled from the snowfall which would lull people to sleep soundly.
As Juan approached the church Ryan stepped out from the porch entrance to the church.
“This is a damn cold night Bro,” quipped Ryan as they met.
“Did you bring the Slim Jim and gloves?” asked Juan.
“I’ve got them right here,” Ryan said as he opened up the small backpack he was carrying.
They had used the slim Jim tool numerous times to insert down beside a car window to the interior door mechanism and unlock the vehicle.
Cars and trucks were starting to be produced more frequently with installed security systems or aftermarket systems, which was a problem they had to consider.
The aftermarket alarm systems would often have a small blue light or red light mounted at the bottom of the interior dashboard which was designed to warn and deter car prowlers that an anti-theft device was installed and active in the vehicle.
“Let’s do our prowls on the S/E side of town, the streetlights are far between and we haven’t hit that section for a long time,” said Ryan.
“Last time we got some good stuff out of the cars, including purses, mostly in plain sight,” Ryan said.
“We can pick up enough stuff and cash to go to Jacob’s trap house and score some meth and get high while we continue to do our thing tonight.”
“Great idea, let’s get to it, I got a woman waiting back at my apartment in a warm bed,” murmured Juan as he shivered from the damp cold.
They started walking along the east rim of town where more affluent homes were located.
There were great views overlooking the town and the brown treeless mountains in the distance.
The night was quiet and they would have ample warning should a cop leave his warm police station and coffee and drive aimlessly around town with the Police cruiser’s studded tires making a loud scratchy sound on the pavement.
As they quietly walked down the street, the first vehicle they spotted was a newer Chevy pick-up that had recently been parked, and the light snow was melting as it struck the metal surface of the warm hood.
“This guy probably came home from a bar since it’s later than 2:00 A.M., so he should be in a dead sleep,” Ryan whispered to Juan.
They approached on the driver’s side and, using a small penlight, looked into the interior of the pick-up truck.
“Don’t see anything other than an open 1/2 case of beer with only a couple cans remaining,” said Ryan.
Juan excitedly whispered, “No, look under the edge of the center console cover, it looks like part of a wallet sticking out.”
Ryan bent down and peered into the interior and when using his small penlight he could also see the object that looked like a man’s wallet.
Pulling the Slim Jim out of the backpack Ryan went around to the side of the pick-up door farthest from the residence.
His practiced hands expertly guided the tool to hook on the bar that controlled the door handle lock.
He pulled on the bar which released the latch of the driver’s door with the sound of a low click of the door release.
He gently pulled the driver’s door open.
The ceiling interior light came on, lighting a small area which afforded a better view of the contents.
He quickly reached up and turned off the interior roof light by pushing the small switch on the side.
Ryan quickly pocketed the wallet in his coat pocket and quickly checked the glove box and interior of the center console.
A small glass jar was located inside the console containing loose change and jewelry.
As quickly as they had entered the pick-up truck, the door of the truck was carefully closed until there was a click of the latch.
They withdrew a short distance from the pick-up and Ryan opened the wallet to examine the contents.
“It’s not very thick so probably not much money,” said Ryan as he pulled the bills out of the wallet and shined the flashlight on the bills.
Juan almost shouted, “Holy shit, those are Benjamins you got there.”
Ryan quickly counted 24 one hundred dollar bills and passed $1,200.00 to Juan as his share.
Ryan threw the wallet down onto the street as they continued quietly walking.
“Let’s stop over by this alley and see what’s in the jar,” said Juan as he looked around at the nearby houses for any activity or lights that were on.
The area was devoid of any activity except for a cat quickly crossing further down the street.
Ryan unscrewed the jar and dumped the contents into Juan’s stocking cap that he had carried in his coat pocket and tossed the empty glass jar onto a lawn.
They both examined the contents from the glass jar which contained what appeared to be loose change, and inexpensive jewelry at first glance.
A small white plastic type ring box from the jar was picked up from Juan’s stocking cap and Ryan opened the box which contained two diamond mounted gold rings.
Juan picked up the rings and turned them around at different angles. “Hmm, that looks like a wedding and engagement ring set so there might be some value there.”
The rest of the contents of the jar contained loose change and Ryan placed the coins into a side pocket of his backpack.
“Doing good so far but let’s go along this street a little further,” said Juan and they quietly started back down the street.
They checked various vehicles further down the street until they came upon a tricked out late model bright red Jeep wrangler 4 door.
Significant expense had been spent on a lift kit with oversized tires and Black Diamond brand wheels.
Ryan started to insert the Slim Jim into the rear passenger window when Juan hissed at him and pointed to the interior where a small blue light was glowing dim on the lower section of the dashboard below the stereo controls.
Juan hissed, “That Jeep is alarmed, let’s get the hell away from it.”
They traveled further down the street and about a block away an older 90’s Buick sedan was parked on the street in front of a house with numerous kid toys partially covered with snow in the front yard.
“Geez, this car looks like a poor baby mama would drive this car,” quipped Ryan as he looked in the window of the unlocked car.
“There’s a cell phone on the passenger seat that might be worth some money,” Ryan said.
They quietly opened the unlocked side doors of the car and shined pen lights under the seats and never found anything except a couple of empty drug bindles and used syringes.
“Careful man,” said Juan, “those syringes could really fuck you up if you get stuck from one of them.”
“Don’t be reaching around in the seat cracks where you can’t see,” said Juan.
“Let’s go, we got enough shit for the night,” said Ryan as he reached over and grabbed the cell phone, then decided to leave it.
Juan responded, “We have money to score some serious meth from Jacob and maybe sell or trade him for a little extra smack.”
They closed the car doors until there was a click and started down the street, keeping away from the streetlights, talking in low tones.
Ryan said to Juan, “Let’s get our meth at Jacob’s now.”
“Then we can go down the street to the dude’s where he keeps his guns in his pick-up truck parked out on the street,” he finished.
John Adams was 26 years old and rented a small one bedroom house in the Northeast blue collar section of Wheatland.
He owned a cabinet and tile business and did installations of his product.
The business was starting to take off.
There were new business buildings and residential structures under construction in Wheatland and surrounding communities.
The larger construction and contractor companies were a distance away in Yakima, Wenatchee or Spokane, so John captured most of the local tile and counter top contracts on construction or remodel projects.
He made a good financial living.
John had hired a full time assistant worker named Greg Walker and his wife Cheyenne to manage his books and finances for his business.
John had suffered through a recent divorce and his ex had married Cam Gentry, a deputy from Canyon County Sheriff’s Office.
John knew there were rumors around that his wife had started an affair with the cop a year before their divorce.
The sudden overnight business trips by his wife confirmed in John’s mind, there was no way their marriage could be repaired.
John read texts on his wife’s I-phone when she would carelessly leave it lying around when she was in the bathroom.
The steamy texts and photos between the Canyon County Deputy and John’s wife convinced him there was no way he wanted to be married to such a cheater.
It wasn’t but a few months after the final divorce decree that John realized there were women interested in him.
He had a relationship with a married woman named Carmin Martinez that wanted nothing more from him than frequent trysts.
They would meet at hotels in Ellensburg or Wenatchee where she picked up the tab and all expenses.
Her husband Ted was tied up managing his trucking transport contracts in the Bakken Oil fields, hauling crude oil or fracking water from the well sites in far away Williston, North Dakota and the nearby Little Shell Indian Reservation.
John had an on again off again relationship with his girlfriend Nancy, who outwardly seemed ok with the knowledge that John was seeing a young woman named Marianne Shutt.
Marianne had recently moved from Oregon with her mother who worked at local hospitals as a traveling nurse.
On several occasions Marianne had left her cell phone on John’s kitchen table while she was distracted outside the house with her son Zachary.
John was always a little suspicious because of his ex-wife’s propensity of sending steamy messages and photos on her cell phone to her lover.
John would read Marianne’s text messages and found Marianne was still in a relationship with her alleged ex boyfriend Dustin Silver.
He had read her romantic text messages she had been sending to Dustin, some with attached nude photos.
“Here we go again,” John said to himself.
John suspected when Marianne would travel to The Dalles, Oregon to visit relatives, she would spend most of her nights with Dustin.
Marianne would sometimes borrow John’s Jeep telling John she was going to visit friends in Yakima but would instead meet with Dustin.
When she really got the urge for an intimate meeting, she would meet with Dustin at motels in the Ellensburg, Washington area.
When John first became suspicious of the extra mileage on his Jeep, he placed a small GPS unit behind the third center tail light of his jeep and would download the device on his laptop to map the location and number of stops the Jeep had made when Marianne returned from her carnal trips.
John actually drove the GPS routes displayed in the GPS unit and on three different occasions was able to follow the trail right to motel parking lots, where the GPS would be stationary for 3-4 hours before starting back to Wheatland.
John had thought about his relationship with her and knew he could not trust Marianne enough to ever consider marriage.
In late December, Marianne had spent a couple of nights at John’s place and left early in the morning.
John’s close friend Nancy came by that evening and shared some wine and talked to John about his relationship with Marianne.
“She’s a lying Bitch and there’s no way I’d marry her,” he growled.
“Fact is, as far as I’m concerned I’m going to break up with Marianne and give her a call tomorrow morning.”
‘Not even going to respect her enough to do it face to face?” asked Nancy.
“Hell no, I’ll do it over the phone,” he replied.
“At least I won’t have to worry about loaning my vehicle to her so she can go and be with her lover,” he sighed.
John lay in bed naked next to Nancy with a beer in his hand while Nancy sipped on a glass of wine while John Lamented over the situation.
“Nancy, let’s spend more fun time together,” he said.
She replied, “You know this is why I like to hang out with you.”
She sat her glass of wine down and rolled over towards him on the bed.
“You are such a great friend with benefits,” she murmured and placed her head on John’s bare chest.
About 11:00 P.M. Nancy reluctantly got out of John’s bed, got dressed and left after one last sensual kiss.
John jumped in the shower and languished from the force of the stream of hot water on his back.
When he got settled back in bed, he phoned Nancy who picked up the phone on the second ring, “Hey babe, I’ve got an early morning workout at The Club and some construction bids to deliver, but can we meet for lunch. Then we can go out target shooting after lunch tomorrow if the weather clears?”
“Sounds like a plan, we’ll have a great time,” Nancy said with an excited tone to her voice.
“Good night, I’ll call you first thing in the morning,” John said.
Chapter3
Ryan and Juan walked the short distance to Jacob’s trap house and tapped on the front door.
The inside lights of the house were extinguished except for the front door porch light.
Josh looked out the small window in the door and recognized Ryan and Juan and slid the lock, then opened the door, looking around for any possible surveillance.
“You guys need to text when you are coming over, I’ve told you the neighbors watch for traffic coming in and out of this house,” growled Josh.
“Come in you guys,” Jacob said and directed his attention to Ryan.
“Are you here to pay off your $200 debt?”Jacob asked.
“Let’s talk about that $200 drug debt I owe from earlier tonight,” Ryan replied, “I want to buy more meth but you have to cut the $200 bill debt back to a hundred.”
“We have a stack of Benjamins and I want to score some decent crap that you haven’t cut,” Ryan said.
“What are you talking?” asked Jacob.
“I want a quarter pound of the uncut stuff and will pay $2,000 and that includes the $200.00 drug debt I owe.”
“Man are you fucking crazy? I can cut that meth down and put it into bindles and make $5 grand,” said Jacob.
“Yeah, but there is a big risk with all the traffic coming to your house to score your stuff,” Ryan continued.
“Just a matter of time till the cops start focusing on you,” said Ryan.
“Tell you what, I’ll throw in a nice gold wedding and engagement ring set with half Carat diamonds in each ring.”
“I even have the receipt from the jewelry store that the rings were wrapped in, where some chump paid $8300 dollars for the set.”
“I’ll let you have the rings for $2,000 and that will be $4,000 I’ll be paying you for the 1/4 lb. of uncut meth,” he offered.
Jacob fingered the rings and scratched the sharp point of the diamond engagement ring against a clear water glass he had retrieved from the kitchen.
A clear scratch was observed on the water glass.
Jacob then pulled a compact microscope out of a nearby dresser drawer and set it up on his table.
“Hold the light from the end table lamp closer,” he said to Josh as he placed the wedding and engagement rings separately under the microscope examination plate.
After peering into the microscope and looking at both rings, he turned them at several different angles before he raised his head.
“The larger diamonds in each ring settings both have micro etched serial numbers on them which means they are of high quality, but the bad news is that they will be harder for me to sell,” he said.
Jacob stepped aside and let Ryan look into the microscope and view the etched serial numbers from both rings.
“You’re right,” he said to Jacob and glanced over to Juan who had a clear frown on his face.
This wasn’t Jacob’s first rodeo so next he placed the rings back on the table and returned the microscope back onto the dresser table.
Jacob got a small gold tester kit containing chemical drops from a kitchen drawer and placed the testing kit on the kitchen table.
Jacob tested the gold content with the chemical process which revealed a high percentage of gold, confirming the gold rings were valuable.
Gold price was high per ounce and the gold in the rings was at least worth $3,000, so Jacob and Josh would make a good profit when they melted the gold jewelry down.
“Ok, you have a deal,” Jacob said.
“Josh, give the man a 1/4 lb. of meth,” said Jacob.
“I would like the 1/4 lb. split into two baggies in equal amounts, one for me and one for Juan,” said Ryan.
Ryan looked across the room where Josh was now standing at the table used to cut and process meth.
Josh had been holding his revolver along his side during the transaction and Ryan hadn’t noticed.
“No need to come any closer to the meth, I’ll give you guys your full amount.”
It took Josh a few minutes to measure the meth and he placed the equal amounts into small plastic baggies and placed them at the corner of his work table.
Ryan quickly counted out ten one hundred dollar bills and Juan did the same and handed the money to Jacob.
Jacob walked across the living room into the kitchen where he picked up the two baggies and walked back to Ryan.
Ryan placed one baggy in his coat pocket and handed the other baggy to Juan.
“Thanks, man,” he smiled at Jacob while patting his coat pocket.
“I might be coming into some more Benjamins next week and maybe I can get another quarter pound from you,” he said.
He thought to himself of how much cash he and Juan could get from a takedown robbery at the norteno’s trap house.
“We’ll talk a deal when you have the cash,” said Jacob.
Jacob glanced out the small window in the front door and looked at the video screen console hardwired to both of the surveillance cameras mounted facing the street and towards the back alley.
It was only then that Jacob slid the bolt lock back and opened the door.
As soon as Ryan and Juan were out the door, it was immediately shut and the clear sound of the locking bolt was heard.
Ryan and Juan gave a hand slap as they walked down the sidewalk.
“What a great night, we got meth to last us for a spell and can double our money,” said Juan.
“On top of that, we have two hundred bucks apiece in our pockets.”
“Let’s head over to the guy’s place where he keeps guns in his pick-up,” said Ryan.
“The fool’s name is John and he drives the blue Chevy Silverado with the black wheels.”
“I got into his truck last summer to score some change and the truck was unlocked, but I never got anything because the guy came out of his house and yelled at me so I walked away.”
They walked across Division Street on 3rd Avenue, past a Mexican market store on the corner that was closed.
It was nearing 6:00 A.M., but the streets were dark and very few lights were on in the neighborhood houses.
The light snow on the ground made it easy to see their surroundings.
Their target house was about three houses past Ryan’s Mother’s house on the same side of the street and the blue Chevy Pick-up was parked directly in front of John Adams’ house.
There was no outside porch light on at the house but the light snow on the ground created an early dawn light.
They walked on the sidewalk past the pick-up and house and noted the curtains were partially open in front.
A male was observed sitting at a small computer desk with his back to the front window and was intently typing on the computer key board.
“Slip across the lawn around the tree in the front yard and go to the Southwest corner of the house,” Ryan directed Juan.
“Watch the guy through the window and give me a whistle if it looks like he is getting ready to leave,” Ryan told Juan.
Ryan watched as Juan crossed over to his position by the window after crossing a corner of the neighbor’s yard located to the South.
Ryan approached the pick-up truck cautiously and stopped directly in front of the driver’s side door.
He could see a partial section of John’s torso and right arm as he sat at the computer table with his back to the street.
Ryan turned and looked at the house directly across from John’s house.
The living room window curtains at that house were open and he saw a dark haired woman sitting at a table facing the street with an overhead kitchen light on that was very bright.
The woman seemed engrossed in reading a book or newspaper and was not looking up.
He thought the woman would likely not be able to observe many details of the surroundings outside her front window because of the bright kitchen lights reflecting back on the interior glass.
To limit his chances of being seen by the woman, Ryan stayed on the driver’s side of the pick-up.
He crouched down by the door and tried the handle.
He pulled on the handle and there was a low audible click as the latch freed from the locking mechanism, and the door opened.
As he opened the pick-up door, the interior ceiling light came on.
Ryan quickly reached up with his gloved hand and pushed the off switch next to the plastic covered interior light.
Ryan swept his hand under the driver’s seat searching for a gun.
He found nothing there and opened the upper center console cover.
Other than fast food napkins, a measuring tape and numerous pens and pencils, there was a cup of loose change in the console and Ryan placed the change into his coat pocket.
He knew there was another storage compartment below the center console.
He closed the upper console lid and tilted the console backward, which allowed access to the compartment beneath.
Ryan was nervous because it was about 6:30 A.M. and people would be stirring and getting ready or leaving for work.
As Ryan lifted up the lid of the lower storage container, he saw what he was looking for.
A metal colored semi-auto handgun with a laser attachment was lying inside with several spare ammunition magazines.
A box of ammunition was lying next to the handgun.
Ryan picked up the two spare magazines and box of ammunition and placed them in his large coat pocket.
He grabbed the 45 caliber semi-auto pistol in his right hand and was holding it when he was backing out of the pick-up instead of placing it in his other coat pocket.
He heard a short whistle from Juan and snapped his head around toward John’s front door.
The front door of the house was standing wide open and Ryan saw the truck owner standing on the porch with a surprised look on his face.
John immediately recognized Ryan and with a scowl yelled, “You again! What the fuck are you doing in my truck.” He stepped off the porch heading towards Ryan while holding his truck key ring in his right hand.
Ryan was in a blind panic and started to run away from the pick-up.
He didn’t look when he raised the stolen pistol over his left shoulder and fired blindly one time in John’s direction.
Ryan heard a loud gasp and saw John standing but slumped over, holding his stomach coughing and stumbling toward his front porch.
He watched as John disappeared inside the house through the front door.
There was a dark color on the back of John’s light colored jacket.
Feeling like a trapped deer caught in the headlights, Ryan turned and ran in a north direction across the front yard and then turned at the corner of the house and ran through the backyard out to the alley.
Ryan ran south down the alley and kept his feet inside the tire tracks of a vehicle that had travelled down the alley.
Ryan heard a whistle and looked behind to see Juan running behind him.
As they exited from the alley, they noticed a man crossing the street from the neighborhood market, holding a paper coffee cup container in each hand. They turned left and ran towards Carlene’s house.
“Hey Juan, I’ll catch you later, head home and change your clothes.”
“What a damn mess you’ve got me in by your screw-up,” Juan said with a dangerous tone of voice.
Juan hoped the guy wasn’t dead or he would spend a long time in prison for just being with Ryan if they were identified.
Ryan had a panic event when he noticed he had dropped his handcuffs from his backpack and wasn’t sure when they had fallen out.
“Damn good thing I was wearing gloves,” he thought.
“I can walk around later and look, but now the neighborhood will be swarming with cops,” he thought.
Juan reached the apartment complex and saw no one walking on the street or any moving cars, but he could hear a cacophony of sirens in the area.
He went to the slider-door of the apartment and found it unlocked as he had left it.
He entered quietly but was breathing heavily and was out of breath.
As he started to cross the living room towards his bedroom, he heard a noise and Susan rolled over on the couch and glanced at him, then shut her eyes and went back to sleep.
He went into the darkened bedroom and his girlfriend Tiffanie Weeks was sleeping on the other side of the mattress with her back to him.
Juan carefully undressed and quietly and smoothly got into bed with her.
She gave a small sigh and nudged her backside into Juan’s groin and belly, gave another contented sigh and continued peacefully sleeping.
Juan’s heart was still racing from the adrenaline surge caused by Ryan’s murder of the guy that morning.
He laid quietly, wondering what the day would bring.
Ryan carefully and quietly opened the front door of Carlene’s house and made his way to the bathroom.
He was startled when Carlene came to the open bathroom door with an angry look on her face.
“Gone all night again,” she said with venom in her voice.
“Which skank were you with tonight?” she said.
“You are scrubbing your face and hands pretty hard, afraid you caught an STD from your Skank?” she challenged.
“Hey, it’s not like that at all, I was doing some gambling till dawn and drinking skunk beer. The goddamn cigar smoke had my lungs all fucked up and my clothes stink,” said Ryan, defensively.
“Who the hell do you think you're telling your tale?” she rasped back at Ryan.
“I know what another woman smells like,” she told him.
“Look Bitch, I don’t have time to argue, I’m jumping in the shower and changing my clothes,” he said.
“I got lots of crap to take care of today,” Ryan blasted back at her.
He stripped off his clothes and threw them on the floor and stepped into a steaming shower.
Carlene picked up his clothes to throw in the laundry and there was an unmistakable odor of another woman on his clothes.
That lying son of a bitch Carlene thought as she started seething again.
Ryan stepped out of the shower and toweled off, then put on a set of fresh clothing, put on his size 12 boots he had been wearing, put on his coat and walked out the front door without saying a word.
Carlene saw that Ryan was holding a piece of dark clothing in his hand and thought it might be his dark t-shirt.
She watched him bend down and reach behind a shrub beside the front door and place an object inside the dark cloth and wrap it up and place the object in his backpack.
“Wonder why he didn’t bring his stash inside the house with him,” she thought.
“It looked like it was more like a metallic object, maybe the shape of a handgun gun,” she mused
“I hate you, Ryan,” she said aloud as she reached for the cigarette roller and placed some quality pot in the roller, and rolled a professional looking joint.
I need to chill out, she thought as she lit the joint up and took a big hit, sucking the smoke deep into her lungs and feeling the expansion of her lungs until she started to cough in spasms.
When the spasms passed she took another deep inhale and the coughing spasms were not as severe.
Another couple of hits and a few minutes later she could care less about Ryan and his whore from the last night.
Chapter4
John Adams
John Adams had gotten up early, about 6:00 A.M., and dressed for the Fitness Gym Center in town where he would do hard workouts with the business owner Rufus Jennings, who had become a close friend.
They were both single and would share their stories of conquest they had with the local women and had no secrets from each other.
John turned on his computer and sat in front of the screen to print out bids to drop off at the local mortgage company later that morning.
“I’m going out to the truck and warm it up, it’s damn cold,” he thought as he grabbed the keys and headed for the door.
While waiting for his pick-up to warm up, he would go back inside to his warm kitchen and have a glass of protein drink and a protein bar to fuel his body as part of his hard core exercise regime.
As John stepped onto the front porch he saw movement by his truck and easily spotted Ryan crouched by his truck door.
He yelled at Ryan and stepped off his front porch.
He heard a loud blast and immediately felt a hard impact and numbing in his left chest area and felt like the breath had been knocked from him.
He turned and stumbled into his house and bumped into the computer table trying to reach his cell phone that was lying on the computer table, knocking it off onto the floor where it slid from sight.
He was gasping and fell face forward on the kitchen floor and knew he was going to die on the floor.
He lowered his head and the last of his lifeblood pumped from his body.
Chapter5
Bonnie Crawfoot
Bonnie Crawfoot was a woman in her late 60’s and was hard as leather from her hard life working on her fruit and vegetable 10 acre farm located just outside of the town of Wilson Creek, Washington
She sold her farm products to the local schools for the student lunch programs.
She used the fruits and berries from her farm to make delicious scones and pastries that she sold to the local coffee shops.
At 4:00 A.M. each morning she would do her baking and read the local daily newspaper at her kitchen table while her goods baked, before heading out to deliver her baked goods.
The large window in her living room gave her a great view of the street in front of her house and she felt secure enough in her neighborhood that she never closed the drapes.
Bonnie’s home was across the street from John Adams house.
About 6:30 A.M. she was sitting in her usual spot at the kitchen table reading her newspaper, when she heard a loud gunshot or fireworks.
She saw a male subject in the front yard of the house across the street and there was a flurry of activity near him.
She recognized John Adams in his workout clothing and light jacket shuffling on the sidewalk towards his front porch and observed him stumble inside the house, with the door shutting behind him.
She noted how light it was outside, almost like the turning of dawn, but it was actually a combination of light from the snow covering the ground and the approaching dawn.
Bonnie was on the alert, knowing something bad may have happened to John so she picked up her phone and telephoned his phone number.
There was no response and the phone ring changed to voicemail.
Bonnie put on her coat and boots and walked quickly across the road to John’s front porch and stood on the front steps.
She knocked on the wooden front door with no response from inside.
“Oh Lord,” she thought as she walked back across the street into her home and dialed 911.
“911, what’s your emergency?” said the Communications Officer on the end of the phone.
“I live at 173 N 3rd and I think I saw my neighbor directly across the street possibly get shot and stumble into his house, his name is John Adams.” she gasped out.
The Dispatcher asked, “Did you see anyone else or a car in the area?”
“When I heard a gunshot I saw a flurry of activity in the front yard and I think it could have been John’s son Devin and someone else but can’t give much of a description. I thought at first it was John and Devin shooting off fireworks in the front yard. I tried phoning John but there was no answer so I walked over to his house and knocked on the door and no one came to the door. I didn’t hear any voices from inside and I’m also worried about Devin, his son.” she finished
“Ma’am, we have units coming and the officers will be there in just a few minutes. Keep an eye out and if you see anything else suspicious, call back,” said the 911 Operator.
Bonnie kept her heavy winter coat on and stepped out of her house and stood on the sidewalk across the street from John’s house.
As she made her way to the sidewalk in front of her house, a car approached and turned into her neighbor’s driveway.
“Oh, no,” she thought, “that’s John’s younger sister Olive who lives next door.”
She knew Olive had just arrived home after spending the night with her boyfriend.
It was a regular pattern.
“What’s going on?” Olive asked as Bonnie walked up to Olive as she was getting out of her car.
“I think something happened to your brother,” she said to Olive.
“I heard a gunshot and saw John stumble into the house,” she explained breathlessly.
“I called 911 a couple of minutes ago and the 911 Operator said the cops are on their way.”
They both turned to the sound of studded snow tires on the street approaching them.
They saw three clearly marked Wheatland Police cars with their lights off creeping down the street and they came to a stop on the east side of the street about two houses south of John’s residence.
Bonnie and Olive crossed the street and walked towards the three dark clad uniformed officers approaching down the sidewalk.
“That’s the house there,” Bonnie explained to the officers and pointed to John’s house.
She told the officers the details of what she had earlier heard and observed.
Sgt. Joe Harmon travelled close to the front of the neighboring houses as he approached John’s house.
He set up his position on the S/W corner of John’s house.
Cpl. Quinn Baker and Officer Jack Bellows approached at an angle across the lawn.
Cpl. Baker knocked on the front door and stepped to the left as an officer safety procedure while Officer Bellows peered in the window on the south side of the front door.
Officer Bellows whispered excitedly, “Quinn, we got a male subject lying face down on the floor in the kitchen.”
Both Officers had drawn their handguns.
“Let’s go in,” Bellows whispered and turned the front door knob and discovered the door was unlocked, making a forced entry unnecessary.
Baker was first to enter the residence and turned to the right making a sweep of the kitchen and living room area for a possible suspect still on scene.
He reached down and felt for a pulse on John’s neck as he continued keeping his handgun in his other hand.
Officer Bellows brushed past Corporal Baker and began a search of the interior of the residence.
Satisfied there was no one in the residence, Officer Bellows returned to the living room where Cpl. Baker was contacting the 911 Center calling for fire and medical response and provided the limited information that the male victim had a gunshot wound and was possibly DOA.
Bonnie and Olive had followed the officers and had stood outside on the front porch until they saw through the open doorway the man lying on the kitchen floor was Olive’s brother, John.
They stepped into the living room and Olive Adams began moaning softly and started to sink to the floor with her eyes rolling back. Officer Bellows stepped over and grasped Olive under the arm to keep her from falling as her eyes opened up.
“Devin,” screamed Bonnie because she thought it was Devin that she had observed outside the house with John at the time of the fatal shot.
Officer Bellows said, “There is no one else in the house, Devin is not here.”
“Both of you have to leave, this is a crime scene,” he said.
“Bonnie, can you take Olive to your house and we’ll come over and speak to both of you after we have the scene secure and the medical crew can examine Olive’s brother,” he continued.
“He is deceased, possibly from a gunshot wound,” Cpl. Baker said in a soft tone.
Bonnie held her arm around Olive’s waist to support her as they walked back across the street to Bonnie’s house.
“Oh Gawd, I have to tell my Family,” Olive sobbed as she sat at Bonnies kitchen table.
Bonnie handed Olive her phone and went into the living room to allow privacy so Olive could tell her family the horrible news.
Olive notified her shocked parents and after sobbing at both ends of the telephone line a plan was made to notify other friends and family members.
Olive knew John’s girlfriend Marianne Shutt should be notified as soon as possible before she heard of John’s murder on the news.
She telephoned Marianne Shutt’s phone number and after 6 or 7 rings a female answered the phone.
Olive was sobbing and Marianne’s mother Terri had answered and identified herself when she answered the phone.
Olive proceeded to tell her the horrific news and asked if she would tell Marianne of the death of John.
Marianne was sleeping heavily in the upstairs bedroom, but when she heard steps coming up the stairs, she rolled over on the bed and was facing the door when her mother stepped in.
Terri sat at the edge of the bed and gently rubbed Marianne’s shoulder.
“Honey,” she said in a soft voice, “I’ve got some bad news that’s going to hurt.”
Marianne was fully alert now and sat up in the bed.
Terri told her, “Something bad happened at John’s house this morning and he was shot and killed. The Police don’t know what happened or who killed John but they know it wasn’t suicide.”
“OMG,” said Marianne, breaking into deep, uncontrollable sobs and having difficulty catching her breath.
She sat on the bed sobbing and holding her face in her hands.
After about a half hour she stood up and looked at her mother, who had been sitting by her side comforting her.
“I’ve got to go there and find out what happened, I will go to Olive’s house where the rest of John’s family are gathered,” she said.
In the back of her mind she wondered if Dustin Silver might have something to do with the murder.
Driving from her home on the way to Wheatland, Marianne picked up her cellphone and dialed up Dustin.
“Hello,” Dustin cheerfully answered the phone.
“Where are you?” shouted Marianne.
“That’s a weird question, where are you?” he replied.
“Somebody just shot John and I want to know where you are this morning.”
“I’m in Oregon and headed up to pick up some car engines,” he replied.
“Are you accusing me of shooting John? Is he alive?” quipped Dustin.
“I’ve never ever threatened the guy and it was you that was always trying to make me jealous of John and you know it,” Dustin angrily told Marianne.
“I don’t know what I’m thinking, but if you are responsible, I will come to The Dalles and kill you, and yes, John is dead,” she spat out.
“I know that you have never threatened John, but I had to ask you so I would have peace of mind,” she said.
“You are crazy, Marianne,” Dustin shouted into the phone and hung up.
Nancy Williams had also received a call from Olive at her home and was in far worse emotional condition than Marianne.
Nancy was alone and she slid down the kitchen wall, dropping her phone without hanging up, and stumbled to her living room sofa where she lay on her side, sobbing uncontrollably.
She thought she was having a horrible nightmare and didn’t know when the nightmare would end.
There was a knock on her front door which stirred her.
As she made her way to the door the knocks became incessant.
She opened the door to find her neighbor Allison Brooks telling her there had been a murder on the street where her friend John lived.
Nancy told Allison that Olive had already phoned her and John Adams was dead.
Nancy broke into tears as Allison came into the house and they sat together and hugged as Nancy sobbed onto Allison’s shoulder.
Wheatland Officer Jack Bellows, Sgt. Joe Harmon and Cpl. Quinn Baker were the three officers present when the local fire department EMT’s rolled up, followed shortly by the local ambulance service vehicle.
Baker opened the front door and waved to the fire EMTs and the local ambulance crew.
Oh shit, he said to himself as the fire EMT team cut across the front lawn, contaminating the potential crime area where evidence might be located.
He yelled at the ambulance crew to stay on the sidewalk and come directly to the front door and enter.
The EMT fire team walked across the living room to the kitchen.
EMT Scott Zanger reached down and felt for a pulse of John, who was lying facedown.
“Come on, Burel,” Scott Zanger said to his partner, “we have to place the patient on his back to attach an EKG for signs of life.”
At this time, the ambulance crew had arrived and entered the kitchen.
They had brought their portable defibrillator into the room and almost immediately began placing EKG pads on John’s chest and sides after he had been placed on his back.
The ambulance EMT attendant Tom Ford had attached the electrodes and made sure all the connections were secure.
The machine gave a low hum and began scrolling out data on the portable EKG Machine that was wirelessly transmitted to the Wheatland Basin Hospital Emergency Room where an E.R. Doctor could view the screen in real time.
His partner Jonas Patron slowly shook his head side by side and replied, “No sign of life.”
They noted the bullet hole and expansion of the entry wound where the body had swelled up directly around the entrance.
Basin Hospital ER doctor James Riggs watched the EKG printout on the hospital monitor.
Dr. Riggs directed the ER nurse to notify Jonas Patron on the portable radio that the EKG reading did confirm the victim was deceased.
“Thanks for responding,” Cpl. Baker told the EMT fire crew and ambulance attendants.
“I think there’s not much you guys can do further, so when you leave the scene, be sure and leave down the front sidewalk and into the street where you can get to your vehicles,” continued Cpl. Baker.
Tom Ford and Jonas Patron detached the EKG electrodes from John’s lifeless chest and packed up their equipment and left through the front door.
“Please complete your incident reports and send over to the Wheatland Police Investigative Division,” Cpl. Baker instructed.
