Joe would be more carful next time. He didn’t know that he was on the precipice of another possible love affair at the moment.

After thirty-five minutes Charlene arrived at the airport. She climbed out of the car after the driver opened her door. She tipped him him as a man came for her luggage and her with a trolley.

I’m on Qatar Airlines, flight 21, do you have any idea which gate I need to go to?”

“No miss, but let’s get inside and I’ll find out for you.

They ambled into the cavernous airport and found a sign with flights listed on it.

The thin man looked up at the flight board. “Looks like gate fifteen is the one you need miss.”

“Thanks, you’ve been a great help.” She pressed five dollars into the man’s boney hand and walked away with the luggage cart trailing behind her.

The porter saw the five dollar bill and was thrilled. A buck tip was a great tip these days and she had given him five. He would have to tell his work buddies about that.

Chapter Nineteen

Detective Spencer was seated at his desk looking over the Williams file. It was a thick one. The lights were still flickering in his office ceiling. He was wondering if the “powers that be,” would ever get them fixed. The unions had a great deal of sway in the city and they used it wisely.

A tall man walked in. He was tall and lean but muscular.

“Hey boss, Chad and his wife have arrived at La Guardia. What’s our next move?”

Richard Ames had been married for ten years and had a small daughter. He had gone to Columbia University on a wrestling scholarship. His right ear told the story clearly enough if anyone cared to notice. It had been damaged often during years of wrestling.

He worked hard at his studies and did very well. He graduated in the top ten percent of his class. His wife was now a stay at home wife and mother. He boss looked up at him and smiled.

“I alerted Interpol with a telegram to their headquarters in London and Kigali, Rwanda after you left last night. I ended having a long chat with the Chief of Detectives in Kigali, about our situation here.

I was here until 1:45 am. He’s on board with help of any type we might ask for. We have a good plan put together, I think. He has a large force of men at his disposal. Some of whom might be willing to go on safari with Chad to keep an eye on them. It will be almost a vacation for them as it turns out.”

“Aren’t we gonna arrest Chad Williams and his wife before they leave?”

“No, we know where they are going and when they’ll be back, so why bother. It just gives us an opportunity to question those close to him without worry that he will reach out to them. It will be be very difficult to contact anyone, once he’s out on safari.”

“I see sir. Too bad we can’t just grab him now and get it over with.”

“We could but this honeymoon of his will give us more time to get our ducks in a row. This is a complicated case and we need to get it right the first time.

“I guess you’re right Lieutenant Spencer, but this has been a long investigation and the guys are looking forward to a few arrests.”

“All of us are Richard, but it has to be done right to make it stick. There are hundreds of victims and millions of dollars at stake. We might get some of the spoils back if we do this thing, correctly. These victims deserve to get some of their money back if possible.”

The phone rang and Lieutenant Spencer picked it up.

“Hello. Yes, I know. Yes, that’s what we wanted. Yes, thanks so much.”

Spencer looked up from his desk and into the eyes of Richard Ames.

“Chad’s brother took the bait. His attorney has just called the office. He wants to come down for an informal meeting to discuss some things.”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

So, here is another little tidbit.

Things are about to get more interesting.

I don’t like to rush into things to quickly. It may be a fault, but that’s just the way I tell a story.