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Overview
The law firm of Turner & Waters has a new associate. Jodie Waters has finally worked her way up from Stan's secretary to become a full-fledged attorney. Having great confidence in her abilities, Stan asks her to help him in the investigation of a wrongful death case. A worker in a local sweatshop has died and his family wants the owner, Icaro Melendez to pay for the crime. The problem is the Dallas Police and the FBI have closed out the case for lack of evidence. It seems like a hopeless case, but Stan reluctantly agrees to have Jodie look into it. Jodie, excited to have her first case, boldly launches into an investigation and soon finds herself working undercover as the girlfriend of one of Icaro Melendez' sons. While Jodie and Stan are busy with the Melendez case Paula Waters takes on the defense of a young mother accused of stabbing her husband to death with an ice pick. Paula is ecstatic to get such a high-profile case until she finds out her client is broke and this isn't the first time one of Maureen Thompson's husband has been bludgeoned to death with an ice pick. She learns that her client, dubbed "the Ice Pick Widow" by the media, survived her first murder trial due to a hung jury but wonders if she'll be so lucky this time around.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781929976874 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Top Publications, Ltd. |
| Publication date: | 11/15/2018 |
| Series: | Stan Turner Mysteries , #10 |
| Pages: | 376 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d) |
About the Author
William Manchee grew up in Ventura, California in the 60s. After obtaining his BA from UCLA in 1965 he and his family moved to Texas in 1970 where Manchee attended law school at SMU. He began his legal career in Dallas as a sole practitioner in 1976 and currently practices with his son Jim. A resident of Plano, Texas he and his wife Janet have been married nearly 40 years and raised four children. Inspired by twenty years of true life experiences as an attorney, Manchee discovered his passion for writing in 1995.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Renegade Son
Jodie Marshall had a unique perspective on the law in that she'd seen it from every angle — as a client, a legal secretary, an investigator, and finally as an attorney. After high school she'd been looking for a job and ran across Stan's ad for a secretary. Stan couldn't afford a seasoned legal secretary, so he opted to hire someone green and train them. Jodie liked the idea of working for an attorney because it would look good on her resume and she'd learn a lot about the law. Before seeing the ad, she hadn't had any particular interest in the law, but as time went on her interest grew.
Shortly before going to work for Stan, Jodie's brother was arrested for DWI and Jodie had helped him through the ordeal. From this experience she learned what it was like to be a client, and the experience made her sensitive to the needs of Stan's clients. She'd often remind Stan of the importance of frequent communication with clients to keep them informed and to relieve their anxieties.
As time went by Stan grew to appreciate Jodie's talents and abilities. He had encouraged her to go to college and allowed her to adjust her hours to fit her academic schedule. After a while she was doing more than secretarial work. Stan noticed she was good with people so he gave her some assignments that normally would have gone to the firm's private investigator. Jodie did so well at this Stan hired a new secretary, so Jodie would have more time to do investigations and paralegal work. When she graduated from college Stan suggested she might want to go to law school. By that time she was very passionate about the law and jumped at the opportunity.
Since she had only recently passed the bar, she hadn't been given her own case yet. She hoped the Romildo Alvarez case might be her first. After their meeting with the family on Monday, Jodie went to the factory owned by Icaro Melendez. She didn't plan on talking to anybody, but just wanted to see the place and get the lay of the land. She wanted to have a mental picture of the plant and Mr. Melendez when she was talking to the family and working on the case.
She stood across the street from the plant, wearing old jeans and a T-shirt rather than her usual business attire. She wasn't sure how she'd get in until she saw a UPS delivery truck drive up. Jodie was disarmingly pretty, so men usually were a little mesmerized when they first met her. Seeing this as an opportunity she walked quickly across the street and intercepted the driver.
"Who's that for?" she asked.
The driver smiled broadly when he saw her and eagerly responded. "Mr. Melendez."
"I'll take it," Jodie said, extending her hands to take the package.
The driver handed her the package without hesitation. Jodie signed for it and then walked into Alliance Fabrications as if she owned the place. A clerk looked up and Jodie smiled at her.
Jodie knew that if she acted like she was just doing her job she'd probably be ignored. She moved quickly, not giving anyone time to question her.
"This is for Mr. Melendez. Is he around?"
The girl nodded and pointed to a doorway. Jodie strolled over to it and stepped inside the big manufacturing facility. It was a good-size workplace — much bigger than she'd expected. She looked around and saw the executive offices to her left but went to the right and walked casually through the busy plant. She noticed the fabrication equipment was old and many machines sat idle in disrepair. There was trash and clutter everywhere, water dripped into buckets from leaks in the roof, and the place smelled of oil and mildew. Hundreds of workers labored at various work stations and along conveyor belts. From the plant she went out into the yard and looked around until someone stopped her.
"Who are you?" a young Hispanic man in his late twenties asked.
"Oh, I've got a package for Mr. Melendez. Have you seen him?"
"He should be in his office."
"Where's that?" Jodie asked.
"I'll show you," the man said and escorted Jodie back into the plant and took her to the executive offices. He pointed to an office where a tough-looking man sat behind a cluttered desk. He had long black hair, a scar running down his left cheek, and a scowl on his face that gave Jodie a chill. She stared at him for a moment wondering if he was a murderer.
"That's Mr. Melendez," the man advised.
"Oh, very good," Jodie said and handed the package to the man. "Would you give this to him? He looks busy and I'm running late."
"Sure, but I didn't get your name. I'm Ricardo."
"Oh, he doesn't know me. I was out front and the UPS guy just stuck the package in my face and asked me to give it to Mr. Melendez."
"I see. What were you doing in front of the building?"
"Oh, I was meeting someone. I'd been promised a drink."
Ricardo's eyes widened. "Who?"
"Oh, well I just met him yesterday. His name is Ganix."
"Ganix? You don't want to go out with him. He's just a line worker. Why don't you let me take you out for that drink? I'm the boss's son."
"Mr. Melendez is your father?"
"Yes. I'm his youngest son. I just stopped by to get a check for next month's tuition. I'm in college at the University of Dallas."
Jodie's spirits rose as she perceived a great opportunity to get some inside information on Icaro Melendez and Alliance Fabrications. She pondered the obvious danger in a liaison with Icaro's son. It certainly wasn't the low profile Stan had suggested would be appropriate, but it was just too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Well, okay. Ganix hasn't shown up yet, so I guess it's his loss, right?"
"Absolutely," Ricardo said excitedly. "Don't worry about him. He has no business going out with a woman like you."
Jodie giggled shyly.
"Oh. I still don't know your name."
"Ah, it's Jodie."
"Well, Jodie. I've got to take care of my business with my father. How about I meet you at Fridays on Greenville Avenue for happy hour. It starts at five. Then I'll buy you dinner."
Jodie nodded. "Sounds good. I'll see you at Fridays," she said and made a quick exit. Once she was in her car and driving back to the office she thought about Ricardo and wondered if he knew what went on at his father's plant. She thought about what she had seen there. The place was pretty much how Pandora Alvarez had described it. It was obvious Mr. Melendez was interested more in profit than employee satisfaction or safety. She couldn't imagine having to work in a place like that. The very thought of it gave her gooseflesh.
Late that afternoon Jodie dropped by her apartment to get ready for her date. She wanted to be as disarming as possible so Ricardo would open up to her. After taking a shower, taking pains to make sure her makeup was perfect, and fixing her hair, she picked out a short dress that she knew would be quite distracting. When she was satisfied with her appearance she drove to Fridays, arriving just a little late, so as not to appear anxious. She spotted Ricardo sitting nervously at the bar. He jumped up when he saw her coming.
"There you are. I was afraid you wouldn't come," Ricardo said.
"Why would a girl pass up free drinks and your charming company for the evening?" Jodie asked playfully.
"I don't know. It was just so unexpected meeting you at my father's office. After you left I started thinking you might have agreed to having a drink just to get rid of me. I'm naturally paranoid — something I inherited from my father, I'm afraid. But I glad you're here. What can I get you?"
"Gin and tonic, please."
Ricardo caught the bartender's attention and ordered a gin and tonic for Jodie and a rum and Coke for himself. Then he turned back and smiled at Jodie.
"Meeting someone like you the way I did at my father's sweatshop just seems so ... so ... surreal. I half expected to wake up and discover I'd been dreaming."
"Sweatshop?" Jodie repeated. "Do I detect a note of disapproval?"
"You could say that. I'm the maverick in the family if you hadn't already guessed."
"Yes. I was wondering about that."
Ricardo took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "My father is very disappointed that I haven't embraced the family business. Luckily, not so disappointed that's he's cut me off. I think he still has delusions that someday I'll come around. The prodigal son, you know?"
"Right. So, your brothers work in the business?"
"Yes. My eldest brother Rudy is the plant manager and my brother Helio is a salesman."
"What do you make at your plant?"
"Mobile home parts. We supply two major manufacturers."
"Hmm. How many employees do you have?"
"Around a hundred or so. My father doesn't believe in automation, not when you can hire illegal aliens so cheaply."
"Oh, really. I didn't know it was that easy."
"Yes. The illegals are everywhere. If you put out the word that you've got one job twenty-five will show up wanting it."
"So, you don't approve of that?" Jodie asked.
"Not particularly, but I don't want to talk about my father. Tell me something about you."
Jodie looked at Ricardo and wondered if she should lie. If she did it could come back to haunt her later if a wrongful death suit were filed. She decided not to lie, but that didn't mean she had to tell him everything.
"Hmm. Well. I just passed the bar exam after ten years."
"Really? You're an attorney?"
"Barely. I've just been working for a few months. It took me ten years to get through school and pass the bar. I had to work my way through school."
"Wow! That's impressive."
"So, if you don't want to work at your father's plant, what do you want to do?"
"Actually, I'm studying to be an architect or a construction engineer. I've always been fascinated with building things — roads, bridges, buildings."
Jodie and Ricardo continued to talk for another hour or so and then they had dinner. Jodie didn't press for more information about Alliance Fabrications for fear of blowing her cover. She decided it might take a few more dates to get the information she needed from Ricardo without making him suspicious. She liked Ricardo so she didn't mind spending some time with him. She felt a little guilty about deceiving him, but if that's what it took to bring a murderer to justice, she reasoned, she had no choice but to do it.
The next day Jodie met with Nehemias Alvarez, the eldest son of the family, and his brother Ganix. She wondered if Ricardo would say anything to Ganix about her. She decided she had better tell him what she'd done so he wouldn't act surprised if Ricardo said something. Nehemias was a tall, slender, quiet man who, according to Jodie's notes, was twenty-six years old. He wore jeans, a T-shirt, and brown work shoes. Twenty-two-year-old Ganix looked a lot like his brother but was shorter and had a mustache.
"Thanks for coming by," Jodie said.
"No problem. Thank you for taking our case," Nehemias said.
"Well, we're just looking into it for now. It's not going to be easy proving Mr. Melendez murdered your father."
"I know. What can I do to help you prove it?"
"I don't know yet. How long have you two worked at Alliance Fabrications?"
"Since we were twelve years old," Nehemias replied.
"Twelve years old?" Jodie said. "That's not legal, is it? How did Mr. Melendez get around the law?"
"We weren't on the books as employees. The company provides day care for its workers, except the children don't play games, they work."
"Oh, my God! How do they get away with that?"
"Most of the employees are illegal. If they complain they're threatened with deportation. If that doesn't work Mr. Melendez has some men who will keep them in line."
"Why didn't you just quit and find employment elsewhere?"
"Mr. Melendez doesn't allow employees to quit," Nehemias replied.
"What! You've got to be kidding," Jodie said incredulously.
"No. There's no turnover at Alliance Fabrications. As Mr. Melendez likes to tell us, it's the job of a lifetime."
"It sounds like slavery to me," Jodie said.
Nehemias shrugged. "That's what got my father in trouble. He told them he was tired of being their slave and he was going to report them to the Labor Department."
"Hmm. Did they pay you when you started working there at age twelve?"
"Yes, we were paid half the rate as our parents."
"What were your parents paid?"
"Minimum wage."
"How many hours did you have to work?"
"Sixty hours. Ten hours per day, six days a week," Nehemias replied.
"I don't suppose they paid overtime."
Nehemias laughed. "No. Mr. Melendez said we were lucky to be able to work that many hours and shouldn't complain. He said since we were illegal the labor laws didn't apply to us."
"Really? And nobody was in a position to dispute his claim, I suppose."
"No. It would have been too dangerous."
"Do you know the names of the men who Mr. Melendez uses for muscle?"
"You mean the supervisors?"
"Is that what he calls them?"
"Yes. There's Adair Aguirre, Ben Zepeda, and Guido Quesada."
"Have you ever seen them harm an employee?"
"No. They grab you before or after work and take you to a secluded place. There's never any witnesses."
"How do you know this?"
"I've talked to workers after they've been 'reprimanded,' as Mr. Melendez calls it."
"Have you ever been reprimanded?"
"Just once after my father went to the Labor Board."
"What did they do to you?" Jodie asked.
"They roughed me up a bit and then told me that I better keep my father in line or they'd terminate his employment," Nehemias replied.
"Hmm. And since it was a lifetime job, you took that to mean they'd kill them."
"Exactly. And they made good on their threat when he filed his complaint with the Department of Labor."
"Listen," Jodie said. "I went by the plant yesterday just to check it out and I ran into Ricardo Melendez. He asked me why I was there, so I had to make something up."
"Really?" Nehemias said. "What did you tell him?"
"I told him Ganix had promised to take me for a drink."
Ganix looked up in surprise. Jodie smiled. "So, Ganix. If he says anything just go along with it, okay?"
"Sure," Ganix said. "Would you like me to actually buy you a drink?"
"No. It was just the first thing that came to mind. You're a client, so I couldn't go out on a date with you, but Ricardo doesn't know you're my client."
"Okay," Ganix said with a hint of disappointment.
After they'd gone Jodie considered everything she'd learned so far about Alliance Fabrications and Mr. Icaro Melendez. She hadn't realized slavery still existed in America, but now she knew it did and she realized there were probably many other employers just like Alliance Fabrications all over the country. She wondered what her next move should be. After giving it some thought, she decided to go to the courthouse and check the criminal courts' database and see if there were any lawsuits pending against the company.
She checked not only Mr. Melendez's record but also his muscle, Adair Aguirre, Ben Zepeda, and Guido Quesada. There was nothing on Melendez in the criminal records but his three supervisors each had a long list of complaints from burglary to assault and battery. Remarkably, though, nothing had stuck and the three had never gone to jail.
When Jodie checked the civil database a few minutes later she found several lawsuits against the company for breach of contract, unpaid debts, and back sales taxes. After she printed out as much on the cases as she could, she took the material and went back to the office to sort through it. When she was done she took it to Stan and gave him a report of her progress.
Stan laughed. "You just took a tour of the plant on your own?" Stan asked.
"Sure. Why not? The place was so busy nobody paid much attention to me."
"Hmm. So, did you see Mr. Melendez?"
"Yes, from a distance. He looks like a tough hombre. We're going to have to be very careful not to stir him up."
"Well, we'll keep a low profile for now and hopefully get the police or the FBI to do the stirring."
"So, I'm going to meet with Pandora and her daughters tomorrow. After that what should I do?"
"I'll contact a detective friend with the Dallas Police Department. Maybe he can tell us why there was no criminal prosecution. In the meantime you can get an application for appointment of Pandora Alvarez as executrix of the estate."
Jodie nodded and went back to her office. It didn't take her long to put the probate application together. She had done dozens of similar applications for Stan's clients in the past. When she was done, she wondered if there was anything else she could do before meeting with Mrs. Alvarez and her daughters the next day. It occurred to her there might have been a newspaper story on Romildo's death, so she stopped by the Richardson Library after lunch.
She found a small article buried deep in the Dallas Morning News.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Deadly Defiance"
by .
Copyright © 2011 William Manchee Smashwords eBook Edition.
Excerpted by permission of Top Publications, Ltd..
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Table of Contents
Contents
- Rollerblades ..................1
- Renegade Son .............13
- Ice Pick Widow .............25
- Ad Litem .......................37
- The Tape ......................49
- Posting Bond ................57
- Unresponsive ...............65
- Old Flame ....................81
- Dangerous Litigation ....89
- The Warning .................99
- Remorse .....................109
- Blown Cover ................121
- The Note ......................127
- Getting Paid .................137
- Leverage ......................147
- A New Strategy ............159
- Loan Shark ...................171
- Stakeout .......................179
- Worlds' Worst Patient ...191
- Enforcers ......................199
- First Arrest ....................207
- Default Judgment .........219
- The Sting ......................229
- Eye Witness .................241
- The Arrest .....................249
- Making the Connection .261
- Bar Hopping ..................269
- Specialists .....................279
- Opening Statement .......283
- Confrontation ................295
- Obstruction of Justice ....303
- Overwhelming Evidence 313
- Bad Dream .....................323
- Closing Arguments .........331
- Diagnosis .......................353
- Unknown Heir ................359