Sedona Law 6 by Dave Daren (best non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📗

smiled and held out her hand. “I’ve heard so much about you. Good to finally meet you.”

“Good to meet you too,” I said and shook her hand.

“Hi, Ana,” Vicki shook her hand. “Thanks for sharing AJ with us. We love her to death.”

AJ unwrapped the breakfast sandwich, and rolled her eyes.

“Oh,” she said. “She loves you guys, and this must be that diamond I’ve heard so much about. Let me see. Let me see.”

Vicki laughed and showed her the ring.

“That is huge,” Ana gushed. “Look at this honey.”

AJ took a bite of her sandwich and just nodded.

“Wow,” Ana said. “It’s so big. So it was a family ring, right?”

She turned to me for confirmation and I was surprised she knew that much. What else had AJ told her?

“Yeah,” I said. “My great grandmother was a British aristocrat.”

“Well it’s just lovely,” she said.

“Well the wedding’s in April,” Vicki told her. “We’d love it if you came.”

She turned to AJ who stood and put on a fake smile.

“We’d love to,” Ana said and she wrapped her arm around AJ. “We’ll have to find something to wear to a sophisticated L.A. wedding.”

“Well,” Vicki said. “We’re probably going to have it here in town. So, it will be Sedona style.”

“Sedona style,” Ana smiled. “I like that. I’ll wear my cowboy boots.”

“Sure,” Vicki smiled.

“Mom, no,” AJ protested. “You have dress clothes. She has dress clothes. Don’t encourage this.”

Vicki and I laughed and AJ looked like she wanted to throw up.

Eh, suck it up, kid. Your parents will embarrass you for the rest of your life and you’re just going to have to get over it. Eventually, it won’t bother you anymore. Or so I was told.

“Well,” Ana said. “We can’t thank you enough for what you’re doing for Tony.”

“Oh, it’s our pleasure,” I replied.

“He’s just such a lost soul,” Ana said. “He just needs someone to put him on the right path. I think putting him with that Wright Way Construction is a great thing. They have people that have been where he’s been that can talk to him. Help him turn his life around. He needs someone like that.”

“We’re glad we could help,” I told her. “He seems like he’s a good guy.”

“He is,” Ana replied vehemently. “He’s got a good heart. He just fell in with the wrong crowd early on.”

I wasn’t much for the wrong crowd argument. I thought it was a cop out. I believed people were responsible for their own choices, independent of their peers. But then again, I came from a stable, loving, home with both biological parents, and a wealthy grandmother to pay for college. What did I know about the school of hard knocks?

“You’re here to see Tony?” Bernice the officer usually on desk duty asked us.

“Yeah,” I turned around. It was good to see her back at the desk. It was normal that way. “You’re back on desk, huh?”

“Well, federal’s got things running pretty tight,” she said. “But they stopped taking over, so that’s good. Sign in please.”

I shrugged and we signed in. Given my experiences with SPD, I wondered if a federal takeover of SPD wouldn’t be that bad of an idea.

“Tony’s in the interrogation room,” she said. “They’re waiting for you to start.”

“Can we come?” Ana asked us.

“No,” I said. “It’s got to be just him. Friends and family members in the room can cause the witness to omit things or change details. So, they don’t like anyone else in the room. We’ll let you know how it went as soon as it’s done. And then we’ll try to get you in there to see him as soon as possible.”

Ana and AJ both nodded solemnly. Vicki and I walked down the hall to the interrogation room, and Tony looked beat.

“How are you feeling?” I asked.

“Like a steam roller just drove over me,” he mumbled.

“That’s a vivid analogy,” I said as I sat.

“So AJ and Ana are in the lobby,” Vicki told him.

“I wish they weren’t,” he grumbled.

“They’re worried about you,” I said.

“I know,” he said. “This is all shitty enough, without freaking out your relatives.”

“Well,” I said. “I know AJ pretty well, and she’s a solid cookie. She can handle it. And we’ll get you through this,” I said.

“Yeah,” he said. “And afterward?”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“After I name them all,” he said. “What then?”

“They’ll all go to jail,” I said. “And your confession is totally anonymous.”

Agents Winslow, Johnson and Willis breezed into the room, intimidating types in FBI windbreakers.

“Good morning, Mr. Irving, Ms. Park, Mr. Sanchez,” Agent Winslow said.

“Morning,” I said.

Vicki and Tony nodded and we all sat down. Winslow slipped a sheaf of papers to me. It was the immunity agreement. I was still fairly new to criminal law, so I hadn’t read one. But I was versed well enough in contract law, so I read it, and then slipped it over to Tony.

“What is this?” he picked it up and shrugged.

Right. I remembered. Reading problems.

“It’s the immunity agreement,” I said. “You can sign it.”

Tony signed it quickly and I sighed. It was a good thing I was honest, otherwise this guy might have signed over anything.

“Mr. Sanchez,” Agent Winslow began. “You were an accomplice to Brent Levinson and Irwin Montague in transporting illegal goods across the U.S. border, is that correct?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

“What can you tell me about what you were doing?” she asked.

“I worked for a company called Universal Shipping,” he rubbed his palms together under the table. “It was a good job, good hard work, paid good money. Real good money, at least for me.”

He shrugged and looked awkward in the room.

“What was the nature