Alhambra

Alhambra

Bob Francis

Copyright © 2015 Robert Francis

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Table of Contents

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

Epilogue

Chapter 1

Heavy rain had been falling in waves and pounding the area around Taos for over twenty four hours. In the southwestern part of the United States these storms are referred to as monsoons. They are usually of brief duration. They are preceded many times with strong down bursts of wind that pick up dust in the desert, causing dust storms called haboobs. The haboob is followed by heavy rain fall resulting in flash flooding in low lying areas where there is no way to drain quickly. This was not the usual monsoon, however, these storms driven at times by thirty to forty knot winds, were more reminiscent of a New England gale force storm.

Multiple lightning strikes were creating a fiery display of light as if Zeus himself was standing on the clouds throwing lightning bolts to the ground. This was not typical weather for New Mexico. Electrical storms with rain squaws are not unusual in this area, but this storm had been stalled over the area for an extended time. Taos residents would remember this period of extended weather as the worst they had experienced in many years. The weather prediction was for more of the same for another day at least.

In the midst of the weather, an expensive dark green Land Rover had been cruising the local bars in the sleazier parts of town since the early evening hours. The driver parked in the lot of his most recent bar selection and entered through the front entrance. As he had done in previous bars, he took a table out of the main seating area away from the bar it's self, but located so that he could see everyone entering. He ordered a drink and began scrutinizing the bar’s customers. At first he didn’t see anyone that fit his interests until the most recent customer entered. This customer had many of the characteristics he was interested in finding. He had noticed this man walking through the parking lot as he was parking the Land Rover. Even though it was raining hard, this guy was on foot walking toward the bar. He walked in the entrance, or more accurately, stumbled in the entrance. He was about the right size, six foot, medium build, ruddy complexion, similar to many men from the farms and hills of the middle eastern states, and most importantly, obvious a drunk. Probably someone no one else would care about or miss.

The drunk was busy trying to talk the bartender out of a drink for doing some chores, but the bartender wasn’t having any of his argument or pleading. The bartender told the drunk to get out of the bar or he would have him thrown out. When the bartender was distracted severing other customers, the drunk began soliciting customers for a drink or a few dollars. The Land Rover driver did not want anyone to remember him being in this bar, and later being able to make a connection between him and the drunk, so he quickly left money on the table for his drink and quietly left the building.

He waited outside in the car, figuring the drunk would not have any success with the customers and would either be leaving soon on his own or would be thrown out shortly by the bartender.

As he suspected, in less than fifteen minutes the front doors banged open and the drunk was literally thrown out into the parking lot.

After sitting on the ground in the rain for several minutes, the drunk managed to stagger to his feet and began walking across the parking lot. The Land Rover started moving slowly following him through the lot. As the drunk approached an exit, the Land Rover pulled along side and the driver lowered passenger side window yelling, hey buddy, your getting wet out there. Do you want a ride?

Wha-what? Ah,-a ride? Yea, yea I want a ride, wher-where, you going?

I’m going out of town to the north. I’ve got a campsite up toward Eagle Nest Lake. I was trying to do some hunting but with this weather, I haven’t been able to do anything. You’re soaked and you look like you could stand a drink to warm up, how about it, I’ve got a bottle in my trailer.

I-I, I could use a drink to warm up, that’s, that’s for sure.

O.K., get in, get out of the weather.

After several unsuccessful attempts to step up to the boarding step on the passenger side, the drunk was finally successful.

You live in these parts the driver asked? I could use someone familiar with the area to help me with my hunting trip. If you don’t have anything doing at this time, how would you like to make a couple hundred bucks helping me out for a few days. I’ve got plenty of room, you can stay in my camping trailer.

Sure, I’m good at tracking and finding animal trails, what are you hunting for?

Anything that would look good stuffed and mounted on the wall in my den back home. Let’s go up to my campsite and have a drink. When the rain stops maybe we can go out see what trails we can find.

Are you going to be able to take off for several days, maybe as long as a week? Anyone you need to contact about being away?

No, I’m not working right now and I don’t have anyone in this area. I’ve been down on my luck lately and I just hang out wherever I can get a place to crash for a night. Try to pick up a job here and there.

Do you need to contact someone? What about family, friends, anybody that would be looking for you, we might be out in the hills for several days.

My only family is my mother and she’s sickly back on the reservation. The chiefs on the reservation don’t like me much. They told me to get out and never come back. The chiefs will take care of my mother. I don’t think they will be worried about me being away for a while.

Your mother is Indian? You don’t look Indian.

My father was working out here years ago and knocked her up when she was a young squaw. Then he took off and left her here. I’m the bastard that resulted from that. My mother raised me on the reservation. I grew up like an Indian, I just don’t look like one. I have all the bad habits though. But, with my looks and background, I don’t fit in on the reservation.

In the warmth of the passenger’s seat of the Land Rover the drunk quickly passed out and was snoring loudly as the driver dialed his cell phone. The plan is working, have you arrived at the hotel? Good, now first thing in the morning, call the sheriff’s office and tell them you want to file a missing persons report. This weather is going to help our plan. Strange things always happen when the weather is bad. When you get a call from the authorities, play like a grieving widow for a few days and then get back to our rendezvous point. Don’t call me, I’m not going to answer this cell phone any more. I’ll call you when the time is right. Until then just stay out of sight as much as possible. For now, hang around the room at the hotel like you’re anxiously anticipating a call from your missing husband.

As they pulled into the campsite area the driver carefully positioned the Land Rover as he had planned. He got out and went around to the rear of the vehicle. He uncovered the dirt bike he had secured to the carrier rack on the back of the Land Rover. He placed the dirt bike by the door of the trailer and recovered it with the tarpaulin rain cover. He then went inside the small camping trailer and placed a wallet on the dinette table. He took two plastic dry cleaner’s garment bags that he had on the table and doubled them one inside the other, and returned outside to the Land Rover. He opened the door on the passenger’s side where the drunk was still snoring loudly and quickly pulled the doubled plastic bags down over the drunk’s head, twisting the bag around the drunk’s neck to shut off all air. The drunk tried to struggle, but in his alcoholic stupor and in his awkward setting position in the seat, he was easily overpowered. The driver held the bag in place until he was sure there was no life left in the drunk. He then went around to the driver’s side and opened the door, and pulled the dead body over into the driver’s seat.

He then removed six paper bags of magnesium sulfate granules from the back of the Land Rover and took one of the five gallon spare cans of fuel from the external rack on the back of the Land Rover. He tore open the bags of granules and poured the contents over the dead body. He had previously ripped two stripes of material from a hotel bath towel and had tied them together making a cloth rope. He soaked the towel stripe in fuel from the fuel can and then saturated the granules with the remaining fuel from the can.

He next removed the fuel cap from the Land Rover and stuffed the strips of bath towel he had saturated with fuel into the vehicles fuel tank. He started the Engine and lit the end of the towel with a BIC lighter. He placed a large rock on the accelerator and with the engine racing, he reached in and pulled the shift lever into drive. The Land Rover spun the wheels as it lurched forward and headed for the edge of the ravine. It became airborne as it went over the edge, turning over several times before crashing into the bottom of the ravine where it burst into a fire ball, just as another explosion occurred, probably the second can of fuel in the rear rack of the Land Rover.

He took the cover off the dirt bike, bungee corded the cover to the back of the bike and rode out of the area. As he approached a bridge on the highway, he ejected the battery from the cell phone and tossed the phone and battery over the railing into a swift running stream bulging at its banks as a result of the recent rains.

Chapter 2

Information regarding a possible missing person sped through channels fast on the internet. Allegiant Insurance in Santa Fe, New Mexico specialized in writing coverage for unusual things, such as collections of books, art, jewelry, and other unique and valuable items. They also insured the lives of celebrities’ in the entertainment and sports fields as well as corporate key man type coverage for businesses.

Allegiant maintains a sophisticated communications center at its headquarters in Santa Fe on an around the clock basis, twenty four-hours, seven days a week. Computers monitor hundreds of input sources from police agencies, news wires, and various Internet sources for information that may have a bearing on any policy issued by Allegiant.

Allegiant's communications center was alerted immediately as well as Leaha Baun, Allegiant's vice president for investigation and fraud detection. But almost as quickly, a telephone rang in the suite of Mario Francolli in Las Vegas. Mario Francolli was well known in Vegas as the local mafia don.

Yeah, this is Dominick, okay I'll tell the boss. Boss, that was a call from one of our contacts in New Mexico. He said there was a missing person report filed with the sheriff in Taos about that country western guy Rhoads who is into us for big bucks. He said there is a very large insurance policy on him. Sounds like he wants to turn up dead.. Maybe we can get our money if we find out who's in line to get the payoff. Should I get someone to check into this?

Get Sal and Tony up here. There may be some truth to the rumor we heard that he was going to try a scam and collect on a life policy. If he is, we need to know who the beneficiary may be and be ready to lean on that person. Pretty stupid on his part, how does he expect to continue his career if he is dead.

Maybe he will use an alias boss.

No way Dominic, he would have to reestablish his reputation in the business. No Dominic, it sounds more like he plans to permanently disappear and live off the payoff. We can't let that happen before I get my money.

Leaha Baun is Allegiant's vice president for investigation and fraud detection. Leaha is a vibrant, smart, and tenacious investigator who has earned a reputation in the insurance industry of being a person that you do not try to fool with a phony scheme. Leaha is the kind of woman other women dislike at first sight. She's tall slender, beautiful and very smart. And it seems, she doesn't have to work at it. All of these attributes come naturally.

Leaha more or less grew into the job. Her father was a very successful attorney with offices in Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Roswell New Mexico. Leaha was an honor student in high school and took as many advanced placement classes as possible, always taking classes that exposed her to new areas. She was accepted at Harvard Law School without any problem. During her first college year summer, she applied for a summer job at Allegiant to work in the claims division rather than her father's law firm because she wanted to know how the insurance industry worked.

Allegiant's human resource office hired her as summer administrative help working in the investigation and fraud office. Benjamin Olstead was the then vice president for investigation and fraud, Ben Olstead was the old school type, dogged, persistent, the type who never had enough leads, but didn't think his office was the place for a girl, the work was potentially to dangerous. The human resources office said they needed to improve their EEO numbers and his office had never had a female. Besides, she was temporary only for the summer, she was just clerical, and would never have occasion to leave the office for anything concerning a direct investigation.

Under pressure from top management, Ben gave in and reluctantly accepted Leaha. Within a month, Leaha had begun to make her presence known. Twice, her innate ability to see small details while looking at the full record, helped her to see important issues of the case that had been overlooked by the investigator. She quietly took these to the original investigator which then allowed the investigator to make the appropriate changes based on the information that Leaha had uncovered.

Information floats around an office quickly, good comments and bad comments. In Leaha's case, it was common knowledge within weeks and by the end of