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Chapter 6

Both ran late to work the next day. This time Jason walked in to find Paige and the prep team in front of a bulletin board at the head of the table. Pictures of people were tacked up on the board with names on strips of paper below them. Victoria Roldan was in the middle with her former husband; Peter, next to her. Instead of his name, was a paper that read; Deceased while in Jail.  Underneath were pictures of their three children; Anthony; the oldest in his early 40’s  (In Jail) Joseph, the middle son (late 30’s), and Larissa, (17; the baby of the family who was still in high school, almost ready to graduate.)  Rumor had it that she was a love child of Victoria and an unnamed man.

HE strolled to the team and stood in front of the board standing about a foot behind his partner.

Though just pictures, Jason had a rush of Déjà vu at seeing the familiar faces staring at him from the bulletin board. Sensing his presence, Paige strolled over to the table and propped herself on top staring at them intently. He strolled closer purposefully sanding at Paige’s side and intentionally brushed her fingers with his outstretched hand. Time stood still for a moment, as they held hands at the base of the table away from the preying eyes of the prep team. When the Major strolled in, Paige dropped his hand and crossed her arms.

“Peter is dead. So he is not involved.” The major walked up to the board and drew an X across the picture. “Joseph is in jail right now.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he is still involved,” Dylan commented. Jason agreed. “I don’t see Nana on the board. She is a part of the family.”

“She is 77 and partially deaf,” Major Byrnes interjected. “All you said about her was that she would often drop by the shop with a plate of cookies.”

“Victoria?”

“She is the obvious candidate to be picking up on the illegal activities.” Jason commented. “She was the not so silent observer who had no problem expressing her opinion about how the shop was run. I know she kept a notebook under lock and key.”

“I am sure that she is involved, but that is too obvious.”

“But sometimes the guilty party is the obvious one.”

“And that is why we are going back in,” Paige retorted. She paused. “Joseph? Runs the garage. He is a great mechanic…”

“But is a straight shooter with customers and employees.” Jason finished. “I don’t know that he has a skillset to organize theft.

“Larissa was only 12 when we started, too young to be involved. She always struck me as an intellectual who should be applying to Universities and not working in a shop. Could she have changed that much in five years?” They all shook their heads doubting that the young lady was involved.

“Anyone else?”

“We don’t know about the new guys.” Paige commented “Two mechanics, and a painter who is more skilled at replacing a paint job, not one who can create designs.” The Major pointed at two additional pictures next to Peter.

“We ruled out Peter Roldan’s siblings. Brother is a high school English teacher and sister is an Emergency room Nurse at the local hospital. Both are busy with their own families and only see Victoria and crew on Birthdays and major holidays. Otherwise, they don’t even acknowledge their relations with a brother who was arrested and spent time in Jail.”

“We know that for the most part, the Roldan family runs a family business of collision repair and paint shop which is legit. We noticed that about 1 out of 15-20 vehicles were stolen; stripped of their license plates, registrations, and  vin numbers. Many of the stolen vehicles were military owned which is why we got involved.” The major looked at Jason.

“Did the FBI find anything else?”

“Nothing more than that. I added temporary bugs to the front grills of the cars that I worked on. We found about the same.”

“We had a sticker dot on the underside of the top of the hood of the ones that I worked on.” Paige said.

“We will most likely use the same basic devises this time, however you two need to be more aware of the business dealings. Something is still going on and it has expanded beyond the doors of the shop.”

The story continues. If you missed the first parts, go to https://the-armijo-signal.com/25286/entertainment/and-so-it-begins/, https://the-armijo-signal.com/25461/entertainment/mystery-authors-story-chapter-2/,  https://the-armijo-signal.com/25831/entertainment/mystery-authors-story-chapter-3/, https://the-armijo-signal.com/26214/entertainment/chapter-4-of-the-mystery-writers-story/ and https://the-armijo-signal.com/26465/entertainment/mystery-authors-story-chapter-5/