Return To LA

Chapter 3

Morning found James St. James waking up with a pounding headache. Stumbling to the bathroom he did necessary things,and then found the aspirin and took four. Hoping that they would work quickly. he debated about what to do for breakfast. Then decided he needed sleep more. He went back to bed and slept for several more hours. About mid morning he finally woke up again. By now the headache was down to a dull roar. He stumbled to the the bathroom, A half hour later he emerged feeling at least somewhat better. Now he was ready to eat.

Getting dressed again, he set up his usual setup . Shoulder holster for the Colt, and belt holster for the Smith & Wesson. and a switchblade in his right hand pocket. First some coffee, He finally got the coffee pot going and by then the mail had come. Checking the mail he found mostly junk. As he drank his coffee, he looked down on the street below . There across the street sat the same Chevy sedan he had been following all day yesterday. The sight of it brought his mind to the matters at hand. As he drank a second cup of coffee he went over his notes. The woman Wanda Reed , who had tried to kill him, the FBI agent, Steve Clark who didn't ring true, and being tailed, then tailing them to an old estate a two hour drive north of LA, and now his phone being bugged, and The same Chevy sitting outside again this morning. Slowly his headache begun to subside. But he knew his problems had just begun. By the third cup of coffee, he was ready to face the world.

Leaving his apartment with a new trench coat he headed to the back entrance Down the back stairs, to the basement, and out the service entrance. One he reached street level. He kept a close watch out for anyone who didn't belong there. He decided to leave the car where it was. Going to the other side of the block, he flagged down a cab. he headed for the police station. As it happened he caught Robert coming out for lunch. He followed him to the dinner where he always ate. carefully watching to see if anyone was following him. There was no tail on Robert. Once inside the dinner they found a booth in the back with good line of sight to the door. Bob could tell by the look on James's face he hadn't had a good night.

"You Ok?"

"I've been better." was the reply. By than the waitress brought them coffee, and took their lunch order. They each had coffee and BLT's and a salad. They ate in silence for a few minutes,

"You find the bug in your phone?" James asked between bites of his BLT.

"Yep, It was there alright. We checked the rest of the phones in the office, None of them had a bug but mine.

"Interesting." Commented James. as he reached for the last of his coffee.

Over the rest of the meal, James reported yesterday's activities in more details, including the fact that his phone was bugged too. It was clear that someone with a inside knowledge of the departments going ons, had a in in Robert' office. Or at least knew how to get someone into the office long enough to plant the bug in his phone. Jim asked Bob how the background check on the FBI agent Steve Clark came out.Nothing definite, but they were still looking. They agreed that keeping him out of the loop, and not telling him anymore than they had to, was a wise thing to do. Along with being very careful about their use of the phones, especially until they figured out who had them bugged. As they finished their lunch, discussions turned to their next move. The fact they had no solid leads to go on didn't give them a lot of options.

"You know that FBI report listed a bunch of people Wanda was reportedly associated with, some here in LA. I can start hitting the streets and see what I can dig up on who she was working for lately."

"Good idea Bob, I think I'm go go sit on our friendly FBI man for while and see what he's up to. " James decided out loud as he finished the last of his coffee.