Unknown by Unknown Read Free Book Online

trailer. I showed up because I was closer than the police.  
    That actually oversimplifies things by not taking into account that although technically I have legal authority and jurisdiction there are several in the traditional chain of command that my activities encourage, rather than discourage, criminal activity. These same people also feel that in those instances where I succeed I somehow hurt department credibility and undercut the need for Winston's Finest. Can't really say I blame the thought there. After all what if I stop going after cases where it's pretty easy to tell who's on which side of the law and start going into things that need a more delicate approach to finding enough proof to make the arrest stick.  
    As interesting as that thought might be to some of you we're getting off on a tangent.  
    I'd shown up right when they were leaving. At first I’d taken them for either cleaning or re-stocking or something. No masks, calm I-Belong-Here attitude, and appropriate looking clothes. Still, alarm inside tripped and if these people were legit they would have probably made arrangements to have someone from their employer handle that all important detail. So while they were leaving I hopped on the top of their trailer to see what I could see. I left a noticeable dent in the top of the thing, and if something less questionable showed up I'd be unavailable to lend a hand. Plus I was in a pretty exposed spot if their response to strange noises involved automatic gunfire.  
    I held on while they drove by a pair of really handy magnetic grapples. OK they're stupidly strong rare earth magnets that most people would have trouble lugging about, much less reposition once they've clamped on. I carry them in my, well it's been dubbed everything from the Justice-Mobile, WarWagon, SpookSter, and all sorts of other names besides. It's mine; me and a few friends built it for my special needs, and unlike all those gaudy comic book cars it actually blends in with day to day traffic, and it has room for most of my stuff so I can have handy things like magnets strong enough to grip an aluminum walled trailer while going at highway speeds.  
    We rode like that for, well, I'm not sure except it was awhile. I saw 'Now Entering Bugtussle' on the way so I guess we were still there when the truck stopped. By legal agreements I cannot quote anything anyone has said, because while I have the authority to make arrests and anything said after that point automatically goes on record and yea... I know I know. It can be a bit of a headache. The driver spoke with somebody else and they pulled further into the storage lot, presumably to the units they'd rented to put this stuff in.  
    I was just thankful they hadn't noticed me yet; because while I could have taken them all there it adds to credibility if they can't turn around and say ' This guy jumped us out of the blue. we were just moving inventory around. ' Granted I'm not sure if they would have thought that far ahead, but they had savvy enough to pull this off so I didn't want to risk their having faked work orders and delivery papers. I suppose one would wonder why they didn't just rent space in a traditional warehouse to complete the illusion if that were the case, but the thought hadn't crossed my mind till just now.  
    Once they'd parked and started unloading I pulled a GPS unit off my belt. This was one of those expensive ruggedized models that not only could take abuse, but could also, if connected to either an Internet connection or cell phone, transmit its current location. Handy if you don't want to speak, but you want someone else to know where you are. I'd done this trick a few times before so was pretty confident I could manage it under these conditions. While the trailer was being unloaded I'd taped a phone, pre-paid so there wouldn't be any sort of bill leading back to me, to the back then made a gentle underhand toss so the bundle would land on the unit block's roof. That