Author: William Manchee

Chapter 5

Stan
Reggie's new personal injury case had distracted Stan, so he'd momentarily forgotten about Ruben Acosta and his home invasion. When he opened the mail, however, he was pleased to see a nice fat check from him for the legal services he had provided. Stan was impressed that the check was written on a brand-new checking account for the New Horizons Trust that would be the center of Ruben's estate plan. Normally it took clients weeks to get an account opened and get new checks printed.
To make it more difficult for creditors to trace an entity back to Ruben, he didn't use Ruben’s name in any of the new entity filings. Stan listed himself as the registered agent and organizer of each and he listed Medical Management, LLC as the general partner of the limited partnership. 
Since the last meeting, Ruben had been acting a bit bizarre with his story of an alleged man following him and the coincidental break-in at his home, Stan picked up the phone and dialed Ruben's number hoping to follow up on that situation and make sure everything was okay. After a few rings, Ruben's voicemail picked up and allowed Stan to leave a message. He did that and then called Roger Moore to see if he had followed up with Ruben.
Roger's secretary put him through. "Hey, Ruben Acosta is a good man. I just got a big check from him. Thank you for referring him to me."
"No problem," Roger replied. "He always pays his bills the moment they come in. He can't stand owing anybody money. I have told him it might improve his cash flow if he waited a week or two to make payment, but that would drive him nuts."
"So, did he have any problems when he went back to his house after the break-in?" Stan asked.
"I don't know. I haven't talked to him since then which is unusual. We usually talk almost daily. In fact, I have several calls into him, but he hasn't called me back."
"That's odd. It's been nearly two weeks. He's apparently hard at work since he's already got his living trust all set up and checks printed."
"Let's call his actuary, Tom Rice," Roger said. "They office together."
The line went dead for a moment while Roger conferenced in Tom Rice."
"You on, Tom?" Roger asked.
"Yeah, what's up," Tom replied.
"I've got Stan Turner on the line. We're looking for Ruben. Any idea where he might be?"
"I haven't seen him for a while, but that's not unusual," Tom admitted. "As you know, he travels a lot to Phoenix and Las Vegas. MedNet has clients in both cities. He owns rental properties there, too, and he keeps one vacant, so he’ll have a place to stay while he is in town."
"Well, in those markets residential property is a good investment. I guess it makes sense to invest there rather than throwing money away on a lease," Roger mused. "If he calls you, have him call me or Stan. We need to follow up on a few things." 
Tom said he would and dropped off the call. Stan told Roger to call him immediately if he heard from Ruben. Roger agreed and disconnected. Several more days went by and Stan still hadn't heard from Ruben nor had any of the MedNet clients in Phoenix and Las Vegas, so Stan decided to go by Ruben's home in North Dallas to see if he had returned. Since the circumstances were a bit unusual, he took Jodie with him as a backup.
Ruben lived in an upscale neighborhood off Hillcrest Avenue. When they got there and turned down his street Stan was impressed by the large front yards and big trees. Where Stan lived, the lots were much smaller and the homes closer together. It was an unfortunate trend as the Metroplex grew and raw land soared in value. He'd slowed down to look for the street number they were looking for when he noticed a garage door open. 
"Is that his house, Jodie," Stan asked.
She looked down on her legal pad at the address she had written down before they'd left. "Yes, that's it."
They parked on the curb in front of his house beneath a big oak tree and walked down the driveway to the open garage.
"Hello! ... Hello! ... Ruben! Anybody here?" Stan yelled. There was no response, so he took a few steps inside the garage and looked around. There were no cars, only a tool bench, garden equipment, a few sacks of fertilizer, and a pile of cardboard boxes.
He knocked on the door that led from the garage to the interior of the house, but there was no answer. 
"Knock on the front door, Jodie," Stan said. "I'll wait here."
A few moments later, Jodie returned shaking her head. "No response. He must be close by if he left the garage door open."
"No car, though," Stan noted.
"Maybe he went to the store," Jodie suggested.
Stan took a deep, frustrated breath, perplexed at the situation. "Let's check with his neighbors. Maybe someone has seen him today."
Jodie went to the house across the street while Stan went to the house next door to the west. No one answered when Stan knocked but Jodie had better luck. The neighbor across the street answered the door and she told Jodie that Ruben hadn't been there for over a week and his garage door had been open the entire time. She told Jodie it wasn't unusual for Ruben to be gone for long periods, but this was the first time he'd left his garage door open. 
"Let's see if any doors are unlocked," Stan said. "If so, we can check inside to be sure he's not home."
"Is that wise?" Jodie asked.
"Sure. I'm his attorney and I'm concerned about his well-being, particularly since his garage door has been open for several days. We'll have his neighbor come with us as another witness."
Jodie nodded and went across the street to get the neighbor. She introduced herself as Shirley Jones. They all went to the front of his house. Stan rang the doorbell and knocked a few times, then he tried the door. It was locked, so they went to the door inside the garage. It opened right up, so they went in.
As they entered a TV or radio could be heard in the distance. They went by a utility room where a washer, dryer, and stainless-steel sink could be seen through an opened door. A pile of dirty clothes in a basket sat in front of the dryer. A few feet later they entered the kitchen. Directly ahead was a kitchen table and to the right an island in between the sink, dishwasher, and microwave. The area was clean and tidy but there was an odd smell in the air.
"Ruben!" Stan yelled. "You home?"
There was no answer, so they continued into the family room where they discovered a big screen TV playing. Stan found the remote on a square oak coffee table and shut off the TV. Next to the remote sat an open laptop with a blank screen and a cup half full of what looked like tea. A pair of black dress shoes had been removed and tossed to one side.
"What's that smell?" Jodie asked. 
Shirley took a few sniffs and went looking for its source. She went down a hallway and disappeared. A few moments later she let out a horrible scream, "Ahhh! Oh, my god! Midas."
They all rushed toward the noise. Shirly was standing in front of an open door leading into a small bathroom. The odd smell intensified as they approached it. On the floor was a dead cat with yellowish-brown fur that looked almost golden.
Stan winced. "Oh, geez. Was it locked in the bathroom?
"No," Shirley said. "The door was open. I guess it had been drinking from the toilet bowl but there was no food. How long can a cat last without food?"
"A few days. Maybe a week," Jodie surmised.
"I would have taken care of Midas had Ruben asked," Shirley said. "I've done it before."
Stan shook his head. "Poor Midas. This doesn't make much sense."
"No, it doesn't," Shirley agreed. "Ruben loved that cat. He wouldn't have left it without food."
"Okay, let's split up and search the rest of the house. Ruben may be in here somewhere."
Jodie nodded and bounded up a spiral staircase. Stan searched the rest of the downstairs but didn't find anything unusual until he got to Ruben's home office. It was in shambles like he'd been looking for something in a hurry, found it, and ran off. Stan was about to start snooping around Ruben's desk and files when he started feeling guilty. Maybe they were overreacting, he thought. So, he decided to postpone the search.
As he was leaving Ruben's office, Jodie was coming down the stairs. "Anything up there?"
"No. Just a few guest rooms. Did he live alone?"
"I think so," Stan replied. "He mentioned an ex-wife."
"Right," Shirley said. "It was a Las Vegas marriage. I don't think it lasted six months."
"Did they have children?" Jodie asked.
"No. She had her career as a showgirl and Ruben was a workaholic. Kids were never on the radar."
"Okay, Let's lock the place up," Stan said. "We can call the police in the morning and report Ruben missing."
"If you lock up and Ruben doesn't come back, how will you get back into the house?" Jodie asked.
Stan considered this. "Okay, hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Right." Then he remembered seeing a pile of keys on Ruben's desk and went to get them. After trying all of the keys on the front door, he found one that worked and took it from the key ring."
"Thank you, Shirley. You've been a big help."
Shirley nodded somberly. "What about Midas?"
I looked at her and asked. "Should we bury him?"
Jodie shook her head "No. If Ruben is okay, he may want to have a funeral for Midas."
"Yes," Shirley agreed. "I'll put him in a plastic bag and put it in the refrigerator.
Stan cringed at the thought but shrugged. "Okay. That should work."
On the way home Jodie and Stan speculated on what might have happened to Ruben and what they should do about it. Ordinarily, it wouldn't have been Stan's problem, but Ruben had given him power of attorney and appointed him the alternate trustee of his living trust which controlled all his assets. If Ruben was incapacitated or otherwise unable to handle his affairs, it would be Stan's duty to step in and take over his financial affairs as his attorney. If he had died or failed to act as the trustee, it would be his duty to step up as successor trustee and manage the trust in accordance with its terms.
"So, what do you think happened?" Jodie asked. "Was he kidnapped; you think?"
Stan shrugged. "It's possible. He did think someone was following him. But his car is missing, so that suggests he drove off somewhere on his own. If he got a call about a dying relative or something, he might have been distracted and concerned enough to drive off without thinking of locking up the house or getting someone to watch Midas."
"But surely he would have called someone by now."
"You would think so," Stan agreed. "In the morning, I'll call Detective Besch. Maybe he can put an APB out on Ruben's car."
Jodie nodded, "He'll probably want you to file a missing person's report?" 
"Maybe. Maybe not. If he does, that's what we will do. Then I'll have to meet with Roger and Tom over the weekend to figure out what to do about his businesses until we find him."
When they got back to the office, Stan let Jodie off and then drove home to Plano. It had been a warm December so far but during the day a cold front came through and the temperature plummeted. By the time he got home, it had started to snow. 
The house was empty, quiet, and dark as he pushed open the door from the garage into the house. Memories of Rebekah and his young children enthusiastically meeting me at the door and the aroma of dinner cooking on the stove drifted through his mind. The kids had grown up and Rebekah had died the previous year after a long battle with cancer, so now Stan was alone. He probably should have moved to a smaller house, but he loved this one and couldn't imagine living any place else. 
The quiet solitude didn't bother him. In fact, it allowed him to relax, contemplate the day's events and develop a strategy for tackling whatever challenges were facing him. Today he had two things on his mind, Amanda Rich and Ruben Acosta. Both of them had Stan worried because each case had the potential of spinning out of control and overwhelming the firm. 
Reggie had no understanding or appreciation for the amount of cash it took each month to keep the firm running. Now with his joining the firm, the situation was only going to get worse. The bankruptcy practice that he so loathed provided over fifty percent of the firm's revenue, so it couldn't be neglected. In fact, without that steady stream of income, the firm couldn't survive.
That night Stan couldn't sleep. He kept wondering what had happened to Ruben and what they would do if he didn't show up soon. He cursed his weakness in letting Ruben talk him into accepting an appointment as his attorney-in-fact and trustee. Why did I do that? Damn it! How can I run a law firm and manage Ruben's complex affairs at the same time?
As soon as Stan got to the office the next morning, he called Detective Bingo Besch of the Dallas Police Department. He had worked with Besch on several cases in the past and they were good friends. He dialed his number.
"Detective Besch," he said evenly.
"Bingo. This is Stan. How are you?"
"Stan the man. I'm fine. What have you been up to?” 
"Just the usual. Trying to keep my clients out of trouble?"
"Any luck with that?" he chuckled.
"No. That's why I'm calling. One of my clients has gone missing."
Stan explained the situation with Ruben Acosta to Detective Besch and asked him if he could put out an APB on his vehicle.
"Sure, I'll do that right away. It's been long enough you should probably come in and file a missing person's report."
"Okay," Stan said.
"I'll reach out to the police in Phoenix and Los Vegas and have them go by his homes and offices there. He probably didn't drive there, so I'll check the airlines to see if he bought any tickets anywhere. His car may be in the Love Field parking garage or out at DFW."
Besch was always very enthusiastic, thorough, and aggressive. Once he committed to a task, he would give it a hundred and ten percent. "Thank you. If we don't find him soon, I'll have to start operating his businesses. Luckily, he gave me a power of attorney."
"He did? That's a little unusual, isn't it?" Besch asked.
"Yeah, it is."
"Maybe his disappearance was planned," Besch suggested.
Stan didn't know how to respond. That thought hadn't occurred to him, but he could see Besch's reasoning. If Acosta knew something was about to happen and he would be out of the picture for a while, he'd set up a mechanism to deal with his sudden disappearance. But why wouldn't he tell him, Stan wondered. And was Stan to be a temporary manager, or was Ruben gone for good? 
"I don't know," Stan finally replied. "All I do know is that the last thing I want to do is manage MedNet."
"MedNet?" Besch repeated.
He explained his business operation briefly stressing that it required travel since it operated in three states.
"Right. That would be quite a task. So, how's Paula and Jodie?" Besch asked. "I haven't talked to them in ages."
"Yeah, they're both fine. Why don't you stop by, and we can all catch up."
"I might do that," Besch replied. "Let me get started looking into your missing client and when I have some news, we'll all get together."
"Sounds good," Stan replied. "I'll have Ruben's business associate, Tom Rice, come see you to fill out the missing person's report. He offices with Ruben every day and will know much more about him than I do."
"Good. Tell him to ask for me when he comes in."
After Stan called Tom Rice and asked him to file a missing person's report, he decided to go back to Ruben's house and search his office. He figured there might be some clues as to his whereabouts there plus he needed to get a handle on his business operations in case he had to take over. When Stan told Jodie his plans, she insisted on bringing a gun.
Several years earlier, Jodie had been doing some undercover work on a wrongful death case and had been abducted by members of a drug cartel. She was held hostage for a while but managed to escape. Ever since then she'd taken personal security very seriously. After her rescue, she'd spent six months in a rigorous self-defense training program that included many hours at the gun range. Considering Ruben's sudden disappearance, Stan didn't object.
When they arrived at Ruben's house, Stan sent Jodie across the street to check in with Shirley Jones, so she didn't think someone was breaking into Ruben's house. Then he got the mail out of Ruben's mailbox and took it into Ruben's office. The office was a mess, so he cleared a spot and dropped the stack of mail there. Most of it was junk mail but there was a brokerage statement from Fisher Investments for New Horizons Trust and a letter from the City of Dallas. Stan opened the letter from the City of Dallas advising Ruben that they had impounded his automobile and were holding it at the Dallas Impound Yard. The notice didn't reveal anything about the circumstances for the city to have picked up his car, but at least they knew now that Ruben wasn't driving it.
The second letter was even more intriguing. It seemed Ruben had opened a new brokerage account for the New Horizons Trust and made initial deposits of over two million dollars! That blew Stan's mind because he hadn't seen those kinds of numbers on any of Ruben's financial statements that he'd examined.
As he was digesting this new information Stan heard the front door open and heavy footsteps coming down the hallway. At first, he thought it was Jodie, but the person coming down the hall had to be much heavier. Fear shot through him like an arrow from a crossbow. He didn't know if he should run, hide, or find a weapon to defend himself. Then, suddenly, Ruben Acosta appeared in the doorway, and he didn't look pleased to see Stan.
"What the fuck are you doing in my house?" he spat.
"Ruben! Oh, my God. You're here."
"Yes, obviously. What in hell are you doing here?"
"Ah, well. I've been trying to figure out what happened to you. Where have you been? Everyone's been looking for you."
Ruben shook his head in disgust. "What do you mean? I took a little vacation. I can't believe you broke into my house."
"Ah. We didn't break in exactly. You left the garage door open, and the side door unlocked. We secured the place, but I took your extra key in case you didn't show up."
Ruben took a deep breath and eyed Stan warily. "Well, I guess I did leave in a hurry and wasn't thinking too clearly."
"I guess not. You forgot about Midas."
"Midas? Where's Midas?"
"I'm afraid he's dead. We found him in the bathroom."
Ruben was visually shaken. "Oh, fuck! Damn it. Where is he? I can't believe I forgot about him. Those bastards are going to pay! They have made my life a living hell."
"What bastards?" Stan asked.
Ruben stroked the bridge of his nose like he had a splitting headache. "It's a long story?"
Suddenly, they heard a car screeching to a stop in front of Ruben's house. Ruben's face turned grim. He whirled around and ran down the hall and locked the door.
"Fuck! How did they know I was back?"
"Who is it?" Stan asked.
Car doors opened and shut, and they heard a man barking orders. Ruben looked at me and spat, "You've got to get out of here. Go out the back door. Take the alley. Go right. Run as fast as you can and hide."
"What about you?" Stan protested.
Ruben went around his desk and pulled a revolver out of the bottom drawer. "This isn't your fight! Get the fuck out of here!" Ruben demanded as someone kicked the front door hard. Stan jumped at the sound, then turned toward the back door to flee as instructed just as there was a shotgun blast that blew the front door open.
Ruben shot at the men coming through the open door as Stan escaped into the kitchen and took cover. He couldn't see what was happening, but he heard a muffled scream from Ruben like he'd taken a bullet. Stan wanted to go to his aid but being unarmed he knew he could do him no good.
Hearing a stampede of men rushing down the hall, Stan retreated farther into the kitchen to avoid detection. He heard footsteps as someone came into the kitchen. He held his breath and pressed himself behind the center island.
Suddenly, more gunfire erupted. The man retreated from the kitchen to join the others just outside the front door. Stan ducked down to avoid the bullets that were flying everywhere until the shooting stopped. Hearing screeching tires, Stan rushed over to Ruben. He was struggling to breathe but still alive.
"Stan," he moaned. "Take care of my family! Please, don't let them find them."
"What family? Who's after you?" Stan pressed. "You didn't say you had a family."
"Tell them I love them," Ruben whispered.
Ruben's eyes became fixed. Stan checked for a pulse. Feeling nothing and sure that Ruben was dead, he rushed to the front door worried about Jodie after all the gunfire. As he rushed out of the house, he saw Jodie standing in the driveway across the street with her gun pointed at the escaping vehicle. He rushed over to her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said giving him a once-over. "How about you?"
"I'm okay, I guess, but I think Ruben is dead. He doesn't have a pulse."
"Shit!' Jodie said. "I heard the shooting and came outside immediately. I saw them trying to kick down the door and then unload the shotgun on it, so I opened fire on them. They returned the fire, so I had to take cover behind Shirley's car until they left. I didn't take any more shots in case Ruben was in the car."
"Damn it!" Stan said. "Ruben was about to tell me what was going on. If I'd had another five minutes, I might have been able to make sense of all this."
Jodie took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. "I think I might have got one of the bastards," she said. "He fell down and then limped around the car. I couldn't tell for sure."
"I hope not," Stan said. "You don't need an angry thug like that looking for revenge."
"He better not try anything," Jodie spat. "The next time I'll kill him."
"Right," Stan replied. "Ah. We better call the police."
"I'm sure Shirley's already done that. The poor lady. Her car is full of lead." 
As Jodie was checking on Shirley Jones, Stan sprinted into the house. The door had been shattered and was hanging by one hinge. Inside, the walls were full of bullet holes, the floor littered with gun casings, and the harsh scent of gun powder lingered in the air. Sirens could be heard in the distance.
A moment later, Jodie and Shirley rushed in and took in the scene. We all just stared at Ruben's lifeless body, too traumatized to move. Stan thought about Ruben's last words. "Before he died, Ruben asked me to take care of his family."
"What?" Jodie said. "He had a family?"
"I didn't think so. He didn't tell me about a wife or children, but maybe he didn't want anyone to know about them."
"He never mentioned children to me," Shirley confirmed, "but I wondered about that because I have seen bags of toys and games at his house that he must have bought as gifts. I figured they must be for nephews and nieces or friend's children." 
"So, who were those guys?" Shirley asked. 
"I don't know. I didn't see them up close. I was too busy trying to dodge bullets. Ruben tried to protect me and, in the process, got himself killed."
"They were Hispanic males, six of them," Jodie recalled. "Probably from a gang or members of a cartel."
Stan nodded. "That would be my guess, too."
Twenty minutes later Ruben's place was filled with police and crime scene personnel. Jodie, Shirley Jones, and Stan waited in an upstairs bedroom until Detective Besch showed up.
"So, you found your client?" Besch noted.
"Yeah, but I only had a two-minute conversation with him before he was murdered."
"Damn. That's all?" Besch asked.
"I'm afraid so," Stan lamented and then filled him in on what had happened. Besch listened with great interest and concern and then shook his head "So, are you two, okay?"
"Yeah," Stan replied. "Luckily, Jodie brought her gun and let them have a taste of their own medicine."
Besch grinned and looked over at Jodie. "So, all that time at the gun range paid off."
Jodie smiled, "You bet. I think I nailed one of the bastards."
Besch nodded. "You must have. There was a pool of blood in the driveway. Maybe the crime lab will find a DNA match when they test it. That would answer a lot of questions."
"I saw the asshole's face right after he took the bullet," Jodie explained. "He glared at me angrily before he got in their car. I was across the street, but I think I might recognize him if I saw him again."
"Good. You can go through some mug shots back at the station."
An hour later Besch let them leave the crime scene with promises they'd come in the next morning and give statements. Stan told Besch he needed some time in Ruben's office to sort through his affairs. Besch said everything would be boxed up and Stan could look at all of it at the station.
The Fisher Investment statement and letter from the city impound lot were still in Stan's pocket. He decided to forget he had them for now and give them to Besch later after he had time to check them out. It didn't make sense to give him the only lead Stan had now to try to figure out what he'd be up against as he assumed his duties as trustee. There was one thing he did know. He was going to have to start joining Jodie at the gun range if he expected to survive very long as trustee.