The Mourning Mail (final release candidate #7)

Chapter 38

Cathy ferried me back to my motel room after a trip to the CVS to get Dr. Merriman's prescriptions filled, a box of Salonpas pain patches, and a wrap for my ribs.

On the way, I called Doug Stein for a big favor.

"Hi, Doug," I said as he picked up the phone. "I've got you on speakerphone. I'm with Cathy Andreesen – I'm a little banged up, and she's driving me home to recuperate, or else we'd be having this conversation over breakfast."

"Hi, Cathy, it's been way too long since we last talked. I miss those long conversations we use to have over lunch – so, how have you been?"

"Doug, it's good to hear your voice again. I'm good, enjoying retirement. But I have to admit that the little bit of spice Debra Ann has brought into my life makes me wish I was still in the game. Let's talk later and see if we can find an excuse to get together."

"Still at the same number?" Doug asked.

"Same phone, same house, same taste for a good Chardonnay, in case you want to stop by," Cathy said with a laugh.

"I'll bring a bottle or two," Doug replied, "and we can talk shop and the good ol' days. You wouldn't recognize this place – it was so much better when the two of you were here. But I know you didn't call to reminisce...so, Debra Ann, you said 'recuperate' – that's rarely a good thing..."

With that, I told Doug about the Uber collision, Antara's death, and the immediate aftermath.

"You warned me about Strike Response and they are in this up to their eyeballs," I said. "The driver of the truck that rammed us was taken from the scene by a navy-blue Dodge – I'm waiting on Marci to confirm, but likely the one belonging to Strike Response that you looked up for me earlier. I'm pretty sure they were trying to kill me, but they murdered the Uber driver instead."

"I can't say it surprises me," Doug said. "I don't know if the organization itself would have sanctioned such a crude attempt at a hit, but I've heard rumors of their thugs going rogue and doing things like that for bragging rights within the company. No discipline at all."

"Which brings me to why I'm calling," I followed up. "After your warning, talking with Harry Sanderson – I understand you know each other pretty well, and he says 'hi' - and doing some surfing on the 'Net, it's clear Strike Response has been involved in some nasty business over the years. But they've flown totally under the radar. I found their name, and names of their known associates, sprinkled here and there, but nothing in-depth has ever been written about them. Would you be willing to help expose these bastards, maybe get some help for Antara's family?"

"Just so you know," Doug explained, "The reason they get away with these things is because they know where all the dirty laundry is kept for a lot of powerful people. You remember when John Lynch, the owner of the Union-Tribune at the time, tried to buy the mayor's election in 2012? He wanted to blow Carl DeMaio by the voters, a city councilman then. They say that the people who created the brute force side of Strike Response have connections to those who run San Diego that go back way before then. Rumor mill has it that the dirt the company has on them would upend city government. That's why you're not seeing anything about Strike Response from the paper, and so long as Strike Response stays local, they're protected."

"I remember Lynch's involvement in that race," I replied, "but mostly for putting a huge thumb on the scale to con the public into a new downtown football stadium and convention center next to his business partner's hotels, along with some other shady dealings. I thought all of the staff would walk out when they fired Tim Sullivan, our sportswriter, for not supporting the stadium scam.

"As reporters, we had to clear every line we were even thinking about writing with management to make sure the paper's cronies didn't get mentioned in a bad light. Couldn't investigate our own raging dumpster fire."