Criminal Justice

Randee Green

• Publisher: Coffeetown Press
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN: 9781942078876
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Crime & Mystery Literature
• Index: Literature

After a lifetime of dealing with her family's criminal antics, Detective Carrie Shatner has run out of tolerance. Thanks to their recklessness, the Department of Public Safety has finally caught on to what they've beenup to. Carrie is trying to play both sides against the middle by taking control of her family's criminal organization as she turns over evidence against them.

A Coffeetown Press book published by Epicenter Press

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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Criminal Justice
Copyright © 2022 by Randee Green

ISBN: 978-1-94207-886-9 (Trade Paper)
ISBN: 978-1-94207-887-6 (eBook)

Produced in the United States of America

To my “son”

Alexandr Schmitt

Mama loves you, Bubba J!

Contents

Acknowledgements

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

EPILOGUE

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to my agent, Jessica Alvarez, for believing in both me and Carrie Shatner. And for finding the two of us a home at Camel Press.

And, of course, to Jennifer McCord, and everyone else at Camel Press, thank you so much for all of your hard work and support.

Much love to Alex Schmitt, my son from another mom. And to the rest of my haunt family—you crazies know who you are!

Limitless thanks and smooches to Molly, Daisy, and Snookums for the love and support that only pets can provide. Thank you to my mom for (mostly) not complaining every time that I’ve handed you a new manuscript with the expectation that you find and correct all of my grammatical and punctuation errors. And thank you to my dad for subjecting me to professional wrestling, Star Trek: The Original Series NASCAR, The Doors, and Neil Diamond at such a young age.

I’d also like to thank William Shatner for no other reason than for being William Shatner.

And, of course, Carrie Shatner . . . Thank you for letting me tell your story.

CHAPTER ONE

“Tell me, Carrie . . . How much murder and mayhem have the Shatners been involved in since our last meeting?”

“No murders,” I said as I turned my back on the dilapidated lake house that had been the scene of a murder over fifteen years earlier. And yes, two Shatners were responsible for it. As far as I knew, it was the last time any of my relatives had killed anyone. Blocking the rush of bad memories, I leaned against the rear bumper of my Jeep and faced Lieutenant Alexander Schmitt. “And no mayhem aside from the usual.”

“That you know of . . .” Alberto Ramos grumbled as he slipped a hoodie over his head. The sleeves concealed the tattoos that covered his arms from wrist to shoulder. “There’s a whole heck of a lot going on that you don’t know about.”

“Oh, yeah?” Challenging Alberto, I asked, “And what don’t I know about?”

“Did you know Dale and Dickie jacked a car last night?”

I groaned. “Seriously? No one tells me anything.”

Heat spread across my chest, traveling up my neck to my face as I battled a rising wave of anger and embarrassment. When I got my hands on my cousins, I was going to strangle them. Dale and Dickie were not supposed to steal cars without talking to me about it first. That way I could run the license plate numbers through the system and figure out who the car belonged to.

“How do you know they stole a car?” Schmitt asked his agent.

“Because I helped them steal it,” Alberto said. “And I helped them tear it down and load the parts into a moving van bound for the ports in Houston.”

“What the heck, Alberto?” I balled up my fist and thumped him on the shoulder. “I thought we were supposed to be in this together. But you’re as bad as the rest of them. Committing crimes and not telling me about it until afterwards.”

For about two months now—ever since I had agreed to turn over evidence against my family’s criminal operations—I’d been having weekly meetings with Lieutenant Alexander Schmitt and Agent Alberto Ramos. They both worked for Texas’s Department of Public Safety’s Drug Unit, and they were overseeing the extensive investigation into my family. Alberto was working undercover, and he had done an excellent job duping my family. They had quickly accepted the undercover officer who was masquerading as a career criminal. The name my family knew him by was Beto Sánchez.

“And I thought you were supposed to be the head of your family’s criminal organization,” Alberto mocked me as he swatted my hand away. “But, as far as I can tell, not a single one of them takes you seriously. Okay, maybe three or four of them take you seriously. And that’s only because they like you. The rest of them think you’re a joke.”

“Thanks for the confidence boost,” I said as I shuffled my feet in the loose stones. “I’m doing the best that I can. Besides, it’s not like I want to be in charge. You know the only reason I’m doing it is to help you bring down my family and put a stop to their crimes.”

And to protect my innocent family members.

“Yeah, I know,” Alberto said. “I also know that the only reason you agreed to help us is because we had you backed into a corner. It was either help us and get your slate wiped clean or chance a lengthy stay in prison for all the crimes you’ve committed over the past few years.”

“The only reason I committed those crimes was to keep my family out of trouble,” I hissed. “And, up until recently, it’s not like I really did anything all that horrible. I just shredded speeding tickets and talked people out of pressing charges against certain family members. It’s Murph that covered up the more serious crimes.”

My uncle Murph was the Sheriff of Wyatt County. Before that he was a deputy and then the chief deputy. For over three decades now, he had been using his position to cover up our family’s crimes.

“Sure . . .” Alberto rolled his eyes. “What about the time Naomi shot that guy in the foot?”

“It was barely a flesh wound,” I said, jumping to my cousin’s defense. “And the guy happened to be cheating on his wife. When Naomi found out that she was the ‘other woman’, she took a shot at him. The guy deserved it.”

“I doubt a judge would agree with you,” Alberto said.

“Now, children.” Lieutenant Schmitt clapped his hands and drew our attention to him. His shoulders shook with silent laughter. “Carrie’s right. The two of you are supposed to be working together. Knock off the squabbling before I have to put both of you in timeout.”

I glared at Schmitt. “I’m beginning to think you’re enjoying this, Lieutenant.”

“Oh, I am. Immensely.” Schmitt chuckled. “Every meeting with you is like an episode of my own personal reality show. Actually, it’s even better because it’s real.”

“That’s because we only tell you about the good stuff,” I said. “You don’t have to live with the stress or suffer through t...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements