Desert Quicksand

Desert Quicksand

A Mystery Novel

the Smashwords Edition of

a C.G. Francis Publication

Copyright © 2011 by Cecil Francis

Smashwords License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment. It may not be resold or given away. If you would like to share this book, please purchase an additional copy for each person with whom you want to share it. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or if it was not purchased for your use only, please return to the same bookseller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction, a product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance or similarity to any actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Credits

Cover artwork by Patricia Glenn.

Editing, formatting and cover design by Harvey Stanbrough.

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Acknowledgments

To Patricia Glenn, an artist who paints with acrylics, for all the words of encouragement. Your constantly saying, You can do it! helped me do it. Thank you so much.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Epilogue

About the Author

Desert Quicksand

A Mystery Novel

Cecil Francis

Prologue

The dark clouds and high humidity were sure signs that the Arizona monsoon was here again today. The Allied Armored Security truck had just started down the long hill, just south of Sunset Point, on I-17 heading towards Phoenix. Traffic was exceptionally light, on this midday Friday' final run of the week.

A speeding van pulled up along the driver's side of the fast moving truck, and from the passenger's side window rapid-fire shots rang out. Three tires on the armored truck exploded and the truck swung violently side to side. Finally it veered off the road into a shallow ditch and flipped over onto its right side.

The van stopped, and more shots were fired. The truck's oil pan and gas tank exploded, engulfing the truck in flames. Moments later the truck's rear door opened and two uniformed guards stumbled out, coughing and choking from the heavy smoke and heat.

Two men jumped from the van. The one holding an automatic rifle fired multiple shots into the guards, killing them. The second man ran quickly into the truck, returning with a heavy leather and canvas bag. As the men ran back to the van, two single shots rang out.

As the traffic began slowing to see what was happening, the van sped off.

Moments later a highway patrol vehicle arrived.

Four men were dead: the two guards with multiple wounds, and two men dressed in black, each with a single shot in the chest.

Witnesses provided several descriptions of the vehicle that sped away, some saying it was black or blue or even green. Some said it was a van or SUV, and some said it was a panel truck.

At 2 p.m. a report came over the radio of a small fire and suspicious van blocking the driveway of the Triple A Diner in Black Canyon City.

The young Yavapai County Sheriffs officer responding to that call found a dark gray van blocking the driveway. A radio check of the license plate reported the van had been stolen in Deer Valley earlier that morning. The fire was in the dumpster behind the diner, but it had been extinguished before the officer arrived. Realizing what was possibly involved, the officer notified the F.B.I.

Peggy Crawford, the waitress, was wiping the empty booth tables, when the officer approached her.

Miss, who reported the fire and the suspicious van?

The cook, Peggy said. Salvador Sanchez. Sal said he went out to dump the trash at one p.m. and the van wasn't there. When he went back out around 2 p.m. with more trash, the dumpster was on fire and the van was there.

Were there any customers here at the time?

There were six people here then; five are still here. Let's see, coffee and pie on Table Four, a local couple. BLT and soup on Table Seven, snowbirds, I think. Cheeseburger and pie on Table One, a tall guy with a beard. There was another guy, a cowboy, here at the time. He wanted his Thermos filled with coffee, and pie to go. He left when all the commotion started.

To confirm the waitress' statements, the officer interviewed those remaining.

Table Four was Ronald and Mary Coleman, who lived on Main Street in Black Canyon City. They had walked to the diner for lunch and hadn't seen anything unusual.

At Table Seven were Arnold and Stella Pelletier from Lansing Michigan. They had come down from Flagstaff, and they also didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. They were on their way to Phoenix to visit their daughter.

The last man, at Table One, was Eric Stone from Willcox, Arizona. He said he was returning from a sightseeing trip at the Grand Canyon. He also said he'd seen nothing unusual as he came down I-17.

A short time later, the van was loaded onto a flat-bed tow truck, with instructions from the F.B.I. to be taken to Phoenix for evidence.

Two weeks later, it was reported that the only fingerprints found in the van were of the two black-clad robbers who had been found dead at the scene. Each of them were killed by a single 38 caliber slug. Powder residue from the automatic rifle was found on the passenger side window frame.

Allied Armored Services offered a $100,000 reward. First Bank of Phoenix offered $50,000 for information leading to the money or to the person or persons involved. Neither Allied nor First Bank would specify how much money was taken or whether the money was marked or serialized.

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Chapter One

Two Years Later

On a warm sunny Sunday morning just south of Sierra Vista, Arizona, Jeff and Millie Harris were on the patio of their ranch home off Moson Road in Cochise County.

With the clear blue sky, the view of the Huachuca Mountains to the west was impressive. The green trees and rock outcroppings were magnificent.

Jeff had been grumbling all morning about the mounting bills and his lack of work. For the past six years, he had worked as a carpenter in the booming Sierra Vista housing market. The recent slowdown, caused by credit and foreclosure problems, had forced W. L. Spellman, the general contractor, to lay off most of the construction subcontractors. This was the fifth month Jeff had been out of work. The $ 30,000 dollars they had invested with Henry Clauson, a business manager in Tucson, was gone. Henry had invested the money with some money manager in New York. Jeff was not sure he had ever heard the money manager's name.

Now it appeared that the investment was some sort of Ponzi scheme, where the new investors were supplying the twelve percent Jeff had been earning in interest for the past four years. The whole operation had collapsed and all the money was gone.

With a $1300 hundred dollar monthly mortgage and a $270 dollar truck payment along with all the other household expenses, their modest savings was fast being depleted. With each passing week, Jeff became more frustrated and worried.

Millie, thought, I know he's frustrated, but I don't know why he is so grumpy and grouchy. After all, I'm the one sitting here with a cast on my arm and leg! She was able to get around in a wheelchair, if someone pushed her. With only one good arm, controlling the chair by herself was impossible. She also had a broken pelvis from the automobile accident in December.

Jeff had pushed her out onto the patio but had left her at the umbrella table in the middle of the patio, while he went back into the shade of the roof next to the wall and the small refrigerator that held his beer.

The accident had happened the previous December, on the 11th. Millie was on her way to work at the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center on Highway 90, where she was an office assistant.

She was at the stop light at the intersection of Moson Road and Highway 90, waiting for the left turn arrow so she could head west to the Health Center.

For a brief second she thought she saw a black car coming from the left. Her first memory after that was waking up in a strange room with a curtain around her bed.

She couldn't move, as she was somehow restrained to the bed, and had tubes stuck into her arms and up her nose.

Shortly after she woke up, a nurse came in. Hi, she said. Welcome back. My name is Denise. How are you feeling?

I think I hurt like hell.

I don't doubt it. You got pretty broken up,