How I met Judge De Rubio

The Santa Cruz comment stopped Terwillieger in mid motion. He knew that I knew how to get to him.

"Contact your ex partner Mumber and see if he has any good ideas to get Mr. Maloof out of prison. Oh, and tell him to keep his dick out of Mrs. Maloof."

As I opened the door I turned to Terwilliger and said," I suggest that you wait a few minutes before you leave. My friends in the hall don't like you. Oh, and there is a time limit on my patience. So get started on Maloof's release real soon."

I closed the door and walked down the empty hall to the back exit. I removed my disguise and slid it into the trunk of my car. I was on I-80 headed East inside of twelve minutes. The fake Nevada plates showing to all whom cared to look.

ONE YEAR LATER

I met with Paul Ingles. It was a verbal report only as we sat and drank tea.

Paul started; "Mr. Maloof was released from prison about seven months ago. A confidential informant had come forward and told detective Terwilliger that indeed Maloof had been setup.

The CI that set him up had since been killed in Mexico. Maloof was set up because would not launder drug money."

"Did Judge De Rubio run for reelection? I asked.

"De Rubio did not run for re-election. She retired and moved to South Carolina to be close to her daughter and grand kids."

I wondered if Terwilliger had any impact on her decision. It didn't matter; she was off of the bench and out of the state of California.

Paul continued, "The Maloffs moved to Eugene to be near their daughter, son-in-law and grand kids. The daughter and her husband own a medium sized accounting firm and hired both mom and dad to work for them. They do everything together, making up for lost time."

"Hey, a question", I asked, "is Terwilliger still fucking the convict druggies wife?" I asked.

"Don't know, don't care. Do y'a want me to find out? It'll cost yah."

"Nope. Just curious I guess." was my reply.

Paul continued, "I went to Oregon and met with Mrs. Maloof late last year. I started to tell her our story and she was sure that I was going to blackmail her again. She called her husband and daughter into her office where we were meeting.

There were a few tense moments until the daughter insisted on hearing the story.

Mrs. Maloof had already told her husband of the deal she made with Mumber. I guess the husband was amazed by what the wife did to keep him safe in prison. It was just a strengthening of their relationship.

As I told the story the tension in the room seemed to lessen except for the daughter, Becky. She was just incensed by the fact that one person could ruin her parent's life.

I gave her the same advice that you got in the hospital, "Let it go. Mumber's partner set it straight and Mumber himself had disappeared."

When we were done, Maggie was crying and pleading with me to deliver her most profound "Thank you" to you. A thank you on behalf of her, her husband and the whole family.

There were questions that she had asked that I couldn't answer. Like: who you were, and what happened to Detective Mumber?"

After a long swig of ice tea he asked, "By the way, what did happen to Detective Mumber?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I hear he's alive and doing well," Was my cryptic reply.

His reply gesture was one of disbelief, but he went on, "Mrs. Polly Mumber filed for and got a divorce. Yeah I guess I did send pictures of her husband fucking Mrs. Maloof. The divorce was uncontested as her husband did not show up at the hearings. As a matter of fact, her husband hasn't shown up anywhere for quite some time. The family court judge was not very sympathetic, but did relent and sign the decree."

Paul squeezed the lemon into his tea and smiled as he continued, "I met Polly, Mumber's wife, twelve years ago when I was that ass whole's partner. I had always thought that Polly was a sweet heart and if we were ever free at the same time, I would ask her out.

I kept an eye on Polly and when she started to date again, I accidentally bumped into her at the grocery store. We hit it off right away and a year later we ran off together to a secret place on the Gulf coast.

We changed our names on the outside chance that Mumber was still alive and would certainly come looking for her. He was a possessive and controlling son-of-a-bitch and she was afraid of him too."

Paul looked right at me and said, "When I was Brian's partner some years earlier. I would not go along with an evidence theft. That evidence was a large cache of drugs and money, I mean lots of money. An entire suitcase full.

A few weeks later Mumber set me up with drugs in my home and told me to either resign or he would call in an anonymous tip that drugs were in my house and that I was a dealer.

My then wife Lucille left me when I told her what the situation was. She thought I was weak and should have stood up to Brian if I was innocent.

I tried to explain the realities of life to her, but she just assumed that I was guilty of the drug charges and left one day while I was looking for a new job."

After a long silence I asked Paul, "How did the Maître d' at the country club know to give me your number?"

Paul smiled, "He is a long time friend that also suffered at the hands of that ass Mumber."

We shook hands and he headed for the airport. I headed south on US 99.

Two days later

Mr. Brian Mumber was released from his truck body prison. I personally dumped his ass out of a box van on a lonely road near Temecula. He was quite drunk at the time.

This was the last time I heard from anyone regarding my meeting with Judge De Rubio.