CHAPTER 52

After that I spent the next thirty minutes helping the cadets shoot. I was especially amazed at the accuracy Aimee Johnstone exhibited. When I asked her she explained, "My uncle Anthony taught me to shoot. My father disappeared when I was two and my mom is in prison for burglaries she committed while she was addicted to crack cocaine. Uncle Anthony and Aunt Sonya took me in. We live on a small farm and sometimes we had to rely on rabbits or squirrels or raccoons for meat and we always had to deal with rats in the barn. I shot them too…still do on occasion."

"Just keep in mind that there's a huge difference between shooting an animal and shooting a human being. I explained my reactions after shooting the man who had taken George hostage. "My reactions vary depending on the circumstances," I told her loudly enough so others could hear. "I had no reaction when I had to kill a drug runner because he was shooting at me—trying to kill me—but I wanted the hostage situation to end peacefully and I felt that I had failed." I left with Paul then to discuss my speech. I had been reluctant when I mentioned it to Lucy, but she was thrilled.

"It's a chance of a lifetime, Matt. Everyone will know who you are."

"Maybe, but that's not necessarily a positive thing. It's in four months. Do you think you'll be able to come with me?"

"Of course, silly, but I'll check with Dr. Murphy if that will make you feel better." It did so I began to work on my remarks immediately. Rather than play the hero I decided to downplay my role, knowing that the audience of experienced law enforcement officers could read between the lines. It took a while, but after almost a month I recited it for Lucy and she approved, telling me that she loved my special surprise. That had taken a bit of research on the phone. Finally, I was done with it and, after reviewing my notes and practicing for weeks I was ready.

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The Memphis Police Academy takes twenty-two weeks to complete so the graduates would be ready to join the force only three weeks before the conference. I spent a lot of time with Daryl, Dan, and D'Anthony—a lieutenant I had hired away from Nashville—to review who we wanted to serve as training officers. And what shifts to use them on. All officers would eventually work every shift, changing every month. Despite a quality experience at the Police Academy new recruits still had a lot to learn so picking their training officers would be a critical step for them. Perhaps the most critical step would be getting the officers to agree to the added responsibility. I relied heavily on Dan for that.

Making arrangements for travel with Max wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Jonathan just rented an executive jet. Getting Caesar's Palace to accept him was harder, but once again my father-in-law's influence prevailed.

We left from Memphis on Sunday morning, arriving at McCarron around noon. We had no trouble getting a cab at that hour even with Max, but the bellmen were terrified even when I had told Max to heel and we walked into the cavernous lobby. I paid for everything on my personal credit card—the city reimbursing my expenses once I was back at work.

After registering for the conference and getting my ID and lanyard, we wandered around the casino and Lucy kept Max at heel the entire time. There was immediate shock and surprise from the other patrons, but that evaporated once they saw how well behaved and trained Max was. We returned to our room at four to shower, shave and dress and then went to the ballroom. Lucy and I entered through the center door as I told Max to SIT and STAY. Lucy and I then proceeded down the center aisle to a table off to the right that was reserved for the dignitaries and the keynote speaker—me.

Paul was there waiting for us and he greeted Lucy then me, asking where Max was. "He's here, but he's waiting outside. I'm sure you'll see him in a bit. We sat and I took notice of the stage. As I had been told it was only four feet above the main floor. Lucy and I ordered Cokes while salads were placed at each seat.

Dinner was pretty much what I expected—a decent tossed salad with ranch dressing followed by chicken breast, stuffing, and mashed potatoes along with string beans. Dessert was a chocolate fudge cake covered with chocolate sauce with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I'm not a big fan of chicken unless it's southern fried, but the food was okay and I ate it, especially when Lucy reminded me that we had missed lunch. Once the coffee and tea was served the organization's president stepped to the podium for some introductory remarks. Then he introduced Paul as the chairman of the program committee.

"Thank you, Fred; it is indeed a pleasure to introduce an old friend and colleague. Matt Cahill is currently the Chief of Police in Bascomb's Landing—a small city in southwestern Tennessee, but I think that all of us already know that, either from the conference literature or from the national news. Matt joined the Navy after high school where he became a military police officer once he had completed basic training. After four years he left the Navy to study Criminology at the University of North Carolina, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in three years. He then became a United States Marshal where he had one of the highest arrest records in the history of the service. I will tell you that he was the best partner I ever had as a Marshal. He left the service about six months ago to take his current position. I've asked Matt to describe his involvement in stopping a multi-million dollar drug ring after only six weeks on the job. It is my distinct pleasure to introduce my very close friend, Matt Cahill."

I stood and, after kissing Lucy's cheek, walked up the steps to my right, stopping to shake hands with Paul, hugging him in the process. "Thanks for the great intro, Paul. It's nice to know that I was your best partner when we were Marshals. Unfortunately, you only tied for second best with Daryl. Daryl Evans is now my second-in-command at Bascomb's Landing." I waved my hand to one of the employees at the rear of the large room as I raised the whistle to my lips. After two short blasts he opened the door and hastily stepped out of the way as Max tore down the aisle, leaping up onto the stage where he stopped quickly at my side.

"Yes, my best partner for the past six years is my dog, Max. Actually, his name is Maximilian von, something that I can never remember. Max is smarter than a lot of the people I've met during that time and as you can see he's looking around the room for my wife, Lucy." I bent at the waist and pointed to her. Lucy waved and Max relaxed, sitting to my side.

"Okay, now let me tell you how I engineered the destruction of a major drug ring that had plagued our area for years. It all began when I got lost. I had to detour off I-40 west of Memphis and between the darkness and the heavy rain it was all I could do to see the road. I drove until I saw lights in the parking lot at Lulu Belle's Diner in Bascomb's Landing, Tennessee. The woman inside offered me her couch for the night in return for a ride to her mobile home. As you can see I'm pretty big and her couch was pretty small—more a loveseat than a couch--so she told me I should just sleep with her. That alone should tell you everything you need to know about the woman who is now my wife. I wound up staying with her for more than a week until the weather cleared up. On Friday Max and I were in the local diner when two gunmen tried to pull a stick-up. Max took one and I took the other. I had mine handcuffed in a minute and Max had broken eight bones in the man's hand, wrist, and arm in a lot less time. No shots were fired and none of the fifty customers and staff was injured. It was the following day when I learned that the woman who had taken me in was Lucille Bascomb. Right—Bascomb as in Bascomb's Landing.