Crown's Law Read Free Page A

of putting up
with Jastro’s shit charges. I’m tired of fighting with the idiots
around here.”
    Sam stood and placed his badge and gun on
Reese’s desk. He pulled a folded paper out of his inside jacket
pocket and laid it next to his gun.
    “My resignation, Charlie. All I’ve ever
wanted is to help the victims and their families, but I can’t fight
the system anymore. It takes too much effort,” said Sam, a note of
sadness in his voice.
    “Oh shit, Sam! You can’t do this! You’ve got
17 years in. Just calm down and we’ll figure out a way for you to
hang in and get a pretty good pension. I can make you a lieutenant
over in narcotics. I’ll shut Jastro up somehow!” moaned Reese.
    “You know my answer to that, Charlie, but
thanks for caring.”
    “You’ve got a ton of enemies on the street,
Sam. What’ll happen when they find out you’re without a badge?”
    “Shit, Charlie! Do you think it’s my badge
that protects me on the street? Send that asshole Jastro out into
the real world and see how long his badge keeps him alive. Besides,
I’ll still be packin’. I got my P.I. license sometime ago. Also, a
bodyguard license. I knew this moment was inevitable, and I don’t
want to be naked in the streets.”
    “Hell, Sam, if you’re set on doing this, stay
off the streets! Go enjoy the good life,” said Reese.
    “This was the good life, Charlie. Whatever I
do now won’t be as good. Who’s gonna be an advocate for all those
victims out there now? Jastro? You? All the friggin’ laws favor the
perps. The victims and their families are left blowin’ in the
wind.”
     

Part 1
     
Crazy Horse
     
    “ It’s a good day to fight;
    it’s a good day to die.”
     
    Crazy Horse (1849-1877)
    A Chief of the Sioux Nation
     

Chapter 1
     
    June 1970
    Capistrano Beach, CA
     
    Samuel Crown was not listed as “Most Likely
to Succeed” in his high school year book. In fact, the only
reference to him was under the group picture of the San Clemente
High School graduating class of 1970.
    There were some juicy entries handwritten by
several of the girls who had surrendered their virginity to him. He
wasn’t a bad student—he had a B average—and he was quite popular,
but he had spent only his freshman and senior years at the high
school. Much of his time had been spent elsewhere—subject to his
father’s work assignments.
    His father, John Crown, was in the CIA and
was moved about quite a bit. Sometimes Sam and his mother Helena
went with him, sometimes they did not—depending on the location and
security level of the assignment. Sam had spent time in schools in
Spain, England, Italy, Holland, and Turkey—not to mention several
stateside cities. He got to spend his senior year at San Clemente
High School in San Clemente, California only because his father was
stationed somewhere they couldn’t be—Vietnam.
    So Sam contented himself with being a surfer
in pursuit of easy girls and big waves, since it was not really
feasible for him to get involved in school activities or organized
sports in his senior year. Too many cliques develop over the course
of four years of high school, and he had been absent for two
critical years.
    His social calendar was full, however, since
he lived in Capistrano Beach on the renowned Beach Road—right on
the beach. He was quite famous for his parties and he always had a
bevy of beautiful beach bunnies swarming around him.
    Capistrano Beach is a sleepy, comfortable
community in Southern California nestled between Dana Point Harbor
on the north, and San Clemente on the south. The elite area of the
community is the Capistrano Bay District, a Community Services
District run by a Board of Directors. This district consists of two
and a quarter miles of road running along the south-facing beach,
and has a guard gate at the west end—blocking entry to all except
residents and their invited guests. The name of the street is Beach
Road and nearly everyone referred to the private