Adventures of a Bail Bondsman (Part 4) by Valerie Murray

I immediately got out Cherokees application with all his personal info. His only relative was a daughter that lived in Vegas. After speaking to her I was sure she wouldn’t hide him. She practically spat when she heard his name. She wasn’t faking. It made me feel sad. She really hated her father. Cherokee was out there with no one…

We did the normal checks at his haunts and the places he normally scored. Not any luck… Once we put up reward posters, we got calls but nothing really solid. He was probably high on a suppliers couch with a ( hate this term) crack whore til what money he had left was gone. Several days later he was spotted at (go figure) Walmart by T.J.’s brother, DeShawn. He yelled at him and of course Cherokee took off running. DeShawn ended up tripping over a cement parking block and broke his collar bone. Needless to say, this put Cherokees boss in a very bad place. He would not answer any calls and went totally underground even with his business. He was unreachable. I got back in touch with everyone that knew Cherokee including his daughter. At this point, I began to fear for his life.

There were no feelings of sympathy from anyone. So, we waited…. Two long days later, I got a call around 11 PM. You want the Indian? Yes… I said. Pick him up at the BP across from the court…..in 20 minutes. They immediately hung up. Shaking and talking to myself, I threw on some sweats, my boots, grabbed my bag and threw in my gun. I was headed for the BP on my own. There was no time to bring anyone with me. I knew, especially Charlie, would be pissed. But, he was away at Bike Week in Daytona and I could not let the opportunity to pick him up pass.

It was cold and the streets were empty of any life. Getting to the meeting place, I went through a neighborhood of deserted homes with boarded up windows and long lost mom and pop stores. When I reached the lights of the BP, I realized that it was closed. I then took the gun out of my bag and put it in my coat pocket. There was a street light near the corner that gave some visuals but not much. As I pulled in, a man, who I didn’t know came from behind the car wash and asked if I was Valerie. I said yes and he pushed Cherokee towards me and said…He’s yours!! I almost had to catch him. He could barely walk and his face was beaten badly. I helped him to my car to lean on it. When I turned to talk to the man who had asked my name… He was gone as fast as he had appeared. I heard a vehicle start up and pull away from the other side of the BP. I didn’t see what kind it was. I was glad. I didn’t want to know. I asked Cherokee if he needed to go to the hospital. He said he had gotten worse and just wanted to get this over with. I explained that I had a warrant for his arrest and would be taking him to jail. He, of course, already knew. When we got to the jail, I got the warrant and the paperwork out to turn him in. The jailer looked at me like I should be the one arrested. I quickly explained that I got a tip on his location and this was how I found him. I also added that I offered to take him to the ER but he refused. They took him into custody, signed my prisoner surrender sheet and I left saying a silent prayer of gratitude.

Two days later I GOT A FORFEITURE NOTICE FOR THE $ 10,000 BOND saying HE DID NOT SHOW UP IN COURT!! I called not understanding how that could possibly happen. It was explained to me that after he was booked he complained so much that they took him to the hospital for treatment. He slipped the police and walked out of the hospital. He had obviously not been as bad as he looked.

I had to have my attorney go to court to prove that I did “my” job. I got him back in jail within 30 days. I ended up not losing my money. Since he hasn’t been seen since…. I can’t help but think that Cherokee was the one who ended up losing….

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