Jack Del Rio: Complete Trilogy: Reservations, Betrayals, Endgames

by Richard Paolinelli

  Del Rio reached over and placed his hand over the microphone to stop Shirley from responding. Shirley caught the look on Del Rio’s face and raised an eyebrow.

  “Are you sure?” Shirley asked.

  “He really wants to get away before the FBI arrives,” Del Rio replied. “Let’s find out why.”

  “Alright, Jack, your call.”

  Del Rio nodded as Shirley stepped away from the microphone and Del Rio took his place.

  “Did you hear me, Tonto?”

  “Chief Shirley,” Del Rio said as he removed his hand from the microphone. “Is no longer in charge here.”

  “Oh, and who is?”

  “My name is Jack Del Rio and I am a Special Agent with the FBI. How and when you exit that bank remains to be seen, but one thing that is not going to happen is you hurting anyone inside that bank.”

  “Well now hotshot, you wanna bet I won’t kill a hostage just to prove you wrong?”

  “You’re not going to do that.”

  “I’m not? Okay, I’ll play along. Why not?”

  “Because you are going to trade every hostage inside that bank for something even more valuable. When you do, then we’ll talk about how you’re going to leave that bank.”

  “And what am I getting in return for these four Indians?”

  “One FBI Agent,” Del Rio replied calmly. “Me. I’m going to walk in there, those people are going to walk out and then you and I will work out the rest face-to-face. Think of it this way, with me inside, you don’t have to worry about anyone charging the bank. Your call.”

  Shirley put his hand on the microphone this time and shot an incredulous look at Del Rio that matched the look on Nez’s.

  “Have you lost your mind or are you trying to get yourself killed?” Shirley demanded.

  “Neither,” Del Rio said. “And I need a gun.”

  “A gun?”

  “Yes, a gun,” Del Rio said. “Preferably loaded. Because if you think I’m going in there unarmed, you’re crazy.”

  The speaker crackled to life before Shirley could formulate a reply.

  “Ok, hotshot. You’ve got yourself a deal. You come on in, alone and unarmed.”

  “On my way,” Del Rio replied after Shirley moved his hand away. “You have those folks lined up to walk out as I walk in.”

  Del Rio disconnected the call before the reply came. Shirley handed Del Rio a standard issue pistol in an ankle holster and Del Rio strapped it on his right ankle before taking off his jacket.

  “Nez,” he asked. “Let me have your sidearm.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m going to put it in my belt right now and then take it out and lay it down on the ground in plain sight of our friends inside that bank before I walk in there. Maybe, they’ll be just sloppy enough to assume I’m not carrying a second weapon.”

  “You think you’re going to have to shoot it out in there?” Nez asked as he handed over his sidearm.

  “I’m going to try to talk them into realizing they’ve got nowhere to go,” Del Rio said, tucking the pistol in his belt in the small of his back. “And if they decide not to give up, then I’d like something better to shoot at then than a stapler off of the manager’s desk.”

  “You sure about this?” Shirley asked.

  “No. But he didn’t sound like he was willing to wait around for the HRT to arrive. At least I’ll get four innocents out of the line of fire.”

  “What am I supposed to tell the FBI if you’re still inside?”

  “If they come in hot? Don’t shoot me.”

  “Heh,” Shirley chuckled. “What are you going to tell them after? I doubt they’re going to be happy you impersonated an FBI Agent.”

  “Who’s impersonating?” Del Rio quipped. “I never turned in a letter of resignation and no one fired me.”

  “You’re crazy, Jack, you know that?” Shirley called out after Del Rio as he walked toward the bank. “Even for a white man. Crazy.”

  Del Rio ignored his friend as he slowly walked toward the entrance, his hands extended away from his sides, palms open to show he had no weapon in his hand. As he neared the door, he could make out at least two people standing by one of the two doors. He stopped his forward progress when that door swung open. He could see a third person, a man with a gun pointed at the older woman standing in front of him and behind another, younger woman, who had opened the door.

  “I have a gun in my belt,” Del Rio called out. “I’m going to slowly reach behind my back to get it and lay it on the ground out here. That way you know I’m unarmed before I walk in there. Deal?”

  “Nice and easy FBI,” the man with the gun replied, the same voice he’d spoken to over the phone. “Nice and easy.”

  Del Rio slowly pulled the gun from behind his back and just as slowly laid it down on the ground, kicking it away as he straightened back up.

  “Alright FBI, you come on in, we’ll start these folks on their way out.”

  The leader pointed his gun right at Del Rio as he walked to the door. Del Rio stepped aside, just a step before the door and waited.

  “Alright, have it your way, FBI,” the leader said. “Your four, get the hell out of here before I change my mind.”

  “Go ahead folks, it’ll be just fine,” Del Rio assured as the four hostages quickly passed and bolted straight toward the waiting police officers.

  “Alright FBI. You got your hostages, you come the rest of the way in right now.”

  Del Rio crossed the threshold, earning a shove the rest of the way into the bank and he heard the door swing shut behind him, the lock clicking shut ominously. They’d released the manager, two tellers and the lone customer. But Hannah Sanders was still inside with two guns pointed right at her head.

  “Our deal was for all of the hostages,” Del Rio pointed out. “Let her go too.”

  “Oh no, FBI,” the leader replied. “I figured you wouldn’t care much about those Indians. But you’d behave yourself if we had us a white woman with us. She stays. And put your hands down, you look silly.”

  “Thanks,” Del Rio said dryly. “Are you alright, ma’am?”

  “I’m fine, Agent,” Sanders said, her voice shaking slightly. Her left eye was already showing signs of what promised to be a large bruise. What other injuries she might have suffered were not visible, but the sight of that one alone insured at least one of these three men was leaving this bank horizontally.

  “Well now that we’ve dispensed with the pleasantries,” the leader mocked. “Let’s get down to business. You two keep an eye on the front while FBI here and I have ourselves a little chat. You, Miss Sanders, can take a seat right there and keep looking pretty.”

  Del Rio almost made his move then, the man had all but cleared the field for him to start the ball rolling. But he figured the least he could do was to try to end this without shooting up the place.

  “You’ve been busy this week,” Del Rio said, taking a casual step away from Sanders to put her further out of the line of fire. “Third bank, second in as many days.”

  “Well thank you for keeping score, FBI,” the man replied. “We’re just getting started, in case you were wondering.”

  “Any particular reason why? Saving up for a new bike? Disability checks just not cutting it any longer?”

  “You’re funny, FBI, you’re a real comedian.”

  “Yeah, I’m always cracking people up. Look, you’ve been lucky so far. No one’s been killed, or even seriously hurt, and like it or not you’re caught. You’re not walking out of here with any money or hostages.”

  “That true?”

  “It is and you know it. Even if you don’t shoot her or me, or even her and me, they won’t let you go. And if you do shoot one or both of us, they’ll come in here shooting and you three can’t kill them all before they get you.

  “So let’s be smart,” Del Rio continued. “Let’s put down your guns and walk outside. You’ll do some time and be back out before you hit Social Securit
y age. Beats being dead before sunset, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “No,” the leader said. “No, I wouldn’t it. I’ve got a better idea. You either help us walk out of here free and clear, or I shoot you and see what your friends out there are willing to do to keep pretty blonde alive and well…pretty.”

  “Like that is it?”

  “Just like that, FBI.”

  “Well, since you put it that way…”

  * * * * *

  Shirley watched the bank nervously as each minute passed by. He was happy that four of the hostages had been released. No matter what happened next, four lives were no longer in jeopardy. But one hostage had been held back and Shirley knew Del Rio enough to know that, with each minute that passed without the robbers surrendering, sooner or later Del Rio would put an end to the situation.

  When the first shot rang out, Shirley was not the least bit surprised. That first shot was rapidly followed by a second and a third and then there was silence. After a moment, one of the front doors opened and one of the three suspects stepped out, unarmed. After three halting steps he stopped, looked around and then pitched forward to land face first on the pavement. The com center rang then and Shirley hit the answer button.

  “It’s over Terry,” Del Rio’s voice called out. “I’m bringing the other hostage out. The other two suspects are dead in here, like their friend out there.”

  “Come on out, Jack,” Shirley said before raising his voice for his men to hear him clearly. “Everyone stand down, we’ve got friendlies coming out.”

  * * * * *

  “Chief Shirley?”

  “Yes, Agent…?” Shirley said, addressing the closest of the two men in standard-issue FBI suits.

  “Peters,” the man introduced himself and then his partner. “This is Special Agent Parks. We just got in from Flagstaff.”

  “Well, you’re a little late to the party, Agent. It’s pretty much all wrapped up.”

  “Yes, we heard you called off the HRT,” Parks said. “We’re not clear on what went down here.”

  “Pretty simple,” Shirley lied. “We talked them into cutting loose some of the hostages and got one of our guys inside. He saw an opportunity to end the standoff and took it.”

  “We’re still trying to pin down what happened in Flagstaff,” Peters interjected. “Turns out the cameras were taken out before they took down the bank there. We’ve got reports of a female hostage, a reporter. What happened to her?”

  “I can clear that up for you. Turns out she wasn’t a hostage at all. She followed them from Flagstaff to here. Called it in when they walked into the bank.”

  “Why didn’t she call before?”

  “You’ve never been out here before, have you?” Shirley said. “Unless you are right in town getting cell service can be damn near impossible. She called in as soon as she could, main reason why we were able to take them down before they could get away.”

  “If she followed them here, where’s her car?” Peters asked.

  “One of my men drove it back to her hotel in Flagstaff for her,” Shirley said, wondering just when he got this good at lying through his teeth. “We’ll drive her back to Flagstaff after we’re done getting her report. We’ll get you a copy of that too.”

  “We’re going to talk to her ourselves and we’ll need to talk to your man as well,” Parks said.

  “He’s heading back to HQ,” Shirley said. “Standard debrief after an officer-involved shooting. We’ll send you a full report.”

  “Bank robbery is a federal issue, Chief,” Peters replied sternly.

  “Not when it involves a Navajo-owned, Navajo Nation backed bank on the Res,” Shirley said, his tone conveying the point was closed for further discussion. “The money they stole in Flagstaff is in the trunk of their car. There’s probably some of the money from the Kingman robbery in there too. They never made it outside with this bank’s money, so you’re welcome to the bags, the car and if you want them, all three bodies so you can close the other two robberies

  “Far as we’re concerned,” Shirley continued. “This is a good shoot, all three suspects are dead so we won’t have to worry about a trial. I figure we’ll have this all wrapped up in time for dinner tonight.”

  “We’d like to see the video from inside,” Parks asked, not happy with the way the conversation was proceeding.

  “Must be some kind of bug going around,” Shirley answered with his best poker face. “The cameras were down here too.”

  In fact, the disc that would show all of the camera feeds was in the back of Shirley’s car, currently being driven by Nez back to Window Rock with Del Rio and Sanders along for the ride. Shirley had decided to do what he could to keep the FBI off his friend’s back if he could. It was up to Del Rio to sort out what Sanders’ next move was going to be.

  “That going to be the official report here?” Parks asked, not buying what he’d been told but not sure how he could prove he was being lied to.

  “Well, we’re still working the scene here. But yes, that is probably going to be the final report. My officers will help you load up the bodies and the car when you’re ready to take them back to Flagstaff. If you’ll excuse me?”

  Shirley walked away to give his officers their final instructions. He’d briefed them very quickly not five minutes before the FBI arrived on what to say, and not to say, to the government men. When he finished, he got into Nez’s vehicle and drove off to Window Rock, leaving two very frustrated FBI Agents in his wake.

  * * * * *

  Over her objections, Nez stopped at the small hospital in Fort Defiance to have Sanders checked out. She’d been knocked around a bit and, while nothing was broken, she’d carry around quite a few bruises. She’d been terrified during the hours she’d been held captive, but the doctor reported some good news to Nez and Del Rio as they waited outside.

  “She wasn’t sexually assaulted,” the doctor said. “She’ll probably have her share of nightmares for a while, and may need to deal with some psychological scars, but she won’t have to deal with any major physical trauma.”

  Nez drove them back to HQ and got Sanders statement – the FBI would get a much different version of course – and Del Rio hung around to offer whatever support he could.

  “I think that will do it,” Nez said when he filled in the last area of the report form. “We’ll contact you if we have anything else to add. We can drive you back to Flagstaff or put you up at the hotel here if you prefer.”

  “I can drive you wherever you like,” Del Rio spoke up suddenly. “My truck is less conspicuous to arrive somewhere in than a cop car is. No offense, Jon.”

  “None taken, Mr. Rivers,” Nez replied. “Besides Miss Sanders, you’re probably safer riding with him than me if someone starts bothering you. You’ve seen how well he shoots.”

  “Yes, I have,” Sanders replied quietly, still a little rattled by the events of the past day but rallying back. “And I’ll take you up on that offer of a lift on one condition?”

  “That is?” Del Rio asked.

  “No more of this Mr. Rivers act, Agent Del Rio.”

  “Call me Jack,” Del Rio said and led her out of the station and out to his truck. “So where do you want to go? The hotel here is not too bad but I can get you back to Flagstaff if you want.”

  “Either way,” she replied after a moment. “I’m sure the FBI will be knocking on my door first thing in the morning.”

  “Likely,” Del Rio affirmed.

  “I’d just as soon not deal with them for a few days.”

  “Can’t say as I blame you.”

  “So,” she said slowly. “I can think of only one place where the FBI isn’t going to be able to knock on my door.”

  “Where’s that?” Del Rio asked.

  “There’s this little hole in the wall place I visited the other day near Tuba City. Seems like a good place to drop out of sight and get away from the rest of the world for a while.”

  Del Rio shot her a look, but
said nothing as he drove out of Window Rock. The road they were on would take them, eventually, to Flagstaff. But it was going in the same direction where Del Rio’s place was too. Two silent miles passed before he spoke.

  “You sure about that?”

  “Yes,” she said. “There’s a few more questions I’d like to ask you about what happened to you before you became Rivers. If I’m going to keep your secret, the least you can do is trust me with all of it.”

  “And when you finally have all of my story, you’re just going to sit on it and never write it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “You saved my life today, Jack,” she said. “I heard what they were planning to do with me if they got away. It seems like ruining your life would be a shitty thing to do as thanks for that.”

  “Well, I can’t say that I disagree. I can say I’m surprised though. If you’re sure about this, you can stay at my place as long as you like.”

  “And the rest of your story?”

  “As long as it stays between the two of us?” he asked, waiting for her to nod her head in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll tell you the rest of it.”

  “Good,” she said, suddenly placing her hand over his where he rested it on the stick shift. “And, Jack?”

  “Yes?” he replied, surprised by the warmth that suddenly raced up his right arm.

  “Thank you.”

  “All part of the service, ma’am,” Del Rio replied, smiling for what felt like to him the first time in years.

  EIGHT

  “Mr. Brandengarter will see you now, Mr. Hansen,” said the executive secretary from her position as gatekeeper to the inner sanctum of one of the richest men in the world. Her bearing was that of a stern Catholic nun with the temperament of a bar bouncer suffering a permanent toothache.

  Irvin Hansen merely nodded his thanks as he walked past her desk and opened the unmarked teak door. It took more than what she brought to the table to intimidate him and he had a report to deliver to his boss.

  “Irvin,” Brandengarter greeted his personal head of security as he looked up from the financial report on an airline he was considering acquiring. “I trust by your presence here that you bring good news.”