“I’ll be sure to thank him for that,” Del Rio said. “I guess this will be the last time we meet, given the circumstances.”
“I guess it is,” Archer said sadly. “The official policy will be you just don’t exist. Stay here Jack, don’t ever come off. There’s nothing out there for you any longer.”
“I suppose not,” Del Rio agreed, holding out his hand. “Thanks for coming out, Dave.”
“Least I could do for a friend,” Archer replied, taking the offered hand. “You take care of yourself, Jack.”
“You too.”
Del Rio watched as his friend drove away, another loss added to the ledger.
“You okay?” Sanders asked.
“No, but I will be,” he said quietly. “C’mon, let’s eat and take that ride.”
That ride turned out to be exactly what Del Rio needed, lifting his spirits as he rode around his land. It was getting close to noon before they rode back into view of his house and the large black SUV parked out front.
“I need to start shutting that gate 24/7 at this rate,” Del Rio remarked as he spotted the vehicle and the lone man standing near the rear passenger door.
“Who is it?” Sanders asked.
“It can’t be anyone from the Feds and those isn’t Navajo Nation car either,” he observed. “Let’s ride in cautious. Try to keep me between you and them in case they aren’t friendly.”
They rode on in, dismounting and tying off the horses to the gate of the corral, with Del Rio keeping a wary eye on the mysterious vehicle. Only when he started walking toward it did the man in the dark suit move to open the door.
A lone man got out, dressed in what would pass for business casual on Wall Street, and waved at Del Rio as he walked toward him.
“The infamous Jack Del Rio at long last. My name is Ellison Brandengarter and I’m very pleased to meet you, young man.”
“I know who you are,” Del Rio replied, ignoring the hand Brandengarter held out. “What brings you to my door?”
“I was hoping to talk to you about my plans for the future, for this country.”
“And what makes you think I would be concerned about any of that?”
“Because I know all about you. I know you’ve been put through hell these past few years by people looking to destroy this great country. I know you’ve just recently returned from giving those same people a taste of that hell.”
“Even assuming that all is true,” Del Rio said, affecting his very best poker face. “Why does any of that matter to you?”
“Because I intend to do something about it, Mr. Del Rio,” Brandengarter said earnestly. “And I’d like your help to accomplish it, perhaps payback those people for all they’ve taken from you.”
“And if I choose not to help you?”
“Then I’d at least like to know you won’t try to interfere.”
“You seem to put a lot of stock in my abilities.”
“I told you, I know all about you. If there is one person on the face of this Earth capable of stopping what must be done, I believe it is you. All I’m asking is that you hear me out and then we’ll leave.”
“Alright, come inside and make your pitch. But you only. Tell your apes to stay outside.”
“That doesn’t seem too friendly.”
“My house, my rules and you’re the one itching to talk to me. You can hop back in your car and get the hell off my land without another word and I won’t shed a tear.”
Brandengarter’s bodyguard flinched at being called an ape and took a step forward, stopping when his boss waved him back.
“No, he’s right. This is his house. Very well, Mr. Del Rio, if the price of admission is for me to go alone, so be it. Shall we get started?”
Del Rio led his visitor to the door, with Sanders following and closing it behind her, throwing the lock for good measure with a stern look at their visitor, who merely shrugged it off, amused.
“Let’s get this over with,” Del Rio said, waving at Brandengarter to take a seat on the couch while he and Sanders claimed the two armchairs.
“You seem impatient.”
“I find I haven’t much time anymore for all of this intrigue. Life is too short to waste on this nonsense.”
“Yes, life is too short indeed,” Brandengarter agreed. “And how much time, how many lives have been wasted by those trapped in the D.C. culture? Those people, they live in a virtual cesspool of greed, callously throwing away the lives of those they are supposed to serve. Destroying people’s livelihoods, crushing their hopes and dreams of a better life for themselves and their children and all in the pursuit of gathering more wealth and power for themselves than they’ll ever need or use.”
“That seems an odd point of view to be coming from a multi-billionaire,” Sanders accused. “You’ve made your pile of money, built up your power base.”
“Oh, you are very correct about that, my dear,” he admitted. “I joined right in and played the game, better than so many others. And then one day I looked around and discovered something about myself, about all of it, that opened my mind for good.
“I saw what we were doing to people who’d done us no harm,” he continued. “I saw that those people would never be free to achieve the American Dream, the one we all grew up being told we could achieve, unless something was done to break the hold a small circle of the powerful elite enjoyed.
“And in that moment,” he added. “When I realized I was just as guilty as the rest I vowed to use every penny, every ounce of power, I had accumulated to bring it all to an end and restore to those people the country our Founders originally envisioned. At any cost.”
“What exactly does that mean, Mr. Brandengarter?” Del Rio asked.
“Surgery, Mr. Del Rio,” Brandengarter answered. “There is a cancer on the nation and the tumor is located in D.C. It must be removed, completely, for the rest of the body to heal and to grow strong again.”
“You’re talking about removing the existing government. Some folks call that treason. If you know me as well as you say, you know I don’t mix well with people who think that way.”
“Oh, I am well aware of the people you dispatched over four years ago. But they wanted to hand over the country to our enemies. I intend to hand the country over to the people.
“The centralized Federal government was supposed to confine itself to actions beyond our shores and borders,” Brandengarter continued. “Defense, trade and treating with foreign countries. The interior matters were to be left to the states. But we’ve gotten away from that and with each passing year the federal reach has extended into matters it has no business in and all for the betterment of a chosen few.
“I want to replace the people running the government, Jack,” Brandengarter added. “All of them, not just the politicians. The bureaucrats, the lobbyists, any and all who have been responsible for maintaining the corruption. Bring in people who truly believe that public servants are there to serve the greater good of the people and not to be serviced by the people.”
“There’s only one way you can accomplish that,” Del Rio warned.
“Yes, I know. Blood will be spilled and lots of it. But it is the only way now to free us from the system our country is ensnared in.”
“This new government of yours,” Sanders asked angrily. “You’ll be at its head of course, deciding who enjoys the spoils of your victory?”
“No,” Brandengarter replied sadly. “You are wrong there, miss. When the deed is done, the person I’ve chosen to be sworn in as President will not be me. In fact, she doesn’t even know I’ve chosen her or is even aware of my plans. She will truly be innocent in this and able to have the moral authority to lead us to the future we deserve.”
“So after you’ve saved the country,” Del Rio asked. “After your great victory is secured. You’re just going to pack up and leave?”
“No. I expect I will spend the rest of my life in a prison cell, Jack. And I will happily spend every minute there if we s
ucceed.”
“How exactly do you plan on doing this?” Del Rio asked, then pressed his visitor when the man hesitated to answer. “You came to me. If you want my help or at the very least my promise to stay out of your way, you’re going to have to tell me or hit the road.”
“Very well. I’ll have to trust in your sense of justice then. I have a very small, very well-trained army in place to move at the appointed time against the entire Federal government in D.C. and several other states and institutions that will struggle very hard to maintain their grips on power.”
“The military would never stand for it,” Sanders protested. “They would move against you and crush you before you got started.”
“Would they, Miss Sanders?”
“You’ve got some Generals up your sleeve?” Del Rio asked, seeing the plan and weighing its chances. “Even an Admiral and a Governor or two, don’t you? It’s the only way you’d dare try this and have any hope of pulling it off. You make your move and the military stands down – or is delayed in responding just long enough – for you to finish the job.”
“That’s a very basic outline,” Brandengarter admitted. “But you’ve got the gist of it.”
“How can you be sure what you replace it with will be any better?” Sanders asked.
“I can’t guarantee that it will,” he admitted. “All I can state is that we will try. Besides, can we really do any worse? Can you honestly look at the way things are now and say it will ever get anything but worse?”
“I don’t know,” she replied. “But there will be so many innocent people that will get caught up in this. They will be hurt, even killed. How can you justify that?”
“A necessary evil, and the reason why I will willingly hand myself over at the end of this as payment for every single one of those innocent lives. It isn’t a perfect solution, but something must be done or we are all lost. I cannot stand by and be a part of this system any longer, nor can I just take my fortune, shrug my shoulders and just walk away.”
“Jack, you can’t buy into this,” Sanders pleaded, looking over at Del Rio who had fallen strangely quiet. “After all you’ve just been through, surely you can’t condone this.”
But Del Rio held his silence, getting up from his chair to look outside the window.
“Jack?” she asked again, but the silence held.
“Perhaps because of what he’s just been through,” Brandengarter remarked. “Especially on top of everything else, he sees that I am right.”
“I don’t know if I would say that, Brandengarter,” Del Rio finally said, turning to face the room again, his face troubled. “Nor can I give you an answer either way right now. All I will promise you is this: I won’t tip anyone off, nor will Hannah, until I’ve given you my answer.”
“I guess that will have to do for now, thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Right now my standing with the outside world is such that I doubt they’d listen to me anyway. I’m sure you can find your way back to your car and you’ll do me the favor of never showing up here again. You might not get such a pleasant welcome the next time.”
“I understand,” Brandengarter said, getting up to leave. “Goodbye , Mr. Del Rio, Miss Sanders.”
Del Rio watched until the car departed, then closed the gate and activated the top security setting, not wanting to receive any more guests.
“What are you going to do, Jack?” Sanders asked, worried about his current state of mind and afraid that something of Brandengarter’s plans might have touched whatever part of Del Rio’s soul that might still thirst to avenge all that he’d lost over the years.
“I don’t know, Hannah,” he said his voice hollow and haunted. “God help me, I honestly don’t know.”
“Before you do anything,” Sanders said. “There’s a message I got, an e-mail, and I think you need to see it first before you decide to do anything.”
NINTEEN
“Jack Del Rio,” Yazzie exclaimed as Del Rio walked into his office. “You’re probably the last person I expected to be announced as waiting outside my door. What happened to John Rivers?”
“It seems silly to keep that up under the circumstances,” Del Rio replied as he sat in front of the President’s desk. “Almost everyone knows the truth now anyway.”
“That is true,” Yazzie agreed. “So what brings you here?”
“Our agreement regarding the Fortress and the land in the canyon,” Del Rio answered. “There’s someone living with me there now…”
“Hannah Sanders,” Yazzie said. “I’ve heard some good things about her, seems to be a good woman for you.”
“Is everyone around here a licensed matchmaker?”
“No,” Yazzie laughed aloud. “But you’ve made a lot of friends here, Jack. We worry about you and want to make sure you’re happy.”
“Kind of killing my whole old crazy hermit thing you know.”
“Sorry my friend, that’s life.”
“Yeah. So the reason why I’m here is if something should happen to me, I’d like our agreement regarding my ownership of the land to transfer to her.”
“You okay, Jack?” Yazzie asked, concerned.
“I’m fine. I just want to make sure this is taken care of just in case. Hell, you know how shit hits the fan around me.”
“There is that,” Yazzie allowed. “Okay, I’ll have the paperwork drawn up and filed by the end of the day.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Del Rio got up to leave, but Yazzie moved quickly and lightly touched Del Rio’s shoulder to stop him.
“Jack,” he said, looking at his friend intently. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
“I’m sure, really. And thank you for worrying but you really shouldn’t.”
Del Rio left the room and Yazzie stared at the door for a long time before retreating to his desk to make a call.
“Frank, come by as soon as you can. I need to have a quiet word with you.”
* * * * *
Del Rio had driven his Mustang into Window Rock, Shirley had recovered the car at the Kayenta Airport, had the damage from it impacting four bodies repaired and returned it to the Fortress just two days before Del Rio’s sudden return.
Sanders decided to drive over to Tuba City to pick up a few things while he was away and jumped into his old pickup, which she had discovered to her surprise that she really enjoyed driving the machine. Tossing on one of Del Rio’s hats, tucking her hair up underneath the cap, she hopped in and fired up the old dinosaur.
She pulled out onto the highway and was mentally going down the list of what she wanted to purchase. As the first mile and then the second ticked by, she paid little attention to the other traffic on the road. She never bothered to look off the road, having no reason to expect that a sturdy, unmarked box truck, with an even sturdier and pointed metal frame protruding from its front bumper, was pointed right at her and closing in like a guided missile.
She barely had time to register its presence before it slammed into the driver’s side door, sending the old truck barrel-rolling a hundred yards off the highway and out into the desert.
Two men got out of the truck, and had thoughts of checking the wreck to confirm their target was dead. But one of them saw a car coming off in the distance and the two men got back in and drove off. The man on the passenger side dialed a number on his phone and was quickly connected.
“Yes?” Soors answered.
“It’s done,” the man reported. “Confirm the target as Tango Uniform.”
“Are you sure?”
“It was his truck, ma’am, he’s the only known driver and it was a white male driving it.”
“Very good.” she said as she hung up, never knowing that the two assassins she had set after Del Rio had arrived on scene just thirty minutes after Del Rio had left for Window Rock and barely in time to recognize the approaching truck and launch the attack. They’d never gotten a clear look at the driver.
The men drove back to
Flagstaff certain they’d gotten their man.
* * * * *
Shirley had been in Tuba City on business when the report of a hit and run came in. He was about to leave it to one of his officers until he heard the location and the description of the wrecked vehicle and knew it to be Del Rio’s truck. No one else on the Res had one like it.
He arrived on the scene first and rushed to the wreck, certain he would find his friend’s body inside. His heart sank when he saw who it was inside instead and he called in for an air ambulance when he discovered she was, by some miracle, still alive.
As the fireman from Tuba City arrived to cut her out of the mangled wreck while the paramedics tended to her, he scouted around for signs of Del Rio, thinking he might have been in the truck too. But it seemed Sanders had been in the truck alone after all and for an instant, Shirley wondered if it might have been better if Del Rio had been here and hurt. Knowing Del Rio, he would not be stopped in his pursuit of whoever did this.
The helicopter from Flagstaff arrived and the unconscious woman was loaded into it and flown to the trauma center at Northern Arizona University. Shirley check with his two officers, who confirmed there’s been no indication that the vehicle that had struck Sanders had tried to avoid impact. In fact, they were already certain that this had been deliberate.
Shirley got into his cruiser and headed for the Fortress to find Del Rio. He’d tell him what had happened and then god help the rest of the world. Because Shirley was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be able to stop Del Rio from leaving the Reservation, standing orders to shoot him on sight be damned.
* * * * *
Archer arrived at the hospital in Flagstaff and quickly made his way to the ICU. Shirley was sitting in a nearby waiting room and Archer detoured to the Navajo Officer when he saw him.
“He’s already been here and gone,” Shirley reported.
“Damnit,” Archer swore bitterly.
“Did you really think he’d stay put on the Res after this?”
“No, I didn’t,” Archer replied. “And I’m not here to kill him. I came here to try to talk him into letting me handle this. He has to know this was what they wanted. To get him off the Res so he could be legally shot and no one would question why.”
Jack Del Rio: Complete Trilogy: Reservations, Betrayals, Endgames Page 55