Gabe gave a brief nod. “Are they going to confirm whether or not that vehicle behind us is Kaen?”
“Yes, they have the intel on the make, model, and color of the vehicle, too. They’ll take a photo of the license plate to verify.”
Elisha gave her a relieved look. “That’s really good!”
“Roger that,” she said. “They’ll check first.” She craned her neck, looking through the front windshield. “They’re at two thousand feet, well out of range of the AR-15s. No running lights. They’re coming in like the ghosts they are.”
“Smart,” Elisha said. “What will they do?”
She heard the worry in his tone. “They’ll make sure it’s your brother and the soldiers.”
“But,” he stumbled, “will they kill them?”
Grimly, Anna said, “Not unless necessary, Elisha.”
“Oh . . .”
“Here they come!” Gabe warned. “They’ve just turned off their running lights. They don’t want Kaen to know they’re above him and checking him out . . .”
Squinting, Anna saw nothing. The DAPs were painted black to match the sky so no one on the ground or in the sky hunting for them could spot them. By FAA rules, they had to have their red and green running lights on the outside of the helicopter so that other civilian air traffic could see them. She knew they doused their lights to fly in like ghosts, unseen and unheard by Kaen. They’d never know they were there.
“How can they tell if it’s my brother or not?” Elisha demanded, terror mounting in his voice.
Anna realized Elisha was losing it. In a calming voice, she repeated what she’d said before. “They have instruments on board,” she told him, “that can check out the license plate. They’ll find it, take the numbers, and call it into the sheriff ’s department and verify it one way or another.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“They’ll not take action.”
Her radio came to life. It was one of the crew members on one of the DAPs.
“Be apprised it is confirmed that this is a drug runner’s vehicle. Over.”
“Roger that,” Anna said.
“We’ve already verified with the Lincoln County Sheriff ’s Department. Vehicle is one mile from your vehicle.”
Anna said, “Copy that.”
“Stand by. We are going to warn them . . .”
“What does that mean?” Elisha cried out, his voice breaking, twisting in the seat, staring out the rear window.
“I don’t know,” Anna said, turning, watching behind them.
“Are they gonna shoot to kill them?”
“I doubt it,” she said, hearing the terror and emotion in his voice. “Not unless they are fired on by Kaen or his men. They want them alive, Elisha. To stand trial.”
Gulping, sweat popping out on his brow, Elisha stared hard at the blackness behind them except for the two white headlights in the distance.
Suddenly, a red stream of tracer bullets was fired several hundred feet in front of that truck.
Anna was sure whoever was driving wasn’t expecting that. The headlights suddenly veered and swerved off to the right. And then the left. And then, it appeared that the truck was spinning around on the highway.
“Vehicle disabled,” the DAP operator told her on the radio. “It has slid off the road, it rolled four times and settled upright in a field. We’re watching to see if anyone gets out of the vehicle. There’s either steam or smoke coming from the engine. Stand by . . .”
“Roger,” Anna said, her voice low with strain.
Gabe slowed the Ram down. It quickly decelerated and he pulled off, backing around so that they were now looking down that long, dark stretch of road toward the activity. No one could see anything, the DAPs without any running lights, hidden by the darkness and hovering somewhere above the incapacitated truck.
“I’m staying out of AR-15 range,” Gabe told them. “We’ll hold here for now.”
“Do you think they know there’s military helicopters buzzing around them?” Elisha asked hoarsely, gripping the seat with his large hands.
“I doubt it,” Anna said. “It’s too dark. They won’t see them, although if they disembark from the truck, they might hear them. That one helo descended enough to fire those warning tracer bullets across the highway in front of Kaen’s truck. And they probably sucked in air, gaining altitude after that, in case anyone was going to start firing at them, even if they couldn’t see them.”
“Those dudes in the truck are probably pretty scrambled,” Elisha said, his voice squeaky with terror. “Are they dead? How can we tell?”
The DAP radio operator came back. “Be apprised that there are four men exiting the vehicle. It shows they are carrying weapons. They’re running away from the highway, into the field. Hold . . . sheriff on the line . . .”
Anna wished she could pierce the darkness, but she couldn’t.
“Kaen’s alive?” Elisha asked urgently.
“Yes, all four of them are,” Anna told him. “They’re trying to escape now, is my guess.”
“They won’t get far. How long before the deputies get here?” Gabe asked.
“Another seven minutes,” Anna told him.
“But,” Elisha said, alarmed, “no one has proper protection against those armor-piercing rounds my brother and the soldiers have in their AR-15s.”
“I don’t think the DAPs are going to let the deputies get near Kaen and his men. They’re plugged into our network and listening as well. They won’t take stupid chances, believe me.”
Just as she finished talking, she saw a huge spotlight glare snap on, shining down from one of the DAPs flying directly over the escaping soldiers, several hundred feet above them. Before Kaen and the soldiers could stop and lift their weapons to fire at the helo, she saw more red tracer bullets stitching a circle around the four soldiers. While one DAP kept the glaring spotlight on them, the other did the work to surround the startled group. She could see what looked like stick figures in a field, but that was all. She pressed a button and the window lowered. Now, she could hear the thudding thumps of the two military helos coordinating their attack. Like hounds from hell, they were upon Kaen and his men. Anna smiled to herself. By now, they had to have figured out that if they didn’t drop their weapons, the next group of tracers would be on them and they’d be dead in seconds.
“Throwing arms down,” the radio operator told her, his voice triumphant. “Our sister helo is using an external megaphone, ordering all four men on the ground to lie on their bellies, arms outstretched in front of them.”
Anna heard the smile and satisfaction in the operator’s voice.
“Do you have men on board with you?”
“Roger that. We’re descending to the ground. As soon as we do, we’ll disembark the Army Delta soldiers on board with us, to cuff them and get them ready for the sheriff and her deputies who are coming our way.”
Anna grinned. So did Gabe. Relief sped through her. Even Elisha look relieved. His brother would live.
“Here come the deputies,” Gabe warned, hooking a thumb behind him.
Sure enough, four cruisers, lights flashing, sirens screaming, raced by them, heading to the side of the road where the DAPs had contained Kaen and his men. The garish light from the DAP hovering overhead made it look like a Salvador Dali surrealist painting. Was it over? No. Anna worried about the SWAT team heading for Harley and that motel where the regional drug leader and his men were holed up.
She clicked the radio and asked the DAP communications operator if they were heading toward Harley to help the deputies down there.
“That’s a roger,” he said. “Our Delta Force cuffed them. Now, the deputies are getting the four suspects on their feet and herding them toward the highway where their cruisers are located. Our Delta Force contingent is already loaded up in the other DAP that landed nearby once it was safe. We’re getting ready to leave right now to assist your SWAT team. It will take ten minutes to reach where they’re pre
sently at on Highway 89. Over.”
“Thanks for all you’ve done. We were in a real fix. Just take care down there. Out,” Anna said.
She turned and saw the worry on Elisha’s face, and could see the anguish in his eyes. He’d sold out his brother. Elisha had saved their lives. “Gabe? I think we need to head into Wind River and take Elisha to the sheriff ’s department to be booked.”
Elisha nodded. “Yeah, let’s do that. I’m not runnin’ anymore.” He gave Anna a pleading look. “I realized tonight you two aren’t who I thought you were. Are you cops?”
“No, we’re DEA undercover agents.” Anna wasn’t about to go into the guts of their mission with him.
“But you were kind and caring to my mother. Are you going to be in that ranch next door to our home after this is all over?”
Shaking his head, Gabe said, “No, that ranch was a prop. Something we used to watch you. We won’t be down there after this mission is over.”
Seeing the consternation in Elisha’s eyes, Anna asked, “Why can’t your mother come to Wind River? Sell your homestead. She’s getting old and she’s incapable of taking care of herself much longer, Elisha. Maybe you can talk her into doing that? There’s a new care facility being built right now in Wind River. She’s approaching sixty-five, so Medicare can help defray her costs. She would be well cared for and the hospital is only blocks away, if she needed it. What do you think?”
Pushing his fingers through his stringy hair, Elisha muttered, “Somehow, I’m gonna have to persuade her to do just that. Kaen doesn’t care. He never did, but I do.” He sighed heavily. “I know I’m going back to prison. So is Kaen. No one will be there for her.”
“Look,” Gabe said, turning the truck around and heading toward Wind River, “I’m going to have a talk with Sheriff Sarah Carter. I’ll tell her how much help you were to us, how you saved our lives, Elisha. I’m sure in a court of law, a prosecutor may reduce your sentence. How much? I don’t know. But it means you could get out earlier rather than later. You could be there to care for your mom, maybe.”
Anna nodded, giving him a gentle look. “Gabe has influence in this case, Elisha. And I’ll testify on your behalf, as well. You’ve always been the caring son to Roberta. And I think now she’ll need you more than ever.”
“I still worry about my mother, though. Jose is well known for murdering the family of someone like me to get even when they turn and tell prosecutors the truth.”
“Have you thought of going into Witness Protection?” Anna asked. “Turn over evidence on the drug ring you worked for. I’m sure you and your mother would be taken in, your names and identities changed, as well as locating you somewhere other than Wyoming, so the drug lord can’t ever find you. At least you’d have your freedom, a way to start a new life together.”
“I’ve been thinkin’ about that,” he admitted slowly, lifting his hands and pushing the hair away from his face. “I’m a pretty good carpenter. Maybe I could make a living for my mother and me that way.”
“I’m sure you could,” Anna said.
“Do you want me to discuss this with Sheriff Carter, then?” Gabe asked him.
“Yes. Would you?”
“You’ll be given an attorney, Elisha,” Anna said. “This discussion first needs to be shared with the attorney who will represent you in court. Then, Gabe can put in a good word for you.”
“Okay. Yeah.” He gave her a watery look. “You were always there for my mother. She always talked fondly about you when we got back from drug drops.”
“Listen, as long as I’m here, I’ll make sure to drive down and see her, see how’s she’s doing. Okay?”
“Can you let me know? The feds will probably throw the book at me and I’ll sit in jail with no bail until my court date comes up. That could be a year from now.”
“Don’t worry,” Gabe said quietly. “We’ll take care of Roberta. Take that off your plate of worry, okay? You focus on what’s best for you in this mess.”
Anna saw tears well up in Elisha’s eyes, and he quickly dropped his head, looking away, self-consciously wiping them from his eyes. When he spoke later, his voice was hoarse.
“I don’t know how I’ll ever thank the two of you . . . I really don’t.”
June 3
On the way home to Gabe’s parents’ ranch, Anna called them. They had dropped Elisha off at the sheriff ’s office and let Maud and Steve know they were driving in to see them. Anna sat up in the front seat, talking with them on a speaker phone they had in Steve’s office, giving them a quick sketch of what had happened.
Their horses in the trailer at the parking lot would be brought home shortly. Steve had dispatched two of their wranglers in another truck, and they would be arriving to care for Red and Top.
Most of all, Anna liked that Gabe had reached over, squeezing her hand, giving her a look that made her heart melt, the fear for their lives draining away from her. They’d survived. Best of all, one of the deputies had already stopped at their barn, retrieved Ace, and was bringing him back in the cruiser to them. All was well.
“We’ll spend some time with my parents,” he told her after she got off her phone with them. “I told them we’re dirty and need showers, but they begged us to come and see them first. Then? We’re going back to our apartments in Wind River, shower, and get clean clothes. I need you, Anna. I want you close to me. I want to hold you, kiss you, and love you. Ace can remain outside our bedroom.”
The sting of tears burned in her eyes as he gazed at her briefly while still keeping most of his attention on the road in front of them as he drove. Her fingers tightened around his. “I want the same thing, Gabe. And I’m sure Ace is going to be overjoyed just to be with us, even though he’s not invited into our bedroom tonight.”
“He’ll be fine out in the living room.” He rasped, “Life is too damned short,” and reluctantly released her hand.
“That fact hasn’t been lost on me.”
At the ranch, Maud and Steve met them out on the porch near dawn. The sky was still dark, but a ribbon of pink outlined the mountains surrounding the huge valley. Maud hugged Anna and Steve embraced his son. And then the reverse happened. Anna was surprised and touched by the family accepting her as part of their own.
The sheriff ’s deputy carrying Ace rolled up. Ace leaped out of the car once the door was opened, heading like a bullet for Gabe and Anna. The dog was all wriggles, licks, tail wagging, and whining. They both knelt on the ground between him, lavishing him with murmurs of love, hugs of welcome, and lots of petting. Finally, Ace settled down and they rose to their full height, with him following between them and heading for the front door.
Sally Fremont was inside, setting up the coffee table in the living room where a fire roared in the river stone fireplace, sending waves of welcoming warmth to every corner of it. She had set out coffee along with another caramel coffee cake, plates, forks, and napkins. Anna hugged Sally and so did Gabe, both of them thanking her for all her help.
Gabe noticed that Maud had taken a few swipes at the corners of her eyes, too. Gabe went over and offered her a white linen handkerchief he always carried in his back pocket, placing his arm around his mother, giving her a tender embrace. He knew it had been hard on his parents. They probably thought they were going to die in that race to outrun Kaen and his drug gang. He sat down, patting the leather on the couch next to him, giving Anna a silent invite to come sit next to him. She did. Ace sat at their feet, happily absorbing their nearness, his pink tongue lolling out, his tail thumping. Sally brought in a huge bowl of water for him, and he slurped until filled.
Maud sat with Steve opposite them on one of the other two couches.
“Come on, you have to be thirsty and hungry,” she urged, slicing up the coffee cake and placing the servings onto the wildflower-trimmed plates.
Anna sat up, took two plates, and handed one to Gabe. “I’m still in some kind of daze at the lightning speed of what happened.”
Steve
grimaced. “We can only imagine. While you two were driving up here from Wind River, I got a call from Sarah Carter. She said to tell you that between the DAPs and the SWAT team from Teton County, Jose and his three men gave up without a shot being fired, and surrendered. They’ve cuffed them and are transporting them to the Lincoln County jail.”
Gasping, Anna said, “Really? I thought they’d shoot it out with them.”
Shaking his head, Steve said, “From all that Gabe had told us, I thought so, too, but I’m glad they didn’t.”
“The deputies are all okay, then? And the SWAT team members, too?” Anna asked urgently.
“Not a scratch on any of them. Sarah said the DAPs made a huge impression on Jose and his gang. They’d already heard from Kaen, who had him on the phone during the ruckus with them, and he knew these were military helos with Delta Force operators. I guess that scared the living daylights out of Jose and he came out unarmed, hands in the air, with his gang following him.”
“Wow,” Anna said, giving Gabe a look of relief, “that’s incredible. I’m so glad these two DAPs were in the area!”
“Otherwise,” Gabe said more grimly, pouring himself and Anna coffee, “it would have been a bloody confrontation. Not one wanted that.”
Maud sat back, sipping her coffee. “Anna? How are you doing?”
“I’m fine, Maud. My days of being a sniper in the jungles of Guatemala served me well on this run to safety. I was used to being trailed and tracked. There were many times I had to climb a tree, remain unmoving, and let the drug soldiers pass beneath where I sat, never knowing I was there.”
“I don’t know how you did it,” Maud murmured, giving her a look of awe. “I couldn’t do that. You two have some special kind of nervous system and courage, truly you do.”
“I’ve run out of whatever it was I ran on before,” Gabe told them, getting serious. He glanced over at Anna, and then at his parents. “Anna and I swore if we got out of this alive that we’d hang up our DEA spurs and call it a day.”
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