Her eyes widened as his message hit home. “I’ve worked for this man for nearly eight years. You can see how he treats me. Imagine how he would treat you, someone he has no use for.”
He heard Bahama chuckle at his back.
“Where’s Yellowhorse?” she asked defiantly, looking around him as if she could see the Navajo enforcer.
“I’m afraid he took a little trip to see his ancestors, Zelda. I think it was painful. These people mean business. There is nothing to save and nothing to protect. Your daughter isn’t anywhere near here. She’s in Las V—”
“Shut the fuck up!” Amauro shouted, keeping him from finishing his sentence. “It makes no difference where she is. But he’s right, she’s nowhere close by.”
Zelda looked between the three men standing in front of her.
“I want to see her first.”
Amauro swore. Bahama sucked in air. Fisher released more stool and didn’t care any longer. He was sure he was going to die tonight anyway, regardless of the outcome.
“If you see her, Mrs. Tohe, it will be to identify her body. That’s the only way you’ll see her. Your only chance is to get us this computer. Now where did you hide it?” Amauro asked.
Zelda gulped in air, finally releasing her hesitation at offering information, and gushed, “The FBI guy and the two SEALs—I think the whole team’s coming, too—I heard them talking about it before they left.”
This was good news to Fisher. If he wasn’t killed in a shootout, perhaps he could spend the rest of his days in a dry prison cell after all. Life was definitely looking up.
“SEALs?” Amauro faced Fisher. “You didn’t tell me about any fuckin’ SEALs. What’s this all about?”
“My daughter is all but married to one. None of you will live to get to meet any of them. You’ll just be taken out like the dogs you are. The SEALs are going to save the day. You’ll see.”
“Nah, no SEALs. Wilson runs little Navy boats, that’s all. Has a little special forces training, no big deal,” Payette said, trying to be helpful.
“Not so. My daughter’s man is a sniper with SEAL Team 3.”
Fisher shrugged. “That’s news to me. She does have a baby, but I never knew anything about this. Wilson is the only military man I know of. They’ve probably formed a hunting party. Got their bows and arrows all lined up. Big fuckin’ deal.”
“You’re wrong, you asshole. That FBI guy’s a mean sucker. You think you’ll get out of here alive? You’re mistaken! And the FBI has my computer. Only a matter of time before they come and get you.” Zelda was screaming hysterically, her face grotesque in its purple and red bumps from the face-beating. Fisher had never beat up a woman, and he hoped he’d never have to.
“Come here.” Amauro pulled Fisher by the collar and took him outside into the anteroom. He spoke softly. “So, where is this daughter of hers and the baby, hmmm? You got any clues?”
Fisher thought about it for a second. “I honestly don’t know.”
“Think, dammit. A lot is riding on it. Your life is riding on it, Fisher.”
“They’ll probably be protecting her, but probably at their house. Mr. A, what are you thinking? You don’t need her.”
“She’s insurance.”
“But if the FBI has the computer, they’re not going to negotiate.”
“I’m counting on the fact that she hid the computer somewhere. Why else would she come all this way without it? She knows where it is. She’ll tell us if we have her daughter.”
“I don’t like it, Mr. A.”
Amauro turned his back on him. In a sudden movement, he swung his arm around and caught Fisher in the right temple with something hard. Fisher felt himself go numb and collapse. He didn’t feel himself hitting the floor.
Chapter 29
‡
The little convoy slowed down just at the outskirts of Tuba City. They drove slowly through the nearly-deserted structures, dimly lit in moonlight with an occasional outdoor lamp. At the end of the way east, they saw something blocking the highway. They stopped by the scene of the helicopter parked in the middle of the road and Sheriff Fisher’s truck down a small swale, it’s right bumper raised, embedded on a large rock.
“Who the hell is that?” Danny asked.
“New Mexico plates, I’m guessing it belongs to Asst. Sheriff Fisher. The chopper is private. The casinos use them to pick up high rollers,” Wilson said. “Looks like it’s from the Aztec.”
“Never seen one out here before. Even when the President came out once when I was a teenager, he came in a motorcade,” said Wilson.
“Only one reason this chopper is here,” said Danny.
Wilson nodded agreement.
Both trucks killed their lights, parking off the road behind a shed, out of sight. All four men gathered their equipment silently. Danny donned his night vision gear, and then touched the back of Drews’ shoulder, causing the agent to jump.
“Shit, Danny, you scared the crap out of me,” Sanders whispered.
Danny answered him by putting his finger to his lips. Using several vehicles and a large moving van parked in the street as cover, they located an alleyway behind the Trading Post. Some room inside the post was lit, sending a glow to the rear. Except for the occasional outside light, everything else in the town was completely dark, which gave them the perfect advantage. A dog barked somewhere, which annoyed Danny. He wanted the element of surprise on their side.
He instructed the three others to stay put while he silently skirted the building, carefully looking inside and searching his surroundings. At the rear, he saw the opened doorway with light flooding inside the large office filled with desks and file cabinets. Just outside the rear door of the building, he saw two guards with H&Ks slung over their shoulders, all dressed in black. He heard voices coming from the lit office, but couldn’t make out who was speaking. He counted at least two, perhaps three separate voice pitches. His further search revealed no other guards, so he returned to Wilson and the two agents waiting by the street.
“Sanders, make the call. I see two men guarding the back door, both with heavy arms. I know there are people inside. You get us some backup just in case, but we don’t wait. We go.” Danny knew he was violating his promise to Kyle, but he doubted Sanders or anyone else had as much experience doing house searches.
The agent hit a single number on his keypad and whispered into the phone, confirming to their backup where they had stopped.
“They’re on their way.”
Danny motioned with one finger, and pointed to Lyle, at the front of the building, and then to the rear. The three men followed his lead, Sanders and Wilson falling behind him and Lyle in a crouched run to guard the front entrance and street. He and Wilson each came from opposite sides, in stealth movements. At the same moment, each took down the guards, leaving them unconscious, but alive and fully restrained.
They heard Zelda’s voice piercing the quiet, and then heard the slap of flesh followed by silence. Sanders heard it as well. Wilson checked the back door, finding it unlocked, and opened it two inches, just enough space to toss a lit flash bomb inside. In three seconds, the loud explosion echoed throughout the desert plane, arousing several dogs. The light inside the office was immediately extinguished. Danny adjusted his goggles for IVR and saw the heat signature of one individual sliding along the back wall, making an arc toward them.
Wilson tapped his shoulder. Danny watched Wilson dig out his slingshot, aim it at a glass pane of a side window and let the pebble fly. The shattering glass drew fire from the gunman. Danny threw a knife and heard the satisfying gurgle of the blade hitting the man’s throat. He collapsed without further movement. He and Wilson quickly went inside and prepared to breach the office doorway.
A man’s voice shouted out, “I’ve got Zelda. You let me pass.”
They could hear the sounds of scuffling and Zelda’s swearing. The man was trying to drag her toward the door, and she was obviously not cooperating. As Danny moved aro
und the room, he stepped over the limp body of the gunman he’d impaled and saw the wide heat signature. Not wanting to hit Zelda, he waited until he had a better angle and opportunity.
“You hear me? I’ve got her. I’ll kill her if you don’t let me get out of here.”
They remained silent. The man holding Zelda swore, and they heard her protests at being dragged across the floor. Danny was hoping she would stop struggling and just let them take the guy out, but Zelda seemed to do everything in her power to impede him, including doing something to some part of the man’s body, which drew what sounded like a blow to the head, and then complete silence. When the shuffling began again, Zelda’s protests were silent.
Danny watched the man struggle with Zelda’s body, and for just a second, he was thrown off balance by something, which was all Wilson needed to fire off a round, hitting the man in the chest. Danny raced over and confirmed the kill, then felt Zelda’s neck for a pulse and was gratified to find one. He listened for other sounds and, not hearing any, pushed his goggles up on top of his head and announced, “Lights,” as he turned on the office light.
The room was a bloody mess, made bloodier by the body of a uniformed officer, who had suffered a head wound. The man was still alive. Daryl returned to the rear doorway.
Sanders and Parker entered. Sanders rolled over the body and announced, “Payette fuckin’ Fisher, damn.”
Danny knew Sanders was disappointed he hadn’t gotten the chance to kill the dirty Sheriff.
“Looks like we don’t need backup. We need some medical attention,” Danny said. “You let them know.”
Sanders got on the phone again as Lyle examined the dead guy. Danny examined the deputy. His small medic kit contained some smelling salts that quickly revived the officer. The wound on his forehead would need stitches, but the knot at the back of his skull indicated he probably had a concussion and perhaps a skull fracture as well.
Fisher was fastened with zip ties and left seated. Wilson had been working on Zelda, and Sanders came over, lifting her head to give her water once she regained consciousness. She tried to push away their attempts to clean and dress her facial wounds. As she turned and caught a look at Sanders, she startled.
“Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you scared the living daylights out of me.” She tried to scramble free from Sanders, but Wilson held her in place.
“You gotta stay here a little bit longer. Here, take some water. Does anything else hurt?”
She shook her head.
“Who’s that?” Danny asked the Sheriff, pointing to the man Lyle was examining, the man he’d just shot and killed.
“That’s Antonio Amauro. Owns the Aztec Gold Casino.” Fisher saw the sneer on Sanders’ face and clammed up.
“So where’s Sarah? She here somewhere?” Sanders asked.
“Nah. She’s in Vegas. They’ve got her there. All I know is that I’m sure she’s still alive.”
“How do you know that?” Danny asked.
“Because I saw her yesterday. She’s untouched. Swear to God, she’s untouched,” Fisher added.
Sanders yanked Fisher to his feet, causing as much pain as possible. “Then this is your lucky day, asshole. You’re gonna take us to her. Right now. Okay? The FBI is counting on your full cooperation.”
Sanders called in for a joint operation between the FBI and Las Vegas Metro to raid the Aztec Gold Casino, more specifically, the three penthouse floors of the high roller’s tower, based on the information Sheriff Fisher provided. Fisher agreed to be on hand to testify against what was left of the Amauro operation. The raid would take place as soon as possible, before dawn.
“I’m not going anywhere, not until I know my Sarah is okay, and free,” Zelda demanded.
“No can do, Zelda.” Sanders was serious, but some of the harshness in his tone had been tempered. Danny was starting to see something he thought he’d never see.
Sanders looked like he wanted to say something, but instead grabbed Fisher’s arm, tugging him toward his truck when Lyle came up alongside and assisted, taking Fisher the rest of the way, leaving Danny, Sanders, and Zelda behind.
Sanders turned and gave her a little tip of the hat. “You did well, Zelda. You held up real good to those assholes.”
“I’ve been fighting my whole life, Agent Sanders. They just picked the wrong Indian to mess with, that’s all.”
“Well, the FBI is grateful for your cooperation and is sorry for your injuries,” he returned. He started to join Lyle in the truck.
A helicopter dropped from the sky and two paramedics came running toward them. They quickly confirmed the dead, treated Fisher in the truck, and then started treating Zelda after doing a double-take on Sanders.
“Holy crap, sir. You okay?” One of the men asked the agent.
“Of course I’m okay, thanks to these two. You look after the woman. We got some bad guys to go get.”
Another helicopter arrived with a handful of armed men.
“Would you look at that? My prayers have been answered,” Sanders said. “This saves me a four hour bumpy ride all the way to Vegas.”
Lights started coming on in the town. Danny could see a small crowd was beginning to gather, leaking out from the darkened structures as the first bursts of pink started poking above the horizon, beginning to light up the chimneys in the mountains nearby.
“Wait up there, cowboy,” Danny said to Sanders as he headed for the chopper. “I’m coming with you.”
Sanders frowned. “This isn’t your job. Your job’s to stay home with that lady of yours, and the baby.”
“That’s not going to happen, Sanders. I’m coming with you.” He looked over at his cousin, who nodded his agreement. “Wilson and I are coming with you, sir. No way can you keep us away.”
“Then I’m sending protection. She’s got to have someone there guarding them in case these guys had any designs,” Sanders said.
“Appreciate that, sir.”
Zelda wiggled herself away from the paramedics and ran over to stand between the two of them, looking up at Sanders.
Special Agent Courtland Sanders angled his head as he watched Zelda say, “I still want to go. I promise I’ll get myself to the hospital once I hear Sarah’s okay.”
“No can do, ma’am. But I admire your fight.” Sanders handed his keys to one of the agents.
Danny saw the admiration growing as Sanders eyed Zelda while calling in protection for Luci and the baby. Between the bruises and disfigurations on Sanders’ face and the browbeating on Zelda’s, the two of them looked like zombie survivors in a post-apocalyptic movie, Sanders the unlikely hero, and Zelda, his love interest. Danny was aware something seemed to be developing between the two of them, unless he was completely wrong. He heard Wilson chuckle behind him.
The paramedics led her away, but her neck was craned, staring back at Sanders like it was the last time she’d see him. Sanders nodded to his boots, took one last look at Zelda, turned around and headed for the chopper, shaking his head, with Lyle close behind.
Danny and Wilson followed.
As they pulled up from the desert floor, he said a prayer to his grandfather, in rhythm to the drums and chanting in the background, thanking him for the protection. He tapped the packet against his heart. He begged forgiveness for his past indiscretions and asked the old man to go protect Sarah until they could get there, and to guard Luci and the baby’s safety until his return.
The singing stopped, as if all the spirits of his ancestors had suddenly obeyed his order and had dispersed in all directions to complete their missions.
Chapter 30
‡
The chopper set down on the roof of the Aztec. An advance team waited for them there, outfitted in full SWAT gear. They were told several had located the suite of rooms used for the girls. A bonus was that they’d be rescuing three other Navajo girls who had gone missing over the past several months, although it added an additional layer of danger to the mission. If it wasn’t coordina
ted perfectly, one or more of the girls could be caught in the ensuing firefight.
Danny and Wilson stood outside the doorway identified as the suite Sarah was being held in. Fisher had been helpful and generous with his information back on the res, no doubt hoping his cooperation would make things easier for him in the long run. Danny was glad Sanders hadn’t been the one doing the questioning.
He was ordered to remain behind until they breached the door, but was promised the first contact with Sarah.
The take down was staged and devices were rigged to the heavy suite of doors, behind which the three innocent girls were located. They had no information on how many were left inside these rooms to guard the girls, so they were ready for anything.
Two bodyguards in one suite opened fire on the Las Vegas Metro SWAT team at one of the doorways. At Danny’s doorway there was little resistance as there were two female attendants playing cards in the anteroom. Danny ran inside the unlocked bedroom door to find Sarah naked, but sleeping under a blanket. Her wrists and ankles were bound, but otherwise she didn’t appear harmed.
“Sarah! Sarah, honey, we’re here,” he said to the heavily sleeping girl. She barely opened her eyes, then her eyebrows raised in a show of recognition, her eyes filling with tears, but she couldn’t speak or move.
“Honey, you’re safe,” Danny said, touching a palm to her cheek, which brought on more tears.
A paramedic cut through her bonds and then knelt beside Danny. “She’s tanked up. Not sure what they gave her, but she’s not firing on all cylinders.” He leaned forward, brushing Danny aside, checking her vital signs with the blanket kept in modest place. They both looked for signs of trauma or abuse on her head and scalp, neck and arms, and, other than the bruising from her restraints, didn’t find any.
“Sorry, man, gotta check for sexual assault. You don’t want to see this,” the paramedic whispered.
Compared to some of the things he’d seen overseas, this would be a minor trauma for his eyes, but, under the circumstances, he agreed, and stood, turning his back. Wilson had been searching the room and did the same. Sarah began moaning, and then Danny heard the reassuring words, “I think she’s okay. Need to get her checked out and stabilized, but I think she’s okay, from what I can tell.”
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