by Doug Ball
“I’m with you, Babe. Let’s get it.” He slid the next set of papers in the copier and watched the copies come out in the sorter.
The Hawk and other leaders of the legislature stood in the foyer talking about the crisis. Every bomb threat was being checked and all that had been fully checked had been declared a hoax. The governor’s condition was as yet unknown. Little groups of law makers were talking of the consequences of having to bring in the Secretary of State to replace the incapacitated Governor.
Hawk’s phone rang with the theme from Phantom of the Opera. He spoke into it for a few moments, shut it down, and yelled, “The Governor is in critical condition. The surgery went as well as could be expected. He’s lost a lot of blood and has not regained consciousness. The doctors will not give a prognosis as to when he might be able to return to his office, if ever. And, that is exactly the way he said it, if ever. I fear we need to call in the Secretary of State, declare the office of Governor vacant, and swear the Secretary in, in accordance with our state constitution. Any comments?”
There were none.
“Mr. Speaker, call the Secretary.”
“Okay, Hawk. Is there anybody here who disagrees with this course of action?”
No one spoke up.
Sirens sounded close by.
“I’ll make the call.”
Hawk added, “A joint session will convene at noon today.” He turned to his secretary and said, “Call the legislators.”
A Capital security car pulled up with siren blasting.
“Yes, sir.”
The driver of the security car ran toward the group yelling, “Everyone evacuate the Capital in an orderly fashion. We have received a bomb threat on the Capital and no hint as to which building.”
The Hawk yelled out, “We will convene at noon even if we have to meet in the parking lot.”
The legislators moved rapidly to their cars in the parking area and then left the site.
Tan arrived just in time to see the exodus begin. He jumped out of the car and caught Philomeno Ruis by the sleeve as he walked past, “Phil, what’s happening?”
“Bomb threat.”
“Any credibility?
“No more than the rest, I suppose.”
“How’s the boss?”
“Critical.” Phil brought Tan up to date with all he knew and then walked away.
“Okay, thanks Phil.” Tan headed for the car as Gravit was just beginning to get out. “Get back in. We’re outta here.”
“Where to?”
“My house.”
“You want me along?”
“Why not?”
Benson Hospital
Cochise County Deputy Joe Kress stood over the bed looking down at the man. “Okay, you’ve admitted to the shooting and acknowledged that one of the dead was the leader, how about giving us the rest. Why were you involved?
“I needed the money. I been outta work since a year ago Christmas when I got out. My wife wants nice things and she deserves them. It was just money. We were told we were gonna kill some drug runners, because you jerks weren’t doin’ your job and our kids were in danger. I’d do almost anything to keep my kids off drugs.”
“Well, let me tell you. You all did a fine job. You killed the drug runners, but you left the drugs intact. Some kid out hunting rabbits could have found them and made a lot of money and/or himself dead right quick. That stuff was so potent, a good sniff could begin the dying part. Why not let us go get them? All you had to do was call. We like to work on tips from folks that know what they are talking about.”
“Then why are they still comin’ across the border with that junk?”
“Cuz jerks like you aren’t tipping us and then taking things on themselves when they have no authority. In this case you were spotted and it is you we’ll put away for a long time. Premeditated murder is a capital offense, you know.”
“We won’t get the gas. A good jury would give us a medal.”
“Two points, the first is that you’re probably right on the gas. The second is there are no medals for killing domestic criminals. Chew that for a while. Oh, you just might lose that leg if they can’t get the infection under control.”
“If you hadn’t dunked me in that filthy lake water, I wouldn’t have an infection.”
“What do you mean? The report I saw said you were rescued from the lake. If you get out of here in one piece, rumor has it you will be targeted by your buddies, nice guys that they are.”
The deputy turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.
He turned to the guard, another deputy, “You might mention the window to him in a few.”
“Gotcha.”
There was no infection.
In the next room the man was sitting on the edge of his bed nursing his wounds and trying to stand as the deputy entered and said, “Where you going?”
“Anywhere but here.”
“You will probably get a ride in a white bus with bars on the windows as soon as we get you well enough to stand trial. Help me out and I’ll help you. Who was the top dog in that outfit down south?”
“Boris.”
“Boris who?”
“I don’t know. He never said.”
“Where’d you meet him?”
“Bar in Tucson.”
“Which one?”
“I don’t remember the name, but it’s down on the south side. Bunch of vets like that place. That’s how I found it. I was riding with a vet as we bar hopped and the man give me this job. Killin’ druggies should be an open opportunity, not against the law.”
“It is though, and you just may get the needle for it. Where do you live?”
“You guys tried to get that from me while you were bringing me in. Go check your files.”
“Just waiting on your prints. Once we know who you are, your wife and family will be involved.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Don’t get any ideas of running. We’ll be on you like flies on horse apples.”
“Go away.”
He did.
20
The hallway was full of police and deputies as he emerged from the room. “What you boys doing here?”
“We’d like to talk to your two prisoners. The governor has been shot, there’s a bomb scare at the capital, and somehow we think they might be involved in something more sinister than killing drug runners. How ‘bout it?”
“Go ahead. No guns in the rooms.”
“Thanks.”
The deputy went outside for a smoke.
Phoenix
Tan parked the car at the curb pointed for a fast getaway and headed for the house. Three boys and wife with a baby exited the front door. The three boys surrounded Tan with hugs and cries of, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.” His wife with baby in arms stood there with a smile on her face as wide as the Grand Canyon, until she saw who was with him. The smile dropped and then returned when she realized this must be Gravit, the new assistant.
Tan carried all three boys into the house. With a quick peck on the cheek of his bride, he passed the doorway to the family room saying, “Joan meet Gravit, Gravit, Joan, my wife and mother of these rugged monsters. Speaking of rugged monsters, where’s Terror?”
“He’s in the laundry room. Mom said that’s where we should put him when company comes.”
“I am not company, I am your father. This is my assistant Deputy Gravit.”
“Hi, Deputy Gravit. You want to meet our dog, Terror?”
“Sure. Show me.”
“You’ll be sorry,” said Joan as she laid the baby in Tan’s lap. “Here take the Governor.”
“The Governor?” said Gravit.
Tan smiled, “Yeah, the Governor, Governor Artie Brown. One of the jokes the former Governor and I had was that I would name the baby after her. So we did. The Artie part is for her husband who was wounded while hauling his wife to safety.”
“So what do you call her?”
“Gov, of course.”
“I’m going to see this Terror.”
“Watch out, he’ll kill you with love.”
“My kinda dog.”
Tan answered, “Brown.”
“Tan, there’s a ton of emails coming in for you.”
“I’ll get them here at home. Call me if you need me, Josie.”
“Thanks, Tan. I’ve been working my self half to death to keep from thinking about the Governor. Last call was still ‘critical’.”
“Prayer works.”
“Yeah. I know. Jim and I have done a few of those. Catch ya later.”
“Whenever.”
Tan carried the baby to the computer as woofs of joy followed by Gravit’s cries of ‘down, down’ came from the laundry room. He called up his office email and found a list at least fifty long. The first was a return on finger prints of one of the dead shooters, suspect #1. The rest followed that vein of thought which led to the printer starting to rattle with each one down the line.
Matarese entered the room and said, “What you printing, boss, a book?”
“Yeah. And, you get to read it. Front to back. Get them filed together.” Tan looked down in time to see DD214s being printed. He swore under his breath as he saw USMC on the second one. “Damned idiot.”
Benson
“Hey lover, it’s me. Meet me outside the back door of Benson hospital in two hours. I’ll be the one with the limp.”
“Okay. Where you been?”
“I’ll tell ya later.”
Santa Rita Mountains
Brad Dickens woke, put the battery back in his throw away phone, and called Jacob, the train robbery leader.
“Jacob.”
“Brad.”
“Where?”
“Tidbit.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
Flagstaff
The man called Jacob tossed his bail out bag in the back of his Toyota Land Cruiser and headed south to a much warmer place. On the way he tossed his phone out the window as he passed Camp Verde turnoff.
Santa Rita Mountains
Brad took his throw away apart and crushed it between two rocks until there was nothing that told a casual observer that this had been a phone and then he tossed it down an old mine waiting to hear the splash. “Nobody gonna find that for a while.”
Tan’s home
Tan, Joan, the boys, and Matarese sat at the dinner table having an early supper talking about anything and everything except the current case. As Tan finished he took each of the boys in turn onto his lap and gave them a moment of one on one time with him. Each got a secret whispered in his ear and all walked away very serious, except Chip, the oldest. He was the last on dad’s lap.
“Dad, I don’t like it when you’re gone. Mom is not as easy to be with. She growls more.”
“Sailors do that a lot, son.”
Joan gave Tan the look.
“Well, Dad. She worries about you out there with all those bad guys and all you have is the lucky gun and a woman to protect you. Ms. Gravit is nice, but I don’t think she’s tough enough to truly protect you, Dad.”
“She isn’t. I am her protector, son.” Tan paused, “Chip, you are my number one son. You are my name sake. I love you as I love all my children. You are the oldest and strongest for now and I ask you for more because of that. I appreciate your concern. People are dying out there because of these men I hunt. I cannot allow that and it is my job to be a part of getting them to stop killing. Sometimes it means I have to put me on the line to make that happen. Sometimes I am forced to kill that person in order to stop them from killing others. I just pray and do what has to be done, son.”
Joan broke in, “You gonna be here for church tomorrow?”
“No. Headed back down to Benson area. Got some men to hunt and I have a feeling they are going to be south of Tucson.” He looked at Chip, “Son, you take care of mom and don’t let anything happen to her or your brothers. You know what’s right and what’s wrong. Live it. My son you are a fantastic young man. You pray for me and I will pray for you. How’s that?”
“That’s just what Pastor Fred would say.”
“He’s right. Listen to him and you’ll grow up with a lot fewer problems and in the bad days you’ll win because you are in the right.”
“Okay, Dad. Be careful and take those bad men to jail.”
“I will do all I can to make that happen, my son.”
The boy got down and walked away with a backbone and a strut.
Joan said, “You’re going to have that boy thinking he’s Superman.”
“That’s the idea. It is all in your own image of the you that God made.” He looked his wife in the eye and said, “Gotta go. I love you and don’t you ever forget that.”
“I know. But, I don’t have to like it when you’re gone.”
“I know.” He kissed her like he loved to kiss her and headed for the door, patting each boy on the head and leaning over the bassinet to kiss his only daughter.
Joan looked at Matarese, “Bring him home in one piece.”
“That’s my job.”
They hugged like old friends and separated with tears rolling down their cheeks.
Tan started the car, waved to the crowd on the door step and as soon as Gravit was seated he took off gently so the door wouldn’t slam on her. He didn’t like goodbyes.
On their way to the Governor’s office, Matarese read the reports to Tan, which almost put him to sleep.
Benson
The wounded man hobbled to the window and eased it up, the falling sun blinding him as he looked out. It did not blind the deputy on the roof across the parking lot. The fugitive clenched his teeth over the pain as he stumbled along the wall of the hospital to the back door where he climbed into a red Toyota Camry, kissed his wife, and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
She drove across the parking lot, left on Ocotillo Avenue and then left on Business 10 and then I-10 west. As she ran the car up to the speed limit and rolled into the meager flow of traffic a silver Ford Focus followed her up the ramp a quarter mile behind.
The Ford was replaced by a jeep a few miles down the road. The jeep followed until she exited the highway onto Alvernon Way, which she exited and made three more turns before pulling into a garage beind a high rise apartment building. A passenger in the Jeep exited and chased the car around the corner to see the woman helping the gimpy man into an elevator. The man started running up the stairs to the fifth floor arriving just in time to see the door close on apartment 5-3, which was the same number as the parking space down below.
He pulled out a handheld radio, stepped back into the stairwell, and called “Able 3. They are in apartment 3 on the fifth floor. The windows probably look north and west. Bring in the back up, I gotta go.”
“Go where?” was his partner’s reply.
“Duh.”
“Coming up as soon as I park the car.”
Phoenix
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Arizona, Ivan Bradford, said, “Do you solemnly swear to uphold the laws and constitution of the State of Arizona and the constitution of these United States of America and defend this state against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help you until such time as Governor Reeves is declared fit to resume his duties by competent authority?”
“I do.”
“Congratulations, Governor Patricia Hunt. You are now the second Hunt that has led this great state.”
“Thank you.” She stepped up to the mike as directed by the Judge. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I have no speech. Long live Governor Reeves, may God be merciful in His healing, and to the State of Arizona. We have a lot to do, let’s go do it.”
She turned and walked over to the Hawk and the cluster of leaders of the legislature that was gathering around him. She stuck out her hand, “I believe I will need a lot of help. This is not what I wanted when I ran for Secretary of State. All I ask of you is to follow the direction Ariz
ona has been going for the past few years and make sure I don’t screw it all up.”
Most of the heads before her bobbed. Hawk stuck out his hand, “We will help you with that. I would suggest you call the former Governor and ask her to come in and assist you in the task at hand. She knows the ropes to jerk and the ones to leave alone. I will be available to you at any time.” Again the bobbing heads.
“Thank you all. I checked on the Governor just before I stepped out of my car. The doctors say he is still critical and give him a thin, but hopeful, chance of full recovery. The primary doctor said it would be a long recovery and he may never be able to return to the Capital as Governor. I don’t like that. I don’t want this job, but don’t try to run over me, ladies and gentlemen, it won’t work.”
“That’s what we wanted to hear. Some fire out of you. You’ll do, Madam Governor.”
“Now I know why the previous governor only wanted to be called Governor. I hate the sound of that madam word. Let’s stick with her way. I am Governor.”
“Yes, Governor.” The chorus around her chimed it like it had been rehearsed.
“Now. What’s the status of the bomb scare?”
21
Chief Robinson stepped closer, “We have swept the buildings, all of them, and the area around the Capital buildings twice with every dog we could get. Things should be safe, Governor.”
“Okay. Who gets to escort me to my new office?”
“I will.” Everyone turned to see the former Governor. “I’ve done that walk a few times and know the way.”
“Why thank you, Governor.”
The two women hooked arms and walked toward the office arm in arm.