Duty Bound (1995)

by Leonard B Scott

  Bonita dropped a towel over his lower body and bent over the man. "Mister, you want to sit up? Come on, I'll help you. There you go."

  "Watch it, Bo!" Ted said.

  "His hands are chained behind him with a bike chain, Ted. He can't hurt me. Come on, mister. Who are you?"

  Eli looked into the angel's face and said in a whisper, "You're real, aren't you?"

  "I'm real, all right. Look, we need to know who you are.

  Please tell us."

  "I'm Eli Tanner--special agent, FBI."

  Ted's mouth dropped open for a second before he quickly dropped to his knees, staring into the man's face. "No way.

  You're kiddin', right? Tell me you're kiddin'."

  "Did you save me?"

  "Just answer the damn question! You're not really a G-man, are you? Tell me you aren't."

  "Yes, I'm a special agent. Thank you . . . I thought ... I thought I was dead and--"

  "Prove it!" Ted blurted. "Hell, you could just be sayin' it.

  Prove you're a damn agent."

  "You can call the Miami office ... ask for Agent Howard Parker. Or you could call the Atlanta office; that's where my SAC is. . . . I'm sorry, a SAC is the special agent in charge.

  I'm the resident agent in charge of the Columbus, Georgia, office but I work for the SAC in Atlanta, who is--"

  "Shit!" Ted said, shaking his head. "I don't believe this! I should have let him drown . . . a damn FBI agent? I pulled up a damn fed?"

  "Cool it, Teddy, you couldn't let him drown," Bonita said.

  Ramon threw up his hands. "Great, just fuckin' great.

  Now what're we gonna do? This guy can make us all. We're screwed."

  Virgil leaned over Eli with a glare. "Why was you on the boat? FBI or not, you worked for the guy, didn't you?"

  Eli dipped his chin toward his ankle chain. "You think I'd be wearing these if I worked for Mendez? He had his people abduct Stacy Starr, Rita Lopez, a van driver, and me. His boys shot the driver and Lopez. He kept me alive to find out what I knew about . . . about . . . wait a minute. You're the ones he wanted to know about. Ma'am, are you Bonita Rogers? Yes, sure you are--you've dyed your hair--and you, you've got to be Ted, the pretend Pi."

  Ted reached down and pulled Eli to his feet. "That's it, you're goin' over the side right now."

  "Stop it, Teddy," Bonita growled. "Agent Tanner, you said they shot Rita and the driver. Where is Stacy?"

  "On board. Mendez has her. He's going to kill her tomorrow along with a bunch of DEA agents unless you people free me right now."

  Bonita looked into Ted's eyes. "Oh God, Teddy, I'm responsible for Stacy being on the boat. We can't let him kill her."

  Virgil took hold of Eli's arm. "Ted, he's not going over-- he's a fed--we're not killin' a fed."

  Ramon threw up his hands again. "Great! Jus' fuckin' great! We're fucked. I knew it; we're fucked."

  Eli spoke calmly. "Ted, I owe you my life. I don't know what you were doin' under that boat and I don't care. All I know is you did the right thing and saved me from drowning. Keep doin' the right thing and let me go and let me get my people in here so we can get Stacy and keep all those DEA agents from being killed. You let me go, I swear to you I'll never tell anyone about any of you."

  Ramon shook his head. "You can't trust him, man. He's a fed."

  Eli kept his eyes on Ted. "I give you my word of honor."

  "Yeah, right," Ramon said. "He's gonna let us walk away from this? No way. Feds don't do that."

  "It doesn't matter. The news lady is going to die anyway,"

  Glenn said as he hopped down from the flying bridge. "I've heard most of it. Agent Tanner, you have a big problem.

  Even if Ted decides to free you and you talk to your FBI friends, who is going to believe you? And even if they do, by the time you mount a rescue operation, Miss Starr will be dead and Mendez will be out of the country. He has informers everywhere. Ask Bonita there. Ask her about the DEA informer Mendez has. Hell, ask Ted and me. We know it for a fact. We lost six of our team members six years ago because a DEA fucker told Mendez we were doing an op.

  Free you? Sure, I believe you won't tell your friends about us, but it won't do you any good. Stacy Starr is as good as dead right now."

  Eli looked at Virgil. "Let me sit down."

  Virgil kept his grip on Eli's arm but walked him back three steps to the cushioned seats.

  Bonita kept her eyes on Ted. "We can't let Carlos kill Stacy."

  "Christ'a' mighty, Bo, how we gonna keep him from doin' it?"

  "Do the operation tonight. He's there."

  "We can't, Bo. Virg and Ramon need more time in the water; they haven't practiced with the demo boards and--"

  "You were reconning the yacht, weren't you?" Eli said.

  "That's why you were under it."

  Ted pointed his finger into Eli's face. "Saving your ass tonight was a big mistake. You just sit there and keep your mouth shut. You've screwed things up enough for us."

  "Why? Why are you planning to kill him?" Eli asked anyway.

  "Because he killed my team, that's why! Now shut the fuck up."

  Eli nodded. "I'll help you do it."

  "What?"

  "I'll help you take out Mendez tonight."

  Ramon rolled his eyes. "I'm not believin' this guy. Now he wants in. He's gotta have brain damage, man."

  Ted took a deep breath and let it out slowly before speaking. "Thanks for volunteering but it's a no-go for tonight.

  There's no way we can do it without a bunch of rehearsals to get the timing right. We'll have to stick to the original plan and do it tomorrow night."

  "Stacy will be dead, Teddy." Bonita began to cry.

  "So will a bunch of DEA agents," Eli added. "Mendez has set up a Colombian to take the fall for the Senator Goodnight assassination and the others he had killed. He has a couple of bombs hidden in the staging area for the assault on the Colombian's boatyard. He's going to blow those bombs at seven in the morning--Mendez told me before he had me tossed overboard."

  "What about Stacy; when is he going to kill her?" Bonita asked.

  "She dies tomorrow morning, too. Mendez wants her to see--wait a minute, that's it. The plant delivery."

  "I told you he had brain damage," Ramon said. "He's talkin' crazy."

  Eli stood. "Listen to me, Ted. Mendez told me that tomorrow morning he was expecting some kind of rare plant to be delivered to his estate. Don't you see? It's a way in.

  We find out who is delivering the plant, replace the driver with one of you, and the rest of us hide in the truck."

  "They'd check inside the truck," Ted said.

  "We take the checkers out quietly," Eli said. "It's going to be early; most of the guards will be sleeping. We'll have the element of surprise on our side."

  Glenn stepped closer. "I see us getting in with the truck, but how do we get out? The dead guards will be found sooner or later. They'll just shut the gate and trap us inside the compound."

  "By boat," Bonita said. "The back gate leads to the dock.

  I could be there waiting for you in The Revenge."

  "Hold it, Bo," Ted said, lifting his hand. "This is crazy.

  We don't know anything about the compound. We don't know the number of guards, where they are, where Mendez will--"

  "I know all those things," Bonita said. "I can draw you a map and tell you everything you need to know. You have to do it, Teddy. We can't let Carlos kill Stacy."

  Ted began to speak, but Bonita turned to Glenn. "Once you're inside it should be easy. Only one shift of guards stays in the compound during the day, and half of them watch TV in the guard quarters. And all the security cameras are on the walls and gates to ensure no one gets in uninvited.

  There's no cameras inside the estate."

  "When does the guard shift change?" Glenn asked.

  "At eight in the morning. The guards and most of the house staff don't live in the compound. There's quarters across from the main house
where the guards change into their uniforms, rest, and watch TV. At seven in the morning half of the shift will be sleeping in the quarters; the others rove the estate grounds."

  "How many guards on a shift?" Virgil asked, stepping closer.

  "Twenty. Ten will be sleeping; six will be roving in two man teams. Three will man the main gate, and one watches the monitors in the security room in the gatehouse. The sleepers went off duty at midnight."

  "How do you know so much about the guards?" Ramon asked.

  "I walked the estate grounds many times when I got bored waiting on Carlos to come back from playing golf. I can count."

  Ted growled. "Wait just a damn minute here! I'm runnin' this show and I don't think there's enough time to get a plan thrown together to--"

  "It'll be a quick-strike mission, Ted," Eli said. "Mendez said he was meeting the truck to personally oversee the unloading; we don't have to go looking for him. We drive in, take out the guards, go to the greenhouse, take out Mendez, get Stacy, and run out the back gate to the dock, where we get away in this cruiser. It's the last thing they'd expect, we'd have surprise on our side. If we do it quick and quiet, we've got a good chance of getting out with no problems."

  "Oh yeah, there's a problem all right," Ted said. "The problem is you. See, I don't get it, Agent Tanner. Why are you riskin' your life and your career on this? Everything you're talkin' about is illegal."

  Eli looked into Ted's eyes. "Mendez was responsible for my partner's death when I was working out of Miami. And I also had responsibility for Stacy. It's my duty to get her back . . . I can't let them kill her. This is the only way to save her."

  "What about those DEA guys Mendez is plannin' on blowin' up?" Virgil asked.

  Eli nodded. "I need to make a call. We can't do this by ourselves. We need help, and I know two people who will help us. One will warn the right person to make sure the DEA agents get out in time. The other will find out who is delivering the plant in the morning."

  "Whoa," Ted said. "These friends of yours know you were taken?"

  "Yeah, of course."

  "Where are they now?"

  "Probably the Miami field office."

  "Too risky, then. You callin"em, they're going to go nuts when they hear your voice. Glenn was right. Mendez has people everywhere. You have someone else outside the Bureau that can contact these two friends of yours?"

  Eli began to shake his head but thought of someone. "I know somebody who will talk to them--better yet, I'll have the person pick them up and take them to the marina to meet me. I'll need to explain in detail what I need without getting them into trouble--they aren't like me. They need to stay clean of all this."

  "How do you know they'll help you?" Glenn asked.

  "They're my friends. They'll help."

  Ted held up his hands. "Everybody shut up a second and let me think. . . . Okay, the way I see it there are three options. The first is to stick with the plan and do Mendez tomorrow night. If we do that, the agent stays tied up and we release him after it's over. It also means the Starr woman will most likely be dead along with the DEA guys. Option two. Try to go in tonight--I say that's not an option 'cause it's suicide, since half the team isn't ready for the mission.

  Option three is we do what the agent says. We use the plant delivery truck as a way to get inside the estate. The agent gets the Starr woman and we get Mendez. The problem with option three is time--we don't have much of it."

  Ted looked at Glenn. "What option do you vote for?"

  Glenn glanced at Bonita, then Eli. "I vote for three. Use the truck and get inside."

  Ted turned to Virgil. "And you?"

  "Three. It happens on dry land. I'm Army; I like the idea of not havin' to breathe through a hose."

  "Ramon, which option?" Ted asked.

  "I say there's a fourth option, man. We get the fuck outta here right now. Let the agent go, and let him worry about the news lady."

  Bonita stared into Ramon's eyes. "We're responsible for her being on that yacht--we leaked information to her."

  "We? / didn't give her anything--ahh shit, okay, okay, option three."

  Ted faced Bonita, who nodded once. "You know my vote, Teddy."

  Ted exhaled and set his shoulders. "Virg, get Agent Tanner out of those chains and find him something to wear.

  Glenn, take us to the marina. Bo, get the agent your cell phone and start drawin' us a sketch of the compound. Ramon, get below and start bringing up the gear we'll need.

  We'll need the commo gear, silenced Mac-10s and grenades, smoke for sure, and fragmentation. Let's move, people! We got an op to get ready for."

  .

  11:15 P. M., Miami FBI field office.

  In the corner of the operations room, Ed Faraday sat slumped in his chair staring at the distant wall as he held a cup of cold coffee. Beside him, Ashley leaned forward in her seat, her head resting on the table.

  A woman walked up to the table and tapped Ashley's shoulder. "Excuse me, are you Agent Sutton?"

  Ashley sat up and looked at the woman, who she judged to be in her late forties. She was wearing a visitor's badge.

  "Yes, I'm Agent Sutton."

  The woman motioned to Faraday. "And is that Detective Faraday?"

  "Yes," Ashley said.

  The woman scanned the others in the room before lowering her voice. "I'm Alice Wade. Agent Tanner was my late husband's partner here in Miami. They worked the case on Mendez together. Would you two please meet me outside in the parking lot? It's not safe to talk here. It's about Mendez--I have information for you."

  Ashley reached out for the woman's hand. "Mrs. Wade, I hate to be the one who informs you of this, but Eli has been--"

  "I know about Eli, Agent Sutton. Please meet me. I'll be in a dark blue Ford station wagon parked in the first row, lower level. Please hurry; it's a matter of life and death."

  The woman held Ashley's eyes for a moment, then turned and walked from the ops center.

  Faraday set his coffee cup on the table. "What the hell was all that about?"

  Ashley stared at the doorway the woman had passed through. "It was Eli's partner's wife--you see the look on her face?"

  "What can she know?"

  "She knew about Eli, and it hasn't been released to the press yet."

  "Lopez could have told the whole world by now and we wouldn't know it, being in here."

  Ashley stood. "Come on, let's go talk to her."

  Ashley leaned over and looked through the open window at the woman seated behind the steering wheel of the station wagon. "Mrs. Wade, what did you want to tell us?"

  The woman started the engine. "Please, both of you get in. I've been asked to take you to the marina to meet someone."

  Ed Faraday shook his head. "Ma'am, just tell us what this is all about."

  "It's about Eli. He's alive and safe. He called me about forty minutes ago. He needs to talk to both of you; he needs your help."

  Faraday put his hand on the butt of his pistol. "Lady, freeze. Let's see some ID."

  The woman nodded. "He told me you wouldn't believe me, so he told me to tell you this, Detective. 'Ed, you barbecue rib-eatin' S. O. B., get in the damn car. You gave up your tickets to the Falcon game for this.'" The woman shifted her gaze to Ashley. "And he told me to tell you, Agent Sutton, he was wrong--you could give Miss Starr lessons on looking nice."

  Ashley exchanged shocked looks with Faraday, then both grabbed for the rear passenger door handle.

  Ashley and Ed got out of the car and stood in front of the wagon's headlights. Ashley searched the empty parking lot with her good eye, then shifted her search to the marina's docks. She saw a woman and a dog walking down the first pier but scanned past them to the boats rocking gently in their slips. The woman and dog passed beneath a pier light and Ashley saw that the woman had dark hair, as did the dog. She was about to shift her feet and look down the other piers, but the woman changed direction once off the dock and headed straight for them.

  Far
aday rested his hand on the butt of his pistol again and spoke in a whisper. "I don't like this. If she makes a sudden move I'll take her."

  The dark-haired woman stopped ten feet away. She looked past the couple toward the road, then said, "It looks like you weren't followed. . . . Are you Agent Sutton?"

  Ashley spoke warily. "Yes, who are you?"

  "Bonita Rogers. Agent Tanner said you have been looking for me. Come on, he's waiting on the boat for both of you. Follow me."