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Extreme Heat Warning: A Shallow End Gals Trilogy, Book Two

Page 31

by Graybosch, Vicki


  One of the men grabbed the baby from the woman and pulled out a hand gun. “Get back! I’ll shoot the kid!” Todd motioned for the assault team to back up. They slowly moved back as a Navy assault team advanced from the back. The man was screaming and turning in circles, his gun pointed at the screaming baby’s head.

  Three armed men came from a house two doors down. They began shouting and firing at the assault teams. Pablo cursed at the total disregard for the lives at stake. Roger was right. These were punk kids. All three were shot immediately. The man holding the baby was still wielding his gun and screaming.

  Todd walked toward him. “Put the baby down, gently. You will not survive an encounter with us. Take your chances with the courts. Don’t die in the street. Don’t kill an innocent baby.”

  The man pivoted his head and saw the staggering number of troops around him. He dropped the gun and lowered the baby, who sat in the street crying. Todd had the arrest team take the man away and a guardsman get the child. It was a vision Pablo knew he would never forget. That baby sitting in the filthy street, rubbing its eyes and crying, surrounded by chaos.

  Pablo went into a house and found a little old lady crying. She was in a wheelchair and had struggled to get her door open. He started to comfort her because he thought she was scared, but she shooed him away and said she had prayed for them to come.

  Eventually the entire neighborhood had been searched. The National Guard had stopped numerous vehicles and several persons trying to leave the area. There was nowhere for them to go. The net was tight, and it was efficient. Their block was clean.

  Todd called Thor to see if he needed help. Thor answered that his block was clean.

  Thor called Roger. No answer. Thor called Pablo back and told them to meet him by the church with their assault teams. That was where Roger was supposed to be. Thor told his assault team to take him to the church. That was probably the hot spot since the cocaine was there.

  Thor’s team arrived in hell. Gunfights were in almost every building surrounding the church. These thugs would die trying to save their cocaine. Pablo and Todd’s jeep pulled up next to Thor. Pablo yelled, “Any idea where Roger is?”

  Thor yelled back, “As close to the coke as he can get.” Thor’s assault team positioned itself to enter the church. Thor had the other team take the house next door. He could see flashes of gunfire through the windows and hear screaming. An old woman had stepped out on her porch.

  She waved her cane at Thor, “Bad men are in my house.”

  Thor yelled, “Shit!” He motioned for two assault team members to come with him. Thor ran up the front steps, tackled the old woman as gently as he could to get her down. A gunman came from her foyer hall with an AK47. Thor was staring down the barrel. A second later the man fell, a gunshot wound on his forehead. Thor turned around, and Pablo was standing behind him.

  Thor tried to comfort the old woman some and told her to please just stay low and in the corner of her porch. She nodded, scared out of her mind. Thor went into the building. He heard short spats of gunfire from the back. Then silence. He made his way to the back of the house. Pablo was standing over a dead kid hugging a gun. Pablo looked at him and said, “This is sick man.” They both left to head for the church.

  The shooting had stopped. Thor saw Roger and John exit the back door of the house next to the church. Roger was shaking his head and holding his arm. John turned and yelled to Thor, “You brought back up just in time. We were outgunned on this one.”

  One of the clean-up crew came out to report to Roger. “I don’t think people really lived in these houses. There were a couple of bunk rooms, but I think they were just here to guard the dope. The walls were lined with weapons, loaded and ready at every window. They would never have run out of ammo. I think our count at this place is over ten, anyway. I’ll check the place next door.” He walked away. Roger said, “I think the average age here is twenty. How stupid.”

  Thor asked Roger, “What’s wrong with your arm?”

  John answered, “He got nicked. I’m taking him to the hospital as soon as we check out the basement of the church.”

  Roger frowned, “We’ve got EMT’s at the perimeter line. This is just a flesh wound.”

  John said, “Whatever.”

  Zack came from inside the house next door holding a blood soaked cloth to his neck, “I want to see this basement for myself. I’ve only heard about it.”

  John said, “Then you can ride with Roger and me to the hospital. Let me see your wound.”

  Zack pulled the cloth away, and John could see it was just a flesh wound. John shook his head, “I don’t want to hear the body count from this.”

  They made their way down the church stairwell to the basement floor. At the bottom of the stairs were two doors leading from the landing. One had kid artwork taped on the door and a sign that said Bible School. The other door had a large lock. One of the guardsmen brought some large cutters down and snapped through the lock.

  Roger swung the door open to view floor to ceiling shelves all stacked high with shrink wrapped blocks of cocaine. John whistled. Zack pointed to the far wall where the shelves looked virtually empty, “They were expecting a shipment of weed today. The Manio cartel grows in our National Parks and sells in our big cities. No worries about the borders anymore.”

  Roger said, “I think we got their shipment last night. Does the name Juan Diez mean anything?”

  Zack shook his head, “No, but I’m sure word has gotten to his people by now. That should have been a big shipment. They distribute from here all the way up the coast.”

  John said, “Fifty-two tons.”

  Zack shook his head, “Someone is going to pay big for that being gone. This cartel has a presence in almost every major city in the U.S.” Zack looked at Roger, “At what point do we admit we lost this drug war? They are growing this shit in our National Parks, using our legal guns to protect themselves, and selling to our kids in our cities.”

  Roger answered, “I don’t know the answer to that Zack. I am assuming Core has a relationship with this cartel or you wouldn’t know about this church.”

  Zack answered, “Where do you think they get their guns?”

  We decided we would stay with the National Guard troops a while longer. Roger had told them to patrol the entire area in two jeep teams and enter any dwelling that looked suspicious after giving the Martial Law notice. The word must have already been out on the street because every neighborhood they slowly cruised through, people opened their doors and waved at them. Some had made up little flags they were waving. One lady on her porch pointed to the house next door. After checking, two men were arrested and a variety of guns and dope were confiscated. I felt really good seeing the faces of so many people who were happy this was happening. One house had a stereo blaring Etta James singing “Oh Happy Day.” Three people were on the porch dancing.

  Teresa said, “Some of the officers I was around earlier said now the city could enforce some new landlord regulation. He said if there is criminal activity in a house, the city can seize it, and the landlord loses his permit to rent. The landlord can either convert the property to single family occupancy, and sell it, or forfeit ownership to the city. After Katrina a group of famous movie stars pledged to take seized properties, fix them up and give zero interest mortgages to deserving families. The program has been in place, and somewhat working, but the city has had trouble getting rid of landlords.”

  Mary said, “How cool.”

  Linda asked Teresa, “Have you heard anything else from Ellen?”

  Teresa answered, “She checked in to make sure we were okay and tell us we did a good job.” Teresa looked at Linda, “Ellen said you pushed a gun right out of a bad guy’s hand!”

  Linda smiled, “Yup. By the time he picked it up again, the good guys were in the room.”

  We decided we would be the most help if we split up and each took a jeep of guys to protect. I sat on the hood like an ornament and pretende
d I was the general of some army of good guys saving the people of the world from evil. What a blast!

  Mathew sat on his porch sipping sweet tea and staring at his laptop. Jason wasn’t answering. This morning’s Times-Picayune was folded so just the headline stared at him. Extreme Heat Warning. No shit. Mathew tried to stay calm. Carl should call back soon. This was just as bad for Carl as it was for him. Thomas would have to get involved.

  Mathew could hear sirens in the distance. He heard the National Guard had seized entire blocks of the city. Well, wasn’t that what the citizens had been asking for? The crime page posters in the paper would have a field day today. He keyed in the Picayune website and started reading the comments on the article about the dock raid. They were certainly polarized. Some people praised the action, and some people said it was proof our government had taken away all of our rights.

  He heard a noise behind him and saw Lisa coming.

  “I’m going to do some errands and get groceries. Anything special you’re hungry for?” She sat on his lap and gave him a hug.

  He gave her a tender kiss and said, “I have everything I could ever want with you and Jamie.” Mathew smiled, and Lisa got up to leave.

  She mussed his hair and said, “We kind of like you too.” And left.

  She had barely shut the door when the phone rang. It was Carl.

  Mathew answered, “Yeah.”

  Carl said, “We need to restructure all of this for a later date. I don’t know what happened yet, but Dance is behind it. Look, Thomas thinks it will go easier if we don’t have to worry about Dance or Casey.”

  Mathew replied, “Are you ordering a job? I want to hear specifics from Thomas. Who is explaining this postponement to our customers?”

  Carl answered, “You’re the fixer. Fix it. I’ll have Thomas call if you insist. He won’t be happy.” Carl hung up. Mathew watched Lisa pull from the driveway and wave goodbye. He waved back. This was as good a time as any to finally stop.

  Mathew dialed the FBI field office. “Give me the number for Roger Dance.”

  Tourey called Jeanne and told her John wanted the surveillance info from last night’s meeting at the country house streamed to her computer. Jeanne gave him the id info and asked, “How sick is it?”

  Tourey answered, “See for yourself. I have identified everyone who was there last night. I’ll email you that too. You guys have been busy! I see the whole city has patrol jeeps snailin’ through. How’d the good guys do?”

  Jeanne answered, “Haven’t heard yet. We did hear there have been a lot of arrests, some dead and injured. Fingers crossed.”

  Tourey said goodbye and thought about John in the middle of all that. He knew John was hoping to just get his time done, retire, and get his family back. He sure hoped nothing had happened.

  Tourey’s phone rang, it was Spicey. “Hey beautiful. What you need?”

  Spicey answered, “I know you’re a busy man, but I need you to come to my place quick. I went and saw Mambo yesterday, and she brought your name up. All on her own. Can you come now?” Tourey answered yes, sent the data to Jeanne, and grabbed his keys. How would Mambo know his name?

  Dusty was blasted awake by a megaphone blaring through his bedroom wall demanding he open his front door or face an assault team. Will this horror ever stop? What the hell? Dusty opened his door to what looked like six swat team dudes. They walked through his house, looked in his closets, said thank you, and left. Dusty scratched the back of his hip as he watched them go to his neighbor’s place. They definitely weren’t selling cookies. He stepped outside and retrieved his morning newspaper from the bush. He unfolded it and read the big bold letter headline, ‘Extreme Heat Warning’. He sat on his front step in his tee shirt and boxer shorts and read the article. Holy Crap!

  “Senior Manio you have a call.” The older man held the phone out in front of him as far as he could. He was bowing and noticeably nervous. Jesse Manio answered, “Yes?…. Thank you.” He put the phone down and keyed in the web address for the Times-Picayune. He read the article. He had already been notified of the development last night. He had people in place. He placed an international call, “What has been done to correct your problem? I am not a patient man. I expect delivery.”

  Jesse dialed his operative in New Orleans and listened to his reports of what was happening on the streets. He decided to obtain some additional insurance.

  “I have it!” Simon’s raised voice startled everyone. “The six million dollars originated in a Cayman account under the name of Bernard Jacobs. It went to Global Corp’s clearing account where Devon kept one million. He then sent the other five million through Global’s clearing account, directly into Global Corporations Cayman account. I have Global’s account number and all I have to do now is print off the activity.” Simon looked at Paul, “How far back should I go?”

  Paul wasn’t sure. “I know we want proof the escape was paid from this account, go back at least to the December arrest date. Can you do that?”

  Simon answered, “I’ll try. I’m not sure how long this bank keeps records on line.” A few minutes later Simon’s printer was printing away. Simon said, “I am going to try to print all of last year. Where’s our extra paper?” Ray pointed to an open shelf unit at the far side of room. Simon walked over, grabbed a ream of paper and said, “This guy had some weird termites down here. They only ate in the cracks of the paneling.”

  Jeanne laughed and told him to move aside. She pulled a knife from her boot, flicked it from her wrist, and stuck it in the wall next to Simon. Directly in the crack. She looked at Paul, “He’s a blade man.”

  Ray pushed out his bottom lip and said, “Dang girl. Good throw.”

  Simon yanked the knife from the wall, brought it back to her, and chuckled, “Do you have trouble getting dates?”

  Jeanne laughed, “Actually I do. I never even went to a school prom.”

  Ray was stunned, “Look at you! You’re kidding, right? My god woman, you are gorgeous.”

  Paul said, “I saw a gal for a while who was gorgeous. She told me the same thing. She said men were afraid to ask her out. Afraid they couldn’t keep her.”

  Jeanne asked Paul, “Why did you stop seeing her?”

  Paul answered, “I think I was afraid she was way out of my league.” Jeanne raised her eyebrows. Paul said, “Huh.”

  They heard the guys coming in upstairs. Jeanne ran up the stairs. Paul heard her ask if anyone had been hurt. Simon said, “I want to hear this.” Paul and Ray followed him upstairs. It didn’t take long to find out Roger and some guy named Zack were the only injuries for the good guys. Roger was the last in the room. He grinned at Paul and simply said, “Just a scratch.”

  Roger waited for everyone to find a seat or a place to stand, and then he asked if he could have their attention for just a minute. The room grew quiet. Roger said, “I wasn’t a fan of this neighborhood sweep idea, but I think it went very well. In hind sight, this was a good decision and probably the only opportunity for this city to have something like this.” He looked at John, “Thank you for putting this together so well.” John shrugged. Roger continued, “Paul, John, and I will meet with the Director at two o’clock this afternoon to go over the communications from last night and this morning. I have no idea what he may have to say since we need to speak face to face. It is already eleven-thirty, so I plan on going back to my hotel, and take a shower, and just get a sandwich after. Probably across the street. If anyone cares to join me the bureau will pick up the tab. I want our focus now to be nailing Patterson’s club. I also would like everyone to meet Zack. He is currently ATF and has been undercover with Mathew Core for almost a year. He will be helping us from here forward and probably working out of the field office.”

  Paul asked, “Do we know what the numbers are on this sweep?”

  Roger answered, “John and Frank are compiling them now at the field office. We should hear later.”

  Roger excused everyone to do whatever they wanted, and
he would try to have assignments before two o’clock for them. Paul and Roger left together and started walking to the hotel. It was the first day the heat wasn’t over a hundred degrees. Roger asked, “You mad at me?”

  Paul answered, “A little.”

  They walked a few more steps, and Roger asked, “You going to get over it?”

  They walked a little further, and Paul smiled, “Probably.”

  Roger’s phone rang, “Dance.” Roger stopped and cupped his hand over his other ear. The caller was Mathew Core.

  “I have just received an order to get rid of both you and Paul Casey. I can stall, but I’m not the only contractor out here. I want to trade information for my family’s safety. I’m looking for a way out.”

  Roger signaled to Paul he needed something to write on. Paul searched his pockets and found a small slip of paper. Roger asked, “What is a number where I can reach you?” Roger was writing. “Who ordered the hit?”

  Mathew answered, “I got the call from William C. Thornton. He gets his marching orders from someone else. I have that information too.”

  Roger looked at Paul, “Will you share that information?”

  Mathew answered, “I will share that and a lot more, but I want my family safe. Soon.” He hung up.

  Roger looked at Paul, “That was Mathew Core. Thornton put a hit on both of us.”

  Paul smiled, “Oh, now you’re going to include me?”

  John spent twenty minutes on the phone with his director. One call was intercepted from William C. Thornton ordering what sounded like a hit on Roger and Paul. OSI didn’t know the identity of who Thornton had called, yet. OSI was sharing the information they were getting with the FBI Director, and John was told he would get quite a bit more at the two o’clock meeting.

  John called Roger to warn him. John’s phone rang again. It was Tourey. Tourey said it was important and could he meet him ASAP at their regular spot. John agreed, grabbed his keys, and headed for Loyola University Law Library.

 

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