"Let's get Ramirez moved to Corrections in Hillsborough as soon as possible. We can keep him in isolation until the Grand Jury convenes. I'll set it up." Mel paused before he continued with a warning, "Gabe, anyone who might testify against Santos is in danger. The Cartel will not allow him to make a deal or go to jail. He knows too much."
"I agree. Call when you're ready to move Ramirez," Gabe said. He hung up the phone and thought of Nora. She would be in danger, too. He picked up the phone to call her when Alvarez appeared at his door again.
"Sheriff, there is movement at the drug house. It looks like they are getting ready to move the drugs out of there."
"Tell O'Donnell and her bunch to be ready to roll," he called.
By the time Gabe reached his car, the agents were out and loading up. The afternoon traffic was light for a change, and they arrived on the back road near the house in record time. Parking down where they could watch and not attract attention, they saw two black vans being loaded up with boxes. Armed guards stood watching.
"How do you want to do this?" Gabe asked Dan and Gina.
"Montrose, how are your acting skills?" Dan asked. Montrose was looking a bit scruffy. He hadn't shaved, and his clothes were rumpled.
"Why, in heaven's name, do you want to know that?" the agent asked—his eyes questioning.
"Because you are going to be a drunk and distract the guards," Dan said.
Montrose didn't like the plan, "Why me?" he asked.
"Esposito can't. He's been shot. I'm a woman; Baker is too young; and you're almost scruffy enough to pull it off," Gina said.
"I guess I win by default," Montrose shrugged—stripping off his suit jacket and tie. He loosened his shirt from his pants and with the help of O'Donnell and the others got downright dirty and disgusting. A convenient mud puddle helped to mess up his hair. A discarded beer bottle completed the masquerade.
The officers watched as Montrose wandered down the unpaved road towards the blue house where the drugs were being loaded into the vans under the watchful eyes of the guards.
"He's doing it," Esposito elbowed Gina. Montrose’s acting was convincing. He had the guards coming down towards him.
"Get out of here ol' man," one of them called.
Tipping the empty bottle to his mouth, Montrose shouted, "Another beer. I have to find another beer. You got some beer? Give a guy a drink." As he got closer to the guards, he pretended to stumble and grabbed the shirt of one of them to keep from falling. "Wow! Guns," he slurred. "Are you going hunting?" He laughed like it was a big joke. "What are you hunting? Is it hunting season?"
Dan and Gina signaled for Gabe and Baker to go around and come in from the back. Esposito was to stay put and watch for trouble. With his arm in a sling, he couldn't do much. His shoulder was aching, and the pain pills had stopped working. He had failed to tell Agent O’Donnell that he had left the hospital AMA, against medical advice.
Using what cover they could find, Dan and Gina managed to close the distance to the guards. Gabe crouched and ran to the far side of one of the vans. Keeping the guards in sight, Baker followed and slid up to kneel beside the front door of the
house, gun drawn and ready. He could hear voices inside.
Gina held up her hand and with the guard's attention on Montrose, she counted down, three, two, one, “Go”—then signaled the agents and Gabe to take them down.
Montrose took one of the guards by surprise and ripped the gun from his hands. Using the butt of the gun, he rammed it into the man’s jaw and sent him crashing to the ground. Gabe had his gun to the other guard's back and quickly disarmed him. Dan and Gina rushed to put cuffs on them both. That done, Gabe joined Baker and stormed into the house, "Hands up! Don't move!" they both shouted to the men packing up the cocaine.
Three men were led out of the house in cuffs. "I think we did it," Gina said breathless, leaning over with her hands on her knees. In the excitement, she had forgotten to breathe. Her heart was pounding. Montrose was grinning and clapping Gabe and Dan on the back.
Esposito stood up and using his good arm, pumped his fist in the air and shouted “Yeah!”
"Let's head back to the station. Gabe, let them know we're coming," Gina said.
The small police station was not built to deal with so many prisoners. Gabe called the DA's office; Dan called the DEA in Washington. Arrangements were made to move the prisoners to Hillsborough Correctional while charges were filed.
Gabe called Nora to tell her they had the dealers in custody. "Can I come over?"
"Of course. Are you hungry? I could fix something," she offered. "We haven't eaten yet, and Rosita is visiting a cousin in Myakka. Maybe I should try and call her and see how she’s handling all this?"
“Good idea. A friendly voice might be what she needs right now,” Gabe said. Until that moment, Gabe didn't realize he hadn't eaten all day. “I’d like something to eat, but don't go to any trouble."
"No trouble, I'll have something ready when you arrive," she beamed. She hung up the phone and did a little twirl in the middle of the kitchen.
"I guess that was Gabe on the phone?" Gramps asked from the doorway.
Nora blushed. "Yes, they got the drug dealers and the drugs. It's over Gramps. It's over."
Skipping across the kitchen she gave the old man a hug.
“Careful tiger, old bones here,” he laughed.
She sat heavily in a chair and breathed a sigh of relief. "Gabe is coming over, and I need to make him something to eat," she said, jumping up and rummaging in the fridge.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Gabe knocked on the kitchen door as Nora finished setting the table. She had made up some potato salad on a pretty platter and surrounded it with deviled eggs. Sliced ham and dill pickles along with a pitcher of cold iced tea rounded out the meal.
"Hmm, looks good," Gabe said, walking in the door.
"I hope you don't mind a cold supper," Nora answered.
"I'm not talking about supper," he said, reaching out to take her in his arms. He explored her mouth with his, running his hands up and down her back, loving the feel of her in his arms.
From the doorway, Gramps cleared his throat, "Don't mind me," he chuckled. Gramps was over the moon that Nora and Gabe had found one another. “Let’s eat. You can fill us in on all the dirty details," he added as he pulled out his chair and poured tea in his glass.
Gabe helped himself and between mouthfuls of ham and potato salad filled them in on the arrest of the dealers and all the drugs they had impounded.
"It couldn't have gone down any better. No one got hurt. Except the guy Montrose cracked in the jaw," Gabe said.
"I do have to tell you that it might be awhile before Santos gets to trial. Since you will be a witness, I'm worried that the Cartel might try to stop you from testifying. I'll have a talk with the DA about getting you some protection."
"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself," Nora protested. "After all, I have Rex as my guard dog," she laughed, looking over at Rex asleep on his back—four legs in the air.
"Some guard dog he is," Gabe said.
"Look, Nora, if you need protection, you need protection," Gramps said.
"I know, but let's see what the DA says, right, Gabe? Maybe this will be over quickly."
After supper, Gabe helped Nora clean up. "I'd love to stay, but I'm beat. I'll call you tomorrow after I talk to the DA. It all depends on the Grand Jury."
Nora and Gabe walked out to his patrol car. One kiss turned into more. Reluctantly, Gabe pulled away, "I have to go. Nora, I love you."
"I love you, too," she confessed.
He did a drum roll on the top of the car with his hands, jumped in his car, started the engine and drove away before he changed his mind and decided to stay longer. He was shocked to realize that Nora was the woman he was looking for. He had never said “I love you” to another woman. This one was special, and he was determined to hold on to her forever.
She stood in the drive, watchi
ng until his car disappeared from sight.
Gabe was in his office starting to sort through the stacks of paperwork he had. He looked up and saw Dan. "Hi there," Dan said—leaning against the entry to Gabe's office. "I guess we'll be leaving and going back to D.C. There are a lot more bad guys out there to catch."
Gabe leaned back in his chair. "It was nice having you around for a while."
"It was good working together again. Maybe I can get transferred to the Miami Office."
“It’s warmer down there, and you don’t speak Spanish.” Gabe joked.
“Rats. Guess I’ll stay in D.C.”
The phone on Gabe’s desk rang, interrupting their talk. "What? When?" Gabe asked. Covering the mouth piece, he told Dan, "There's been a shooting."
"Where?" Dan asked.
Gabe listened for a few more minutes. "Let me know how our men are doing. Call me back when you know more."
Dan was leaning forward in his chair, waiting to wrap his head around the latest information.
“Santos was being moved to the Hillsborough Correctional Facility this morning. They were ambushed on route 60 just outside Bartow. Two of our officers were wounded, and Santos was killed. One of the shooters was also killed. The other one was able to drive away."
"It was a Cartel hit," Dan said. "Santos had information they couldn't risk getting out. I'm guessing he had names and places that would have made business very difficult if the DEA had that information."
Gabe got up and looked at the county map behind his desk. "I have a feeling that this drug thing is going to get a whole lot worse in the coming years."
"The last couple of presidents—starting with Nixon—have been doing all they can to give the DEA the power to try and put an end to the drugs coming into the country. We shut down the Okeechobee mess and arrested twenty-nine people. Nine of those were longtime residents of the area. It's the money. People just figure it's worth the risk."
"It's like Tito Ramirez. The money was all he thought about. I'll call the DA and see what we can do to protect him. Although with Santos dead, there will be no Grand Jury trial," Gabe said. “With no Grand Jury trial, Nora won’t have to testify. Thank God for that.”
"Right you are, my friend," Dan stood and walked to the door. "I'll stop by tomorrow before we take off."
"You need a ride to Tampa?" Gabe asked.
"O'Donnell hired a van," Dan told him. "Besides, you have to spend some time with Nora." He started to walk down the hall and did a quick about turn. "By the way, I make a great best man," he said smiling and chuckling as he walked away.
EPLOGUE
Twilight was settling over the little church in the grove as bats swooped overhead. The wooden structure was spilling over with friends and workers. The March orange blossoms filled the air with their sweet sent. Father Miguel wore his best cassock and vestments for the wedding of Sheriff Gabriel McAllister and Nora Ann Hollister.
Gabe stood nervously waiting, twisting his Stetson in his hands, beside his best man Dan Parker. He had Dan double and triple check the rings in his pockets. They were dressed in dark suits, white shirts and bolo ties. Rosita had stuck a sprig of orange blossom in their lapels—crying all the time.
When Nora appeared in the back of the church with her grandfather, guitars and a violin struck up the wedding march.
Gabe watched as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen walked down the aisle to become his wife. Nora wore her mother's wedding gown and a wreath of orange blossoms in her hair.
"You’d better be good to her," Gramps whispered to Gabe as he handed him his only grandchild.
"I will. She carries a gun," Gabe whispered back.
Gramps went to his seat beside Rosita and Hector. Rosita was wiping tears of joy from her eyes. Rex, fresh and clean from a bath, laid his head upon Gramps’ knee. Gabe’s parents and his sister and her family sat in the next row.
The vows were said and the rings exchanged. Father Miguel said, “You may now kiss the bride,” and the gathering erupted in shouts and cheers.
Gabe and Nora walked hand-in-hand to receive the well wishes of everyone and the start of a grand fiesta. Lights twinkled in the trees, and music flowed. Tables were loaded down with every conceivable dish.
Finding a quiet table, the newlyweds reached across the table to hold hands. They looked out over the people they had come to love.
"You know, Mrs. McAllister . . ." "Yeah, I know Mr. McAllister . . ."
They both knew that there was nothing better than being with friends and family enjoying themselves in the Florida orange groves.
Books by Brenda M. Spalding
The Green Lady Inn series
Broken Branches
Whispers in Time
Coming fall 2017
Double vision
Award winning
Bottle Alley
Honey Tree Farm – For the Love of the Beekeeper’s Daughter
For the children
The Hayden series
Just Batty
Hayden’s Garden
Hayden’s Halloween
Hayden and the Honey Farm
Collections
Hayden’s Adventures on the Farm
Princess Annie and the Unicorn
Where’s Teddy
Coming fall 2017
Sailing Away to Nod
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Award-winning author Brenda M. Spalding is a prolific writer with several children’s books and adult novels to her credit. She settled in Bradenton Florida with her husband, after his retirement from the military.
A prolific author with seven children’s books and several adult novels. She has won awards from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association and the National League of American Pen Women.
She is a past president of the National League of American Pen Women- Sarasota branch, Sarasota Authors Connection, Sisters in Crime and a founding member and current president of ABC Books 4 Children & Adults.
She also has a micro-publishing company, Heritage Publishing US, where she helps new and aspiring authors to achieve the dream of publishing. She also is a marketing consultant to help authors navigate their way through Social Media.
Award-winning author Brenda M. Spalding is a prolific writer with several children’s books and adult novels to her credit. She settled in Bradenton Florida with her husband, after his retirement from the military.
A prolific author with seven children’s books and several adult novels. She has won awards from the Florida Authors and Publishers Association and the National League of American Pen Women.
She is a past president of the National League of American Pen Women- Sarasota branch, Sarasota Authors Connection, Sisters in Crime and a founding member and current president of ABC Books 4 Children & Adults.
She also has a micro-publishing company, Heritage Publishing US, where she helps new and aspiring authors to achieve the dream of publishing. She also is a marketing consultant to help authors navigate their way through Social Media.
Read more at Brenda Spalding’s site.
Blood Orange Page 13