by Dan Sears
“Janie, all I want is for you to be happy and for me to be happy. It doesn’t matter what you once were or did. What matters is what you are now and plan to be in the future. I love you, and that is all that matters.”
She smiles at him and walks toward the window to look out.
“Dan, you have issues and things you must deal with. Sonia’s death is one you have to deal with. While you slept, I watched you. I heard you call her name, and I saw you crying. It tore at my heart to see you in such pain. I cannot and will not put you through pain again. I hurt you once, and I will never hurt you again. The only way I can ensure that I don’t hurt you is by not getting too involved in a relationship with you. I do love you more than you can imagine. When all this is over and you’ve gotten over Sonia, please ask me again; I promise you won’t have to ask twice, okay?”
“Janie, I plan to hold you to that promise. I promise you I won’t ever try to change you. I want you just the way you are. I also love you dearly. Now what shall we do for an encore?”
“Dan, I want you to just relax and enjoy this time we have. You don’t have to try to please me. I am your friend now and always. I promise I won’t run away and won’t object to what you do for a living either.”
Meanwhile back in Patagonia, the fire department is still investigating the fire that killed Sonia Perdenales.
“Chief, look at what I found. I found this gas can laying in the weeds on the side over there. Chief, I don’t think this was a total lightning strike. I believe this was arson and the lightning just happened to strike too. This is straight-out murder.”
“Bill, have the lab boys from Tucson checked this place with a fine-tooth comb. I want these sons of bitches to pay dearly for what they have done. I want the evidence handled with care and no contamination. This has to be done by the book. This one is for Dan Mesa. He deserves to know the truth, and I’d hate to be the one responsible for this. He is already angry, and this will push him over the edge. I’d better call Sam.”
The phone rings at the ranger station in Nogales. “Arizona rangers, Corporal Garcia speaking. Hello Pop, what can I do for you?” his son answers.
“Son, is Sam in his office? I have some more bad news for him.”
“I will get him for you.”
“Hello, Orlando,” Captain Johnson says when he picks up, “what do you have for me?”
“Sam, we were finishing up our investigation of the fire in Patagonia, and we found something that makes this more than a lightning strike. Sam, that house was drenched in gas and set on fire. The lightning struck the house just by coincidence. This is capital murder. Sam, what will you tell Sergeant Mesa?”
“Orlando, this is one time I wish I was a dogcatcher instead of a ranger. I will just have to tell him the truth. Orlando, let’s meet after work. I need a drink or maybe two.”
“Old friend, I’ll meet you at the bar at five thirty p.m. Take care. We’d better keep an eye on Dan. What is the latest on Carlos and Antonio?”
“Well, we know he bought a maroon Dodge pickup in Douglas. It has a camper on it, and they are supposed to be heading toward San Antonio. I have notified the Texas rangers to keep an eye out for them. Sergeant Savalas is shadowing Sergeant Mesa. Let me know if anything else turns up.”
Janie and Dan are watching an old Bogart movie when the phone rings.
“Hello?” Janie says. “Oh hello, Captain Johnson. Yes, Dan is here.”
“Dan, Captain Johnson wants to talk to you. He sounds strange. I wonder what is going on.”
Mesa takes the phone, wondering to himself what else can go wrong?
“Hello, sir, what can I do for you?”
“Dan, I just got off the phone with Chief Garcia, and he told me that the house fire that killed Sonia was not due to lightning. Someone drenched that house with gas. It is a clear case of murder.” The phone is silent for a few seconds.
“Dan, are you still there?”
Dan’s voice is hard and bitter as he answers, “Yes, sir, I am still here. I will return immediately. I want to get started looking for those two. I’ll see you in a few hours.” After Dan hangs up, he turns to Janie. She sees the change in his face and knows he will be leaving. She waits for him to speak.
“Janie, I have to return to Nogales. They found that it was not a lightning strike that started the fire. It was arson and a clear case of murder. The house was drenched with gas. The lightning was just coincidence.” He turns around quickly so she won’t see the anger in his eyes.
Janie walks around and looks into his eyes. What she sees frightens her and she backs away quickly.
“Dan, sometimes you frighten even me. I know you better than most people, and what I see in your eyes is death. Promise me you will be careful and only kill if you absolutely have to.”
“I can’t promise you that. They killed her, and I plan to kill them—today, tomorrow, or next year. It may take me a year, but I will catch them.”
He hugs her and then turns and walks away with his bags. As he gets into his truck, a bullet spits dirt and glass and shatters the right window of the 4Runner. Mesa dives for cover and comes up shooting at the sound. A second shot is fired, putting a hole in the brim of Mesa’s hat. Mesa dives under the truck and comes out with an M16 and two grenades. He throws one and waits as it explodes.
A voice rings out saying, “Hold it. We give up! Ranger, please don’t shoot. We give up.”
“Throw out those guns and walk this way. I know one of you is hurt, so drag him out, and if you move one muscle I will kill you like the dogs you are.”
Two men emerge, and one is missing his right hand, and the other one is bleeding. Mesa walks up to them and strikes one with all his force and turns and kicks the other in the groin and walks away. Seeing what is happening, Sergeant Savalas rushes up to stop Mesa. Mesa turns around swiftly so that the rifle is pointed at Savalas; he is consumed with anger.
“Dan, it’s me Savalas. Don’t shoot. I am under orders to follow you, so don’t shoot.”
Mesa relaxes his grip.
“Okay, Savalas. You’d better call the police and notify headquarters.”
Dan rushes toward Janie as she comes running.
“Dan, I saw them and yelled, but you didn’t hear me. Are you all right? Are you injured?”
“Honey, I am fine. I was lucky this time. Now you go back in, because I don’t want you involved in this at all. I love you, and now I am going away, and you won’t see or hear from me for a while. Just know I love you. Good-bye.”
The Sierra Vista police arrive with Captain Heath, who remembers Ranger Mesa from the Jackson affair.
“Hello, ranger,” he says. “How are you? What happened here?”
“Captain, these two gentlemen opened fire on me as I got into my truck. If you check, you will find that they are on the payroll of Vermenti Pellegrinni of Washington, DC, and Baltimore. He is the local crime boss. They were paid to kill me to keep me from finding Carlos Meana and Antonio Blackbear. They are the ones responsible for the fire in Patagonia that killed my friend.”
“Sergeant Mesa, wherever you are, there is definitely action. Your captain asked me to be on the watch for you. We’ll take your statement, and then you can go. Captain Johnson said to tell you to return to Nogales immediately and that they have new information.”
The ride back to Nogales is uneventful, but Mesa arrives at ranger headquarters with his temper beyond dangerous. He rushes into the captain’s office, where Captain Johnson is waiting as Mesa storms in.
“Sergeant, sit down and shut your mouth and listen,” Johnson says. “I sent Savalas to shadow you, because we knew there were men sent to get you. I was trying to save your life.”
“I know you were, and I appreciate it, but I have to find these men and make them pay for what was done to Sonia. I ran int
o two of their hired guns who were—”
“Sergeant Mesa, I want you to listen to what I have to say. I can’t have you going off half-cocked and killing everyone you believe to be mixed up in this situation. You are my friend, but I will have your guts for garters if you screw up. So far, we know Carlos is headed toward New Mexico and possibly Texas. He bought a truck, and it has the On Star system, and we can track him using it until he realizes what we are doing. Right now, he is on I-10 headed east. Dan, sign out one of the ranger vehicles; that old truck of yours has taken a serious beating, and you need something more dependable.”
“Okay, sir, I will. I won’t let you down. Captain, have you heard from Lieutenant Osborne lately?”
“No, sergeant, I haven’t, but they are probably busy with that prison break they had last week. Two of the individuals who escaped were friends of Blackbear. You had best be careful, because I believe Carlos and Pellegrinni planned that prison break. Those two are skilled at killing and mugging people. The Yuma police captured them about five years ago. Sergeant, when was the last time you qualified on the weapons you are carrying?”
“Sir, it has been a year or so, and yes sir, I am due. I will take care of it today. I believe Savalas needs to qualify also. I’ll grab him, and we’ll head to the range.”
Mesa reports to the firing ranger to qualify, and after several rounds of firing, Dan emerges with a score of 298 hits of 300 shots. Savalas qualifies with 290 of 300.
He and Mesa are walking toward their vehicles when Mesa’s truck suddenly erupts in flames. Mesa is blown across the parking lot. The 4Runner is totaled. It is now a broken link with his past. He has owned it since it was new in 1989.
People are rushing from everywhere. Captain Johnson arrives at the scene and sees Ranger Mesa on a stretcher bloody and bruised. He is unconscious, and there is a bad bruise on his head. Sergeant Savalas isn’t so lucky; he is dead.
The ambulance attendant is checking Mesa’s vital signs when Mesa goes into cardiac arrest. They apply the electrodes and bring him back, and the ambulance departs immediately for the hospital running code red all the way. Captain Johnson stays behind until Savalas’s body is removed to the coroner’s office. Then he leaves for the hospital. He goes immediately to the emergency room.
“I am Captain Johnson of the Arizona rangers, and one of my men was just admitted,” he says to the nurse at the desk. “He is Ranger Daniel Mesa, a victim of an explosion. Can you please tell me about his condition?”
“Ranger, I am Nurse Helen Garza, and I admitted him. His doctor is Doctor Raymond Burke, one of our best surgeons. All I can tell you right now is that he is in serious condition with internal bleeding. Does he have close relatives here? If so, you may want to call them.”
“He is divorced and hasn’t any family close by,” Captain Johnson replies. “His mom lives in Louisiana. I am his boss and friend, so if there is anything he needs, you tell me.”
“Ranger, why don’t you have a cup of coffee, and I will see what I can find out about him. Isn’t he that ranger who killed that Jackson fella and whose girlfriend was kidnapped?”
“Yes ma’am, he is and also a damned good friend. He has a son who would surely miss his father if anything happened to him.”
Nurse Garza departs, and Captain Johnson takes a seat and waits.
In the operating room, Dr. Burke is working frantically to save Daniel Mesa’s life.
“Clamps please. He has started hemorrhaging again. How is his blood pressure, nurse?”
“It’s steadily dropping. He is fighting, doctor. He has a will to live like nothing I have ever seen. Who is this guy?”
“Nurse, I was told he is one of the Arizona rangers and was caught in an explosion where one ranger was killed. I have stopped the bleeding and repaired the tear in his heart. Now, let’s check that head wound. Doctor Wilson, how bad is his head wound?”
“Ray, he has sustained a bad blow to the head, and I suspect a concussion. If we can stop the swelling, he has a chance—a small one, but a chance. Look at his blood pressure. It has leveled off, and his breathing is normal. I have a feeling he is going to be okay. This guy is a fighter. If he is as tough on his job as he is in this operating room, I’d hate to face him.”
Dr. Burke looks at Mesa and says, “Ranger Mesa, I have done all I can. Now it is up to you to recover. I hope someone somewhere is praying for you.”
As the doctors leave the emergency room, Nurse Garza approaches Dr. Burke and asks how Ranger Mesa is doing.
“The ranger is holding on, but it is still touch and go. Please notify his next of kin just in case.”
“Doctor, his boss is in the waiting room waiting for a report on the ranger. What should I tell him? He doesn’t have any next of kin here. He is alone. He is that ranger who captured that Jackson fella a few months ago. He is also the one whose girlfriend was kidnapped and killed a few days ago. I get the feeling this guy is something else.”
Dr. Burke walks into the waiting room and sees Captain Johnson and says: “Ranger, I’m Doctor Burke. We have stabilized the ranger, and so far so good. He stands a good chance of recovery, if we can reduce the swelling in his head. He has a concussion, and he is in a coma. We will just have to wait and see. He is a fighter, and that is good. Captain, tell me about this Mesa fellow.”
“Doctor, Dan Mesa is one in a million. I have known him for a few years. He is a good guy, the best friend you can have, and probably the worst enemy you could have if you cross him. He is one tough little guy who has had some really bad luck of late but managed to survive it all. He was shot about six months ago, and he recovered fast. He just lost a friend he cared for deeply, and I suspect the same people carried out this attempt on his life. I am going to place a Ranger on his door until he is conscious again. If he needs anything, just let me know. I don’t want any information released about him unless it is okayed by me. I want a blackout on this case. They could try again. This is the third attempt in less than two weeks.”
“Captain, can I assume that he was under a lot of pressure and that he was determined to catch the person responsible for his lady’s death? I ask that because it seems to be the reason he is so determined to live. Medicine can only do so much. The rest depends on the individual. Thank you for telling me about him.”
“No, thank you and your staff for caring for him. He was lucky, but Ranger Savalas wasn’t so lucky. If Dan Mesa recovers from this, there will be hell to pay by whoever is responsible for this.”
In Tucson, it is the news hour at six p.m., and the news reporter says, “Good evening, I am Laura Denton, and we have breaking news of an explosion in Nogales at the ranger’s station. We will now go to the reporter on scene, Chuck Garrison. Chuck, are you there?”
“Yes, Laura. We are in Nogales at the ranger detachment for Santa Cruz County, where someone planted a bomb in one of the rangers’ personal vehicles. One ranger was killed instantly, and the other one is in serious condition at the local hospital here. They are keeping the name of the deceased ranger quiet until his next of kin has been told. The injured ranger is the same one who was responsible for the capture of Jose Guittierrez-Jackson. He is also the same Ranger whose girlfriend was killed a few days ago. Ranger Dan Mesa is well known in the ranger circles and well respected. However, it is apparent that someone has a grudge against him and is trying to kill him. Live in Nogales at the ranger station, this is Chuck Garrison of Channel 12 News.”
“There you have it,” Laura says. “It seems that, once again, Ranger Mesa is the center of attention in the law enforcement arena. This is Laura Denton reporting.”
In Yuma, Arizona both Alana and her mother, Adelaide are listening to the news and so is Major McMasters.
A telephone rings in Washington, DC, at Vermenti Pellegrinni’s house. The answering machine turns on, and the caller leaves a message. “The target in A
rizona has been hit, although not a center hit but just as deadly.” The machine cuts off. A figure listens and smiles.
In an office at FBI headquarters, Agent Scott Ortiz is listening to the recording courtesy of wiretapping. He is puzzled about the term target. His first thoughts are of Dan Mesa, his friend and brother. He picks up the phone and calls Captain Johnson in Nogales, Arizona.
When the phone rings at ranger headquarters in Nogales, a ranger answers, “Arizona rangers, Sergeant Jones speaking. May I help you?”
“Sergeant, I am Agent Ortiz of the FBI calling from DC. May I speak to Captain Johnson?”
“Sir, if you’ll hold I will get him for you.”
“This is Captain Johnson,” “How are you, Agent Ortiz? I know why you are calling. There was an explosion, and Dan was seriously injured. We don’t know how bad it is yet.”
“Captain, I suspect it was spearheaded by Vermenti Pellegrinni but requested by Carlos Meana. If Meana and Pellegrinni had anything to do with this, they will seriously regret it. If Dan dies or is permanently disabled, there is not a rock they can hide under. If you need anything, just give me a call.”
“Thanks, Agent Ortiz. Dan is a good friend of mine too. I will keep you posted on his condition. Since you are there in the area, will you please tell his ex-wife and in-laws? He is in the Tucson Medical Center with an around-the-clock guard. The explosion killed one of our rangers, Sergeant Savalas. As you are aware, when a cop is killed, it becomes open season on criminals. Carlos and Antonio Blackbear are moving targets now. Take care, and I will be in touch.”
Scott hangs up the phone and suddenly realizes what he has to do. He walks into his secretary’s office and prepares to sign out.
“Annette, I will be out for a couple of days. Do you remember that ranger who came to see me about a few weeks ago?”