The Cartel Enforcers (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 2)

by Swinney, C. L.

  Sullivan said, “How old is Sergio?”

  “He said he’s forty-five and the California ID card also says he’s forty-five. I think he looks about forty-five. I don’t think he’s associated to your case.”

  Sullivan shared the update with Dix and he felt the officer and Sullivan were correct. He grumbled as they all agreed the guy stopped wasn’t their man.

  Sullivan told the officer, “Ok thanks, cut them loose. Dix and I will head over to the second location. Can you be in the area in case we find another possible target?”

  “Absolutely, I’ll let these guys go and be available to assist in ten minutes.”

  “Excellent. Call me when you’re in the area,” Sullivan replied.

  They stopped by a coffee shop and ordered espresso shots then drove over to the next location. They were able to see the front door and front yard of the residence. Dix grabbed the license plates of two vehicles, a Cadillac Escalade and a BMW, parked in the driveway. He gave the plates to Sullivan and she began running them out through dispatch. As she did that, he took out his binoculars and studied the residence. He noticed surveillance cameras overlooking the sides and the front of the residence, but they were concealed fairly well.

  Why would someone take the time to hide them so well? Normally you put them out in the open so the bad guy sees the place has cameras. Motion sensor lights covered the same areas the camera’s covered, as well as the sides of the residence. The front door had a steel screen door protecting the main door, and the windows had reinforced bars. He noticed the yard, and house itself, looked just like all the other houses on the street, not fancy but also not run down. He was thinking the people living in the home clearly had money, and a need to keep whatever was inside safe.

  Dix heard Sullivan say to the dispatcher, “Uh huh, oh

  really, that’s great. Okay, thanks so much.”

  Sullivan turned to Dix. “I think this is the right house. Both vehicles are registered to Jose Calderon’s business, the El Diablo Restaurant.” She was excited and hopeful they’d learn something from whoever left the house.

  Dix thought about this for a second and said, “Yeah, Jose Calderon probably doesn’t pay his chef enough to live in this nice of a neighborhood and to afford the Cadillac or BMW.” He tossed back in forth in his head whether or not they should stop someone exiting the house. If they did stop someone and were able to determine it was the Sergio they were looking for, they would be in great shape and could get a surveillance team on him. But stopping him could also cause a problem. It may spook him and he could tell Jose that he was being looked at by the police, which might tip off Calderon. He decided it was worth the risk.

  “What do you think? Do we stop this guy if he comes out?” asked Sullivan.

  “I say we should. If he’s our guy, he’s a criminal and is use to getting stopped by the police. We can confirm he’s our guy and get a surveillance team on him, then let him go,” answered Dix.

  Sullivan nodded. “I agree. It’s a risk, but we need to take some now anyway because we’re running out of time.” She dialed the stop car officer and confirmed he was good to go. Now it was time to wait, the question was how long? They didn’t have much time left and they were feeling the pressure to get the case solved. They discussed the possibility of creating a ruse to get the people in the house out if they didn’t move in the next hour. They continued to verbally hash out a plan for a ruse.

  Dix glanced down at his watch and said, “It’s been about an hour and we haven’t seen any movement.”

  Sullivan nodded. “Yeah, we’re going to have to force them out.”

  As she said this, Dix pointed to the front of the house. Two middle-aged Hispanic males exited the front door quickly. They were both carrying large black duffle bags. They met by the BMW and put the duffel bags in the trunk. One man then got in the BMW and one got into the Cadillac. Dix gave Sullivan the ‘oh crap’ look realizing if both vehicles left at the same time, they were screwed. Sullivan frantically dialed the stop car officer, but he did not pick up. She looked at Dix for advice.

  Dix shrugged his shoulders, “We can’t make a stop, and I take it the officer isn’t answering.”

  “Nope, wait hold on, he’s calling me.” Sullivan answered the phone and told the officer two cars were about to move. The officer said okay and abruptly hung up on her.

  Sullivan communicated through dispatch that she had two vehicles leaving the target location and needed another unit to assist. Another marked unit was in the area for a different call. She cleared her call and reported she was about a minute out. Sullivan told the second unit to take the BMW. She provided the second officer the color, license plate, and the direction of travel the BMW. The Cadillac and BMW went separate directions and drove erratically out of the neighborhood. Sullivan told the first officer about the color and license plate of the Cadillac and asked him to stop it. They assumed one of the men would be the Sergio Rodriguez they were looking for. However, by driving erratically, they weren’t sure both cars would actually get stopped.

  No communication came over the radio causing concern for Sullivan and Dix. They circulated the area in an effort to locate the Cadillac or BMW. Dix noticed Sullivan was stressed out and driving a little too fast as there were kids and joggers along the street.

  “Calm down, we’ll get them. Trust the two officers to

  do their job,” Dix said calmly.

  She concentrated on driving better. She scanned the area for the marked units or the BMW or Cadillac. It felt like an eternity before Sullivan could hear one of the officers calling a traffic stop on the Cadillac. There was no radio traffic for the second officer. They assumed the BMW was long gone.

  Suddenly the radio erupted with the sound of gunfire while the second officer requested emergency cover units. She advised she was pinned down and taking automatic rifle fire from a single Hispanic male suspect. Officers from all around sped toward her last known location. Sullivan mashed on the accelerator in an effort to help the officer calling for assistance.

  She maneuvered her vehicle around a sharp turn and could see the blue and red lights flashing from the rear and top of the second officer’s vehicle. Sullivan advised dispatch that she was at the second officer’s location. They jumped out of their car just in time to see the suspect’s gun jam and the officer shoot the suspect in the chest and head.

  She got back on the radio. “Suspect down, send code-three medics. We’re approaching the car to make sure the scene is safe.”

  Dix, Sullivan, and the second officer slowly walked toward the suspect vehicle, cleared it for any further threats, pulled the suspect from the open driver’s door area, and handcuffed him. It was obvious the man was dead, but they stuck to the policy and procedures for an officer involved shooting and handcuffed him. Dix grabbed the suspect’s AK-47 assault rifle, made it safe, and slung it over his shoulder. Responding units began flooding the scene as the second officer advised over the radio that the situation was under control and clear for medical staff to enter.

  The officer who had the Cadillac stopped played the situation very cool. The officer wore an ear piece so there was no way the driver of the Cadillac knew anything about what just happened with the BMW. He waited patiently as the call with the BMW was moved to a secondary tactical channel freeing up the primary radio channel for him. He then ran a “Sergio Rodriguez” out through the dispatch center. Sergio did not have any warrants and was not on probation or parole. He dialed Sullivan to let her know his situation, but thought he’d mess with her a bit.

  Sullivan’s adrenaline was spiked based on what had just happened, but she was following the lead of Dix because this was all still very new for her. She’d never been in a shooting but she was smart enough to know she needed to stick with him as he had been in plenty. He could hear Sullivan’s cell phone ringing and vibrating in her pocket and noticed she was unaware of it.

  He made eye contact with her and said, “Hey, answer your phone.�
��

  Sullivan retrieved her cell phone and could see it was the stop car officer calling her.

  As she answered, the officer who’d stopped the Cadillac said, “I think you guys may have just killed Sergio. The guy I have over here is a Fidel Sanchez.”

  “Son of a bitch!” blurted Sullivan. She was pissed off and could not believe her terrible luck. She covered the microphone of her cell phone and motioned over to the body slumped over, “I think the dead guy over there is Sergio.”

  Dix looked upset as well and instantly thought, now what?

  Sullivan could hear the officer chuckling. “What’s so damned funny?”

  “I’m just messing with you Sullivan. Head over here ASAP. A guy named Sergio Rodriguez is driving the Cadillac. He’s a real jerk. I have to let him go soon before he get’s suspicious, but you guys can get point until the surveillance team catches up.”

  “What! You asshole!” Sullivan was fuming and wanted to reach through the phone and smack the officer. She shared the little joke played by the officer with Dix and since there were enough units at the shooting, they headed over to get point on the Cadillac. Dix wondered what the local officers would find in the two duffel bags, he guessed narcotics. Sullivan dialed the surveillance team sergeant and handed the phone to Dix while she found a safe place to observe the Cadillac. He told the sergeant their location and handed the phone back to her.

  Sullivan called the stop car officer and told him to cut Sergio Rodriguez loose. Dix had conducted surveillance for thousands of hours and was well known for being undetected by suspects as he followed them. However, they didn’t have time to switch positions in the car so it was up to Sullivan to follow and not alert him to their presence.

  Dix noticed Sergio drove cautiously and would park on the side of the road and watch cars drive by. Then he drove around the block several times to see who was following him and would purposely drive through red lights in an effort to see if anyone was in fact following him. He told Sullivan what to do as Sergio continued to drive in a manner he recognized as counter-surveillance. Before Sergio would do something, he’d call it out to Sullivan to give her plenty of time to react and make counter moves. A game of cat and mouse ensued throughout the city. His driving made them believe he was possibly the right guy they’d been looking for. This got both of them excited and they couldn’t wait to see where he led them.

  They continued to follow him while trying to lock in the quickly responding surveillance team. Just about the time the team arrived, the Cadillac pulled into the parking lot of El Diablo. The driver exited the vehicle and briskly walked into the restaurant through the service entrance.

  Sullivan parked across the street and watched several surveillance vehicles set up in the area. She let herself relax slightly after seeing their cars. She called the sergeant of the surveillance team to let him know their location and was surprised to find out the other surveillance team had followed Jose Calderon to El Diablo as well.

  News of the shooting finally made it to Petersen and Romero. Dix felt his cell phone vibrating and noticed he had eleven missed calls from Petersen.

  Dix answered the phone. “Hey Steve, we’re good.”

  “What the hell happened? I leave you alone for five minutes and you fall apart.”

  Dix looked over at Sullivan smiled and said, “We’re about ten minutes from the warehouse. I’ll fill you in when we get there. Neither Sullivan or I shot a round, so we’re free to continue this madness…for the time being.”

  “Okay. I’ll get some coffee and sandwiches for the team and meet you at the warehouse,” said Petersen. He shook his head and wondered how many lives Dix had. He also felt a strong sense of relief that Sullivan was unharmed. He wasn’t quite sure why, but he’d been thinking about her most of the day. The way she talked, the way she walked, her smell, all of it made him excited.

  Romero could see the negative reaction on Petersen’s face and asked, “Everything ok?”

  “Yup, just another classic Bill Dix story. He’ll tell us all about it when we all meet in a few minutes at the S.O. warehouse. Let’s get some coffee and sandwiches before the meeting.”

  Chapter 32

  * * *

  Doug Kovach sat motionless in his unmarked vehicle two blocks away from where Jose Calderon planned to have a giant fundraiser for homeless children. He had detected three of Calderon’s men circling the building. They appeared to be conducting counter surveillance. After a few minutes of walking around and looking inside vehicles parked in the area, they went back into the building through a small door next to a large fenced air conditioning unit. As the last man went in, he could see an MP5 slung from his shoulder under his coat. He didn’t recognize any of them, but he assumed Calderon had recently brought cartel men over from Mexico.

  Once the last man was inside, Kovach went back to looking at documents and drawings of the city structures. He’d previously highlighted and circled key locations in red, but had not figured out exactly how Calderon would be involved with retrieving the money once his crew took it from the warehouse.

  He examined the documents further and smiled as he finally figured out exactly how Jose Calderon would do it. First, the money was in a warehouse only two blocks from the benefit building.

  Second, Kovach noticed a series of access tunnels running beneath the city that stretched in a ten block radius. These tunnels included access to the benefit location and the warehouse. He blamed his failing eyes and lack of sleep for missing the obvious. It was a problem. If Calderon’s men were successful and got in the tunnels, the money and Calderon could go anywhere in the ten block radius making it difficult for law enforcement to locate them. He assumed Calderon had a tunnel built from Mexico to the same area. The tunnel interdiction teams were busy everyday intercepting contraband and discovering new tunnels, so it was a real possibility. It would have been expensive and taken years, but money wasn’t an object for Calderon’s boss and the cartel had been in business for a long time. He couldn’t wait to see Calderon’s face when he finally realized Kovach had set him up and played him the whole time.

  There was still the issue of his involvement with Calderon. It was a given that Calderon would rat him out. He had a decision to make…run or stay and fight for his job.

  He thought about what Jose Calderon would have against him. He figured he could be looking at some jail time and lose his job once the dust settled-depending on just how much he or Calderon shared with the investigators. He was previously duped by Calderon, but now he was going to set things right. He’d fall on the sword by telling his bosses his side of the story. Once he truly accepted that fact, he felt much better and his mind was clear for the first time in a long time.

  He looked down at his watch and noticed he was late for the meeting at the Sheriff’s Office warehouse. He started his vehicle, took one last look at the benefit building to see if he could detect any surveillance cameras, and headed over to the meeting. A sense of excitement, something he had not felt for many years, overwhelmed him. It reminded him of why he swore to protect people and uphold the law. Because it’s the right thing to do, he thought.

  As Kovach pulled into the warehouse parking lot, he noticed a white male adult sitting in a vehicle parked adjacent to the warehouse. The man had binoculars up to his eyes and apparently had not seen Kovach. Out of the corner of his eye, he was able to catch the license plate of the car and commit it to memory.

  He called dispatch to run the license plate on his way into the building to see if it meant anything to him. He assumed the man had something to do with Jose Calderon, most likely surveilling the warehouse. He decided against sending someone out to contact him because he needed Calderon to continue as planned.

  Kovach stayed at the doorway and watched the man intently for a few minutes. Then, he walked into the conference room brimming with confidence. He examined the room to see who he knew and who he could manipulate. A junior agent was pouring a cup of coffee and made eye con
tact with him. He motioned to the junior agent to walk over to him.

  The junior agent said to Kovach, “What’s up boss?”

  Kovach grabbed the rookie’s cup of coffee and replied, “Take this license plate and find out what you can. If it’s a rental, I want the contract and the video of the person renting it ASAP.”

  The rookie slumped and grabbed the piece of paper from Kovach’s hand. He left the room dejected after the way Kovach had spoken to him.

  Kovach noticed the warehouse schematics projected on a pull down screen. A captain, lieutenant, two sergeants, and four deputies from the Sheriff’s Office were in the room. They represented the agency in charge of the warehouse. Also in the room were HSI agents and bosses along with Dix, Petersen, Romero, and Sullivan.

  Dix looked up from pointing at some notes he had written and noticed Kovach had entered the room. He watched as Kovach scanned the room. Dix was upset about several things, but he was most pissed off that they were losing valuable time to plan while it appeared Kovach took his sweet time getting to the meeting.

  Dix said to Kovach, “Doug can you head over here so we can get this going? We’re running out of time.” Dix was tired, hungry, and was hoping the plan would be made quickly.

  “Why certainly. Sorry about the delay. Let’s get started,” replied Kovach smugly.

  The meeting started with Dix having everyone introduce themselves. Once that was done, the captain made a few remarks about how the Sheriff’s Office would help any way they could and they would provide as many resources as possible. After the captain finished speaking, he and the lieutenant left the room.

  Petersen began to walk toward the projection screen to point out concerns as Dix stood up with some notes in his hands to address the group.