Home Invasion

by William W. Johnstone

  The car slewed around the corner. She spotted the old building with tin siding up ahead and realized the feed store hadn’t been destroyed after all. The smoke came from a burning pickup parked in front of the store. A man she recognized as Phil Pearson ran around the pickup, spraying it with a fire extinguisher in an attempt to keep the flames from spreading.

  Several of the FPS men stood back with guns cradled in their arms, watching the pickup burn. They weren’t lifting a finger to help Pearson. Another trooper had somebody on the ground, pinning him down with a knee in the small of the back. Two more troopers covered the prisoner with their weapons.

  Alex brought the police car to a halt and leaped out. She ran toward the troopers, calling, “Hey! Hey, what’s going on here?”

  A couple of the men who’d been watching the truck burn swung around sharply and lifted their guns. As they pointed the weapons at Alex, one of them yelled, “Stop right there!”

  Alex skidded to a halt and held up her hands, palms out. “Take it easy,” she said. “I’m Chief Bonner.”

  “We know who you are,” the man snapped. “You’re a civilian, just like the rest of these people.”

  Alex forced herself not to bristle at being called a civilian. Losing her temper with these goons wasn’t going to help matters.

  “What’s going on here?” she asked. “Who’s that you have on the ground?”

  “Terrorist, ma’am,” replied the trooper who had just finished slipping plastic restraints around the prisoner’s wrists.

  Alex was close enough now to recognize the thinning white hair and overalls. “Terrorist, hell!” she burst out. “That’s Elmer Davis!”

  “He not only refused to surrender his weapon, he attempted to use it against us,” the trooper replied as he got to his feet. “That makes him a terrorist.”

  Alex sighed. She had known Elmer for years, ever since she was a little girl, in fact. She knew he carried an old Winchester pellet gun in a gun rack in his pickup and used it to shoot at rattlesnakes when he saw them on the side of the road. The pellet gun was at least as old as Elmer was, probably older, but he kept it in good repair.

  “I know this man,” she told the troopers. “That Winchester of his is practically an antique. It may be an antique. And it’s not even a real—”

  “Doesn’t matter,” one of the black-uniformed men replied with a shake of his head. “A firearm is a firearm. They’re all forbidden.”

  “Did he try to shoot you? I have a hard time believing that.”

  Phil Pearson just about had the fire out now. The fire extinguisher sputtered as it ran out of chemicals. He tossed it aside and turned to face Alex and the troopers.

  “No, he didn’t try to shoot at them,” he said angrily. “I’ll tell you what happened, Chief. Elmer and I were just standing there on the loading dock talking when the first one of those SUVs came up. A couple of fellas got out and started yellin’ about how Elmer had to turn over that old rifle he had in his pickup.”

  “That’ll do, citizen,” one of the troopers said. “We’re in charge here.”

  “No, by God, it won’t do,” Pearson said. “Elmer came down the steps from the dock and tried to tell ’em about how he never used the rifle for anything except shootin’ at snakes. He said he’d show ’em it was just a pellet gun, and then they opened fire on him!”

  “Is that true?” Alex demanded.

  “The suspect never said the weapon was a pellet gun,” the spokesman for the troopers said. “He just said that he’d show us, and we took that to be a threat and fired a warning burst. A moment later reinforcements arrived, and one of them took out the truck with a grenade to make sure that the suspect wouldn’t use the weapon against us while we took him into custody.”

  Alex stared at the men for a long moment before saying, “Let me get this straight. You fired automatic weapons at a seventy-five-year-old man, knocked him to the ground, cuffed him, and blew up his truck … because he had a pellet gun in it?”

  “This is none of your affair, ma’am,” the trooper snapped. He turned to the others and ordered curtly, “Take the suspect back to the command post for interrogation.”

  “What?” Alex said. “After all this, you’re going to take him in? Really?”

  “Colonel Grady will want him questioned about possible affiliation with other terrorists.”

  Alex didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. As the men lifted a scared and befuddled-looking Elmer Davis to his feet, the decision was made for her as a tear rolled down her cheek. Was this what the country she loved had come to? Was it really?

  “I’m sorry, Elmer,” she said. “I’ll talk to the colonel.”

  The trooper who’d been doing the talking said, “If the suspect is cleared of any criminal charges, he can file a claim with the government to be reimbursed for his truck.”

  “And how long will that take?” Alex asked. “You think he’ll live long enough to see the government admit that it was wrong? Do you honestly think any of us will?”

  “I don’t know, ma’am. Issues like that are above my pay grade.”

  They dragged Elmer over to one of the SUVs and put him in the backseat. He gave Alex a despairing look as they slammed the door and cut him off from her view.

  Phil Pearson came up beside her and said, “I know you said we have to cooperate with those black-suited thugs, Chief, but can they really get away with this? I mean, for God’s sake, calling Elmer Davis a terrorist and roughing him up like that! Elmer never hurt a soul in his life.”

  “I know, Phil,” Alex said with a sigh. “I just keep hoping that somehow, somebody will come to their senses and see how wrong this whole thing is.”

  ”Violence broke out again today in the infamous town of Home, Texas, which the Federal Protective Service has placed under martial law. The FPS is attempting to curb the recent outbreak of bigotry, rioting, and attempted murder which has plagued Home. Earlier today, one of the community’s citizens attacked officers of the Protective Service with an illegal firearm. This wanton lawlessness resulted in the destruction of a vehicle. The gallant officers were able to subdue the suspect and place him in custody without suffering any casualties. The suspect, Elmer Davis, has been charged with attempted murder and terroristic acts, and faces a sentence of life in prison if convicted.

  “In other news, what is now being called the National Education and Re-education Act moved another step toward passage today, and the President promised to sign this important legislation as soon as it lands on his desk. In impromptu remarks at a White House gathering, the President said that this bill is vital to his administration’s continuing efforts to make sure that students know exactly what they need to know in order to reach the proper decisions on the vital issues that face us all today, young and old….”

  CHAPTER 33

  By the time the Federal Protective Service had been in Home for a week, the town’s guns were gone. They had been turned in voluntarily, albeit grudgingly, or confiscated wherever and whenever the FPS found them. Alex suspected that some of the citizens had managed to hide a few guns, but probably not many. She had heard that other people had left town, slipping through the FPS cordon and taking their guns with them. She suspected that Colonel Grady didn’t really care about that. He just wanted to be able to say that Home had been disarmed, as the settlement agreement with Emilio Navarre called for … and as the President had ordered.

  She faced Grady now across his desk in the mobile command post. The colonel had ordered everyone else to clear out. It was just the two of them.

  “You’ll be glad to hear, Chief, that we have fulfilled our mission in your town.”

  “Does that mean you’ll be leaving?” Alex asked, not really thinking for a minute that it did.

  “As a matter of fact… yes,” Grady said.

  Alex’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? I mean, you’re really leaving town?”

  Grady nodded. “My officers and I will be packing up and pulling ou
t later this afternoon.”

  Alex sat back in the folding chair. “I don’t believe it. This is some sort of trick.”

  “I work for the federal government, Chief,” Grady said with a flash of anger in his eyes. “We don’t play tricks on people.”

  She managed not to laugh at that statement. Keeping her face and voice solemn, she said, “With all due respect, Colonel, I won’t be sad to see you go.”

  “It won’t make me sad to leave, either.” For the first time, Alex sensed a slight chink in the man’s armor. “I haven’t enjoyed cracking down on my fellow citizens like this. But I signed on to faithfully carry out the orders of the President, and I have done so. There are no longer any illegal firearms to be found in Home, or in the surrounding area.”

  Technically, that was true, Alex supposed. Any firearms still here hadn’t been found.

  Not that there were very many of them. She didn’t know for sure, of course, but she guessed there probably weren’t much more than a dozen guns left in town, including the ones she and her full-time officers had been allowed to retain. The reserve officers had had to turn their guns in like everybody else. There might be a few more in the area outside the city limits within that ten-mile cordon, but not many. The FPS had been remarkably thorough with their searches, sweeping through the area like locusts.

  “What happens now?” Alex asked.

  Grady smiled thinly. “We’ll be setting up permanent checkpoints on the main roads leading in and out of town. Anyone attempting to bring in a gun or guns will be subject to immediate arrest.”

  “What’s happened to the people you’ve already arrested?”

  “That’s none of your concern. They’re being held in a secure location.”

  “What about their rights?”

  “Under martial law, they have none.”

  “But Home isn’t staying under martial law, right? Isn’t that what you meant when you said the FPS was leaving?”

  “That’s true. But those suspects were arrested under martial law, so they will remain under our jurisdiction.”

  One more twisting and perverting of the Constitution, Alex thought. After everything they had done so far, what did one more outrage really amount to?

  “Did you call me in here just to tell me this, Colonel?”

  “I thought you’d want to know.”

  “Oh, I do, don’t get me wrong. I just wish it had never come to this.”

  Grady leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “You know, Chief Bonner, you’re a very intelligent woman. To protect your people, you’ve kept this situation from escalating until someone got hurt. If you’re ever interested in moving up in law enforcement, say on a federal level …”

  Alex stared at him in amazement. “You’re offering me a job? Working for this … this modern-day Gestapo?”

  Grady’s features hardened. “It was just a thought,” he said. “Obviously, not a good one. Forget I said anything.”

  “I’ll try, you can count on that.”

  The colonel stood up. “All right, I believe we’re done here. Best of luck to you, Chief.” He gave her a curt nod but didn’t offer to shake hands. That was fine with Alex.

  She left the giant mobile command post and found Delgado leaning against the fender of his police car that was parked next to hers.

  “I heard that the colonel sent for you,” he said. “What’s going on?”

  Alex told him. Delgado looked surprised, too.

  “I figured we’d be stuck with them from now on,” he said when Alex finished explaining the situation.

  “So did I. But I suppose they have other things to do. Other constitutional rights to violate somewhere else.”

  “It wouldn’t surprise me a bit.”

  Alex debated briefly with herself whether to tell him the rest of it, but it was so outrageous she had to share it. “You know, J. P., he offered me a job.”

  Delgado’s eyebrows went up. “The colonel?”

  “Yeah. He said that I’d done a good job of controlling the situation so that my people didn’t get hurt.”

  “Like the Vichy government in France during World War II.”

  Alex grimaced. “You had to be a history major. I feel a little dirty, though, like I have been collaborating with the Nazis.”

  “It’s a funny thing,” Delgado mused. “The liberals have always accused anyone who didn’t agree with them of being fascists. They’d even play the Nazi card from time to time. And yet, less than fifteen years after they took over everything in Washington, they’re the ones who come marching in dressed like storm troopers and occupy an American town. They wiretap ten times more than conservative administrations ever did, they run up the national debt to astronomical levels that will leave the country crippled for decades, if not centuries, they take over more and more of the industries … and still they turn around and act noble and claim they’re just doing it for the good of the country. I’m not sure there’s ever been a society where those in charge preached one thing and did just the opposite to the extent that these people do.” He stopped, shook his head, and chuckled. “I didn’t mean to start lecturing like a college professor.”

  “Don’t worry, you weren’t,” Alex told him.

  “No?”

  She shook her head. “No college professor would ever say anything like that about the left. They adore the President and his bunch as much as the media do.”

  “You’re probably right about that.” Delgado straightened from his casual pose. “Some people would say that our job’s going to be easier now.”

  “How could they think that?”

  He shrugged. “There are no guns. Everybody knows that if there are no guns, there won’t be any crime, ever again.”

  Alex knew he was being sarcastic, but she shook her head anyway.

  “Something tells me our job just got a whole hell of a lot harder, J. P.”

  The splashing of the water in the fountain was like the merry notes of a guitar playing. Enrique Reynosa y Montoya leaned back in his comfortable chair, closed his eyes, and smiled. He heard the girls splashing and laughing in the pool at the other end of the courtyard, and that pleased him as well. Soon he would join them. He loved visualizing them in their sleek young nudity, all smooth skin and dark hair and flashing eyes, the sort of erotic image that many men conjured up in their minds. The difference was that when he opened his eyes, the beautiful girls were really there, at his beck and call, ready to whatever he wished in order to please him.

  But first there was business to be dealt with.

  Herman had been waiting patiently. What else was he going to do? As the head of Rey del Sol, Señor Reynosa had the power of life and death over thousands of people, including Herman Guzman.

  But there was no point in making Herman wait any longer. Enrique sat up, smiled across the table at his second-in-command, and said, “You have a report from across the border?”

  “Yes, Señor Reynosa. The American Federal Protective Service has withdrawn its forces from the town.”

  “Permanently?”

  “It appears so.”

  Reynosa reached for the glass of lemonade that was coated with moisture from the heat and humidity. He drank only non-alcoholic beverages, and he never used the drugs that his cartel smuggled so successfully over the border. He believed in keeping his body healthy, so that he could fully enjoy other pleasures.

  Such as the young girls who swam naked in his pool like seals.

  After taking a sip of the cold lemonade, Enrique said, “So, the town of Home has no guns.”

  Herman shrugged. “The police are still armed, but there are less than half a dozen of them. And some of the people no doubt hid their weapons, but there cannot be many.”

  “Not enough to matter,” Enrique said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “There is nothing to stop us from putting our plan into operation.”

  “The American soldiers have set up checkpoints on the highways, to make sure no on
e brings guns back into Home.”

  “We have our agents in this so-called Federal Protective Force, have we not?”

  Herman smiled. “We do, Señor Reynosa. We have agents in places the foolish Americans would never dream of.”

  Enrique nodded, thinking of the beautiful Julia Hernandez. She had been brought here to his villa when she was, what, fifteen? He couldn’t remember for sure. She had been quivering and innocent, but he had taught her well, and she had learned quickly. Her intelligence was just as important as her physical skills. She moved now in the highest circles in Washington, and no one there ever dreamed that she was not who she appeared to be. No one had any idea who her true master was.

  Enrique forced his thoughts back to the matter at hand. “When General Garaldo’s forces take over those checkpoints, our agents with the FPS will be able to tell him what to do to keep their superiors from finding out what’s going on until it’s too late.”

  “Certainly. We should need no more than twelve hours at most. Our timing will be precise, as always.”

  “Very well. Contact General Garaldo and issue the orders. Sunday morning, we strike.”

  “Sunday morning,” Herman repeated, his voice soft and silky with anticipation. Operation Casa del Diablo would be the boldest stroke Rey del Sol had ever attempted. If they were successful, the cartel wars would be over. There would be only one left, standing victorious over all the others.

  With his business concluded, Enrique Reynosa y Montoya drank the rest of his lemonade, stood up, and walked past the gurgling fountain toward the pool, stripping off his robe and tossing it aside as he went.

  “Señoritas!” he cried as he reached the edge of the pool. “Bid welcome to the King of the Sun!”

  Then he made a clean dive into the cool water and came up surrounded by lovely, young, nude, and willing female flesh.

  It was good to be him.

  CHAPTER 34

  With the resources that the enemy had at their command, Fargo Ford knew it was only a matter of time before he and Parker and Earl Trussell would have to run again.