Caribbean Capers

by Dan Kelly

  “I don’t know, Manny. I used to be able to throw a football through a tire from all kinds of angles, but it’s been quite a while since I’ve done that. I’d like to give it a try though.”

  “Okay, give it your best shot.”

  They all gave their tear gas grenades to Gil and backed off to give him room. The first one hit the top of the door frame, bounced off and dropped down the stairs. A few seconds later the second one cleared the doorway, ricocheted off the wall and flew down the stairs. The third one bounced off the top of the door frame and landed back in the foyer which was soon filled with tear gas, hiding the doorway and flooding Gil’s eyes with tears. Pete grabbed the last grenade out of Gil’s hand and tossed his version of a Hail Mary at where he thought the opening was and hoped for the best. It must have wound up where he wanted it to go because there was no increase in the tear gas on the first floor.

  Pete asked, “Now what? How long does it take that stuff to work?”

  “Not long. A minute or two should have them scrambling out of there for some fresh air to breathe and to stop the eyes, nose mouth and lungs from burning, the eyes from tearing, the nose from running and to stop the coughing and sneezing. It’s not a pleasant experience.”

  Sure enough, a couple of minutes later the rats started to come out of their hole. The body guards came up first, followed by the old man and then the lovers and then the man himself, but he wasn’t going to come quietly. As soon as his head appeared in the doorway with one hand holding a towel over his nose and mouth, the other hand came into view and started squeezing off rounds from a nine millimeter, aiming at nothing and everything until the clip was empty.

  When Fuentes started firing, the body guards lunged for Manny and his men and they, Pete and Abby all opened fire and when all of the smoke cleared, two of the body guards and the old man were dead, the remaining bodyguard had a gut wound, both of the lovers had escaped injury and Fuentes had been hit several times in the arms and shoulders and once in the chest.

  Manny and his men quickly assessed the damage to those who had been shot and soon jubilance over their victory began to spread throughout the small group, but it was almost instantly nipped in the bud when they noticed that Abby was down and she wasn’t moving.

  When Pete saw her lying there he went berserk and flung himself at Fuentes and did his best to finish the job the bullets had started. He had a death grip on Fuentes’s neck and it took Manny and two of his guys to pull him off. Manny checked Abby’s pulse and it was strong but beating like she had just run a record four forty. She was breathing normally considering what just went down, but she was unconscious. At first Manny couldn’t find any wounds, but when he turned her head he saw where a bullet had creased her skull just above and behind her right temple and it was bleeding pretty badly as head wounds usually do.

  He wrapped her head in a field dressing which all the Seals carry and got on the phone to Dave for medical help for the wounded and a coroner’s wagon for the deceased. Dave would also see to it that Phil did his thing with the local politicians. By this time, Pete had himself under control and asked about Abby’s condition.

  “How’s Abby doing?”

  “She’s still unconscious, but the external bleeding’s stopped. We won’t know what damage was done to her brain until the doctors can do their thing. I’m betting she at least has a concussion since she’s out of it, but I’m no doctor.”

  Then he asked about Fuentes. “Is the bastard going to live?”

  “If the paramedics get here soon, he should survive.”

  “What the hell was the man trying to prove? He had to know the ball game was over.”

  “Pete, some guys just don’t know when to throw in the towel. Losing at anything is just not acceptable to them.”

  “I want to apologize for losing it a while ago.” You had enough on your plate without me adding to it.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I understood where you were coming from. I think she’s kind of special too, but I’m getting the feeling that your special and my special are two different things although they’re on the same menu.”

  Pete didn’t acknowledge what Manny said. He didn’t have to. His red face did that for him.

  A few minutes later ambulances and meat wagons showed up to do their thing and there was no way Pete wasn’t going to ride with her to the hospital.

  Chapter 49

  - Miami, FL –

  More than a few of the men in blue volunteered to join in the search for Damien on the QT, but he wasn’t popping up on anyone’s radar. Paul and Frank were also canvassing the city section by section checking out possible crash pads in addition to riding around the areas that Paul and Damien used to frequent, but so far they were coming up empty.

  Late one afternoon after five days without a sign of him Paul and Frank are sitting in Paul’s office trying to put themselves in Damien’s shoes, trying to figure out where he might be staying, what he might be planning. Paul’s starting to have doubts about Damien still being in Miami. “You know, Frank, I might be all wrong about Damien’s game plan. He might have just stopped off here in Miami to pick up a few things and then moved on to someplace else.”

  “You might be, but I don’t think so. I admit, what we’re trying to do is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack, so maybe we need some kind of magnet to draw him out.”

  “It would have to be a strong one. Damien is not easily coerced.”

  “What I have in mind is one of the strongest.”

  “You’ve got my attention. What do you have in mind?”

  “Phil and Dave have been keeping a tight lid on Juan Fuentes’s capture in Maracaibo because they’re thinking Damien might still be planning on coming to the beach house after things die down some more since he has no idea that anything bad went down there. They have someone watching the house now in case he does.

  “If we can convince Phil and Dave that that is not likely to happen, at least in the near future, and get them to give this Julio Mendoza the green light to release the story about what happened at the beach house, including a fabricated account about the key role you played in developing the plan for the whole episode, what do you think Damien’s reaction will be?”

  “Panic.”

  “Panic and something else. Damien’s been laying low around here feeling like the king of the hill because he thinks he’s going to be moving into the big bucks when things blow over. When he reads that story and learns that it ain’t gonna happen, he’s going to be mighty pissed and when folks get pissed they look for someone close to blame. He’ll want revenge, Paul, and you’ll become the man of the hour, the magnet.”

  “It just might work, Frank, but getting Phil and Dave to go along with it might take some doing. Except for Vinnie Distsachio’s sighting, nothing else has come to the fore to confirm he’s still in Miami.”

  “Don’t sell those guys short. From what I’ve seen and heard, they’re use to thinking outside the box and taking chances. Give them a call and see what they have to say.”

  Doubtfully, he nodded his head in agreement and opened his cell, hesitated a minute with some second thoughts and then said “What the hell.” and punched in Dave’s number, but he still didn’t think what he had to say was going to fly.

  After a half dozen rings Dave answered with, “Hold on a sec, Paul. I’m winding up a call on another line.” Caller ID is alive and well. When he came back he said, “Sorry, I was talking to Abby’s doctor down in Maracaibo. What’s up?”

  “How’s Abby doing?”

  “Still in a coma, but she’s starting to mumble things, phrases about the Seals and breakfast burritos and other disconnected things. The doctors say that’s a good sign. Why it is who the hell knows. We’re just going to have to sit and wait for further developments.”

  “From what I’ve seen of her and from what Pete has told me, she’s a tough one. My money’s on her pulling through. How’s Pete handling all of this? I’ve got a hunch
that Abby’s become more than a partner to him.”

  “He’s worried like the rest of us, but he’s got his anger under control, at least for now. How long that lasts depends on what happens with Abby. Fuentes is in a room down the hall from her and is heavily guarded, but I don’t think that would stop Pete if Abby’s condition takes a turn for the worse. Manny’s keeping a close watch on him to make sure he doesn’t do anything he’ll regret later.”

  “My brother can be a handful. It will take someone like Manny to keep him in line. Dave, the reason I called is I have something I want to run by you and Phil. Do you think there’s a chance he’d be available now for a conference call?”

  “Is it something that has to be addressed right now?”

  “Since I’m not a fortune teller, I have no way of knowing the answer to that for sure, but it’s important enough to me for me to make this request.”

  “Hold on.”

  A couple minutes later Phil was on the phone. “What’s on your mind, Paul?”

  Paul told him about their efforts to date to find Damien and laid out what Frank had suggested and not once was he interrupted. He didn’t know if that was a good sign or a bad sign. He finished with, “The sooner Damien is off the streets, the sooner the Brody family can get back to normal. Will you turn Mendoza loose?”

  Paul was expecting a lot of static from the both of them, but what he got instead was music to his ears. After a few moments of silence Phil said, “I’ll make the call as soon as I hang up here. If you need any help in setting up a trap for this vermin, we’ll make ourselves available. The U. S. Government trusted this guy to remain loyal to his country and to do the job he was assigned to do to the best of his ability. He violated that trust and I want him to start paying for that big time and ASAP. Good luck.”

  Dave had nothing more to say and he and Phil just hung up.

  Paul couldn’t believe what just happened and just sat there with a dumbfounded look on his face. Looking at him expectantly Frank asked, “Well? What did they say? You look like you just won a million dollar lottery and they told you the payout was in coin.”

  “They went for it without a quibble. No hassling, no qualifications, no warnings, no nothing. Phil’s calling Mendoza now.”

  “Boy would I like to be a fly on the wall when Christensen gets the news. Okay, from here on you wear a vest and stay on high alert as to your surroundings and don’t let yourself be maneuvered into a spot where you’re at a disadvantage. I don’t think we’ll have to do anything special to lure him into coming after you. He’ll be highly motivated to find an opportunity to pay you back for screwing up his new life. We’ll just have to make sure he gets his opportunity with me watching your back so he doesn’t succeed.”

  “I can’t just sit on a park bench and wait for him to take a shot at me when he’s ready. That would be suicide. He could shoot me from a hidden location with a silenced rifle and have no problem walking away into the crowd. I also don’t want him to come to my home and try to take me out there and maybe hurt my family as well. We’ve got to come up with a way to entice him to have a go at me in a controlled setting, but someplace that doesn’t put anyone else in harm’s way.

  “Okay, let’s give him his golden opportunity here in our office. This is one location we can definitely control and we can make sure that you and I are the only people here when he makes his move.”

  “You’re losing me, buddy. Why would he pick this place to get even with me and how can we control what he might do here. We’re not isolated here. There are thirty different business offices in this building and there are people always walking around, all times of the day and night. That’s not exactly an ideal scenario for someone planning a murder if he doesn’t want any witnesses and I’m assuming Damien wouldn’t. And how are we going to keep him from trying to do the deed at my home which would also put my family at risk?”

  “My friend, never fear, Distachio’s here.”

  “I’m listening. I know I’m going to regret it, but I’m listening.”

  “First off, we’ll keep Damien from taking a stab at you at home by telling your neighbors a couple of lies and backing them up with a big sign, complements of my brother in-law. You’re going to have a busted pipe in one of your bathrooms and there’s going to be extensive water damage requiring you and your family to find other accommodations until the mess can be cleaned up. My brother in-law owns a business which provides cleanup and restoration services to folks whose homes have suffered water, fire and smoke damage. I’ll get him to plant a sign on your front lawn to reinforce that lie and if anyone makes an inquiry he’ll go along with the charade. Your wife and daughter can stay with your mom and dad until we collar this guy, but you’ll tell the neighbors that they went to stay with relatives in Coral Gables. You can bunk with me and mine.”

  “Now, the layout of our offices is ideal for what I have in mind. They’re adjacent to each other with a connecting door and our clients can enter either one of them directly from the reception area. We have a conference room that can be accessed from each of our offices as well as the reception area and we have a small kitchen off the conference room, the door to which is closed when there is a meeting going on.”

  “Frank, I work here too you know. I’m very familiar with our work place.”

  “Bear with me. What I’m up to will soon become clear. Now, during the day we’ll continue to conduct our business as usual with you taking the precautions I just mentioned. However, you’re going to start working longer hours, burning some midnight oil even. Even though there are bodies around here 24/6, the traffic in the elevators, on the stairs and in the hallways is a lot less after seven o’clock in the evening.”

  “Frank, Damien and I haven’t seen or talked with each other in years. When we graduated from college, we went our separate ways. I doubt he even knows what I do for a living or where I work.”

  “With Damien’s training and experience thanks to Uncle Sam, finding that out should be a slam dunk for him, but we’ll make it easy for him. We’ll make sure Mendoza makes reference to B & D Investigations in his article. We’ll have Mendoza lead him right to our door.”

  “Okay, let’s assume for the moment that Damien decides that B & D Investigations is where I’m going to take my last breath. How does the layout of our offices provide a tempting opportunity in Damien’s eyes and at the same time prevent that from happening and enable us to take him down, alive or dead, without any injury to ourselves?”

  “There’s one other feature of our location that I’ll bet you’ve forgotten all about.”

  “You’ve mentioned everything that’s here, Frank.”

  “Not everything. What about the fire escape outside your office window?”

  “The fire escape?”

  “What better way to flee a crime scene late at night and it’s in a dark shadow? The street lights don’t reach it.”

  “You’re starting to make sense and that’s scaring the hell out of me. Okay, the reduced number of people walking around at night reduces the chances of Damien being seen entering the building and he’d have a way out of the building with little chance of being seen. That might suck him in, but how do we keep him from killing me?”

  “He’s got to see you to kill you. We’re not going to let him do that. Hear you, yes, see you, uh, uh.”

  “How are you going to do that? You’re no David Copperfield.”

  “We don’t have to be that clever. All we have to do is use a little misdirection, the magician’s old standby. Our names are on our office doors. When Damien comes into the reception area, Marge will already have gone home so he’ll have clear sailing to your office door. Your door will be unlocked, but my office door will be locked so he won’t be able to easily sneak up on you from there. He could pick the lock, but why would he go to the trouble when your door is unlocked, He’ll hear you talking inside, but you’re not going to be there. You’ll be in my office talking into my intercom. He’ll hear
your voice coming out of the intercom in your office and assume you’re a sitting duck. When he barges in, I’ll come at him from the conference room and you’ll come at him from my office. The combination of our guns aimed at vital parts of his anatomy and the mean looks on our faces will have him shitting in his pants and meek as a lamb.”