Honor Thy Mother & Thy Father Ch. 05

Thom Horn asked, "When can we expect the Cavalry, John?"

"My best guess would be between 24 and 36 hours. Only 7 people know about this operation. The president and I are two of them, and three are at ground zero. There is a lot of work to do, and very few of us to do it quickly, and quietly, without raising too much suspicion. We are even going to have to fly into Sedona Airport, and those rich people are not going to like it."

Horn said, "Why not John, it went public 2 years ago."

"I did not know that, I thought it was still private."

"No, those wealthy bastards got tired of paying for the runway maintenance. They turned it over to the state, and it is open to the public."

"I love you Thom. I will get back to you very soon. Judge, I need that list as soon as possible. After I receive it, you will have you warrants within 2 hours. Thank you both for all your help."

"Mister Croft, before you leave we have another problem. There is another group coming in through Sedona. We do not have their names. Our best estimate is there will be sixteen more men coming in from that direction."

"In that case, I will send out sixteen John Doe warrants along with the others. As soon as you get those names, get them to me and I will get the proper names put on those warrants."

"Thank you Mister Attorney General, we will keep you informed."

"Felix, we have the authority to keep them in. We will have the warrants in a few hours. Let us make sure they do something before we arrest them."

As they were about to walk out of her office, the telephone rang. Judge Winter picked it up and said, "This better be good, my dinner is turned to ice."

"This is Michael Free, director of the FBI looking for Judge Winter; and she still available?"

"Mister Free, this is Judge Shirley Winter, how can I help you?"

"My boss, the Attorney General just called me and informed me of your situation. Whatever monies your city has to outlay to help us in this matter will be reimbursed by the FBI 100%. Tell your officers to be extremely careful and to wear their body armor at all times. The men that the Valentino family sent out there to retrieve or kill the witnesses are the best they have. They shoot and do not ask questions. I will have my troops to you, as soon as possible."

"Thank you Director, there are three cities involved now; Sedona, Cottonwood, and Prescott. We are pooling our resources to control the situation as it stands. We are too small to handle it individually."

"You folks know the lay of the land better than we do. Use it to your advantage, and when we get there, we will help you round them up, not the other way around."

"Thank you again director, I have to make more phone calls."

"Felix, see if you can raise Sheriff on his cell phone, and tell him what is going on. I will call Tark, give him his answer; tell him what the FBI wants us to do, and what it is going to do for us."

"Sherriff, this is Felix are you safe?"

"Safe as in my mother's arms Felix. How is everything going?"

"If you ever call me again and say this guy from the FBI is doing this or that, I am going to drive up to Cottonwood and kill you."

"You will not have to Felix. I think Susan will do that for us. She is 15 feet away from me in her face tells me she is very unhappy with him. If he leaves her alone like this again, she will bury him alive."

"Tell her I have a backhoe, and I will rent it to her for free."

"Tell me what is going on Felix; you do not sound happy either."

"The bad guys have sent a small army of top-notch people to end this situation one way or the other. Shirley just got off the phone with the U.S. and State Attorneys' General, and the Director of the FBI. The Feds will be here, within 24 to 36 hours, to help put a handle on this situation. We are getting 'Probable Cause Warrants' to detain these people, when they try to leave the area. It will be a lot of fun trying to serve them."

"Shit, I have to get back to my people. I left them without a leader, which was stupid of me. I will take care of that right now. Thanks Felix, keep in touch."

"Sergeant, Tark is watching the group that is coming in from Sedona. Let's not get caught in the crossfire."

"I will pass it along to my people Felix. Let me get on the move. I will talk to you in the morning."

Everyone was sitting around the campfire, when Sergeant returned from the phone call with Felix. Sergeant said, "Joe, I need you to take me back to the trail that will bring me to the entrance to the park. I have to go back to work. A lot of things are about to happen in my people need me to lead them through it. You will be in charge here, while I am gone."

Susan looked at her cousin and asked, "Is Alan all right?"

"As far as I know, Alan is fine. This has nothing to do with Alan or beta. We are receiving 'Probable Cause Warrants' from the U.S. Attorney General's office, to serve on the people that are trying to get to Patricia and Jemma, as well as the person who is with Alan and beta. If we can do it peacefully, all this hiding will be over, quickly. If not, the troops from the FBI will be here, within the next day or two. They will help us round these criminals up, and put them away for very long time."

17. A Set of Curves and a Change Up

At the assistant Attorney General's office for Southern New York, an argument was raging. "Dammit sir, we have enough evidence to put these people in jail now. Why are we waiting?"

"I am not at liberty to tell you. I wish I was, but it is over my head; and very few things are over my head, Lewis. It will not be much longer, trust me. The AG has something going on, and he told me to hold off on sending out these warrants. Just make sure these people do not try to leave the city or the state. If they do, arrest them as a flight risk, and we will serve them immediately."

"Sir, the Valentino's are moving things around all over the city. A lot of stuff is going to New Jersey, which is out of our jurisdiction. They are moving their brothels to other buildings, and we cannot find where they have moved their drugs. They know these warrants are coming. They have been tipped off."

"Yes I know, from what I am told, it is all part of the plan."

"I hope they are right sir, years of work will go down the drain if they are wrong."

"I know you are not going to like this, but Alan Robbins is in this up to his neck. He is trying to redeem himself for fucking up the last time. He has been doing excellent work for the last several months. He is undercover, and if all goes well, this will all be over in less than two weeks."

"Alan Robbins! There is a name I was hoping never to hear again."

"Given him a break Lewis; his second wife had him jumping through hoops, with their divorce. She took him for everything he had, and half of what he makes for the next two years. I think you and I would have jumped into a bottle to get away from her. Parts of that disaster belong to his team members. If they had informed us of the problem at the beginning, we could have pulled him from the case, and saved it."

"If you say so, sir, I still think he is a wildcard, looking for a medal."

"Hell Lewis, he already has two medals that no one will ever see."

"What are you talking about Sir?"

"When he graduated from the academy, he went straight undercover in Chicago, and was instrumental in getting us enough information to shut down to Mexican heroin pipeline. We caught the moneymen, the wholesalers, politicians, cops, and judges involved. He gave us a clean sweep.

We moved him to Miami, because no one ever saw his face or heard his name. He did the same thing with the Colombian pipeline. He also found out, who was supplying the parts for their submarines. Many of those parts are now defective. They work for 5 or 6 hours under pressure, and then they fail. He has done some great work for a rookie. Those two stars are top-secret. No one will ever see them, or know they exist."

"The kid has balls, and apparently, the brains to go with them. Like you said boss, I will cut him a little slack. Where is he now? Do we have him down at Quantico?"

"Yes. However, his wife is flying in from Phoenix to join him. She has never been east of the Mississippi, and she wants to see an ocean. So we are going to send them to the Norfolk Naval base, and put them there, under guard for a few months."

"That whole area is great at this time of year. Virginia Beach is magnificent, and there are days that you can even surf."

"I am sure Alan is going stir crazy by now. He has been briefed and re-briefed half a dozen times. The facts and figures he has at his fingertips are amazing. His mind works like a computer. He has total recall of every event that ever took place, while he was working for us here in New York. I would hate to be the attorney that tries to break his testimony."

"Let's not worry about that boss. Our job is to get him to the courthouse and keep him alive, not only before and during the trial, but afterwards also. We have to show those bastards that they cannot intimidate our witnesses. We have to show them that we will keep going after them day after day. They are the ones that will have to stay in the dark, while we state in the light."

"You are right Lewis. That has to be our attitude at all times. We are in the right. They live on the weakness of others. They are the lawbreakers and we bring them to justice. Do you have anything planned for Sunday morning?"

"How early is early Sunday morning?

"I was thinking 7:30 or 8:00 o'clock Sunday morning, for a little racquetball?"

"I was thinking about 11:00 or 11:30 for a little less racquetball."

"If I play that late in the day, I will be washing my car in the heat of the day."

"You still wash your own car, with all the money you make?"

"Do you know what those bristles do to a paint job?"

"I give up. 7:30 Sunday morning and no more talking about bristles. I am going out to the smoking area and have my cigarette, before I go back to work. I will see you later."

Lewis Montrose walked out the side entrance of the Federal Building, to the designated smoking area and lit up his Parliament cigarette. He took out his cell phone and dialed the number he had been given. When the person answered he said, "Robbins is in Quantico, Virginia. His wife is flying here to be with him. They will be transferring both of them to the naval base at Norfolk, Virginia. Apparently, Zabo has other help in Arizona."

Lewis Montrose did not know that his conversation was being recorded by the FBI using parabolic listening devices from the roof of the building and bushes surrounding the area. He was suspected of giving out classified information on high valued witnesses for a long time. Finally, they had caught him doing it. Now they had to find a way to put him out of contact with these people, without making him or them suspicious.

Lewis had extensive knowledge of the drug cartels. He had worked on these cases for many years, with varying degrees of success. His boss, Fred Fielding, did all the traveling to Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela to try to extradite criminals, because he was the assistant US Attorney General, for the southern district of New York.

Fred had another trip scheduled, for the following Thursday, to Bogotá, Colombia. He was attempting to extradite three men involved in a drug trafficking/murder case, involving five people in the South Bronx.

After listening to the tapes of his conversation, it was decided, during his racquetball games Sunday, Fred would severely hurt his ankle and have to go to the hospital, by ambulance.

Sunday, during their last game, Fred took a dive, and scream in pain. He followed the script to the letter. When he arrived at the hospital, they took him for x-rays, which were switched, for one's with a severely broken ankle. The doctors informed him, with Lewis at his side, that it was badly broken, in several areas. They would have to operate, and put steel pins into it, to stabilize the area.

Fred told the doctors to leave the room, while he spoke to Lewis in private. He said, "Lewis, you are the only one I can trust to do this extradition right. You have the knowledge of the country and its laws. You know everything about its drug trade, and its principles. You keep your cool under fire, and their legal people will go after you with everything they have to make you sound like a 'Gringo' picking on a poor nation. I need you to do this for me Lewis. Please say yes."

Lewis Montrose was between a rock and a hard place. He could not serve two masters this time, and if he turned down his boss it would look like he was hiding something from him.

"Boss, do you mean to say that you are sending me on a six-week vacation to Colombia? I am going to have to drink things with umbrellas in them every day. Go sightseeing four days a week, because their judicial system only works three days a week? Is that what you are telling me?"

"Yes Lewis, I know it will be hard on you, but one of us has to do it, and unfortunately, it will not be me this year. The thing I hate the most about Bogotá, is that is too far inland to get to any beach within a decent amount of time. Every lake and lagoon in the area has things in it that would love to eat you for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I would suggest that you swim in the pool at the embassy."

"Can I at least take my fishing rod?"

"I did that once. Those things in the lake ate that, also. If I were you, I would leave it at home. Take four Marines with you and go sightseeing. They have some wonderful ruins in the area. They have lovely young women there. They are strictly off limits; if you want to return to the states, with your package intact."

"I am very attached to my package, boss. Thank you for that warning. When do you want me to leave?"

"My secretary will give you all my briefing papers. I think you should leave late Monday, or early Tuesday morning. Study the papers Tuesday and Wednesday, and be at the courthouse early on Thursday morning. Their schedule means nothing. It could say your scheduled for 2 p.m. and they could call you at 9 AM, because no one else showed up. If you are not there, they will close for the day and go home."

"What a way to run a country boss."

"Remember Lewis, it is their country. They make the rules, and we have to live by them. Be the calm, cool customer, I know you are, and you will bring those three people back here and prosecute those bastards for me. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you taking this assignment."

"I am going to come back with the most gorgeous tan you have ever seen, boss. You are going to be jealous."

"I will never be able to walk through a metal detector ever again. So I am one up on you. Your tan will fade. My metal is forever."

"Go get your ankle taken care of boss. I have to go pack my bags, my bathing suit, and my suntan lotion."

"Lewis, when you come back, you are going to get night court."

"Sir, we do not have a night court."

"I will work on it while you are gone. Get out of here, my ankle is killing me."

They shook hands, and Lewis left the building. As soon as he was on the Henry Hudson Parkway, he hit the button on his hands free cell phone, and had it call in to that number again. When the person answered the phone he said, "I am leaving the country for 6 to 8 weeks. The Assistant Attorney General broke his ankle this morning, while we were playing racquetball. He had a trip scheduled to Bogotá, Thursday and he cannot go because they are operating on his ankle as we speak. I am going in his place to extradite three people involved in a drug related case. I could not turn it down. It would have looked very suspicious if I did."

"You are sure this was not a set up?"

"Sir, I heard the ankle pop. He went down like a ton of bricks and screamed in pain. His foot was at an unbelievable angle, and I could not move him, without him screaming in pain. We had to call the paramedics to get him off the court. I saw the x-rays, and they are going to have to put pins in his ankle to stabilize it."

"Alright, you did the right thing. Work your ass off to bring those three guys back. It will polish your image with him. He will confide in you even more than he has already."

"Yes sir, that was my intention anyhow. I am sorry I cannot help you further on your current problem."

"I believe our current problem is well in hand. With the information you gave us on Robbins, we know that Zabo is on his own or with someone who knows the area around Cottonwood. He has no connection to my son. Money may buy him off more easily than a bullet. That will leave Zabo open and alone. We will see what happens from there."

"I wish you all the best, sir. I will contact you upon my return."

The transceiver indicated a message was ready to be received and Alan loaded a decoding program into it and pressed enter. It was another one of those 'Holy Shit' moments. It was so absurd he had to read it again to make sure he read it right the first time. The entire escape plan had been changed, and he really liked the first one, because it had two options, not one.

He called William so he could read it for himself. William thought for a moment and said, "Alan, the only reason they would do this is because they know something we do not know. Send them an urgent message and ask them why they change in plans, because we would have to start moving at nightfall."

Alan sent the message and waited for a reply. It was like waiting for a telephone to ring. It seems like hours pass, when it is only minutes.

Finally, the transceiver lit up, and a message was received. "Do not wait for dark! Leave ASAP. Two groups, of 16 men each, are heading your way. One group from the north, the other from the South, both on Alternate 89A. We expect one group to stop at Susan's house for a short period of time, to see if she is at home. They will proceed south towards your location, at a high rate of speed. Radar traps will slow them down, but not stop them. Take the satellite dish, transceiver, guns, and ammunition with you; leave everything else behind. Program the GPS unit direct from your position to 89A at Spring Creek Ranch Road. Do not get onto 89A, unless traffic is clear in both directions, or until after dark. The bad guys are driving black Chevy Impalas. They do not know what you are driving. Keep Stephano and William under wraps. They will be looking for a minimum of two people, possibly more. If they only see one person driving a car, they may ignore it. Drive at the speed limit, or slightly above, unless you see them turn, and come after you. Then all bets are off. You have a four-wheel-drive vehicle; use it to your best advantage. Follow GPS to the Red Rock State Park. Pick up Patricia, Jemma, and Susan at the visitors center, continue east over the bridge and follow the GPS instructions to S.R.179. If they are still following you, after you leave the visitors center, you must put some distance between them and you for this to work. Cross over S.R.179 and make a left on East Cortez Drive, and stop. Look back and see what they do when they reach the intersection. S.R.179 is a moderately heavy traveled road, and there should be enough traffic to block their vision, both directions. They should believe you are heading to Phoenix, because all your moves to this point have been southbound. If they take the bait and head south, continue around East Cortez Drive and return to S.R.179 northbound to betas villa. Switch vehicles, and drive the range rover to the Sedona Airport. A C-130 aircraft will be on the ramp with its engines running. Drive directly into the belly of the aircraft. The ramp will close behind you. Do not get out of the car. People will be working to secure it for immediate take off. From the time you switch cars at betas' villa, anyone coming after you, will be arrested on a federal warrant. Keep your heads down, and your powder dry; this is going to be a bitch of a run. Michael Free Director FBI"