Betrayed Devil

by Tom Haase

  “Did you find out her real name? Where she lives?”

  “No, but here’s the phone number I used, and I bet she has already changed it,” Eddie replied.

  “If they let you off,” Chuck said, “you had better get out of town and stay straight. They might put you under passive surveillance for a period.”

  “Understood. I promise I’ll get out of town and never come back here if they let me go. I won’t contact her ever again, you have my word.”

  At that moment, the captain and Emma walked back in. The captain put out his hand facing Eddie. He wanted his badge and gun.

  Eddie gave a smile because he thought he had won. They were going to let him go. He handed over his badge and gun.

  “We are not letting you go until we act on the information you gave. If it’s correct, you have a deal and can leave. If it isn’t, you go down. I have ordered the SWAT team to move to the locations you gave us, and all my detectives are going to arrest the ones you told us about. Go to your desk, write your letter of resignation, and don’t move until I come to get you. There’s an officer there who will sit with you so you will remain here until we complete our operation.”

  In less than three hours, the SWAT teams and the detectives had all reported back to the captain. They informed him all the names they had were in custody except for Ramon, who had been killed during the operation.

  “Captain, the house you gave us the address for was occupied. The man inside refused to open the door after we identified ourselves,” the SWAT sergeant reported.

  “What happened?” the captain said.

  “Without warning, the man inside smashed out the front window and fired at the officers in front of the house. We promptly returned fire. The suspect had moved to a different window and fired on the officers taking cover behind our van. At that time our sniper had a sight picture on the suspect. He notified me he had a clear shot, and I gave him the green light. That ended the firefight,” the officer reported.

  “We annihilated the Ramon gang,” the captain said to Emma. “I regret we have to abide by our agreement and let him walk.”

  “Me too,” Emma said. “I’ll look after getting him away from here, so you don’t have to face him again after his deceit to you and the department.”

  “Thanks, I hope the bastard rots in hell.” The captain turned and returned to his office.

  “One down and one to go to repay for the killing of Darlene,” Chuck said. “Based on what Eddie told us, they both have to pay.”

  “Do nothing stupid or something that might label you as a vigilante,” she said.

  “Okay, but so you know, I might do both.”

  46

  At home, Chuck called Roberto and Sam requesting them to meet with him at his place in the evening. Both agreed to come at eight. He took a run to the store to restock his beer supply and purchased snacks and dip. No dinner, but he wouldn’t get hungry on all the junk food. Tomorrow, he promised himself he would start to eat healthier.

  “Great to see you guys again,” Chuck said. He served beer to each man and placed the chips and dip on the table. “I’ll bring you up to date on the events that happened today. We had quite an interesting one.”

  “Great, I saw a lot of police action, including SWAT trucks moving around. What went on?”

  “They conducted raids on Ramon and his gang. Ramon died and all his distributors were arrested. We also uncovered and neutralized another mole at police headquarters.”

  “How did you do that?” Roberto asked.

  Chuck related as much as he thought advisable and ended with the fact he intended to go after the head of the gang for the murder of Darlene. The police had no evidence he committed the crime, but Eddie had confirmed in Chuck’s mind that a member of that gang tried to kill him under orders from the leader. If he chose to make a dent in the drug trade in Savannah, he needed to help the police get the Nassau group eliminated.

  “We’re going to help the police. That’s my goal. We have the flexibility to operate on a different level than them. So, I want us to use that to take care of this. You with me?”

  Both nodded agreement.

  “Maybe I can speed this up,” Sam said.

  “How’s that?” Roberto said.

  “Well, today I had an old Indian friend stop by the store. We retreated to my office to have a coffee and chat. I hadn’t seen him for over a year. My father and his were great friends. I’ll cut it short to get to the good part of his visit. He said he had noticed a Mercedes van, a motor home going by his area every day. It’s out of place for the poor neighborhood in which he lives. He believes a drug gang is moving into the area. He is afraid of what that will bring to the locals. There haven’t been any overt drug dealers in his area, but they are now appearing. I can show you on a map where he saw the van.”

  Chuck put a city map on the table, and Sam pointed at an intersection in what he called a “non-gentrified” district.

  “We can get our people to trail that van. I have two excellent friends in mind. You know them both from our last adventure,” Roberto said. “I can have them on it tomorrow.”

  “You guys know I have to settle the score for Darlene, but you have no obligation to go along on this one. You outdid yourselves on the human trafficking operation, and I appreciate what you did.”

  “Even if Roberto was careless in the face of the enemy,” Sam said ribbing him for getting wounded on the raid.

  Roberto took it in stride. “You’re right about this being a little different from the last time. We make a great team and are doing a good thing for the community. We’re not vigilantes and we sort of work with the police. I’m in favor of continuing. We’ll get a name soon,” Roberto said.

  “I don’t want people to know who we are. No names, no ID’s, no publicity. Agreed?” Sam said.

  “See, I can get under your skin too, hermano.” Roberto laughed while he said this.

  “Roberto has a point. The press might give our group a name, but I agree with Sam. We don’t want publicity and no names. Is that okay?” Chuck said.

  They nodded, stood to leave and then headed for the door.

  “Let’s get together tomorrow evening and see if we have any new info. I’ll get with the captain and inform him of what we’re planning on doing. I plan to be on his good side after we blindsided him last time.”

  “I loved it. Keep him in the dark, treat him like a mushroom, and that way he can’t ruin anything,” Sam said.

  “I agree,” Roberto said as he took his leave. “See you tomorrow.”

  The next day, Chuck stayed near his place as there were still contractors coming to do final touches on the remodeling job in his place. He fed Merlin after breakfast and took Murphy for a walk and to get some cardio exercise by running with the dog. Murphy was good for two miles without even getting winded.

  Chuck remained pleased with the interior decorations being accomplished by the workmen, and the finished product unquestionably exceeded his expectations. Emma’s eye for the right item in the right place had proven invaluable. He would have to take her for a lavish dinner when this construction ended.

  The prospect of talking to the captain didn’t appeal to him, but he felt it would be in his long-term interest to do it. Keeping the police informed of what they were doing had the benefit of providing them with some limited protection in their endeavor. His mission objective now consisted of getting the Bahamian leader who ordered the hit on him and got his girlfriend killed.

  “We have good news,” Sam said when they reconvened the next night.

  “What you got?” asked Roberto.

  “That old Indian was correct,” Sam said. “We picked up the Mercedes motor home in the same area, and two of my men followed it. Nearly an hour ago, it headed for Thunderbolt. They drove to a boatyard. Seems they have a yacht under repair there. We don’t know if it’s theirs or they are using it as a base. Pretty isolated after the workmen at the nearby yard go home for the day.
They must be finished with it at the yard as the vessel was repositioned to a dock in the center of the Thunderbolt waterfront late today.”

  “Great work,” Chuck said. He put off calling the captain until he had more specific information to tell him. A flimsy excuse, but it satisfied him for the time being.

  Chuck looked at his friends. “Let’s go take a look.”

  47

  They jumped into Chuck’s Honda Pilot and headed for the small town of Thunderbolt. The community abutted the city of Savannah and backed onto the Wilmington River with condos and restaurants populating the bank of the river. The town had its own small police force and all the other trappings of any small city management.

  They approached the dock area, viewed from River Drive, the main thoroughfare running along the river. The nearby large refitting and maintenance boatyard offered services for both sail and motor vessels. Chuck stopped at the Tortilla Grille, and they left his SUV parked in front of the restaurant. They got out and walked along the riverbank. In the distance, Sam pointed out the suspect vessel that his men had located earlier. The boat stood tied up at a floating mooring platform. Chuck estimated the boat was forty-five feet in length. A boarding ladder rested on its port side. A twelve-foot motor-powered runabout was lashed to the far side of the ketch-rigged sailboat. Chuck saw two men standing on the deck smoking.

  Sam pulled out his phone and took pictures of the men using the zoom on his phone to get a close-up.

  “Those guys seem to act as guards. My men said there were two of them here when they located the boat. Don’t know if they are the same ones,” Sam said.

  “My guess is they are on permanent duty. Assuming this is their main location, they’d probably have guards, don’t you think?” Roberto said.

  “Sounds right,” Chuck added. “Sam, can you get one of your men to keep this place under observation?”

  “Already done. See that man sitting on the park bench at the end of the street? He’s on duty until relieved later tonight. He’ll call if there’s any activity at the boat.”

  After watching the boat for a few more minutes, Chuck returned to his SUV and took them back to his place.

  “We learned from the mole we interviewed at the police department that a shipment is coming into town for the group in Thunderbolt. If we can be ready to move at a moment’s notice, we might interrupt that and bring down the gang at once,” Chuck said.

  “How’s that?” Roberto said.

  “We have a secret I haven’t shared with you. Qing has requested we get her a phone from a gang member.”

  “I can make that happen,” Sam said.

  “How?” Chuck said.

  “Patience, my friends,” Sam said as he made a phone call.

  The man sitting at the end of the street on the park bench in Thunderbolt went by the Indian name Diving Eagle, preferring it to his English given name of Dave. His cell chimed. When he hung up, he understood what he had to do for Sam.

  The guards on the boat changed shift every two hours. After their shift, they came up to Tubby’s Restaurant on the riverbank to get a drink or down to the Tortilla Grille and used the facilities. Diving Eagle formulated his plan to retrieve a cell phone. He then took action on his plan.

  He waited until the time arrived for the guards to change. He noticed two of the guards come out of the restaurant and start down to the boat. They had to cross a short distance covered by a pontoon bridge over the water near the shore that crossed to the floating dock where the sailboat was tied up. Diving Eagle’s skills, honed as a youthful pickpocket, comprised his capacity for conducting deception and his ability to lift any item from a person without that person realizing it.

  He moved at an angle to the men coming down the hill to cross the pontoon bridge. He arrived there first and put on the air of an over-served yachtsman going back to his boat. He burped and staggered enough to convince anyone who observed him that he had imbibed excessively.

  As the first man reached the bridge, Diving Eagle made his move. In a blatant display of inebriation, he slammed into the man and sent him flying off the walkway into the water. The man fell in and created a geyser of water that drenched Diving Eagle as well as splashing the other man. A rash of expletives emerged from the man when he resurfaced, and the other man moved to strike Diving Eagle, who threw up his hands and turned to dry heave over the rail before the man hit him.

  In his sideways glance, Diving Eagle saw the one who planned to hit him change his mind and he moved to help his comrade out of the water. He helped his drenched friend to the boat. Diving Eagle took this opportunity and rapidly moved up the hill before they changed their minds and came after him. He returned to his car as the two climbed aboard the sailboat. When he seated in his car, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the cell phone liberated from the gang member.

  He dialed Sam.

  “Nothing to it. I got what you asked for. They’ll assume it fell into the water.”

  48

  Chuck called Qing and told her they had a cell phone from one of the drug dealers. She instructed him to hook the cell phone to his computer and she accessed his computer with a program on her end and his I.P. address. She captured the data from the purloined cell. In minutes, Qing put her skills to work and gained the information needed. She took a few more minutes to collate the data and put it into a usable format.

  “Chuck, I have what you want. I’ll email it to you. The numbers, address, and names are on it. You never received it from me. Got that?”

  “Thanks.” He printed the email on receipt.

  “Don’t forget to delete the email on your computer,” Qing said.

  “What email? Thanks again.” He hung up.

  The printout he now held, contained all the information they would need to carry out his plan to get all the members at the same place simultaneously. If they could achieve that, he would have to decide how much of his plan to share with the police and, in particular, with Emma.

  The information offered by Qing indicated there were six primary distributors and thirteen dealers under them. Chuck planned to get the six and have the police arrest the dealers. The cell phone contacts and the other evidence the police would acquire in the takedown would take them to trial and get a conviction. He believed it would be successful if he managed to pull all the moving parts together.

  He thought it would take another planning session and a few more men to accompany him on the raid he planned to conduct on the sailboat. He wanted the police to hit the thirteen dealers about the same time, but to make sure he got them all he would use the text messaging to summon all the distributors to the boat at the time of his choosing.

  He sat down and examined what he had at his disposal. The number of gang principals remained small because the gang had only started to operate in Savannah. They would, without doubt, begin to expand and do so hastily after the demise of Ramon’s group and the anticipated resupply of drugs coming up from Florida. The limited number of dealers would promptly multiply when the gang received the new supplies. With new product and no competition, they would take over.

  Chuck assumed that at present the distributors provided the only security for the Bahamian boss. With only a few people knowing their location, he hadn’t planned any added layer of protection at his headquarters. The distributors must use the Mercedes motor home to go out to deliver any goods they currently possessed to the various dealers. He believed this arrangement would act as a cutout to protect his true location.

  The next steps in his plan included talking to the police captain, getting Emma onboard, and formulating a battle plan to take down the leader. He hoped the police would handle the dealers, and that would cripple and perhaps destroy the major drug operators.

  He would deal with the boss of the distributors. He had sworn to get Darlene justice for her death.

  49

  Chuck spent an hour trying to decide what to do. He concluded that the police would have to help him in a big way
. He called the captain.

  “I have a list of all the drug dealers in the Bahamian gang. I need your help,” Chuck said.

  “How the hell did you get that? Is it the same person who gave us the info on the sex traffickers?”

  “Let’s say it’s from a highly reliable source. If you can take action on it, I believe you can disrupt and cripple the gang to a point where it will cease to exist in our city. Someone else may later take their place, but we’ll deal with that when it happens. Right now you have a chance to take these guys out.”

  “I suppose you want me to make the arrests all at once? You seem to favor that action. Is that a product of your special operations training?”

  “To take them all at one time would be preferable. I will try to gather them in one place. We know the method of delivery of the drugs to these dealers is from a motor home. If I can get them all to come to that location, then you can get them in a situation where your interrogators can sweat them to get enough information for legal action.”

  “You agreed only to get us the intel so we might act on it,” the captain said. “I assume that is what you are doing. You aren’t to take any action on your own. Let us handle that. Get me the time and place of this meeting, and we’ll deal with the rest. You are not to be involved in the arrests. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Can your men be ready to act at eleven tomorrow night? I’ll email you the intel at nine-thirty.”

  “Agreed.”

  His next call was to Emma. He told her of the same thing he had conveyed to the captain. She balked at his method, but in the end, she gave in to his idea. He now had obtained agreements with both of them and he would not be included in the arrest or apprehension of the dealers. In a deliberate omission, he failed to mention the distributors or the headman of the Bahamian gang who lived on the sailboat. He did not lie to them. He did not intend any personal involvement in the arrest the police would carry out.