“William, no—“
Both men heard the sounds of tires crunching rocks coming from the far end of their long driveway.
“There’s no time to argue sir! Please, go quickly!”
De Niro grabbed William by his shoulders and wordlessly expressed his gratitude then took off up the stairs. He ran into Louis’s room. Both boys were sleeping together in his bed.
“Guys, wake up!”
The boys opened their eyes but were groggy.
“Just put your sneakers on, no questions, we have to go NOW!”
De Niro looked out Louis’s bedroom window. His heart raced with terror as he saw three black, Lincoln SUV’s coming around the circular driveway, all with no headlights.
Running the whole way, De Niro led the boys down the stairs, out the back door and down the path to the guest house. He punched the number code into the electronic front door lock and shuffled the boys into the house. Once inside, he ran upstairs alone and burst into the master bedroom.
“Moriah you have to get up!”
Moriah opened her eyes. De Niro could see that she cried herself to sleep.
“Cris, what are you—“
“Moriah, there’s no time. Intruders broke into the main house. I need you to take the boys to a secure place I have on the ranch. The boys know the way!”
Moriah was sleeping in pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. She slipped her feet into her sneakers and took off down the stairs behind De Niro.
“Okay, first we have to make it to the stables. Then Richard, you show Moriah where the Coyote’s Den is. You remember where it is, right?”
Richard nodded, “I think so, Daddy.”
“Good. I want all three of you to get inside the Den and close the doors behind you. Richard knows how… and you DON’T open those doors for anyone, do you understand?!”
The boys nodded their heads.
De Niro led the three down the long dirt path and to the stables. He pushed them all into the brush when he heard noises coming from it.
Putting his index finger to his lips, he whispered, “Someone’s over there. You three stay here! I’m gonna take a look.”
Moriah grabbed his arm.
“Cris wait, let me go with you! Boys you stay—“
De Niro grabbed her by her shoulders. They locked their eyes on one another. Tears started falling from Moriah’s.
“Moriah, please, stay with my boys! Don’t leave them for a moment! Can I trust you to do that?”
Moriah nodded her head then threw her arms around him and whispered into his ear.
“I love you!”
De Niro pushed back from her and looked into her eyes then he took her in his arms and hugged her.
Out of the darkness, a voice called out from the stables.
(In Spanish) “Mr. De Niro, is that you?”
It was Martin Fierro pointing a shotgun at them.
Everyone stood up.
De Niro replied in Spanish, “Martin, I should have known it was you. We have a problem!”
Fierro lowered his weapon and switched to broken English.
“Si señor, the alarm system, it's dead. I coming to tell you about it.”
“Moriah … boys, saddle up …! Martin, we have intruders at the main house and William is still there! There were three SUV’s so there could be as many as 20 men out there!”
De Niro motioned for his Head Gaucho to step to a corner with him. He switched to Spanish.
“Martin, these men are professionals, do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“They’re here to either kidnap me and the boys … or to kill us. I’m not sure which. I’m having the boys lead Moriah to a safe place I have—“
“Yes sir, the place with the doors in the ground. I came across while I exercise the horses.”
De Niro had to smile even through his tension.
“I should have known better than to think I could hide something on this ranch from you.”
“Yes sir.”
Moriah and the boys mounted their horses. De Niro walked over to them.
“Go now and don’t even as much as look back!”
“… But Daddy, what about you?” Louis asked with tear-filled eyes.
“We can stay and help you!” Richard added, tears in his too.
De Niro walked between their horses and took both of their hands in his.
“I need you two to be brave now. We each have to accomplish our missions. Your mission is to get Moriah to the Coyote’s Den. Daddy and Martin will be okay.”
He walked up next to Moriah and squeezed her hand.
“You have to make it to the place the boys will take you to … it’s about 10 miles from here. Stick to the trails. You’ll be safe once you’re inside!”
The boys took off down the path but she lingered for a moment.
“Be careful, Cris!”
She kicked JoJo’s sides and took off in a gallop, not waiting for a reply.
Martin approached De Niro now carrying two Winchester Model 1895 Centennial High Grade30 rifles. He handed one to him.
(In English) “Thanks Martin. Listen, you don’t have to come with me. I need to go and try and get William.”
“Sir, we wasting time …!”
The leather-faced man pulled out his walkie-talkie phone and hit the transmit button.
(In Spanish) “Concho, its Martin, wake up!”
After a moment, Concho’s voice crackled out.
“Martin, what the hell—“
“Shut up and get up … and I want you to wake everyone else up too. Tell them we have intruders at the main house and tell them to get dressed and break out the rifles … but tell everyone to do NOTHING until you hear from me and Mr. De Niro, understand?”
“Yes sir.”
De Niro gave Fierro a quick Italian-style hug.
“Muchas Gracias, Martin …”
* * * * *
Ricci banged his fist on the conference table, “What do you mean dead?”
“I mean the line went dead and we can’t get them back on the phone, it just keeps ringing! His answering machine is part of his phone system and it didn’t kick in. The only thing that could have caused that is a power outage … but the battery backup in the phone system should have kicked in then!” Johnny-F replied.
Ricci’s patience was at an end.
“John, what the hell are you saying?!”
The computer genius thought a moment.
“His phone line must be down AND the power must have gone out in his house. That’s the best I can think of.”
Ricci blinked, showing just a touch of fear. My sister and now her boys!
“Michelle, contact the Henderson, Nevada police department. Tell them … tell them we think something may have happened to my brother-in-law, that we got disconnected. Tell them anything, but get them to send people out to the ranch now!”
Johnny-F called over to him, “Mugs, check this out on Fox News!”
He walked over and looked up at the screen. A reporter was standing in front of the wreckage of the downed Blackhawk, reporting on how it apparently crashed while investigating a report of a mass illegal border crossing.
Michelle got off the phone.
“Mugs, Henderson police put me on hold and tried to reach the house. They didn’t get through either but then they contacted the phone company and they were told the whole area near Cris’s home is down. The duty officer told me it’s probably nothing to worry about but after I threatened to have the Homeland Director contact his captain, he finally agreed to send a unit to the ranch to investigate.”
“... A single unit?” This is unbelievable!
Chapter 32
Ridgeline approximately 1 mile northeast of town
Tubac, AZ
10:00a.m., Sunday, September 11, 2011
Ahiga, Santappia and the members of ARCHANGEL reached the location that Ahiga told them about. They were perched on the northern edge of a ridgeline that stretche
d for about three miles south. All the men laid low while Ahiga and Santappia used their binoculars to scan the path at the bottom of the ravine below them. The sun had risen a few hours before and already the temperatures were climbing. Ahiga had positioned the rest of the Shadow Wolves about midway down the ridgeline, stringing them out about ½ mile south of their position.
Santappia took a swig from his canteen then handed it to Shadow Wolf-1.
“We haven’t heard from your men, Bryan.”
Ahiga took the canteen from him and took a long pull from it.
“That’s not unusual, Charley. Shadow Wolves don’t usually use their radios unless they spot something.”
He exhaled in frustration as he put his binoculars back to his eyes.
“The truth is, on horseback, if that group was heading this way, they should have reached us by now. I don’t understand it though. This pass is miles long and they were heading right for it. They should have—“
Ahiga focused his binoculars on something. It made him jump to his feet and started running in a crouched position south along the ridgeline. The rest of the men saw where he was headed; someone was stumbling towards their position. Ahiga made it to the man and helped him back to the others who saw that he was bleeding profusely from a shoulder wound.
“Charley, this is Shadow Wolf Agent Kevin Steele.”
Santappia helped Ahiga set him down. Blood was pouring out from a bullet wound to his shoulder and he was on the verge of passing out. Santappia put the canteen to his mouth and he tried to sip from it as Pescalitis and Riggy examined his wound.
“Pescy, get the first aid kit! Agent Steele, I’m Charley Santappia. Here, drink some water, just a little. What happened to you?”
Riggy: “Charley, the bullet went clear through.”
Ahiga knelt next to Santappia.
“Kevin, what happened? I can’t reach the others on the radio!”
The wounded Agent reached up and grabbed Ahiga with bloody hands.
“Bryan, they ambushed us … bullets flew from behind us and from the south, but no sound! I saw Ned drop and Felicia’s head exploded right next to me! Then I got hit … it knocked me off my feet and I rolled down the ravine a ways … my radio broke. I started running low until I thought I’d be out of sight … then doubled back after climbing back up to the top of the ridge. By the time I got back to them, it looked like everyone was hit! I don’t know how badly, but blood everywhere … no one moving! I called to them … no answer … I didn’t want to chance running out in the open to them. I couldn’t see who shot us … they had to be far off so I headed for your position”
Santappia stood up with Ahiga.
“De May, contact Nogales and call in Emergency Services to their location! Bryan, what do you make of it?”
“Charley, hold that order, would you … follow me.”
Ahiga ran to a position about 50 feet south along the ridgeline, hit the dirt and looked through his binoculars, Santappia joined him.
“Bryan, what’s up?!”
“Charley, Kevin said bullets flew from behind them and to the south. There’s a ridgeline that runs perpendicular to the one we’re on about a third of a mile south of where the Shadow Wolves had taken position … but to get to it, the bad guys would have had to climb the western ridge on foot. Why would they do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they sent scouts out?”
Ahiga shook his head.
“I don’t buy it. First, they would have had to cross the ravine in the open to get to this ridgeline. It makes no sense for scouts to risk that when they could have just scouted from the other side … the side they approached from. No, I’m getting a real bad feeling about this, Charley!”
“What kind of bad feeling, Bryan?”
Ahiga stopped scanning and focused on a position south of them, down on the path at the bottom of the ravine. Then he pointed to the position so that Santappia could see what he spotted. Santappia looked through his own binoculars and saw a number of men on horseback riding single-file up the path about a quarter mile from them.
“That kind of bad feeling, Charley …! The only thing that makes sense is that they knew we were going to ambush them here. They must have crossed the pass just south of where my unit could spot them and then set up an ambush of their own with a sniper. I think they’re monitoring our tach-one channel, the one we use to communicate with Nogales. That would explain how they were able to sneak up on Shadow Wolves.”
Both men made it back to the others as quickly as they could. Santappia started barking orders.
“Gunmen approaching… Riggy, you and Pescy take a position down the slope near the path, just around the bend behind us. De May, carry Agent Steele down the back of this ridge, out of sight, then get back up here on the double!”
Ahiga continued to look through his binoculars as more of the horseman came into view.
“Take a look!”
Santappia focused his binoculars where Ahiga pointed.
“Charley, what is that?”
“It looks like a road case, strapped to that horse. What the hell … It could be anything!”
“Whatever it is, it’s as heavy as a man, I can tell from the way the horse is laboring and they’re being real careful with it.”
“Do you think they know we’re here?”
“I don’t think so, Charley. They wouldn’t be riding single-file up that path if they knew we were here. I think they believe they wiped out the Shadow Wolves and there’s no one left on this reservation to impede their advance. They probably only monitored our tach-one channel which means we can still communicate to each other, at least, on tach-two.”
Santappia continued to scan the riders.
“We got another problem. I count 16 of them and they all look armed.”
De May returned.
“Charley, I‘ve just been monitoring Nogales … they’re going crazy down there. Every available agent sounds like they have their hands full rounding up all those UDA’s. On top of that, DHS won’t put anymore choppers in the air until they determine that it’s safe to do so and between the crime scene at the tower and the downed Blackhawk, I don’t think we’re gonna see any help anytime soon! Even if they do get a chopper in the air, they’re too far south to spot us without our radioing them.”
The line of horsemen was almost directly below them. Ahiga was very concerned for his fellow Shadow Wolves but he remained calm.
“What do you want to do, Charley?”
Santappia thought on overdrive.
“We may not be able to stop them but maybe we can slow them down. De May, take a position south of us and prevent them from climbing the ridge and coming up behind us.”
Santappia spoke rapidly into his mic.
“Riggy, we count 16 gunmen and one large road case heading north on the path. They’re right under our position now. They’ll be on you and Pescy in a few minutes. I want you two to shoot anyone that comes around that bend. Make sure to fall back if they try to overrun your position. We can’t afford you guys getting hit. We’re gonna try and keep them pinned down in this pass.”
“Roger.”
Ahiga was troubled by what he heard.
“I’m a law enforcement officer, Charley. I’m supposed to announce that fact to them before we just draw down on them!”
“Bryan, I make them about 600 meters away, right at the maximum effective range of our M-4’s. If we give them even the slightest warning, we’ll lose what little advantage we have. Keep in mind, they outnumber us and at least one of them is a sniper.”
“I understand that, but I’m still—“
“You know what they just did to your unit and there’s a very good chance that there’s a weapon of mass destruction in that road case of theirs. We may be the last line of defense for our country.”
The two men’s eyes locked.
“Bryan, if you don’t want to be part of this, you could go back and check on your unit… stay with them unt
il help arrives, but we’ve got to do this.”
Ahiga looked back in the direction of the ambushed Shadow Wolves and thought a moment. Then he dropped the magazine from his M-4, locked the charging handle, checked it then reinserted it and released the bolt, reloading the weapon.
“It’s my country too, Charley.”
Santappia nodded patting Ahiga on his back, then dropped to his belly and took aim. De May and Ahiga took prone positions a few yards on either side of him.
“Let Riggy and Pescy take the first shots. That should drive them back below us … and guys … try not to shoot that road case!”
Chapter 33
Backyard of Main House
Estancia De Niro
Henderson, NV
6:30a.m., Sunday, September 11, 2011
(In Farsi) “Payam, a police car just pulled up!”
The report came from one of Payam’s men keeping watch at the front gate.
“Do nothing,” Payam replied into his headset.
He walked over to William Brett sitting at the kitchen table with two of his men on either side of him. There was blood coming from the back of his head as one of the men had used the back of his rifle to compel the old gentleman to take a seat.
Payam motioned for his men to lift the butler and turn him to face him.
“The police are at the gate. You will speak to them and tell them that everything is okay.”
Another one of Payam’s men came running in.
(In Farsi) “Payam, there are three horses missing from the stables! There is a main path that heads south. They had to have gone that way! And we found out why we lost their transponder frequencies. All of their computers and cell phones are lying at the bottom of the pool.”
Payam cursed in Farsi. So, De Niro knew we were coming. At least we know he didn’t get a big head start.
Payam motioned for the two men to escort William to the intercom before replying.
“Take one of the SUV’s and six men and go after whoever it is. If it is De Niro or his boys, bring them back here. If it’s anyone else … kill them.”
The man nodded and ran out the front of the house.
The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition) Page 23
