The Watchman of Ephraim (Book Club Edition)

by Gerard de Marigny

  Payam’s growled at De Niro like a wild dog, jumping from his seat and grabbing his pistol in one motion. It was to be his last motion. Something sharp pierced his back, just below his rib cage. Martin reached around and grabbed the pistol from him with his free hand as he used his other hand to force the blade of his long knife up and deeper. Then with one violent twist, he spun the knife around inside the cringing Iranian then pulled it out allowing him to collapse to the floor.

  The rugged Argentinean cowboy wiped the blade of his knife on the dead terrorist.

  “Muchas gracias, señor … I need to do that for Señora Lisa.”

  De Niro’s face was still filled with fury.

  “Martin, I have to go to New York to take care of the one in charge … but the ones outside … the ones still alive … they came here to kill my boys!”

  Martin held up his hand.

  “In Argentina, we chanted once, ‘Qué se vayan todos’ … be gone with them all! They will be taken care of, señor. I will do so myself. I will tell the rest of the staff that I take them away from the house so the boys are not afraid. No one will question. They all love the boys and respect you, señor … and they understand the meaning of la familia.”

  De Niro patted Martin on his shoulder then walked to the back door but Martin called to him one more time.

  “Señor … Vaya con Dios!”

  Chapter 34

  Ridgeline approximately one mile northeast of town

  Tubac, AZ

  10:45a.m., Sunday, September 11, 2011

  Vic Rigoni and Spiro Pescalitis took a position about forty feet above and just two hundred feet from where the trail bent at a 90-degree angle to the west. From there, they determined that the men on horseback wouldn’t be able to see them. The problem was that they also wouldn’t be able to see the men on horseback until they reached a point just a couple hundred feet from them. They laid flat on the ground and remained completely quiet, using only hand signals to communicate. Both of them began hearing the sounds of multiple horses approaching at a slow pace. Within moments they could both hear the voices of individual riders and then the first rider came into their sites.

  Riggy motioned to Pescy to wait until two came into their aim before opening fire and that he would take down the second rider.

  POP … POP!

  Chaos broke out as the sounds of their shots spooked the first several horses and panic broke out when the first two riders were propelled from their saddles. Both were dead before their bodies thudded against the ground.

  The leader of the group, the Iranian named Hadi broke from his position in the center of the line and galloped to the front. He held up sharply when two more of his men at the front of the line were struck by bullets. They also fell lifeless from their mounts.

  Hadi shouted commands first to the Iranians.

  (In Farsi) “Retreat to the bend and take up positions there! You must guard the Russians escape! I will lead them away from here!”

  Then he galloped to the back of the line and shouted to the Spetsnaz leader, Oleg.

  (In English) “My men will guard our escape. Follow me. There is a trail on other side of this eastern ridge that will lead us to Arizona Interstate 286. I’ll radio coordinates to our plane and have them land on the highway. We’ll board her there. The interstate is about 12 miles east of our location. If we move swiftly we can make it there in less than three hours!”

  * * * * *

  “ARCHANGEL-two (it was Riggy’s voice and there were sounds of automatic weapon fire in the background)… Charley, we downed four of them. The rest retreated back to the bend and have taken dismounted positions there. We have the high ground near the end of the ridgeline and are under fire. We count ten or eleven hostiles and we are returning fire, over.”

  Santappia replied.

  “ARCHANGEL-one … Riggy, we have a contingent of around six or seven riders that broke off with the road case. They’re heading due east. Can you keep the group at the bend pinned down?”

  The sound of gunfire was more intense.

  “Affirmative, at least until we run out of ammo…”

  Santappia turned to Ahiga.

  “Can we follow them in your truck?”

  “Not directly, no. We’d have to head south first on the road. If we did that, we’re sure to lose them.”

  “They’re heading east, Bryan. Where could they be heading?”

  “Well, there are trails on the far side of that eastern ridge that run south for a mile or so. They intersect with a bunch of trails that crisscross, but all of them converge at three points along Sasabe Road … Arizona 286.”

  “How far is 286 from here?”

  “It’s about 12 miles due east. Charley, what I don’t understand is … where were they originally headed?”

  “Talk to me, Bryan!”

  “Well, if they would have kept going in their original direction, the only two places with any sort of population are the small town of Choulic, which is 10 miles due west of here and Sells which is about 25 miles northwest. I hate to put it this way but I don’t think some rich terrorist would pay … what did you say … $25 million to attack either of those places.”

  A thought occurred to Ahiga as soon as said that.

  “Wait a minute, Charley! There’s a commuter airport near Sells! Maybe they’re fixin’ to hop in over-the-road transportation when they get to 286. If they head north, 286 intersects with 86 at the town of Three Points. It’s about 40 miles north and then another 40 west on 86 to get to Sells Airport.”

  Santappia shook his head.

  “They went to a great deal of effort to stay off the main roads just to minimize detection, Bryan. We surprised them but I don’t think that would make them decide to drive 80 miles on two interstate highways. They have to know that it won’t be long before Nogales sends another chopper up here, along with an army of border patrol agents.”

  He paused to think then he started thinking out loud.

  “Okay, let’s figure they were heading for Sells Airport. It’s a commuter airport. What’s the length of their runway?”

  “It’s around 5,800 feet,” Ahiga broke in to his line of reasoning, “mostly small jets and commuter prop planes land there.”

  Santappia smiled at the interruption.

  “Okay … so let’s say they were intending to load the bomb onto a small plane. That would make sense … if were a nuclear device! The blast radius would be maximized as would the impact from the blast if they detonate a nuke at a fairly low altitude over a city … but what are they planning to do now? How far is Tucson?”

  “Over 50 miles by road and if they’re planning to stay on horseback and stay off the roads then they’re looking at a two-day journey. There’s some rugged terrain between here and Tucson and the closer they get to the city, the more border agents they’re bound to run into.”

  Santappia nodded as he stood looking east.

  “So, why are they heading to the highway?”

  Ahiga joined him.

  “Well for one thing, it’s the only paved road for 50 miles, at least.”

  Santappia blinked his eyes at that statement.

  “Bryan, that’s gotta be it!”

  “What’s it?”

  “It has to be it! It’s the only paved road in 50 miles!”

  “That’s what I just told you, Charley!”

  “Don’t you see … it’s the only place they can land a plane in 50 miles! Bryan, we got to get to 286 and stop them before they take off! Can we catch up to them in your pickup if we head south?”

  Ahiga shook his head.

  “I don’t think so, Charley. The roads are so bumpy, we couldn’t speed there. It’s too bad we don’t have our ATV’s … or horses like our friends have.”

  Santappia smiled and put up his hand as he spoke into his mic.

  “ARCHANGEL-one … Rigs, the hostiles you downed … where are their horses?”

  Santappia could hardly hear Riggy’s repl
y over the gunfire.

  “ARCHANGEL-two … hold on … Pescy where are the horses of the ones we dropped? By the way, their gunfire is getting intense, Charley. This is gonna turn into Custer’s last stand at the Little Big Horn for me and Spiro if we stay here much longer …over.”

  “Rigs … where are the horses, over?”

  There was a pause.

  “ARCHANGEL-two … Pescy said the horses are still on the trail around the bend to our north, over.”

  Santappia smiled at Ahiga.

  “Let’s go get us some horses, Bryan!”

  Chapter 35

  Just north of the intersection

  Sasabe Road (Arizona 286) & Refuge Entrance Road

  Approximately 12 miles east of Tubac, AZ

  1:30p.m., Sunday, September 11, 2011

  Charley Santappia and Shadow Wolf Agent Bryan Ahiga had mounted two of the dead terrorist’s horses and Ahiga had led them on a trail that ran parallel to the one the bad guys had taken east. Before they left, Santappia ordered Riggy and Pescalitis to retreat, which was good for them since they were just about out of ammo. He also told them to take the chance and contact Nogales.

  The two men made it to the highway an hour before and left their horses along the northern trail they took. Then they walked south along Arizona 286 for over a mile before taking position near some sparse trees alongside the southern trail. The plane showed up first, a Piper Chieftain, which was one that Santappia was familiar with and had flown several times before.

  There was no time for planning. Santappia motioned to Ahiga to follow him and both men approached the plane, keeping their faces hidden. As soon as the pilot opened the door and dropped the stairs, they shot him. Their lack of planning almost backfired though, when they discovered that there was a co-pilot who was trying desperately to raise the stairs … but they were able to shoot him too.

  After they dragged the pilot’s bodies into the brush, they boarded the plane and took their seats in the cockpit, being careful to conceal their weapons between their seats and the cockpit doors. Now they waited and Ahiga was uneasy.

  “Charley, this is insane! Why don’t we just fly this thing out of here?”

  “Because we can’t leave those men here with what is most probably a nuke, Bryan, you know that. We contacted Nogales, now all we have to do is sit here and hope that the cavalry gets here before the Indians … I mean the bad guys do.”

  “Not funny, Charley … and what will happen if the bad guys get here first? What do we do then?”

  “Try to stall them.”

  “What if we can’t stall them, Charley?”

  “Then I’ll shoot out the cockpit controls and you shoot as many of them as you can before—“

  “Before we both get multiple taps to our heads, right?”

  Santappia looked at Ahiga.

  “Something like that.”

  Ahiga reached for the radio.

  “I’m gonna check on Nogales’s progress.”

  Santappia grabbed his hand.

  “Here they come! Bryan, stay cool, let’s see how long we can stretch this out. You got it?”

  Ahiga just nodded his head as both men kept their eyes on the group of men approaching.

  Hadi held up his hand to bring the Russian riders to a halt then he kicked his mount and started trotting over to the plane.

  Santappia started throwing switches at lightning speed. Ahiga had to ask.

  “What the heck are you doing, Charley?”

  Santappia didn’t reply as he worked at a furious pace to get the two Lycoming TIO-540-J2BD engines started. Finally, he pressed down on the break, pushed the throttles into position and started the engines. It had the desired effect and Ahiga understood. The noise from the two props sent the horse of the rider that was approaching, lurching back. He had all to do, to stay in his saddle and get his horse under control.

  Hadi barely remained atop his mount as the engines of the plane revved up. He turned and shook his fist at the pilot and saw the pilot shrug his shoulders as a contrite gesture, in reply. For a moment, the men in the cockpit didn’t look like his men, but he couldn’t really make out their faces, not with the props spinning and the noise spooking his horse. After taking a moment to look around, he waved the Russians to come forward. They rode to his position about thirty feet in front of and to the side of the plane and dismounted. There they unfastened the road case and rolled it over to Hadi, who stayed atop his horse. Hadi had to yell over the noise of the plane’s engines.

  “Are you ready?”

  The Spetsnaz leader, Oleg nodded with emphasis.

  “Then you know what must be done! My men are piloting! They will be able to fly this plane over Las Vegas in 90 minutes! You must arm the bomb and parachute out within one hour! Do you understand?”

  The leader nodded his head again.

  “Then go!”

  The Russians rolled the road case to the plane then took care to carry it on. Once the last of the six was aboard, he pulled the stairs up and closed the door. Hadi watched as the plane powered up then started rolling down the highway. Within minutes it was airborne. He started back towards the trail hoping to make it back to his men, but he didn’t get very far.

  Over the Iranian’s head, a DHS-CBP Blackhawk helicopter appeared out of nowhere. He didn’t even get a chance to draw his rifle before he was chopped almost completely in half by machine gun fire.

  The crew of this chopper was best friends with the crew of the first chopper - the one the terrorists shot down. They had just come from mowing down a group on horseback that was heading east on the same trail. They weren’t taking any chances … or any prisoners.

  * * * * *

  Ahiga’s voice crackled into Santappia’s headphones, “Charley, where the hell are we going? What happened to shooting out the cockpit controls?”

  “I wasn’t happy with the idea of our shooting out the controls and them blowing holes in us. It also occurred to me that they might just get themselves another plane.”

  Santappia pointed to a black bag sitting between Ahiga’s legs.

  “Open that case, Bryan. It should have maps and charts in it.”

  Ahiga opened the bag and rifled through all the manuals and binders until he came across a map, a chart and a receipt from Henderson Executive Airport. He examined the receipt first.

  “It looks like this plane originated from a commuter airport in Henderson, NV.”

  Then he unfolded the chart and examined it.

  “There are lines drawn on this chart, Charley!”

  “Hold the chart up so I can see the lines.”

  Just as Ahiga held the chart up, a large barrel-chested man with thick dark hair unbuckled his seatbelt and poked his head between him and Santappia.

  “Either of you speak English?”

  Ahiga removed his headphones and nudged Santappia to do the same.

  “I said do either of you speak English?”

  Santappia nodded his head without turning to look at the man.

  “My name is Oleg. Once you level off, we need you to fly a smooth and steady course. We can’t be bumping around. Do you understand?”

  Santappia nodded again without turning to look.

  The Russian lingered for a moment, suspicious of their silence then returned to his seat.

  Santappia and Ahiga looked at each other with relief as they put their headsets back on. Ahiga spoke first.

  “That was close. Charley, where the hell are we going and what did he mean about bumping around?”

  Santappia pointed at a location on the chart Ahiga was holding.

  “That’s where we’re supposed to be heading.”

  Ahiga looked at the chart.

  “Las Vegas …?”

  “Bryan, listen to me. I think we were right all along. That road case has to contain a bomb. I have a feeling our Russian friends back there are about to rig it for detonation as soon as I level off … and this plane was meant to fly the bomb over
Las Vegas. If you look at the chart, the plot ends over the Strip, not at any of the local airports.”

  Ahiga nodded.

  “What are we gonna do?”

  “Well, Las Vegas is about 340 miles northwest, which means, at our cruising speed, we should be over it in approximately 90 minutes. That’s how long we have to figure out what to do. I’m leveling off now.”

  The twin-engine plane smoothly ended its ascent. Santappia switched on the autopilot then turned to the Russian named Oleg, sitting in the first row behind the cockpit, and nodded. The Russian returned the nod then ordered his men in Russian to get to work. They all herded towards the back of the small plane, where the road case was secured, behind the back seats. They couldn’t see what they were doing though because the massive back of Oleg and one other Russian blocked their view.

  “Bryan, look, there are parachute packs hanging from every seat back there.”

  Ahiga looked behind their seats.

  “We don’t have any parachutes, Charley.”

  “Yeah, I noticed …”

  Santappia thought silently for a few minutes while he studied the chart as Ahiga kept watch on the men in the back. Then he took out a ruler and calculator from the black bag and went to work measuring and punching numbers into the calculator.

  “I think I know their plan, Bryan. From the size of that road case … have you ever heard the term, “suitcase” nuke?”

  A chill ran down Ahiga’s spine.

  “Yeah, I heard the term but I didn’t think they really existed.”

  “They existed but I didn’t think any were still around. I don’t know … maybe these nuts got a hold of an old one and were able to make it operational or maybe they built one from scratch. Either way, it would take a boatload of money and definitely Russian expertise. That would also explain why our boys back there are Russian and not towel heads, like the others that ambushed us. The Russian Special Forces are most familiar with those devices. It would also explain why our destination doesn’t end at an airport. From the little I know about nukes, they’re most devastating when they’re detonated at a relatively low altitude … maybe 1,500 feet or so.”