State of Threat (State of Arizona Book 2)

by Doug Ball

  She took a deep breath before beginning.

  Nogales Police Department

  “What do you want to do with her, Mr. Brown?” the Chief asked.

  “Log her in and let’s see what we can find. You do have a female officer, don’t you?”

  “Yes, she’ll be here in a few.”

  The three officers stood in the middle of the office looking over at the gal in the cage on the far side, each of them had his own thoughts. None of which had anything to do with her crime.

  Tan couldn’t understand why the Governor had sent him down on such a trivial case of burglary, but Chuck was excited to be back in action after being pulled into the office job while he finished recovering from dumping his motorcycle in a tough chase in the northwest valley three months prior.

  The Chief was looking at two cowboy cops he didn’t want in his jurisdiction and could not imagine what he did to deserve them. ‘What’s with the Governor sending a special investigative team on a case like this, a case that had not even been reported in his jurisdiction. Is everybody bored and not have anything better to do in the capital nowadays?’ he wondered.

  “You three gonna stand there and gawk when I must use the restroom?”

  The female officer came through the back door just in time.

  The Chief took one look at his officer and said, “Do a full search on the young lady in the cage, let her use the restroom, dress her in orange, and escort her to a holding cell.”

  “Yes, Sir. What’s the charges?”

  “Burglary for right now. We’ll see what else we can draw from the charges jar.”

  The three men looked around, each trying to figure out, ‘what next?’

  Tan finally broke the silence, “Well, Chief, we’ll get out of your hair as soon as we finish up the reports.”

  “That would be nice. Please do not work in my jurisdiction again without informing me. I am not happy about this at all. I don’t know what the lady in the Governor’s Office was thinking. This should have been referred to my office and not to you two big city hot shots.”

  “I’m not happy either. This was not a case for a Special Investigator at all. My tasking is to go where I’m told by the Governor and do what is requested without informing local law. I think the contractor is a friend of the Governor, working on a state contract, and things just fell apart from there. My apologies. I will check out the cases a bit better next time before I cowboy another case.” He reached out for the Chief’s hand.

  The Chief took it and gave a good, firm shake. “I understand that this Investigator office is new and, in a way, agree with the need, but not in my backyard. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff is a friend of mine and he won’t be happy if you play in his back yard either. Watch yourself; you could get cut off from local support real quick.”

  “Thanks for the advice.” Tan turned to Chuck, “Let’s get the paperwork done and go get some breakfast. Any good restaurants open at this hour, Chief? We’ll treat ya if you wanna join us.”

  “Denny’s. Get the paper work done and give me a shout, I’ll join ya.”

  6 AM

  Oracle Sheriff’s Substation

  Two deputies ran up and down the hall while two men stood handcuffed to the railing in the inner office and another snored loudly in the holding cell, all awaiting transport to Pinal County Jail in Florence. Nobody was sure what was going on, but the Sheriff was on a rampage telling how he was going to come to Oracle and fire everyone if they couldn’t find a tractor/trailer rig full of explosives. Borrowed helicopters from Maricopa and Pima counties along with 50 or more Sheriff’s posse folks were searching all over the desert trying to find the rig in all this emptiness. The Civil Air Patrol was warming the engines readying their aircraft to join the search.

  The Sergeant in charge of the substation was so new a sergeant that he jumped at everything the Sheriff said and, in turn, screamed and yelled at the deputies he was responsible for. The pair just moved from one room to the other as quickly as possible, shuffling papers, and making calls, which cooled the situation slightly. At least they looked busy to the sergeant and the shuffle kept him from focusing on either of them to any great extent. The three suspected perps of various nefarious crimes like drunk, disorderly, and theft of a means of transportation, thought it was a better show than the real estate hunting program on the television in the holding cell.

  The phone was on the hook too long, it rang. “Hello, Oracle Sheriff’s substation, Sergeant Terry speaking, how may I help you?”

  There was a moment or two of silence, “Find it yet?”

  “Who is this?”

  “Your boss, the Sheriff. I want that trailer found with all the explosives secured and safe, NOW!”

  Sergeant Terry had enough. That was an impossible command and the Sheriff should know that. “Sheriff, if I had five hundred more men and twenty more helicopters, I might be able to find that rig within 48 hours, but I don’t, and that means I probably won’t. If you would quit calling I would have time to do something in the direction of accomplishing that task eventually. It’s not even full light outside. Where is the transport I requested two hours ago? I have two deputies tied up just watching three petty crooks.”

  He slammed the phone down and told everybody to check the caller ID before answering again. If it was the Sheriff, let him use the radio so the conversation would be recorded.

  At 0630 he asked, “Trish, any news on your truck?”

  “Nothing. Sergeant, I am whipped. I gotta go home and get some rest. I can’t think straight, so I am doing no one any good here. Matter of fact, I am probably doing more harm than good at this point.”

  “Go. Thanks, you’ve done well. We’ll see you at 2000 tonight?”

  “Will do.” She walked through the outside door, met the heat of the morning face to face, and went home to her soft bed. There was only an hour until the kids got up. She told her husband he was in charge of getting the kids up and off to school. He grunted. She put her cold feet in the small of his back. He yelped and got up mumbling.

  October 9

  10 AM

  Nogales Border Crossing

  The Governor and the President of Mexico stood on the red line that is the southern border of Arizona and the northern boundary of Mexico looking at each other with the blandest expressions each could conjure. The Governor was still mad at this man and he was definitely not very happy with her. He had lost the war. Being the gentleman that he pretended to be, he waved to the crowd surrounding them and motioned to the papers on the podium. “Madam Governor, will you not sign this treaty between my country and your state first, as the verbal agreement between our negotiators stated.”

  “El Presidente’, if you call me Madam again, we will be back at war and I will rip your rock hard heart out of your chest and feed it to you,” was the Governor’s reply in a soft voice, through a forced smile as she stepped up. The microphone was too high. She waited as her security and cultural attaché lowered it to the right position. She glared at El Presidente. He had been the one responsible for the sound system. Her duties included the furniture. She only hoped his chair would collapse dumping him unceremoniously on the asphalt which was so hot she could feel the heat through the soles of her heels.

  She stepped up to the microphone, looked around at the crowd, smiled for the cameras, and began, “It is with much heartache I come to this podium. There is no reason Mexico and the State of Arizona needed to go to the extremes that have brought us to this podium. The pride of Mexico’s President is beyond belief.”

  El Presidente stood.

  “Just sit down, Senor, you will get your turn,” she said, glaring at him.

  “If Mexico had made any attempt at controlling the illegal traffic across this border, we could have worked together for the betterment of both entities. Arizona will never bend to the aggression of any foreign power. Aggression it was, as load after load of illegal drugs and group after group of illegal individuals came across the b
order. No other nation would tolerate what the United States of America and Arizona were forced to put up with for many years.

  “We are not here to sign a treaty, even though this paper says treaty on it. A state in the United States cannot negotiate, sign, or approve a treaty with any country alone. Our Constitution only allows the Senate of the United States of America to approve treaties and declare war.

  “Arizona was attacked and the President of the United States refused to help as required by that same Constitution. Arizona never stepped foot aggressively on Mexican soil; while Mexico, on the other hand, destroyed miles of the border fence and entered the sacrosanct dirt of Arizona in multiple waves of entrants without visas. We never removed the barriers between our two lands. We were viciously attacked and fought to preserve our land, our state, our nation.

  “Because our President refused to render assistance to Arizona in the war, Arizona will assume responsibility for the treaty. This piece of paper is worthless at stopping bullets and the many other destructive devices of war. Only the hearts and minds of people can do that. The Legislature of Arizona has negotiated and approved this document. Mexico is required to patrol its border with Arizona. It is required to stop, with force if necessary, all illegal traffic across that border. We will also man and patrol the border from our side. We serve notice here and now that we will use force without warning to stop illegal traffic across that border. If we see a gun we will fire.

  “Mexico will pay reparations to rebuild Nogales, other communities, and private property damaged within the next ninety days. Mexico will publically apologize to the State of Arizona and the United States of America for its invasion. Mexico will pay reparations to every American family that lost a loved one and all medical bills of those wounded. For those who are disabled, Mexico will pay the sum of $100,000 per year for life. Arizona will determine eligibility. This disability income will be tax free in our country and state. Mexico will pay half the cost and supply half the labor to build the fence to our specifications between their country and ours. If California, New Mexico, and Texas wish to join in, this part of the treaty will include them. Arizona and Mexico have already begun.”

  She stopped and looked around at the crowd. “For Arizona I sign this document with the warning, if this paper is not a sufficient deterrent to future aggression, our people will be.”

  She signed the document.

  “El President.” She offered him the pen.

  He found his own pen and removed it from his pocket, scribbled a signature on the document, turned, and without a word, walked to his limo.

  The crowd cheered and booed at the same time.

  The war was officially over.

  The Governor took Arizona’s copy of the document and handed the other to the Colonel standing next to the empty Presidential spot.

  “Good day.”

  Later when she ducked into the limo, handed in by one of her bodyguards, Josie said, “You burned two presidents, one national army, and overrode various clauses and articles of our Constitution out there today. Yet, you were tactful and considerate of other people’s feelings only in that you never called them names or cussed. You are one fine lady, Governor.”

  “You know, Josie, my daddy taught me some really eloquent words that I could have used out there today and didn’t. It just wouldn’t have been in keeping with the office I hold or the people I represent. Yeah, in their own way, Arizonans are just redneck cowboys riding their pickup trucks and enjoying the weather, but they’re my redneck cowboys and no one will attack them with impunity. No one will ever get away with it as long as I hold this office.

  “One more crack out of El Presidente’ and I just might teach him some new words in English.

  “Back to Phoenix, my good redneck cowboy, and tell that cop ahead of us to make it fast. There’s work to do.”

  “You got it, Governor,” came the reply from the front seat. He picked up his mike as he said it.

  Within seconds they were moving, red and blues flashed in the heat, and one very loud siren filled the air with noise. The Limo lunged to follow.

  4

  Noon

  Oracle Sheriff’s Substation

  “Sergeant Terry, have you found that trailer yet? That load of explosives could be in the hands of terrorists by now.”

  Sergeant Steve Terry bit his tongue, sipped his coffee, and ignored the question and refused to comment. He rolled his eyes as he looked at the Deputy sitting at a desk with the Sheriff in view.

  “Sergeant, I’m talking to you.” The level of irritation was going up for all three people in the room.

  “What was that you were saying, Sheriff? I was in another universe trying to figure where we hadn’t looked yet for that rig.” He stopped and sipped his coffee before adding, “Something I can do for ya, Sheriff?”

  “I was wondering . . . Never mind. Keep me posted. I’ll be at the range.”

  “You got it, Boss. I’ll keep ya posted. By the way, have you thought any more on filling those three deputy slots for our area?”

  “Been looking at resumes every day. Hard to find good, qualified personnel these days.”

  “Keep trying, please. We need them here. Overtime is killing my budget. I’m gonna give it three more days and then the search is over for that rig. We got other crimes just waiting to be cracked, an arrest made, and our stats go up. That would look good for the department, wouldn’t it?” He smiled.

  The Sheriff walked out with a look of bliss on his face as he thought about better stats.

  After the sound of his car faded up the highway toward Globe, Deputy Wiles said, “What does he do, live on the range?”

  “Our ammo expenditures have doubled since he has been elected as our illustrious Sheriff. He goes out there and shoots up four or five hundred rounds a day just to hear the sound of gunfire and smell the smoke. He calls it ‘aromatherapy.’ I went out last week and he was just firing full auto from the hip at the dirt berm. Brass all over the place. He left after I got there and never did police his brass like he tells us to. That man is no law enforcement officer. He’s a politician with connections.”

  Steve Terry walked to the wall and checked the map again. Scratching his jaw with one hand, tracing roads and almost roads with the other, “Where have we missed? They musta buried that rig somewhere.”

  “Okay, then, where could one bury a full tractor and trailer rig?” Deputy Warren asked.

  “Good question. Simple answer is in any one of many deep washes, canyons, or old mines.”

  “Okay, target those, Steve, target those.”

  “Where’s a hole deep enough?” He was back looking at the map. He reached for the box of push pins.

  2 PM

  Governor’s Office

  The Governor sat back in her chair and put her feet on the desk. Not very lady like, but a great position for staring at the ceiling and thinking. Explosives were stolen in her state. No luck in finding them. Mexico was still touchy. El Presidente’ had not returned her note asking when crews would start on their side of the fence. Druggersville was becoming violent. In the past two days there had been three deaths due to factional warfare over the drugs available. Nobody had thought that with the crackdown as strong as it was there would eventually be a shortage of illegal drugs to toss over the fence.

  River flow had been increased enough that some crossings were flooded. The inflatable dam at Tempe City Lake was deflated and water ran freely through there. Her Special Investigator was unhappy because he was bored. “Well, Governor, what are you going to do about these things in your state?” she asked the ceiling.

  The phone rang in the outer office.

  “Governor’s office, this is Josie.”

  The inner office door opened, “Governor, it’s the Sheriff of Pinal County.”

  “Thank you. I’ll get it in a moment.”

  The door closed as the Governor put her feet down and stood up. She straightened her dress and checked her tea cup
. She topped off the tea cup from the pot on the credenza behind her. Now she was ready for the know-nothing Sheriff. “Political hack, that’s what he is.”

  Punching the line one button and the speaker button opened the line, “To what do I owe the pleasure of a call from the Sheriff of Pinal County this fine and lovely day?”

  She could almost see him squirm because of her honey smooth words.

  “Uh. Governor, how are you?”

  “Busy. How may my office help Pinal County?” Not much honey in that delivery. It was what she called her ‘chunky peanut butter’ delivery, smooth with lumps.

  “Then I will be brief. As you know we have had a truck hijacking down near Oracle. I am short of deputies. I could use some help.”

  “I have just the man, my Special Investigator, Les Brown.”

  “Does he come with a helicopter?”

  “If he sees that he needs one, one will be furnished.”

  The Sheriff had expected a long begging session to get any assistance. This was easy. He decided to push his luck. “Any possibility of getting three or four DPS Troopers to cover my roads and free up some of my men to assist your guy?”

  “No.” She answered so quickly the Sheriff sat down and looked around the range to make sure no one was listening.

  “Thank you, when can I expect your man?”

  “When he gets there. He is very busy with other cases and I am not sure of his schedule. He will call you.” She smiled at the little hyperbole. “Anything else, Sheriff?”

  “No. Thank you very much. I’ll look forward to his call.”

  She hung up on him and smiled. “This ought to keep Hoppy busy and off my back. One problem solved and who knows how many others.”