It had to have been an automatic weapon.
“Sofia,” Tell said, trotting up next to her, pointing behind himself, “who was in those ambulances?”
Between sobs, she told Tell that Able was riding in the ambulance with his grandson, Amos. Able had been inside the house and was unharmed. Amos had been hit “several times.” Amos had been alive when the ambulance pulled out, Sofia said, but his wounds were severe.
Tell said, “Was Amos out here alone when the shots were fired?”
Sofia shook her head. “Evelia was with him. She was inside the car when the shooting started. She said Amos told her to get on the floor. She’s scared … so scared. But she wasn’t hurt. She’s next door, with neighbors.”
“Who was in the second ambulance, Sofia?”
“My niece,” Sofia said. “The shock—well, she’s gone into labor. I need to get there. I need to get there, Jefe.”
Tell looked around the crime scene. The street was swarming with Horton County sheriff’s deputies. Seven more deputies had arrived since Tell had made the scene.
He was arguably redundant here. Tell took her arm and helped her to her feet. “Come on, Sofia, Able’s people will see to this. You come with me. I’ll take you to the hospital.”
He took her arm and helped her up. She was shaking and bent over; a mess. His cell phone rang. Julie Dexter again.
Julie said, “Chief, I have a woman on the line who says she knows who attacked Sheriff Hawk’s house.”
What? Tell said, “Put her through, would you, Julie?”
He saw Billy and waved him over. He said, “Bill, take Sofia here to County General. Able Hawk’s grandson has been shot and Sofia’s niece is in emergency labor. See Sofia gets anything she needs there and don’t let anyone put her off, yeah? You’re with her until I say otherwise.”
Sofia said, “Evelia? I want her to come with me.”
Billy said to Sofia, “Just point me—I’ll fetch her.”
Tell clapped Billy’s back in farewell and said into his cell phone, “We connected?”
“Jefe Léon?” The voice was female, Latina. Older. And vaguely familiar to Tell.
“I know you, I think,” Tell said.
“We met at the Latino Festival, Jefe. You helped my grandson, Richie.”
“I remember now,” Tell said. “You know something about who tried to kill Able Hawk?”
There was a long pause; labored breathing. Finally, the woman said, “I feel wrong doing this, Jefe.”
“Well, put that aside,” Tell said. “This person used an automatic rifle and turned Hawk’s neighborhood into a war zone. Hawk’s grandson has been badly wounded. A little girl was almost killed here. Hawk’s granddaughter-in-law has gone into labor from the shock of seeing her man shot.”
“I call because Able Hawk’s wrath could be so terrible for my community,” she said. “El Gavilan might burn down the whole West Side, looking for the one who shot that boy. And I call because the one who did this has said he means to kill not just Able Hawk, but to kill you too, Jefe.”
“Who did this, señora?”
“Richie has a friend—you picked him up the night you picked up Richie. His name is Magdaleno Ortiz. The one who did this is Magdaleno’s cousin, a boy named Diego Ortiz. Diego, he is a member of MS-13. He told Magdaleno what he was going to do to you and to El Gavilan. When Richie’s friend tried to stop him, Diego beat him with his gun. He knocked Magdaleno unconscious. When Magdaleno came to, he told Richie. Then Richie told me.”
“Thank you, señora,” Tell said. “Thank you. You’ve done the right thing.”
“I trust you, Jefe. That’s why I tell you. But you shouldn’t go yourself to arrest him. Diego is sworn to kill you too.”
“I’ll be fine,” Tell said. “Where does this Diego Ortiz live?”
“I’ll tell you, but understand, Jefe, there are children in that house too. Women and children.”
“I’m not going to let this turn into a slaughter, señora. Please believe me.”
She gave him the address and a last warning not to go himself.
Tell said, “Gracias, señora, but it’s my job.”
Tell closed his phone. Shouting above the noise of the deputies, he said, “Which of you is in charge here?”
A husky man in his middle forties said, “I’m senior badge here, so I’m saying me.” Tell checked the deputy’s nametag: Russell Kane. Tell assumed the man must be attempting to fill the void left by Able. Maybe he was loyal to his old chief; maybe he was a politician, eyeing promotion. Either way, he was the man Tell had to deal with.
Tell said, “Russ, I’m short-staffed at the moment. And I think you have a SWAT team at your disposal. Up front, you agree that it’s my show.”
“What? What’s your show?”
“Our imminent raid. But there’s a family at the scene—I don’t want to turn this into the Alamo.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about, Chief?”
“I know who shot Amos Sharp,” Tell said. “I know who tried to kill your former boss. And I know where to find the little bastard.”
* * *
Walt Pierce listened to his deputy’s account of the shooting at Able Hawk’s house. At the same time, he fiddled with Shawn O’Hara’s laptop.
Pierce was staring at Able’s letter to Shawn—Able’s note asking Tell Lyon for a meeting at eight P.M. He saw that the e-mail had been forwarded to Lyon’s fiancée’s e-mail account.
Well, so be it.
He’d have Hawk watched. If Hawk stayed at the hospital, Walt would bide his time.
If Able kept his appointment—and if Tell Lyon got word and showed up? Then Pierce and Strider would be there too.
The two of them would take Lyon and Hawk out while they were isolated and while Hawk was well off his footing.
And hell, maybe Lyon wouldn’t get word.
Maybe Hawk would be out in that ball field alone—the perfect solitary target.
Pierce said, “Them ambulances get here yet?”
“Five minutes ago,” Luke Strider said. “They’ve got the boy in the emergency room—hear he took at least eight slugs. They don’t figure he’ll make it.”
“What about Diego? He get away?”
“Appears so. For now anyway.”
“Any chatter about Diego on the radio—any indication they’ve identified him as shooter yet?”
Strider shook his head.
Sheriff Pierce nodded. “Good. Go over and kill Diego, won’t you, Luke? Shut his mouth for him while there’s time.”
* * *
The storm was getting worse—it had rained for the last hour and now there were tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings posted for Pickaway County. Patricia was about to shut down her computer when she noticed the flashing icon at the top of her laptop indicating she had e-mail.
She clicked it open, hoping for something from Tell.
She saw it was another e-mail from Shawn.
Salome was curled up on the couch, reading a magazine. Patricia said to her, “Shawn’s sent another forwarded note.”
Salome stood and said, “Let’s have a look.”
There was a flash of light and a loud thunder crack above the cabin rattled the windows. The lights flickered, then went off. Patricia’s computer screen went black. She’d just plugged the thing in a few minutes before to recharge its spent battery. “Oh, damn it,” Patricia said.
Salome said, “Better start scrounging up some candles and opening windows. Power’s usually never off less than several hours around these parts.”
FIFTY SEVEN
The emergency room doctors turned their attention to Able Hawk—his shirt was soaked through with blood. His pants were stained with blood too. Able’s hands were bloodied from pressing on his grandson’s gunshot wounds.
One of the doctors said, “Sit down, sir. Where are you hit?”
Able pushed the doctor away. “I’m not fuckin’ hit! You see to my boy—you see to
Amos. This is his blood on me. You get my Amos through this, Doc. And you see to that girl there,” he said, pointing to Luisa. She was just being rolled in on the gurney. Her brown skin was bathed in sweat; tears in her eyes. “That’s my great-grandchild she’s having! You see to them two too. You do it now!”
Able felt hands on him again. He cocked back a fist, then saw Deputy Linda Rhodes. Linda said, “Boss, please—take it easy, boss. They’re all here now, getting help. Let’s get you in the men’s room. Deputy Nelson’s here to help. We brought you a change of clothes. We’ll see they take good care of Amos and your family. TV crews are already outside. Come on, boss, let us get you cleaned up. You can’t be seen looking like this.”
* * *
Luke Strider was parked two blocks from Diego Ortiz’s house. He walked toward the house, his gun in his waistband, hidden by the tails of his untucked shirt.
Luke saw the sheriff’s cruisers and the SWAT van parked in front of the Ortiz house and slammed his hand into a tree trunk. He watched as Ortiz was led out in cuffs, surrounded by a dozen armored Horton County deputy sheriffs and SWAT team members. And Tell Lyon was there with them, holding Ortiz by one arm.
* * *
It had taken hours for them to break their suspect down; to get him talking. It was half past six now.
Unbelieving, Tell said, “What did you just fucking say?”
Tell was down close in to Diego Ortiz’s face. Diego was cuffed to a chair bolted to the floor. His legs were chained to the chair too. The interrogation room reeked with the sweat of all the deputies crowded in behind Tell and Russell Kane. There were fifteen in all; probably a sixth of Horton County’s full complement.
“It was Walt Pierce,” Diego said. “He was the one who put me up to killing Able Hawk. To killing you. Now, you going to take care of my mother, right? You gonna take care of my sister and see they have help, right? I don’t want them turning into putas.”
“You sign a statement, and I’ll see they have all the help they need,” Tell said. He looked over at Russell Kane and shook his head. “Do you fucking believe this?”
“Only because I heard it,” Kane said. He gestured at a fellow deputy. “Get the paperwork going. Get this cocksucker’s statement signed. Then get a judge. Figure me and the chief got us some arrest warrants to obtain.” Kane said that last with some relish.
Tell shook his head and said, “You do that, Russ. And tell this crew of yours to keep their mouths zipped on what we’ve got now. Let’s do this pristinely and not tip our hand. I’ve just got word from an officer of mine that one of Pierce’s own men is ready to flip. Ready to testify that one of his fellow deputies confided to him that the deputy raped and killed those women with the assistance of Walt Pierce. We’ve got that bastard nailed down good and tight now.”
Russell Kane said, “Agreed. And my people will keep the secret. All I’m saying is we better go in with an army, it comes time to arrest these two. They don’t strike me as surrender material.”
“That’s why we keep our mouths shut and take them down at a time and place of our choosing,” Tell said. “We’ll do it when they’re off duty, and do it simultaneously, if we can swing it. And we do it far from their fucking headquarters. We don’t want to spark a range war.”
“Agreed,” Russell said.
“Good.” Tell waved, backing away.
Kane frowned. “Where you headed, Chief? We’ve got a shitload of work ahead of us.”
“You see to it, would you, Russell? I’ll be there for the big bad end, when we take those two down, but right now, I’m overdue at the hospital. I want to check in on Hawk.”
* * *
It was a few minutes past seven when Tell found Sofia. She was sitting in a waiting room chair. Evelia was cuddled up asleep on her lap. The little girl was holding a stuffed horse and monkey in her arms. Sofia nodded at Tell.
Tell sat down next to her, said softly, “Any news, Sofia?”
“Luisa’s baby is a girl. Luisa’s mostly fine, although her blood pressure is still quite high.”
“And Amos?”
“Still in critical condition. He was shot in one lung, one kidney and in the stomach. Those are the worst wounds. Many of his ribs are broken. They think the bullets that hit him, most of them, anyway, probably first deflected off the car and the pavement, or else it would have been worse. He’s also shot in the arms and legs and hips. But those aren’t life threatening.”
“Able,” Tell said, “is he with Amos?”
She blinked. “Able left an hour ago … he said he had an important meeting. He was going to have to try and borrow one of his former deputy’s cruisers to keep the appointment, he said.”
Tell narrowed his eyes. “Appointment where? With whom?”
“I don’t know. He just said he was going to stop in and see how his deputy, Mr. Marshall, was doing. Then he had to be somewhere at eight. He said he would try to be back by ten.”
“I can’t believe he left Amos like this,” Tell said.
Sofia nodded sadly. “Able said he felt useless. He said that sitting here, he was doing nothing, but out there, with his skills, he might at least accomplish something.”
“We already caught the one who did this,” Tell said. “He’s already under arrest. I came to tell Able that.”
“Then I really wish that I knew where he is. I know he would want to know.”
Tell patted her arm and walked to the nurses’ station. A bleary-eyed black nurse looked up at him, then at his nameplate, and frowned. Tell said, “I need to know which room Troy Marshall is in.”
The nurse told him, her tone grudging.
Tell checked his watch as he walked fast down the hall: a bit past seven thirty.
Troy Marshall looked up sharply and frowned. “Hey, Chief,” he said. “You’re cutting it close aren’t you?”
“Come again?”
“You’re supposed to be meeting with Able at the ballpark at eight.” He frowned suddenly. “Jesus, you didn’t get the e-mail?”
“What e-mail?”
He told Tell about the note sent to Shawn that Troy had found and forwarded to Tell’s wife, Patricia.
“I never got that note.”
Troy Marshall cursed. “Fuck,” he said.
Tell said, “Where’s Shawn’s laptop? I’d like to see the original note Able sent me.”
Troy cursed again. “Fucking Walt Pierce confiscated that computer about one minute after I forwarded the e-mail to your wife.”
Tell said, “What are you saying? You saying that Pierce has access to that note?”
“Yeah, he—”
Troy Marshall looked on, confused, as Tell Lyon sprinted from his room.
* * *
Able checked his dash clock—7:42 P.M. His cell phone’s alert light was flashing red. He punched in the password to access his voicemail.
It was Russ:
“We’ve got the fucker who shot your grandson, boss. Got him in custody. Tell Lyon somehow had identification on the little cocksucker. Lyon went along for the arrest and got a confession. I shouldn’t do this, but I wanted you to hear it from me, first. Boss, the kid, one of these Mexican gangbangers, said he was sent after you on orders from Walt Pierce. We’re working on getting a warrant for Pierce and his deputy, Luke Strider, now.”
Able closed his phone. He’d hug Tell Lyon when he saw him. Then he might shoot him.
No way was he letting Pierce or his stooge see jail time.
So Able would go find Walt Pierce and kill him.
Walt would almost certainly burn Able down just out of spite—for not dying to plan.
And if Amos pulled through, he couldn’t leave the hospital just to go to a jail cell on forgery charges once Walt ratted them both out. Able couldn’t let that happen. And Walt had gotten Amos shot; almost gotten Evelia killed. God only knew what living through what she had—and what she had seen happen to Amos—would do to Evelia.
Hawk palmed into the lot of the ball
park, tires crunching gravel. The lot was empty and dark.
Able turned off his engine and slipped his gun into his waistband—a precaution born of routine. Hands in pockets, he walked slowly out to the center ball diamond.
In the dark, from the other end of the parking lot, Able could again hear the crunch of tires on gravel. Something very heavy was pulling in.
Able figured Tell must have driven his big old SUV to their appointment.
THEN
The lights were all off at Seth’s place as Tell rolled curbside across the street and doused the headlights on his SUV. He slid out quietly, his gun in hand and pressed to his leg to obscure its view. The house looked abandoned. But then Tell smelled wood burning. He saw a flicker coming from the backyard.
Creeping around the edge of the house, he saw Seth sitting in a chair on his back porch next to a small fire set up in a patio stove. Empty beer bottles were littered around his feet. Seth had another longneck in his hand. Drunk as he was, Seth still seemed fairly alert. “That you, Tell?”
Tell stepped out, his gun pointed at Seth’s head. “How did you know it would be me?”
“You’re the only one who ever visits me.” Seth’s voice cracked and he said, “I’m sorry, Tell. When you told me your family was leaving ahead of you for the holidays …” A long, deep sigh and a shrug. “Anyhow, I figured it was Marita’s grief my conscience would have to cope with. Your daughter’s grief for losing you. Them changing travel plans? I couldn’t foresee that. You know?”
Tell stepped into the firelight. “How could you?”
“The money was unreal, Tell. It’s been going on a long time. I was just smarter than some others. Didn’t flaunt it. Didn’t rush out to buy the swanky new pad or some goddamn Escalade or Navigator. How’d you figure it out?”
“Nothing brilliant,” Tell said. “Your boss, Angel, he kept copious notes.”
“Christ, I’m surprised he could construct a sentence,” Seth said. Another long pause. “You’ve come to kill me?”
“I want to. But I suppose I mean to arrest you. Put you on trial for what you’ve done. Given your day job, we both know what’s waiting for you inside. Maybe I can kid myself that’s even sweeter than putting you down myself.”
El Gavilan Page 33
