Binoculars didn’t tell him much more.
“They’ve been building something,” Manuel said, “, but whatever it is, it’s under that.”
A man moved out from behind cover, stretched a little. He carried an automatic rifle on a sling on his shoulder.
All perfectly legal.
This was Texas, and according to the law a man had the right to protect his property. Whatever thought Ty had given to exploring disappeared. It was too much risk for too little gain when they didn’t know what they were looking for or at. A firefight wouldn’t get him the warrant they needed. It would more likely get him a good verbal hiding from a judge for trespassing and illegal search.
The cartels would laugh.
Sitting back, Ty said, “We have no warrant and no reason to get one yet. Who bought the property?”
“You’ll love this. It’s under a corporate name,” Manuel said blandly. “Calderon Corp.”
Ty looked to Niki, smiling almost against his will.
She met his glance, before looking at Buck and at Jake Aragon, both of whom were grinning.
“They didn’t,” she said, amused.
“Just goes to show that even drug dealers have a sense of humor,” Manuel said, “naming their corporation after the first President of Mexico to sic the army onto them.”
“So,” Jake said. “What can we do?”
Ty looked at him. “We’ve always thought the assassination attempt would be a cover, a distraction. With everyone’s attention on Austin, no one will be watching out here. It would be the perfect time. If the cartels are ready to make that move, they’ll make it then. That means it’s likely they’ll try to take you out, Manuel. They don’t want an honest cop between them and success.”
The amusement died away.
Manuel looked at Niki. “That’s why you asked me to send the kids away.”
“As you probably know they’ve threatened families in Mexico. It would send a terrible message to the people of your town and to any small town sheriff. Fight us and we’ll kill you and your whole family. Or take the kids as hostage. It’s what they do.”
Manuel grew grim.
“It forces us to split our manpower, too,” Ty said. “We can’t leave you undefended in case the cartel decides to move on you and your people in numbers. We can’t leave the Attorney General unprotected either. Niki has to stay with the A.G. because she knows Garcia better than anyone. Right now, this is all supposition, conjecture. We’ve got no real evidence, nothing we could take to a judge.”
“We can bring some of our people in, too,” Jake offered. “I’ll make some calls, see if we can get some volunteers.”
He was already moving away down the rise, his cell phone at his ear.
“If they do move on Manuel here,” Buck said, “it might give us enough of an excuse to move on this place, if they came out of that thing, then we’d find out what they’ve got hidden.”
“Buck,” Ty said, “I want you, Mitch, and our team out here with Manuel. Make sure Brad gives Manuel’s vehicles and house a good going over, just in case they decide to do things the easy way. Niki and I will work with the DPS and the A.G.’s office on his protection. Jake, I’d like to have a chopper ready and on hand to fly out here as soon as we’re sure the A.G. is safe.”
Buck said, as they followed Jake. “I’ll stay here while you head back. Send my gear out with the team.”
By all appearances as tough a cop as any, Manuel Ramirez still said with relief, “Thanks, I appreciate it. I only have two part-time deputies. My people are good people, but they’re more used to dealing with traffic stops, drunks and domestic violence than drug cartels.”
Buck clapped him on the shoulder. “We Texans have to stick together, Sheriff.”
The other man looked at him. “Manuel.”
Shaking his head, Bill Graham walked across his office to stand defiantly in front of the window, making a perfect target of himself, before looking back over his shoulder at Ty and Niki.
“No,” he said, “I’m not cancelling my appearance, certainly not at this late date. First, because we don’t know if Garcia is really going to show, you’re not even one hundred percent certain I’m his target. Second, it sends a bad message. We can’t start cowering in fear before these people.”
“What kind of message will it send if you get yourself killed in front of those kids?” Ty asked bluntly.
“At least if I go down, I go down fighting,” Graham said, his hands in his pockets as he stared out the window.
Ty looked at Niki. She shrugged.
It had been worth a try, but neither had really thought he would go for it. Ty had discussed it with her on the way back.
“All right,” Ty said. “Will you at least wear a vest?”
Bill shook his head. “It won’t be much good against a head shot will it?”
It was obvious as his expression grew tight that the thought, the words, were a little unnerving, even when he said them himself. It was equally clear that he knew how to handle tough decisions. He shook it off, knowing as Ty did that he couldn’t think about it and be effective. He was a good man.
“No, sir,” Niki said quietly. “It won’t.”
Taking a breath, Graham looked at his waiting escort of cops. It was his only concession to the situation.
“Let’s get this show on the road then,” he said. “And get the sonovabitch.”
Ty and Niki fell in on either side of him. More officers waited outside, both State Patrol and a couple of Rangers. All of the cops except Niki were taller than Graham. They encircled him in a living hedge.
Watching for threats, knowing the car had been vetted thoroughly for explosives, Niki looked for a familiar face around them, but with so many cops around him, the building, and so many walls, she knew Garcia couldn’t possibly reach Graham here.
The drive to the convention center was uneventful, too.
Everywhere around the convention center there were kids and cops. State cops, local cops, sheriffs.
What astonished Niki were the vehicles, the DARE cars with their wild decorations and vehicle wraps.
She and Ty had gone over the building with one of the State Troopers and another Ranger the day before, determining the safest routes with the fewest lines of sight for a sniper. Now they followed that route, everyone walking apparently casually, but alert to everything and all those around them.
Once inside the convention center they lost some of their escort so as not to alarm anyone too much, the men spreading out through the building to surreptitiously take up their stations at the exits and entrances to the auditorium stage.
With Niki wearing a loose dress and Ty dressed in a turtleneck, a suit coat and slacks, they didn’t look like cops, just part of Graham’s entourage. Niki’s guns were strapped in holsters to her thighs, accessible through her pockets, whileTy had his in a flat holster under his jacket, not on his belt. With a Ranger on one side and a Trooper on the other, it didn’t appear that Graham was any more guarded than usual, only that he had a larger escort.
Niki scanned the crowd for that familiar face.
It was a sea of kids wearing DARE t-shirts, DARE cops in uniforms from all over the state, sheriffs, state and local police officers, parents in all manner of dress from the polo shirts and khaki slacks of the suburban homeowners to the dress jeans and boots of ranchers. These were the ‘good’ kids, and to some extent the geeks, not the rebels.
It was a busy place. Organized chaos. Kids ran around, laughing.
“Garcia would have to be insane to try to take me here,” Graham said, “What could be safer than a building full of cops?”
All the breath went out of her as Niki looked at the mass of kids, parents and police. What could be safer, indeed? Most of the officers wore their weapons, buckled down and on safety. It was expected. She looked at Ty.
“That’s it. What better camouflage? He’s a cop,” she said, quietly, her tone intense. “Garcia is dressed a
s a cop.”
What better way to get into a building full of cops than to dress like one? Most of them strangers or relative strangers. With so many different uniforms and styles, how would you tell the real from the fake? Nor would anyone question them being armed. Cops wore guns.
Ty looked around.
Their job had just gotten a great deal more difficult.
It wasn’t even a new idea. An assassination of a cartel member in Phoenix had been done by men dressed like cops. It had even been done in the movies. Garcia would probably get a kick out of it.
Around him the listening cops grew tense; he could see it in the set of their shoulders, the alertness in their eyes. Until now they hadn’t been sure. Now they couldn’t risk doubt.
Ty went cold, thinking of Buck and Jake Aragon. The assassination in Phoenix had been made to look like a SWAT team. Niki looked at him and closed her eyes, seeing the same thing he did. He swore under his breath, viciously, and pulled out his cell phone to make the call.
“Yeah, Ty?” Buck said.
“Buck, they may be dressed or come in as cops. Special ops or SWAT. LikePhoenix.”
“Damn. I hadn’t thought of that either,” Buck said, with feeling. “All right. We’ll be ready.”
For Ty and Niki the rally was seemingly interminable, an endless array of speeches and awards before Bill Graham finally got up to speak and everyone in their party went on alert. If it was going to happen, it would happen soon, or just as Graham finished and walked away.
Ty had to give it to the man; you couldn’t tell he was the least bit concerned. He stood at the lectern as if his life wasn’t in danger, as if a single shot to the head wouldn’t end it for him. Bill Graham definitely had courage.
Their nerves were all screwed tight.
In one way Ty had to hope that nothing happened. On the other, it wouldn’t do the NIO any good if it didn’t. Niki’s assessment was solid and it was backed by the other agencies – who would bail at the first sign of failure. There just wasn’t any guarantee that this was it or that Garcia hadn’t pulled out in the face of all the attention.
Graham finished his speech to a round of enthusiastic applause and turned to shake hands with some of the others on the stage.
From the corner of his eye, Ty spotted unexpected movement coming from the side of the stage and spun, instinctively reaching for his weapon.
Niki caught it, too, he saw.
Two small canisters rolled across the stage. Colored smoke poured from them. One clattered toward the edge to tumble off it.
Sweeping his arm out, Ty took Graham down just as he heard two hard pops…a silencer – never as quiet as they seemed on TV. Something slammed into his chest hard, drove him backward even as Niki, too, dove toward Graham, to cover him.
Ty grunted as pain shot through him.
Niki saw Ty sweep Graham down, and she leaped to cover as both the trooper and the Ranger closed in as Ty jerked in reaction to the impact of the bullets against his vest.
Her heart stopped, her breath… She saw the pain in his eyes.
No.
Ty.
Even so, she didn’t stop.
Both the State Trooper and the Ranger sandwiched Graham between them as he rolled free. The Ranger called for backup.
“Close the exits, get us some help in here,” the man said, into his radio.
“Get him out,” Niki shouted, even as she scrambled for Ty, her downed partner. She turned to cover both him and the departing officers as they hustled Graham out.
Pandemonium broke loose around them, but Niki only had eyes for Ty. Taking quick glances around them and then at him as she came to a crouch beside him, seeing the bullet holes in his shirt over his chest. Even knowing he wore a vest, her heart was in her throat, terror for him tearing through her.
“Ty,” she whispered breathlessly.
Ty saw the shock and horror on her face as she touched his chest, saw the damage from the bullets.
If he’d never known what she felt for him, it was there on her face in that moment.
Ty touched her hair. She looked up at his face, into his blue eyes, touched his cheek, lightly, quickly.
For a moment, only a breath, she bowed her head in relief against his chest.
“Garcia,” he said, his voice a whisper against the pain in his chest. As much as he hated to say it, that was what they were here for, it was their duty. Worse, he had to send Niki after Garcia alone, but they didn’t dare lose him.
Relief turned Niki’s knees weak. His vest had taken the impact, but no doubt it hurt like hell.
At his words, at the reminder, she nodded, turned, and went hunting.
Scanning faces, Niki followed the officers with Graham as colored smoke billowed around everything and everyone luridly, stirred by their passage. Graham was the target, Garcia would be close.
Everywhere she looked there were kids, parents and cops, the cops trying to get everyone out of the smoke and away from the danger.
One cop, though, went against the tide, moving through the barely controlled panic toward the cops escorting Graham.
“Police! Everyone down. Down!” she shouted, gun in one hand, badge that had been tucked inside her dress in the other. “Everyone down! Garcia!”
People ducked.
The cops around Graham shoved his head down between them, closing even more tightly around him as they hustled him out.
It was their job to keep him alive.
It was hers to take Garcia.
Garcia saw her, and his eyes went dark and furious. Then, with a grim smile, he turned to run.
She went after him. As he no doubt knew she would. It was her job.
Rolling over, struggling to his feet against the pain in his chest, Ty saw Garcia’s smile and knew what it meant. If he couldn’t get Graham, he would take Niki. It was a trap. And he could see by her expression that Niki knew it. Even knowing what Garcia’s smile meant, she still went after him. Because that was the job and it was who she was. Fear lanced through him, but even so he’d sent her because she was the best…and he went after her, despite the pain. Because he couldn’t leave her alone. Because he would take Garcia down. Because that was who he was.
The main exits would have been closed, locked down, if it hadn’t been for the smoke bombs. The cops manning the exits had to allow people to escape, or they’d have had a panic on their hands.
Garcia, though, ran for the stairs to the upper level, darting between kids, parents and cops, the uniform he wore perfect camouflage, keeping his gun low against his leg.
Holding her badge up where everyone could see it, Niki gave chase and went up the stairs after him. Leading with her weapon, she put her shoulder to the corners of the landing, swung the gun and peered swiftly around each one before going up to the next flight.
At the top, though, was nothing but a broad open bridge with chest high glass sides that gave access to the upper tier seating and afforded those above the ability to see those below. It provided no cover at all. It was a trap, the whole thing was a trap for her and Graham. Niki knew it, but she had to try. She couldn’t let Garcia escape. She had to traverse that open space. Even Parkour couldn’t help her here, it was too open and he had too clear a shot.
She had no choice. Ty was down. The cops covering Graham weren’t likely to return quickly.
If she was going to do it, she’d have to do it fast. Bracing her weapon in classic shooters position, she started across the bridge.
Garcia swung around a pillar, his gun leveled, his body mostly covered by the support. He had a dead shot on her.
Niki went still, centered her own shot. One chance. She had no place left to go. A thousand thoughts went through her mind. And then there was Ty.
All she could hope was that her shot might be deadlier than his.
“Garcia!”
A familiar deep voice… Ty.
It was enough of a distraction. Garcia’s eyes darted toward Ty on the mezzanine below.
Two guns went off, hers and Ty’s. Plaster exploded from the pillar by Garcia’s face. He flinched as Niki fell back, knowing what would come next. Ducking down below the level where Ty could see, Garcia opened fire on her as she rolled for cover behind the curve of the circular stair landing.
Peering around the edge, she saw Garcia pop up, look for a shot at Ty below them.
She fired a quick round at him, as Garcia had undoubtedly known she would. He’d already gotten his shots in there at Ty. She was damned if she would give him more.
Even so, she turned away as he returned her fire.
By now Texas law enforcement would have Bill Graham out of the building and in his car. Some would be returning to back them up. She heard feet on the stairs.
Turning her head, she saw Ty coming around the curve, clearly in pain, but still coming.
Her heart leaped.
Swinging her gun around toward Garcia, she fired off a couple of shots to give Ty some cover as he darted across the brief open space to flatten himself against the wall at her back.
“Are you all right?”
Looking around herself she said, “Am I bleeding someplace I don’t know about?”
Ty looked her over, even in the bulky vest beneath the loose dress, she still looked beautiful.
He shook his head. “Not that I can see.”
With a glance over her shoulder, she looked at him. “Still hurt?”
“Like a bastard,” he admitted. “I’ll cover you.”
She smiled a little. He smiled back.
Reaching out, she touched his face, quickly, lightly.
“I was afraid I’d lost you.”
Her eyes were bright.
“I’m still here.”
She nodded, ejected her clips, rammed new ones into place.
Turning, she opened fire with both weapons as she ducked across to the other side and Ty took her place.
With a glance at Ty, she darted out onto the open bridge as Ty stood, following with his weapon to cover her. Running lightly, she came to the pillar, flattened herself against it. She ducked across, to face the other way.
She sighed. Garcia had used the brief moment to duck down a maintenance stairway.
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