by Robert Boren
“You two were born to be parents,” Kyle said. “I expect several more beyond the one in the oven now.”
“Now you sound like Jason,” Carrie said. “I’m not breeding stock, you know.”
“Yeah, speaking of that, how do you two feel about kids?” Jason asked.
“Don’t you think it’s a little soon to be thinking about that?” Kate said, smirk on her face.
“It’s part of the courtship,” Carrie said.
“Having kids?” Kate asked.
Carrie laughed. “No, finding out if the two of you want the same things in life.”
“Oh, I get it. You’re being serious for a split second.” All of them laughed.
“So, what’d you think about that meeting this morning?” Kyle asked.
“I respect the chief even more now than I did before,” Jason said. He took a big swig of beer. “Not that a nice promotion wouldn’t have been welcomed.”
“Uh oh, what happened?” Kate asked.
“The DOJ and certain people in the Texas Legislature want to minimize the publicity on the terror attack,” Kyle said. “They tried to pressure the chief into promoting us for our silence.”
“You’re joking,” Kate said, disgusted look on her face.
“I’d like you to have a promotion, but not that way,” Carrie said.
“Seriously,” Jason said. “I’m happy. The chief told us that we’re both considered high potential employees, and we were already on the fast track. He’ll treat us well, if he survives.”
“If he survives?” Kate asked.
“Yeah, he’s a real thorn in the side of one of the police commissioners,” Kyle said. “There were some fireworks in that meeting. It was interesting to watch.”
“Yeah,” Jason said. “I’m glad this got into the news, but it’ll make our weekend gig all that much harder.”
“You think it’s gonna turn ugly?” Kate asked.
“Of course,” Jason said. “I was watching the news earlier. This attack is getting nation-wide coverage.”
“I heard it on the radio,” Kate said. “You know somebody is coming to interview us any time now, right?”
“Oh, wow, you think so?” Carrie asked.
“I’m surprised they haven’t been here already,” Kate said.
“You know about these things?” Jason asked.
“I was an intern at a small TV station in west Texas for about six months, working in the news department. Now that this story is simmering, you’re going to get some attention.”
“TV news, eh,” Kyle said. “Yeah, I could see that. You’re beautiful enough. Did you stay at it?”
Kate blushed. “Thanks. No, I got out of that business. There’s not enough money in it unless you get into the big markets, and that’s pretty tough. Loads of competition.”
“Daddy, there’s somebody here,” Chelsea said from inside the sliding door.
“Okay, honey, I’ll get it,” Jason said, getting up. As he got into the living room he could see TV trucks parked outside. “Hey, honey, it’s the TV station.”
Kate grinned. “Told you.”
“C’mon, guys,” Jason said. “I’m gonna open the door in a second.”
The others rushed in the house and gathered by the door. Jason opened it, and immediately recognized the news lady standing there, microphone in hand.
“Officer Finley, good afternoon. I hope we’re not bothering you. Would you be willing to give us a short interview?” The woman was tall and thin, businesslike, with jet black hair and an attractive smile.
“What do you think, honey?” Jason asked Carrie.
“Sure, why not,” she said. “Come on in.”
Jason held the door open, as the news lady and her camera man walked in.
“I’m Ashley Simon,” the woman said. “And this is Lance.”
“I recognized you right away. Great to meet you,” Jason said. “Where do you want to do this?”
“You guys doing a barbeque out back?” Lance asked, looking outside. “How about we film out there? Light looks perfect.”
Jason looked at the burley young man and smiled. “Sure, fine with me.”
Ashley looked at Kyle. “You wouldn’t be Officer Wilson, would you?”
“Sure am,” he said.
“Great, mind if we ask you questions too? We stopped by your place on the way home, but nobody was there.”
“Hear that, Jason, she wanted to talk to me first.”
Jason rolled his eyes.
“They always like this?” Ashley asked Carrie.
“Oh, yeah,” she said. “Can I get you anything to drink?”
“Water would be great, thanks,” Ashley said. Lance nodded in agreement.
“Where do you want us?” Jason asked as he walked onto the patio.
“How about at that table?” Lance said.
“Great,” Jason said, sitting down, watching in the window as Carrie filled water glasses for the two. Kyle and Kate came back to the table, Chelsea skipping behind them.
Carrie led Ashley and Lance out to the patio, then went to the table.
“Okay, it’s your show Ashley,” Lance said. She stood with her back to the barbeque and brought the mike to her face.
“We’re at the home of Officer Jason Finley in Dripping Springs. With him is his partner, Officer Kyle Wilson. These two officers were the first responders to the terror attack at the Superstore.” She backed away, so the camera could pick up the table, and glanced at Lance. He gave her a thumbs up.
“So Jason, can you tell us why you went to the scene of the attack?”
“Carrie called me from the store and told me that armed men were shooting people. She got to the stockroom and was hiding there with Kate and another woman.”
“Oh, really, so you were in the thick of this, Mrs. Finley?”
“Afraid so, Ashley,” Carrie said.
“What was it like inside the store?”
“Screaming, shooting, people yelling in Arabic. We hid in the janitor’s closet.”
“How long did it take you and Officer Wilson to get there, Officer Finley?”
“Less than five minutes. I picked up Kyle… Officer Wilson on the way.”
“What was the parking lot like when you got there?”
“Pretty much like Carrie described. People screaming, gunfire, yelling in Arabic. We witnessed a senior couple get murdered by two Islamic terrorists on the far edge of the parking lot, and we shot them.”
“Both of them?”
“Yep,” Kyle said. “I got one, Jason the other.”
“What happened after that?”
“A group of about 20 rushed towards us. We fired as fast as we could, but they were coming too fast for our bolt-action rifles,” Jason said. “Lucky for us, several truckloads of rednecks flew onto the parking lot, guns blazing. With their help we were able to kill all the Islamic terrorists left outside. Then we headed to the store to find Carrie.”
“Wow, that’s quite a story,” Ashley said. “What happened next?”
“The doors in front of the store were closed,” Jason said. “One of the rednecks rushed up there, trying to break through, and was shot and killed.”
“Yeah, then one of the terrorists gets on the roof with a bullhorn and tells us that they have hostages,” Kyle said.
“So what did you do then?”
“We looked for another way in, ending up in back of the store,” Jason said.
“Mrs. Finley, what were you doing during this time?”
“We were still hiding out in the stock room, and then we heard a couple of the terrorists opening and closing doors and lockers, rounding people up.”
“Mommy, this scares me,” Chelsea said.
“Why don’t you go back into the house and watch TV, sweet pea?” Jason asked.
“Okay, daddy,” she said. She got up and skipped to the door.
“Is the front door locked, honey?” Carrie asked.
“Yeah, I locked i
t before we came back,” Jason said.
“Sorry,” Carrie said. “Anyway, the two men got closer and closer. Kate and I both had weapons, and we pulled them out. The other lady with us was making too much noise, so we tried to get her to quiet down.”
“You had weapons?”
“Yeah, I had a Glock and Kate had a little purse gun,” Carrie said. “As they got closer, we stashed our guns on our persons and waited. They ripped open the door to the closet.”
“What did they do?”
“They pointed AK-47s at us. The other women with us was in complete panic mode, and told them that we had guns. As they were looking at her I shot both of them with the Glock.”
“Wow. Sounds like you two are heroes,” Ashley said. “What happened next?”
“We picked up the AK-47s and went back into the store,” Carrie said. “We saw one of them standing on top of the shelves on an aisle, holding a gun on a bunch of people. I shot him, and when two more rushed us down that aisle, Kate shot them.”
“What happened to that other women?” Ashley asked. Carrie and Kate glanced at each other and giggled.
“Kate punched her after we killed the two Islamists. Then we threw her back in the janitor’s closet and blocked the door.”
“Why did you do that?”
“So she wouldn’t run out into the store and get us killed,” Kate said. “The bitch is trying to press charges on us now.”
“Don’t worry, Lance, we can edit it out. Keep rolling.”
“Sorry,” Kate said.
“Don’t worry about it. What happened then?”
“There were other armed people in the store who pulled their weapons and fired at the bad guys in the confusion. Killed them all.”
“You know any of them?”
“No, just plain folks from around here. One of them was a loud old man, who seemed to enjoy shooting them.”
“Officer Finley, what were you doing during that time?”
“We used a fork lift to break down the door in the back, and rushed in. Everything was over by then.”
“Thank you. That was quite a story,” Ashley said. “Lance, you can cut now.”
“Phew,” Kate said. “Sorry, I got a little excited there. Should have known better.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ashley said. “We always run into problems and have to edit. This was a great interview. Thanks so much.”
“That’s all?” Kyle asked.
“Not for us,” Ashley said. “I still have a young housewife and several rednecks to interview before this day is over.”
“Sounds like fun,” Carrie said. “Who’s the housewife?”
“She got attacked by the leader of the whole thing and shot him dead,” Ashley said. “You guys would probably get along great. C’mon, Lance, let’s get going.”
“Okay,” he said. “Thanks, folks.”
“Thank you,” Jason said.
Ashley and Lance left through the front door. Ashley turned as they were walking away. “You’ll probably hear from the other two stations, you know.”
“I figured,” Jason said. “Thanks for the warning.”
“Don’t mention it,” she said, smiling at him as she reached her van.
“Well, that was interesting,” Kate said. “Wonder when it’s gonna be on?”
“Probably the 11:00 news,” Kyle said. “We’re getting our fifteen minutes.”
Carrie cracked up. “Just think, Kyle. You guys can record it and show it to your kids in ten years.”
Jason cracked up. Kyle and Kate looked at each other sheepishly. Kate rolled her eyes.
Chapter 7 – Field Station
Juan Carlos and Brendan walked into the makeshift field station as dawn was breaking. It was set up to process the prisoners from the battle at Arroyo Del Burro.
“Hey, Lieutenant Frazier!” Juan Carlos shouted.
“Well, look who’s here,” he said, turning from the man he was interrogating. “Gonzales and Smith.”
The man sitting across from the table in shackles spit on the ground. “Puto.”
Frazier laughed hard. “Hey Gonzales, I don’t think he likes men of your persuasion working for us.”
“What’s he saying?” Juan Carlos asked as he walked up.
“Not much,” Frazier said, “but my Spanish isn’t as good as yours. Why don’t you talk to him?”
“Sure,” he said, sliding onto the bench seat next to the lieutenant.
“You guys want me to stick around?” Brendan asked.
“Nah, go talk to the equipment guys about your boat,” Frazier said. “We’re gonna need that sucker back in working order.”
“Okay,” Brendan said as he walked off.
Juan Carlos asked a question in Spanish to the prisoner, who looked back at him with fierce eyes, starting a two-minute Spanish tirade. Juan Carlos got a shocked look on his face and looked at Frazier.
“What?” Frazier asked.
“This guy ain’t Mexican,” Juan Carlos said. “He’s from Venezuela. Know that accent anywhere.”
“I was afraid of that,” Frazier said. “That’s why regular army is involved.”
“I heard Arabic last night. Lots of it.”
“Keep a lid on that for now,” Frazier said.
“Here?”
“No, when you get back to town. We don’t want to start a panic. Especially after that terror attack in Dripping Springs yesterday.”
“You think that’s related to this?”
“I didn’t say that,” Frazier said.
Juan Carlos glanced at the prisoner, and he spit on the ground again, eyes defiant.
“Is it okay if I pop this guy one?” Juan Carlos said.
“If we were alone, I’d help,” Frazier said. “I don’t care what you say to him, though.”
Juan Carlos smiled and looked across the table at the prisoner. He went into his own Spanish tirade, causing the prisoner to struggle against his restraints, sweat breaking out on his brow.
Frazier laughed. “What exactly did you tell him? You were talking too fast for me.”
“I told him Uncle Sam is gonna flatten his piss-ant country if it looks like their government has anything to do with terror attacks in the US of A, and there’s not a damn thing that he can do about it. Then I asked him how his family would look after being cooked to a crisp.”
Frazier shook his head. “That’s not out of the range of possibility. They’ve been sneaking people over like crazy. Mostly through San Diego, but the feds figured that out and put a stop to it. Now they’re trying to get over the border all along Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Wish the idiots in Washington DC would have listened to the people and built the damn wall.”
“This is an invasion, isn’t it?”
“Looking that way,” Frazier said. “Good thing we got onto them in time.”
“You sure we did?”
“No,” Frazier said, lowering his voice. “We got real problems. I saw some intelligence yesterday. They’ve been sneaking people in for the last three years, both legally and illegally. Remember that Syrian refugee crisis from a few years ago? The Feds let in a lot more than they told us about publically, and now they don’t know where two thirds of them are.”
“Figures,” Juan Carlos said. “Sometimes I can’t believe the stupidity of our government.”
“Things are gonna get hot in Southern California,” Frazier said. “They’re moving heavy weapons down there.”
“What kind of heavy weapons?”
“M-1 battle tanks. Bradley fighting vehicles. Gobs of Apaches, even a bunch of Cobras. I wouldn’t want to be in San Diego right now. I’d be getting my family out of there in a hurry.”
“They have a lot of gun restrictions there,” Juan said.
“Yeah, but there are still a lot of guns in private hands there,” Frazier said. “You know the stupid California government is still trying to tighten that way up, even when this is going on?”
“Geez,” Jua
n Carlos said. “My brother still lives there, up by LA. I keep telling him to get the hell out.”
“Well, if he doesn’t get out of there pretty soon, he’ll be stuck. They’re going to seal the border, from what I’ve heard.”
“How soon?”
“Could be as quickly as a couple weeks,” Frazier said.
There was some commotion at the front of the camp. Two military trucks rolled in and parked, the soldiers jumping out with M-16s and rushing to the back. They opened the tailgate, and led a dozen shackled men to a big holding pen off to the right.
“Wow,” Brendan said as he walked up. “Those don’t look like Mexicans.”
The prisoner looked at Brendan and spit on the ground again. Brendan walked by him, elbow smashing into his face, breaking several teeth and starting a nosebleed.
“Dammit, Smith,” Frazier said.
Juan Carlos laughed hard. “Good one, bro.”
“Sorry,” he said. “It was an accident. I’ll have to be more careful.”
Frazier shook his head, a thin smile slipping out. “Okay, tough guy, what about the boat?”
“They’re sending a detail out there to swap engines and give it the once over,” Brendan said. “We can follow them out there.”
“No, you guys are gonna go get some shut-eye while they’re working,” Frazier said. “We’re beefing up the patrols out there, and you guys are gonna be in the middle of it.”
“Good,” Brendan said.
Juan Carlos nodded in agreement.
“Go home for a while, you two,” Frazier said.
Chapter 8 – Night Attack
Jason awoke in the middle of the night to his cell phone ringing.
“What the hell?” He picked up his phone and answered it.
“Officer Finley?”
“Yeah,” he said, trying to wake up.
“Sorry to call you so late. This is Chief Ramsey.”
Jason sat up quickly, heart beating faster.
“Who’s that, honey?” asked Carrie.
Jason held up his hand. “Yes sir. What’s up?”
“You and Officer Wilson are in danger. Probably your wife and the other woman too.”
“What happened?” Jason asked.
“Some Islamist thugs found the housewife who shot the Imam during the Superstore attack. Killed her and her family. They made a run at one of the rednecks, too. That didn’t work out for them. Thought I’d better warn you. You’re liable to get a visit.”
