by Doug Ball
14
Sunday
I-10 Eastbound
10:40 AM
Ted Fuertes finished his conversation with his boss and was left with a sinking feeling in his gut. The boss had refused the money. Ted would just have to do more digging. He had time before Johnston would do his disappearing act. He scratched his head with his cell phone. No answers.
AZ 169 Westbound
“Don’t look now, I think we have a tail.” The Deputy Sheriff had spotted the tail a couple miles back and adjusted his speed a couple of times to see what would happen. The tail had kept pace and distance no matter what speed Tan chose.
“Describe it.”
Tan checked his mirror again without moving his head, “Dark sedan, Toyota, maybe a Camry. Two in the front seat. Can’t determine if anyone is in the back.”
“Why don’t you take the dirt road to the right up here about a mile.” Robert knew this road, bump by bump. “It goes about a half mile to a big cinder pit. Lots of turn around room, well packed by the trucks hauling out of there. We should be able to turn around one of the piles, hide the truck, exit this vehicle, and ambush the sucker.” He grabbed the shotgun from the rack and shoved five shells in it.
“Sounds like a plan. Do not shoot until fired upon, or scared enough to have to defend yourself. Load one up for me.”
“I don’t think the scared part is in the operations manual.”
“No, Sir. It isn’t, but it applies to every decision I make. My wife likes me all in one piece with no leaks.”
He used his turn signal and made the turn, accelerating fast like a teenager with daddy’s hotrod. The dust cloud obscured his view of the car behind him. Looking around, he realized that he couldn’t see the car continuing down the highway. “He’s behind us.”
They both eased out of their seat belts and put a gun across their laps pointed at the door. Tan eased the truck into a curve that led up to the pit which was thirty feet higher than the highway. “This elevation change will help with hiding our moves. Good spot.”
“It gets even better. I have hidden in here for hours getting caught up on my paperwork. It’s also a great place to take an emergency dump, too.”
“Oh, that’s funny. Our Sergeant wants us to always use a public restroom or not at all. Story goes he got reamed for peeing behind his unit along the Interstate a few years back. Now, he wants all of us to do it properly in a recognized restroom. Do you know how filthy some of those places are?”
“Get ready. Yeah, pull behind that tall pile over there. Usually there’s a county backhoe so watch out. Hide your truck behind it if there is one and we can use it for cover.”
“Gotcha.” Tan took the truck around the pile. No backhoe. He stopped as close to the pile as he could and still open his door. Robert bailed out as he slowed. The Deputy left his truck with the motor running and the door wide open as he moved into position in front of the truck and close to the pile. Whichever way the car would come around the pile they were ready.
From the sound of tread crushing rocks, the enemy was moving slowly looking for tracks or something to help them find the truck. Within moments, the sound of the car crunching gravel stopped. A car door popped open. Footsteps.
Tan was hit by a rock. He turned to see Robert motioning him around the pile one way as he went the other. They moved slowly, leading with their shotguns.
The crunch of gravel slowed as they moved. Another set of footsteps joined the first. Tan froze looking around for the Highway Patrolman – out of sight. “Damn.”
“Freeze. Police officer. Drop your guns and turn around.” Robert was loud and clear.
Two pistol shots followed.
Moving quickly to cover his partner, Tan heard the shotgun sound off.
“Drop it or you’ll get what your partner got.” Robert’s voice was very commanding.
Tan came around the pile, first seeing the Toyota – he’d guessed right – and then one man down and a second standing still holding a gun at his side. “Drop it. Now!”
The gun hit the dirt as the man turned toward the car. “Stand still. Partner, I’ll check the car, you cover.” Robert moved forward, shotgun at the ready. He peeked in. “Clear.”
As Robert turned, Tan saw a head coming up over the trunk of the car. “Gun.” He raised his handgun and stopped just short of pulling the trigger as two hands joined the head. A thin, dark skinned man stood. “Step away from the car.” Tan moved to see every move the third man made and checked the other side of the car.
Robert hunkered down alongside the front wheel of the car and motioned for Tan to continue around as he covered. Tan moved and found nothing.
“Okay, we have some questions for you two.” Robert motioned with his shotgun barrel for the two prisoners to move to the gravel pile, “Sit down on the pile. Relax. This could take a little time.”
After a long hour the two men were still sitting on the rock pile as Tan and Robert tried to get anything out of them. “Well boys, it looks like we have no recourse but to throw you in jail for attacking two off duty law enforcement officers, which carries a pretty tough mandatory sentence by the way.” Robert pulled out his cell and started dialing.
Tan looked around. It was obvious to him there would be no signal here, but just as he made that deduction Robert was talking to someone.
“Got two for pick up, Sal. Old gravel pit off 169, north side. Don’t know the mile post, but it’s about half way between I-17 and Dewey.” There was a pause. “Yeah, fired on us.” Pause. “Yeah, darn near bought the farm, first at home and then here.” Pause. “Twenty minutes is great. Thanks.” He hung up.
He turned to Tan and said, “I gotta go, be back in a minute,” and headed off around the pile toward the truck.
Tan looked at the two men sitting on the rock pile. Both were either Native American or mixed breed. The larger man was about 50 and built tough, but had a club foot that slowed him down. The smaller, younger man was in his young twenties and shifty. He had been wiggling and shuffling in the rock until his feet were under him ready for a fast start. Tan looked off toward the highway as if hoping a unit was heading this way, red and blues flashing and siren blaring. No such luck. He turned his back on the two men.
He heard the rocks move and then the sound of running feet across the flat toward the open countryside. Tan spun around, gun coming to his shoulder as he turned. He waited until the young one was out and let fly a shot. The young man yelped as the round kicked up dust just to his left and ran even faster. The sound of Robert’s gun came from behind the pile. A yelp and an increase in speed resulted from that shot, also.
Robert came running around the pile, shotgun ended up pointing at the clubfooted man’s head, “Tell me you name and why you were following us and I’ll let you go.”
“I am Edgar and we only came up here to piss.”
“That’s a lie.” He leveled the shotgun at the man’s head, “One more try and that’s all.”
Tan could still see the young one running flat out across the open plain.
“I am Edgar and we were going to kill you.”
“Why?”
“You know too much.”
“About what?”
Silence. The older man sat there like the same lump he had been for the past hour.
Tan said, “Get up and get out of here. If I ever see you again you better see me first, because I’ll kill you without warning.” He pumped the action ejecting a perfectly good round and slamming home another round. “Now there’s double ought buck under the pin, no more games. Get out of here. Tell whoever you work for, we are not gonna roll over and play dead. When the Indians rise up, we will be there waiting, loaded for bear.”
The man got up and walked to the car.
“No you don’t, walk!”
He shuffled off toward the highway.
Robert opened the hood of their car, put two .45 rounds in the electronics package, watched the sparks fly, and closed the hood. “It
will be here when you get back with the tow truck.”
The man just kept on shuffling.
Governor’s Office
10:40 AM
“Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate all of your advice your willingness to preserve Arizona and the Union. Now go do what we have decided.”
Each man nodded solemnly and left the room.
“Josie, call the President of the United States for me, please.”
“Will do.” She was getting excited with all these goings on going on. ‘Nobody ever told me this job would be exciting.’ She dialed the White House switchboard.
“White House.”
“The Governor of Arizona would like to speak with the President.”
“Hold please.”
“Why not!”
15
National Guard Armory
McDowell Park
11:00 AM
General Rios stood before his officers with a seriousness they had never seen before on the face of their General. “Gentlemen, get comfortable and pay attention. Arizona is under serious attack, both politically and physically. The exercise at the border is just a drop in the bucket compared to what’s to come.
“Do I have your attention, your undivided attention?”
Heads bobbed and swiveled all over the room. Pens and pads came out of pockets. The murmur that had rolled through the room since the General had arrived ended as if a switch had been thrown.
“Are there any Native Americans here?”
Five hands went up.
“Please come with me. The rest of you wait here please, I’ll be back.”
The General led the way to a side room, held the door open for a Major, two Captains, and two Lieutenants to enter, and then closed the door. He turned and asked, “How many of you are willing to fight your own people if the need arises?”
No hands went up.
“Maybe I phrased that poorly. There is a rumor that some Arizona Native American tribal members are about to rise up to overthrow the existing government, kick the other races out, and retake the native lands. Will you stand for the United States and Arizona for all races or join your tribes? That is basically the same question that was asked at the beginning of the Civil War. If you will not stand with us you may leave to join your people now, or you may rejoin the group we just left.” He turned and walked out, listening to the shuffling behind him.
As he reached the podium, he turned and was pleased to see all five officers standing before him in the front row, each at a formal attention and saluting. All the other officers in the room rose and assumed the same attitude as the five in front. The General smiled from ear to ear, “Hot damn, we got us a real army here!”
The General returned their salutes and said, “Get comfortable, gentlemen, this could be a long session. I’ll keep this as short as possible, your men are gathering on the grounds in bivouac, tents and all. Heavy security is being put in place.
“Now, listen up, this is not pretty, but it’s why we’re here. . .”
The streets of Phoenix
Ted pulled his cell out again as he thought of another source he hadn’t called. Speaking at the phone he said, “Call Rusty, mobile.”
The phone repeated the words and soon the sound of a call came through. On the third ring, “I don’t want to hear it, Fuertes.”
“Rusty, my man, how you been? Long time since our last conversation. Wanna make a buck or two?”
“I ain’t talking to you for less than a C note, my man indeed.”
“You get me the right answers and it could be a few C’s. Interested?”
“Meet me at California Pizza, 23rd Street and Camelback. I’ll be waiting on the bench to the north of the front door.”
“Twenty minutes.”
They both hung up. Ted was happy with himself. He hated the ritzy, stuffed-shirt neighborhood Rusty picked, but no one would look for Rusty in that neighborhood. The Pizza was pretty good maybe they could go in there and eat while talking.
It took Ted twenty minutes to get to the location and find a parking spot. Locking the car door, he stepped out after shoving a small .380 auto in his back pocket. Rusty was nowhere to be seen. The bench was empty.
Ted walked into California Pizza. Not there. He walked out and down toward the tea shop. Not there either. Ted went back to the bench. As he was ready to slow down and take a seat on the bench something whispered inside his head, “Keep walking.” He did, all the way around back, through the parking garage, and into the next walkway to the center of the Biltmore Mall where he sat down at a table with an umbrella next to the water misters alongside a fountain. No Rusty.
Pretending to use his cell phone, he looked around as he talked into the dead phone. Three or four men were wandering around like they were lost and easing toward him. Men alone were scarce enough at this high dollar ladies’ mall, but four of them, no five, was so unusual that he took note that all were wearing light jackets like the cops in the movies when they were trying to pack iron and get close to someone. It appeared to him that ‘someone’ was him.
He got up and walked away toward a bus stop on Camelback. The bus got there before he did. He took off running. The sound of running steps came from behind him. The driver saw him coming and waited. Once he was in, the driver closed the door and pulled out. “Thanks, man.”
“You are more than welcome. That one tough guy chasing you gave me a hard time two days ago. Said I was late to the stop when I was really early. Made a big fuss. Called my boss and filed a complaint. He can take a long walk from now on. I ain’t even going to stop for him if he’s alone. Have a seat.”
Ted walked back and there in a corner was Rusty down below the window sill looking up and holding his pointer finger up before his mouth. Ted sat in front of him, looking out the window which allowed him to see Rusty as a reflection on the window. “What the hell’s going on, Rusty.” He whispered without moving his lips much.
“Don’t know, Crazy Man. I saw them and kept on walking. Saw you wandering around from across the street and ran to catch the only bus I could see, this one. Glad you caught on and got on. Where to now, Crazy Man?” Rusty sat up in the seat.
“Hell if I know, you’re the one knows them.” Ted was a might miffed at being set up. “How’d they know I was coming? For that matter, how’d they know who I was?”
“You been being followed. That big, dark fella was driving the car that was right behind you when you pulled into the mall. There was another car behind them with two guys in it.”
“I only saw five men.”
“There were six.”
“Oh, oh. They got a car right behind us, I’ll bet.”
“Next stop is on a corner with two gas stations and another strip mall. You wanna run for it?”
“Wait a minute. Let me think.”
“You think, I’ll hide.”
“So, what they want us for, Rusty?”
“What you want to talk to me about?”
“Indians. The five guys I saw looked like Indians. That ring any bells?” The bus pulled into a stop, both doors opened, four people got off, one got on. The one that got on was long, lean, and lanky, huffing and puffing like he had just run a race from somewhere. He looked like an Indian.
The Indian picked a seat near Ted across the aisle. Pulling a paperback out of his hip pocket, the Indian began to read. Ted eased the .380 out of his back pocket and with it in the hand in his lap, he said, “What do you want with me and my friend, friend?” to the Indian.
The man looked at Ted, “Don’t want nothing to do with you. Just going to work. That a problem?” He looked at the book again like he was reading.
“Well, friend, you must be having a wonderful time reading that book with it upside down.” He lifted the gun a bit from his lap and made sure the man saw it.
“Put that toy away, white man,” he said. “I am here to warn you, Crazy Man, stop your investigation. Randall Johnston is dead and you will be, too, if you cont
inue.”
He looked at Rusty before adding, “You, too, traitor.” He stood and walked to the door awaiting the next stop. Ted looked out the back window of the bus to see his buddies following, ready for action, to pick him up or move on Ted and Rusty.
After the man left the bus, Ted looked to Rusty, “Why’d he call you a traitor?”
“I’m a half breed. Mojave. They been hounding me for weeks.”
“Why?” Ted stood up and motioned toward the door.
Rusty stood and followed. “I was in Special Forces once upon a time. They wanted me to train troops for the uprising. I refused. Been hiding ever since. That’s why I suggested the Biltmore to meet, never dreaming they were following you already. Those guys are good urban warriors.”
“Well, what we gonna do about it, Rusty, my man.” Ted put a crazy grin on his face that was his trademark for ‘it’s time to attack the establishment’.
“I’m with you, my man. You got any money?”
“Why?”
“We need some guns. These guys are serious.”
“Lead on.”
The two men left the bus when the door opened, walked across the street, and caught the next bus back to where the car was parked. Ted felt the tingle of excitement he always got when catching his first solid tip on a story. Rusty just felt scared, the good kind of scared that made him much more aware and on the edge of action any moment.
16
16 June 2013
National Guard Armory
2:00 PM
“Ten Hut!” the Sergeant Major could be heard over any crowd noise. The room came to attention.
“Seats or at ease,” the Colonel started. “Ladies and Gentlemen, Soldiers, the General has a few words for us all. Listen up, our state is in trouble.”
The General stepped up on the dais behind the portable podium, put a hand on either side, and leaned into the podium. He rocked in place for a three count before handing the podium to the Sergeant Major, “Get rid of this thing, please, Sergeant Major. This is no time for speechifying.
