State of Defense (State of Arizona Book 1)

by Doug Ball

  “They are mostly positive. Owning the land and being a county unto themselves is almost total sovereignty while still being a part of the U.S. of A. is what they are saying. I’m thinking almost, if not all, will take a shot at it.

  “Have you thought of giving them a chance to be a county for a year or two and if it isn’t working out they could return to the way it is now with the land belonging to them?” Josie asked.

  The Hawk stepped up along with Tony and said, “That’s an idea. That was one amendment to the bill that was tabled, because we didn’t want to open that can of worms with the Fed involved. It will pass if you present it to the Legislature in the next week or so.”

  “Sounds like a plan. I’ll announce that as a proposed change when the groups start looking like they have finished their individual caucuses,” the Governor said.

  “This is going to work, Governor. I can feel it,” the Chief Justice stated.

  The Hawk chimed in with, “If it isn’t Federal land any more, do they pay property taxes? I think yes.”

  “Shut up,” whispered the Governor.

  28

  Tuesday

  18 June

  7:30 PM

  Tan sat in the communal work room working overtime to keep his mind in cop mode and off the death of his friend by getting much of his paperwork caught up as he waited for the lab to come up with something on the death of Robert. So far the only thing they had was that the possibility of a gas incapacitating the man before he was killed. There was no way that Tan was going to let them slack on this case. While he didn’t have the seniority or authority, he told the lab guys in no uncertain terms that he wanted some answers worth investigating this day before midnight. So far, nothing.

  The notes on a traffic stop he had made three days ago were in the basket when the Sergeant from the lab came in. He looked up, “Whatcha got?”

  “You might be interested in the make we have on two sets of prints in the room where Jaegar died. One belongs to a known trouble maker by the name of Elliot Blue and the other belongs to another wanna be tough guy, Pete Targo, a half-breed Navajo and Sioux. Good, clear full hand print on top of the dresser for Elliot and three fingers on the phone over the cleaning lady’s for Targo. I would suggest that you bring them in for questioning.” He smiled, “Here’s the run down on both of them, short form. Their jackets are on the computer.” Three pieces of paper passed from his hand to Tan’s.

  “Thanks, you guys do work miracles at times, don’tcha?” Tan swept all the rest of the junk off the desk into his drawer before adding, “Oh, we’ll bring them in all right. Walking or carried, I don’t much care. Thanks again.”

  The Sergeant said, “Don’t do anything stupid. Make sure your every action is clean and neat. I don’t like having to report a bad shooting.” He turned and left as Tan was strapping on his duty belt. “Good hunting. Bring them in and let’s get them in a cell.”

  “You got it, Mack, that’s the plan.”

  Seeing addresses on the records, Tan slammed the door on his way out. He was running when he cleared the building.

  Nogales

  The Mexican Army’s center column into Nogales slowly withdrew to the border as more and more weapons were brought to bear on them. Casualties mounted on both sides until at 1930 the Mexican General called for an orderly withdrawal leaving many casualties on the streets and in the storefronts of Nogales.

  Ambulances and other medical equipment continued to remove the wounded of both armies to hospitals in Tucson and other communities until late in the night. Doctors from other parts of the state were transported into the area by whatever means was available with many of them working amidst the rubble and confusion of the beaten back and withdrawn troops.

  Nogales would never be the same. It was a massacre on the population of 21,000 with over 2,000 dead and more than 4,000 wounded, every family in town was affected in some way. Businesses destroyed, buildings crumbling, windows shattered, and blood running in the streets marked the path of the battle.

  Southern Border

  Arivaca

  8:00 PM

  “Look, men, I need a complete picture here. Somehow we lost it. I know that all plans end at the first shot, but we still have a war going on and without the right stuff at the right place the bad guys are going to win.

  “Communications – I want a reasonably detailed report from every station and post.

  “Major – Let’s get a status on all munitions at all positions. Is everybody getting fed?

  “Runner – I need another cup of coffee.

  “All of you – let’s get this map updated as to positions and personnel.

  “Communications – Check on my chopper. I want to go sightseeing tonight, say 2200 or so.

  “Anybody got any questions?”

  The old gas station was a wasp’s nest, an angry wasp’s nest. Every person there was rumpled, tired, and beat up just from the concerns and demands of the day. One Specialist 4 summed it up with, “This sucks. I’d rather be out there getting shot at than trying to dance around in here with all the noise and decisions that have to be made. Shooting is a heck of a lot easier on me.”

  The sound of ambulances yowling by on their frantic way to Tucson hospitals was a constant reminder of the outcome of the decisions made around the map. A mobile medical station was right next to the command post doing too big a business. Nobody in the command center wanted to look in that direction except the General. “I’ll be back in ten. Gonna go check out the troops next door.” Everybody breathed a sigh of relief for the ten minutes to get the map caught up and all reports in.

  The General arrived just in time to grab the end of a stretcher and assist in getting a woman into the triage tent. “How ya doing, ma’am?”

  “I’ve had better days, but I got my licks in. We’ve tackled the border crossers for years at the ranch and this time I got to shoot back.”

  “What happened to you?”

  “Took a round in the left love handle. Don’t think it’s serious, just took out some fat.” She chuckled which made her wince in pain.

  “Tough way to lose weight, ma’am, mighty tough.” The General smiled.

  “You put this thing down and I’ll walk in.”

  “Nope, you get the hero treatment, Purple Heart and all. Governor wouldn’t have it any other way and neither would I.”

  The woman was set down in the Triage tent as the nurse, all fuss and feathers, scurried from one patient to another. “Thanks for the ride, General, and you too, young man. I’ll get back out there as soon as they put a band aid on this scratch.”

  The man on the other end was no kid, he said, “I’ll never be a young man again in years, but helping here is sure keeping me young at heart.” His eyes showed genuine concern for the lady, “You need anything, water or whatever?”

  “No, thanks for asking. Just wish I knew how Earl was getting along. He’s the one put me on the ambulance. Last I saw he was teaming up with some soldier boys and moving west.”

  “He’ll be fine,” the General said as he turned to go into the bigger tent where the more serious cases were being stabilized for transport. He told himself he needed this to keep his mind on the problems and not to allow it to wander. Every one of these men and women were in here after following his decisions and he had no desire to see any more in here than were absolutely necessary. The pain of a lifetime of military living and decisions which he had always hoped would bring peace, and seeing the results of the failure to meet that goal was tremendous. After his first tour in Iraq he had come to realize what survivor guilt was all about. To live when others died was a bad enough, to live when others died because of your orders was even worse if it was allowed to eat away in the mind.

  As he walked into the stabilization ward, shouts of, “We won yet, General?” and “How we doing, Sir?” resounded from almost every conscious person.

  He looked them in the eye and said, “We will win. Your fight is a good one, just lo
ok toward getting healed up. We will win.”

  A man with an arm bandaged and strapped to his rib cage looked at the General and said, “Have them docs get me patched a bit better, I need to get back to my unit, General. There’s a war going on and I can’t just sit here.”

  The Doctor came over and said, “Sergeant, you just lay back and relax. We need to get you to an orthopedist friend of mine so you can continue to play catch with your son.”

  “Ain’t got no son. My wife bailed out on me while I was in Afghanistan last time.”

  “Then we’ll patch you up so you can find a woman that likes heroes.”

  “That nurse over there with the red hair would do very nicely, Doc.”

  “Her husband wouldn’t like that.”

  “That’s the way it goes. Where’s he?”

  “In a bed in the far corner. He’s in worse shape than you are.”

  “I’ll pray that he lives, General,” the soldier replied.

  The General cut in with, “Get well, soldier, I need all the good men I can get.” The General put his hands in his pockets and retreated from the tent, praying.

  Three miles north of Winona

  8:30 PM

  “2Adam19. Arrived at Leupp Road address. Lights in the trailer. Moving in. Back up has not yet arrived.”

  The Sheriff’s department vehicle with its lights out eased past the drive of a double wide. The trash surrounding the place was deep and broad in its variety, from beer cans and booze bottles to soiled diapers and old clothes. The stink overpowered the evening breeze trying in vain to push it into the neighbor’s yard a mile away. Tan stepped out using the vehicle for a shield. Lights in the windows informed him of folks inside making shadows on the blinds that moved back and forth with the breeze of the the folks moving around inside. A baby cried. A female voice yelled, “Shut up, brat. I’ll feed you when the commercials come on.”

  “Nice mom,” Tan whispered to himself as he moved toward the building trying to make no noise until he knocked on the door.

  “Who’s there?” from the same female voice. Tan could hear at least two people scurrying toward the back of the trailer. “Shit, and me without a backup,” he mumbled.

  “Coconino County Fire Department. We got a call of a fire with injuries at this address. Ambulance is right behind me.”

  “Well, we ain’t burnin’ up and no one here is injured, so go home and let me watch my TV.”

  “Ma’am, there was a 911 call from this address. We must verify that all is okay at this address according to the law. If you would just come open the door and let me see in, that would cover what I am required to do by that law.” Tan was stretching things a little bit, but he figured a quick look would cover what he needed to know.

  “You must think I’m stupid, mister, there isn’t a phone in this place, and I ain’t opening this door for nothin’ but a search warrant. Go away. I’m a woman alone with a squalling baby. Nothin’ here for you to check. You can hear the baby, can’t ya?”

  “Now, that is not the way to cooperate with emergency services . . .”

  He felt the hard surface jammed into his ribs before the voice said, “Deputy, you just put both hands against the trailer wall and shuffle your feet back a mite while I check you for nasty devices which might get in the way of the conversation which is to follow.”

  Tan complied, feeling hands doing a quick frisk. He looked down and could not see a foot anywhere near his feet. As the man moved his hand up Tan’s left arm, he eased the weight off his right hand and unlocked his left knee putting him in position to swing around throwing his right hand behind him and falling at the same time. His forearm caught the man’s gun hand hard enough to deflect the shot into the trailer wall. A scream followed the shot. The left hand followed through to grab the man’s head and smash his face into the trailer wall as Tan stopped his fall on his knees. Throwing his weight on the man’s back pinned the gun to the porch deck.

  A knee in the middle of the back held the assailant down. There wasn’t much struggle in the man as he was cuffed, disarmed, and frisked. Tan stood to his feet, the man’s gun in his hand, and jerked the man off the porch by an ankle.

  “Nice moves, Deputy. Suppose you just drop him and the gun.”

  “Suppose I don’t,” as Tan spun around again and pulled the trigger on the Taurus in his hand, counting the shots, until the gun just went, ‘click.’ The second man wilted like a flower without water on a hot day until he was lying peacefully in the dirt. Tan kicked his gun away.

  He grabbed the shoulder mike and pushed the button, “2Adam19. Send an ambulance, the ME, and Crime Scene Lab folks to my twenty, please. Tell the ambulance to hurry, this guy is bleeding pretty bad from a gunshot wound to the chest.” Tan watched and the blood spurting from his chest slowly dribbled away.

  “2Adam19, Ambulance is rolling. Do you require backup or other assistance?”

  Tan looked down at his left leg which was feeling funny, “I am in need of that ambulance, back up, and the victim no longer needs any help. I have one man in custody, a dead man, and a woman with child in arms.” Blood oozed down his leg.

  “2Adam19. Units are rolling.”

  Tan thought of the woman and the scream he heard after the first shot. He pounded his fist on the trailer wall. “What happened in there, lady?”

  No response.

  He banged on the door. “Ma’am, are you okay?”

  No response except for a baby’s fearful screaming.

  “Oh, crap.” He tried the door, locked.

  Hobbling around back he opened the double wide, yelling, “Ma’am, this is Deputy Sheriff Les Brown of the Coconino County Sheriff’s Department, I’m coming in unless you say I can’t right now.”

  He listened. “Here I come, ready or not.” He chuckled to himself, sounded just like when he was a kid and the neighborhood was the playground. Nice memories.

  The baby was in a bouncy seat screaming, oozing liquid to the floor. The woman was lying beside the baby in a pool of blood which began at her groin and spread across the floor. The baby reached for him and screamed louder. Tan unlocked the front door and swung it open. Looking around he could see a box of disposable diapers beside the couch. After searching for wipes and powder and not finding any, he grabbed a rag, got it wet at the sink, and changed the baby before going outside. “What a pile I’ve gotten into here. Three birds with one very poorly aimed stone.”

  Walking to the unit, he talked to the baby boy, “Boy, you just haven’t had much of a start in this world have ya? I must say you picked a crappy set of parents to come to, but maybe, just maybe we can fix that.” He and the baby waited in the unit with the star on the door while he sang soft songs to the baby after wrapping his own leg with a disposable diaper held in place with the stickies on the diaper.

  “2Adam19. Notify CPS that I have a mamaless baby in my arms. On second thought, I think I’ll keep him, he likes my singing.”

  “Must be deaf.”

  The baby laughed.

  “I think I’ll name you Robert.”

  29

  Capitol Cafeteria

  8:00PM

  As the Governor, and those at her table, sat watching the conversations at the other tables, She thought of all it had taken to get these people in the same room and talking with each other. A simple thought of a more unified Arizona rolled through her head.

  She just wished the decision was made so she could go home smiling and go to sleep. Two hours of deliberations were dragging her down.

  Judge Bradford snored and calmly slept in his chair.

  “Must be nice.” The Governor nudged her husband and nodded toward the judge.

  Sasabe

  11:04 PM

  The Mexican Colonel left two companies behind to harass the Arizona troops and fell back one mile before turning his major force to the east for a fifteen mile walk to Arivaca and the road that led to the main army coming up from Nogales. The General had given strict instructions th
at they were not to be discovered. The Colonel wondered how that could be done with miles and miles of wide open country with only a few washes capable of hiding his force.

  One of the Lieutenants said, “Mi Colonel, we could split into smaller units and use all the cover available, meeting up before we get to Arivaca. It is only ten miles or so. We could then commandeer vehicles and move up Arivaca Road to I-19.”

  While the Colonel hadn’t walked more than a few hundred yards in one day for longer than he could remember he bought into the plan. “Yes, that is what we will do. Thank you. Are your men up to the hike?”

  “Si, Mi Colonel.”

  “Move them out now. You will lead with your company. Spread out as point and let us know what is there as you move. You will be our eyes.”

  “I am honored, Colonel. We will triumph.”

  The Colonel wished he could as optimistic. He knew there were no reserves and no retreat. He didn’t think having his head perforated by a .38 caliber round was a good idea. There was always the idea of being a General in his mind. If he could pull this off it was assured.

  Just north and west of the Colonel’s position

  Three men manned the Humvee. They were watching a video screen. One had a joy stick in his lap and was watching his own screen. “LT we got travelers just south and east of us. Looks like a fairly large military unit. Company strength at least.” He put the drone in a slow turn to the left. Within moments a larger group could be seen forming into long rows of troops moving to the northeast, directly toward the General’s base camp and the hospital.