Dix considered his options in a matter of seconds. He could get closer to the van and try to take it out, but that would leave him and the team exposed to Romero’s rifle fire. He could try to get beyond the van, but there was too much traffic to do that now. As he considered what else he could do, he finally saw where the van was headed. There clearly was an opening through the border, but not going the right way. There was an open lane for traffic coming from Mexico into the United States.
“Sullivan, you have any people in Mexico near the border, Romero is going to go through on the wrong side unless we stop him now,” he said as he pointed to the open lane.
Sullivan shook her head. “We have bodies over there, but the local police force asked them for help about an hour ago for a cartel shoot out a few miles from the border.” She realized after she said this that it was probably a shoot out orchestrated by Romero.
“I see the lane and there’s no way we can catch him,” Sullivan yelled as she reloaded her pistol and kept shooting. Petersen also reloaded and was trying to get the tires of the van with his shots.
Over the radio Sheriff Libal advised, “Sullivan and all pursuing units, you have no authority to pursue Romero into Mexico. He makes it to Mexico, he’s their problem. Terminate your pursuit at the border!”
Sullivan and Petersen looked at each other, and then together they looked at Dix. He clearly heard the order, but it did not look or feel like he was slowing down.
Dix felt them staring at him, “I’m not stopping now unless you disable the van!” He zig-zagged around some cars, and smashed on the accelerator. It was obvious he couldn’t catch Romero, but he didn’t want to give up. They continued firing on the van while the helicopter was reporting it would be across the border in less than a minute.
The driver of Romero’s van expertly drove through traffic and headed for the clear lane going the opposite direction into Mexico. Romero could see there was no way he would be caught now and finally relaxed. He said something to the driver and turned to look at Dix, Petersen, and Sullivan. He had a great big smile on his face and flipped off the group. He was mere feet from the border where he would disappear for good.
The team members could not believe hundreds of hours of work and the case itself were slipping away. Romero is going to get away, thought Sullivan. I’m going to kill him someday.
Suddenly, Romero’s van lurched forward to plow through a single Customs and Border Patrol vehicle trying to create a road block. Sullivan and Petersen shot the rest of the rounds they had in their weapons. Dix did not let off the accelerator, but he needed to apply the brakes soon or he’d be in big trouble.
Out of nowhere an unmarked patrol vehicle slammed right into the side of the van sending it into a spin as glass and debris flew everywhere. It spun violently and ended up on the United States’ side of the border. Romero was ejected from the bullet riddled van, and the driver was killed upon impact.
Dix pressed as hard as he could on the brake pedal and the SUV wobbled and fishtailed as he struggled to maintain control. Incoming police cars tried to avoid the crash, but were running into each other while the helicopter pilot updated the command center of the major collision. Medics were summoned to the location and the already confusing scene at the border was pure chaos now.
Dix, Petersen, and Sullivan exited the SUV and advanced toward Romero who was moving slightly near the destroyed van. Romero crawled with one hand toward the border. Dix motioned to Petersen and Sullivan to check on the driver of the unmarked vehicle. Other officers surrounded the van and unmarked patrol car.
“Romero, just give up, you can’t make it to Mexico,” Dix said. The other officers were spiked with adrenaline. Slowly the officers and Dix moved closer to Romero. It appeared his right leg had a compound fracture and he was bleeding badly from his stomach area.
Romero was no stranger to pain. As a young child, he was abused. His uncle told him it would make him stronger. When Romero was six, he shot his first rival cartel member. At age eleven he became known for brutalizing rivals until killing them, and shipping their heads to their families. However, at this moment, he recalled never feeling such pain. If I can just make it to Mexico, they will fix me, he thought.
After a few more feet of grueling crawling, Romero decided to hell with it. I’ll go out with my pride, he thought.
He slowly rolled to his back, raised his gun and Dix yelled, “Don’t do it…” before Dix could convince Romero to stop, the officers riddled his body with bullets. Romero looked at the border, just a few yards away, and he could see El Hefe and a bright white light behind him. He died with a smile on his face. El Hefe very slightly bowed his head to Romero.
Dix was not happy about the situation and couldn’t understand why Romero had turned in the first place. Sirens were blaring, people were running around in all directions, Mexican authorities were communicating with the United States authorities and traffic in both directions, into and out of Mexico, was shut down. Dix was looking all around trying to direct units to post up in various tactical positions and almost missed the fact that Petersen was motioning to him and yelling his name.
Dix jogged over to the unmarked car and was not prepared to see what he saw. Sullivan was screaming on the radio for code three medics while Petersen had his finger plugged in a wound on Doug Kovach’s thigh. Kovach was barely alive and losing a lot of blood. He managed to look up and see Dix.
Kovach smiled and said, “Sure messed this one up, huh. You tell your buddy thanks for saving my family and that I’m sorry.” He spit up blood and had accepted the fact that he was going to die.
“Don’t give up buddy, help is on the way,” Dix said trying to reassure him.
“It’s useless old friend,” Kovach said as he pointed to the steering wheel stuck in his chest. Dix frantically tried to figure out what he could do to help Kovach, but the cold reality was his body was mangled and broken from the impact with the van. He’s not going to make it, thought Dix.
“Bullshit Doug, you got this, don’t give up,” Dix lied.
Paramedics arrived, and tapped Petersen and Dix out
while they took over. Dix did not want to let go of his grip of Kovach’s hand. He was fading and tried to talk but it was with great difficulty and he could not get a word out.
Finally Kovach mumbled, “Key, front pocket, everything.” He slipped out of consciousness and the medics worked on trying to save him. At that moment Dix wanted nothing more than to hold his wife and call his children to tell them how much he loved them.
Petersen pulled Dix away from the wreckage. Firemen worked to free Kovach while the medics tried to save his life.
A loud explosion sent Petersen, Dix, and Sullivan to the pavement. They could no longer hear, and thought they may be under attack. Dix felt intense pain in his shoulder and could see Sullivan was knocked unconscious from the explosion.
Petersen saw it first and tapped Dix on the shoulder. Dix cringed in pain as he turned to see what Petersen was pointing at. The van Romero was in had exploded sending shrapnel, debris, and cash everywhere. Dix fell to the ground grabbing his shoulder. Petersen screamed at the paramedics to help Dix, but the confusion from the explosion and the thirty million dollars raining down from above had civilians running into the crime scene at will. Sullivan regained consciousness and saw Dix on the ground bleeding and struggling in pain.
She got on the radio and requested more medics and more cops to the scene. Her head pounded and she felt like she was going to throw up. Every available law enforcement official, firemen, and paramedic rolled toward the border. She and Petersen exchanged a glance. They stared at each other for a few seconds and embraced. For a brief moment they were somewhere else. They let go and tried to comfort Dix.
“Steve I’m fine, but you gotta get this metal out of me!” Dix said. The pain was unbearable. It felt like the metal was hitting some sort of nerve causing his body to convulse and send pain throughout his body with intensity he had never fel
t before.
Petersen was about to yank the metal from Dix’s shoulder when a paramedic yelled, “No! Stop!” Petersen paused long enough for the paramedic to push him out of the way and start working on Dix. In the confusion, Petersen and Dix had lost sight of Sullivan.
Petersen watched as the paramedics frantically loaded Dix on a gurney while he scanned the area for Sullivan. He found her a few yards away walking in a circle staring at the ground. Her face was white and she was oblivious to what was happening around her. Petersen, being a previous college football star, immediately recognized her behavior as someone suffering from a serious concussion. He grabbed another paramedic and took him over to Sullivan. The paramedic could see she wasn’t right and radioed that he needed another transport for an officer. Petersen was feeling emotional as he realized he’d fallen for Sullivan and now she was hurt.
Kovach, Dix, and Sullivan were rushed to the hospital, while Petersen jumped in the perimeter around the burning van and raining hundred dollar bills to prevent civilians from stealing more of the money and entering the crime scene. Civilians were getting in the way of the firemen trying to put the fire out that was engulfing the van. Once the van fire was put out, and the scene contained, Petersen jumped in with a Sheriff’s Office sergeant to get to the hospital to check on his best friend and the woman he was in love with. He hoped Dix was okay and he needed to tell Sullivan that he had feelings for her even though it scared the hell out of him.
Chapter 52
* * *
El Hefe watched as his nephew was murdered by the police. He watched as his money rained down on both sides of the border and civilians were scooping it up with both arms. He watched as Special Agent Supervisor Doug Kovach, Special Agent Sullivan, and the man they called “Abuelo” (translated as Grandpa) were put in ambulances and taken away. El Hefe wrote off the money as a complete loss. It would be near impossible to collect now as it was badly burned and scattered everywhere. He was livid. You bastards will pay for this, he thought to himself.
A Customs and Border Patrol Supervisor yelled at El Hefe, “Hey Garcia, your legs broke? Get out there and help secure the scene!”
Customs and Border Patrol Agent Fidel Garcia-Calderon looked over at his boss and thought about shooting him right between the eyes. Instead, he didn’t say anything and ran out from his post to assist the local law enforcement officials trying to stabilize the scene. He took mental notes of what was being done and how the various agencies worked together. He would finish out his shift then retreat to his compound and figure out how to enact his revenge against the United States.
*****
The shooting around Jose Calderon was intense and continued to last for almost thirty minutes. The police assaulted the warehouse and were finally making progress. Nevertheless, Calderon was in terrible pain and bound to a chair and had no way out. He wondered how he had not been killed already. Bullets had whizzed by him and exploded all around him, but he wasn’t hit. The bullet wound in his knee hurt like crazy and he felt himself fading. He had never considered suicide before, but he was prepared for anything now.
The shooting and explosions were fading and Calderon wondered what was happening. Two mercenaries ran back into the warehouse and began arguing about what to do next. They could hear Calderon moaning and decided they would use him as leverage. They picked him up and dragged him to the front of the warehouse. They used him as a human shield and decided they would make a run over to a car that appeared operational. As they exited the warehouse, a police sniper named Wally Magee, placed his crosshairs on the suspect, held his breath, and pulled the trigger. One of the mercenaries blew backwards and fell to the ground. The second mercenary tried to hold up Calderon as a shield, but his weight was too much and his grip slipped. Calderon fell to the ground and Magee took a second shot. The man’s chest exploded and he was dead before his body hit the ground.
Law enforcement moved in cautiously and cleared the warehouse. Medics scooped up Calderon and transported him to the hospital. He was handcuffed and shackled and the ambulance was trailed by four police vehicles containing four officers each. Calderon lost consciousness as the ambulance backed into the emergency area of the hospital.
Chapter 53
* * *
Petersen stood in the waiting room area in the hospital completely distracted and worried. He wondered how to deal with his feelings for Sullivan. This was all new to him, but almost losing her made him understand he had to say something. He shook his head as he looked down the hallway and counted mentally one, two, three, and four. Each number represented a hospital room. Three contained Dix, Sullivan, and Kovach. One room, at the very end of the hall guarded by half a dozen law enforcement members, held Jose Calderon. Petersen despised Calderon, because the man had single handedly caused so much death and destruction all for money. The prognosis for Calderon was that he would survive. Petersen wished the man was dead. At least he won’t be able to walk again, thought Petersen.
Sullivan walked out of her room buttoning up her shirt. She had a smile on her face and it grew even larger when she saw Petersen. He could see the curves of her body and he was flush with excitement. She walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder. “I guess I owe you one.” Petersen got a faint whiff of her perfume and felt whole again. He really needed to tell her how he felt before it was too late.
“Nah, I’m just happy I found you in all the chaos. What’s the prognosis?”
“They say I need to take it easy. Pretty bad concussion I got back there. They’ll be doing tests the next few weeks to check my status.” She was looking around for signs of Dix, Kovach, or Calderon. She saw numerous officers at the end of the hall and assumed Calderon would be where they were.
“Bill’s getting patched up, he’s in surgery and should be out in an hour or so,” Petersen said to Sullivan. She looked concerned and was genuinely worried about Dix. I kinda like the old guy, she thought.
“What’s the status of Kovach?”
Petersen actually didn’t have the answer. They walked over to the nurse’s station and asked about Kovach. The nurse didn’t look too happy, but she said she couldn’t tell them anything, because she didn’t know anything.
They walked down the hallway looking for someone with the answers. A lot of activity was occurring in a room across from the nurse’s station. Nurses and doctors were running into the room and a lot of yelling and commotion echoed through the hallway. Sullivan and Petersen walked over and peeked into the room. Doug Kovach was lying on the table with tubes coming out of his body and doctors frantically working to save his life. Machines were buzzing, alarms were ringing, and the look of desperation on everyone’s face in the room made the situation seem bleak. After two intense minutes, the head surgeon shook his head and pronounced Special Agent Supervisor Doug Kovach dead. “Time of death is 16:32 hours,” he said somberly.
Petersen didn’t particularly care for Kovach, but watching him die on the operating table was not fitting for a law enforcement member. He wondered what the key found in his pocket would lead to, and if the answers he and the rest of the team desperately needed would be found.
Sullivan and Petersen grabbed a sandwich and a coffee, and sat in the waiting room to wait on Dix. They patiently watched as doctors and nurses went in and out of the room holding Calderon. They took turns paying attention and trying to stay awake. Petersen could see Sullivan wanted to say something, but she was hesitant. He wondered if the fact that he lived in Florida and she lived in California was making her not want to get involved romantically with him. He racked his brain trying to figure out how to proceed. He was nervous and shy, and didn’t have much experience with this sort of thing since his divorce. As they both looked at each other sheepishly, but not saying anything, they felt a certain comfort level they’d not felt in a long time. As each waited for the other to make the first move they both succumbed to sheer exhaustion and fell asleep.
*****
Petersen was woken
by a light, consistent tapping on his left shoulder. He jumped up and reached for his weapon. It took about two seconds to realize the person tapping his shoulder was a doctor. Once he got his bearings back, he tapped on Sullivan’s shoulder until she woke. She was groggy and had a terrible headache, but she got familiar again with her surroundings and gave her attention to the doctor while smiling at the fact she’d been woken by a man she knew she was falling for.
“Mr. Dix’s surgery was successful. He should be waking up in the next five to ten minutes, when he does, he said he needed to see you two as soon as possible,” instructed the doctor.
“Thanks so much, doctor,” replied Petersen.
“Yeah, thanks doc,” said Sullivan.
The doctor smiled and turned to walk away. He stopped after a few steps and spun around.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key and said to them both, “Almost forgot. We found this in your partner’s pocket.” The doctor dropped the key in Petersen’s hand and walked away.
Petersen looked over at Sullivan who had a huge grin on her face. “What are you so happy about?”
“That key, I know exactly where it goes. I worked the San Diego Airport for two years on interdiction cases, that key is for one of the lockers there,” Sullivan said excitedly. Sullivan’s intuition and urge to continue the case grew strong again and she was eager to go find the locker.
“This key came from Dix. He got it from Kovach. We need to see where it takes us,” said Petersen.
“I totally agree. Let’s go check on Dix and see what he thinks,” said Sullivan. She turned to walk toward Dix’s room and Petersen reached out to grab her elbow.
She stopped and looked back and said, “What?”
“Sullivan, when this is all over, you wanna get a bite to eat, just the two of us?” His heart raced because he was scared as hell.
The Cartel Enforcers (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 2) Page 22
