Reckless Abandon

by Stuart Woods

  “Your man came home ten minutes ago. He matched the file photo, ponytail and all. He lives on the top floor front; you can see his lights.”

  Lance looked out the window. “Mmmm, yes. The fire escape is on the front of the building. I’ll want your partner at the bottom. Then there’s the roof to deal with.”

  “I’ve had a word with the super and a look inside. There’s a door and a stairway leading to the roof from the top floor.”

  “All right, you go up to the roof and wait for somebody to come running through that door, and for Christ’s sake don’t shoot one of us. My friends would prefer to take the man alive, but don’t put yourself in peril to make that happen. We’ll give you a three-minute head start, then we go in.” The man got out of the car and went into the building.

  “Here’s what I’d like to do,” Lance said. “The three of us go into the building and ascend the stairs to the top floor, front apartment. Holly, you knock on the door, then stand with your back to it, so he can see only the back of a woman’s head through the peephole. As soon as he cracks the door, Stone and I rush in, with you right behind. We’ll concentrate on Trini. It will be your job to keep anyone else who happens to be in the room from shooting Stone and me. That okay?”

  “It’s good for me,” Holly said.

  Stone nodded.

  The three of them got out of the car, approached the building, and let themselves through the front door, which had had the bolt taped open. Lance put a finger to his lips, then led the way quietly to the fourth floor. He ducked under the peephole and took up a position on the left side of the door, while Stone took the right side. Lance nodded at Holly.

  Holly rapped lightly on the door. No response. She rapped harder, then turned around.

  “Who’s there?” a muffled voice said from inside.

  “Escort service,” Holly replied, her back still to the door.

  They could hear the rattle of the chain being undone, and the door opened an inch. “We didn’t call for anybody,” he said.

  Simultaneously, Lance and Stone rushed the door, knocking the man off his feet. They ran into the room, guns at arm’s length, with Holly behind them.

  The man on the floor wasn’t Trini, and there were three other men in the room, two of them pointing guns at Lance, Stone, and Holly. Trini was there, but he had no gun.

  “Freeze, FBI!” one of the armed men shouted.

  “Police!” Holly yelled, showing her badge. “I have a warrant for Rodriguez! Let’s see some ID.”

  An agent reached for his ID without disturbing his aim. “Who are these two guys?”

  Stone showed them his Orchid Beach badge.

  “Fellow traveler,” Lance said. “Can we all stop pointing guns at each other?”

  The agents didn’t move, and now the one they had knocked down was on his feet with a gun, too.

  Holly got the warrant out of her purse and held it up for them to see. “This is a fugitive warrant from the State of Florida for Trini Rodriguez. I’m taking him back for trial on multiple murder charges.”

  “Okay, everybody relax,” the agent said. “Holster your weapons.”

  The FBI men did so, and Holly, Stone, and Lance complied.

  “All right, lady,” the agent said, “just hang on a minute. Can I see your ID again?”

  Holly handed him the wallet with her badge and ID.

  “Okay, Chief, I’ve got to make a phone call.” He picked up a phone on the coffee table and dialed a number. “Put me through to Harrison,” he said. He tapped his foot for a moment, then practically came to attention. “Mr. Harrison, this is Carson, at the Eighty-eighth Street apartment. I’ve got a lady cop here who’s shown me a fugitive warrant for our guest.”

  Holly turned her attention to Trini, who was staring at her as though he’d like to strangle her. “You’re all done, Trini,” she said. “You’re mine now.”

  Trini managed an evil smile. “We’ll see,” he said. “I’m going to kill you, after I’ve fucked you a few times, and I’m going to kill your daddy and your dog, too.”

  “I can’t wait for you to try,” Holly said.

  “Yes, sir,” the agent was saying. “I’ll convey that to her.” He hung up the phone and turned to Holly. “Your warrant is superceded by an existing federal warrant and national security considerations. I’ll have to ask you and your people to leave.”

  “What do you mean, a federal warrant? Let’s see it.”

  “It’s on file in our New York office. I can have it faxed to you tomorrow, if you’ll give me a number. In the meantime, my orders are to ask you to leave this apartment, and if you refuse, to arrest you for obstruction of justice.”

  “Now you listen to me,” Holly said.

  Stone spoke up. “Holly.”

  “What?”

  “We have to leave.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “We have to leave, or we’re going to end up in the federal detention center downtown.”

  “He’s right, Holly,” Lance said, taking her by the elbow and steering her toward the door.

  Stone took her other elbow and they got her into the hall. The door was closed firmly behind them, and they heard locks turning.

  “Thanks for the support, guys,” Holly said.

  “Stone is right, Holly. You’re in a bad position legally.”

  They had started down the stairs.

  “Holly,” Stone said, “if you want him, you’re going to have to go to a federal judge and get a court order vacating Trini’s Witness Protection status and giving your warrant precedence.”

  “How long will that take?” Holly asked as they were leaving the building.

  “The U.S. Attorney’s office will fight it. There’ll be a hearing—maybe more than one. Weeks, at least.”

  They got into the car.

  “Or,” Lance said, “you could just kill him.”

  Holly grinned. “You sure know how to make a girl feel better,” she said.

  37

  THE THREE OF them sat in Lance’s car, half a block from the building. They had been waiting for half an hour.

  “Why do we think they’re coming out soon?” Holly asked.

  “Because they’re not going to keep him in a place that’s no longer safe from you,” Lance replied. “They’ll get him out as soon as they can arrange another location.”

  Another half an hour passed, then a dark van turned into the block and stopped in front of the building. There was a radio antenna on top. A moment later, Trini and the four FBI agents came out of the building, two of them carrying suitcases.

  “You were right, Lance,” Stone said. “They’re moving him.”

  Lance spoke to his driver. “Follow the van, but stay well back.”

  The van pulled away, went around the block, and turned down Second Avenue. Traffic was fairly heavy. They followed it down Second Avenue to Sixty-sixth Street, where it turned right and drove west, continuing through Central Park.

  “Looks like they’re moving him to the West Side,” Stone said. “I wonder why they still have him in New York? Why didn’t they send him to Minneapolis or Seattle or someplace no one would think to look for him?”

  “Because somebody as exotic-looking as Trini would stand out like a sore thumb in a white-bread city,” Lance replied. “They’d send him to the Southwest. Except they haven’t, of course.”

  The van left the park and continued west to Eleventh Avenue, then turned downtown.

  “Maybe Chelsea?” Stone said.

  “Maybe not,” Lance replied. “Let’s wait and see.”

  As the van approached Forty-second Street it moved to the left lane.

  “They’re headed for the Holland Tunnel,” Stone said.

  The van turned left, then right and went into the tunnel.

  “Stay well back,” Lance reiterated.

  The van left the tunnel and got onto Route 3 West.

  “This is starting to seem familiar,” Stone said.
<
br />   “What do you mean?” Lance asked.

  “It’s the route I take to Teterboro Airport.”

  “Ahhh,” Lance said. “Maybe they’re really moving him.”

  The van turned north on Route 17.

  “Yep,” Stone said.

  A few miles along, the van turned right at the airport sign.

  “Okay, which FBO?” Lance asked.

  “The big ones are Atlantic, Millionaire, First, and Signature,” Stone said. “They’re all on the west side of the field.”

  “They’re turning into Millionaire,” Lance said.

  “Better stop here. They’ll check IDs at the gate. Driver, continue on to Atlantic Aviation.”

  “Why?” Lance asked.

  “Because I can get us onto the field there,” Stone said. He got out his NYPD badge and his Teterboro ID card, and in a moment they were being buzzed through the gate to the ramp. “Turn off your lights, turn right, and drive slowly south until you get to the Millionaire ramp.”

  They drove on for a hundred yards.

  “Stop,” Lance said, pointing. “Only one airplane ready for takeoff.” He dug a pair of small binoculars out of the glove compartment and trained them on the airplane. “Can’t see the registration number.”

  “Just wait,” Stone said. “The airplane will turn right as it leaves the ramp, and you’ll be able to see it.”

  The door to the jet closed, and it began to taxi. As Stone had predicted, it turned right.

  “Got it,” Lance said, jotting down the number. “Don’t move the car, just let them taxi right past us.” He got out his cell phone and pressed a speed-dial number. “This is Echo 4141,” he said. “I need the current flight plan for the following aircraft registration number.” He read out the tail number. “It will be activated at Teterboro, New Jersey, momentarily. I need the destination and any stops in between.” He put a hand over the phone. “They’re logging on the FAA’s Air Traffic Control computer now,” he said to the backseat. “Yes? Thank you. I’d like a trace on the aircraft in case it changes destinations, and I’d like to know what time it is projected to land. Right.” He hung up. “Their destination is Santa Fe, New Mexico,” he said.

  “I wonder why Santa Fe?” Holly asked.

  “Trini will blend in with the large Hispanic population there. It sounds like a final destination, too. If they were going to put him on a commercial flight, they’d go to Albuquerque. Santa Fe has few commercial flights, and none late at night.”

  “Can you get someone to cover the arrival and follow them to their destination?” Stone asked.

  “I’m afraid I can’t stretch my authority that far, since I’m based in New York. I’m not even sure we have anybody on the ground in Santa Fe. Maybe Albuquerque, though.”

  They watched as the jet took off and turned to the southwest.

  “We may as well go home,” Lance said.

  “Did they give you an ETA for Santa Fe?” Stone asked.

  “They’ve flight-planned for four hours and ten minutes,” Lance replied.

  Stone looked at his watch.

  “It’s two hours earlier in Santa Fe. You know somebody out there?” Holly asked.

  “I used to, but it’s been a long time,” Stone said.

  “It’s worth a try,” Holly said.

  “What the hell, I’ll try,” Stone said, getting out his cell phone. “I did some work once with a lawyer out there. If he remembers me, maybe he’ll help.” He dialed information. “A number in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for the residence of Ed Eagle,” he said. “Please connect me.” While the number rang, he turned to Holly. “You really want to chase him down?”

  “More than anything.”

  “Hello,” a deep voice said at the other end of the phone.

  “Ed?”

  “Yes, who’s this?”

  “Ed, this is Stone Barrington, in New York. We did a little work together a few years back.”

  “Of course, Stone. How are you?”

  “I’m very well, thank you. I hope you are, as well.”

  “I can’t complain. Business is brisk and life is sweet.”

  “Well, you can’t ask for more than that. Ed, I need something done in Santa Fe, and I hope you can help me.”

  “I will if I can. What do you need?”

  “I need a private detective, or just somebody smart, to meet a private jet that’s going to be landing in Santa Fe in about four hours. There are three to five men aboard, and I want them followed to their destination.”

  “I think I know a fellow who can handle that,” Eagle said. “Anything else he should know?”

  “One of them is wanted in Florida on a fugitive warrant. The others are FBI agents, and they’ll probably be met by an FBI car.”

  “A fugitive traveling with FBI agents?”

  “It’s complicated. I’ll explain it when I get there.”

  “You’re coming out, then?”

  “I’ll leave tomorrow morning in my own airplane; probably be there in time for dinner. Can you recommend a hotel?”

  “How many are you?”

  “Myself and a lady cop.”

  “Can you share a room?”

  “You betcha.”

  “Then I insist you stay with me. Call me at your fuel stop and give me an ETA, and I’ll meet you.”

  “Thank you, Ed. If the destination of these parties is not local, then I’ll need to know that. It might cause a change of plan.”

  “I’ll call you by eight tomorrow morning, your time, and give you my man’s report on their destination.”

  “Thank you, Ed. I’ll speak to you then.” He hung up and turned to Holly. “Okay, we’re going to Santa Fe.”

  “Are you sure we shouldn’t fly commercial?”

  “I don’t fly commercial, except overseas.”

  38

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING at 7:45, Stone had just finished packing when the phone rang.

  “Hello?

  “Stone, it’s Ed Eagle.”

  “Good morning, Ed.”

  “My man was at Santa Fe Airport last night when the jet in question landed and was met by a van with federal plates. He followed the group to a house out on the north side of town, in a semi-remote area. After a few minutes, the van left the house with three occupants, which indicates that your fugitive is in the house with at least two agents.”

  “That’s great news, Ed. Thanks very much.”

  “Stone, I don’t know if you’ve considered the ramifications of trying to arrest a fugitive who’s already in federal custody.”

  “I’m just helping out a friend,” Stone replied, “and I’m constantly reminding her of the difficulties involved, but she’s determined to take this guy back to Florida for trial.”

  “We’ll talk some more when you get here,” Eagle said.

  “Okay. We’re refueling in Saint Louis, and I’ll call you from there with an ETA.”

  “A word of advice. If you can stretch your fuel for landing at Wichita, it’s a faster in-and-out.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. We’ll have to see how the actual, as opposed to forecast, headwinds work out.”

  “See you tonight then.”

  “Thanks again, Ed.”

  Holly came into the room. “What’s up?”

  “They’re in Santa Fe, and Ed’s guy followed them to a house there, so it may be Trini’s final destination.”

  “I’m ready to go when you are.”

  “Then let’s do it.”

  Joan drove them to Teterboro, where Stone did a preflight inspection and got a clearance. They were rolling by nine o’clock.

  Their route took them over Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the headwinds proved light enough for Stone to make Wichita for refueling. He called Ed Eagle from there and gave him an ETA of nine p.m., Santa Fe time.

  Ed Eagle was standing on the ramp when Stone taxied up to the Santa Fe Jet Center, and ten minutes later they were headed to Eagle’s house.

>   “I’ve had a man watching the house all day,” Ed said, “and nobody has left the place.”

  “Where is it?”

  “It’s about five miles north of the center of town, off Tano Road, on Tano Norte. The area has some new houses, but it’s not all built up yet. There’s a lot of empty land around it. I know the house, because I knew the guy who built it, and I went to a couple of dinner parties there.”

  “Can you describe it to me?”

  “A single story—there are restrictions on building height out there—three bedrooms, a library, living room, dining room, kitchen, garage—about six thousand square feet. A subsequent owner built an elaborate wall along the road, so you can’t see the house from the road.”

  “Does the wall go all the way around the house?”

  “No. You could approach it on foot, but the terrain is a little rough—arroyos and ravines on the property. I did the closing when the original owner bought the property, and as I recall, he bought half of a twenty-five-acre tract. There are no other houses within, say, five hundred feet. There’s also a swimming pool and cabana, a tennis court, and a guest house.”

  “Sounds pretty elaborate for somebody in the Witness Protection Program.”

  “I thought the same thing. It may just be a way point on the way to his final destination.”

  “Sounds pretty elaborate for an FBI property, too.”

  “Yeah. My guess is it’s owned by somebody friendly to the Bureau—I’ll have to check the property records to find out who—and that they’ve got your man stashed in the guest house. If that’s the case, it might make him a little easier to get out of there. The guest house has its own access to the road.”

  “Can we take a look at it tonight?” Holly asked.

  “You don’t want to do that. You’re tired, and you don’t know the territory, and dinner’s waiting for us.”

  “Relax, Holly,” Stone said. “It doesn’t sound like Trini’s going anywhere.”

  “Oh, all right,” Holly sighed.

  Ed drove them through the village of Tesuque, north of Santa Fe, and up into the hills above the village, then turned into a driveway marked by a large stone eagle perched on a big boulder.

  The house was spacious and comfortable, and the guest bedroom was inviting.