The Line - Part V

[Robbie C.]

He didn’t remember anything after hearing Tubbs scream out the 10-13 call. Martin Castillo wasn’t even sure how he’d ended up at the hospital. They’d all come by, of course, and he hoped he’d said the right things to them. But he just didn’t remember. Everything stopped right after he heard Tubbs screaming the call.

The doctor had been kind, waiting until the others left before talking to him in depth. “She’ll be fine, but it’s going to take time. And care.”

“She’ll have both,” he said in a voice leaving no room for doubt.

“Good.” The doctor took a step closer. “You’re a hard man. I was in the Army for a few years. Met a lot of hard men, but not one like you. She’ll need you to be strong.”

“She’ll get everything she needs,” he repeated, locking eyes with the doctor, who took a step back and then smiled.

“I’ll leave you in her hands,” he said, nodding toward Gina. “Looks like she’s done this before.”

“Enough times to know you don’t need to be an asshole.” She smiled, waiting for him to finally leave.

“He’s trying.”

“Sure. And I’m the queen of Sheeba.” She came over and rested her hand on his shoulder. “They’re doing everything they can, Marty. I’ll be heading back there soon to see what I can do.”

“You should go. If Chief Deputy Washington is sending people, they’ll be the best he has.” Castillo forced a smile to his lips. “You need to be where you can do the most good. And Stan will need you, just like you need him.”

“But what about you?”

He could see her tears forming and tried to head them off. “What I need is behind those doors. I need to be here in case she comes out of recovery sooner than they expect.” This time the smile wasn’t forced. “I appreciate everything everyone is doing. But you need to be together to get this done. Please.”

She was just turning to leave when two big men in flack jackets with marshal’s badges on them came striding down the hall. Gina covered her mouth with her hand, and Castillo found another real smile. “It’s taken care of.”

 

It was almost dark when the task force reassembled around the conference room. Gina looked at Sonny, her eyes still bright with tears. “I left him at the hospital. These two huge guys with marshal’s badges showed up and said they were pulling the security detail, so he told me to come back here and help Mindy.” She forced a smile. “I just wish it was under better circumstances.”

Rico whistled. “Sounds like Pete sent that warrant team we worked with going after Doc. That had to be Tiny.”

She snapped her fingers. “That’s what he said. ‘Tell them Tiny and Brick got this’ was what the really big one said.” She looked at Stan and smiled. “Now I remember them. From that party after your last case!”

Sonny smiled. Now that he knew Trudy was in good hands he could turn his full attention to the task Marty had given him. Find out who did this. “Ok, people. What do we have?”

Lester spoke first. “We went over that scene God knows how many times before the lab goofs got there. The bullet shattered when it hit the side of the building. No ballistics love there.”

Dave nodded. “Looked like a 7.62mm to me. Nothing fancy. I got the shot’s direction, but something just ain’t right. It’s buggin’ me. If the shooter was going for a heart shot he hit low. It don’t make sense.”

Stan flipped through a ream of print-outs. “No radio transmissions or spikes of any kind, Sonny. There was no comm going in or out of that area. I even left the gear on after we go there. Nothing.”

“They were already in place.” Mindy’s voice was certain. “Waiting for us to show up.”

“But who the hell is it?” Rico slammed his hand down on the table.

“Rico. Easy.” Sonny touched his partner’s shoulder. “We gotta take this one cool. Whoever did this is counting on us to go off the rails. We can’t do that.”

Gina shook her head. “Why Trudy? She’s a great cop, but I can’t think of anyone who’d want her dead like that. Not with this much work.”

“Maybe they were after me and missed.”

Dave shook his head. “It ain’t about you, Rico. I can see why some folks might want to drop you, but the shot’s wrong for that kinda miss. Unless the guy had never fired a rifle before, and I just don’t see that here.”

“That and this little trap has been in place for a long damned time. Someone took a really long view of this, and none of us have enemies going back that far.” Stan looked around the table. “Except…”

“Castillo.” Sonny nodded. “Good thinking, Stan. Only Marty has enemies that would have starting planning this…What? Five years ago at least. Someone with connections. But why now?”

Rico turned to Mindy. “Can you run a search for high-risk Federal prisoners who got released in the last two months or so? If it was local, we would have heard something.”

She nodded and turned toward the intel office. Then she stopped. “I…”

Sonny nodded. “Give her a hand, Rico. Tomorrow I’ll have Gina work with you, Mindy, if that’s ok. She wants to help out and her Spanish could be an asset.”

“Of course.” Mindy gave a weak smile. “It’s just…”

Gina smiled. “I understand, Mindy. I’ll help out any way I can.”

Sonny smiled his thanks. “Did you need to make any calls? Have me make some calls?”

She chuckled. “That’s right. I’ve got lieutenants who can call for me now.” She draped her arm around Stan and smiled. “And a big sergeant. What’s a girl to do? I already called them, Sonny. Just get them a letter saying I’m on special duty and they’ll be happy.”

“Consider it done.” Sonny looked around, groping for words. “I’m not Marty. I know that. But we’ve done all we can here tonight. Go home. Get some rest. We reconvene at 0700 and we hit these bastards hard.”

“What about Captain Castillo?”

“I want to help him, Lester. But he said the best way we can do that is find these bastards for him.” Sonny looked around the table. “And God help them when we do, because I think he’s going after them.”

 

Rico watched as Mindy fumbled with the computer keys. Normally she was confident and assured in front of that screen. But not tonight. “You heard the doctor, Mindy,” he said, his voice low and soft. “She’s gonna be fine.”

“I know. But things were going so right for her. She was so happy.”

“She still is happy. Hurting, but I’ll bet she’s still happy.”

“I know all that…I…” She looked up at him, those bright blue eyes brimming with tears. “I don’t want to be alone tonight, Rico. I didn’t want it to be this way, but…”

“At least we’re not drunk.” Rico smiled, then looked off someplace far away. Seeing the face of Angelina and what he imagined Rico Junior would look like. “I don’t want to be alone, either,” he whispered. “I’m damned tired of being alone.”

Casa Cooper’s lights were low, the jazz soft and whispering from the stereo. Mindy looked around, a smile blooming on her face. “This is perfect, Rico. How did you know…”

“The song? I figured with your taste there’s no way you couldn’t love ‘Moonlight in Vermont.’” He smiled, walking over and touching her shoulders, feeling her soft, thick hair slide over his skin. “And after today we needed The Sound.”

“We did.” She tilted her head up and kissed him, the smell of her perfume filling his nose.

“I aim to please.” Smiling, he hung up his jacket and walked to the patio door. “Let me show you the city. If you squint you can almost turn it into New York.”

“Or Boston.” She smiled, taking his hand and stepping out onto the rooftop patio. “This is amazing. You can see the sea, and the neon.”

“It almost makes Miami tolerable.” He smiled. “I don’t actually hate it, but I do like to bitch about it.”

“It’s a hard change.”

“It is.” He slid his arms around her from behind and kissed the back of her neck while she was staring out at the lights he’d seen countless times by now. “But it’s better now.”

“Have you been alone the whole time you’ve been here?”

“More or less. I won’t claim I locked myself up in a monastery, but the only one who really mattered is dead. A drug-dealer’s half-daughter, if you can believe that.” He laughed. “My stars don’t line up very damned often.”

She smiled. “They did tonight.” She shrugged off her blouse, her trim body looking like freckled ivory in the moonlight slipping between the clouds.

He drew her to him. “Yes,” he said, kissing her, “I think they finally did.”

 

Sonny spent the entire drive back to the marina rehearsing what he’d say to Jenny, but in the end he gave up. Somehow he figured she’d just know what happened in that strange way of hers, or he’d tell her straight out without any bullshit.

Tonight the candles burned in the St. Vitus Dance. He was glad. The boat had seen him through so many hard times he almost drew strength from the fiberglass hull. He nodded to Elvis as he walked up the gangplank. Then he saw her, standing in the companionway. “Something terrible happened. I can see it in your face.”

“Trudy got shot today.”

She let out a sob and fell into his arms, and he realized he was crying with her. “Is she going to be ok? No…I know she is.”

“She is, darlin’. Randy got to her in time, and she’s got a good doctor. She’s hurt, no question, but she’ll be ok. Trudy’s tough.”

“She is. She’s also my friend. And I know she’s yours.”

“Yeah. I was there when she had to shoot her first man. He was trying to kill us, but she shot straighter than he did. I’m alive today because of her.”

“So is Marty. She’s a wonderful woman.” She gasped. “Marty! How is he?”

“I don’t know how to answer that, Jenny. He’s…he’s just sitting in the hospital. He told us to go back to work, to find out who did this, but his voice was so empty.”

“He’s preparing.” There was a certainty to her voice that surprised him. “Getting ready for what he knows he has to do. And you need to be with him when that happens, Sonny. You, Rico, Randy, and Dave. Promise me you’ll be there.”

Her eyes burned with an intensity that almost frightened him. “We will be, Jenny. I promise you that.”

“He’ll need you there.” She kissed him, a light touch on his lips. “But I need you now.”

“Jenny…” He’d been turning it over in his mind the whole way back, actually hoping for red lights so he could kick it around in his head some more. “I want to be with you. For the rest of our lives. If that’s marriage, fine. If not, I’m fine with that, too. But I don’t want you to leave. Tonight...tonight reminded me again of how fleeting all this is.”

“And I want to be with you. No matter what that looks like. I was silly the other night.”

“No. You were just trying to figure out what I wanted. I didn’t know then. But after seeing Marty tonight, I know.” He smiled down at her, seeing her eyes glow in the flickering candlelight. “I have to be in early tomorrow.”

“But we have tonight.” She smiled and turned toward the aft berth’s door.

 

“What do you mean you don’t know if she’s dead?” Menton glared across the table at his two shooters.

“The cops collapsed in on the scene so damned fast, boss. It was all we could do to get clear before Metro-Dade started locking down the perimeter.”

“But they didn’t go far enough out to get you, did they?”

“They came damned close.” The thinner of the two spoke, his voice level and reasoned. “In that first group of cops, the plainclothes ones, there were two guys with CAR-15s who looked to know their way around a battlefield. If I had to bet, they guessed sniper right away.”

“And you’re sure the target wasn’t there?”

“Positive, so we went for the secondary.”

“And missed!” Menton slammed his hand on the table.

“Not really, boss. If the secondary’s wounded, it will draw the primary out. Like staking out a goat to lure in a tiger.”

“You don’t know how right that comparison is.” Menton nodded, his brain starting to process the new information. “But you’re right. We can use this. No plan survives contact with the enemy, right? And the bait was stale. That’s on me.”

“Can’t blame you though, boss. It smoked out more than a few nosy Fed teams before they tumbled onto the real work.”

“Yeah. And all good things come to an end or some liberal shit like that.” He could feel the plan sorting itself out in his head. Falling into place. “Get some intel on that hospital. Plans. If both targets are there. Hell, even finishing off the secondary will draw the primary out.”

“You think he suspects?”

“They’re vice cops, you moron. They got more enemies than we do.” Menton smiled. “And most of ‘em don’t even speak English good enough to make threats. They’re probably wastin’ time  now sorting through every mook they busted over the last ten years. Won’t do ‘em any good.” He decided. “Once you get the intel bring it to me and get the boys ready.”

After the shooters trooped out, Menton slumped back in his chair with a suppressed groan. Standards had certainly slipped while he’d been away. Those clowns wouldn’t have been picking up spent brass back in Laos or Thailand. No wonder the Company was losing Central America to the Commies.

But not this time. They wouldn’t expect a hit at the hospital. There’d be a street cop or two hitting on the nurses and stuffing his face with donuts, so no problem for the crew he’d hired. After that…he’d just taunt Castillo. The man had more pride than common sense, and if he was taunted he’d pop up like a Goddamned Cuban jack-in-the box. And then he’d put two in the back of his head. Problem solved.

It wasn’t like the bastard didn’t deserve it. Taking down Carlos Delgado rattled a lot of old, rusty cages. Menton was still connected enough he’d heard Castillo had something to do with that operation, and word came down that if he sorted out the problem all would be forgiven. Menton chuckled. He didn’t give a damn about forgiveness. This was all about revenge, going back well over twenty years.

 

The team assembled well before dawn, drifting in early for their own private reasons. Sonny found them grouped around the conference table and shook his head. “Why do I feel like I’m the last one at the party?”

“You’re not.” Rico looked at the others. “But they did make me say I’d tell you something. We all talked before you got here. We’re in this all the way with Marty, Sonny. No matter where he goes or how far it goes.”

Sonny nodded. “Been down that road myself a few years back, trying to make up for something I screwed up that ended up costing me almost everything. Whoever did this wants him to suffer, just like Hackman wanted me to suffer. He probably thinks Marty will go off the rails, just like I did. But Hackman miscalculated. He didn’t think I’d go all the way. He thought wrong. And this moron likely thinks Marty will run off alone swinging at shadows. He thought wrong. We’re gonna find him, starting right now.”

Rico nodded. “That’s what I told ‘em you’d say. How did Jenny take it?”

“Hurt, and then mad. I’ve never seen her so mad. She was worried about Marty, too.” He shook his head. “She said…Naw, it’s just her talk.”

Mindy leaned forward. “I want to know. What did she say?”

“She said he’d go all the way, and when he did, Rico, Dave, Randy, and I are supposed to be with him. She made me promise.”

“Then you’d better do it.” There was a finality to Mindy’s voice that got Sonny wondering. “My people have tales of girls like her. You never ignore what they say about situations like this. They’re always right.”

Rico chuckled. “I didn’t know South Boston had folk tales.”

“No, silly. The Irish. My gran had that gift they say.” She shook her head. “I don’t know that I believe it, but I also don’t know that I DON’T believe it.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.” Sonny nodded. “So now you know. Anyhow, did that search turn up anything?”

Gina nodded. “And you’re not gonna like it. Dale Menton was released from Federal custody over a week ago.”

“Menton? That CIA scumbag?” Rico snarled. “How the hell does a chump like that get his ‘get out of jail free’ card?”

“The Company. Same way they always do.” Sonny looked at Gina and Mindy. “Does the Chief Deputy know?”

“Filled him in just before you came up,” Gina said with a smile. “And I think he’s making a few breakfasts in DC very uncomfortable right about now.”

“You think it’s him?” Randy looked at the former OCB cops.

“Yeah. Marty broke up a nice business deal he had with a former Nationalist Chinese general. But they got history going all the way back to Vietnam.” Rico shook his head.

“Come to think of it, he might have used the name Menton on that mission we ran with him in Laos. When we took out that smuggler and his NVA contact.”

“Yep.” Dave nodded. “I remember that.”

“And Menton played a big part in the ambush that took out most of Marty’s team in Laos. And probably the grenade attack that almost killed his first wife.” Sonny nodded, his eyes cold. “We got our man, boys and girls. I want this son of a bitch pinned to the wall by the end of the day. Contacts, who he talked to in prison, who tried to make him their damend girlfriend in prison. Everything that exists on this asshole.”

“Boss? I figured out that shot. I’m a damned moron for not seeing it earlier. The shooter? He was in a building. He took the shot from elevation.”

“I don’t follow.”

“He didn’t account for bullet drop. You shoot from higher up, the bullet drops more so you have to aim higher. Idiot musta practiced on flat ground. Damned good thing for Trudy, too. That was what saved her.”

Randy took over from Dave. “But that lets us pinpoint where the shooter was, boss. And he was either the bravest cracker in all of South Florida or a brother.” Walking to the map, he jabbed his finger at a building outline. “Shot came from right here.”

“Run that damned building. Find out who owns it. Might not go anywhere, but I can’t see Menton risking a shot from someplace he didn’t control. And see if Metro-Dade had any disturbance calls in the area before or after the shot. Probably not, but run it anyhow.” Sonny glared at the map. “And I want a picture of Menton on that damned wall. We need to know our target.”

He didn’t want to go into Castillo’s office. It just didn’t feel right. But he knew he had to. The Task Force was his responsibility until Marty walked through that door and said it wasn’t. He didn’t like it, but Sonny knew he could do it.

He’d barely settled into the chair when Rico came in. His usual saunter absent, his partner slumped in one of the chairs and turned so he could look out the big window. “I still can’t get my head around it all, Sonny.”

“I know that Delgado goon, Doc, was tied in with Menton somehow. Maybe that’s what triggered it.”

“But why, man? After all these years.”

“One thing I learned from Hackman was you can’t figure these bastards out.” He smiled, but it wasn’t really Sonny’s smile. “And one thing Burnett showed me is you can only put ‘em down. If you don’t, they keep coming after you.”

“And you think Marty will?”

“Oh, I know he will. I think that’s why Jenny wants us with him. To keep him from doing anything stupid.” He shook his head. “You should have seen her when she said it. I’ve never seen her look so serious, so intense, before.”

“Yeah.” Rico smiled. “And in the interest of full disclosure, I think Mindy and I are now officially a ‘thing’ or whatever they call it.”

“Good to hear, partner. Gotta have some good stuff in the middle of this mess.” Then he switched mental gears. “I don’t think Menton will leave Miami. Not until he has what he came for.”

“You think he’s here?”

“He didn’t strike me as the kind who trusts others to handle his dirty work. He’d want to be there to make sure.”

“But didn’t he answer to that Lao Li cat?”

“He did, but something might have changed. Maybe taking out Delgado did more than we know. Hell, we might never know. And I’m cool with that. So long as we get Menton, either on a slab or in cuffs.”

“Where do you need me?”

“I’d say working informants but we don’t have any. Izzy won’t be worth squat with someone like Menton, and I’d lay odds he imported most of his talent in any case. Ex-Company mercs most likely. Maybe stick close to Mindy. She seems shaken up by all this.”

“She is, partner, and I’m not sure why. But yeah, I’ll go lend some moral support an’ listen to Gina talk about the honeymoon.”

Sonny winced. “Was it bad? I wondered about that place Angie picked, but I ain’t gonna say nothin’ to her about it.”

“Naw. Sounds like they had a hell of a time. Before the damned shooting I’d never seen either of ‘em happier, and bits of it are coming out again.”

“Good. Keep at ‘em. And let me know if anything breaks.” Sonny turned to look out the window himself, almost praying for a flash of insight. Hell, even a plane slamming through the office window would be a help right about now. He couldn’t shake the fear this was all beyond him, that he’d jumped into the deep end thinking he was in the kiddie pool.

When he looked up Randy was standing in the doorway. “Boss? You got a minute?”

“Sure, Marine. What’s up?”

“I meant what I said in the hospital. Just wanted you to know.”

“Yeah. And I meant what I said out there.” He smiled. “I get the family connection, Randy. And I’m not making light of it for a second. If we need to put the badges in the drawer to finish this, that’s what I’ll do. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“I heard something about that.”

“The son of a bitch conned me into getting him off death row. Then he murdered my wife and the unborn son I didn’t even know I had. I…went a little crazy after that. Then he goes and runs to some damned island and pays off the entire police force and just sits there. Taunting me.”

“Any one would have snapped.”

“But I didn’t. Not really. It was more…” Sonny groped for words. “You know my cover, right?”

“Burnett? Yeah. Got a hell of a scary reputation.”

“Yeah. That came after. Anyhow, it was Burnett who let me know what I needed to do. Told me that maybe the law had failed, but justice didn’t need to.” He looked up. “I never really told anyone this before.”

“I get it. I read some of the things about my great-grandpa and he thought the same. Those times he put down the badge he was going after crooked lawmen. Bastards who’d played the system and done wrong within it. I expect he’d have done the same thing you did. Hell, he might a time or two.”

“I appreciate you coming by with this, Randy. I’d say we’re on the same page. Don’t know where it leaves the Task Force when this is done…”

“Fine and dandy, I’d say. Pete’s a lawman of the old school. The really old school.” Randy got up. “I’ll go help Dave. He’s workin’ with the map to plot possible escape routes from that building.”

They worked through the rest of the day, taking an occasional break for more coffee or to order food from some takeout joint or another. Stan and Lester were beating hell out of their machines, and coming up empty each time. “We just don’t have taps where we need them,” Stan grumbled. “Hell, we don’t even know where we need them yet. I’ve still got one or two on some of Holmes’ red neck pals, but nothing there, either.”

Gina nodded. “I just turned Pete loose on the Federal prison people. He’s a character, you know that? Called me ‘hon’ and everything. Anyhow, he said he’d get us answers if he, and I quote ‘has to go all the way to DC and kick ass until the cows come home.’”

Mindy nodded, blooming into one of her few real smiles of the day. “That’s Pete. He’s a character, but he gets things done.”

“Anything come back from Metro-Dade?”

Rico had latched onto that project shortly after noon. “Yeah. Got some of those chumps in patrol to cough up the crown jewels. They had three calls from that neighborhood, one before the shooting and two after. All concerned ‘crazy white boys’ who looked like they were breaking into the target building. No IDs, no nothing. Just crazy white boys.” He looked down at the paper. “The one unit they rolled diverted to our 10-13. Wouldn’t have mattered in any case. They were fifteen minutes out from the building. Those boys were long gone before they could have gotten there.”

“Menton probably counted on that. Shooting a cop is a hell of a distraction.”

Dave snapped his fingers. “I been thinkin’. We got those escape routes, but they could also be ways in. Randy an’ I could go after dark. Just need the roach coach to drop us close. We still got those goggles, so we can see in the dark and they can’t. I plotted the shot angle back, so I know what floor and room they shot from.”

“Anything on the building’s owners?”

“A shell company owned by a shell company. So far.” Gina shook her head. “They’re all from the Far East, though.”

“Menton.” Sonny tuned back to Dave. “You think they left anything behind?”

“Not likely. But you never know. And if they’re watchin’ the place they’ll see we’re making progress. Put some pressure on them for a change.”

Sonny looked at Rico, who nodded. “It’s a solid plan. All we got right now.”

“Make it happen. If we can’t go tonight, don’t run the op. It’s not worth the risk if they’d had an extra day to clean up. And has anyone heard from the hospital today? No? I’m gonna go check on Marty. Stan, you’ve got tactical control of the mission. Ask for whatever resources you need.”

Stan gaped at him. “Me?”

“Sure. You’re a sergeant now.” Sonny smiled. “And you make good decisions and you’re not reckless. If it looks too hot or something isn’t right on the electronics, you can abort the mission.”

Randy nodded. “You got our vote, sarge. You got good instincts. Let’s do this thing.”

“I didn’t forget about you, lieutenant. Hold the fort here until I get back. Pete might need something.”

Rico nodded. “You got it, Sonny.”

 

Menton figured he should just move his damend bed into the conference room. He never seemed to leave it, but it was worth it. Soon to be even more worth it. “You guys clear on the plan?”

“Crystal.” The team leader gave him a look that was almost a sneer, and Menton filed it away for later. “Hospital security’s a joke, and it’s a clear run from the ER doors to the private room that nurse says she’s in. Maybe two cops on duty. Metro-Dade’s training is right up there with the Cambodian army’s, so we ain’t worried.’

“But you’d better be worried about Castillo. He’s one man, but he ain’t like any one man you’ve ever seen.”

Grinning, the team leader held up his SPAS semi-auto shotgun. “I think this’ll slow him down a bit.” Then his face grew serious. “We heard about what he did helping Grezky here a few years back. We won’t take any chances, Menton. Don’t worry about that. He dies, then she dies if there’s time.”

“Police response time is anywhere between five and ten minutes on a good night.” Menton grinned. “This one ain’t gonna be good. I got a few helpers who are gonna toss some Molotovs in Overton thirty minutes before you go in. That’ll get the natives all riled up and keep Metro-Dade busy all night long.” He looked around the table. “I know this is a rushed plan, but we can’t let Castillo sit too long. He’s got his people sniffing around, and even a blind dog finds a bone now and again. We gotta hit him now, while he’s exposed and off balance. Before he knows he’s the target.”

“Only question I have is when do we get paid?”

“Wire transfers go through as soon as the mission’s complete. Less the half you already got. And that half’s yours either way. Just like we agreed.” Menton grinned. “Anything else?”

“Naw. Equipment check in ten, boys!” The team leader got up from the table with a grin, his blonde hair cut close to his scalp showing a series of tattoos. Menton recognized some of them from prison. How the hell did a skinhead get in the Company? Ah, well. Don’t bother me none. Makes him a better tool right now. He’ll walk through damned fire to kill a Cuban cop.

Alone again with his thoughts, he looked at the empty chairs. He didn’t care if none of them came back, so long as Martin Castillo bled out on the cold linoleum floors of the hospital. With that page closed, he could get on with his life.

[mjcmmv]

Castillo seems so vulnerable right now. I can tell this is going to be exciting right up to the end. So glad you posted this! A great read!

[vicegirl85]

I'm on the edge of my seat!  Plus, I'm worried that Menton has a mole in the Task Force.  Hoping that's not the case!

Please don't make us wait too long for the next part!