The Line - Part VI

[Robbie C.]

Rolling a bit longer than I thought, but it's turning into a busy tale.

 

Later Sonny couldn’t say what made him swing by the marina. Maybe it had been the intensity in her eyes when she’d asked about Marty, but he knew he needed to see if Jenny wanted to go to the hospital. She’d been waiting on the Dance, and she let out a little yell of joy when he asked. “I’d love to,” she said as she ducked below to throw on one of her simple sun dresses. “Give me a second and I’ll be right there. I’ve been thinking about them all day. And you.”

“I’m sorry, baby.” He kissed her as soon as she came through the companionway. “I got all wrapped up in this stuff and just…”

“Don’t apologize. It’s what you do. I just want to understand more about it.”

They climbed in the Ferrari and Sonny guided the car into the early evening traffic. “It’s dangerous work, but you’ve already seen that. I get called in all the time, but you know that, too. I used to be an asshole about it, as you might have gathered from my friends. How Cait put up with me I’ll never know. I wish I would have been better with her, and I will be with you.”

She looked at him, and he saw something in her eyes before she looked away. “I’d like to meet them when this is over.”

“They’re…”

“You go to their graves. It’s ok. I understand. I’d just like to meet them. If that’s ok with you.”

The more he thought about it, the less crazy it seemed. Hell, with Jenny just about everything didn’t seem crazy after a time. “Yeah. Yeah, we can do that.”

“Good. I want to let her know I’ll take care of you.” She reached over and touched his thigh. “But now we need to see Marty. And Trudy if she’s awake.”

The hospital was wrapped in the strange gloom that often came right as a shift was ending and another waited to begin. Still too early for the drunks to be flowing in, but a shade too late for the mothers with kids who had sore throats or scraped knees. Especially on the ER side it was noticeable.

Sonny nodded to Tiny as the big man loomed out of one of the side doorways. “Just coming to check on them.”

He nodded. “Wish it was better circumstances, Sonny. Jenny. Good to see you again.”

“Keep a good watch tonight, Tiny.”

“I always do, ma’am.”

She giggled and took Sonny’s arm as they moved past the big man. He saw a second shadow and knew Brick was close by. He’d also not missed the compact MP-5 hanging by an assault strap at the Tiny’s waist. They weren’t taking any chances.

Trudy’s room was quiet except for the beeping and humming of the hospital machines surrounding her bed. Castillo sat in deep shadow near her head, holding her hand. He looked up and smiled as the two came in, and Jenny ran past Sonny and threw her arms around him. “It’s so good to see you, Martin! How is she?”

“Why don’t you ask me?” Trudy’s voice was dry and brittle, the result of surgical tubes and partial dehydration. Sonny remembered those same sensations after he’d been shot, so he knew what she was going through.

Jenny let out another happy yelp and leaned over the bed. “I’d ask, but it’s a silly question considering where you are. I just had to come and see both of you.”

Castillo looked over at the doorway, and Sonny could see the light in his eyes again. “Thank you for coming. And for bringing Jenny.”

Jenny turned back to Castillo. “You look like you need some fresh air. And I can see work in your eyes. Sonny, why don’t you let him know what’s happening? I’d love to stay with Trudy and keep her company.”

Trudy smiled, but Sonny could still see the pain lines on her face and in her eyes. “I’d like that, Jenny. You can help me plan the wedding.” She looked at Castillo. “I’ll be fine, my love. You go with Sonny.”

“I won’t be long.” Castillo slid past Jenny and kissed Trudy on the forehead. Then he turned to Sonny and his eyes changed. “Fill me in.”

Sonny waited until they were past Tiny and Brick to drop the bombshell. “We’re pretty sure it was Dale Menton who was behind this. He managed to get sprung from Federal prison a couple of weeks ago. Pete’s already looking into that side of it. From what Mindy said he’s pissed as hell.”

“Menton.” Castillo’s voice was flat.

“Everything points that way. Stan’s leading a team to check out the building the shooter used. It’s owned by a series of overseas shell companies tracking back to Southeast Asia. Rico’s turning over every informant rock we can find, and Mindy’s running Menton’s know shell companies against holdings in Miami. And I’m sure you noticed Tiny and Brick.”

“Good work. Menton is dangerous.” Castillo climbed into the Ferrari, waiting until Sonny pulled into traffic to continue. “This time I will finish things.”

“We’re on it with every resource we have. And I don’t think Menton knows anything about the Task Force. How he tumbled onto you and Trudy I don’t know.”

“Surveillance. I’m careful once I leave the city, but I must have gotten careless somewhere and his people saw us together. Menton hires ex-Company men.” Castillo stared out the window, and Sonny could feel him drifting away again.

“Marty…we got this. I know how you feel. So does Rico. We’ve both been there. I’ll get you up to speed at the office and then we’ll make our next move.”

“Unless Menton makes it for us. Do not underestimate this man. He was in this game before Maynard ever recruited his first asset. How did he get out of prison?”

“All we know right now is he was released.” Sonny turned into the underground garage and shut off the Ferrari. “Rico and I think taking down Delgado might have rattled cages we didn’t know about. He got out soon after that.”

“Let’s go up.”

Rico had been sitting at the conference table talking with Gina and Mindy when they came in, and he shot to his feet. “Marty! Good to see you. How’s Trudy?”

“Better. She sends her love to all of you.” Castillo gave them a thin smile and then turned to the map. “Crockett told me about Menton. What do we have?”

Gina walked over and gave him a quick hug, and Sonny could see Castillo blush slightly. “She’ll be ok, Marty. She’s one tough lady. And it is good to be back working with these lugs.” She smiled and turned to the map, going all-business in a second. “This is the building the shot came from. Dave tracked it back and they’re heading there now to look it over. Metro-Dade had some calls about ‘crazy white dudes’ in the area around the time of the shooting, but the 10-13 pulled them away. They weren’t close enough to do anything even if the call hadn’t gone out.”

Mindy gave Castillo a weak smile, and Sonny felt sorry for her. She didn’t know him like they did and didn’t know what to do. “We’ve tracked ownership of the building back through three shell companies to one out of Thailand. That’s probably his main one.”

“Yes. It would be.” Castillo turned to her and smiled. “Thank you for your concern, Deputy O’Laughlin. I know this isn’t easy for you. Can you run a search of property records and see what else those shell companies own in Miami? It might give us a lead.”

Rico got to his feet. “I’ll help her, captain. Gives me something to do other than stare at that damned fax machine. I know why Sonny hates it now. Would have shot it myself if Gina would have let me.”

“Do we know where he is?”

“He hasn’t come up on any of our taps, but they aren’t really set up for this. And we can’t get more warrants until we have locations, and he’s been keeping a low profile.” Sonny turned and looked at Castillo. “He’s been planning this for years, Marty. That warrant profile was a setup. He’s kept it on ice, just waiting.”

“He’s missed me at least twice, and I’ve hit him every time. He wants to finish this. Just like I do.”

Sonny was about to tell him about the plan for the building when the phone rang.

 

Stan Switek felt the weight of command bearing down on his thick shoulders. He had to remind himself it wasn’t a real weight, and his command was pretty theoretical. But he had to admit he’d felt proud when Sonny put him in charge. And the look in Gina’s eyes was enough to make any incidental indignity well worth suffering.

But there hadn’t been any. Lester asked his advice like he usually did when they dialed in the surveillance frequencies, and Dave and Randy actually paid attention when he told them where to put their gear in the roach coach. In fact, they’d even asked his advice about the roads leading into the area and which ones he felt offered the best lines of retreat if they had to get the hell out of Dodge.

Still, the weight was there. He knew the basics, learned at the feet of one of the best men he’d ever known. Castillo always took the blame and shared every ounce of credit, and Stan swore he’d do the same. It was dark in the underground garage when he looked over at Lester and nodded. “It’s time. Let’s roll.”

“Gotcha, boss.” Lester chuckled. “I always wanted to say that.”

Randy and Dave sat in the back, their black fatigues vanishing in the shadows thrown by equipment racks. After their last outing Lester had rigged two folding jump seats back by the doors, short on comfort but top-notch on usefulness and speed. The two deputies sat in them, silenced MP-5SDs gripped between their knees. They hadn’t said much since kitting up, just settled in and waited for the ride to end.

“Welcome aboard Roach Coach Airlines,” Stan ad-libbed from the driver’s seat. “You’re on a round-trip ticket to the fun and adventure of colorful Overton. Don’t harass the natives or they might shoot at you. And go around barefoot at your own risk.”

Randy grinned. “Backed up a few warrant raids in here now and again. Once you got past the bad apples it ain’t a bad place.”

Lester nodded. “Yeah, but it’s tough. You got no real development going in, and what happens pushes people out of their homes and doesn’t give ‘em anything in return. No wonder the place is on edge.”

Dave snorted. “Metro-Dade don’t help much, neither. But like you said it’s tough. People want police, but they don’t want to give up any information. Don’t take much for the uniforms to stop trusting ‘em.”

Stan nodded, guiding the van through the building evening traffic and going over scenarios in his head. He was trying to play it cool, but he could feel the sweat beading in the hollow of his spine. Way back when he’d done some uniform patrol in Overton, so he knew the area fairly well. Or he had.

Making the last turn, he turned off the headlights and shifted into neutral to let the van coast to a stop. Reaching back, he pulled the curtain between the cab and the back to keep any light from bleeding out. “Lester, get the system up. We need to know who’s transmitting around here and what they’re saying. Guys, you got five minutes until you wanted to step off. It looks quiet from up here, but I’d rather let Lester verify no one’s on a radio spotting.”

“Sounds good, sarge. We’ll go on your word.”

Stan nodded, then said “You got it” when he remembered they couldn’t see him. They wouldn’t turn the night vision on until they were outside; a flash from one of the panels could overload the goggles and shut them down for minutes. Time they didn’t want to waste.

Lester slipped on his headphones, leaving one ear clear, and started rolling the frequency dial. “Got a Metro-Dade unit out and about,” he said, sounding almost like a DJ as he updated the rest of the van. “Sounds like two kids playing with walkie-talkies. No, scratch that. A dealer and his spotter. They just radioed that the patrol car went by.” He shook his heads. “Kids and their new toys.”

Stan listened with half his mind, the other half focused on the streets around him. Dealers working the corners were nothing new here. Only the faces and the drugs of choice changed. He’d spent a good part of his career on the streets, and not the flashy ones Crockett and Tubbs got to hang out in. You picked up a lot playing a wino, a bum, or just hanging around on the corner shooting the shit with the street dealers. He knew Overton was tense, but that usually worked itself out with thrown bottles, a stabbing or two, and maybe a burned car someone wanted to collect insurance on.

He came back to the van when he noticed Lester’s voice change. “Just picked up something in the lower frequencies. Tactical ones. Short sentences. ‘In position.’ ‘Wait.’ Now they just sent ‘Go.’ No idea what the hell…”

“I think I do.” Stan looked out the side window, watching as two Molotov cocktails arced through the air, flames jumping on their cloth wicks like fireworks gone wrong. The two bottles shattered against the side of one of the small single-family homes left over from some project after World War II, sending flames licking up the side of the dry structure. He thought he saw lighters flare across the street, and then a second set of bottles exploded against another frame building that might have once been a corner store.

“What’s the call, sarge?” Dave’s voice was urgent. “We can get those assholes no sweat and maybe continue with the mission.”

Why would they burn their own houses? The though jumped into his head and wouldn’t go away. “Any more on that frequency?”

“Yeah. Another ‘Go’ message.”

That did it. Pieces started falling into place as he started the roach coach. “We’re aborting the mission. Lester, call Metro-Dade and have them roll units. Then get on the phone and see if Sonny’s in the office or his car. Tell him to get to the hospital. We’ll meet him there.”

Lester nodded and starting working the comms. Dave and Randy looked at each other, and Stan guessed they were surprised by the decisive tone of his voice. But he knew what was happening. Knew it as clearly as if the asshole had posted it on a billboard. “Don’t you get it? This is a diversion. Gang trouble doesn’t go down like this in Overton. And why would someone want to draw every cop in Creation here? What does that leave exposed?”

Randy connected the dots first. “Shit! The hospital!”

“Hang on back there! Lester, get those calls made!” Stan floored the accelerator, hearing the souped-up V-8 roar as the Roach Coach gave him everything it had. He just hoped it was enough.

 

“What is it, Lester? Did the raid…”

“Sonny! Get to the hospital quick! We aborted. Overton was a diversion. Stan thinks Menton’s gonna hit the hospital!”

Sonny stared at the phone in disbelief. How the hell had that fat little prick beaten them to the punch again? But then his mind kicked into overdrive. “They’re hitting the hospital! Marty, with me! Rico, bring who you can when you can! Stan’s on the way!” He turned and sprinted for the door, noticing Castillo had beaten him there.

Sonny left a trail of rubber from his parking place to the street, the Ferrari howling in protest as he cranked it around the corner and speed-shifted through the gears, accelerating as fast as the car could. “Marty, I…”

“You couldn’t know. He’s three steps ahead. I should have known.” Reaching under his jacket, Castillo pulled out his big Smith & Wesson Model 29 and checked the cylinder. The six .44 Magnum shells glittered in the orange light from the Ferrari’s instrument console. He closed the cylinder with a click. “They’ll go in through the ER. It’s the most direct route.”

“But they won’t know about Tiny and Brick. They’ll think it’s just Metro-Dade.” Then his mind processed the rest of the equation. “Jenny!”

“Trudy has her pistol. I made sure of that. But we have to get there.”

“We will.” Sonny did a racing change and cut around four cars, ignoring the honks and squealing of tires he left in his wake. Red lights didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but getting to Mercy General.

The red cross sign loomed out of the darkness, and Sonny slammed on the breaks. The Ferrari screamed to a halt, smoke rolling off the tires. He turned off the car and hauled out his own Smith & Wesson. “Let’s do this.”

Castillo nodded. His voice was cold. “We only need one alive.”

Sonny did a double-take, not sure he’d heard correctly, and saw Castillo ghosting for the door. He followed at a dead run, the rattle of automatic weapons fire reaching his ears as the doors hissed open. Controlled bursts, coming from the direction of the trauma corridor. He stuffed his badge in his blazer breast pocket, almost slipping on a pool of blood spreading from the body of the ER’s lone security guard. “Poor bastard didn’t stand a chance,” he muttered, and then realized he had to move if he wanted to keep up with Castillo.

The older man was ghosting from doorway to doorway, the big pistol up and tracking with his eyes. Sonny tried to keep up, but was having trouble. He’d never seen anything like this before from Marty, and it impressed and frightened him at the same time. He wanted to move, but the careful cop wouldn’t. Cover your partner. Watch your six. Get the screaming civilians to cover. Be ready to warn. Then Burnett reminded him it was Jenny down there, too. He started to move, pushing past a screaming nurse with a muttered “Stay down” to mark his passing.

The acrid smell of gunpowder filled his nose, and he could see glittering spent shell casings littering the floor ahead, the fluorescent overheads making them sparkle like gold nuggets. Then he saw two bodies, men clad in plain fatigues with ski masks on their heads and UZIs still clenched in their dead hands. Both had been killed by short controlled busts to the chest. He looked over at Castillo, who shook his head and motioned to keep moving. More gunfire rattled out head, just audible over an alarm someone had pulled. Sonny winced, then nodded. It would give them cover to move.

Two men sheltered in doorways ahead of them, with what looked to be UZIs aimed down the hall. One leaned out and fired a controlled burst, spent casings arcing out to joint the growing pool on the floor, then seemed to sense something behind him. He started to turn and Castillo shot him through the chest. The Magnum’s big boom overwhelmed even the wailing alarm, growing in power as it bounced off the walls. The second gunman reacted like a trained professional, diving away and bringing his own weapon up. Sonny shot him twice through the chest, the impact knocking his body down the hall and the sound of the two shots merging into one.

Brick and Tiny had barricaded themselves behind an upset gurney and chairs from the hall, and they’d left a string of down men in ski masks running the length of the hall. Smoke trailed from the short barrels of their MP-5s, and they waved when they saw Sonny and Castillo. “Damn glad you two showed up. We’re low on ammo and those bastards were starting to wear us down. They came at us fast, but we got two right off.” Brick spoke fast. “You two head on down. I heard shots from down there and they might have gotten one past us through a side door or something. I think there’s another down the hall to the right. We’re sweeping now.”

Sonny nodded, turning to keep up with Castillo who was moving like a shadow again. The safety on his pistol was off. If they’d hurt Jenny or Trudy, Sonny wasn’t sure he could take one of them alive. And he knew if they’d hurt Trudy Marty’s wrath would be terrible to behold.

The door to the room was partway open, kept that way by a dead body. The man’s ski mask had come off, showing a shock of close-cropped blonde hair and what looked like skinhead tattoos.  The dark shape of a shotgun was partly visible under his body. Castillo turned to Sonny and raised a finger. Nodding, Sonny leveled his own pistol and shouted “U.S. Marshals! Surrender now or die!”

Trudy’s weak voice answered his shout. “We’re ok. Jenny…”

In a heartbeat Sonny was through the door. Jenny still sat in the chair by the bed, smoke trailing from the wide muzzle of Trudy’s big MatchMaster. She looked at the body and then Sonny, putting the safety on the pistol before moving so Castillo could get to Trudy and take her in his arms. “He wanted to hurt her, so it was his time to go.” Her voice was calm, like she was talking about a change in the weather. “He was a bad man, so I don’t feel bad.”

Sonny looked down at the tight three-round group perforating the man’s chest. “Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”

“Father had a gun collection. And it was handy in my old line of work.” She looked over at the body like it was a badly-folded shirt. “He came in through that side door once the shooting started. Like they’d planned it that way. He didn’t expect me to be here, and he didn’t expect me to have a gun. He was a coward.”

Castillo came from the bed and looked down at Jenny. “I can never repay you.”

“You don’t need to. You brought me Sonny. It was you who brought him back to Miami. So I’d say we’re even.” She smiled and looked over at Trudy. “I couldn’t let him hurt my friend.” She looked down at the pistol as if seeing it for the first time. “I need to give this back to Trudy.”

Stan came through the door puffing like an overheated engine. “Is everyone ok? I tried…”

Sonny slapped the big man on the bicep. “You did great, Stan. You warned us just in time and made the right call.”

Castillo nodded. “Excellent work, Switek. Your instincts are commendable. Crockett made the right call giving you a team.”

Brick and Tiny emerged from the side hall, pushing a handcuffed man in front of them. “We found this piece of garbage in a car out by the side exit.” Tiny smacked the man upside the head with his huge hand. “All dressed up and no one to drive, right chief?

Sonny looked at Castillo, who nodded. “Take that punk down to your interview room. We’ll be having a little talk with him. Stan, have Dave and Randy hold the fort here until we can get two fresh deputies in.”

“We’re good, boss. Just need some more ammo and coffee is all.”

“They they can cover for you until you get coffee and ammo.” Sonny turned back to Castillo. “I…”

“Go to her. She needs you now.” Castillo turned to the surviving gunman, his eyes black as night. “I’ll deal with this one. Switek, have Tubbs meet me at the marshals’ office. Crockett will join us when he can.”

Sonny found Jenny sitting back in her chair, talking with Trudy as if nothing had happened. The charge nurse, recovering some of her dignity after being one of the first to run away, stuck her head in right after Sonny came back. “We’ll need to move you, Miss Joplin. The police have to muck around.”

Jenny looked at her. “Those police just saved your life, you cow.”

“Miss, I…”

“I got this, lady. Go round up your crew and get Trudy moved. Now.” Sonny looked at her with a Burnett stare and she turned in a cloud of distressed authority and scurried out.

Trudy smiled, her eyes bright but tired. “You’re a hell of a lady, Jenny. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if you hadn’t have been here.”

“I just did what needed doing.” She smiled and turned to Sonny. “It was Stan, wasn’t it?”

“Yes.” He didn’t even bother asking how she knew.

“He’s got an ear for the street like we do the ocean. If they tried anything out there, he’d know if it was true or not. He’s a good man. Gina’s lucky he’ll have her.”

Sonny looked at Trudy, who just shrugged. So she noticed it, too. “I need to get down to talk to that guy we captured. But I wanted to make sure you’re ok.”

“I am. For now. Later…it might be hard.”

“It will be.” Trudy smiled. “Sonny was there when I had to kill my first bad guy.”

“He told me.” Jenny sat down, suddenly looking very frail and alone. “I…”

“Let me call Stan and have him let them know.” Sonny turned for the door. “I can’t leave you.”

“You have to.”

“No, I…”

“Sonny, let me talk with her. You helped me, and now it’s time I paid that forward.” Trudy smiled at Jenny. “Besides, it’ll give us an excuse to talk.”

“It’s ok, Sonny. I’ll be ok with Trudy. But later…”

“I will be back as soon as I can. If you’re not here I’ll look for you at the boat.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “I love you, baby.”

 

The interview room was small, no bigger than an oversized closet. The driver slumped over the table, his right wrist cuffed to a bolt hook in the table. In turn the table was bolted to the floor. Only the chairs moved.

Martin Castillo looked through the one-way glass. He’d had the man put in there almost an hour ago, and no one had gone near him since. Rico stood next to him, and Sonny had joined then not ten minutes before. Castillo could feel both men looking at him, but he didn’t move. Didn’t speak. Just watched the man in the room.

He’s trained. Likely CIA. He’ll be hard to break, and physical torture won’t work. Even though I’d love to try a few techniques I learned in Saigon. The South Vietnamese were not gentle on their enemies. In his head Castillo went through the lines, the techniques he could use or discard to break the man. Then he decided. Without a word he opened the door and went in.

The man looked up. “I want my phone call.”

“No.”

“I got rights. I want my phone call.”

“No.”

“Listen, asshole, I want…”

“That guard your team killed was an off-duty police officer. Do you know what happens to even accused cop-killers in Florida prisons?”

“But you can’t…”

“And if that guard happened to be deputized as a Federal law enforcement officer…do you know what happens then?” Castillo walked to the back of the room, just out of the man’s line of sight. “You could move from one system to the other. And charges can take time to process. It could be months. Do you think you can survive months of that? First the Florida guards and then Federal officers?”

“Look, you can’t…”

“Or maybe you cooperated. Or maybe you didn’t but we said you did. I understand they have a saying in Radford. Snitches become bitches.”

“You need to call this number. They’ll explain…”

“No. They’ll say they never heard of you and hang up. You’re expendable to them.” Castillo moved again, still out of the man’s line of sight. “Just like your dead teammates. Menton didn’t tell you there were U.S. Marshals there, did he?”

“It was supposed to be one hospital punk guard. We didn’t…”

“See? He lied to you. It’s what he does.” Castillo went quiet, watching the man squirm in his chair. The chain rattled as he shifted, trying to see who was talking. When he spoke again it was lower. “I can help with that. You were just driving, right? But if you don’t help me, everything I talked about will happen to you. And I don’t lie.”

When the man spoke his voice was a whisper. “What do you want to know?”

“Where is Menton?”

“I don’t…”

Castillo moved in front of the man with two quick steps, so fast he seemed to appear out of nowhere. His voice was a hissed shout, and he slammed his palm on the table to punctuate each world. “Where. Is. Menton?”

“Look…I swear I don’t know where the fat bastard actually stays. He always met us in a conference room in this cheap office building down by the docks.” The man rattled off the address. “We had safe houses scattered around. You know. Tradecraft. But him? I never knew where he went. That Nazi fuck who was in charge? He might have known. Wondered if he might have been Menton’s bitch in prison, or maybe Menton was his.”

“What about after the hit?”

“I was supposed to drive to a Holiday inn out by the airport and leave the car there. Then we’d scatter and meet up at that office in two days to get paid and get the hell out of Dodge. At least that was the claim. I always thought Menton had something up his ass about it, though. Another job.”

“Explain.”

“There was a second target. We were never briefed on it. Just the girl. And we didn’t know she was a goddamned girl until those two assholes botched the shot. You got both of them, by the way. They were on the team. Menton talked about a second target, but I got the feeling he either wanted to do that one himself or he had another team waiting in the wings.”

“You’ll be transferred to a holding cell. I’ll talk to the AUSA about you cooperation and see what we can work out.” Castillo smiled. “You still want that phone call?”

“No. You were right about it, I’d guess. I’ll take my chances that you’re honest.”

 

Rico looked at Sonny. “How the hell does he do that?”

“I gave up figuring that out years ago, partner.” Sonny stood with his arms folded across his dark gray blazer, still processing the events of the evening. “You know Jenny killed the guy who made it to the room. Put three rounds in his chest without blinking.”

“Damn. That girl is full of surprises.”

“Yeah. Then she looked at him and said it was his time to go.” Sonny shook his head. “And you should have seen Marty in that hospital. I’ve never seen a man move like that before. It was like he was smoke, floating from one spot to the next. And the one guy he shot? One round right through the heart.”

“How’s Jenny?”

“She’s still with Trudy. Trudy said she’d talk to her, but…” Sonny shook his head again. “I don’t know if she’ll need to. And when Marty said he owed her, she shook it off and said they were even because he’d brought me to Miami for her.”

“You got yourself a strange one, partner, but in a good way.” Rico nodded toward the room. “It’s like you found Castillo’s little sister.”

“Kinda, yeah.” Then his voice changed with his mood. “We gotta get ahead of Menton. If he’ll send a damned hit team into a hospital God knows what else he’ll do. We can get Gina and Mindy started on running down that building the asshole mentioned., and that might be enough for Stan to get some warrants.”

“We put wires in either way.” Castillo came out of the interview room, his eyes dark and brooding. “I will not let Menton shoot up my city like this. We are going to stop him, no matter what it takes.” Reaching into his jacket, he pulled out his badge and set it on the table. “He crossed my line. I don’t need the badge to deal with him now. This is personal. I won’t risk any of you.”

Sonny shook his head. “Yeah, it’s personal. But think, Marty. He knows you better than anyone out there who’s taken a shot at you.”

Rico nodded. “He really knows you, not just from reading a file. He knows how you think, man. How you react. He’s trying to draw you out alone. You do that, and the chump wins. He’s read ahead.”

Castillo looked from one man to the other. “You’re my subordinates, but you’re also my friends. I can’t ask you…”

“Who’s asking?” Rico dropped his badge on the table with a hollow thud. “You forget, I’m an expert at this kinda thing. How do you think I got to Miami in the first place?”

Sonny’s badge joined the pile. “And I didn’t exactly destroy the Manolo organization on the clock. And if the others were here, their badges would be in the stack, too. Especially Randy.”

Castillo nodded. “Yes. He told me.” Sighing, he reached down and picked up the badge. “I already owe you both more than I can ever repay. But this has to end.”

Rico looked at Sonny. “You don’t owe us a damned thing, man. You gave us second chances when neither of us deserved them.”

“Especially me.” Sonny laid his hand on Castillo’s shoulder. “I was a shit cop when I left. Hell, the best work I did was when I wasn’t a cop. But you let me back in, Marty, and let me prove I’d changed. So if I have to turn Burnett loose on this asshole consider it a down-payment on what I owe you.”

A confused look appeared on Rico’s face. “Burnett? I don’t follow…”

“This is the kind of thing Burnett would do. Ruthless. Totally focused on one target. Hell, it’s how I broke the Manolo organization one person at a time.” Sonny allowed himself a thin smile. “Yeah…I own Burnett now. Warts and all. Anyhow, I can go after Menton the same way. We have what he wants, and we know at least one of his bases of operation. Let it leak that the team was all killed, but that they critically wounded Trudy and she’s not likely to make it. We’ll get her shifted to a different hospital to reinforce the con.”

Castillo nodded. “He will think I’m broken. That’s what he was trying to do.”

Understanding lit Rico’s face. “Yeah! And then we start hitting him. Hard and with no let-up. If we can get Brick’s team we’ll have the resources.”

“And if we turn Dave and Randy loose he’ll know we’re after him.” Sonny’s eyes were bright. He could see all kinds of possibilities opening. “I need to talk to Stan. See what he can come up with. He’s an inventive bastard, and his tech can help us look like there’s way more of us than there are. False radio transmissions and all that.”

Castillo looked at them. “Do it. I’ll arrange the hospital transfer. Jenny can go with her if she’d like. I’d…” He paused, then looked straight at Sonny. “I’d feel better if they were together.”

“After seeing Jenny’s shooting so would I.” Sonny nodded his agreement. “Let’s get to work, gents. We’ve got a trap to set.”

[mjcmmv]

Exciting "episode"! Jenny is really something! 

Another great one. Now, let's see what "Burnett" can do! 

 

[Robbie C.]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[vicegirl85]

Another nail-biter!  Hurrah for Stan, and hurrah for Jenny!  Things could have been much worse if not for their quick reactions.

[Robbie C.]

I've really enjoyed giving Stan room to grow in these stories, honestly. Gina should be proud of him....