Breaking Point Part XVII

[Robbie C.]

Rico found Mindy drinking coffee on the rooftop patio of Casa Cooper. He slid his arm around her waist, feeling the smooth silk of the robe under his fingers. “What’s on your mind, pretty lady?”

“Did you see the news?”

“The four bodies? Yeah. I’d guess it’s Unit 8 with another of their damned messages. Given the neighborhood it’s likely Tech 9s, so it’s not much of a loss.”

“But who will they target next? You? Sonny?”

“Naw. We’re valuable, or they think we are.” He gave her a squeeze. “I get that you’re worried. So am I. But we can’t let it take control. If we do we get slow when we should be fast.”

She nodded, her red hair shifting in the slight morning breeze. Yesterday’s clouds were gone, and the sun held the promise of a hot and humid day. “I try not to worry. I do. But it just comes sometimes. Like when I’m just sitting looking out over the city. Or when you head out with Sonny to meet someone. It never bothered me before.”

“It changes when you care about someone.” Rico turned her to face him and kissed her, tasting the coffee on her lips and tongue. “Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t go back to how I was for anything. But things do change when you have someone. You worry more, not so much about yourself but what might happen to them. But I wouldn’t change a damned thing about it.”

“Neither would I.” The smile on her lips found its way to her eyes. “But…”

“But what?” Now he was worried. There was something in her eyes he hadn’t seen before. Just a little hint deep in the blue. Was she getting ready to tell him she was leaving? It wouldn’t be the first time, but he was usually better at seeing the signs. They’d been together for a time now, and worked with each other longer than that.

“I…” She shook her head. “This all sounded so much better in my head.”

“It usually does.” Rico smiled, trying to hide the fear building in his heart.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Now you’re gonna have me worried.” The fear kept pressing at the back of his throat. “If you’re wanting out, I…”

“No! Oh, God no.” She hugged him. “I really did screw it up, didn’t I?”

“Just say what’s on your mind, Mindy.”

She nodded, not looking up. “Rico, I…oh to hell with it. Rico, will you marry me?”

The fear exploded in a heartbeat, replaced with someone Rico couldn’t quite define. Even later he wasn’t quite sure what to call the feeling, but he knew he liked it. “Of course I will, Mindy. I’ll even pick out my best dress.”

“Now you’re making fun…”

“No, baby. I’m not.” He ran two fingers along the underside of her chin and tilted her face up toward his. “I’m not making fun of you at all. How could I? You’ve got bigger balls than I do.” He chuckled. “Hell, of course I’ll marry you.”

“We can always tell Sonny you asked me.”

“And have Jenny call us liars? You know she would.”

“Yes.” Mindy giggled, kissing him hard. “She would. But maybe this should be our secret until the case is over.”

“Yeah. No reason to get them all excited while there’s still work to do.” Rico smiled, still feeling like he was standing about six inches off the ground. “Though I gotta ask. Why now?”

“I had to know. If anything happened and I hadn’t asked you I don’t think I could have taken it.” She buried her face in his chest. “I know that sounds selfish, and maybe it is. But I was so scared and I wasn’t sure if you knew how I felt, and I had to know how you felt, and…”

He kissed her again. “It’s ok, baby. I know how you feel. I really do. Hell, if I had more guts I would have asked you. But I didn’t want to lay that on you before we went after these chumps. I don’t know. But now I guess we both know.” He kissed her again and looked at his watch. “And we’d better finish getting ready if we want to make it in on time. I expect Castillo’s gonna have something to say about those bodies.”

They got in just after Sonny, and Rico knew from the glint in his eye his partner had seen something. “Morning, kids. Captain wants a briefing after lunch. He’s been locked in his office since before I got in, and Trudy said he’s got a lunch meeting with Pete. Stan and Lester got the reports from the crime scene. Rico, let’s give ‘em a going over just in case.”

“Solid.” Rico winked at Mindy before sauntering into the office he shared with Sonny.

As soon as they were inside, Sonny shut the door. “Give, partner. Something’s up in Casa Cooper land. I can see it in her eyes. Did you…”

“Look, Sonny. Promise you’ll keep it between us?” Rico raised his hands. “I kinda gave my word.”

“You got it, partner. But did you…”

“Naw, man. She did. She asked me to marry her.”

“If you said no I’ll throw you through the damned window.”

“Sonny…not only am I pretty, I’m smart.” Rico grinned. “You bet your ass I said yes. “ Then his eyes turned serious. “This whole Unit 8 thing’s got her shook up. She said she had to know if I felt the same way about her, and if anything happened and she didn’t know…”

“I get it, man. Life’s too damned short.” Sonny looked out the window. “I’ll keep it quiet until after the case, but I want you to know something…forget what you owe me for Casa Cooper. I want you two to start off right. I know it ain’t the same as a fancy honeymoon, but…”

“Man, I can’t do that. You’re talking serious cash.”

“Naw.” Sonny turned back to Rico. “You’re the best friend I’ve got, Rico. If I can help you start off with no serious debt with the woman you love, it’s the damned least I can do. I know how hard it can be on a cop’s pay, and you don’t need that hassle. You paid your dues, partner. And then some.”

“Thanks, Sonny.” Rico blinked and turned away, not wanting Sonny to see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes. “I don’t know…”

“Then don’t say anything. I won’t mention it again.” Sonny laid his hand on Rico’s shoulder. “We only got each other, partner. This Task Force is like some strange backwoods family. And I was raised to help family. And now we’d better look those files over so that when Castillo tests us later we don’t flunk out.”

Rico chuckled, pushing his feelings deep down for another time. Putting on his cop face. “You got that right, partner. What did they bring back?”

“Not much, and Baker’s not adding anything we can use. The vics were four Los Tech 9 members, one a suspected crew boss and the other three foot soldiers. They were each shot eight times at close range with what might have been silenced automatic weapons. 9mm. There was no shots fired call, and the bartender says all he heard was a kind of ripping thud. No solid description of the shooters. The bartender thinks there were five or six, but he hit the dirt first thing and didn’t see much. He did say they were all wearing ski masks.”

“Any word on why they picked Los Tech 9s for a message?”

“Nothing concrete. Baker says Gangs has some street chatter that someone had been trying lean on the Columbians and they told the new guys to take a hike.” Sonny shook his head. “Wrong move.”

“Does this change our meet with Carrera tonight?”

“Naw. We gotta go through with it. See how scared the little punk is at least.”

Rico nodded. “Any word on Dave?”

“Randy stopped by there earlier. He said Dave’s getting stronger, but the docs still won’t let him move around much. There’s a warrant team still pulling security.” Sonny shook his head. “Gotta say those guys look after their own.”

“Yeah. It don’t feel right not being able to look in on him, but Castillo’s right about that.”

“He usually is. And Randy’s careful coming back, too.” Sonny’s eyes took on a strange, distant expression. “But that doesn’t matter much. They aren’t going to follow him, because I wouldn’t. They leave Dave alone so people will come to see him, and they can try to put together a picture of us. Besides, trying to follow Dave would tip their hand. I don’t think they know we’re aware of them yet, let alone how much we know.”

“You think so?”

“Sure. These guys are trained. No question. But they’re also used to going up against amateurs. People who are scared to death of them or can be bought off. I’d lay odds they’ve never run into anything like us before. I want these guys, Rico. Not as bad as Castillo does, but I want them.”

Before Rico could reply there was a knock at the door and Castillo stuck his head in. “I’ve got a meeting with Chief Deputy Washington. We’ll brief tonight’s operation and some background when I get back. Keep everyone close. Deputy Mather can update Deputy Blair when we’re done.”

Rico nodded. “How bad’s the pressure, captain?”

“That’s what Chief Deputy Washington and I are going to find out, lieutenant.”

Once Castillo left, Rico turned to Sonny. “Am I the only one whose skin crawls when he only uses my rank?”

“Naw. That’s called a normal human reaction. He’s under some serious stress.” Sonny shook his head. “I got to get in these bastards’ heads, Rico. Then I can get ahead of them.”

“We’re gettin’ there. One question, though. Are you gonna need Marcus?”

“Yeah. They’ve updated your cover. I forgot to tell you. Sooner or later Unit 8’s gonna reach out to Burnett. And when they do, Marcus shows up as my northern connection. The cat who runs all the weight north of the Mason-Dixon line.”

“Solid.” Rico worked his shoulders, digging down deep into memories with a bite. He’d used Marcus just before his brother was murdered. “Marcus don’t roll with all that head-cuttin’ shit. Get Marcus product an’ he delivers, regular as clockwork.” He laughed. “Yeah, I should warn you. Marcus wears Ricky Henderson stuff an’ talks like him, too. Fast and all that.”

Sonny laughed. “Don’t bother me none. It’ll keep those psychos off balance.”

“And they can’t hit me because they need a way into that northern market. Lots of money to be made there.”

“Now you’re tracking. They’ll push, probably hard, but they won’t act right away. They need us.”

“Let’s just hope they know that.” Rico chuckled to hide his growing unease.

“Oh, they do, man. They may act like psychos, but the end game for them is money.” Sonny kept looking out the window. “All we can do now is hope someone doesn’t put on the brakes. Marty’s got it right. You don’t try to arrest these guys. You put them in the ground.”

“You sure about that, man? Feels kinda…”

“Strange? Yeah, it does. But anyone who cuts off heads as a message isn’t gonna be impressed by prison. Hell, they might even use that to recruit more people. But they’re military-trained. They understand casualties and lack of replacements. Marty wants to convince them the cost of doing business in Miami is just too high. At least that’s my takeaway from what he said.”

“But you think they’ll really stop?”

“Hell, I don’t know, Rico. We’re on a treadmill in this job most days. But I do know they might change the way they do business, and that’s something. Besides, if they’re military the Miami idea likely came from that colonel. You take him out, the group loses direction. They start fighting over who’s next in line, especially if we can hit their entire command staff. And maybe the part that’s down south decides to stay there. Maybe it doesn’t stop them long term, but it’s either that or get used to piles of heads popping up on contested drug corners.”

“Yeah.” Rico nodded, still not as comfortable as he’d like but knowing Sonny was right. And was it really that much different from going after Menton? Or the Hitler Youth chumps? He shrugged. “So how do we handle Carrera?”

“I want to see what Marty had in that bag first. But my gut says go in like we did before, but with the Roach Coach close enough to sweep for any transmissions. These guys will want to talk, even if it’s just a few words. That guy who was watching outside the Overton was likely either with Carrera or watching him, not us. I think these guys are still gathering intel, and if they take a shot at anyone it’s gonna be Carrera and not us?”

“Why?”

“Didn’t your grandma ever read you fairy tales? You never kill the goose that might lay the golden egg. And we’re geese, partner. Carrera’s just a partridge without a pear tree.”

 

Martin Castillo never liked going into Federal buildings, but he knew Pete Washington was right to insist on the meeting being on his turf. Castillo had been able to read through the gruff lawman’s words to understand what was coming, and the more they could display the Federal Government’s authority the better.

He kept his sunglasses on moving through security and the lobby, his badge and presence clearing a path with no difficulty. As the elevator hummed its way up to the floor housing one of God knows how many conference rooms in the building, he let his mind play back over what they knew and what he still needed to tell his team. Kiki had come through. It was well worth closing their account, though he had to admit he’d miss talking to the man who had once been his friend.

Pete met him just outside the door, his pressed suit making him look even more like a tall George Jefferson. He grinned and stuck out his hand. “Marty! We need to stop meetin’ like this. Better with a pitcher between us. How’s my man doin’?”

“Good, Chief…Pete. The wound wasn’t as bad as they first thought, but he’ll still have some rehab ahead of him. I’ve been training with Deputy Mather to fill in as his spotter.”

“Well ain’t that some shit. Don’t go given’ them ideas. Dry cleaning these suits is a bitch.” Pete grinned and dropped out of his old boy sheriff act. “We got two deputy chiefs from Metro-Dade in there. I’ve been letting them cool their heels just to show them where this stands. I do not want them taking this case. I agree with your initial report. This is a major outside threat, not some local problem even if it looks that way on the five o’clock news.”

“I’m wary to read them in too far, Pete. Metro-Dade likes to talk to the press.”

“I know. It’s a damned fine line, Marty. But I want the Task Force on this one like sauce on a rib. We’re strapped on resources, but we’ll talk about that once we’re done with these two.” He nodded toward the door. “You ready?”

Castillo nodded and followed the Federal lawman into the room. The men from Metro-Dade, wearing their dress uniforms decorated with ribbons they may or may not have earned on their own, clustered toward the head in a vain attempt to assert control over the room. Pete strutted past them, his simple silver star glittering from a badge carrier clipped to his belt, and shifted a chair so it occupied the head spot. Castillo nodded to the deputy chiefs and sat down close to Pete. It was all theater, and he wanted to show where his allegiance lay without saying a word.

Pete’s Cracker sheriff voice filled the room. “So here we are, gents. What’s so important you had to go and ruin my morning coffee? A man ain’t worth shit until he has a good cup of Joe in him.”

Castillo recognized the whine of Deputy Chief Franks without even seeing the man. “We’re here about the murders last night at…what’s that bar’s name?”

“The Rooster.” Deputy Chief Turner was a bulky man who could have stepped out of any number of ‘70s cop shows. Castillo remembered he’d come up though Homicide, while Franks was IAB to the core. “Four dead Columbians. On top of those damned heads that floated in not too long back. And we hear your people are working both cases. Any particular reason?”

“Cause they ran into a case the Task Force has been working for months.” Pete’s grin faded. “We’re been coordinating with your Homicide boys. What’s his name, captain?”

“Baker. Detective Baker.”

“Yeah, that’s him. Smart feller. You’d best try to hang onto him.”

“And we’re here to make sure that coordination benefits us both.” Franks’ whine took up the conversation again. “Your Task Force can be less that forthcoming sometimes.”

“Sure. By my order. We succeed because we don’t yap until the job’s done.”

“Do I need to remind you it’s our people you’re using?”

“And do I need to remind you how successful these boys have been? And how we’ve stepped back and let everyone and their damned dog take the credit for that success? Or about your mess in OCB that we cleaned up for you?”

Castillo tried not to smile. Pete wasn’t backing down in the slightest, and he knew how to hit these men where it hurt. “We handed information off to your Narcotics unit during the Delgado case. They were quite successful with that information.”

Franks gave his five o’clock news smile. It made Castillo want to punch him in the face. “No one’s denying the success of this project. But maybe it’s time for them to take a step back.”

Pete shook his head. “Why? You got some damned big success to tell me about? Some new source gonna wrap these boys up with pretty bows? Thing is, the AUSA is working up a terrorism case against these boys. It’s gonna take more than hurt feelings to convince him to drop that one.”

“We’re talking about twelve homicides here!”

“Thirteen.” Castillo’s voice was flat. “They also killed a mid-level dealer named Victor. And wounded a Federal officer.”

“We’re sorry about your man,” said Franks in a voice that wasn’t sorry at all. “But the local situation…”

“Hasn’t changed one damn bit. You still have no leads, and my people do have leads.” Pete narrowed his eyes. “And before you get any crazy ideas, don’t forget your people were seconded to me until the Marshal’s Service decides the Task Force has served its purpose. Try anything funny, and I’ll have the AUSA on you so fast you won’t be able to find your damned soap on a rope.”

Turner looked at Franks. “I told the director this was a waste of time.”

“I ain’t saying we won’t share information. We have been and will continue to do so. When it don’t put my people in danger.”

Castillo nodded. “The Task Force is successful in part because no one knows we’re here. My people work undercover for extended periods, and our raids go down with little or no collateral damage. I will not endanger my people for any reason.”

Franks sneered. “I know some of your people, Castillo. How many times has Crockett been looked into by IAB? There’s still that whole Manolo case file waiting to be reopened. And Tubbs? And that hooker decoy?”

“You’re talking about my wife.” Castillo locked eyes with Franks and held the unblinking stare until the man looked away. “I’d suggest another topic.”

Pete chuckled. “Bad move, gents. I’ve interviewed all of Castillo’s people that came over from Metro-Dade. I have total confidence in all of them. Hell, my people love working with them, and I’ve got some demanding folks in this office. But we ain’t here to talk about personnel. You made your pitch, and I heard you out. Now you can go tell your boss it didn’t do a lick of good.” He opened the folder in front of him. “This is direct from the AUSA. We’re going after these guys as terrorists and at least one of ‘em has a war crimes indictment down south. That makes it a fugitive case, which makes it our case. Tell your director he can take it up with the AUSA if he wants.” He looked down at his watch. “And now I figure we all got places we need to be or would rather be. Marty, come on down to my office.”

Pete’s office was an odd mix of marshal and barbecue memorabilia that wouldn’t have been out of place in some small roadside bar back in the woods. Castillo thought it suited the man perfectly, both his public face and the real lawman lurking underneath. Pete waved Castillo to a chair and poured coffee for them both before sitting down himself. “I didn’t want to drag you into that, but those two assholes insisted.”

“Franks and I have history.” Castillo sipped at his coffee. “He never should have been promoted past file clerk.”

“But I hear he kisses ass really well. That gets you far.” Pete grinned. “He’s been sniffing around for a while now. That big guy was just window dressing.”

“Turner’s not a bad cop, but that was a promotion he didn’t want.”

“Funny what a guy will take on when he’s got kids who need schoolin’. Or a wife that don’t know when to stop spending.” Pete locked eyes with Castillo. “Keep your eyes on that Franks, though. He’s got a burr under his tail about your boys and won’t quit easy.”

Castillo’s smile didn’t touch his eyes. “He’s not the only one with files.”

“That’s what I like to hear, and then say I never heard.” Pete slapped the top of his desk. “But between you an’ me, Marty, we both know this is winding down. They’re still tryin’ to promote me, and I don’t know how long they’ll let me keep saying no. And it’s gotta be hard on your folks.”

“It is. They just won’t admit it. And…” Castillo paused, then kept speaking. He had a bond with Pete, though they came from different worlds in so many ways. “And I’m getting tired.”

“Hell, who wouldn’t? You’ve been runnin’ full steam for what, almost thirty years now? Same as me, and I can’t imagine how tired you gotta be. Plus you got a wife now. You’ve earned your time, Marty. We wrap this one up, maybe it’s a nice ‘goodby and fuck you’ present for a whole lot of folks.”

“We’ll talk over a pitcher once this is done.” Castillo smiled, not surprised Pete’s thoughts were running in the same direction. “But first we have to bring this Unit 8 down. Was that AUSA talk a bluff?”

“No. I got the office sold on that international fugitive stuff.” Pete chuckled. “I think they’re playin’ along because of all the good ink we’ve gotten them. But I agree with you, Marty. These bastards are a major threat. We have to show them they can’t operate that way in Miami without paying a damned heavy price. Your team up to it?”

“Crockett’s planning now, and he’s starting to get in their heads. I’ve got some new intel that will help with that. I may need more resources, but I think I can get them through other agencies.” Castillo smiled.

“And the less I know the better? Copy that. Just don’t blow up half of Miami with an air strike or something, ok? I don’t want to see that Franks fucker again without at least three shots in me.”

“You have my word. The Miami operations will be handled by our people. But I think there might be one mission elsewhere that we’d need these other assets for.”

“Good to know. Just give me a shout before the thing I don’t know about happens so I can deny I ever heard about it.” Pete’s laugh bounced off the walls. “Hell, maybe it’s time I did get out of this rodeo.”

Driving back to the Task Force headquarters, Castillo let the conversation replay in his head. He’d been concerned Franks still had it out for Crockett, but he had no idea the man’s horizons had expanded to Tubbs and even Trudy. His knuckles went white on the steering wheel of the unmarked Ford. If that man ever got near his wife…

Then the anger faded. It wasn’t productive now. Maybe later there’d be time for the luxury. After reading the contents of the files Kiki left in their dead drop, a locker in Miami’s Amtrak station, Castillo knew he’d need to reach out to Hendricks sooner rather than later. He also knew which assets he wanted, but hadn’t sorted down to the ones he really needed. Part of that would be on Crockett. But the meeting had been good for at least one thing: he knew they needed to watch their backs now in addition to Unit 8.

He found them waiting in or near the conference room, Lester and Stan working on one of their vast library of deception tapes in the Tech Room, and Randy doing something in the Armory that left the air heavy with the tang of Hoppe’s Number 9 solvent. Nodding to Trudy he went into his office and came out with the canvas bag. It was time to read them in.

“Colonel Rodrigo Delacruz.” A file landed with a light thud on the table. “Graduated near the top of his class in Peru’s West Point. His background is infantry, with a tour in the presidential guard unit. Captain Eduardo Salazar.” Another thud. “Graduated around the middle of his class. His background is in intelligence and support operations.” A final thud. “Lieutenant Vincente Nunez. Another intelligence officer who graduated at the top of his class. All these men were trained at the School of the Americas and later underwent advanced training at various law enforcement and military centers in Quantico and Georgia. And those are just the officers. At least twenty enlisted men went through the same training or abbreviated versions. One, Gordo Pascal, the unit’s sergeant major, was sent back to Peru after he almost beat a prostitute to death outside Fort Benning.”

Castillo walked around the table and pointed to pictures tacked up next to the large-scale city map. “This is Delacruz and that’s Salazar. There are other officers, but my source only had names. One, Lieutenant Victor Orozco, has a reputation for being hot-headed according to some of his former instructors. He was to attend training but the class was canceled during some of the Iran-Conta fallout. A list of the enlisted men is in your folders. Remember these are only the men who attended or were scheduled to attend training in the United States.”

Rico raised a finger. “Did your source know how big Unit 8 is?”

“Yes. Around five hundred men on paper. They certainly lost some when they broke with the Peruvian government, but have likely added more through recruiting since then. It’s the ones trained by the United States that should concern us. These men all received the basics in espionage tradecraft, interrogation, and” - he looked straight at Randy - “sniping and counter-sniping. Some was done by the CIA, but the bulk came from the FBI or the military.”

“Why?”

“Unit 8 was originally formed to locate and destroy terrorists in Peru. At least that’s how it was sold to the military and others involved in the training. What the real intent was we don’t know. Or how much the Company knew about that intent. We do know a great deal of how Unit 8 acts is a direct result of this man.” He pointed at Delacruz’s picture. “He’s a third-generation army officer. A man convinced he knows his duty, maybe better than his superiors. Such men are dangerous if they believe they have been betrayed, and the newly-elected Peruvian government wanting to try him and many of his men for war crimes must have seemed like the ultimate betrayal to him.”

Sonny nodded. ‘Yeah. I can see that. Guy thinks he’s given his all for his country and then his country spits on him. He’d blame his leadership, and then want to take care of his men.”

“Exactly. All his instructors commented on the deep bond he felt with his men, but they also said he showed no reluctance to apply harsh discipline if he thought it was needed. One evaluator said he felt the colonel looked at any lapse as a direct personal insult and reacted accordingly.”

Stan looked up from the file. “Yeah. Says here he slapped one of his lieutenants in class when the man asked a question he thought was stupid.”

“There was a major at one time, but he was killed in action. That leaves Captain Salazar as the second in command. Salazar’s different. During training exercises his plans were slow, methodical, and almost never contained errors. He was obsessed with gathering intelligence before acting, and many of Delacruz’s successes against Sendero Luminoso trace back directly to Salazar’s influence and intel-gathering abilities. He does the planning, but Delacruz provides the focus.”

Castillo paused and looked around the room. “These men are dangerous. More so than we thought at first.”

Sonny nodded, and Castillo could see the distant look in his eyes. “Delacruz won’t be here himself, but he’ll send someone he trusts. Probably this Salazar. I’ll bet the first team is made up almost entirely of men who were trained in this country. They’d be best-equipped to hide in plain sight. They’d gather the intel and then he’d send in a team of shooters to carry out the operations. But he also seems like the kind of guy who’d want to be close to the action. I sure as hell don’t see him as one of those commanders who rides around in the chopper at two thousand feet.”

[mjcmmv]

Great chapter! Everything's coming together!

[Robbie C.]

It's getting there. Lots of threads to bring together in this one, honestly.

[mjcmmv]

10 minutes ago, Robbie C. said:

It's getting there. Lots of threads to bring together in this one, honestly.

I don't know how you keep it all straight in your head. Very complex!

[Robbie C.]

Just now, mjcmmv said:

I don't know how you keep it all straight in your head. Very complex!

LOTS of practice. I'm sure I miss a few now and again, but I try not to. And some I just leave open because not everything gets tied up neatly in real life. but I usually know which ones I'm going to leave open.