An Unacceptable Death - Barbara Seranella (28 page)

She yelled and kicked, "You're not my mommy. Let
me go."

Christina said, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'll
take you to your mommy."

Rico's gun was a standard-issue police revolver: a
double-action .38. There was no safety. Pulling the trigger the first
time cocked and fired the weapon. Munch had her finger wrapped around
the trigger and needed little encouragement. She put the barrel of
the gun to the back of Christina's head. "I'll save you the
trouble."

"
Wait," Christina said.

The second kidnapper was visible now. It was another
woman. She was Anglo, with strong arms and short blond hair.

Munch addressed her, "Let go of my kid. NOW!"

The woman complied.

"
Asia, get out of the van."

Asia scrambled out of the van and stood behind her
mother. Munch was wearing the transmitter, but she had no idea if
Roger was in range. "Put your hands up and away from your body."

The women did as they were told.

"
We're DEA," Christina said.

"
Bullshit."

"
Rico and I worked together. That's all. We were
co-workers. I wasn't doing him."

Munch almost laughed. "You think that matters to
me now? Where were you taking Asia?"

"
To safety. She's targeted. You're all
targeted."

"
So why didn't you come to me first?" Munch
asked. "Or call me, some kind of warning? You're telling me you
just snatch kids off the street, and that's standard operating
procedure? You think I'm stupid?" Her finger tightened on the
trigger. Squeeze it slowly, Rico had told her. Though at this range,
aim and trajectory weren't going to be a problem. She wanted to push
the barrel through the woman's skull.

"
We're running out of time," Christina
said.

Asia's hands clung to the back of Munch's shirt. "You
are," said Munch.

"
We've already moved the rest of the family,"
Christina said. "The father, the brothers, the ex-wife, Rico's
daughter."

"
You're telling me we're all targeted?"
Munch was starting to see some logic in all this. She thought of the
photographs she'd seen at Rico's house, seemingly taken when they
were all unaware. She kept the barrel of the gun pressed to
Christina's head. There could be many explanations of how and why
Christina knew about all this.

"
That's how these guys operate," Christina
continued. "Someone betrays the cartel and the whole family gets
taken out."

Munch felt a horrible realization blooming. "So
all this time I've been trying to prove Rico was a good cop .... "

"
You've been sentencing his whole family to
death. Including you and your daughter. His daughter. Everyone."

"
Did he know that? Did he understand that his
job put us all at risk?" Munch still hadn't lowered the gun, but
she'd eased off the trigger.

Tears streaked Christina's cheeks. "Of course he
knew that. Why do you think he sacrificed himself ?"

Munch kept working it through her brain, testing the
logic out loud.

"
I went to his dad's house. It was empty. And
there was no answer at his ex-wife's house."

Christina nodded slowly. "That's right. They've
all been taken somewhere safe."

"
You got some ID? A badge?"

Christina looked nervously up the street. "No,
I'm in deep undercover. I'm not carrying any of that."

Munch gestured with her chin toward the blonde. "What
about your partner here?"

"
Sharon," Christina said, "did you
bring your ID?"

Munch noticed the blinds across the street in Li'l
Joe's house flick open. She also noticed a black Suburban with tinted
windows turn the corner. Coming from the other end of the street was
a Chevy Malibu, and behind that, a white van. The front door to Li'l
Joe's house opened. joe and two other hungover bikers in full chains
and leather stumbled into the sunshine.

"
Everything all right?" Li'l Joe asked,
squinting her way.

Munch noticed he kept his right hand behind his back.
"I don't know," she called back. Then to Asia: "Get in
the house. Take Jasper and get in your closet."

Asia blanched.

"
Do it now!"

The black Suburban slowed to a crawl. Munch tried to
see the driver or if there were passengers, but the windows were too
dark, even the windshield. A voice in her brain protested,
Hey,
that's illegal
. She turned back to look at
Christina and the one she'd addressed as Sharon. Both women looked
worried, almost panicked. Munch looked at the truck again and saw
that the license plates were Mexican.

There was the sound of screeching tires and then a
loud smack. The Suburban jolted forward, a horn went off behind it.
Everyone looked at the two vehicles. Munch turned to see what the
cars coming the other way were doing.

The blue Monte Carlo pulled halfway into the Okie's
driveway, blocking Christina's van from making a quick exit. Humberto
got out and jogged toward the Suburban. He had a gun in each hand.
Ellen emerged from behind the Suburban. A trickle of blood ran down
her face from a cut on her cheek and she was yelling, "What are
you, blind?"

She thumped the door of the Suburban, but the windows
remained up.

She yelled over at the bikers, "Did you see this
fool stop in the middle of the road?"

The white van had pulled to the curb. "Is that
you, Roger?"

Munch asked quietly into her microphone.

The headlights flashed on and off.

Munch was still holding Rico's gun on Christina.
"There are two women here. I've met Christina before over at the
Hampton house. Sharon is inside the van where you can't see her. They
say they're DEA. Is that true? Flash once for yes."

The headlights flashed once.

"
Give me the gun," Christina said.

Before Munch could decide whether that was what she
wanted to do, a single shot went off behind her. A short bang,
followed by a scream. Ellen.

Munch ducked and turned. Ellen lay in the street near
the driver's door of the Suburban, which was now open. Blood spread
across Ellen's sleeve, originating from some point above her left
elbow. She gripped her shoulder, her face twisted with pain and fury.
The driver, the shooter, was stepping out of the Suburban. The gun
was still in his hand as if he intended to finish Ellen off.

Munch took cover behind a tree. She drew a bead and
fired. Her shot went wide to the right. The tinted layer of glass on
the backdoor window splintered into a spider web of cracks, but
didn't shatter. The driver ducked behind his open door. Ellen
scrambled to the sidewalk and found another tree to hide behind.

Humberto was halfway between Christina's van and the
Suburban. He dropped to the ground and rolled. At the first shots,
Li'l Joe and his buddies produced their own guns and peppered the
Surburban with small arm's fire. Two tires went flat. Munch threw her
free arm over her head.

Christina reached under a quilted mover's blanket on
the van's floor and pulled out an Uzi submachine gun. Using the back
door of the van as cover, and standing on the rear bumper, she
sprayed a burst at the bikers across the street. The shots went high
creating an array of dark holes in the stucco. Whether that had been
her intention, Munch couldn't tell.

Li'I Joe and his cohorts dived for cover inside his
house.

In all that, Munch lost sight of Humberto. Roger
never came out of the van. Munch expected to hear sirens, bullhorns,
maybe a helicopter or two. But a minute or two had passed since the
shooting began, and it didn't look like the cavalry was going to
arrive in time. Munch wanted to get to Asia. just as many people died
from ricochets and strays as the victims who were the intended
targets. But getting to Asia would involve running up the sidewalk to
her gate or vaulting over the four-foot chain-link fence surrounding
her front yard and then making a run for the front door. Both
attempts would leave her open and vulnerable. Ellen's tree was closer
to the gate. Besides, her blood was now dripping to the ground. She
needed to dress her wound.

"
Ellen," Munch called in a low urgent
whisper.

Ellen looked over. "What?"

"
You okay?"

"
Hell, no. I've been shot."

"
Go for the house," Munch said. "I'll
cover you."

Ellen glanced behind her. "Let's both go,"
she said.

"
No, your chances are better. I need you to make
sure Asia's okay."

Ellen looked at the gate, then back at the van where
Christina had her machine gun pointed out toward the street. "What's
she doing here?"

Munch lifted her shirt to show Ellen that she was
wearing the transmitter. "She's a friend of Roger's."

Ellen's eyes grew big. Munch felt something hard
press against her ribs.

"
Who's Roger?" Humberto asked as he took
the gun from her hand. He peeled back her collar and saw the
microphone looped through her bra strap. "What have you done?"
he asked.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

ST. JOHN GRABBED CHAPMAN'S ARM, DETERMINED NOT TO to
let him go until he got some answers. "What's up?"

"
Something's going down at your girlfriend's
house," Chapman said. "It looks bad."

St. John threw a five on the table and ran for his
car. Becker followed, breathing hard. "Let's take mine. I'm in a
cruiser."

"
You carrying a gauge?" St. John asked.

"
The works," Becker said.

St. John quickly agreed. A shotgun might come in
handy.

Becker got behind the
wheel, while St. John affixed the magnetic beacon to the roof of the
sedan. St. John listened for Munch's address on the radio chatter,
and gripped the handholds on the dash and above his door as Becker
threaded through the Sunday-noon
beach
traffic, code two.

* * *

Roger watched the scene unfold through his
windshield. He was observing the whole operation collapse into chaos
and there was nothing he could do about it. He cursed in frustration
as he tore off his headset. Munch's wire had stopped transmitting. He
couldn't see from his angle if she was inside Agent Christina
Garcia's van or not. The local cops' dispatchers had been advised not
to respond to the shots fired. He was monitoring the police band and
so far that end of the plan was holding up. Broadcasting over police
frequencies would bring every goddamn reporter and thrill-seeking
yahoo with access to a scanner. There were already way too many
civilians involved. Humberto Salcedo and Abel Delaguerra having their
inevitable confrontation here and now was definitely not what they
had wanted to happen. Heads were going to roll on this one. He'd be
writing reports until Christmas.

The Suburban pulled forward until it was alongside
Garcia's van and blocked his view of the scene even more.

His only consolation was that Garcia hadn't hit her
panic button, so she must believe that the situation was still
salvageable, not to mention her cover.

Roger didn't know where Humberto Salcedo was either.
The guy moved surprisingly fast for such a big man. Roger had seen
him cross in front of Garcia's van, then he'd lost him when he got to
the sidewalk.

What were they doing?

A loud buzz sounded and
Roger jumped. Garcia had hit her panic button.

* * *

Munch felt the transmitter heating up at the small of
her back. The antenna wire must have popped loose, which meant that
Roger wasn't getting any of this.

The Suburban pulled forward until it was between
Christina and Li'l Joe's house. Christina lifted the barrel of her
Uzi from the doorjamb.

The Suburban's driver and passenger, to avoid being
vulnerable to the armed bikers, emerged from the driver's side with
guns drawn. Now Christina was surrounded by dangerous and
unpredictable drug dealers. To her credit, she was completely cool.

"
Señor Delaguerra," she said. "What
are you doing here?"

Delaguerra pointed at Munch with his pistol. "Is
this the one?"

"
She says she doesn't know anything about your
product," Christina said, giving Humberto a meaningful look that
Delaguerra could not see.

"
And you believe her?" Delaguerra asked.

"
I plan to discuss it further."

Munch still felt
Humberto's gun in her back. The transmitter was burning her now, but
to draw attention to it was certain suicide. Delaguerra looked at
Humberto. "And is questioning one small woman a job that
requires both of you?" he asked suspiciously.

* * *

Munch prayed that the earth would open, swallow
Delaguerra, and take him straight to hell. She didn't even care if
they all had to die together, as long as she got to see Delaguerra go
down. She wondered what the deal was with Humberto. He had to know
Christina was a cop now, yet he wasn't dropping the dime on her.
Ellen and Munch had speculated that Humberto and Delaguerra's wife
had something on the side. Was this what Christina had on Humberto?
The reference to missing product meant someone must have ripped
Delaguerra off, and Delaguerra obviously believed that Munch had
something to do with that. This could only mean that Rico had been
implicated.