Gray Ghost (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 1) (23 page)

“
Tunnels. Why didn’t someone tell us about them? Christ, it’s too late to focus on that now. Listen, we have a lot of evidence indicating Calhoun is the Caller. We need to catch him trying to leave with the drugs to cement the case against him.”

This time Wilfred spoke. “The legend of the Coast Guard? Are you crazy?”

Dix answered, “I know it’s a lot to handle, and we didn’t want to believe it either, but it’s clear he’s the Caller. He does not have Coast Guard approval to use the jet he came in, I checked. Officially, he’s on a two-week vacation. I need you guys to stay on the phone and let me know whenever you have something to report. Don’t take Calhoun on yourselves, whatever you do.”

Wilfred answered. “We’ll watch for you, but if they start shooting, I’m not going to die just so you guys can catch Calhoun. We’ll do what we can to help.”

“
That’s all we ask. I’m guessing the dope is in the vehicle you saw go through the gate. Once they come out, they’ll probably head to the airport. According to the lookouts there, Calhoun and his assistant are waiting on the tarmac next to one of the jets. Don’t try to stop the SUV from making it to the plane.”

Wilfred looked at Bubba. “Hold on a second. You want the dope to get through, right?”

“
Yes, why?”

Wilfred looked at Bubba. “Get those dump trucks out of the way now, mon. We want them to get through.”

Bubba stepped out of the car and made a few hand signals to the two men standing on the street. They jumped into their trucks and fired up the engines.

Bubba heard Dix laugh. “That was a great idea.”

As the trucks moved away, the black SUV rolled slowly out of the tunnel entrance.

Bubba noticed the windows were down a few inches. He wasn’t sure, but it looked like rifle barrels protruded slightly out of the two rear windows. As the vehicle reached the street, the driver slammed on the accelerator, and the vehicle lurched ahead. Bubba watched the SUV turn left and disappear. Then he lumbered back into his car.

Just as he fell into the passenger seat, Wilfred turned the key and spoke into the phone. “They just left the tunnel. The SUV looks loaded. The rear is sagging. And the windows were rolled down just far enough to get gun barrels through. The occupants appeared ready for a battle. They should be at the airport in a couple of minutes.”

From the phone speaker came the response. “Okay. Tail them like you did before but try not to alert them to your presence. Keep the phone line open so we can communicate quickly.”

Bubba shut his door, and they followed the black car. Once they reached the airport, Bubba and Wilfred parked near a stand of trees and took a defensive position in case of a firefight. They laid out their extra magazines so they’d be available quickly if needed. Bubba glanced at the runway and was stunned. Two similar-looking G5 jets sat on the tarmac. The roar of their engines confirmed they were running. Through binoculars, Bubba noticed pilots in the cockpit of both planes. His mind raced to figure out what exactly Calhoun had up his sleeve.

“
Holy shit!” he exclaimed as he pointed at the planes.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Martin dumped the scooter he used to putt around the lodge property a few hundred yards from the airport and traveled the remaining distance rapidly on foot. He climbed a tree to get up on the ledge of an old building to gain a better vantage point. With his binoculars, he spotted Calhoun casually inhaling a cigar while he watched a black SUV pull between two jets. As the vehicle came to a stop, men jumped out and Martin watched as Calhoun began barking orders.

Martin couldn’t hear what was being said and could not read lips.

Dix said this was going to be easy, he thought.

All he’d had to do was confirm if Calhoun showed up to the airport, watch him and try to remember everything he saw at the airport. If it seemed important, he was to call Petersen to let him know.

Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked him. Martin freaked out and saw a huge, fiery blaze mushrooming above the area where he thought the police storage shed was located. He certainly was not the man for this job.
Pull it together,
he thought.

Panning to his right, Martin spotted several Royal Bahamian Police Officers. They moved slowly toward a hangar near the tarmac. On the left, others in black jackets with “FBI” and “DEA” on the back also advanced toward the tarmac.

Martin guessed close to thirty law enforcement officials appeared to be circling the airport.

He looked back at the plume of smoke rising in the moonlight. His heart pounded in his chest as he thought about the situation in front of him. Thinking of Suzie helped him regain his composure. He turned back to get Calhoun in his sights. Now three men surrounded Calhoun, and it looked like they were arguing.
Oh shit, I need to call Petersen
.

He dialed Petersen, hoping for a quick answer.

* * * *

Dix and Petersen were at the command post a mile from the airport consulting with the Agents in Charge (AIC) of DEA, FBI, and the Royal Bahamian Police Commissioner.

Their phones squawked and the radios were a mess as everyone attempted to broadcast at the same time. The DEA boss listened for a moment. “Roger that.” He turned to the detectives. “A firm perimeter is in place. You and the rest of our agents will be the arrest team. The locals will contain the scene and maintain the perimeter.”

Dix paused for a moment. “Guys, I know this man. I understand criminals even better. These guys don’t spend thirty years orchestrating lies and building empires to give up easily. From what I’ve heard, the guys in the DOG Unit with him are the best of the best as far as trained killers go, but I don’t think they had any idea they were being used as pawns for Calhoun. We need to wait until the dope is unloaded and Calhoun gets into the plane with it before we strike.”

As he finished, his phone rang.

“
What’s up, Martin?”

“
Jesus, man. What are you guys doing? No one answers my calls. Where’s Petersen, and what blew up?”

“
Martin, you need to calm down. Just tell me what you see, and we’ll figure this all out.”

All this craziness on his little island had him freaked out. Martin was beside himself.

“
Come on buddy, tell me what you see. Martin, you there?”

Martin regained his focus. “It looks like three guys have Calhoun surrounded. They look really pissed off. A black SUV showed up with the guys surrounding Calhoun, and there are two almost identical jets on the runway.”

Dix hoped the DOG Unit knew what they were doing. Cornering a man like Calhoun could be catastrophic.

“
Are they the same guys who arrived in the Denali?”

“
Yes. I think so.”

Dix covered the receiver on his phone and relayed the update to the bosses.

“
What are they doing now?”

“
They’re screaming at each other. No one is backing off. There’s another guy behind one of the jets. He sort of looks like a younger version of Calhoun. His rifle is trained on the men arguing with Calhoun.”

“
Okay, keep the line open. The wheels are falling off this one. When the shooting starts, stay low Martin.”

Dix asked the OIC to order units to move in. Calhoun was close enough to the drugs and the evidence would be overwhelming. Dix couldn’t think of a legitimate reason Calhoun had done what he had. He spoke into his phone. “Did you see the explosion?”

“
Yeah. It was massive. Wait. A couple of guys are unloading the SUV now.” Martin shouted. “Holy shit! Dix, I didn’t see it before, but there’s two of everything. Two black SUVs, two jets, and two groups of guys unloading the stuff from the SUVs into the jets. I can’t tell who is who, man.”

Dix shook his head. Son of a bitch, the confusion created by the explosion and the duplicate vehicle and jet would buy him time. He pleaded with the OIC. “We’ve got to go now.”

Martin broke in. “Dix, they’re done. Hold on…” the phone went dead.

* * * *

As Calhoun had slowly worked his way to the tarmac after leaving the storage facility and killing two local officers, he had noticed two local Bahamian men in an old car parked in a spot overlooking the airport. Their position would provide them a clear shot at him. He chuckled.
Couldn’t have picked a better spot myself
.

His advantage was he was properly concealed and knew of their location. Once he arrived safely at the airport, he retrieved his sniper rifle. Now he eyed the two locals through his sniper rifle scope and thought about taking them out. He felt he should but had larger problems to deal with currently.

Calhoun hadn’t anticipated the situation unraveling as it had and was forced to get to the runway immediately to meet with the DOG Unit. He knew the unit wouldn’t let him down and calculated they’d be on the runway any second. The officers he spotted overlooking the area continued to nag at him. He determined they were too much of a threat. He calmly lined up each of them and killed them with a single round apiece.

He placed himself between the jets and the Yukon Denalis to ensure any other threats he might have missed wouldn’t have a clear shot at him. His plan included jumping on the jet with the cocaine, with or without his son, and leaving the area for good.

Another part of the plan had failed, however. He was now face to face with Timms, Kemp, and Lester. They were pissed off and demanded more money.

Calhoun grimaced. “Where’s Blanco?”

“
We want a larger piece of the pie, Calhoun.” Timms pressed.

Kemp scowled. “This shit just got real bad. We’re going to need a whole lot more to disappear.”

Calhoun replied smoothly, “Son, are you crazy? Who the hell are you… to challenge me? I made you, and I can take you out.”

Kemp fired back. “More money or we don’t finish unloading the dope and take it for ourselves.” Calhoun didn’t have an opportunity to reply.

Amidst the growing tension, a local officer pulled his gun from his thigh holster and inadvertently pulled the trigger. It was an accidental discharge. The bullet whizzed by the DOG team and struck the Yukon Denali they had just unloaded. The team and Calhoun took cover. Two of the DOG Unit men trained their rifles toward the area where they’d heard the shot originate while Timms pointed his weapon at Calhoun.

Calhoun remained cool. He’d had guns pointed at him several times before in his life. “You kill me, you get no money. You take me in, you get no money. Put your gun away and finish the mission. I’ll bump each of you to a million apiece when you help me off this island with the cocaine.”

Timms smiled. “Deal.”

* * * *

Over the radio, Dix ordered the arrest teams to split up and take on both jets.

As he finished the broadcast, the air thundered and lit up in a large plume of smoke, light, and debris. Everyone took cover.

Dix tossed his cell phone to Petersen. “Call Martin and find out what the hell just happened. Let’s roll.”

When they arrived on scene, Dix scanned the horizon for threats. Petersen motioned with his right thumb across his neck, letting Dix know Martin’s line was dead. They couldn’t look for him right then, the mission needed to move on without him.

They joined one of the teams converging on the tarmac while Dix noticed what looked like scraps of metal, tires, and other debris scattered in every direction. A large crater a few feet deep had scarred the runway.

He assumed it had been one of the SUVs. He feared the Coast Guard’s first, and probably last, DOG Unit would be found amid the debris.
What a damn shame
.

Making a snap decision, he headed for the plane already facing to the east, which made it the most likely to take off first. Dix focused to locate Calhoun and the cocaine. After a few moments, he realized he could see no movement and hear no sounds of weapons being fired. Petersen looked at Dix and shrugged as if to say, “What the hell is going on?”

Dix wondered if he’d been tricked by Calhoun again, asking over the radio if anyone had eyes on Calhoun.

* * * *

Kemp turned to say something to Calhoun after loading the last duffel bag and was struck center mass by a sniper round.

The rest of the team returned fire at the shooter and tried to lock their sights on Calhoun as well.

Lester was clipped by a bullet in the shoulder, causing him to go down and Calhoun took a hit in the leg, and he buckled. The various threats demanding attention on the tarmac, coupled with Calhoun’s position, made it difficult to get a clear shot at him.

Calhoun struggled to pull himself up and nodded to his son who was still in the cockpit of one of the jets. The sign told Junior to detonate the two bricks of dynamite secured beneath the large gas tank of the Denali the DOG Unit had used to deliver the cocaine.

The blast sent Calhoun back to the ground while debris and body parts rained from above. In an instant, the SUV was obliterated.