The Devil's Highway (13 page)

The mayor shook hands with me, then turned to Brad. “So
you’re
Brad Caldwell. I’ve been hearing about you all evening.” Ferguson at last noticed the women, to whom Hughes and Andrea were handing out water. “Garrett, who are these women?”

“Mayor Ferguson, if you’d follow me, I’ll bring you up to speed,” Garrett said laconically, and strolled into through the door into his office.

Garrett gave Ferguson a rundown on our recent activities. Ferguson listened attentively, then finally said, “We’ve discussed this over many times, and frankly this is what I’ve always dreaded, and tried to avoid—an open confrontation with Colonel Cushman and his people. But now, human trafficking. That’s beyond the pale, further than I thought even Cushman and his fanatics would go.”

“We’ve always known that a confrontation was coming. Now it’s here. It was inevitable.”

Mayor Ferguson sighed. “I just wish you had not taken it upon yourself to start what you call the ‘inevitable,’ Sheriff Garrett.”

“The Sheriff was assisting me in my investigation, Mayor Ferguson.” I put in. “Brad Caldwell was endangered, and so were these women that we’ve just brought into town.” The mayor wasn’t sympathizing with the Redemption Army, I knew; he was simply afraid, for himself and for his town.

The Mayor shook his head with an air of resignation. “I know what you did was right, Garrett, at least with the rescue of these women. I’ll get the Federal Agencies back out here. Have Deputy Hughes put these poor women up in the Fermosa tonight. The city will foot the bill. We’ll see what we can see tomorrow.” He rose to go, but turned at the door. “You did good, Sheriff, and you, too, Mr. Longville. The people here in Delgado don’t want trouble with Cushman and his people, but I guess we have to do the right thing and deal with what comes.”

I nodded. “I can get behind that.”

Chapter 18

The next morning the Sheriff and I got to the office at the same time. The town was abuzz over the events of the previous day. Andrea and Hughes met us in the street. Ira strolled up a minute later; even that old warhorse was talking excitedly about recent events. He joined us and we all walked inside. We were talking amongst ourselves as we came through the door, when Claire called out to the Sheriff. She was already at station; I wondered if she ever left.

“Colonel Cushman called bright and early, Sheriff. He’s still on the line, he said he wants to make an announcement.”

“I can’t wait to hear this,” Garrett muttered.

I followed him into his office, where he picked up the receiver.

“Just one second, Colonel.”

Garrett pushed a button and turned on the speaker phone. Cushman’s slick politician’s voice came sliding through the speaker.

“Sheriff Garrett, you have exceeded your authority for the final time. You had no jurisdiction on the Redemption Army Compound, and you have ignored my reasonable request to return a member of our organization, Brad Caldwell, to our command post. You also acted out of your jurisdiction last night. This very serious matter was brought to my attention, when I arose this morning.”

Cushman audibly cleared his throat, then went on: “In collusion with the private investigator, Longville, and others, you have attacked this facility, and members of our organization. Both of these affronts occurred in areas where, I must emphasize,
you have no authority.
This compound is on Native American land, and the events last night took place outside your Police Jurisdiction.”

Cushman’s tone shifted, something very disturbing creeping into his voice, like a man who knew something very important his listener didn’t, and who was very satisfied with that knowledge. It was a voice that a cat might use with a trapped mouse, I thought.

“To show that I am a reasonable man, Sheriff, I am going to make you a final offer. I urge you to listen closely to my following words and comply. Have Bradley Caldwell and the women you abducted waiting for me outside of town, in one hour, or suffer the consequences. I am taking steps to insure there is no further interference until this matter is resolved. That is all.”

There was a weird buzz and an audible
click
on the line, and the call terminated.

“What did he mean, ‘taking steps’? Garrett asked.

“How do you like the guy saying
we
abducted those women?” Hughes asked incredulously. “He had them locked in a van like cattle.”

“He’s just going for a Hail Mary pass, trying one last time to cover his tracks before we notify the Feds about what’s going down out there,” I told Hughes.

“He’s dreamin’ if he thinks he can tell me what to do in my own county,” Garrett said, striking his palm with a fist. He actually looked angry, the first strong emotion I’d seen him display.

The door opened and everyone turned.

It was Claire, the dispatcher, again. She came in quickly and whispered in low urgent tones to the Sheriff. He listened for a second and then picked up the phone, listened, and set it down. He went over and spoke quietly to Deputy Hughes, who nodded and bolted for the door.

“What’s going on, Sheriff?” I asked him.

“Claire tells me the Internet seems to be out here in Delgado, and now the telephones, too. Roland, how’s your cell phone reception?”

I pulled out my phone and checked. No bars.

“Nothing.” I told him. “Cushman said that he was ‘taking steps.’ Looks like now we know what he was talking about.”

Garrett nodded. “That’s just what I figured. It seems like they were smarting when we took Brad, but our little rescue mission last night really kicked over the hornet’s nest. The colonel is planning a response.”

I looked at our little group: Andrea, Brad, Claire, and Ira. “Let’s go outside, everyone,” I said, and they all looked up as one. “I think Deputy Hughes might have some news for us.”

We moved outside, no one speaking. We all stood in the road, looking towards the outskirts of town. After a while, there was a plume of dust out on the highway.
 

“It’s Hughes coming back!” Garrett shouted. The dusty patrol car slowed as it approached and came to a stop in front of our little group.

Deputy Hughes got out, shaking his head. “Well, it’s official. They blew the cell phone tower. Probably while Cushman was delivering his message. They must have used C-4. It’s nothing but a thousand pieces of scrap, now.”

“The landline phones and Internet are out, too. They’ve cut us off. We’re totally isolated.” Claire stated grimly.

“Except for old Route 191 here, and you can bet your ass Cushman’s people have that blocked off, too,” Garrett mused in his disturbingly calm way.

“That can only mean one thing,” I said, looking steadily at Garrett, who nodded, but said nothing.

“They’re coming for me,” Brad said quietly.

“Yeah, kid,” Andrea said, and put her hand on Brad’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We aren’t going to give Cushman what he wants. He knows that. Those bastards are going to try to storm the town.”

We walked as a group back into the Sheriff’s Office.
 

“How much time do we have before they get here?” Claire asked.

I shrugged. No use sugar coating it. “Well, we left them in considerable disarray. Hughes’ bomb was noisy and made a lot of smoke, but it’s not likely that we inflicted much damage; that’s not what it was designed for. No doubt now, the Colonel has given the word, and they’ll get reorganized pretty quickly out there. They might take sweet time, knowing we’re cut off. But remember, they’ve drilled and prepared for just this kind of thing.”

“They’ve already knocked out our communications, which means they have at least a few people outside the compound. Those people have probably already received their marching orders, and could be on their way here, right now. When they see that Brad and the women aren’t waiting outside of town, they’ll act. But no doubt back at the compound they’re getting ready to give us the knock-out punch.”

Chapter 19

Sheriff Garrett was a man with a lot on his mind. “We’ll have to make arrangements to keep the people of Delgado safe. If Cushman and his men come in here shooting, a lot of people could get hurt.”

“I didn’t mean to start a war,” Brad said.

“This is a war that started two years ago, son. You’re just here for the final showdown.”

Suddenly, the front windows exploded inward. Glass showered into the room, and the room filled with a deafening blast. If we hadn’t been inside Claire’s cubicle, we would have all been sliced into a thousand pieces. As it was, the sound was ear-splitting.
 

“Get your heads down!” I yelled, but there was little need; everyone was diving for the floor, except Garrett. Totally unflappable, he was already on his way to the corner to pick up his rifle. I saw that he had already pressed his revolver into Andrea’s hand.

Outside a bullhorn squelched and blared. “This is it, Sheriff! We want Brad Caldwell! Send him out here now!”
 

“Well, if this isn’t what you call role reversal,” Garrett stated calmly. “Hughes, cover the back, these guys are using our own tricks against us.” Hughes nodded and, still squatting, edged out of the room towards the back of the building.
 

“I’ll go with him,” Andrea said, and crawled past me.

“Give us Brad Caldwell and it ends right here! We don’t care about the women,” came the voice over the bullhorn again.
 

Brad looked absolutely terrified. “I don’t want anyone to get hurt. Maybe I should go on out there.”

I placed a hand on his arm. “I came a long way to find you. You’re staying put.”

I peeked out over the counter. The lobby’s large front glass with the badge decal had been blown to slivers, which were all over the carpeted floor. There was still a lot of dust in the air. I couldn’t see beyond the lobby, which probably meant that whoever was outside couldn’t see inside. On all fours, I crept cautiously forward.

“Longville! What are you doing?” Garrett asked in a heated whisper.

I crept over to the edge of the now empty window, and looked up at the door. It was typical of law enforcement facility door windows; it was a blond wooden door, with a large window, the kind made out of two sheets of glass, with some wire mesh sandwiched between them. This reinforced window had hung together in its frame, but was badly spider-webbed. I was willing to risk a quick look out with the distortion of the shattered glass, and the dust still obscuring me.

I brought an eye up to one corner of the ruined window and looked out. There was a large SUV out there, parked right in the street. All four doors where wide open, and two men crouched behind it; I could only see their feet. The other two, I was willing to bet, were around back, awaiting further orders.

They’d rolled straight in, turned in the middle of the street to block off traffic, and tossed a concussion grenade right up to the door. They knew how small the department was, and had probably long ago devised a plan to free any of their people that found themselves locked down in Delgado. When I decided I’d seen enough, I crept back to deliver my report to Sheriff Garrett and the others.

He wasn’t there. Brad and Claire were crouched, up under the cubicle desk.

“Where are Garrett and Ira?” I asked them.

“Garrett said to tell you that he had a plan, and wait for his signal,” Claire told me.

She pointed up towards the ceiling, where a hatch door was open and a small ladder dangled down. “They went out that way.”

“What signal?” I asked, but they both looked at me wide-eyed.

Cursing, I turned and crawled back towards the front of the ruined lobby. The dust was settling, now. I peeked out of the corner of the window again.

“This is your last warning!” The man on the bullhorn announced. “You’re surrounded! Give us Caldwell and it ends!” Then I could see black-clad two figures, crouched low, wearing flak jackets and carrying heavy weapons, moving slowly from behind the SUV.

And then the Sheriff gave his signal.

There was the explosion of Garrett’s trusty .30-06, and the front glass of the SUV disappeared in a silver explosion of powdered glass. Revenge for his spiffy front window, no doubt. One of the battle-dressed figures lifted his automatic weapon and rattled off a burst toward the top of the building. I fired at both figures, and they both flattened on the ground and began spraying the front of the Sheriff’s Office with lead, dislodging what was left of the door window. I rolled through the shattered glass back to the dubious protection of the communications area. But Garrett wasn’t through.

Outside, I heard his .30-06 speak again, and more glass shattering. There was another answering spray of automatic weapons fire, and cursing. Garrett had said
he had a plan,
and now I knew what he meant; it wasn’t one he’d just dreamed up. He had known for a long time that his station might be assaulted by the Redemption Army, so he’d come up with a contingency to deal with that, being a true professional.

Outside, the Sheriff and Ira were firing down on our invaders from the rooftops, firing and moving along a path that he had mapped out months or years in advance. After another few seconds, there was another shot from the sheriff, and a loud explosion and a blast of orange light that lit the ruined lobby as the SUV’s fuel tank went up. Brad, Claire and I gave a cheer. I ran forward in time to watch the two would-be commandos running down the street as fast as their encumbering garb would let them.