The next morning should have been a sleep in day but the phone was ringing by seven. Forest said, "I heard you caused all kinds of problems to a bunch of Arabs on your way back from Belgium. Some big shots from DC are coming down so you better get spruced up and come in. Sorry to short you on some down time, I'll make it up, I promise."
I asked if Bobby should come in and he said she could if she wanted to. We got dressed then called for our stand-ins to come to the house to stand watch. We drove into the office, arriving in time to have coffee and kibitz with Sarah a little.
Bobby and I went over all of the SOP changes and read all the current bulletins. We were initialing the last of the memos when I was called into Forest's office. John Wolf, the biggest big shot from DC, was there. I stuck out my hand but the man grabbed me and gave me a hug saying, "Damn, it's been too long since I've seen you. Glad you stayed with us. I've come to save you from the State Department and the press. Seems everyone one of those guys is claiming diplomatic immunity and they are also claiming indignant treatment while they were in flight."
"You are so lucky. Do you know those four cameras were all connected to a DVR that has every scene and every word recorded? You did wonderfully. The senior man on the team didn't know what to do, but you did. Less than a year in service and you took over a potentially very deadly situation. Good job, I'm proud of you."
John turned and introduced his next in command, "This is Chad Hillock. He's the chief deputy that backs me up. He's asked a couple of times how come you're still a deputy after shooting up half the outlaws in the Southeast U.S. I told him that it was all in self defense and in defending your unit. He didn't understand until I sent him through some team training."
Chad smiled when John said team training. "I learned a lot about what you have to do when you have to do it. You personally sort of screwed up the averages for all the men. I do wish to congratulate you that no shots were fired yesterday."
"No reason, Sir, the situation was under control so no further violence was necessary."
John took the floor back, "There will be a State Department guy here to interview you. Just tell them like it was and we'll screen the videos for him. You can show him the point where you decided to take action. I personally think you almost waited too long to act. You were waiting for something more definite, and the screwing on of the silencer sure was definite."
John walked out, said something to Bobby, and came back in, "The State Department guy isn't going to be here for another hour or so, how about let's go across the street to the hotel and have breakfast, coffee, or something."
The five of us went across the street, with John showing Chad all the locations where something had happened and where I had been shot while lying on the ground. He pointed at the steel ramp and described how I had held it over my head while getting into the car. Chad said, "Stuff like that just doesn't happen in the marshal's service. It's been getting worse lately, but the Tampa incidents were the craziest."
John said, "I watched as this guy shot a door gunner on a helicopter right out of the executive suite window. If he hadn't shot the guy, the gunner would have killed a dozen of us. These weren't just criminals, this was a war and we had a veteran."
We ate again, even though we did have breakfast earlier. When we were finished sloshing coffee, we went back to the office to pee and get ready for the State Department guys.
Bobby and I were looking at the marshal's website when four very nicely dressed fellows walked in. They were ushered into the conference room with Forest, John, and Chad, then John came out to get me. I was armed with a copy of my report and the knowledge that I had acted correctly.
The four men were very proper, all blondes, all in perfect suits with perfect ties. I was wearing one of my thousand dollar suits that I only paid a hundred for, so I looked as good as they did. After introductions, the first question posed to me was, "Why did I feel that I had to humiliate the gentlemen on the plane the way I did."
I waited until the speaker had relaxed a second, waiting for an answer.
"My job was to protect the passengers on the airplane. My area of responsibility was the six passengers within the view of my video screen. I observed some covert activity, but continued to watch until I was certain that a weapon was being assembled. I acted immediately to immobilize the men involved and to confiscate the nearly completely assembled weapon. In the process of gaining control of the subjects, one individual made an effort to gain access to my weapon. It was at that point that I pulled my weapon and declared an emergency under 22B of the Air Marshals directives. I handcuffed each suspect and laid them face down on the floor. In the process of searching the next group of men, I found a second weapon almost completely assembled. Fortunately there were no further incidents and the men being detained were seated and further restrained with the available appliances."
"Did you have to search all of the men within the group?"
"I felt that there was sufficient evidence among the men that they were traveling with, that additional searches were warranted. We did find additional unassembled weapons, but could not be sure as to who had possession of them."
Another of the four asked, "Why did you detain the men not in custody after the plane landed."
"When the men in question boarded the plane, each one stored a gym type bag in the overhead compartments. When the men not detained left the plane, none asked for, or reached for their overhead baggage. Upon searching these bags, every bag had some form of weapon or explosive in it. We were able to put each bag with a passenger. I believe Homeland Security secured these people as terrorists."
The leader of the group asked, "I'm told you have a video recording of the complete flight including the detaining and searching of the gentlemen in question."
I asked the tech at the projector to first roll all four cameras at once so the State Department guys can see why only each marshal could only watch one view at a time. We watched the whole thing, and on video of all four, it was apparent the men were assembling a gun just before I stepped in.
When the four were complete, I asked them to replay video four only, and to enhance the video so it would appear as it did on my small monitor. This time, it was very obvious what the men were doing. It was apparent I almost waited to long to act. John even looked at me a little funny. When it was over I said, "I didn't want to do what I had to do, and almost waited to long to act. If I had waited another minute, the weapon would have been fully functional. Then there would have been dead passengers and marshals."
The State Department leader said, "I want the originals of those tapes right now and any copies."
John said, "We're required to retain a copy for our files and the originals are in the possession of Homeland Security. Copies have been forwarded to the CIA, as well as the FBI. If you wish all the copies you will need the Justice Department to supersede presidential orders."
The State Department leader turned to me and said, "I've read your file and found you to be a danger to the public. I don't know how you can still be a deputy marshal, but I will see that you won't be long."
This pissed me off, so I reached out and took hold of his arm and spun him around to look at me. "I'm not sure what's got you in an uproar, but I've never fired a weapon in anger or in anything but the defense of my men or myself. If you want for just you and me to go somewhere to discuss this, there is a gym downstairs we can chat in. Please reconsider your threat to take my job from me. I'm sure if the situation were reversed, you would be upset as well."
The man glared at me and said in a low voice, "It would give me great pleasure to show you what a man really is. Name the time and the place and I'll be there."
Like I said, Sir, "The gym is available right now and is close at hand."
The man turned to his three cohorts and said, "Come with me to make sure this is a fair contest. I'm going to teach this Neanderthal how a man fights."
The entire office heard the confrontation, so there was a mass exodus to the gym. The gym attendant provided shorts, T-shirts, socks, and tennis shoes. He handed each of us a jock with a cup, then stood watching us dress.
When I dropped my pants and my aluminum leg became evident, the State Department guy smiled with a superior attitude.
We walked out to where there was a ring and I asked the man, "Did you want to use gloves, or be barehanded.
The man said, "I'm used to gloves, but I assume this will be a short street, fight so bare fisted will be fun."
We walked to a large mat, and before we faced off John stepped in. He looked at both of us and said, this fight will continue until one of you cannot get up, is knocked unconscious, or admits defeat. The loser will apologize to the winner for any undue criticism. There will be no killing blows, and Chuck, you will not use your prosthesis to hit your combatant."
The smart mouthed state guy said, "If he thinks he can get that thing up, he can hit me with it all he wants."
John shook his head and said, "So be it." He paused a second then said, "Go."
The idiot did exactly what I didn't think he would do. He rushed me swinging. I sidestepped him and balanced on my peg leg sticking my other foot out to trip him.
I stood back in a relaxed state and waited for him to roll up onto his feet, shake his head, then take on a boxing stance. He kept dancing around about four feet from me so I took a step forward to challenge him. He took the bait and lunged and swung. I sidestepped again, but this time I gave him a stiff hand to the solar plexus. When he bent over from the shock, I almost chopped him, but instead I open hand slapped him, knocking him off his feet.
I stepped back and stood waiting for the man to get his breath and get up.
He finally stood, glaring at me, took his boxing stance again, and began advancing on me this time. I watched his eyes and shoulders and slapped him as hard as I could while ducking his jab.
The slap was hard enough that his eyes were watering. This only made him angrier, so he decided to lead with his other hand and advanced again. When he jabbed, I slapped. When he swung, I ducked and punched him in the chest. I pulled the punch, since it would have been a killing blow if I didn't.
It knocked the wind out of him for a second. I guess he had all he could take as he rushed me again, only this time as he got closer I leaned into him and took him to the mat with a chop to the side of his neck. It was enough to knock him out, but I was still on top of him and had to maneuver to get off him. It was at that point I would have finished a hand to hand combat by a quick heel of the hand to the nose, but I stopped before contact.
I scooted back and stood up on my good leg and my fake one. I said quietly, "I believe your man is knocked out. If you wish to revive him, rub his temples and the back of his neck."
They looked at me weird then watched as John got down and rubbed the man's temples and the back of his neck. The state guy sat up groggily and asked, "Did I win?"
Even the three other state department guys laughed. John helped him to his feet and suggested he go sit for a little bit then take a shower.
John walked over to me and said, "You came close, Chuck. I'm proud that you were able to control yourself, but you know that wasn't a very fair fight."
"I know, but somehow that man needed to know that you have to fight for your life, not let someone talk someone else into deciding between letting you live or be blown up by some terrorist."
"Go home, I'll make sure the gentleman is reduced within the state department. You did the gentlemanly thing by accepting his challenge."
Bobby told me to go change. "You don't need a shower, you didn't break a sweat."
When I was dressed and walked out of the locker room, Forest came up to me and asked, "Did you egg the guy on or just accept his challenge. I accepted his challenge after I told him it was improper that he threatened to have me fired. There always seems to be someone who wants to fire you for doing what we are supposed to do. If I made your office look bad, I'm sorry; if I've made the marshal's service look bad, I'll resign; but I did what I felt was right on that plane and no one will ever convince me otherwise."
Forest smiled at me, "You did right up there. You took charge and handled it like a true deputy U.S. Marshal."
John came up and asked, "You're not reprimanding Chuck, are you?"
"No Sir, just making sure what he did was honorable."
John said, "It was very honorable. I'm proud to be one of his supervisors."
I said, "How about let's go down to see my friends Reggie and Metarie for a good meal. What do you say? I think I'm good for one tonight. Oh yeah, hang on a sec."
I walked over to the four State Department guys and asked, "We're going to one of the better restaurants in the area, my treat. Would you like to come along, as I said, it's on me."
The three men looked at the leader expectantly then he stuck out his hand, "I apologize for my accusations. You are not a Neanderthal, but an accomplished defender of your country. I would be proud to eat with you but it will be the State Department's treat, not yours."
All of my people had heard the exchange. Well, knock us over with a feather. We all managed to get into a couple of SUVs to go down to the place. I called Reggie's cell phone real quick and asked him if he had a big table for us. He said it was big enough for us, Metarie, and him. He asked if we were in our black SUVs and told me to park in the back.
The evening and the meal was wonderful. Metarie gave Forest a bunch of grief for pulling me off the employment office detail. She said she was still working on getting the right people since I left. The State Department men were able to get a glimpse of what had happened before, and how we had all survived to be better people. By the time we put the State people in a taxi to their hotel, they were toasted and would remember this night for a long time. I took care of the bill with Reggie so the State guy didn't wake up hundreds of dollars poorer.
Bobby and I drove home, with her under my arm next to me. We relieved the guys watching the house, but asked them to stay till morning since we had been drinking and were probably going to be busy a while. They smiled saying they had already planned on staying the night.
Bobby and I enjoyed a few rounds of closeness, wrestling around and having a great time.
Monday morning brought new assignments. Our team was reduced by six guys as a couple had retired, three had transferred to other offices for promotions, and one went to work for the FBI.
Forest was leading the meeting and gave out the usual air staff schedules, saying that Orlando was picking up a lot of ours as we were so short. When he came to me, he said, "Usually we don't send someone out for an escapee alone, but we're too short to give you anyone. I can't send Bobby because she has three transients coming through this week. Chuck, you're going to have to get a line on this guy, and get some local help to capture him. He is considered armed and dangerous. He has been involved with some domestic terrorism groups and has robbed several banks. If you were to keep track of bank robberies, I think you might pick up his trail. Be careful though, this one could get nasty."
I picked up a copy of the file from Sarah. This wasn't a file; it was a whole file cabinet. I glanced through it and took the whole box with me to study it at home. Before you try to track someone, you need to learn as much about them as you can.
In the seclusion of the small office we had at home, I read every word of every piece of paper on the guy. I knew the general area he was going to be in, as there had been several bank robberies with his M.O. in his old stomping grounds.
I called the motor pool and asked for an older pickup truck. They said they had one that was a little beat up looking, but ran like a striped ass ape. The next thing I had to do was to make sure I was armed with countrified weapons. I checked out a Marlin lever action and a real nice 308 with an excellent scope. The last rifle was a sporterized .223 that could hold a thirty round magazine.
Instead of the Glock, I picked a nice balanced 1911 Colt .45. The range officer said the piece was perfect. Three magazines later, I had to agree with him. For fun, I picked up a monster .44 magnum. The thing only held five rounds, but if you hit something when you shot it, it was done. I used up about fifty rounds before my wrist said enough. I was getting fairly good with it, though.
I dug through all my old clothes that I had bought at Goodwill when I first came to town. Everything was perfect for what I was going to do. I needed to look the part so I could fit in.
The guy I was looking for ranged from Northeast Texas, Southeast Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alabama. His latest bank job was in Alabama, so you figured he was probably in Oklahoma or Texas. I drove up through the areas just to look over the towns that were mentioned in his files.
All of his immediate family had passed away, but he had a mess of cousins scattered around the entire area. Several of his kin were in jail, serving time for everything from murder to car theft. The whole family seemed to thrive on making their hits in small towns. I tracked the bank holdups he had done since he escaped then went back to track the holdups he had staged before he was caught. There was a pattern. He would hit the farthest east then hit one in the farthest south. He would next go to Arkansas and hit as far north as the Lake of the Ozarks. The telling tale was he would go back east and rob a bank there. He only robbed in three directions, so that meant he was probably hiding out in Oklahoma.
Our man had another thing that he repeated. He liked to drive an Oldsmobile. Since GM quit making them, he had to steal older cars instead of new, dependable rides. I checked in with the state police in Arkansas to have them check the surrounding states for stolen Olds. I came up with only seven. All were stolen in North Texas and Alabama. I'd bet they were all stolen by my guy. The latest theft was one that was a lime green. That was ugly enough to stand out.
I drove up into Oklahoma and stayed in roadside inns so I could watch the highways and wander around to some of the honkytonks throughout Oklahoma.
I was driving back toward Arkansas when my cell phone rang. It was the state police in South Texas, reporting a bank robbery in Texarkana, Texas. I was not far from a highway that would come up from there and if I were right, my guy would drive right by me. I drove a little farther to meet him earlier and pulled off under a tree like any good old boy who needed a nap.
Sure enough, the ugly green Olds went flying by doing every bit of eighty-five or ninety heading toward Oklahoma. I took off after him but didn't try to catch up, just to barely keep him in view. I began to think, the Olds probably had the usual twenty-two gallon tank and he probably filled it up before his heist. Considering he was riding the car hard he couldn't have been getting more than say fourteen miles to the gallon. He should have to stop for gas around the Oklahoma state line.
I called the Arkansas state police and the Oklahoma state police to alert them that a bank robber was driving through Arkansas but would have to stop for gas around the Oklahoma state line. I told them I was a U.S. Marshal requesting assistance.
I put the pedal to the medal and the little pickup took off like a rocket. It was too light to go more than about a hundred twenty, but at that speed, I was catching up quick. We were approaching a small town with a big truck stop that I thought he might use, and sure enough, his brake lights came on.
I called the Arkansas state police to tell them where he was at. They said they had a trooper in the parking area. I slowed to almost a stop looking through the lot but didn't see the car. I was circling when I saw a guy putting ramps up into the back of a trailer. When I drove past the trailer, I saw the green Olds.
I drove on past and parked at the end of the row of trucks and called the police back again, telling them where the Olds now was,. I said we needed to try to take not only the truck driver but also the bank robber. They said they wouldn't let the truck out of the lot.
Making sure my forty five was ready, I slipped down the line of trucks, keeping something between me and the cab of the truck in question. I now was next to the truck before the one that had the car in it, and luckily, the engines were off.
I could hear two men arguing about what they should do with the car. One wanted to keep it for another job and the other felt the car was too hot. Nothing was settled, but the latter one said he was going to look for another car. I got a good look at him as he walked away and it wasn't my man. I heard the door to the cab shut and then the diesel engine start. My man had to be in that truck. If he decided to leave, the state boys were going to be an obstacle, but when I peeked around the side of the cab, there wasn't anyone in the driver's seat and I could hear music coming from the dog house. The guy started the truck for the air conditioner. I spied some wheel chocks on a big trailer and picked up four of them, setting them in front and behind the front tires of the truck. I then called the police and asked them to converge on the truck. I had checked to make sure there wasn't an escape door on the dog house, so I felt like we had him. When the police were in place, I turned off the fuel line going to the engine. The truck ran for a few minutes then sputtered and died. When my man got into the driver's seat, he saw a dozen troopers with rifles and shotguns aimed at him. You could see his indecision, but he finally held up his hands.
I was on the side of the truck, so I reached around and opened the door. He couldn't see me, but I said for him to stick his hands out of the door first and step down slowly. I told him that if he made a false move, there were several trigger happy policemen to help him to the happy hunting grounds.
When he stepped out of the truck, I landed on his back pushing him hard to the ground. Several policemen were on him instantly, holding his arms away from his body. After cuffing him, we found a pistol and an automatic in his belt plus a twenty-five auto in his sock. We read him his rights and arrested him for bank robbery and I said, "This time you're going to Leavenworth my friend, no more easy places for you. I understand no one has escaped Leavenworth in the last fifty years."
The local state troopers thought he might be better off in a local jail, but I told them that it was my duty to take the escapee directly to the nearest federal facility. The one trooper said, "That's going to be in Little Rock. That's a long way. Are you sure you want to take this guy that far?"
I told them that I had to do it, so I put my set of cuffs and ankle locks on him and gave the local guy his cuffs back. Another couple of troopers came up with the other guy and wanted to know what to do with him. I told them that he was theirs. I didn't have a claim on the guy.
I finally convinced everyone to search the truck for the money that was just stolen from the bank in Texas. They looked around a few minutes and came up with two bank bags. One from Texas and another from Alabama. I told them that ought to be enough to prosecute the man they just caught but they should call the FBI as it was their jurisdiction. I was just a glorified bounty hunter. They all got a laugh over that one. It was going to be a six hour drive to Little Rock but that was okay since I was rested.
The escapee and I had a decent conversation the whole trip. I stopped so he could pee and eat. He thought I would take off his chains and cuffs, but they were made for just what we were doing. We finally made it to Little Rock and I escorted the man into the federal building, holding up my badge. They checked my credentials then escorted me to a holding cell. When they asked if I was going to take my hardware, I said, "He's still mine until another marshal takes responsibility for him. He won't go anywhere so let's just leave him."
When I called into my office, Forest got on the phone and asked if it turned into a gunfight. I told him that there wasn't a shot fired. We had captured the escapee red-handed with more bank loot and I had just given custody to the Little Rock office.
Forest said, "Good going. That guy had gunfights the last two times we caught him. This time he's on his way to Leavenworth so I don't think we will have to chase him anymore. Thanks for not shooting up the place as the Director is watching."
Bobby was happy to hear I had caught my man and told me to hurry home, but to get some sleep first. I did just that. The hotel out on the edge of Little Rock was quiet and peaceful. Perfect for a good night's sleep.
My cell phone rang about three AM. It was the Little Rock station chief saying that my man had just escaped and had killed two deputies in the process. I couldn't imagine that they could let that happen but sure enough they did. I asked the station chief for the local police desk.
I called and identified myself and asked if they had any report of any stolen cars around the downtown area where the federal building was. After a long pause the man said, "We just had a report of a late model Olds Cutlass, white over blue stolen just a few minutes ago. I told the desk guy that it was probably the escapee that was now armed and very dangerous. He said he would get that out on the radio.
The man was a creature of habit. He didn't have any money so he would rob the first bank he could find, probably up here somewhere, then head for Oklahoma. I called the Arkansas state police and the Oklahoma state police to get them to be on the look out for the Olds.
Where would I go before the banks opened? First I would find a bank with good escape routes then find a place to park to wait for it to open. I drove downtown to where the car was reported stolen then took off in the direction the car had been seen heading. I took the main road right through the city to the suburbs, driving slowly and looking at banks as I went. There was a branch bank in the front of a Wal-Mart right next to the interstate that leads to Oklahoma. This place would be easy to be in and out quickly. I drove past the place then parked behind some buildings and walked up to the Wal-Mart. Inside I bought a big straw western hat and walked out to the parking lot. I looked at the sides acting like I was gathering shopping carts and no Olds. Then I began looking down the rows in front of the grocery store and right in the middle was the Olds. I kept getting more and more carts pushing them up the aisle until the car was blocked in on the back and he was blocked by a curb in the front.
I walked toward the front of the car to get a cart and stopped pointing my 45 right at his face. He was surprised to see me. I told him in a very loud voice to be careful and to keep both hands visible while opening the door. I stepped back at the right moment as he tried to swing the door into me. The Cutlass door slammed into the car next to him but not into me. I put the muzzle to his face and said, "Be very careful. The hammer is back, the safety is off, and you've embarrassed the local U.S. Marshal's office."
"Slide out of the car slowly, keeping your hands very high and stand there, looking forward."
I put the muzzle of my gun to his back and checked for the gun he had escaped with. I then said, "Step back one step, very carefully." When he did it I said, "Do it again." He was finally at the trunk of the car so I told him to lean on the trunk with his legs spread. Once he was spread enough, I forced him down on the trunk and told him to put his left hand behind him. I latched the cuff then repeated the instruction for the right hand locking it as well.
"Okay, now sit down on the ground with your legs under the car."
I called the Marshal's office where this guy had just escaped from and told them to send some help to come get this guy. I was holding him by myself and didn't want to shoot him but I needed backup. They said that they would send the county sheriff out to pick him up and I told them no. "You have to pick this man up. He is a dangerous criminal that is proficient at escaping. Come and get him, or send the coroner, your choice."
Two county cars came screaming up, accompanied by a state trooper. All were concerned because I would not drop my cover of the escapee. I explained that the man had just killed two deputy marshals while escaping and I didn't want to take a chance. After hearing that, they agreed and stayed with me until the deputies showed up. None of them had the proper restraints for a guy like this, so I had them cuff his ankles together then use a set of cuffs between his hands and feet. It was uncomfortable, but it would work.
I said I would follow them down to make out a report, then I was leaving town.
It was eight in the morning by the time we finished all the paperwork. The escapee was now locked in his cell with the appropriate waist and ankle chains. I assured the jailer that this was not cruel and unusual punishment because he could still use the toilet, he could wash his hands, and he could eat. He just could not grab a jailer and force him to do something.
I called my office to hear from Forest that he just read the notice that the guy escaped, killing two deputies and now a new e-mail was coming across that he was captured again. I told him about the capture and said that since I was pretty tired, I was probably not going to drive straight through. I would probably see him on Friday.
Bobby asked, "Why didn't you just shoot him the second time so he can't ever do that again."
"I had the drop on him and he didn't make me do anything to him. He was lucky. I'll see you soon, Lover. Save me some."
"I'm saving all of it for you. Hurry home, but be careful."
The pickup could make some good time, but it wasn't the most comfortable ride in the world. When I hit I-75 South in Florida, I was getting droopy so I pulled off into one of the rest areas, parking near the restroom. I locked the doors then stretched out on the big bench seat.
The traffic going through the rest area bugged me at first, but I was able to shut it out and drift off for my forty winks.
"Crack."
"Crack, crack."
"Hey motherfucker, you better put that down.'
"Crack, crack, crack, crack."
"Ohhh shit!"
The sound of a small caliber hand gun going off right next to me and the obvious groan of someone hit woke me. I didn't want to sit up to show my face as whoever was shooting was right outside the door of my truck.
A car door slammed in the same direction as the gun noise then there were tires squealing. I rose up to see an old seventies Chevrolet burning rubber, leaving the parking lot of the rest area. All of the license plate I could quickly recognize was the last four numbers. They were 1313, an unusual number. I opened the door to see if I could see where the person that had been hit was.
An older guy in a rent-a-cop uniform was on one knee by a bench near the restrooms. When I made it to him, he was holding his side but didn't seem to be hit badly. I made him lay down then pulled his shirt open to see a small puncture wound that exited an inch or so after it entered. It looked like all that was hit was skin and fat. I ripped the guys T-shirt and held it over the wound and asked of the gathering crowd, "Anyone have any antiseptic and tape?"
"I have some in the camper, I'll be right back," an older lady said and hustled to go get it.
"Anyone call the cops?" I asked looking around.
When all I got was blank stares, I pulled my cell phone to see that I did have a connection and dialed 911. It took a bit to get through the county dispatcher's head that a shooting had occurred at a rest area. I gave them the description of the car and the last four digits of the tag. The security guard gave a brief description of the shooter, but he was in shock so he may not be remembering everything.
The lady with the first aid kit returned, so I poured some peroxide on the holes and I put a couple gauze pads and lots of tape on it to hold until the guy could get to a real doc. He wasn't going to need an ambulance unless the shock caused him some other problems.
I got him to sit up and someone gave him a Coke to drink. He seemed to be calming down and was beginning to be coherent. The first aid lady had a portable blood pressure tester and wrapped it on the guard's arm and took a reading. He was about 150 over 95 which was high, but not bad considering his shock.
I talked to the guy a bit to find out he had been shot once before, nearly forty years before in Viet Nam, so this wasn't his first time under fire. He half smiled and said, "You act like you've patched holes before, you been over in the sand?"
I smiled and nodded, then whacked my fake leg to let him know we were brothers, but from different time frames. I got the man up and seated him on the bench. The first aid lady sort of took over mothering the guy. I walked into the restroom, peed, and washed the sleep out of my eyes, while trying to remember anything else that might help the police capture the shooter.
When I went back out, two state troopers were talking to the security guard who pointed at me, telling them I had seen the car. I described what I had heard and what I had seen. When the trooper noticed the holster on my belt in the back, he put his hand on my chest and challenged, "You're carrying a weapon, do you have a permit and reason to carry that?"
I held up both hands and said, reach in my left rear pocket and pull out the flat wallet.
He did, and flipped it open to see my badge and U.S. Deputy Marshal's ID. "Okay, Deputy Johnson, you have a reason to carry. Why didn't you do anything?"
I explained that I had been sleeping and was awakened by the small arms gunfire. I couldn't open the door right away since the shooter was right beside my truck. When the car door slammed and the tires squealed in reverse is when I got out of the truck and noted the type of car and what numbers on the license plate I was able to see.
The trooper kept my ID and went over to his car to call in what the situation was. The other trooper was standing there, looking confused. I suggested, "Let's find out how the guard was standing when he was shot. We should be able to find the spent round so it can be used for ID. Let's clear these people out of here so we can look for anything that may be here. There are probably shell casings back by my truck."
The trooper nodded and began ushering the gappers away from the area. The guard stood up in the position he was in when he was shot giving me an idea the spent round had to be between him and the brick wall of the restroom. I walked slowly in that the direction and saw it lying on the ground. I called out to the trooper, "Get your camera, and some evidence bags. Let's clear the crime scene so these folks can use the bathrooms."
I suggested to the people having to go bad to walk around the building to enter the restrooms from the other direction. After photographing the site and the round on the concrete, the trooper put the round in a bag and marked it. Next we went to where the guy had been standing when shooting.
I said, "I heard seven rounds go off, so we should have seven casings. Look carefully as those little automatics kick the brass out pretty far."
It took us about ten minutes to find and mark all seven casings. The trooper photographed the evidence in their locations, then bagged them. I noted to the trooper that the Chevy must have had posi-traction as the tire marks leaving were from both tires and continued together until the marks stopped. The trooper took a picture of that too.
The other trooper finally got back and handed me my badge and ID wallet. He said, "So you're just getting back from Arkansas? You had to catch an escapee twice? Did that guy really kill a couple of deputy marshals?"
I nodded on all counts and said, "Are your fellow troopers on the look out for the Chevy on down the road? I'm guessing they probably took the first exit and will try to dump that car and steal another. You might want to do some scouting around in that area."
"We know how to catch bad guys too. We have a procedure to follow. We'll get it done. You can be on your way."
I just nodded at the guy and thanked the other trooper for getting the scene cleaned up quick. Before I started the truck, the squirrelly trooper came over to me and asked, "Why so many rifles? What were you hunting?" I told him, "I had to blend in with the natives in order to be where the escapee was. If I didn't blend in, he would guess me to be a cop. And the biggest reason was that I didn't know what I was going to need to capture the guy."
The trooper actually sneered at me, "You Feds are a waste. You probably can't shoot with what you've got in there anyway. I should take your weapons from you just to keep you safe."
I wasn't mad yet but I was getting there. I pulled out my ID wallet and gave him one of my cards. "Listen, the next time you down around Tampa, call me and you and I will do some range time. We'll use our personal weapons on a decision course. Whoever loses, buys lunch. I think I'll have steak."
"I'll be seeing you, hotshot government man. I'll show you some down home shooting. I might want lobster with my steak."
I smiled as I climbed into the truck again and drove off. I actually got off at the next exit to check out the truck parking areas to see if the Chevy was there. I checked every rest stop all the way to Tampa. I would still bet the guy is just off the highway at one of the truck stops, waiting to find another car.
Bobby was happy to see me and gave me some welcome home hugs and kisses. I gave her the story of the rest stop and said, "I guess I'll have to make a report since shots were fired. I didn't fire any of my weapons, so I'm sure all the super powers will be happy."
Bobby smiled, "Forest says that he's had dozens of inquiries as to whether you've been involved in any shootings since the little war we had. I'm surprised you didn't off the guy that killed those two deputies. He deserved it."
I nodded, but said, "Couldn't shoot. I had the man cold. He couldn't react and I didn't give him a chance to make a move after that. Hopefully everyone handling the man will be careful from this point on. The guy should face capital murder charges now. If he does, he's a goner."
I called in to the office and reported to Forest and gave him a heads up about the rest stop shooting. His only question was, "And you didn't shoot? Not even one shot?"
When I said no, he asked, "Why not?"
"No clear shot, Sir, any shot I took could have hit an innocent person's car or the occupant."
"Why didn't you chase the car?"
"I'm using the pickup without any lights. That's against policy and I thought the guard that was shot was more important."
"All good answers, Chuck. Put them in your report. You did the right thing. You're a lot more mature than people give you credit. I wondered about you when I took over here. So far, you deserve your rank and the respect that goes with it. I'm glad to be your commander."
"Thanks, Sir."
"You have some down time coming but we're still short handed. I need you on a case we're working on with the Bureau. It's all leg work so use file code, FXXX34, and read up. You'll need to be on it tomorrow, I'll tell the boys downstairs you'll be joining them in the morning."
I pulled up the file on the internet and was about to give the order to print when I noticed that the file had three hundred plus pages. I left it up on the PC and decided to skim through it as fast as I could later.
Since I was still sleep deprived, Bobby tucked me into bed and kept me company, helping me to get to sleep. She sure knows how to make a guy sleepy.
I woke up around two, took a shower, then read the note on the fridge. Had to go to the office, will be back by five. When you read this, call the guys so they don't have to watch the house.
The team answered and I gave them the at ease password in a sentence. I made some coffee and sat down to read the massive file on the case I was going to work on with the Bureau.
After reading nearly every word, I had to go back and read parts of it again since I couldn't find the answer of the most important question. "What were we looking for, what were we investigating?"
I called Forest and asked him if he could give me an answer. He said the file was confidential and we couldn't discuss it over the phone. I asked him to read the file so he could answer the question when I saw him.
Bobby came home with some folders of active relocations. She was checking out the possibility of us putting a family into a home nearby. The husband had turned in a man that turned out to be connected. There had been an attempt on the witness' life, so the service was going to put him in a safe location, far away from the folks who might be looking for him.
The rest of the files were of people who might pass through on a hand off. After we both had read the files, she put them in our file safe and we concentrated on a workout. An hour and a half later, we were both wrung out, needing a shower and some food.
Once those requirements had been met, we watched a new training film Sarah had given Bobby. It was on new ways to secure escapees. They used the waist and leg chains showing how the captive couldn't run and couldn't easily attack a guard. We each took the online quiz and got ready for bed.
We took the long way to bed. That means we passed through the hot tub before we hit the sheets. Playing with a three hundred fifty-pound hunk of woman is a handful. Actually it was more like a front loader full, but it sure is fun. We were becoming experts at making each other smile.