Chuck
I was pissed as soon as I received the call from Sarge. I thought we had accounted for all of the men from the Alcam group. Apparently not, as Orlando reported that a group of men had broken into an Alcam hangar and when they were discovered, shot their way out. They had gotten away but were spotted by a state trooper an hour later, at a gas station on I-4. There were at least eight men in two Suburbans, so the trooper didn't attempt to try to capture them by himself.
The trooper was following the two Suburbans at a distance and they were headed straight toward the airpark. After telling John what I knew, he called Orlando to find out what was happening. The Bureau was covering evening duty, guarding the hangars and was now in full battle mode as they had lost a man and had two more in the hospital. John and I couldn't believe that trained men could be surprised like that.
John said, "This is getting hairy, isn't it? Wish we had time to get the strike force team down here. Sarge says that, with us, and the men he was able to scramble out here, we should be okay, but I can tell you, this is getting old. I thought I would be down in Key West by now."
"Me too, John. I need to get down there and begin changing the titles for things and to have the housekeeper or manager, whatever she is, call me by my correct name. She needs to be able to call me for advice or direction."
"I saw you say something to that Ben guy," John said. "Can he keep his mouth shut?"
I said, "I hope so, I trust him more than most. He has contacts all over the U.S. and in South America, so it should be the right move."
John offered me some advice, "Don't give him a lot the first go around. Feed him one deal, then if he is good to go, let him have all of them. Have you figured out what you're going to do with the money?"
"The houses will all go to the people who are living in them if they want them. I'll make them pay something, but it will be affordable. I'll even have Ben set it up so I'll carry the mortgages. That way if they get into trouble, I can help them."
I took a breath as we drove out to the airpark, "I think I've found several families that can use some help. I'm going to make sure they get on their feet, are working, and stable. I'll keep the cash available to help where I see I can. There's enough to do some good for a lot of people."
"Good man," John said. "I figured you to do something like that, especially after coming up with, and turning over the thirty mil from that aircraft. Almost any other guy would have kept the money and been gone. That's why you ended up with that Learjet, plus a total rebuild. Everyone in DC thought you were nuts to have turned that money in. I think that is why you're still a deputy after all the wars you were in."
We pulled into the parking area of the airpark operations building and shut down on the side of the building, out of sight. I called Sarge on my cell phone to let him know it was us that had pulled in. He said to come across the tarmac to where the van was parked.
I popped the trunk and handed John a vest, a combat vest that would hold spare magazines, an MP5, and five magazines. I put a protective vest and a combat vest on, and loaded up with a full magazine in an MP5, plus five extras. I handed John two additional Glock magazines for a Glock 22. They would fit in his smaller pistol, but stick out some.
We quickly walked across the tarmac, to be intercepted by Sarge. He led us to the office between the hangars and into a back room that had lights. He showed us a drawing of the airfield. Sarge said, "I can't imagine why they have come over here, unless there is something on one of the aircraft you brought over here today. It almost has to be something like that, since there is no way they would just want to get some form of revenge. They don't have an organization anymore, so they can't be in business. There's got to be something on one of the aircraft that were brought over."
"You're probably right, Sarge," I said. "So how do you think we should do this?"
Sarge said, "I have a guy at each end of the runway to make sure no one sneaks in that way. The only other access is through the main entrance. Everything is shut down so no civilians are in jeopardy. I have three men behind a van out front here and three behind a van down a ways. The vans look like they belong here so we'll be able to surprise whoever it might be. All of our cars are behind the hangars so no one can see them. There are always a couple of cars in front of the charter office so that doesn't look out of place."
"Uh oh, someone's coming," I said, making sure a round was in the chamber on the MP5.
We watched as a pickup truck pulled up to the gate. The gate began sliding open, the pickup pulled through and the gate began closing. One of the airpark guards said that it was Steve Sharp and Hap, he had called them. I said, "Go have him get into his charter office and to keep the lights off. He may not like it, but I don't have any way to protect the man."
The guard ran out to intercept Steve. I could see that he parked on the far side of the charter office and both he and the other guy, probably Hap, went into the building.
Sarge continued with his plan, "We're going to have a couple of men over by the operations building and when the group tries to come across the tarmac, we'll get them in the open. The men by the operations building will disable the two cars and take care of anyone that is left with the vehicles. The rest of us will take care of the men coming across the tarmac. If they decide to come across one at a time, we'll disable each one as they get to this side. Actually that would be the easiest. I think they'll come all at once though. Especially if they see there are no lights or other cars."
I asked, "How close are they now?"
Sarge said, "As of just before you got here, they were about fifteen minutes out."
"You've told your guys what's happened in Orlando right?"
"You bet, they will all be careful," Sarge said, nodding.
"Okay, John and I will be set up on the end of the hangar to capture anyone that comes across alone. Give me a couple of those personnel tie-wraps. If they come across all together, we'll wait for your announcement and signal. Any shots fired will get our response."
Sarge nodded again. We both reached for John's MP5 at the same time. I let Sarge do it and just smiled. Sarge put a round into the chamber, checked the firing position then pointed at the safety. He said, "John, you're on single fire, and this is the safety. These rifles have a real low pressure trigger pull, so keep the safety on until you need to use it."
John was a little embarrassed, but probably appreciated the help and warning. The three of us went out to get into our positions. We were ready, and it was a good thing, as two Suburbans came into the parking area and drove right up to the gate to the tarmac. A guy got out and tried to force the gate open, but couldn't. He went back and leaned into the lead truck.
The two trucks emptied out and we could see a total of ten men. The drivers doors on both vehicles stayed closed so that meant there was a total of twelve men over there.
All of them were clustered together for a minute then two men came trotting across the runway directly at where John and I were standing in the depression for the hangar door. Both of the men looked to have some form of combat rifle. Shortly after they started, the other eight men began walking across runway. All of them looked to have small rifles or machine pistols.
I pushed John back deep into the door depression and waited. When the two had come abreast of us, in the dark shadow of the hangar, I swung my MP5 at the head of the first guy. He crumpled as the other man stopped and was swinging around at me. I was leaped at him using my hand to chop him in the throat.
I followed through by wrapping my arm around his neck and twisting quickly feeling the snap of the neck. The man folded without a sound. John quickly tie-wrapped the first guy's hands, while I tore off the guy's shirt sleeve and stuffed it in his mouth. I put a tie-wrap around his head to hold the gag in.
John and I dragged him to the building then did the same to the dead guy.
We were just crouching down, getting a sighting on the group coming across the tarmac when one of the deputies announced, "You are surrounded. Put down your weapons and put your hands on your head." He said it three times as the group of men stopped still looking to see where the announcement was coming from. There was some hesitancy, then as if by some command, they all began firing at the hangars but turned and began running back toward the Suburbans.
The rounds shot at us were our signal, so I began picking off the running men from the front first. While sighting at the third man, I saw our men over at the operations building going to take out the two drivers. They didn't fire at the men coming toward them, as they didn't want to hit any of their own men.
John said, "Got two so far. You keep going from the front, I'll work from the back. We were down to two men when they stopped, dropped their weapons and put their hands up. The one guy was slow, and the deputies knocked him down before the man could put his gun down. The single man left was standing very still, yelling, "I give up, I give up."'
There was a shot over by the Suburbans and I saw a deputy stagger back but brought his handgun up and fired three times. The deputy stood there and you could here him cursing from all the way across the tarmac.
Deputies ran quickly to the downed men and the man standing in the middle of the runway. Sarge didn't stop there but went across to his man who had been hit. We could see the guy point to his middle and gesture at the Suburban. The guy I had hit with the butt of the MP5 was groaning. I cut the tie-wrap from his mouth and pulled out the shirt sleeve. John asked, "Can't I shoot the son of a bitch so we don't have to fuck with him?"
The prisoner's eyes got real big, but I said, "I'd rather watch what happens when we give him to Orlando. They might want to play with him."
The man asked, "What did you do with my partner?"
"I hit him wrong and he's dead," I said. "Sorry, the guy didn't give me much of a chance to not hurt him."
Before we even thought to read the guy his rights, he was asking, "I want to call my lawyer. You have to let me call as soon as I ask."
John said, "We're in the field. We haven't advised you of any rights yet. When we get you in confinement and have read you your rights, we'll be glad to charge you with murder, and then let you call an attorney. There will be no bail for killing a federal agent. Plus you'll pull conspiracy murder charges on all your dead friends out here."
You could see the guy look nervous. I said, "What are you looking for? What do you want?"
The guy looked back and forth between us and said, "Can I make a deal?"
I added, "Yep, you can make a deal. Tell me what you're looking for and who you're working for, and I'll make sure you only get charged with one count."
"That ain't good enough. Make it manslaughter. I wasn't inside in Orlando, anyway."
I smiled, "But you were here and it looks like of the twelve of you, only three are able to talk. That means nine counts of murder right here."
"Make it manslaughter and I'll make your day," the guy said.
John said, "Go ahead. I can make that deal with the prosecutor."
The guy was still sitting, so I pulled my Glock and put it under his chin, "Tell me, tell me everything or I will say you were making a play for the peashooter you have in your ankle holster. I've already seen you have a chain around your neck and what do you want to bet that it's a handcuff key. Won't work with tie-wraps, but who knows what could happen when we get you in cuffs. Tell me."
The guy held his breath as I pulled the chain from around his neck and found keys for the two types of handcuffs on the market. One was the standard in the U.S., and the other was the European style. I pulled his little 9mm from his ankle holster and put it in my back pocket. After patting him down and pulling his wallet, I asked again, "Tell me."
"We were trying to get at the cash that was supposed to be shipped up on that jet from Brazil. The boss said it was there and we had to get it. He's having a fit because you guys have taken down all his operations and are selling off all his stuff. He has a big boat he's going to leave on and he wants his cash. There's one more guy that you're going to have to watch out for. He's another hired gun. He's about your size with a bushy beard. The guy is cold, real cold. He was sent after some Mexicans, and we heard he totally destroyed a house, a helicopter, and all the main guys from a couple of big drug cartels. When he gets back here, he's going to be tough to catch, but I can tell you, he's gonna want his money and he is dangerous."
John and I looked at each other, and John asked, "What's his name and what is your boss' name?"
"No one knows that shooter's name. He goes by the 'Master.' That's what he wants everyone to call him. He doesn't deal with anything but cash and dead people."
John asked again, "What's your boss' name?"
"You better get him, or you can bet I'll be dead as soon as I hit the pen. The man's name is George Marcockos. He's the Greek that has been putting your mafia guys to shame for a long time. The man is virtually untouchable."
I asked, "Where's his boat?"
"If he hasn't left yet, it's in Miami. He's waiting for us to bring his money to him. He's promised us each a million, so it must be a lot of money. I'm figuring that he was going to pop us when we turned over the ca sh. I was planning on trying to take it all and skip. I'd bet he has the Master down there on his boat ready to do us all."
Thinking about everything, I asked, "How many more people are out there that we need to worry about?"
The man looked at me sadly, and said, "We're all that's left. All the rest were killed or captured. Like I said though, Marcockos, the Greek, wants his money and if we don't get there, he'll send the Master to get it."
"What's the name of the boat," I asked.
The man actually laughed, "It's a great big sailboat called the 'Pure Greek.'"
I pulled the man to his feet, "Don't say another word to anyone. If you stay quiet, I'll get you a deal with the prosecutor. If you begin talking to anyone else, you will probably get dead while in jail. Come on, John, let's get this guy to a deputy then see if we can get an airplane out of here."
While we had been asking questions, Sheriff's cars had come to the airpark. Two cleanup vans from the Bureau and Marshal's office arrived, and the crime scene investigation had begun. I asked Sarge, "I need two men, two good men. We're going to Miami to see if we can finish this. You need to keep guards here tonight, and tomorrow, take that Brazilian plane apart. What these guys are looking for is probably behind the interior paneling. Begin there."
"I'm going to get an aircraft and take us to Miami. I might take Steve Sharp, the S&S owner. Let me borrow a couple of vests."
Sarge gave me a couple of vests and John and I walked back to the charter office. Steve and Hap met us as we entered the office. "You're all clear now. It's going to be a while before you can get out, but I have something to do. I need my Lear and if you want, you and Hap can go with me to see if we can get the last big wheel of this mess. He's on a sailboat down in Miami. You know where they all dock, and who to ask where to find the boat we want. How about it, want to come?"
Hap and Steve looked at each other and Steve said, "Let's do it. Let me get one of the night guys so they can help us get your aircraft out."
My Lear was soon out of the hangar. I pointed at the Embraer Jet and said to the mechanic, "Don't touch that airplane. The Bureau or the Marshal's Service may have you help them, but don't touch it until they are with you."
The two deputies coming with me came up and said, "Ready." I put them and Hap in the plane. I had John sit in the back and put Steve in the right seat. We went through the startup checklist quickly and with all the lights on to keep people out of the way, we taxied out onto the runway. All the equipment and people at the crime scene took up the first third of the runway. I said to Steve, "I sure hope there is enough runway."
Steve said, "Come on, you never use more than half of the runway anyway; you still have most of it left."
We blasted down the runway and were quickly in the air. I said to Steve, "I'll call in a flight plan while you use the other radio to call the Coast Guard. See if they know where the Pure Greek is docked. It's supposed to be a big sailboat, so they might know."
Five minutes later, Steve said, "We're in luck, as you heard, they said the boat is docked and doesn't appear to be going anywhere. They happen to have a watch on the boat because they had a tip someone might try to hijack it. I told them the U.S. Marshal's office was on the way to do some business on board. They will assist when we get there."
We landed and rented a small passenger van. It took twenty minutes to get out to the yacht club where the big sailboat was tied up. As soon as he saw it, Steve said, "That's about the same size as my big boat, and it's made by the same company as my hundred and ten footer."
I made sure Steve and Hap had their vests on and said, "I want you two to stay up here on the dock. You may get some action from crew trying to leave. Keep them all here and in front of you. The other four of us are going on the boat to get this Greek guy. He may have a bodyguard, but he's pretty cocky, so he may not."
I had a deputy use his radio to have the Coast Guard get up close to the boat so they knew where we were.
John and I each took a deputy and split up below deck. I sent them aft and the other deputy and I went forward, where I figured the master cabin would be.
No one was in the gangways and I was hoping there was no one in the cabins we were passing. The doors to the master cabin were large double doors. I didn't even check to see if they were open. I kicked them in and jumped into the room with my MP5 leveled. A man and woman sat up in bed, looking at us in fear. I said, "U.S. Marshal's office, you are under arrest."
The man had on long pajamas, so I had him roll over and used a tie-wrap on his hands. The deputy then cuffed the lady. We were pushing them toward the door when a huge guy came in the double doors with a forty-five and said, "Who do you think you're taking out of here?"
The deputy didn't even hesitate. He put four rounds into the big man. The problem was the big guy began firing his forty-five as he fell. The man and the woman were both hit.
The deputy was down on one knee with his rifle pointing down the gangway when he began firing at targets I couldn't see. I rolled across the floor to help and saw two men down and another in a doorway. I had a shot and took it. The guy in the doorway fell.
We heard other gunshots from the other part of the boat, but stayed in position to take on anyone coming toward us. When no one came, I rolled back and checked the man's pulse. There was none. I checked the woman's and it was strong. I looked at her and could see she was only shot in the arm. The shock of being shot must have knocked her out.
That's when I felt the dampness on my side. Now it hurt. Shit, not again. I looked down and could see a hole in my shirt where the vest had pulled up. The vest was too short.
I pulled the sheet from the bed and tore a strip from it. I pulled up my shirt to see a long gouge out of my side. At least I wasn't gut shot. I wrapped myself up then rolled back to watch the door. I tore another piece of sheet and wrapped it on the lady's wound. I turned and asked the deputy, "You okay?"
"Better than you, I know how to duck."
I said, "Those damn forty-fives seem to have my number. Call your partner and see if they are all right."
He made contact with John and the other deputy and they said they had a couple down in the back. They were checking doors working their way our way. I told them we had five down and one wounded."
A Coast Guardsman hollered from the upper lounge, "You guys okay, need some more help?"
I hollered, "We'll need medical help for one of the passengers and a coroner for the others. We have to check out the cabins down here before we get any farther."
The Coast Guardsman said, "We'll come down and work from this end forward. Apparently the crew is off the boat. Your men on the dock stopped some of them trying to get back on."
I told the deputy, "Go find a phone, or if you can raise the Miami station on the radio, get a bunch of deputies out here to go over this boat. We are going to confiscate this boat because it is part of the group that killed, and was trying to kill, federal law officers."
The deputy turned the channel selector and called the local duty person at the Miami office. When they responded, he gave them the news that we had just made a bust down at his docks. He told them they needed to send a cleanup crew and back up and to just follow the ambulances into the yacht club.
I left the deputy in charge of the dead men and the wounded lady and went topside and then up on the docks. John was already there, talking to the crewmen. There were eight men, all saying they had not been on the boat for a week and had been called last night to come on board to get ready to sail.
We took all of their information and advised them that when they were released tonight to make sure they remained home. The Marshal's Service or the FBI would contact them over the next few days.
John noticed my bandage and said, "Not again, Johnson, can't you dodge or duck?"
I said, "The man was already dead, and just got lucky as he was falling. He ended up killing the Greek guy, and shot his wife too. She'll live."
A little while later, the deputy was leading the woman off the boat. He had found a robe for her and a pair of slippers. She was cussing up a storm. "You have to let me get my jewelry and personal items. I can at least have my purse and my regular cash."
The deputy was saying, "We'll let a judge tell us, Ma'am. That boat and everything on it belongs to the Marshal's Service right now. We'll get what we can for you."
Four cars came right up to the dock. Two were deputy Marshal's cars and two were FBI cars. We handed the lady over and told the Marshals that the boat was confiscated. Steve was trying to get my attention.
When I went over to him, he said, "Tell whomever you need to tell, I'm interested in this boat."
I said, "There's a lot of blood in there."
"Who cares, blood will clean up. I want that boat." It was unusual for Steve to act that way.
I went over to the Coast Guard boat and said, "When the Marshal's get done searching this, call me and advise me where the boat is. I have someone who is interested in it."
They wrote down my telephone number and who I was. The local Marshals now had their cleanup people on site and were beginning the search. They had already found two safes that they were going to have to get into. John had a prisoner that he had found and said, "I think this guy is an escapee that walked away from a camp here in Florida. Let's talk to him a while."
We took the man and brought him out to where I could get treated for the long scratch on my side. While the paramedic was putting some goop and a bandage on the slice, John asked the man, "Where were you headed. I know you're a federal escapee. You might want to confide in me or you will be facing murder charges. People have died during your capture."
The guy was really nervous, "I was talked into leaving prison and being a crewman on the boat. I think all of the crewmen are escapees. Markockos supplied men to some Canadians and to some people in Chicago. He put up the money and has, or had several ways for people to walk away from the camps. If the guy stays with who paid for him to get out long enough, they give him cash for a stake and let him out on his own. It's a good deal; better than waiting to get out. They give you a new ID and money. All you have to do is work five years for these guys or do some dirty work for them."
I pulled my cell phone and called Ben Anderson. "Ben, catch the first airplane to Miami. I have someone you need to interview. I think we may have found a missing link."
Ben said, "Good deal, I'll bring your sidekick back with me. This man is good. I love working with him."
"Tell him that he might be working with you for while if you two are a good pair. I want you to have a backup. Call me when you get to Miami."
I told John, "Let's round up those crewmen before they are let go. I think we need to run them all before they go home."
We walked up just as a deputy was about to let them go. I pulled my Glock and said to the group, "I want you all to get down on the ground face first with your hands above your head. Please do this very slowly and don't make any sudden moves. You deputies cuff and chain all of them. After searching them, I want them to be transported to federal holding and held while we check their fingerprints. If any of you on the ground would care to do a little talking, any one of us will listen."
You could see every one of them cursing under their breath. They knew they were caught. As the deputies were chaining them, one deputy said to one, "You know, I recognize you now as an escapee we were hunting about three years ago. Son of gun, you were right under our noses."
Steve said, "Can I call home to tell everyone I'm all right?"
"Sure, Steve, and don't say anything about my scratch, okay?"
Steve nodded and pulled his cell phone. Hap was smiling and said, "Now I've seen you in action several times and I'm impressed. You are really something. As a matter of fact, all of you deputies are really something. You guys are real law enforcement. Taking on these types of bad guys can be hazardous to your health, but you don't even hesitate."
The FBI and Marshal Station Chiefs were at the yacht club now, and were taking over the operation. I advised them, "We'll make up reports and send you copies when we send them to DC. Be aware that Mr. Sharp wants to buy the boat when we get done tearing it apart. I'm sure you don't have to put it back together if you give him a deal. We're out of here. This has been a hell of an evening."
It was two in the morning by the time we got back to the Miami airport. I did the preflight with Steve and said, "I'm not buying fuel now. Let's head home and put this night to bed."
We landed less than forty minutes later and taxied right up to the open maintenance hangar. I spun the jet and parked in front of the correct hangar and put a note on it for fuel. I had to go into the office to fill out the log book and put the low fuel notice on it.
One of the duty deputies said, "Wait until you hear what Sarge and the men found on that little jet. They took enough money from it to buy a third world country."
John said, "Well, now you know what motivated Mr. Markockos and his men."
Steve, Hap, John, and I walked out with the deputies. I asked the two men, "Do you have a ride?" They said no, but would call a duty team. I said, "John and I will take you wherever you need to go."
We drove them both down to the garage and let them out. I thanked them for doing such a good job. They said it was fun working with us. The one said, "You know we are both privileged to have worked with the top two deputies in the service. We'll have tales to tell for years." John laughed.
We drove home, to my home, and parked inside the garage. I had to turn the alarm off, then on again after we were inside. John and I were having a drink at the counter in the kitchen when Lisa and Brandy came out of my bedroom. Lisa asked, "Are you hungry? Did you ever eat?"
John looked at me and laughed, "You know, when we're together, something always happens just before we eat. I'd love something. What do you have?"
Lisa opened a cake lid on the counter to show us, a stack of miniature calzones. I said, "Oh boy, you're in for a treat, John."
The girls noticed my shirt and I said, "Just a scratch." They gave me a hug that included making the scratch hurt.
They did sit down with us, Brandy said, "We should probably get Kenisha up and put her in her own bed."
I rolled my eyes at Lisa and she blushed. I knew what they had been up to. John and I had finished two big drinks each and about a half dozen calzones each. I said to John, "I don't know about you, my friend, but I'm tired."
John said, "Me too, it's already four so there won't be much left of the night."
Lisa said, "I'm off in the morning, so I don't have to get up. I think all the girls are off again tomorrow, so we can sleep in for a while. Let's get to bed."
When we were all in bed, after I had washed up a little and brushed my teeth, Brandy gave me a hug and said, "You know, you were like in my head while you were gone tonight. I knew when you found out you were hurt, so that told me not to worry. Lisa said she felt the same way."
Lisa kissed me and snuggled into me, "You and I have been talking like Mercy talks to me. I'm going to spend some time with her to find out more about this phenomenon. For a while tonight, it was as if I were looking out of your eyes. A lady was hurt and at least two men are permanently gone, right? Like I said, it was as if I could see out of your eyes. Really strange."
Brandy said, "I love you, Chuck, take care of yourself for us."
Lisa said, "I love you too, my man. I'm after you, you know."
A hand reached across Brandy and patted me on the face. Frieda said, "Good night, Daddy, I'm glad you're home safe."
That was it; I fell asleep, surrounded by those who cared for me.
Primary editing by Pepere
Proofing by Sagacious
Additional Helicopter Knowledge by Old Rotorhead
Last one through — Deenara2000