Old Growth & Ivy (The Spook Hills Trilogy Book 1) (31 page)

If he stepped back to examine the
evidence they had collected thus far, he believed they had more than enough to
justify a search warrant and make the arrests.  His next step was to
review the evidence with the Chief.  In his organized manner, he
summarized their findings in a document that he would use to memorialize the
conversation.  Under each item, he detailed their proof and how they had
obtained it.  This information was in their regular files. 
Nevertheless he always pulled it together in one place when he went forward for
arrest warrants.  The sting had to be accomplished now and with no
mistakes.  He wanted zero potential that the perps could wiggle out of the
charges.  He tapped the desk a few times with his forefinger, confirming
his opening statement to the Chief.  It was time to make the call.

Not until Tuesday morning at six west
coast time was Steve able to reach the Chief.  He approved the search and
arrest warrants on one condition -- that Steve himself would be part of the
arrest team.  He could be surrounded by agents.  He could have an
advance SWAT team, he could be in an armored tank or whatever he required for
his personal safety, but the Chief wanted him there because he trusted him to
get the arrest done right.  Steve knew he would have trouble getting this
change past Ivy.  Across their little trailer table, she passed him a mug
of morning coffee.  He thanked her and looked her in the eyes.  He
had to be straight with her. 

"Ivy, can we take a walk?  I
need some air."

"In the rain and the dark?"

"Yeah."

She regarded him appraisingly and went
to pull on some clothes.  Steve had to smile when she tucked her silken
nightie into her sweatpants and pulled a heavy fleece top on over it.  Ivy
was a mature, feminine woman, yet at times she could be cutely girlish
too.  He pulled out their rain jackets and a flashlight.  They walked
out of the trailer, letting the corgis run ahead of them and because it was
their special place, they automatically turned to walk uphill to the grove of
walnut trees.  Both of them were silent as they trudged along in the dark.

They were most of the way up when Ivy
took his hand and said, "The Chief wants you to head up the team and make
the arrests."

"Yes."

"Because he trusts you."

"That's about it. He said I can
have any number of agents around me, a SWAT team in front of me, even be in an
armored tank, but he wants me there."

"What if the land around the
house is mined?"

"The SWAT guys will sweep it as
they go.  I'll be behind them."

"What if, don't laugh, but what
if they have the house rigged to explode if they have intruders?"

"The team will scan for that
too."

"So there is no risk to
you?"

"Ivy, there is always some
risk.  These are armed and dangerous perps."

"Then I go too."

"What?  No way."

"Steve, you have become my
life.  If you go, I go.  If you get blown up, then I may as well go
too because the world will be a dark place without you."

Steve's heart melted hearing those
words, but he had to be realistic too.

"You could stay for Operation
Spook Hills because it was totally my operation.  This one will have regular
FBI teams -- the SWAT team, a team of agents out of Albuquerque and the team
who will take over the case after the arrest.  We can't have a
civi
there."

"Civi?"

"Civilian -- non-agent
citizen."

"Steve, I am 63 years old. 
I could die on my next plane trip.  I could get cancer and go in six
months.  You get clearance for me and we go together wearing all the
protective gear we can."

They reached the top of the hill and
took shelter under a walnut tree that still had some of its leaves.  Rain
was coming down lightly but steadily.  In the breaking gray dawn, their
nearly completed house sat rather majestically in the dark mist below
them.  Mathew's old barns and little ramshackle house, partially blurred
by rain, made a scenic picture in the dim light.

"We should put a little gazebo or
something up here," Ivy said, glancing around.

"Treehouse.  Give us a
vantage point."  Steve took her in his arms and held her, this woman
of love, magic, intelligence and courage.  His heart felt so full. 
They would have no real peace while the Fuentes were free.  The minutes
slipped by.  Even with the partial foliage and their rain jackets, a wet
chill was settling in.  Still holding Ivy, Steve pushed back to look her
in the eyes.

"We live through this and I will
build you a gazebo, treehouse, or whatever you want up here.  At the
sting, you can be outside in an armored assault vehicle with a trusted
agent.  You can have audio.  Once the arrests are made and the house
is swept for explosives, you and the agent can come in."

She thought for a time.  While
she did not like this option, she had to respect Steve's judgment. 

"Deal," she said reaching up
to kiss him. 

The kiss was long, slow and
deep.  Steve pulled back reluctantly. "Now we need to brief the
guys." 

They walked down the hill quickly and
headed to Mathew's trailer.  Steve tracked down Brian and Moll en route to
the airport in Indianapolis.  With them conferenced in on speaker and
Mathew listening live in his trailer, Steve went through the situation with
them.   For a full minute, the three former agents were silent,
mulling over this change in plans.  

Mathew said quietly.  "I'm
in.  We'll get agents from Operation Spook Hills to guard the house and
vineyard.  Lenny comes with us."

"I'm coming too," Brian
interjected.  "We're a team."

"Ah hell," Moll drawled,
"Just don't dislocate my shoulder again."

Ivy and Steve tried to discourage
them.  The three men were adamant that they would be part of Steve’s
team.  Steve was going in and he would have his top agents with him, with
the love of his life nearby.  Steve thought each of them wanted to be sure
that this case would be truly finished and that they were all witnesses to
it. 

"All for one and one for
all," Ivy said quietly, using the oft-quoted Musketeers slogan.

"
Omnes pro uno, Unus pro
omnibus
," Mathew echoed in Latin.  

Steve had to look away.  Tears of
gratitude and deep feelings for Ivy and for those three men welled up in
him.  How much he had changed or how much he had never seen before! 
Never had he realized how deeply Mathew, Brian and even Moll were committed,
not just to the Bureau, but to himself.  He decided that Moll would stay
with Ivy in the assault vehicle.  His blasé attitude would help her
through the tense period of waiting until the operation was over.  Inside
Moll might be tied in knots, but he would keep up that cool exterior and
humorous attitude.  Mathew and Brian would go into the Fuentes house with
him and Lenny, hot on the heels of the SWAT team.

***

They flew out that day on a Bubird to
Santa Fe and then spent that evening briefing the SWAT team and the leaders for
the mopping up teams.  The next day Steve grilled each team on their
plans.  Even with the fast pace of the last couple of days, back in their
hotel room that afternoon Ivy could tell from Steve's demeanor that all was in
place.  He was edgy, but not worried about details.  Ivy thought he
was mostly apprehensive about her, as well as Mathew, Brian and Moll. 

The surveillance team confirmed that
Cristo followed the same pattern around mid-day as the day Moll followed
him.  He was now in the Bunker with Eduardo.  Ivy wished they did not
have to wait another 24 hours to move into position.  It would only serve
to increase her nervousness.   However she had to respect Steve's
experience and trust his judgment on timing.  She gazed over at him where
he was sitting at the desk in their hotel suite.  He was staring at his
laptop but he was tapping the desktop with is forefinger the way he did when he
was thinking.  He seemed to be going through a checklist in his
brain. 

He took out his cell and dialed. 
After a few preliminaries, she heard him say to the Chief. 
"Authorize it.  We go in tonight." 

He was silent for a minute,
listening.  "Roger."  Then he hung up and turned to face
Ivy.  "We put our gear on in the van."

 He dialed again, telling Mathew
to round up Brian, Moll and Lenny and to be ready to go in 15 minutes. 
She knew that one call would launch another bevy of calls.  Ivy regarded
him with awe.  The element of surprise was sure working on her.  She
jumped up, pulled her devil-may-care hair back into a rough ponytail, put on
her shoes, secured her gun in its shoulder harness, and tossed on a
hoodie.  Just like that, she was ready to go.

"All our personal creds stay
here.  I'll run them down to the hotel safe," Steve said.  His
eyes had taken on that cold intensity she remembered from when they had first
met.  For the next few hours he would be again the redoubtable FBI agent
and not the Steve Nielsen she had come to love.

Ivy handed him her wallet after
fishing out a few twenties, just in case.  She slipped her lipstick in her
pocket along with the money and then inhaled deeply hoping that a mythical
guardian angel would be on each of their shoulders.  At that moment Steve
surprised her by taking her in his arms and holding her close, then he kissed
her forehead and whispered, “For the rest of our lives.  For us.”

The four agents had been around Steve
long enough to be aware that once everything was in place, he would authorize
the sting.  Within fifteen minutes of his call, they were all in the
surveillance van with him and Ivy.  Moll took the wheel, heading down the
highway to Madrid.  He turned right north of the town onto a back road
that circled above the Fuentes property, meeting up with the expanded team
where the mineshaft work had taken place.  Once there, they switched into
an armored assault vehicle.  Their plan was for the SWAT team to get
through the front door of the Fuentes house, clearing security devices and
neutralizing explosives as they went.  Moll would then drive the assault
vehicle up.  Steve, Mathew, Brian and Lenny would jump out, run into the
house and make the arrests.  At 6:00 p.m., the late fall evening was just
beginning.  A little sliver of the moon shone hopefully in the sky, but
did not give much light, which suited their need for a stealthy approach.

The SWAT team had its strategy planned
to surround the house for an assault, with a second small team going into the
mineshaft and down the tunnel at the back of the Fuentes property.  It
would be slow going at first as security cameras were disabled, the land
scanned and agents moved into position.  Every ten feet or so an agent
would be positioned flat on the ground outside the house.  Once everyone
was in position, the SWAT team would blast their way through the front
door.  As soon as the SWAT team was ready to enter the house, Moll would
drive their assault vehicle up.  Steve, Mathew, Brian and Lenny would pile
out on the run. Lenny would be in the lead and they would make their way into
the house right behind the SWAT team. 

Moll cruised around to the bottom of
Fuentes driveway, lights out, turning off the motor and letting the assault
vehicle stop quietly on its own.  The SWAT agents were already making
their way up the drive on foot, cautiously sweeping the ground and shrubs as
they went.  They were moving low and slow and then crawling.  Agents
fanned to both sides of the house, surrounding it and cutting off any
possibility of the Fuentes escaping through a window or a back door.  The
house sat silently in front of them with only a single shard of light showing
through a crack in the window coverings. They waited through the long minutes
that ticked by, seeing only shadows moving here and there.

Steve was watching the action through
night binoculars, noting how the security devices were disabled and cameras
blacked out.  He looked impatiently at his watch -- 7:00.  Right
before they were ready to power through the front door, the SWAT leader
signaled the van.  Moll drove up fast and the four men jumped out, leaving
Moll to manage the audio connection with Steve and to guard Ivy.  Both Ivy
and Moll sat at the alert, guns drawn.

The SWAT team was quickly in the front
door and running.  Steve's team gave them one second and then Lenny burst
in followed by Steve.  Brian fanned a little to the right, Mathew to the
left, running half-backward to make sure no one was sneaking up behind
them.  They all had weapons drawn.  Ahead of them, they heard,
"FBI! Put down your weapons.  You are under arrest." 

They jogged through the living room
and into a wide arched doorway to the dining room.  Cristo was on his
feet.  Eduardo sat at the table with the remains of their meal around
him.  Cristo had his gun out and showed no sign of lowering it.

"Drop it Cristo!" Steve
bellowed as he ran in, barreling past Lenny and confronting the two Fuentes
brothers. 

Eduardo said in that asthmatic high
voice of his, "Cristo, I can't  . . ."

Cristo spun quickly to face his
brother, getting off three shots, then swinging back and shooting Steve twice
in the chest before the agents gunned him down.  It took only a couple of
seconds from start to finish.  Cristo had been smacked back against a
heavy sideboard.  Eduardo was half-slumped off his chair.  The two
Fuentes were dead

Steve was thrown backward, clutching
his chest through the protective vest, his face shocked and his mouth
open.  He keeled face down onto the floor.  Mathew stood aghast,
paralyzed with fear that Steve's protective vest had failed.  Brian
quickly knelt down next to Steve, yelling for medics.  He rolled him over
and tore open his vest.  No blood, but no heartbeat either. 

Brian grabbed Steve's headset,
"Ivy.  Moll.  Get in here.  Steve is down." 

Two medics ran up and began to work on
Steve, giving him cardiopulmonary resuscitation -- chest compressions and
assisted breathing.  They moved methodically yet fast.  On their
faces, the concern was visible.  Steve was not responding.  He had no
detectable heartbeat or breath. 

Ivy and Moll ran in right when one
medic pulled out small paddles to attempt to shock Steve's heart back into
action with a defibrillator.  The two medics worked rapidly, aware that
their time to bring the big agent back to life was short.  Ivy dropped
down by Steve's head, putting her hands on both sides of his face and calling
his name.  Steve remained unresponsive.

Within seconds, the defibrillator in
voice mode instructed,
"Stand Clear."
  Brian pushed Ivy
back and took her hands off Steve.

"Hit the Red Shock Button,"
came the next command.

 One medic checked the pads and
the defibrillator controls, then he nodded to the other one who pressed the
shock button.  Steve's body barely convulsed and he didn't come back to
life.  They all stared at him, unable to believe what they were
seeing. 

"Shock Dispensed."

The medic checked for a pulse and
shook his head at the other one.

"Analyzing Vital Signs."

The machine checked for a heartbeat
and gave another
"Stand Clear."

Ivy began calling Steve's name, her
voice shaking in fear and desperation.  Mathew dropped down beside
her.  The medic checked the paddles again.

"Hit the Red Shock Button."

 The medic nodded, Mathew pulled
Ivy back and a second jolt hit Steve. 

"Shock Dispensed." 

Steve's body again showed a minor
reaction, but no sign that he was alive.

"You may touch the Patient. 
Check Air Passage. Check Breathing." 

The medic checked Steve, but did not
detect any breathing.

"Begin CPR."

The two medics began a second CPR
routine, checking Steve's breathing intermittently.  The medic doing the
chest compressions was counting quietly to be sure he was getting well over the
required 100 pumps per minute.  Seconds ticked by, stretching to a
minute.  The medic kept up the steady chest compressions.

Ivy looked bewildered. 
"This wasn't supposed to happen.  He was supposed to be safe. 
How could he be  . .
. "

Lenny said guiltily, "He barged
past me.  It’s my fault he was hit."

Mathew shook his head.  "Not
your fault.  He was like a steamroller coming in here.  None of us
could have stopped him.  He was so used to being in the lead, I’m not sure
he even realized that he charged ahead to take over."

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1; Stop CPR,"
came
the voice from the defibrillator.

The medic stopped the chest
compressions and checked the unit.

"Stop Now, Hands Off the
Patient." 

The medic moved back slightly
.

"Analyzing Vital
Signs." 

A moment
passed
.

"Stand Clear."

Ivy stared in horror at Steve who
remained unresponsive.

"Hit the Red Shock Button."

Steve's body convulsed slightly more
this time.

"Shock Dispensed.  Analyzing
Vital Signs."

They waited.

"No Shock Advised."

Ivy looked wildly from one medic to
the other, not understanding, then she stared back down at Steve.  Was he
dead? 

No!  She saw movement.  He
was breathing on his own!  His head jerked once, but he did not seem
conscious. The medic pushed an oxygen mask on his face. 

"He may not come back right
away.  Some go into a coma state," the medic said quietly, glancing
quickly at Ivy. 

She took hold of Steve's head again,
caressing his cheeks.  Steve's eyes fluttered open, and slowly
focused.  He tried to sit up but the medic pressed him back down. 

The medic listened to Steve's heart
and gave a huge sigh of relief.  "And sometimes, they come right
back."

Ivy was cradling Steve's head in her
lap.  She asked the medic what happened.

"With these vests, the impact of
a direct hit to the chest can make the heart stop, even though the protective
vest keeps the bullets from penetrating the body."

The bruise on Steve's chest showed
that the two bullets had been a direct hit.  Mathew leaned over and
pressed first Steve's hand and then Ivy's.  He scrambled back to his feet,
watched Steve for a few moments to make sure he kept breathing, and then nodded
at him.  As much as he wanted to stay, Mathew now had to take on Steve's role.

More SWAT team agents swarmed in,
securing the inside of the house.  Although it was evident that the
Fuentes brothers were dead, Mathew first checked their bodies.  Steve
would have personally verified that each one was deceased.  Mathew counted
-- Cristo had at least ten bullets in him.  That would be one for every
agent in the room, plus a couple of extras, likely from Lenny.  Eduardo
only had the three that Cristo had fired.  Both men were definitely
dead.  That done, he moved behind the SWAT team, stepping deeper into the
house and seeking the door to the basement or the old mine tunnel.  In the
kitchen he met up with the SWAT team leader and the senior agent from the D.C.
office who would take over the case, exchanging information on Steve and on the
search of the house.

SWAT agents methodically secured each
area by searching for and disabling any explosive devices before the other
agents could enter it.  Brian ran back to check on Steve, while Moll
continued on with Mathew.  Steve pulled off the oxygen mask and weakly
asked Brian for an update.  Then he broke loose from Ivy and the medic,
pushed himself up against the wall, got his cell phone out and called the
Chief, updating him on the situation.  His voice was unsteady as he
reported in.

  Ivy grabbed the phone from him
and told the Chief that Steve was hurt and that Brian or Mathew would be giving
him more details.  She handed the phone to Brian who ran it to the
kitchen, talking with the Chief until he met up with Mathew who was waiting by
a set of blast doors that the SWAT team had just secured.  Beyond them, a
winding staircase led down to a lower level that was likely completely
underground.  The SWAT team was proceeding cautiously down the steps,
sweeping for explosives. 

The medic forced Steve to take more
oxygen.  Steve stayed in a sitting position, holding his chest, uncertain
what to do next.  Ivy examined the darkening bruise that was dead center
on his torso.  She buttoned his shirt back up and partially fastened the
vest back in place.  Steve grimaced with any touch to the big
bruise.  The medic draped a blanket over his shoulders.

"Have to see the bank,"
Steve said weakly.  Ivy nodded and told him to wait until the agents had
it secured.  Moll ran back to check on Steve.

"Is there an elevator to the
basement?" she asked.  Steve had come this far; he needed to see
bank.

"Yeah.  The ninjas are
clearing it now."

"Ninjas?" Ivy echoed, a bit
puzzled, "We have them too?  I thought they were Asian."

"BuSpeak for a fully equipped
SWAT team member."

Ivy asked the medic to get a
wheelchair or a stretcher or something to move Steve through the house. 
He wanted to get Steve in an ambulance, but she told him that could happen
later.  The medics found a rolling chair and helped Steve onto it. 
Steve grumbled and said he could walk, but Ivy shook her head.

"I'll get you downstairs in the
elevator, but you go on that chair with both medics," she ordered.
 "As soon as you see the bank, you are off to the hospital.”

The medics forced Steve to keep using
the oxygen and kept a heart monitor on him.  Slowly they rolled him into
the kitchen, found the elevator, pushed him in, and then rode down with
him.  Ivy and Moll took the stairs.

The basement appeared to consist of
one large room filled with computer gear, an array of flat screens, a huge
wall-mounted TV, a line of arcade games, a pool table and a one-lane bowling
alley.  On the far wall was the kind of door used on bank vaults,
surprisingly left ajar.  In front of them, the team of agents started to
secure the computer equipment for transport to the FBI Albuquerque office it
would be thoroughly analyzed.

A SWAT agent was going over the vault
door, checking first for incendiary devices, and then examining the locking
mechanism.   Six team members made their way cautiously into the
vault, scanning for additional explosives.  The team coming in through the
mine tunnel was holding beyond the back of the vault, having encountered the
same type of door, which was locked.