Remember The Alamo (19 page)

"Only if they start it," Stark said. "If we start it, then we really
are the sort of nutjobs you were talking about earlier, Dave"

Dave nodded. "If they start the fight, we finish it. Then we
pull back into the Alamo and announce that we're going to
hold it until the government gives up the idea of handing it
back to Mexico."

The others all nodded in agreement, and Stark said, "That's
about the size of it. But if there's no violence ... if we're
wrong about what the Reconquistadores are planning, then we
just have our protest and let it go at that."

"We're not wrong," Phil said. "I believe what Dave's cousin
wrote"

"So do I," said Stark, "but we have to be prepared for things
to go that way, too"

I think we're all clear on it," Dave said. "Where do we get
the guns?"

Belko snorted. "Hell, most of the guys we're talking about
already own guns. I'm packin' right now." He pulled back the
windbreaker he wore to reveal a small-caliber pistol in a crossdraw holster strapped to his belt on the left side.

"Yes, but a lot of them just own hunting rifles or shotguns,"
Stark pointed out. "We can't gather in Alamo Plaza carrying
weapons like that"

"I can get all the revolvers and pistols we'll need," Phil said.
"My company provides armed guards for quite a few businesses. I can lay my hands on plenty of guns, don't worry
about that"

"Handguns won't be enough," Stark said. He rubbed his chin
as he frowned in thought. "Remember, those killers from the
cartel tried to take you out with a rocket-propelled grenade.
The armament available to them is the equal or better of what
the Mexican army has. That's one reason the few honest authorities in Mexico can't accomplish much against them. The hombres are outgunned"

"What we need," Dave said, "are for some weapons to
already be in the Alamo when we get in there ourselves."

The others all looked at him, and after a moment Stark said,
"That's exactly what we need. But how do we manage it?"

"Let me work on that," Phil said. "I've got an idea... "

"We seem to all be agreed, then," Stark said. "What we
need to do now is to start rounding up the men who'll be with
us. They need to understand exactly what we plan to do, and
they need to be aware of the risks. Anyone who doesn't want
to be part of it will have to swear to keep their mouths shut
about what's going to happen, so only approach men you
know you can trust to keep their word."

"Goes without saying," Belko said.

"You know," Dieter said, "there are many people in this
country who would condemn us for this. People who would
say that by going against the will of our government, we are
traitors and terrorists ourselves."

"Yeah, well, there's a word for people like that," Phil said.
"Liberal assholes."

"That's two words," Dave said with a smile.

"Take your pick, then. They both fit."

The other men chuckled, but the laughter had a slightly
hollow sound to it. They had agreed tonight to take a big step,
the sort of step that there was no going back from. If everything played out as they knew in their gut it would, they would
be facing great danger before it was all over-perhaps from
their own misguided countrymen and some of them, hell, all
of them, might not survive.

But one thing was sure. When it was all over, people would
remember the Alamo-again.

"I must say, Phil, I thought we'd be seeing more of each
other once we started doing business together." The smile
Evelyn Harlow gave Phil was intriguing, with more than a hint
of promise to it.

"You don't have any complaints about my people's performance so far, do you?" he asked.

"Absolutely not. They all seem quite competent. More than
competent, actually. I'm very pleased with their work" Evelyn
leaned back in the big, plush chair behind her desk. "It's just
that I like to have a personal relationship with the man in
charge. I want to be able to reach out to you at any time of the
day or night if there are any problems."

Phil suspected that most men wouldn't mind at all if Evelyn
reached out to them at any time, day or night-especially
night.

He knew she was flirting with him, and he enjoyed it. Since
his divorce he'd had a few relationships with women, none of
them serious, none that lasted very long, because that was
the way he wanted it. But he still liked women as much as
ever, liked the music of their laughter, the scent of their per fume, the sleek smooth skin, the touch of their hands, light as
a butterfly on his arm or his shoulder or his cheek.

When you came right down to it, nothing was better than a
woman.

Which was why, in a way, he didn't like what he was about
to do now. He could wind up getting Evelyn in a considerable
amount of trouble.

He put a smile on his face and told her, "Well, I'm here
now."

"Yes, I know." Evelyn suddenly looked a little wary. "But
I'm not sure why. I'd like to think it's simply because you
wanted to see me again, but my instincts tell me that's not the
case"

"I did want to see you again," Phil said. "I think you're a
very attractive, very intelligent woman, Evelyn."

"With a very efficient bullshit detector, too." Her tone
became brisk as she went on. "What do you want, Phil?
What's the real reason you came to see me?"

"I did a little checking up on you"

He wasn't surprised to see her green eyes flash with anger,
but her voice was level and calm as she said, "A habit of yours
because of your occupation?"

"Not really. I wanted to know more about you."

A thin, humorless smiled curved her lips. "Again, I'd like to
think that's because you're interested in me ... but your interest isn't romantic, is it?"

"Not right now," he said, hoping she would take that the
right way, the way he meant it. The way that said, Maybe
someday.... "Actually, I was led to your name by some research I was doing on another matter. I was looking into the
Daughters of the Republic of Texas"

That truly did surprise her. Her eyebrows arched, and she
said, "Good Lord. Who would hire you to investigate them?"

"No one hired me," he said with a shake of his head. "It's a personal matter. I was hoping to find someone in the DRT that
I knew. I was happy to find out that you're not only a member,
but you were even the president of the organization at one
time."

"That's true," she murmured.

"So I looked into your background a little more," he went
on, "and I apologize if you find that too intrusive and disrespectful."

"I do," she said, "but go on. You've really got me curious
now as to what this is all about"

"I discovered that you're a widow."

"There's no secret about that"

"Your husband was killed fifteen years ago, while you still
lived in Laredo" He saw pain flicker in her eyes at the memory,
but he pressed on, sorry that he had to dredge up old memories
but not seeing any way around it. "He was a member of
the Border Patrol. He was killed because he tried to stop some
smugglers from bringing drugs into this country."

"He did stop some of them," Evelyn said, and pride mingled
with remembered sorrow in her voice. "He was putting a serious dent in their business. That's why the men behind the
smuggling set up an ambush and murdered him."

"The cartel did that," Phil said. "The cartel run by a man
named Hector Garcia-Lopez. He wasn't the top man then, but
he was on his way up, and your husband's death was another
rung on the ladder for him."

Evelyn drew in a deep breath. Under other circumstances,
Phil would have admired the way that made her breasts lift
under her blouse, but at the moment he had too much on his
mind to do more than make a mental note of just how nice
those breasts were. For future reference, of course.

"Why are you rehashing all this? I've never forgotten, but
I've tried to move on with my life."

"I'm sorry I had to bring it up, but you wield a lot of influence in the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, and the
DRT runs the Alamo."

Evelyn nodded. "Yes, we own the historic site, including the
chapel, the Long Barracks, the plaza, and everything else in
the immediate vicinity. It's the organization's pride and joy,
and taking care of it is our most sacred duty."

"Your family history goes back a long way in Texas,
doesn't it?"

She smiled again. "To the Old Three Hundred, the original
settlers that Stephen F. Austin brought here when Texas was
still part of Mexico. My family has been here ever since. Texas
runs in my blood, Phil."

"Then I can understand why you would consider protecting
the Alamo to be a sacred duty. You can't be happy about what
the mayor and the City Council are doing."

Her eyes sparked with anger again. "You mean that ridiculous business of giving the Alamo back to Mexico for a weekend? It's insane! The Daughters fought them on it as best we
could, but Mayor Alvarez threatened to use the power of eminent domain and force us to go along with the plan if we
didn't agree" She shrugged. "In the end, there was nothing we
could do"

"Maybe that's not true," Phil said. "Maybe when you hear
the rest of the story, you'll feel like you have to keep fighting."

"The rest of the story? Who are you, Paul Harvey? What are
you talking about?"

Phil drew in a deep breath. "There are things happening that
only a few people know about. If I explain them to you, you'll
have to agree not to say anything about it to anyone without
checking with me first."

She looked intently at him for a long moment, then said, "I
don't know whether to laugh at you or worry about you, Phil.
All this cloak-and-dagger business is like something out of a
movie or a left-wing fantasy.. "

"It's no fantasy," he said. "It's not a movie, either. It's as real
as can be. A couple of days ago, I nearly got killed over it, in
fact"

She considered again, then nodded. "You'd better tell me
about it."

He told her.

When Phil was finished, Evelyn could only stare at him and
shake her head in what he worried was disbelief. She was
going to call him a lunatic, fire him from his security job for
her firm, and probably call the cops to report that he was involved in a violent, paranoid conspiracy.

But a moment later it became obvious that her reaction was
one of despair as she said, "This is terrible, Phil. What can I
do to help?"

He leaned forward. "You're sure you want to be part of this?
You could wind up getting into a lot of trouble."

"I've been in trouble before," she said with a smile. "I'm
still here, aren't I?"

He couldn't argue with that.

"What we need is a way to have weapons waiting for us
when we get inside the Alamo," he said. "Without that, we
won't have a chance of holding off the Reconquistadores when
they try to seize the place."

"You're certain that's what they intend to do?"

Phil shrugged. "I suppose Silvio Cruz could have misinterpreted what he heard. If that turns out to be the case, then we
won't need to fight, and the weapons can be taken out of the
chapel later without anyone having to know about them. Either
way, though, we have to have the cooperation of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas"

"Not officially," Evelyn said. "I will not do anything to put that organization in jeopardy. The current leadership can't
know a thing about any of this."

Phil nodded. "Agreed. What's the line from that movie?
`Since there's no way to do this legal and proper, being good
Texans, we'll just do it illegal and improper.' Or something like
that"

"Something like that, indeed. Anyway, I know some of the
girls who feel the same way about things that I do, and I'm
sure they'll help, too. You'll have to provide the weapons, but
if it turns out that you need them, we can have them waiting
for you inside the Alamo." Evelyn paused. "There's only one
condition."

"Name it."

She smiled. "When this is all over, you're going to take me
out for the best steak dinner you can find. A good bottle of
wine will have to be involved, too"

Phil laughed and said, "You've got a deal."

The VFW post that Dave belonged to became the group's
home away from home for the next week. Time was running
out, and they couldn't afford to waste even a day. Through his
contacts in the security business, Phil began to get together the
weapons and other equipment they would need, including lightweight Kevlar vests that could be worn underneath their regular clothes. They would have to have supplies stashed in the
Alamo, too, enough food and water to last them for several
days. Evelyn and her friends in the Daughters of the Republic
of Texas would help out with that, just as they would with the
guns, and Dieter volunteered to put together the packs of supplies that the ladies of the DRT would hide in a storage room
in the old chapel, along with the guns.

That left Dave, Stark, and Belko to handle the volunteers
who wanted to join this desperate mission. They met at the
VFW hall for individual interviews.

It was sort of like applying for a job, Dave thought, only in
this case the job was protecting one of the shrines of liberty
from ruthless killers who wanted to turn it into a symbol of
America's weakness and lack of resolve, not to mention
spilling the blood of countless innocents.

"Name's Bert Abernathy. Went ashore with the Big Red One in North Africa, back in '42. Don't let this white hair fool
you. I still run in senior marathons, and my eyes are as sharp
as they ever were"

"Delroy McIntire. I was a cook at Pearl Harbor. They didn't
let us boys do much of anything else back then, sad to say, but
that Sunday mornin' in '411 wound up helpin' man one o' the
anti-aircraft guns. Shot down a damn Zero, too. I might be a little
thicker round the middle than I was then, but I can still shoot"