SEAL's Code (24 page)

They could hear the sounds of scuffling and Zelda’s swearing. The man was trying to drag her toward the door, and she was obviously not cooperating. As Danny moved around the room, he stepped over the limp body of the gunman he’d impaled and saw the wide heat signature. Not wanting to hit Zelda, he waited until he had a better angle and opportunity.

“You hear me? I’ve got her. I’ll kill her if you don’t let me get out of here.”

They remained silent. The man holding Zelda swore, and they heard her protests at being dragged across the floor. Danny was hoping she would stop struggling and just let them take the guy out, but Zelda seemed to do everything in her power to impede him, including doing something to some part of the man’s body, which drew what sounded like a blow to the head, and then complete silence. When the shuffling began again, Zelda’s protests were silent.

Danny watched the man struggle with Zelda’s body, and for just a second, he was thrown off balance by something, which was all Wilson needed to fire off a round, hitting the man in the chest. Danny raced over and confirmed the kill, then felt Zelda’s neck for a pulse and was gratified to find one. He listened for other sounds and, not hearing any, pushed his goggles up on top of his head and announced, “Lights,” as he turned on the office light.

The room was a bloody mess, made bloodier by the body of a uniformed officer, who had suffered a head wound. The man was still alive. Daryl returned to the rear doorway.

Sanders and Parker entered. Sanders rolled over the body and announced, “Payette fuckin’ Fisher, damn.”

Danny knew Sanders was disappointed he hadn’t gotten the chance to kill the dirty Sheriff.

“Looks like we don’t need backup. We need some medical attention,” Danny said. “You let them know.”

Sanders got on the phone again as Lyle examined the dead guy. Danny examined the deputy. His small medic kit contained some smelling salts that quickly revived the officer. The wound on his forehead would need stitches, but the knot at the back of his skull indicated he probably had a concussion and perhaps a skull fracture as well.

Fisher was fastened with zip ties and left seated. Wilson had been working on Zelda, and Sanders came over, lifting her head to give her water once she regained consciousness. She tried to push away their attempts to clean and dress her facial wounds. As she turned and caught a look at Sanders, she startled.

“Oh, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, you scared the living daylights out of me.” She tried to scramble free from Sanders, but Wilson held her in place.

“You gotta stay here a little bit longer. Here, take some water. Does anything else hurt?”

She shook her head.

“Who’s that?” Danny asked the Sheriff, pointing to the man Lyle was examining, the man he’d just shot and killed.

“That’s Antonio Amauro. Owns the Aztec Gold Casino.” Fisher saw the sneer on Sanders’ face and clammed up.

“So where’s Sarah? She here somewhere?” Sanders asked.

“Nah. She’s in Vegas. They’ve got her there. All I know is that I’m sure she’s still alive.”

“How do you know that?” Danny asked.

“Because I saw her yesterday. She’s untouched. Swear to God, she’s untouched,” Fisher added.

Sanders yanked Fisher to his feet, causing as much pain as possible. “Then this is your lucky day, asshole. You’re gonna take us to her. Right now. Okay? The FBI is counting on your full cooperation.”

Sanders called in for a joint operation between the FBI and Las Vegas Metro to raid the Aztec Gold Casino, more specifically, the three penthouse floors of the high roller’s tower, based on the information Sheriff Fisher provided. Fisher agreed to be on hand to testify against what was left of the Amauro operation. The raid would take place as soon as possible, before dawn.

“I’m not going anywhere, not until I know my Sarah is okay, and free,” Zelda demanded.

“No can do, Zelda.” Sanders was serious, but some of the harshness in his tone had been tempered. Danny was starting to see something he thought he’d never see.

Sanders looked like he wanted to say something, but instead grabbed Fisher’s arm, tugging him toward his truck when Lyle came up alongside and assisted, taking Fisher the rest of the way, leaving Danny, Sanders, and Zelda behind.

Sanders turned and gave her a little tip of the hat. “You did well, Zelda. You held up real good to those assholes.”

“I’ve been fighting my whole life, Agent Sanders. They just picked the wrong Indian to mess with, that’s all.”

“Well, the FBI is grateful for your cooperation and is sorry for your injuries,” he returned. He started to join Lyle in the truck.

A helicopter dropped from the sky and two paramedics came running toward them. They quickly confirmed the dead, treated Fisher in the truck, and then started treating Zelda after doing a double-take on Sanders.

“Holy crap, sir. You okay?” One of the men asked the agent.

“Of course I’m okay, thanks to these two. You look after the woman. We got some bad guys to go get.”

Another helicopter arrived with a handful of armed men.

“Would you look at that? My prayers have been answered,” Sanders said. “This saves me a four hour bumpy ride all the way to Vegas.”

Lights started coming on in the town. Danny could see a small crowd was beginning to gather, leaking out from the darkened structures as the first bursts of pink started poking above the horizon, beginning to light up the chimneys in the mountains nearby.

“Wait up there, cowboy,” Danny said to Sanders as he headed for the chopper. “I’m coming with you.”

Sanders frowned. “This isn’t your job. Your job’s to stay home with that lady of yours, and the baby.”

“That’s not going to happen, Sanders. I’m coming with you.” He looked over at his cousin, who nodded his agreement. “Wilson and I are coming with you, sir. No way can you keep us away.”

“Then I’m sending protection. She’s got to have someone there guarding them in case these guys had any designs,” Sanders said.

“Appreciate that, sir.”

Zelda wiggled herself away from the paramedics and ran over to stand between the two of them, looking up at Sanders.

Special Agent Courtland Sanders angled his head as he watched Zelda say, “I still want to go. I promise I’ll get myself to the hospital once I hear Sarah’s okay.”

“No can do, ma’am. But I admire your fight.” Sanders handed his keys to one of the agents.

Danny saw the admiration growing as Sanders eyed Zelda while calling in protection for Luci and the baby. Between the bruises and disfigurations on Sanders’ face and the browbeating on Zelda’s, the two of them looked like zombie survivors in a post-apocalyptic movie, Sanders the unlikely hero, and Zelda, his love interest. Danny was aware something seemed to be developing between the two of them, unless he was completely wrong. He heard Wilson chuckle behind him.

The paramedics led her away, but her neck was craned, staring back at Sanders like it was the last time she’d see him. Sanders nodded to his boots, took one last look at Zelda, turned around and headed for the chopper, shaking his head, with Lyle close behind.

Danny and Wilson followed.

As they pulled up from the desert floor, he said a prayer to his grandfather, in rhythm to the drums and chanting in the background, thanking him for the protection. He tapped the packet against his heart. He begged forgiveness for his past indiscretions and asked the old man to go protect Sarah until they could get there, and to guard Luci and the baby’s safety until his return.

The singing stopped, as if all the spirits of his ancestors had suddenly obeyed his order and had dispersed in all directions to complete their missions.

‡

T
he chopper set
down on the roof of the Aztec. An advance team waited for them there, outfitted in full SWAT gear. They were told several had located the suite of rooms used for the girls. A bonus was that they’d be rescuing three other Navajo girls who had gone missing over the past several months, although it added an additional layer of danger to the mission. If it wasn’t coordinated perfectly, one or more of the girls could be caught in the ensuing firefight.

Danny and Wilson stood outside the doorway identified as the suite Sarah was being held in. Fisher had been helpful and generous with his information back on the res, no doubt hoping his cooperation would make things easier for him in the long run. Danny was glad Sanders hadn’t been the one doing the questioning.

He was ordered to remain behind until they breached the door, but was promised the first contact with Sarah.

The take down was staged and devices were rigged to the heavy suite of doors, behind which the three innocent girls were located. They had no information on how many were left inside these rooms to guard the girls, so they were ready for anything.

Two bodyguards in one suite opened fire on the Las Vegas Metro SWAT team at one of the doorways. At Danny’s doorway there was little resistance as there were two female attendants playing cards in the anteroom. Danny ran inside the unlocked bedroom door to find Sarah naked, but sleeping under a blanket. Her wrists and ankles were bound, but otherwise she didn’t appear harmed.

“Sarah! Sarah, honey, we’re here,” he said to the heavily sleeping girl. She barely opened her eyes, then her eyebrows raised in a show of recognition, her eyes filling with tears, but she couldn’t speak or move.

“Honey, you’re safe,” Danny said, touching a palm to her cheek, which brought on more tears.

A paramedic cut through her bonds and then knelt beside Danny. “She’s tanked up. Not sure what they gave her, but she’s not firing on all cylinders.” He leaned forward, brushing Danny aside, checking her vital signs with the blanket kept in modest place. They both looked for signs of trauma or abuse on her head and scalp, neck and arms, and, other than the bruising from her restraints, didn’t find any.

“Sorry, man, gotta check for sexual assault. You don’t want to see this,” the paramedic whispered.

Compared to some of the things he’d seen overseas, this would be a minor trauma for his eyes, but, under the circumstances, he agreed, and stood, turning his back. Wilson had been searching the room and did the same. Sarah began moaning, and then Danny heard the reassuring words, “I think she’s okay. Need to get her checked out and stabilized, but I think she’s okay, from what I can tell.”

“Thank God,” Danny whispered. “You hear that, Sarah? You’re gonna be okay. Now, honey, we’re gonna take you to the hospital, and I’m going to be here every second, okay, honey?” He held up her hand enveloped in his. “See? I’ve got you, baby. You’re gonna be okay.”

Sarah continued to be unable to move, but with difficulty squeaked out a question, “Luci? Is Luci okay?”

“Yes, honey. Luci’s fine. She and the baby can’t wait for you to return, sweetheart. Everything’s okay. Your mom’s okay too, just roughed up a bit. She’s tough, Sarah, she did real well. She’s part of the reason we got here so quick.”

“Mama?” she asked with a question in her face.

“Yes, sweetheart, your mama’s sort of a hero here today. Well, her and Agent Sanders…”

A booming voice exploded over the room. “I heard my name.” Sanders walked over to Sarah’s bed, leaned over and smiled down on her.

It took a couple of seconds, but Sarah began to scream at the sight of his face.

“Sanders, you fuckin’ idiot, you’re scaring her,” Wilson said as he pulled the agent back, away from the girl.

“Sarah, honey, he’s one of the good guys,” Danny looked up at Sanders, “Even though he doesn’t look like one. Looks more like a zombie to me.” He found it felt good to laugh, especially at Sanders’ expense.

She was lifted onto a stretcher. She’d accidentally let go of Danny’s hand as she noticed one of the other girls also being led away and gave a greeting to her. Then, as if she’d lost him, she yelled for Danny, who came up and grabbed her hand again. “Right here, sweetheart. Not going anywhere.” He brushed the hair back from her forehead and bent to kiss it, but was stopped.

“Not until we’ve collected evidence. Sorry, sir,” said one of the attendants. Just hold her hand for right now.”

“You want to talk to your mother, honey?” Danny asked.

“Luci. I want Luci,” she whispered as they wheeled her down the hallway to a waiting elevator.

Danny dialed her number, but the reception had gone. Once out in the lobby, on the way to the ambulance, he was able to get signal and made the connection. Before he heard Luci’s voice he heard chanting, drums, and the chatter of many conversations.

“Hello?” Luci said over the din.

“Luci? What the hell’s going on there?” Danny asked.

“People. The People have shown up. We’ve been singing protection. Did you find her, Danny? Is she okay?”

Danny heard the background music suddenly stop.

“Yes, honey, Sarah’s been found. She’s fine. Tell them we found the Knighthorse girl and little Rosebud Carter, too. The police haven’t been able to give me any details yet, but they’re alive, Luci. Tell the People the girls are all safe, and alive.”

“And Sarah?”

“I’ll let her tell you herself.” He put the phone to Sarah’s ears as they sped off to the hospital.