The Cartel Enforcers (The Bill Dix Detective Series Book 2) (25 page)

*****

According to a Sheriff’s Office SWAT Sergeant on scene at the bank robbery, the suspect was in custody and the hostages were secure. The commanders in the command center re-directed the majority of the units at the bank robbery to the Sheriff’s Office warehouse.

The Sheriff stormed into the command center. With quick words and to the shock of all of the officers, he demanded everyone be taken into custody right that moment and didn’t give a damn what happened to Calderon. Today, he chose to save lives, and fight against the cartels another day.

*****

Word of the Sheriff’s decision to take down the operation made its way to Kovach. All he could think about was his wife and daughter.
If Calderon doesn’t get his money, they’re surely dead
, he thought.
This can’t be happening
, he said under his breath. He had never felt so helpless in his entire life.

Kovach looked at Dix, “The Sheriff just shut the operation down. We have no eyes on the warehouse. Cameras are down and no one has eyes on Calderon.”

Dix considered this a moment. “Well, what’s our play?”

“I knew Calderon would head to the tunnels to get the money. I changed his escape route to a location a few miles from here on American soil. Problem is I don’t know if my UC was able to get the money down to the tunnels. Sounds like the Sheriff and police department are storming the warehouse with everything they have to take into custody as many people as they can,” replied Kovach. He was hopeful Dix would see his heart was in the right place and support him one final time.

Dix looked concerned. “Petersen, switch to the secondary radio channel and get Sullivan up to speed. We’re going to roll to the location where Doug believes Calderon will surface and try to get him in custody. If we’re lucky, he’ll cooperate and make a call to his people in Minnesota.” Kovach, Petersen, and Dix rolled code three with full lights and sirens to where Calderon was supposed to surface. They would not be prepared for what they saw when they got there.

Chapter 47

The two mercenaries with Smith that were knocked to the floor from the blast got back up to one knee and started shooting through the open door in an effort to keep whoever was coming for them at bay. Meanwhile, Smith struggled to grab the duffle bags and push them through the hole.
Jesus
man, you have one simple task and you can’t get it done
. Smith could hear the gunfire had stopped and looked up from what he was doing to see why.

He saw both mercenaries looking at him and the bags of money and back at him. They were arguing with each other about something he couldn’t hear. Without warning, one of the men threw his last flash bang through the door of the secondary storage unit. As the second mercenary turned to look at the flash bang going off, the first mercenary shot him point blank in the temple. He fell to the floor lifeless. Smith instantly realized the remaining mercenary was going to come after the last bag of money. He shot at Smith and within a few seconds had him pinned down. The mercenary had tunnel vision and was fixated on the last bag of money.

Smith was fatigued, but used his legs to try to kick the last bag of money down the hole. He was extremely calm given the fact a man was trying to kill him and it was his responsibility to live and get the money to Calderon. His training kicked in as he knew he had a job to do. He slipped a small transponder underneath the bag and kicked it down with one last kick. Smith could hear the mercenary right next to him and brought his weapon up to take a shot. However, the man lunged out and was able to grab the strap of the bag as it went down the hole. His momentum carried him into the hole, and he and the bag fell down to the tunnel floor. If there was any chance he was alive after the fall, the two gunshots confirmed he was dead now.

Shining a light down in the tunnel, Smith could see Jose Calderon looking up at him. He was so tired all he could manage was to give Calderon a head nod. He’d taken an oath to protect his country, and that meant more to him than anything else in his life. Trapping Jose Calderon was his way of protecting his country, and he was damn good at it.

As Smith attempted to regain his composure, he realized any second several law enforcement members would enter the room he was in and shoot first, then ask questions.
Not a position I want to be in
, he chuckled to himself. He retrieved his neck badge and put it on. He disabled his weapons and threw them on the warehouse floor. As he laid face down in a prone position he allowed himself to lookup to watch the stack of men cautiously entering. He identified himself as law enforcement several times and just waited. He did not move or do anything that would cause the men moving toward him to kill him.
I’ll die someday, but that someday is not today
. He hoped Kovach had alerted the command staff as to his identity and role in the mission, but he knew with Kovach, most things like this were a crap shoot.

*****

Jose Calderon unzipped the duffle bags and quickly made sure they contained money and nothing else. He checked two bags and skipped the third seeing the other two were fine. Satisfied the money was all there and pressed for time, he and his men loaded the duffle bags onto a flat bed golf cart. He did not detect the tracking device Smith had put in the bag because one of the other men loaded the bag and had not checked. Once it was loaded, Calderon told the men to leave in the opposite direction. He instructed them to create a diversion at a pre-determined location to help him get away. The two men began running in the opposite direction. One by one, Calderon lifted his rifle and shot them in the back of their heads, killing them both. He threw the rifle on the floor and took off through the tunnels to meet and kill El Hefe.

*****

Dix drove to the location as Kovach gave him directions. Everyone in the car had been on the phone with various personnel attempting to get the right people to where it was believed Jose Calderon would surface. Kovach coordinated incoming units over the primary radio channel. Dix, Petersen, and Kovach stopped short of the location. A few minutes later, Sullivan also arrived and met up with them. Kovach and Dix figured it would be at least ten minutes before reinforcements would arrive, which wasn’t good because Kovach estimated Calderon would be surfacing any minute. The time difference was a real problem, but none of them could do anything about it.

Sullivan pulled out a small white board and dry erase marker and handed it to Kovach. “Diagram the location where Calderon will be so we know what we are dealing with.” Kovach grabbed the marker and board and started drawing the layout. He gave her an odd look as
she
ordered him to do something, but realized he was no longer in a position of authority. He drew as the group discussed a plan. They decided they’d hold down the fort until the troops showed up, unless of course Calderon came out and realized he was still in the United States and made a run for the border.

The team split up again into two cars. Dix and Petersen shared glances with each other. Neither of them could believe how this ordeal had spiraled out of control so quickly.

Petersen said, “How the hell do you seem to get us in this kind of stuff all the time, on vacation no less?” He was jabbing his old friend, but there was some truth in what he said.

Dix grinned, “I have no idea. Really, I don’t. Let’s nab Calderon so we can get the hell out of here.”

Petersen motioned over to Kovach and said, “What are we going to do with him?”

Dix looked at Kovach and could tell he was a beaten man. The fact Calderon may already have his wife and kids made things much worse. At any moment Kovach could snap and Dix did not want to be there when it happened. He and Petersen were interested in apprehending Calderon the old fashion way…Kovach wanted to torture him to get his family back, and then kill him.

Dix replied, “I’m pretty sure he knows what he needs to do. When we get out of this alive with Calderon holding the money, he’ll explain the whole story to his bosses.” Kovach looked over at Dix and nodded.

In a worried tone Kovach asked Dix, “Any word from your buddy in Minneapolis?”

Dix checked his phone, no new messages and no texts.

“Sorry, not yet. He’s good people, and if anyone can make a miracle happen, it’s him. Let’s focus on this and do it right so we can nail Calderon and work on getting you back with your family.”

As the two cars neared the warehouse where they expected Calderon to surface, Kovach got on the radio and told Sullivan to veer off to the right and take a position covering the front. She veered off and took up a point position overlooking the front doors. The location also had rear and side doors, which were covered by Dix, Kovach, and Petersen. Once they were set up, Sullivan advised the incoming units where she wanted them to park.

Extreme tension mounted. For some reason, Dix didn’t feel right about what was going on. Various scenarios danced in his head. He could not shake the fact that Kovach was desperate because Calderon made it sound like he had his family and this could push him to make a desperate move. Kovach needed leverage on Calderon to get his family back.
If it was me, I would do the same damn thing
. Dix was not sure what to think any more. If Calderon showed up, Dix would take over and prevent a drastic move by Kovach. If Calderon did not show up, Dix decided he’d have to let Kovach dictate the next move. He believed Kovach was a huge risk, but without him, they’d never get close to Calderon again.

Chapter 48

Jose Calderon slowed down to inspect the pipes along his pre-determined escape route. He was looking for a small white paint mark. The alarm on his watch indicated he was near the spot. The tunnels went in six directions where Calderon had stopped, and based on the fact there was very little light, he could end up at several dead end locations with no way out if he chose the wrong path. That, of course, is why he had painted the small white line with glow in the dark paint to ensure he did not make that mistake.

With his flashlight, he scanned the pipes. Within a few seconds he saw a small painted white line. He looked at it and instantly thought it did not look like the one he had done.
Did I do this?
I must have
, thought Calderon,
no one would know about this, and it’s been awhile
since I was down here, it must be my mark.
He looked at the mark again, and decided it was his. He turned the cart down the tunnel and accelerated toward freedom.

The tunnels were getting brighter indicating he was nearing a structure and the outdoors since natural light seeped into the tunnels from above. He mashed the accelerator and eagerly drove toward the light. The tunnel appeared to end in roughly fifty yards. Calderon was anxious to see the steel ladder in the tunnel because it meant he was in Mexico. He’d get the bags of money up and be on his way.

The cart coasted to a stop as he had a stunned look on his face. Instinctively he reached for his sidearm and began scanning the area to figure out what had gone wrong.

“Son-of-a-bitch, that wasn’t my mark!” Calderon said out loud. He noticed the tunnel area was professionally finished, which he knew could not have been done by El Hefe’s people. They crudely dug for the last three years and would not know how to finish the project. Also, the lift El Hefe had installed to bring contraband up to the warehouse and send narcotics down was absent. He looked at his watch and decided he had no time to figure out where he was. The police would be scouring the tunnels looking for the money and who ever took it. The light above suggested the surface was near. The question was, where the hell was he? He decided wherever he was, he needed to get out and secure the money as quickly as possible. He checked his cell phone and had no service. This alone forced him up the ladder and into the unknown.

Quickly and quietly Calderon climbed the ladder and came to a flap of thin sheet metal. He moved the flap a little to test if it was locked from the other side. It moved up an inch as he pushed on it suggesting there was no lock. He wondered what to do next. He could flip the lid, spring out, and search for cover, or he could stay concealed in the tunnel until the police came looking for him. He pulled out his cell phone and noticed he had one bar of service. He frantically texted his location to Sergio Rodriguez hoping he would come with enough men to rescue him. He kept sending the text hoping one would finally go out. He had no idea Rodriguez was already in federal custody or that his cell phone was being monitored by federal agents. Agents read everything Calderon was desperately sending.

He decided he needed to make a move. The money became secondary to his survival and escape. He flipped the lid open, launched out of the tunnel with his gun drawn and ran over to some shelves. He waited a few seconds and nothing happened. He looked around the room and saw office furniture and merchandizing equipment. No federal agents burst through the windows or doors to apprehend him. He tapped the map function on his cell phone and waited for it to load while looking around the warehouse for something to retrieve the money bags. He rummaged through some cardboard boxes and located a rope while his

cell phone made an alert sound.