BA Hammer Blue Flu Ch. 08

BA Hammer Blue Flu Ch 8

We reconvened in Brick's office. He just shook his head. "I can't remember seeing such a sloppy job done by the district attorney's office. Their case is dead. He adjourned before I could request a dismissal. Call your friend Ed and have him watch out for Ike. Something might happen over the weekend.

I called Ed right then. "Ed, I am sorry for calling you, but I am concerned something might happen to Ike this weekend."

"What makes you think that? I have men watching him."

"Baker's case fell apart in court today. Brick is sure the judge will throw it out Monday morning. I am concerned they may make a move on him before then."

"I tell you; he is being watched."

"Can you give me the names of the officers watching him?"

"Just a minute." He came back to the phone and gave me the names of the three shift officers watching him. One of them was on the list.

"Ed, I am going to tell you something that I can't prove right now. I need you to take one of the men off the detail." I gave him the name.

"Why?"

"I told you, I will explain later. Let's just say he is a friend of Baker, okay?"

Silence. "Okay, I have an idea that would be better. I'll get back to you."

I looked at Brick. "Great idea, having me call Ed. One of Ike's guards is on the list. He'd be the one to do it. Ed says he will take care of it and let us know."

It is Friday afternoon. I had a text from Zorro that just said, "DONE". I called Spook and told him to watch the building carefully. I suspected something might be happening soon. He promised to let me know as soon as he saw anyone there.

I went to the theater to see Mary. I met her in her dressing room. She had a nice dressing room. A private dressing room. We have been trying to get pregnant for a while now. We had the time, and the inclination to give it another try before she went on. I didn't care about what happened on the stage that night. Her best performance was right there. After the show, we went home to relax. I told her about what Brick thinks about getting Ike out of jail. I didn't tell her my worries about his health.

Saturday afternoon Spook called me. I went into the office so we could meet. In our bug proof room, he showed me pictures from his surveillance.

"I think they are planning something. Daley is in the office there. He has been calling people for a while. I can't hear anything, but he is going down a list. I think he may be gathering a crew together."

"Good. Let me know when people start showing up." He nodded and left. I called Jerry Kramer. "If you still want a shot at these guys, tonight is the night. How many men can you gather?"

"Ten or more."

"Great, this will be messy. Gather everyone together and I will let you know where we are meeting."

"We'll be there. They are going to pay for what they did to my men." He hung up.

I called Bear. "Please round up everyone you trust. We are going to hit the building tonight. Jerry is bringing ten guys. The bad guys are gathering. We can take them out, then call the feds, and let them clean it up."

"I've got nine or ten I can bring myself."

"Remember, they will be dressed like SWAT. Heavily armored. We will need firepower."

"Leave that to me."

Now to set the trap. It's still not noon on Saturday yet. It's time to give the cops a target. I called Jerry to warn him. I told him I was calling him on our company phones. We know they are tapped. He is to agree to whatever I say, just don't use any real names. He was ready.

I Picked up the phone on Steph's desk and called Jerry's dummy number. "Bob, is that you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. I think we are getting close to these guys. I just need to put it all together. How about you bring everything you have over to my office tonight late, say eleven PM? We don't want to be disturbed by anyone while we put the finishing touches on this case."

"Sure, I'll be there." I put the phone down. I hope they were still listening. That means they will come before midnight, but probably not before eleven. We can hit them at their lair around 9:30 or 10 before they leave. I called "Bob Burger" on my safe phone to warn him there would be fireworks tonight. I only told him it was around the docks. I wasn't getting any more specific. He said he would be ready. Carter wasn't happy, but when he explained the breadth and depth of the corruption, Carter agreed to let me play my hand first.

I also called Brick and explained only that we would be "busy" tonight. Would it be okay if Liz and Mary spent the night at his home? We had become friends with his wife and his kids were all grown and gone. He agreed. I called Liz and Mary and told them to cancel everything today, and head to Brick's house. It should not look too suspicious since we had been going there socially for a while, and it was Saturday night. I also told Stevie and one of my best men to station themselves outside Brick's house to watch. My guess is they will leave Percy Blackstone alone, but I'm not taking any chances.

All I could do now was wait.

At six in the evening, Spook called me to say they were gathering. He counted six men so far. I told him to be ready to go before nine. I wanted him to cut the power to the building before we went in. We were using night goggles, and that should be the advantage we need.

I called Jerry and Bear with the rendezvous address and told them to be there at nine. I told them to bring the heavy armored trucks. We were going to break the shipping doors in front out after the lights go out. Spook would blind their security system a minute before we start. When the lights go out, we hit the doors. There will be three men in the back to watch for stragglers and protect Spook.

We met at nine. We had twenty men, dressed for combat. Spook and his three bodyguards headed to the back the way we had before. By then, there were nine of them in the building, including Daley and our old friend Baker.

At nine-thirty Spook shut down their security system and cut the power. When the power went out our two vehicles hit the doors. The doors shattered. The men inside began shooting, but it was wild and bounced off our vehicles. We spread out a threw a few concussion grenades to stun them. They were cornered in their office. We didn't want to destroy the office because of the computers inside. They continued shooting at us, even thorough they couldn't make us out by anything but our gunfire. The last few men were in one corner. When it was over, I looked to see who was left. Baker was still moving.

"Well, Baker. I guess this is the end of the Blue Brotherhood."

"Go to Hell, Thor."

"You first." I shot him through his visor. We were gone in five minutes. We could hear sirens coming from everywhere, but we were in our vehicles and gone before any cop showed up. I called "Bob Burger" and gave him the address. I told him about the computers and the armory they had stored there. He promised to get there before the police could move anything.

I called Mary to see how they were doing. She said they were watching a movie. I called Stevie and he said everything was quiet outside. We all disbanded and disappeared into the night.

Sunday morning brought sensational headlines about a military-style battle near the docks. The papers were talking about a warehouse full of guns and stories of terrorists, gangsters, whatever they could dream up.

"Bob Burger" called me later that day to say they found an incredible amount of military hardware in that warehouse. He said they were just beginning to crack the computers. I told him I had a lot of evidence. If he would meet me at my office, I would turn it all over to them.

We met at noon.

He walked into my office with a couple of his boys. I asked them to wait outside. They did.

"God Damn, Hammer. You destroyed that place. It's going to take DNA to identify some of those guys."

"I'm sorry about that, but they were all wearing SWAT outfits with bullet-proof everything. We didn't want to take any chances." I handed him the envelopes containing everything I had on the Blue Brotherhood, including the names and account numbers of all of them. I gave him the names of his two FBI agents, as well as the names of the people in the mayor's office, and any other office in the city's government that was on the list.

"One other thing, Hammer. Daley wasn't there. I guess the physical stuff isn't his cup of tea."

"Great. That means he can go to prison for all of this. Just a tip. I would pick up his treasurer, Robert Hamilton right away. I am sure he will be more than happy to co-operate with you for a reduced sentence. Good luck cracking those account numbers. I bet there is a lot of money there."

Burger looked at me long and hard for a couple of minutes. "Yeah, I'll bet there is still a lot of money there."

He laughed and took his people with him out the door.

I picked Mary and Liz up at Brick's house. Brick and I discussed Monday morning's court date. Then Mary, Liz and I headed to our house. It was a beautiful Sunday. We ordered food in.

Brick and I were at the courthouse before ten. At ten, the judge entered the courtroom, and everyone sat down.

The assistant district attorney stood up and said, "Your Honor, due to the events of this past weekend, the district attorney's office wishes to drop the case against Dwight Eisenhower."

"Case dismissed. Mr. Eisenhower, you are free to go." Liz jumped into Ike's arms, and they embraced hard for a couple of minutes.

Brick and I just smiled and watched the show. When he finally put Liz down, I looked at him and smiled.

"Don't you think it's about time you married that girl?"

"Past time." He picked her up again and Brick and I left the courtroom.

Epilogue

Marcus Daley was convicted of multiple accounts of fraud, extortion, gun charges, the works. He committed suicide the day he was to report to prison.

Every person on the list was fired from their government jobs and convicted of several crimes. The mayor's scheduling secretary, Patricia Holmes went to prison with her husband.

Cameron Westminster was decorated posthumously for valor and courage. One of the city's largest buildings was named after him. On a quieter note, his family received and very generous sum in appreciation for all he had tried to do. The donation was anonymous.

The five bodyguards who died in the explosion was also decorated. Their wives received the thanks of the city. They also received a substantial sum to help with whatever they needed. It was also anonymous.

We never were publicly acknowledged for our role in busting up the blue brotherhood, but that is the way we wanted it.

Ike and Liz got married. I was best man and Mary was maid of honor. We all decided to go on a long honeymoon together. We needed the rest.