Call of the Dove

"I'm not going to tell anyone," John said laughing.

"Right. Back to work then? The car won't do it itself."

"Right. Back to work," John said, turned and went back to putting the engine back together.

For the rest of the day, John and his family were busy working on the car. Just before dinner, Don went over to the RV's and started briefing his men. Just as Lori poked her head out the back door to announce dinner was ready, Don's briefing concluded. John waited for him and they walked to the house together.

"So, they start their overwatch duties tonight?" John asked.

"Yep, just after sunset. They'll melt into the surrounding fields and trees to watch who comes, who goes. I'm in radio communication with them. I'll give you a handset so you can listen in. I'll also give one to Lori."

"Great, Millie should be relieved."

"How is she really doing? She puts up a great front, but her eyes dart around constantly."

"She's fine, really, just a little apprehensive about what's going on. I hope this comes to a conclusion in short order."

"From what I have heard, there is a movement in Congress about this very thing. We'll have to wait and see what happens with that."

"We will," John answered.

They were at the house and went in to eat.

An hour later, John and Don, were sitting on the back porch watching as the two fire teams left.

"Geez, Don, they sure are packing a lot of firepower."

"Never know what or who you will run up against."

"I know, but..."

"Standard light issue for them. They aren't going to be needing things like stingers or grenades. You did notice they didn't have any M203's slung under their rifles?"

"I did. Well, I'm off to bed. I think tonight will be the first good night's sleep Millie and I will have had since before this all happened."

"We'll try our damnedest to do that for you."

"Thanks, Don. Thank you very much."

"That's what family are for."

Chapter 8

The next morning after breakfast, Don, Steve, Lori, Hank, and John were in the garage working on the car. Lori was starting to sandblast the body and its various parts while John and Hank finished putting the engine and transmission back together. A little while later, Jack showed up to help.

When Millie came out of the house to go to work, Sergeant Peter Scott appeared from the RV closest to the house and hurried over to Millie's car. He held the door on the passenger's side for her, then hurried around to the driver's side.

"Someone will accompany her to work every day if that okay with you?" Don asked.

"If you think it's necessary."

"It won't hurt."

"That it won't."

Just then, Lieutenant Clark showed up. He was without weapons.

"Night uneventful, sir."

"Very well Lieutenant, carry on."

"Yes, sir."

And Clark was gone. John just shook his head.

"What?"

"I was just thinking if we had a couple of hundred like him along the border..."

"Yes. I know what you mean."

"What?" John asked at his failure to elaborate.

"Nothing, I can talk about."

"Okay. Then back to work."

Three hours later Carol and Janice called them in for lunch. The conversation at the table was minimal but light-hearted. Then Don's radio squawked.

"Eagle one, company arriving."

Don was on his feet and at the door in an instant. He paused, looking back a John.

"Perhaps you should be the one to greet our guests," Don chided.

"Perhaps that would be better, seeing as how this is my house."

"The boys will have you covered from the trees if I'm not mistaken. I'll go out the back and come around the house. Try to keep them from looking my way when I sneak up behind them."

"Right. I'll do my best," John said testily.

John waited until Don was out the back door. John then opened the side door and stepped out on the porch, just as a car pulled into the drive. It was a standard Ford POS sedan. It rolled slowly up to a stop just shy of the porch. Slowly two men exited the car and made their way over to the stairs of the porch.

"That's far enough. What can I do for you men?" John asked, his right hand behind his back gripping the automatic in his waistband.

"We were just passing by and heard this place was for sale..."

"Nope. Someone is pulling your leg I'm afraid," John answered politely.

"No, I'm pretty sure about the information..."

"Look, the place isn't for sale and will not be for sale, ever."

"I would like to make an offer anyway."

"Fine. Make me an offer," John said rolling his eye up into his head.

"Two million U.S. dollars."

"No thank you. Now go."

"I see that you are very attached..."

"Wait a minute, I know you," shouted Don from behind the men.

They both spun on their heels to face Don. Don was grinning like a Cheshire cat as he walked up to them. He had drawn his pistol.

"John, get Lori out here, we have ourselves a bonafide bad guy here. No not the one doing all the talking, this one," Don said pressing his pistols barrel to the man's forehead. "So how does it go Alejandro," Don said slurring the last part of the man's name.

"What's up?" Lori asked as she stepped out on the porch.

"Lori, John, let me introduce you to Alejandro Salazar, head of the Reynosa drug cartel. Alejandro, meet my sister-in-law," Don leaned into him almost whispering with reverence, "Special Agent in Charge Lori Miller of the FBI."

Alejandro jerked at what Don told him as the color drained from his face. For the last ten years, the FBI had been trying to catch Alejandro. For ten years he had slipped through their finger more than once.

"So, your friend Javier, didn't tell you everything about his trip north?" Don laughed as he pushes Alejandro against the porch.

Lori and John both had their weapons out and covered the other man, who stood there with his mouth open.

"I told you this wasn't a good idea," he hissed at his boss.

"Shut up fool," Alejandro hissed back, squirming as Don frisked him.

"Both of you shut up," Lori said as she came down the stairs to hand Don a pair of handcuffs. "Now I need to make a call. Phoenix would be the closest office, yea John?"

"Yep."

"They'll probably send a helicopter out here for this one," Lori said with a hint of glee in her voice. This catch was a career maker. She turned and went inside the house.

"Eagle one, more company. On foot closing in from the west."

"Move to intercept. Let them trespass before you move in."

"Eagle one, out. Falcon, did you copy?"

"Affirmative, moving into a flanking position now."

Don turned his radio down so only he could hear it.

"Who are you, people?" Alejandro asked, fright masking his face.

"Javier didn't tell you that everyone here is connected to law enforcement in one way or another?" Don asked.

"He told me that Senor Sterling is ex-border patrol..." Don laughed.

"That Javier is a sly one. Should I tell him?" Don asked no one in particular. "I think I will. Myself first and the reason I know who you are. United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations, anti-terrorist task force. And you Alejandro are the southwest's most wanted terrorist."

"I'm not a terrorist, I'm a businessman." Don laughed again at Alejandro's statement.

"You already know my sister-in-law Lori. Her husband Steve is the Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of Justice. He'll probably be the one prosecuting you."

"I will do everything in my power to have that case assigned to me," Steve said stepping out on the porch. "It will be a slam dunk. I bet the trial doesn't last two days before Mister Salazar is sentenced to death," Steve said grinning.

"I want to call my lawyer," Alejandro said.

"You'll have that chance once you are processed and booked. Alejandro Salazar, you are under arrest."

"What are the charges?" he asked defiantly.

"We'll start with murder and work our way down to terrorist activities," Lori said.

"You can't do this without a warrant," Alejandro shouted shrilly.

"There are many warrants issued for your arrest, Alejandro. They will be presented to you when you arrive in Phoenix later today," Steve told him.

Suddenly gunfire, pistols, and shotguns, broke out to the west of the house. Answered swiftly by automatic weapons fire. The firefight lasted mere seconds.

"Eagle one, intruders subdued." Don had turned up his radio.

"How many dead?" Don asked.

"All of them. None of us." Came the answer.

"I'll call Gamma Four to clean up the mess. Leave two men to guard the bodies until G4 arrives."

"Eagle one out."

"I have to make a phone call, watch this POS while I'm in the house. You might want to cuff the other guy too," Don said as he climbed the stairs and disappeared into the house.

Steve produced another set of cuffs.

Three hours later two choppers arrived from Phoenix. They landed in the field just west of the house. Three agents stepped out and calmly walked toward the house. One of Don's fire teams suddenly surrounded them. Bear, stepped forward and asked to see their credentials. They produced their creds and Bear and his team escorted them to the house.

"Why did you have them do that?" John asked Don.

"The cartel isn't above dropping a helicopter full of gunsels in here posing as FBI agents. Bear knows what he's doing," Don responded.

"Who's in charge here?" one of the feds yelled. The noise from the choppers made it difficult to hear.

"Tell your pilots to cut their engines," Don yelled. "I'm not going to shout."

The fed turned and signaled the pilots to cut their engines. The noise dropped to almost nothing. Just the whoop, whoop of the blades as they cut through the air.

"That's much better," Don said.

"And you are?" The fed asked.

"Colonel Donald Sheffield, United States Air Force, OSI," Don told him. "And you are?"

"I'm now in charge here," the fed said arrogantly.

"Bullshit," Lori yelled at him from the doorway of the house, holding a small duffle bag.

"And you are?"

"Special Agent in Charge, Lori Miller. Now answer his question or you'll find yourself somewhere in the Aleutian Islands."

"Special Agent Michael Forrest, ma'am," Mike answered, sheepishly. "I was told to come arrest and transport one Alejandro Salazar."

"He's already under arrest and you will be transporting him and me to the Phoenix office."

"Yes, ma'am," Mike replied. "Right this way. Where's the prisoner?"

"Eagle two," Don spoke into his radio. "Bring up the prisoner."

"Eagle two, roger."

Three men, two in camo gear, the third in civvies stepped out of the RV's just in front of the choppers. Agent Forrest did a double take.

"Who the hell are you guys?"

"That's classified," Don told him.

Mike's head turned toward Don so fast that he almost broke his neck.

"Bear, I want Sammy and Noname to accompany SAC Miller."

"Yes, sir. Teller, Billings, report," Bear shouted. The two men trotted over to where they all were standing.

"Sammy, Noname, you will accompany Agent Miller to Phoenix. You will not leave her side. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," they both answered in unison.

"Agent Forrest, my men will accompany you and Agent Miller to Phoenix. If you try to separate her from them, there will be hell to pay..."

"You can't tell me what to..."

"No, but I can," Lori growled.

"Yes ma'am," Forrest snapped.

"Sammy, you two try not to kill anyone unless you have to," Don said winking at the two.

"We'll try sir," Sammy answered a sly smile on his face.

"Well let's get started," Lori yelled.

Steve was at her side, hugging her and kissing her good-bye.

"I'll be back by dinner tomorrow," Lori told him.

Forrest signaled the pilots to started their engines. Both choppers began to whine as they went through the startup sequence. Everyone climbed into the helicopters. Lori, Sammy, Noname and Alejandro in one, the other agents in the other. Both choppers lifted off and were gone, heading north into the darkening skies.

"Falcon, Eagle back on patrol," Don whispered into his radio.

Two almost silent clicks and the men in the field disappeared into the coming night.

"What are you going to do about... did we ever ask his name?" John asked Don.

"It's Carlos. I thought we would just send him back to Mexico. He's here illegally, so I thought I'd have Juan take him back across. They can use their car to get him close to the border, then Juan can walk him across into Mexico."

"And if Juan runs into the Policía Federal or cartel thugs?"

"He's not going to cross into Mexico, only Carlos will and he will have Juan as his incentive not to cross back." Don winked at John.

"I see."

"Steve has been on the phone for a good three hours, making sure nothing happens to Lori and having himself set as prosecuting attorney."

"That means he'll be leaving..."

"Not for a while. He's having the local DAG handle the arraignment. The trial won't take place until next month from what I understand. He also got himself assigned as the prosecuting attorney in the case here. So you and Millie will have family on your side."

"Isn't that a conflict of interest?"

"How? He will be fighting just as hard as any other case he has prosecuted. How is that a conflict?"

"You know the other side will bring that up?"

"They'll try. Steve is a good lawyer."

"Yes, I know."

The two sat there watching the sky as the sunset.

"Dinner," Janice said from behind the two.

Dinner that night was somber.

Chapter 9

The next morning at the breakfast table, Carol said that she and Millie were going into town.

"Not alone," Don told them.

"But three of your men are already away..."

"Juan got back late last night. I will send one of my men with you, just in case."

"Not bristling with guns I hope?" Carol asked lightly.

"No, he'll be in civvies, but he will be armed."

"Which one?" Millie asked.

"AFC George Murphy," Don said.

"A little young, don't you think?"

"Millie dear, no one gets on my teams unless they are really good and George might be young and new to the teams, but he's as good as any of them."

"No disrespect..."

"None taken."

"So, Mom, why are you and Millie going into town?" John asked.

"It's a surprise. Millie will tell you when we get back."

"Okay." John wasn't going to press them. If they didn't want to tell him, he wasn't going to get them to no matter how he asked the question.

Don called over the radio to have George come in and clean up and change. Then went out to explain to him what he was to do.

"You protect them, no matter what. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"You seem hesitant?"

"Sir, it's just...am I authorized to use deadly force?"

"You are. Rules of engagement apply. If you or they are fired upon you will return fire. You will return fire until the assailant or assailants are dead. Is that clear enough Airman?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then get the car ready for your departure."

"Yes, sir." George saluted, turn on his heels and headed toward the car Hank and Carol had rented.

Ten minutes later they pulled out of the drive and were gone. Everyone else was in the garage working on the car. Don's men were on patrol down three men. Janice was in the paint booth painting the body parts. The engine was finished, the transmission was waiting to be attached to the engine. The rest of the men were working on the seats, door panels and headliner. John was at the workbench working on the dashboard, mounting new gauges and other hardware. He had painted it black to match the rest of the interior. They should have it done within a couple of days.

Carol sat in the back seat with Millie. George drove seeming to pay no attention to the women in the back as they talked in hushed tones.

"This is something I have wanted to do for a long time. Your father agrees. I have transferred the money to your account."

"Mom, while I thank you for this, you should have discussed it with John and me. It's too much."

"Nonsense. It's a pittance. Your father and I are getting on in years and we have more than enough to last us. We have already paid off Lori's mortgage. We would pay off Janice's, but they keep moving around so much..."

"Mom, thank you."

"You're welcome, dear. I love you."

"I love you too Mom."

They arrived at the bank that held their mortgage. Millie asked to see Mister Simons. They were shown to his desk and took seats across from him. George stood just behind them scanning the patrons of the bank.

"Missus Sterling, what brings you in today?" Simons asked staring at Carol while talking to Millie. His frequent glances at George took his gaze away from the women.

"I'm here to pay off my mortgage," Millie answered, not introducing her mother on purpose.

"I see. Well let me pull it up on the computer," he said turning to the keyboard and typing. "Well, yes, I think we can handle that for you. Are you going to pay with a check?"

"No, I'll be paying with cash. If you will excuse me, I will withdraw the cash from my account here."

"Ah..."

"What seems to be the problem, Mister Simons?"

"We don't have that much cash on hand..."

"You don't have seventy-five thousand dollars on hand? That being what we owe on our mortgage."

"Ah..."

"Then I'll be paying by Electronic Funds Transfer," Millie countered.

"We can do that," Simons said. "I'm really sorry, but we had a very prominent customer withdraw a lot of cash late yesterday. We just haven't been able to have more cash brought in to... well you don't need to hear my troubles."

"I don't normally, but... this customer didn't happen to be Alejandro Salazar?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't say who it was. Confidential, I'm afraid."

"No matter. Now transfer the funds and give me a receipt and my contract stamped paid in full and we will be on our way."

"Oh dear. We don't have the physical contract here. It's at our main office in Phoenix. It will take a couple of days to have it transferred here."

"You will call the main office, tell them to mark it paid in full and overnight it to my daughters address or else," Carol spoke softly.

The women could see a chill run down Simons' back.

"Yes, I could do that for you, of course, the logical thing to do. Now, why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you're worried about what Salazar will do," Carol said.

Simons turned white as a ghost. But he picked up the phone and called the home office as he typed on the computer to get the exact amount of the payoff. Fifteen minutes later, Millie, Carol, and George had in their possession, a signed and notarized receipt, a copy of the mortgage contract marked paid in full faxed from the home office. And a letter from the bank saying their mortgage had been paid in full. The last being insisted upon by Carol. They were then driven home by George.

That evening a helicopter touched down in the field. Lori and the two men Don sent with her jumped out of the chopper. Lori turned and flipped the finger to the pilot. Sammy and Noname just aimed their rifles at him. The helicopter jumped into the air and was gone. Don waited at the fence for his men to report. Lori was hurrying to embrace her husband.

"Problem?" Don asked his men as the stopped in front of them.

"Yeah, the weasels up in Phoenix weren't going to fly us home. They said we could catch a commercial flight. So we commandeered one of their pilots and a chopper."

"Very good. So they weren't pleased that they weren't going to get the collar on Salazar?" Don asked.

"Yep, they were very rude to Ms. Miller and she read their SAC the riot act. He was not very nice to her until he got a call. I assume her husband had some strings pulled because that bastard was quaking in his shoes. Yes sir, no sir, flying left and right from him."