The Ranch

The one woman with the group raised her weapon as she declared that no agent was going to take her. She aimed in the direction of the sound. While not being able to see her target past the bright lights shining down on her, she knew his approximate location from the sound. She leveled the illegally obtained M16A1 she held and fired.

Jeremiah didn't hesitate. He fired back one shot. With the advantage of the lights, he was able to see his target much easier and hit the firing shoulder of Britney Evans. "Weapons hold!" he shouted into the mic." He again asked the group to comply with the previous order.

"Mom!" a young man screamed as he saw Britney drop her weapon and fall to her knees clutching her shoulder. He rushed toward her than stopped, unslinging his own weapon. He cursed at the unseen individual who had shot his mother and raised his M16 to fire at him as his mother had done. Before he had a chance to fire, another shot rang out and he fell backwards, his weapon flying behind him, multiple shots exiting its barrel into the air as he held the trigger for a few seconds during the fall.

"Weapons hold!" Jeremiah yelled again while keying his radio. He grabbed the bull horn a third time. "I say again. Place your weapons on the ground and put your hands on your heads." The three men left all slowly lowered their weapons to the ground and stood up with their hands held on their heads. "Tango team move in and secure the weapons and prisoners, break" Jeremiah ordered through the radio. "Ensure that each weapon is tagged as to which person was using it, out." The soldiers all moved into the light including Specialist Steve Johnson, who was holding an M16 that had been given to him by the gang leader. It was tagged as evidence as well.

It didn't take long for each of the men from the convoy to be subdued with their hands zip tied behind their backs then each weapon properly tagged. Britney was still kneeling by the second vehicle when Jeremiah and Roy reached her. "Shelby," Jeremiah called out.

"Yes, Sargent."

"See to the wounded."

"Yes, Sargent." She moved to where Julien Evans lay on the ground, took a moment to look at him, then moved on to his mother. Realizing the importance of not providing any incentive for the woman to resist further, she looked back over her shoulder. "Cross, a bit of help, please."

Megan Cross moved over to where Diane was wrapping her field bandage around the arm of her patient. "See to the other one, will you?" Diane asked a look in her eye telling her that there wasn't really anything to do but she should act like there was anyway.

While Roy insured that all of those that were being arrested were read their rights, Jeremiah did a head count. All his team was present and accounted for with no casualties. The gun runners had three men captured, one woman wounded and captured, and one dead. He was not happy.

In the back of the Haulmark trailer, Susan sat waiting for word of what was happening in the field. She had heard Sargent Nelson's calling for weapons hold and couldn't help but wonder if they were taking fire. She knew that once he gave the order to move in and secure the prisoners that it was over and let out a sigh of relief knowing that he had survived the firefight, but that didn't tell the full story of what had happened. Lisa sat across from her, her leg bouncing nervously as they waited, both worried that someone on the team might have been shot. Then the radio burst into life again.

"Tango base this is tango zero one. We will need one ambulance on site when we return to base, and the coroner, break." Susan heard the gasp from Lisa as there was a pause in the transmission then the radio was active again. "Reporting team tango zero casualties. Evans' gang, one wounded and one dead. Do you have Fox Bravo India's report? Over."

Both women gave a sigh of relief before she answered him. "Tango zero one, this is tango base. Copy. Fox Bravo India reports zero casualties and all targets in custody. Over"

"This is tango zero one. Roger. Will return to base using convoy's vehicles, echo tango alpha five zero mikes. Out"

"You should probably go tell your mom so she won't freak out when the ambulance and coroner get here," Susan suggested. Lisa left immediately in a much better frame of mind now that she knew that the team were all alright.

Britney and Julien were loaded in the back of the first truck with Shelby and Cross guarding them. The other three were put in the back of the second truck with Huey and David Williams guarding while Sgt Reynolds drove with Johnson sitting in the passenger seat. The third truck had only Paul Donaldson and Andrew Turner in it. The three trucks backed up slightly and then made their way around the hole the grenade had made. They then moved in convoy with lights on making their way out of the field and to the homestead.

Susan called the nine-one-one operator and explained who she was and what was needed. The operator dispatched the ambulance and coroner right away then turned to the guy filling his mug with coffee. "You better get to the Nelson Ranch, George," she told him. "One dead and one wounded in some kind of fire fight."

George Kimmel worked for the Mt. Ayr Record News and sat most nights with dispatcher Carolyn Moody. When she told him the facts that she knew, he didn't hesitate, but was out the door before she could pick up the phone for her next duty.

Carolyn tried to call Sheriff Roy, knowing he would want to know about this. What if it were his sister-in-law or niece that were hurt? Not able to reach him, she then called his second, Harold Skinner and informed him of the situation. He left his wife sleeping in their bed and quietly dressed so that he could see who he could arrest for murder. It was a part of his job that he really enjoyed when the perpetrator started whining and begging. He would laugh at them unless there was someone else there as well. Then he just laughed on the inside. Maybe it was the new guy that bought the place that did the deed. That would make old sheriff Roy happy. It would be something that gave him an edge over the boss. It didn't occur to him that Britney Evans and her men were moving a load of weapons to sell to the Egyptian guy and it might be them that were being brought in.

As Jeremiah pulled into the yard of the homestead, he could see that the ambulance and coroner had already arrived. There were also another two sheriff vehicles there. He was glad of that as they would be needed to move the prisoners to the jail. Then he heard Roy curse under his breath. "What?" he asked.

"Skinner's here," Roy answered.

"Well, that saves us a trip. Do you want me to do the arrest?"

"No. He's my man. That makes him my responsibility. I'll take care of it."

Skinner recognized the trucks as soon as they entered the yard. He thought about leaving, but was too excited over the possibility of listening to some poor shmuck begging about the unfairness of the law. He was sure that neither Britney nor her stupid son would rat him out. He was too useful to them.

The convoy pulled up beside the ambulance and stopped. Roy got out of the passenger side and crossed to where Skinner was standing. As they watched, Jeremiah opened the back of the truck, his M16A3 slung on his shoulder.

"What the hell is he doing with a sixteen?" Skinner asked.

"The same thing I'm doing with my M4, Harold," Roy replied. "Are you armed?"

"I've got my side arm," he motioned to the holstered beretta 92. "Do I need something bigger?"

"I don't think so. Let me see your weapon."

Skinner handed the sheriff his weapon expecting him to look it over and then give it back with his recommendation. Instead, he stuffed it in the belt of his pants and reached into his pocket for another zip tie. Once in hand, he grabbed the deputy and swung him around pushing him onto the Dodge Challenger he drove. Skinner had his hands tied behind his back before He knew what hit him.

"What the hell, Roy?"

"You're under arrest for conspiracy to commit murder, tampering with evidence, tampering with an investigation, being an accomplish in a gun running operation, selling classified information to leaders of said gun running operation, and I'll probably come up with a few more once I think about it for a while. I know you have the Meranda memorized, but I'll read them to you anyway." He did just that before letting him speak again.

"Are you insane?! Get these off of me!"

"I asked you if you understand your rights, Harold. Please answer that question."

"Of course, I do. You made us all memorize the whole thing and then gave an exhaustive class on them."

While Roy was taking care of his deputy, Jermiah made sure that Britney Evans was loaded onto the ambulance. Her wound was not life threatening, but it needed to be cared for. He had Shelby go with her as guard. Before the ambulance took off, Roy stopped them. He then took his cuffs and cuffed her left arm to the post of the gurney and handed the key to Shelby. After she was gone, they moved her son's body to the coroner's vehicle.

"Who shot him?!" Skinner yelled. "They're the ones who should be arrested. Not me!"

"I think you should exercise your right to remain silent" Roy told him.

"You can't do this to me!" he shouted. "Woody, get out your knife and cut this zip tie off of me. Please, Woody."

"Sheriff. Are you sure that he did what you said he did?" asked Deputy Victor "Woody" Woodcox.

"I'm sure, Woody. You know I don't play around with those things."

"I can't go to jail, Roy," Skinner pleaded. "Please, Roy. I can't go to prison. They'll eat me alive! Roy?! Roy?!"

"Roy, we have four more men to round up. I think we should do that tonight before they know what happened and make a run for it."

"Woody, all these trucks are to be taken to the impound lot. An FBI agent named Halsey will pick them up sometime later, but see to it that they get there and the chain of evidence is protected."

"Yes, sir."

"Sargent Reynolds?"

"Yes, Sargent?"

"Go with Deputy Woodcox and assist him with the prisoners and getting the trucks to impound. Use whoever you need to get the job done right."

"Yes, Sargent."

With that, the two Nelsons headed off to arrest the four men that were not with the convoy that night but were part of the gang including Lamar Westfall.

Lunch time and Lisa was back to work. She looked up from serving a customer as the bell over the door rang and saw Nancy enter. Automatically, she went to the drinks station and got her the sweetened tea that she liked. "Hey, Nancy," she greeted as she sat the drink down in front of the woman. "Sitting at a table today? That's different."

"I got a call from Richard this morning. It seems that the new owner of the ranch has put him on retainer. He wants to be sure that everything is right for the transfer of ownership. As if I'd get it wrong. I don't get it. Why would he use Richard?"

"I'm sure that he just wants to be sure that you do everything right. It's probably not as big a deal as you are making it out to be."

"We'll see. So, how are you liking it at your uncle Roy's place? Everything alright? Does he have a nice place?"

"I don't know. I've not actually seen it."

"What do you mean? He didn't let you and your mom stay on the street, did he? I know your father wouldn't let you go near his house, but he's been dead a year now, so, it shouldn't matter anymore."

"You haven't read the paper this morning, have you?"

"No, not yet. Why?"

"You'll understand when you read it, but just to let you know, we never left the ranch. First, mom was offered a job as cook and housekeeper, then everything else happened."

"What else?"

"You'll see. Here comes Richard now. I'll take your orders when I return with their drinks." With that, Lisa left.

Richard Bailey and Jeremiah Nelson walked up to the table. Rishard sat next to his wife and Jeremiah directly across from her.

"Mr. Turlow. You shaved! And you got your hair cut. I must say. You look a lot different this way."

"Yes. I got rid of the extra hair as soon as the disguise wasn't needed anymore."

"Disguise? Were you running from the law?" She thought that would be a reason that he would have paid Richard a retainer.

"Quite the opposite. I was disguised for the law."

"Root beer for you, Richard," Lisa said as she placed a glass in front him with a straw in it. "And you get the cola." She lowered another glass sans straw in front of Jeremiah. "Ready to order?" The three placed their orders. "You look like you really need to get some rest, bro," she declared. "I know there's still a ton of stuff that has to be handled, but you better not overdo it."

"You're right. There is a lot to do. Most importantly is keeping Turner busy until we can get him to a counselor. But I'll find some time to rest." When he had awoken at his usual time of six o' clock, he had found that Private E-2 Andrew Turner was also awake and having trouble sleeping. Jeremiah knew why and set out to solve his problem as best he could. It was Turner that had fired the shot that hit Julien Evans, and his first time in killing a man.

"Bro?" asked Nancy as Lisa went to put in their orders.

"I know it's been seven years, Nance," Richard started. "But don't you recognize him? It's Jeremiah."

Nancy looked at him a little harder. "My goodness," she exclaimed. "It is you, isn't it? So, why the disguise?"

Richard slid the copy of the Mt. Ayr Record News that he had been holding towards her. There in bold thirty-six-point type was the headline "1 Wounded, 1 Dead in Firefight with U.S. Military." Under that was a picture of sheriff Roy Nelson pushing deputy Harold Skinner towards one of the county's three Dodge Challengers while Skinner was obviously yelling something. Under the picture was a paragraph about the photo. "Sheriff Roy Nelson arrests Deputy Harold Skinner on multiple counts of criminal activity." Below that was the story with George Kimmel's byline. "Members of the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigative Division (CID) in conjunction with the FBI ended a months long investigation and information gathering operation with the arrest of several people involved in gun-running. While the FBI arrested the people that were set to buy the illegal firearms, Sheriff Roy Nelson joined the CID to take down the leaders of the gang. The arrests made by the FBI met with no resistance while the Army personnel faced a firefight in which the leader of the gang, Britney Evans, was wounded, and her son, Julien killed. U.S. Army Staff Sargent Jeremiah Nelson and his team moved into the area some time ago, setting themselves up on the Nelson Ranch. SSG Nelson, who is the nephew of Sheriff Roy, portrayed himself as ranch buyer John Turlow to ensure that his family had nothing to do with the crime before revealing himself. He had been estranged from the family for seven years before that. Sargent E-5 Jacob Reynolds said that the firefight was brief and the outcome was not what they had intended. He also confirmed that FBI agents had arrested the buyer, a man names Akbar Solvina, along with a truck driver he had hired to move the weapons, and a third party believed to have been the go between. Britney Evans faces several charges including two counts of murder as well as illegal sell of firearms."

Nancy sat there with her mouth agape. "Wow," she finally said.

"Yeah," agreed her husband.

"So, what happens with the ranch?" she asked thinking that she was going to lose the ninety-thousand-dollar commission. Thankfully, she hadn't used it for anything. "Do I need to put it back on the market?"

"No. I'm keeping the ranch. I'll be leaving the Army in a couple of weeks and coming back here to run it. That's what this meeting is about. I want to be sure that everything is done right to transfer it from John Turlow to Jeremiah Nelson."

"Well, you could just have me cancel out the sell and if you pay the taxes, just let your mom sign it over to you."

"That would mean that you would lose your commission. That's not what I want."

"In that case, I could arrange for you to sell it to yourself. You being John Turlow the seller and yourself being Jeremiah Nelson the buyer."

"That way you get double the commission, huh?"

"I didn't say how much you would have to sell it for. I get fifteen percent, but you don't have to buy it for the same price you paid for it before. Maybe you sell it for one hundred dollars. I would get fifteen. I'm sure you can come up with fifteen dollars, can't you?"

Jeremiah didn't answer right away. He was busy watching Susan Matthews and Ryan Jackman as they talked with Lisa. After some talking, Lisa went into the back. "Yeah, I could come up with that much," he finally answered.

"Good. Then that's what we'll do."

Lisa came back out and handed the two Specialists a box with sacks in it. Money changed hands and the two went away. But Jeremiah wasn't blind to the way Huey and Lisa looked at each other. She then delivered their order and the three sat and talked about inconsequential things while they ate.

"That news report didn't tell the whole story, did it?" Nancy asked as they got ready to leave.

"No," admitted Jeremiah. "We've kept several things quiet for now. It will all come out eventually, though. It's not a big secret, but there were still some arrests to be made. Mostly some Army officers who stepped out of bounds. I'll say this, though. You'll need to find a new senator." He gave a yawn. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "Long day and a short night last night. And a lot to get done yet. I haven't even started cleaning my weapon yet. I better get back to the ranch and get started."

Jeremiah was once again dressed in the Battle Dress Uniform of the U.S. Army as were the rest of his squad. They were going to travel in convoy most of the way down to Fort Leonard Wood Mo. Since the trip was only about 350 miles, they would be there that evening and be able to turn in all the weapons and equipment. Because he had those items, he wanted to be sure that they were well identified. His truck had the same Haulmark trailer that he had brought with him when he first showed up at the ranch and all those items were in it. The only thing that wasn't in it was the ammunition. Those would go back in SGT. Reynold's truck.

There was also the issue of getting all the horses and trailers back to the right places. Sgt Reynolds had one of the Coachman trailers while SPC Jackman had the other. SPC Shelby had the Travalong horse trailer loaded with the five horses they had borrowed from a ranch near the fort, while SPC Williams had one of the bumper-pull horse trailers with two horses in it. SPC Cross and SPC Matthews both had their own vehicles, Susan's being a blue Dodge 3500 Limited Longhorn crew cab with an 8-foot box. In the back of it was the Harley Fat Boy that SPC Johnson rode. Although he could have made the 350 miles on the bike, he felt better about having it in the truck bed and riding along with her instead. PFC Donaldson was riding back with SPC Shelby and would help unloading the horses at the other end, and PV2 Turner was riding with Huey to help with turning in the rental trailers.

In looking at it all, Jeremiah noticed something wasn't in place. He walked up to Susan Matthews who was making sure that the bike was properly tied down a third time. "Aren't you forgetting something, Specialist?"

"I don't think so, Sargent," she replied. "I got all my stuff out of the trailer we were sleeping in so I think I'm good."

"What about your horse?"

"Oh, I'm leaving her here."

"What do you mean you're leaving her here?"

"I figured it was sort of counter-productive to take her all the way down there just to haul her back up two months later. Lisa will take care of him 'til I get back."