Saving amanda, p.18
Saving Amanda, page 18
“Eagle Rock BroPro incoming,” a deep voice said into Carter’s radio headset.
“Hank. We thought you weren’t going to join us for this party,” Stone whispered.
“Wouldn’t miss it for all the money in the world,” Hank responded.
“Are those your headlights on the road coming in?” Bubba asked.
“Not us,” Hank said. “From our vantage point, that group appears to be the cartel. There are a couple of moving vans and four trucks loaded with men carrying guns in the back.”
“How many with you?” Stone asked.
“An even dozen,” Hank responded.
“That leaves us at least two to one odds,” Stone noted.
“We’ve had worse odds,” Hank said.
“If you’re not on the road coming in, are you coming in cross country?” Carter asked.
“You could say that.” Hank chuckled. “Look up.”
Carter’s gaze shot to the sky, where dark silhouettes suspended from parachute canopies floated silently down to the ground outside the perimeter Stone’s team had established.
As soon as they were down, the men gathered their silks and weighed them down to keep them from floating away on a gust of wind and warning the cartel of the team’s existence at their transfer site.
Hank and his men moved into position with Stone’s.
“Once the cartel starts the transfer, let them leave, then we’ll move in,” Hank said. “Remember, this isn’t a third-world country. We would prefer to take them down, not kill them.”
Carter’s fingers tightened around the AR-15 rifle he’d chosen to take with him. “Don’t we want to stop the cartel as well?”
“Yes, we do,” Stone said. “That’s where the DEA contingent headed this way by road will do their thing off the reservation. They’ll be in position to capture the cartel once they leave the reservation.”
“Don’t we have to get permission from the tribal council to conduct operations on the rez?” Moe’s voice cut in.
“We have it,” Hank said. “However, they didn’t want us to take down the cartel on the rez. They wanted us to bring in the Native Americans running drugs on the reservation. They like cleaning up their own mess.”
“Looks like everyone is here,” Bubba said from the road.
“Not everyone,” Carter said. “I haven’t seen Nighthawk, Trevor, Colt or Eddie. Most importantly…I haven’t seen Amanda or Tara.”
“Incoming helicopter,” Moe called out softly.
A helicopter like the one Carter had seen land on top of the casino flew into the transfer site and landed not far from where Carter lay flat against the earth.
A man wearing a suit stepped out.
“That’s Nighthawk,” Carter said, anger surging. He had to fight the urge to fire on the man and take his sorry ass out. A man from the Mexican cartel’s lead vehicle stepped down from a black SUV and strode toward Nighthawk. Nighthawk handed him a satchel. Then the cartel leader turned and motioned for the transfer to begin.
While the gang members moved the drugs from one van to another, the armed cartel stood guard, weapons at the ready.
They worked quickly until all the product had been transferred. Then the cartel members loaded into their trucks and drove back to the highway.
“Let’s hope the Feds don’t screw this up,” Dax said. “They need to take out the people responsible for supplying the folks on the reservation.”
“I still don’t see Amanda or Tara,” Carter said.
“I think I see someone inside the helicopter,” Stone said. “Yes, I see the two missing women. One seems to be trying to get out of the chopper.”
A figure fell out of the helicopter onto the ground. She sat up and shook long black hair out of her face.
Carter’s heart soared. “It’s Amanda.”
Eddie Black Bear, aka Ernest Perez, jumped out behind her and jerked her to her feet. She swayed and almost fell. It appeared she was bound at the ankles.
The DEA agent slipped his arm around her waist and shouted to Nighthawk, “Let’s go!”
“We can’t let them leave with the women,” Carter said softly.
“You’re right,” Hank said. “It’s party time. Let’s move in and clean up. Remember, we’re not in the Middle East. Don’t shoot unless you’re fired on first.”
Carter clenched his teeth. The don’t-shoot order tied their hands, making it more difficult and dangerous to do their jobs.
He didn’t care as long as he got Amanda out alive.
Ahead of him, Trevor Spotted Elk went toe-to-toe with Colt Kickingwoman in a testosterone-laden strut of domination. They’d both taken chances coming there that night. They both wanted to leave with the largest portion of the take.
Colt motioned to one of his guys. “Take all of the product.”
“What do you mean?” Trevor demanded. “Half of it is ours to distribute.”
“I meant exactly what I said.” Again, to his men standing behind him, he ordered. “Take it all.”
Trevor frowned toward Theo. “What the fuck?”
Theo’s brow dipped to form a V. “I didn’t give that order.”
“I did,” Perez said. “Trevor broke the code. He and his people know the cost.” He jerked his head toward Colt.
Colt pulled a handgun from beneath his jacket and shot Trevor.
“Things just got messy,” Stone said. “Carter, Dax, Moe—go for the helicopter.”
“Don’t let it leave the ground with Amanda and Tara,” Carter said. He gave up his prone position and raced for the helicopter. He had to get to her before Perez used her as a human shield or bargaining chip to get him out of Wyoming and the country altogether.
More shots rang out. Carter didn’t look over his shoulder to see who was shooting whom. His focus zeroed in on Amanda.
Chapter 16
Amanda had spent the day trying to work her hands out of the zip-tie to no avail. If they’d tied them in front, she could have used the same technique she’d used to break the duct tape.
Instead, she and Tara had taken turns trying to bite through the ties with no success.
About the time Tara had thought she was getting close to breaking through the plastic around Amanda’s wrists, men showed up and drove the van out of the warehouse into the night.
They didn’t have far to go, finally pulling into a well-lit area.
From her position on the van floor, Amanda couldn’t see much until a neon sign appeared.
They were at the casino near Riverton.
She wanted to yell and scream to get someone’s attention, but she didn’t want the wad of cloth shoved into her mouth again.
Conserving her strength and focus, she twisted her wrists again and again in an attempt to finish what Tara had started.
The van was parked in an underground parking garage. One of her guards opened the sliding door and stepped out. He reached in, grabbed Amanda’s bound ankles and yanked her to the edge of the doorframe.
Amanda bunched her legs and kicked out as hard as she could, hitting the guy in the knees.
He yelled and bent over, clutching at his knees. “Bitch,” he said and backhanded her across the cheek.
Amanda didn’t have a chance to kick again. The man flung her over his shoulder, tossed her into a rolling laundry cart and threw a sheet over her head.
Tara yelled and cursed as they loaded her into the empty cart beside Amanda.
They were wheeled into an elevator.
Amanda couldn’t tell how many floors they rose to, but when the doors opened, she could hear the sounds of traffic and felt a gentle breeze stir the sheet over her head.
She worked her wrists back and forth. The skin beneath the zip-tie had rubbed raw. Getting free was her goal, whatever it took.
The thumping sound of helicopter blades sounded in the distance, growing closer until the roar of the engines filled Amanda’s ears, and the downdraft of the rotors plastered the sheet against her face.
They had to be on top of the casino. A helicopter landed near them, the blades continuing to turn.
Her cart jerked and then rolled toward the roaring engine, the wind whipping the sheet from her face. Two men grabbed her beneath the arms and tossed her onto the helicopter floor next to Tara.
They wheeled the carts away, ducking beneath the spinning rotors.
Two men emerged from the building and hurried toward the chopper—Theo Nighthawk and Eddie Black Bear. They climbed aboard the helicopter, buckled themselves in and slipped headsets over their ears. The men on the rooftop closed the side doors, and the aircraft rose into the air.
There was no use yelling at the men to let her go. They wouldn’t hear her voice over the engine or through their noise-canceling headsets.
Amanda continued to twist her wrists, praying the plastic would eventually break. She wouldn’t get very far with the zip-ties around her ankles. Without anything sharp, she couldn’t remove them and make a run for it. Still, she couldn’t give up.
In the little bit of light from the helicopter control panel and the starlight shining through the windows, Amanda could tell the men were talking into their mikes, their brows low, their faces tight. She surmised it was getting close to midnight and the drug transfer.
Hope dared to swell in her chest. Carter and his team would be there. Hopefully, Hank Patterson would have called in some favors and sent more men to help clinch the operation.
Not long after they were airborne, the chopper slowed, hovered and then lowered to the ground.
Amanda’s heart pounded against her chest—or was it the rumble of the aircraft engine vibrating through her?
The helicopter doors slid open. Nighthawk stepped out.
Amanda could see past them to the collection of vehicles and people gathered in an open area. If she hoped to get out of there alive, she had to make her move.
She watched as a man handed Nighthawk a satchel. Eddie was watching the exchange as well, his attention diverted from the women on the floor of the helicopter.
Amanda rolled to the edge of the door and fell out onto the ground, landing hard on her shoulder. Pain ripped through her, but she didn’t let it stop her. Bunching her muscles, she prepared to roll away from the chopper.
She hadn’t gotten anywhere before Eddie dropped down beside her and jerked her up by her hair.
“Let’s go,” he said.
In front of them, Trevor Spotted Elk and another man with many tattoos started a shouting match, surrounded by what Amanda assumed were the members of their respective gangs.
Then the man shouting at Trevor pulled a gun and shot Trevor.
All hell broke loose as the two teams fought. Some fired weapons; others engaged in hand-to-hand combat with knives, hatchets or machetes.
On the far side of the fray, Amanda caught sight of Nina Sweetwater and two other teens slipping into a car and driving away.
Good for them, she thought.
Nighthawk hurried toward Eddie and Amanda. “Let’s get out of here. They have the drugs. They can figure out the distribution or kill themselves fighting. We don’t care.” He held up the satchel.
Eddie nodded. “That’s right. We have what we came for. That and some insurance policies.” His arm tightened around her waist. “Get into the chopper.
“No,” Amanda said.
Eddie pulled a gun and held it to her head. “Get in or die.”
“I’m your insurance policy, remember?” she taunted.
“I have another. I don’t need you.” His lip curled up on one corner, and his eyes narrowed.
The bastard was going to shoot her.
Amanda did the only thing she could do. She went limp.
With only one arm around her, Eddie couldn’t hold her up and maintain his aim.
She slid down his side to the ground.
“Let her go,” Nighthawk shouted. “We don’t need her.”
Eddie aimed at Amanda. “No, I don’t. And I don’t need you.” He swung his gun around and shot Nighthawk in the face.
Nighthawk dropped where he stood, his hand still wrapped around the satchel handle.
Eddie turned to shoot Amanda next, but he’d barely raised his arm when he pitched forward and fell to his knees, the gun skittering across the ground in front of him.
Tara lay on the ground behind him, having rolled out of the helicopter with perfect timing.
“Are you all right?” Amanda called out.
“Yes,” she said.
Eddie grabbed the gun, rolled to his feet and aimed at Amanda.
A shot rang out. Eddie reeled backward, tripped and fell to the ground, the gun flying well out of his reach.
The helicopter started to lift from the ground.
Eddie cried out, “No!” He crawled across the ground and grabbed for the satchel but had to pry it loose from Nighthawk’s death grip. Once he had it in his good hand, he ran for the helicopter, tossed the satchel inside and threw himself at the open door. He landed on his belly, halfway in, his legs dangling.
Amanda tried to get up but couldn’t.
Eddie was going to get away with murder. That couldn’t happen.
A man emerged out of the darkness and dropped down beside her. “Amanda, are you okay?”
She almost cried her relief at the sound of Carter’s voice. “Yes, but don’t worry about us. You can’t let Eddie get away.”
He nodded and ran after the helicopter hovering a few feet off the ground with Eddie trying to get his leg up over the side. Eddie managed to get in and sprawl across the floor.
Carter took a flying leap, grabbed the edge of the open door and pulled himself into the aircraft.
Amanda’s heart skipped several beats as the helicopter climbed higher.
Shouts and gunfire filled the air as the gangs continued to fight.
Another man dressed in combat gear and carrying a military-grade rifle dropped down beside her. In the starlight, she could see his face and recognized him as one of Carter’s team from West Yellowstone. The man they’d called Moe.
“Stay down,” he said. “Those bullets are real.” He pulled out a wicked-looking knife and sliced through the zip-ties around her wrists and ankles.
Another one of Carter’s team worked on freeing Tara.
The helicopter soon became only a blinking light in the sky.
Amanda and Tara lay low to the ground as more men dressed in combat gear moved in to surround what was left of the gangs.
“How did you get so many people here so fast?” Amanda asked.
“Hank Patterson has connections,” Moe said.
As Hank’s men rounded up the gang members, Wind River and Bureau of Indian Affairs Police vehicles rolled in, lights flashing. Behind them were ambulances, first responder vehicles and a couple of buses from the boys and girls club.
“You weren’t kidding about Hank having connections,” Amanda said. Her gaze went to the sky. The blinking light of the helicopter had disappeared. “Does he have connections in the sky?”
Moe laughed. “I think so. That’s how he and his bunch from Eagle Rock got here.” His smile slipped. “Don’t worry. Carter will make it back.”
An hour later, after the ambulances and buses left loaded with gang members, another set of vans arrived to take the Brotherhood Protectors home.
Hank Patterson found Amanda and Tara and introduced himself. “Glad to meet you two. I’ve heard a lot about you both.” He nodded to Amanda. “Carter wanted me to let you know he made it safely to Casper, where he finally got the helicopter pilot to turn himself in.”
Amanda let go of a huge sigh. “Thank you. And Eddie?”
“Eddie Black Bear, who is actually DEA agent Ernest Perez, was wounded. He didn’t put up much of a fight before he passed out. He was taken into custody at the Casper Airport by a Federal Marshall and will be prosecuted for drug trafficking, money laundering and at least four counts of murder.”
“He was the one who killed the teens,” Amanda said.
“Along with his partner in crime, Theo Nighthawk,” Hank said. “Their plan, based on the pilot’s confession, was to take the money they were supposed to launder for the cartel, fly from here to Canada and take a plane to Cuba and disappear. Apparently, Perez and Nighthawk had been laundering money through the casino. The cartel pressured them to dump a massive amount of drugs onto the reservation. Perez figured their laundering days would be over if they were caught managing the drugs. He wanted out. They were going to take the money and run. Only he was greedy and wanted it all for himself.”
“Money and drugs.” Amanda shook her head. She hated that she hadn’t been able to save the three teens who’d lost their lives. She wrapped an arm around Tara and pulled her close. “I’m so sorry about Tobi. But I’m glad you and your family are now safe.”
Tara nodded. “I’m going to talk my mother into moving to Bozeman or Spokane. We should be able to find work there. I don’t want to stay where there are many reminders of Tobi and how he died.”
“I don’t blame you. I’ll miss you.” She hugged Tara.
“Thank you for fighting for the truth even when it put you in danger. It’s nice to know people care about what happens to our people,” Tara said.
Hank waved toward an SUV. “If you two are ready, we’ll take you back to the hotel at Fort Washakie. Carter said he’d meet you there. He should be there shortly after we arrive.”
“I’m ready.” Amanda was eager to get back to town and even more anxious to see Carter.
“My team will stay the night in Fort Washakie and meet with authorities tomorrow to answer any questions before we head home.”
Stone Jacobs joined them. “And I’ll take Tara to be reunited with her family in West Yellowstone. Carter can follow us since his job is done here.”
Amanda had been so concerned about stopping the killings and drug trafficking that she hadn’t thought past that.
Stone was right. Carter had been hired to help keep her safe and find the murderer. Now that they’d accomplished both, Amanda didn’t need Carter’s services anymore.
But she still needed Carter. No. She wanted Carter. As crazy as it seemed, in the short time she’d known him, she’d allowed herself to fall in love. Now, she couldn’t imagine life without him.
