Chapter 17: The takedown.

Hawk's point of view

Jordan had just gone down when I heard a shot behind me and a slug exploded into the ground beside my head. I rolled madly to my left as more shots rang out. Arthur didn't seem smart enough to have fooled us, so the bad guys must have tailed him. Too bad they weren't as stupid as Arthur.

When the firing paused, I stopped rolling and fired once toward the corner of the house. It had no noticeable effect. So I waited, keeping an eye on both sides of the house in case the shooter tried to sneak around. Inside, I was worried about Ted and Lisa. Did they get away, was someone holding them at gunpoint now, or worse?

I gathered myself to charge the corner when I heard a shout on the other side of the house. "Police! Drop your weapon! Drop it! Do it! Now!" Then I heard a shot. It sounded like a different gun than the one that had been firing at me. Then there was the sound of someone running. I aimed and waited.

"I'm coming around the house. Don't shoot," the voice that had identified itself as police said. After Jordan, I wasn't sure I was buying.

"Slow and easy," I shouted back. "Keep that weapon pointed away."

When the man came around the house, I couldn't help myself. "Shit. Why did it have to be you, Digger?"

Sure enough, there he was, funky mustache, hat and all. His pistol was pointed straight up. "So, are you gonna shoot me or listen to what I've got to say?" Digger asked. "And you'd better hurry up and decide, because they have your friends."

I jumped up and ran over to him. "Let's go." When I rounded the house, I saw another crumpled form, a man, lying near the bushes. This was going to be tough to explain. In the distance, I could hear a siren wailing, getting closer.

Digger led the way to his car and jumped in. I slid into the passenger seat and we took off even while I was belting in. He consulted a handheld device and drove. "You okay, Hawk? Not shot are you?"

"Where did that hokey accent go? Why shouldn't I just pop you one right in the mouth?" I asked with some heat.

"Well, I kin a get 'er back iffin that's what you want," he said with a grin. "Or I can just cut the crap and fill you in. Your call."

"I bet you think you're clever, Asshole. Give me the details," I said with resignation.

"There's good news and bad news. The good news is that you've been cleared in my investigation. Not the shooting, but the real investigation."

"Real investigation? What real investigation? Do you think my investigation isn't real?" I managed through clenched teeth. "Let's not even discuss that someone's been trying to kill my friends and me, too. Or did you miss that part?"

"Now, now..." Digger started.

"Don't placate me, Dick Cheese! Why are you really here?" I demanded.

"Police have been suspected of 'losing' drug money in vice and homicide," he said, "both in Houston and Galveston. Not just from the cities, either, but from both counties as well. I suspected someone in the DA's office was involved in both places, too. When the shooting took place at the vineyard, I didn't know if you were part of it or not, so I had to keep you in the dark."

Digger swerved out onto the main street and upped the acceleration. He slapped a bubble light on the roof and we took off.

"Why the hokey accent and being an asshole?" I asked.

"The accent was to make everyone disregard me as in inbred defective that wasn't a threat. The asshole is natural," he added with a grin. "Ask anyone that works with the Rangers. I called in the shooting back there and told them officers were in pursuit of kidnapping suspects. I was watching when it all went to shit and came in as fast as I could."

"You were watching? Shit. Well, maybe that might help me some. Captain Jordan was one of them. He's dead back there," I added. "The Galveston DA is part of it, and some guy named Bill Tanner. Older white guy."

He nodded. "I'll run the name and see if any likely bolt holes pop out. I tagged the van with a tracer before I knew what they were going to do. Looks like they are fifteen miles or so up road."

"What the fuck is with that, anyway. You broke into my house and planted one on my bike," I said with a suspicious look.

"Look in the glove box."

I opened it and looked inside. Under the Twinkies there were several folded pieces of paper. I pulled them out and gave them the once-over. A warrant for my house and vehicles, and the same for Ted and Lisa. All signed by a judge out of Dallas. It included wire taps and vehicle traces.

"What the hell? What probable cause could you possibly have on us! This is bullshit!" I shouted, waving the warrants around.

He glanced over at me. "You really need to see someone about those anger management issues. Police corruption, prosecuting attorneys on the make, county funds disappearing in both Harris and Galveston Counties. You all made yourselves valid subjects for a warrant. You'd have done the same, so don't bullshit me. You do what you have to do to bring down the bad guys."

He picked up the microphone for his radio and called dispatch. "Dispatch, 2431. I need a records check on a Tanner Tom-Adam-Nora-Nora-Edward-Robert, first of Bill or William, license unknown, DOB unknown. I want connections to any separatist or militia outfits. Also, run plates on a van, gray, tag number Boy-24-John-3-Tom. I also need any addresses in this area."

"2431, standby," the woman on the other end said.

"Now," Digger commented as he sped onto the interstate, "that tracer on the van isn't quite legal, but we'll just keep that to ourselves, okay?"

"What's the plan, then? They have Ted and Lisa. They have more than a few members and are anxious to use violence. If you can't admit to tracing them, you can't call for backup."

"Easy as pie," he said. "We track them and scope the place out. If it's on the property list, we go from there. If not, I'll improvise. I'm real good at improvisation, Little Lady."

"Don't call me that or I'll pound you."

He grinned as he swerved around a semi. "After you sent me tracking the Hells Angels, I think you deserved a little payback. I thought they were going to chase me all the way back to Houston. That wasn't very nice."

"Fuck you," I said genially.

"Not with a stolen dick," he sneered conversationally.

The drive led us north of the metro area and toward a northern rural zone. While we drove, I filled him in on what we had learned. Dispatch called Digger back with a listing of properties connected to Tanner, William, associated with a splinter group of an organization called the Republic of Texas - a militia group seeking the independence of Texas from the United States. One of the properties was just ahead of us in the direction we were traveling.

Digger cut the siren and lights and went quiet. "They might spot us in the rear view mirror, so we go silent. I'd rather we take them before they get into their hole. They probably have weapons and all kinds of crap in there. If they beat us, we can wait for backup and smoke them out or go right in."

I felt a chill run down my spine. "If we let them hole up, they'll keep the hostages and likely kill them. If they make it in, we go in fast with backup on the way."

He nodded. "I'd do the same. You should reload. I have a spare piece under the seat and some shotguns in the trunk. I have a vest but only one. You take it."

I laughed at him. "I'd fit inside it like a supermodel in a barrel. Keep it." I took the spare piece and slid it into my belt. Then, I swapped out the partially used magazine for a fully loaded one.

We took an exit that led off into the boonies towards Tanner's property. There was no sign of the van, but that didn't mean squat with all the twists and turns the road was taking. Five miles or so, I thought. "Punch it. We need to be right on their ass when they get there. With any luck, we won't have any more - company. Let's not let them get a lever on us."

He nodded and kicked it. We flew around curves like an Indianapolis 500 driver. "The turn off to get to the place should be less than half a mile in front of us."

We popped over the last hill and saw the van make the turn onto a dirt road. "Do it! Run up their ass and I'll call for backup."

I grabbed his microphone and started calling in the location and details. I used his call number to keep the questions to a minimum. They told us to hold for backup and I just shook my head. Right. Like that was gonna happen.

When we slammed into the dirt road, I thought the axle was going to rip off. The trees and shrubs were seriously overgrown and a pall of dust obscured the uneven ground. That didn't seem to bother Digger. He just powered into it and bounced along the road.

The bright flash of brake lights in front of us gave a bit of warning just as Digger screeched to a halt and rolled out. Through the haze of dirt, I could see two men yank open the back doors of the van. One of them pulled Lisa out and started dragging her back towards a cinderblock building that reminded me of a fortress. No way he was going in there with her.

"Take the other one! I'm on Lisa," I shouted to Digger and ran across the road. The shouts and then gunshots behind me were his problem now. I had at least one hostile to take out and a friend to save.