Chapter 21

Steve

The damaged pilot and the safe student were both relaxing and having a beer while being attended to by their close friends. I was happy that we came out of this as well as we did.

Thinking that Jimmy should be about back, I called his cell, "Hey, Jimmy, how close are you? I'll come out and help you get the aircraft off the truck."

"We're about twenty minutes out. We could use some more hands. If Charlie, Jim, and Hank could come with you, that should be enough muscle. We have a hoist, but you have to push the thing around a little to get it on."

I said, "I'll bring a bunch of help. See you in about twenty."

Rounding up Charlie, Jim, and Hank was easy. They were all near the tap. I told them we would stop at Park Place for some calzones on the way back and that got them moving. I asked Mercy to order the calzones for me so they would be ready. She said, "I'll run out and get them. That way you guys can just come straight home." I got a kiss from Sue and was off.

When Jimmy and the big flatbed came in, we moved a couple of light planes around so we could use the lift that was on a track to get the plane down. Jimmy was the expert and had us take the wings off the truck first and gently lay them on rolling stands he set up. Then we pushed and pulled on the fuselage to get the slings in place.

Jimmy lifted the plane and gently placed the aircraft down on its three point landing gear. The front didn't appear damaged and the two main gear both looked good. I'm sure Jimmy would have to tear everything down to ensure it was still good, but the plane wasn't damaged as bad as it looked.

Jimmy pulled the prop from the truck and you could see that it was damaged. Jimmy said it was bent and the main shaft connector was damaged. I couldn't see the bend in the propeller, but I would take Jimmy's word for it.

Jimmy was staring at the engine and said, "I'm not doing anything under the cowl until tomorrow. We're going to set up some video cameras to record everything I do and what we discover. The NTSB inspector has what he wanted, but I want to go over everything. So until tomorrow, let's get out of here, I'm hungry and I think a beer would be in order. Thanks for coming out to help, guys."

Charlie, Hank, and Jim were saying, "Just like our toys at work, but bigger."

When we got back to the patio, Tom's group had grown as Maggie and Shannon were now with them. I found out that Mercy had talked the two into coming. Shannon had to find someone to take her place, but it apparently wasn't difficult to do.

The mountain of miniature calzones began dwindling fast, since the group on the patio was larger than usual tonight. So many were there to celebrate DeDe's health that we were getting down to close to the bottom of the keg. About eleven, much later than we usually stayed up, parents began carrying sleeping kids home. Tom, Zena, Joanie, Maggie, and Shannon left with the promise to come back soon. They made us equally promise to come visit.

Glenda and Martin sat droopy-eyed. I said, "You two need to go home and go to bed. Glenda, I'll fix coffee in the morning. I'll take care of the kids' breakfast too. You sleep in."

She said, "No way. I'm the Grandma here. I'll be there with my kids for breakfast. Martin can sleep in for both of us. This has been a tiring day. Perhaps a nap tomorrow would be good."

I walked the two of them home to be sure they were okay. Martin was smiling as Glenda took his hand, leading him toward the bedroom. I flipped the lock and shut the door saying, "Goodnight, Martin, goodnight, Glenda."

My ladies, plus Barb, had our kids in bed and were finishing cleaning and straightening out the patio. They were all smiling as they looked around. It was like at our shops, the people cleaned up at the end of the day and admired their work.

We headed for bed, with me stopping in the shower to rinse the sweat off. As I was washing, Sue and Kathy got in and said, "Today did bring out the sweat, didn't it?"

We washed, and when Sue and Kathy got out, Mercy and Juanita stepped in and held me in the shower. They said, "We need our shower maid to wash us now."

I washed both ladies without getting their hair wet. We dried off and the five of us snuggled into bed. Seconds later, we were all asleep.

"Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring."

Ah shit, who would be calling now?

"This is Steve."

"Steve, Hap. My guy out at the airpark just had a running gunfight with someone. He wounded the suspect and has him cuffed, waiting for the Sheriff's department and an ambulance. I thought you might want to come check this out."

"I'll be right there; do you want to ride with me?"

"I'm already on my way, Steve. I have to be with my man when there's something like this."

The ladies were all sitting up when I said, "They caught someone out at the airpark. I don't know what he was doing, but there were shots fired. I have to go."

Sue asked, "Do you want one or all of us to come with you?"

"No, you guys go back to sleep. I need to help Hap with what's going on, and also make sure we get all the information we can from the guy."

I was dressed and rolling in less than five minutes. I did slip my Glock holster onto my belt. Probably unnecessary, but my Glock was there. At the charter office, there was an ambulance and two Sheriff's cruisers. I found Hap with his man and asked, "I know you've probably said this a dozen times so far, but one more time for me, where was this guy when you saw him?"

Hap said, "This is Terry Williams, he's been with us a long while, so he's experienced."

Terry said, "I had just walked around the back side of the helicopter hangar on the way toward the charter office. I saw some kind of flash beneath the hangar door where you keep the big airplanes and ran to the charter office. The clerk had not heard anything, but I told her to throw the light breakers on for me."

"When I opened the door and shined my flashlight toward the airplanes, the guy shot at me. The round hit high, but I can tell you, I shut my light off and stayed down. When the lights came on, the guy was walking fast toward the rear of the hangar. I yelled for him to halt and to put down his gun. He fired at me, so I returned fire. I hit him two or three times, but I didn't kill him. I guess I need more time at the range. He has one round in the leg and one in the shoulder. The hits knocked his gun from him so I ran up and cuffed him. The clerk was calling 911 while I was doing this."

"As soon as the guy was cuffed, I began trying to interrogate him but he spit at me. He's not said a word. When the deputy read him his rights, he wanted to call his attorney. They can do what they want, but I'm charging him with attempted murder. You guys can charge him with whatever you want."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Sharp, for shooting inside the hangar with these expensive airplanes, but I had to return fire."

"You did the right thing, Terry. Hap, you get with the deputy while I see if I can see what he was doing."

I walked over toward the G5 Terry had pointed at. At the left landing gear there was a bag of tools with several tools lying on the floor. I left them as they were and made a decision. We were flying several federal charters this week and next. The FBI should investigate this, or maybe it's Chuck's job.

I hated to do this but I called Chuck.

When he sleepily answered the phone, I said, "This is Steve. We've had an attempted sabotage on a G5 that is due to haul a bunch of Feds to DC and back. I think the captive and the evidence need to be looked at by the FBI. Isn't that right?"

"Exactly right, Steve. My group has to be involved too as we're supposed to protect federal employees. Let me call for you. Do you want me to come out? Can I do anything to help?"

"Just call for me and give them directions. I'll keep the Sheriff's department here as long as I can. The suspect was shot, but is alive and not seriously wounded. I don't know whether I can hold him until your guy gets here."

"Do what you can, but if they send the guy to the hospital, make sure he's accompanied by someone. Have you located the guy's car? If not find it and have the cops protect it. That is evidence. Let me get off the phone and call. Call me back if you need anything."

I walked out to the assembly of the two Sheriff's cars and the ambulance. They wanted to transport the guy right away. I said, "The aircraft this man was working on is chartered by the FBI and two federal judges. I've called the FBI and they want to be the primary investigating agency, but will give the county credit for the arrest. They would like to have a word with the suspect, but if you have to transport him, someone has to go with him to ensure he remains in custody."

The two deputies looked at each other and one used his mobile to call in. After a long conversation, he said, "We'll hold him until another deputy can get here to accompany the suspect. Usually we just cuff him to the gurney and meet them at the hospital."

I said, "Knowing these guys, they may have ways to defeat that right now. Have you located his car?"

Again the two deputies looked at each other then turned to head toward the operations building. Terry said, "There's a car down toward the end of the runway. They could have driven onto the field from the street over there."

Terry said, "Let's go check it out. We'll take this cart."

One of the deputies climbed into the cart with me in the back. Terry drove without lights down the far side of the runway until we were just behind the car. As he approached the car, he flipped his lights on.

Bang, Bang!

Someone one in the car took shots at us and started the car. The lights came on and they spun the wheels trying to do a U-turn. The deputy leveled and shot at the lights. He didn't hit the lights, but was hitting metal. You could hear the hits. I pulled my Glock and shot at the driver's side of the windshield. I shot seven rounds, until the car began going in a circle, lurching from no acceleration.

Just as the car came to a stop, the passenger side rear door opened and someone rolled out onto the ground. We were almost on top of the guy and the deputy yelled, "Halt, Sheriff's department."

I guess the guy didn't care, as he came up with a handgun aiming at us. I fired four rounds as the guy fired. I hit him in the body and his only shot went wild. When he rolled over, then rolled back, I realized he had on a vest or something. I fired the rest of my rounds into the guy's head. I had emptied my piece of all fifteen rounds, seven at the driver's side of the car, four at the guy who came out of the back seat, and my last four into his head.

The deputy said, "Enough, he's down."

"Damn right, he's down. Check the car for more men, quick. I'm out of ammo."

"Good, maybe there will be someone to question," the deputy said.

Terry handed me a full magazine and said, "Glock 22, right?"

I dropped my empty and slid the fresh one in, pocketing the empty clip.

We checked the driver, then found another person in the driver's side back seat. He had been hit in the shoulder, but also had a graze across the side of his head. That had knocked him out. The deputy was trying to baby the guy, trying to ease him out of the car.

"Step aside, I'll lift him out."

The deputy stood back and I grabbed him by his belt and his neck and lifted him out of the car. When I had him on the ground I asked, "Who has cuffs? Let's get this guy immobilized."

The deputy said, "He's shot, he isn't going anywhere or going to do anything."

"You better go back to cop school, Buddy. This man is a danger to you and me. His buddies have fired live rounds at us. What do you want to bet you find another pistol in the car from this one and probably another on him. Now give me your cuffs."

Terry handed me his cuffs and I rolled the guy over, pulled his wrists together, and cuffed him. The deputy was moaning in sympathy for the guy. I ripped open the guy's shirt and saw that the wound was just in the meaty top of his shoulder. He would be sore, but he could still function. I used his shirt sleeve to make a bandage just as a Sheriff's car came up.

An older guy with rank on his collar got out of the car and asked what the situation was. The deputy began ranting like a little kid telling on his brother to his mom. The man raised his hand and said, "Tell me slowly. I heard several shots fired. What happened?"

The deputy began again, pointing at me and saying I went crazy shooting at everyone. Once again, the guy with rank held his hand up, and said, "Is that you, Steve?"

"You got me; let my security guy tell you what happened."

The guy said, "No, you tell me."

I went through how we had surprised the group in the car and that I fired at the driver when the car was heading toward us. When the car became disabled, the guy that has the blown up head problem rolled out of the car and fired at us. I said "We fired back and you see the result. When we checked the rear seat of the car, we found this guy out cold from the graze on his head. Since his other wound wasn't serious, we cuffed him and you came up right then."

The deputy said, "This man wouldn't listen and insisted on cuffing the injured man."

The Major said, "It's a good thing he did, I can see another weapon in his waist. He probably has a backup on his ankle too. You always cuff a suspect, regardless of his injury. When the paramedics get to him you can unlock him, but the guy is in custody. People in custody are cuffed, behind their back, period. You know that, you learned that in the academy."

The deputy was shaking his head, and said, "We should at least be humane."

The Major said, "And probably be dead for being humane."

He told his deputy, "Use your mobile and get some CSI people out here. I understand this is going to be a federal case, so make sure the FBI is sending someone. Move it."