Chapter 48

Steve (Tuesday)

Mercy and I were in the restaurant early, having coffee, when a couple of salt and pepper guys came in. I stood and both came toward me with their hands stuck out to shake. They sat with us and were brought coffee.

Bud Anderson, said, "I've been working on this case for a year and thought we had most of it put to bed. There must be more to it, as you've turned up a significant group here in Nevada."

Jim said, "Chuck split me off as his backup a while back to work with Bud, and I do have to say that we have been busy continuously. I miss Tampa, but the activity is fun."

We discussed what had occurred to date and why I had discussed the situation with Chuck. Bud asked, "If the Bureau has already photographed these guys, their facial recognition program should have picked them out by now. Do you guys have any prints from them yet?"

I looked at Mercy and said, "Let's skip breakfast and get over to the shop. We can use Bud's kit and dust the four trucks real quick and get prints that way. It will give us time to clean up the powder used for dusting."

After calling up to Tiny and telling him we were heading to the shop early, the four of us drove two cars to the shop. I opened the shop and discovered the four trucks pulled into the loading bays. Bud and Jim quickly began going over the trucks. They gave Mercy and me some spray cleaner and paper towels to follow and clean after them.

We were already done with the four trucks when Jorge came in. I told Jorge that Bud and Jim were friends of ours from Tampa and were visiting. He said, "I finished loading the trucks last night and left them inside. The deliveries are not as heavy today, so the men will be happier. They shouldn't be so surly this morning."

The four of us went up front to see if the Bureau car was parked in the lot across the street. It was, and so was the white van down the street. The van must have just arrived, as it wasn't there when we drove up. I called the FBI agent and asked, "How are the batteries holding up on the GPS units?"

He replied, "Good, still over seventy percent. I heard from my boss that a couple of deputies are in town to check out the men we're tracking. I think we can use all the help we can get on this one. I wanted to call the DEA, but the Special Agent in Charge wants to wait as he thinks this might relate to some other cases we've been working."

I told him, "The van is back this morning. Are you going to take any action today?"

"I can't give you any details," the agent said, "But we are making progress in our investigation. We're watching the van, of course, and we've found another vehicle watching your premises. We will be watching it as well."

It was times like this I wanted to just lock the doors and send everyone home. This was getting to be like Sue's first clothing plant, too many angles, and too many bad guys. Being so far from home gave me a bad feeling.

Mercy came up beside me and said, "Don't worry, Steve. There are a lot of men watching out for us. Let's go have some coffee. Mary brought some rolls in this morning, and I know I'm hungry."

Tiny, Ruth, Abe, and the sales and tech guys came in. Tiny said, "This one is about put to bed. Ruth, Abe, and I want to run up to Reno this morning and see how that plant is doing. There is a guy up there that I think will become the manager, so I want to get up there right away."

I told Tiny, "Good idea, don't act as if you know anything about the delivery guy problem. That has to be kept confidential."

Abe and Tiny looked at each other and Abe said, "Seems like you've been through all this before, doesn't it? We just need to make sure the building up there is on schedule. Oh yeah, Ryan might be in this afternoon with the guy who might be a good leader for this unit."

Tiny and Abe took off with their rental car, while Mercy and I sat in the former owner's office, looking out over the street. The office had windows looking to the front and side where the delivery trucks were now parked. We watched as the four delivery men parked their cars and walked toward the building. It was funny to watch them as they were walking side by side, four wide, as if it was the gunfight at the OK Corral. They were all in regular shirts and pants, so I could see they didn't appear to have guns, but they looked as if they were a united front. I told Mercy, "You watch up here. I want to see what kind of interaction they have with Jorge today."

By the time I reached the warehouse area, the men were already heading for their trucks. No chit chat, no arguments, no nothing this morning. I asked Jorge, "So how were they this morning?"

He said, "Quiet. They looked at the orders and deliveries and looked at each other and left. They're doing what they do every morning. They stand out there talking a few minutes then one of them uses his cell phone and they leave. If they were to hustle, they could be done by noon. They won't though, and will come in about three-thirty or four."

I went upstairs to watch as the delivery trucks left, but they all headed in the same direction, with the white van following. I noticed a Ford SUV pull out from a gas station at the corner following the van. When I called the agent, he asked, "Did you see the black SUV pull out and follow the van? That's the other vehicle I told you about. We have the delivery trucks in a cluster about six blocks down. It looks like the van is joining them. Gotta go, the boss is calling us in on them."

Damn, I wish I could watch, but knew better than to get in the way. I looked around for Bud and Jim, but they were missing too. Mercy and I were still looking out the window when we saw the black Ford SUV coming our way fast. The truck pulled into our parking lot and the two front doors opened with two guys jumping out. One had what looked like a small automatic rifle in his hand.

I yelled, "Mercy, stay down, get Mary and stay down." I ran for the steps and just as the two men burst through the door, I was rattling down the stairs with my Glock in hand. As the guy with the rifle swung toward me, I put two rounds into his body. The man went down but his partner had his hand leveling at me with a pistol.

Bang, bang.

Shots were fired from behind me and the guy fell forward still holding his gun. I looked to see Mercy still holding the automatic I had given her. She was watching the two men that were down.

I ran to the men and kicked their weapons away from them and knelt to check pulses. The man Mercy had shot was dead. The one I had shot was still breathing, but was bleeding from two rounds to the chest.

Mercy was standing beside me, looking outside, and said, "One of our delivery trucks just pulled up outside. The driver is coming in and looks like he has a gun. Get down and get to the side, Steve."

We both hugged the wall and when the man stepped through the door, I yelled, "Drop the gun, you don't have a chance. There's nothing you can do. Drop the gun."

The man looked confused and waved the gun toward where he thought my voice was coming. That's when I noticed the hammer wasn't even back on his older forty-five and he didn't really look capable of doing anything. I said again, "Drop the gun and live. There are cops all around. Drop it."

The man looked at his pistol, then threw it at the far wall. As soon as the gun left his hand, he was crumpling. You could see blood seeping from his back.

Two plain cars slid to a stop in our front parking area next to the delivery truck. Men came racing from the car through the door with guns drawn.

I yelled, "If you are a cop or FBI, show your ID."

Both men stopped looking for me and produced their wallets with their badges and ID.

Looking around, I could see faces looking through the door windows that went into the warehouse. I directed Mercy, "Tell those people to stay clear of here and get someone to call for an ambulance."

One of the FBI guys said, "We've got some on the way down the street. These three got away from us down there. We did capture two men that we can question. Those two deputy Marshals are deadly. They didn't leave anyone alive in the area they were in."

Mercy came up to me and tucked her Glock into her waistband while I put mine back into my holster. We were standing there when the original agent pulled in and came into the showroom. He said, "Sorry about letting these guys get away from us. We were concentrating on the van and the delivery trucks when these two took off. The delivery driver was hit, but got into his truck and came back here."

Mercy went upstairs to settle Mary down and I told the agents in front I was going to settle my people down in the back.

When I had them all together, I tried to explain there had been some kind of criminal activity going on from our delivery vans and the FBI had intercepted them. They all should avoid the front of the store for right now, but it would be appreciated if they continued with what they were supposed to be doing.

I did get Jorge off to the side, "Your deliveries aren't going to get done today. See if you can call any of the men you think will be good drivers for us. I have to tell you that you need to make sure they are legal. I mean legal Social Security cards, addresses, and licenses. No guys hoping for help with a green card this time. When I hear we can go get the trucks, I'll come get you and we'll get them back here."

A white van with FBI markings was out front and men were photographing the dead guy, while paramedics were working at the other two. While they were working on them, the guy I had shot died. The paramedic said that he had bled out internally.

Man, I thought all of this crazy shit was long gone. It had been a lot of years since I went through this. That made me think that I sure am lucky to have Mercy around. That was good shooting, and just in time.

I went upstairs and found Mercy beginning to come down from her adrenaline high. She said she wasn't shaking, but was a little nervous and still scared. I gave her some hugs that seemed to settle her down and told her to see if she could call Chuck to tell him.

The FBI wanted our sidearms, but I objected saying, "If we give up our guns, we will be unprotected."

One agent said, "That's our job, we are here to protect you."

I pointed at the corpses and said, "Just like you were here to protect us from these guys."

Bud and Jim were back and Bud said to the investigators, "I'll vouch for Mr. and Mrs. Sharp. Check their Florida carry permits and take statements, but they should be allowed to retain their weapons."

Mercy had to come down with her purse to show her permit and I showed them mine. They inspected our guns and took down the serial numbers while they took statements. It was during this time that Chuck walked in the door. He was smiling and said, "Never fear, Chuck is here."

Mercy burst out laughing and said, "You're just a little late for this one, Chuck. At least you didn't get shot this time."

Chuck huddled with Bud and Jim then came over to us. He said to Mercy, "Okay, Annie Oakley, so you're protecting the old man on the mainland now?"

Mercy said, "It happened so fast that I had to do something, Chuck. Steve was still holding his gun on the first guy with that machine gun looking thing, and the other guy was raising his gun at Steve. I had to, I had to protect Steve."

Chuck nodded and said, "That's the way it happens, too fast to do anything but act on instinct. Thank goodness you did, Mercy. I'm glad to keep my friend around." With that, Chuck hugged me with a spare arm then pulled Mercy into him to hug her at the same time. I felt Chuck's true feelings for us then. He was genuinely happy we had been spared.

Bud came over and said, "We need to work the two men still alive fast before word of this gets up the ranks. We need to work fast, Chuck. Come with us and let's get some quick answers."

Chuck turned to Mercy and me and said, "I'm going with these two derelicts and do some investigating. I know where you're staying and will talk to you later. Oh, a, you might want to stay alert, and maybe even buy some ammo to replace what you've used."

As the adrenaline rush wears off, besides being tired, you are also hungry. Mercy said to me, "Can you take me somewhere and feed me? I'm starved. Find out if they are done with us for right now. I had Mary order a dozen pizzas to feed the men out back. I want more than pizza though, and we need to find a gun shop like Chuck said."

I informed everyone I was leaving for a half-hour or so. I did ask an agent where I could find a gun shop. He said, "There's a sporting goods store down on the right. They sell all kinds of ammo. Show your permit and they will sell to you."

We stopped at the sporting goods store first and bought a box of .45 and box of forty caliber hollow point rounds. Mercy found and bought an extra magazine for her gun too. In the car, Mercy dropped her magazine on her Glock 27 and reloaded it. She also loaded her new magazine and put it into her purse. When we were both once again fully loaded, I asked her, "What made you bring your gun. You never carry a pistol with all our kids around all the time."

Mercy said, "I had a bad feeling about this trip, and when you wouldn't get Chuck to come with you, I decided to come and be your protector. You know our family watches out for our own. This is just another time when the Sharp family acts together."

As I drove, I asked Mercy, "Are you okay? That was a pretty bad scene. Are you okay with what happened?"

She smiled at me and said, "Us women are tougher than you think, Steve. There's nothing I won't do to protect my family. What happened, happened, and was necessary. I feel bad a man died, but I don't feel bad that it was my hand that did it. He would have hurt my family and I won't let that happen."

"If you feel you need to talk to someone about it, make sure you do. Having to do something like that is a shock."

Mercy said, "It's no different than when we're on the boat, Steve. We women protect our family, period. Now feed me."

We ate lunch at a barbecue stand, augmenting the sandwiches with large hot peppers, while we ate at outside tables. Back at the shop, the investigators and crime scene people were cleaning up the floor. One said to us, "You know you two really did some damage with those hollow points. Those guys didn't have a chance. It's a good thing that guy didn't get to use that Uzi. That thing sprays rounds everywhere. He had a ninety round magazine, so he could have done a lot of damage."

I said, "We were lucky. They were not. The driver looks like he'll live, but he's now tied to some dead people, so he's worse off. Thank you for cleaning up for us."

When everyone had left, Mercy said dryly, "Um, I thought the FBI was going to be around to protect us? Maybe we need to call Jan and see if she wants to come out here too?"

I pointed across the street to show Mercy the original agent's car parked over there. She said, "He doesn't need to sit over there. He can be in here in the air conditioning."

"Go see how Mary is, and I'll check with Jorge to see what's up with the trucks." Mercy headed upstairs and I went out back. People were working, so the excitement was over and people weren't scared or apprehensive of what had happened.

Jorge was drinking a Coke and eating a piece of pizza when I approached his desk. He said between mouthfuls, "They released the trucks, so I took some of our men and we picked them up. I sent two men out to make the deliveries we had. They should be able to do them all if they hustle. I have some guys coming in to interview this afternoon. Ruth left me with some piss cups and dipsticks to test them. I also have a website to check their driver's license. Hopefully, we can be good to go in the morning. We have a good delivery day tomorrow again. We have our first welding equipment to deliver too."

A flatbed trailer was backing up to our dock door at that moment. The driver got down and handed Jorge his papers. Jorge said excitedly, "We're getting two forklifts, a couple of compressors, and two big generators. Wow, this is great. We'll have equipment to sell."

I left Jorge and his men to unload the truck and went inside to call home.

Kathy answered, "Hey, Steve, what's this I hear you and Mercy had a war at the Las Vegas store? I'm sure glad she went with you. Sue's disgusted we all weren't there to do it together. She seems to think we're invincible as a family."

"We are, Kathy, but there weren't many bad guys, so it only took Mercy and me. You guys haven't told me you've been going to the range. Mercy was deadly today, literally."

Kathy said, "We've all been going weekly. We've been taking all of Chuck's women with us too. They are getting pretty good. Brandy and Lisa both have a good eye and shoot really well. All of them, even the mothers to be, can protect themselves. We all thought it would be good if they are going to be sailing. We've had them shoot shotguns and they are learning to shoot your AR15."