Chapter 59

Chuck

Sam and I had just come up to our rooms and I had just entered mine. Something was spooking me and somehow, I felt as if I was not alone.

Standing motionless, I listened and looked around. This was the third floor, so the small balcony outside the window was not an exit. I concentrated on what I felt and quietly pulled my Glock, not making any fast movements. The only area of the room I couldn't see from where I stood was just on the other side of the bathroom, where the bed was, and inside the bathroom, where the stool was. Using the room mirror across from the bed, I could not see anything there. I leaned into the bathroom and saw that the shower curtain was pulled across the tub. Not wanting to deal with the possibility of someone hiding behind the curtain yet, I quietly shut the bathroom door.

Taking a couple steps across the room, I slowly pulled the curtain back to look out on the balcony. I tested the door and it was locked from the inside. I checked to see how much room there was under the bed and found it too small for anyone to hide there.

Going back to the bathroom, I slowly opened the door, and using a hanger from the closet area, I pushed the curtain back while pointing my Glock. No one was there.

Strange, I still felt like someone was there. Sam and I had gotten connecting rooms, so I knocked on the door on my side and opened it. Sam opened his side and said, "Man, it's weird, I felt like someone was in my room. I looked everywhere. Even the door to the balcony is locked from the inside."

I said, "How about us going back downstairs for a drink. We'll have a nightcap and come back to bed."

Sam caught on to what I wanted and we left the room. Outside in the hallway, we kept quiet until we were in the lobby. I said, "I'm calling the Bureau for a tracking team. There has to be something in the room to give us both the heebie jeebies. That's really strange, I would have sworn there was someone there. It was almost like I could smell him."

Sam and I looked at each other and we took off through the stairway door, running up the stairs. Sam was faster than I was, and was through the third floor door, heading toward our rooms with his Glock drawn, before I exited the staircase. Just as we near our rooms, my door opened and a guy peeked out the door. Sam hollered and the door slammed shut. Sam used his card on his door and I tried to open my door. As Sam rushed into his room, I heard a door slam shut then a loud crash as Sam obviously smashed the door down. My door opened again and two guys tried to run out. I was standing there with my Glock locked onto them. They looked around quickly trying to find a way out but Sam was behind them. I said, "Both of you, put your hands straight up over your head. Hold them high. If you know me, you know I'll shoot. Sam, get the set of shackles from the front pocket of my bag."

I kept my Glock on the two as they stood in the hallway. I moved from between them and the elevator and staircase, to the other side of them to give me a better view.

"Sam, watch them. I'll cuff them and shake them down. Watch close to make sure they don't try anything."

I chained up both men then pushed them into my room. I told Sam, "They may have someone watching for them, so chain up the two doors right now and let me get some Bureau people up here."

When I emptied the pockets of the first guy, I knew I was dealing with professionals. He didn't have anything but a driver's license and credit card. No other identifying cards. He didn't have a gun, but he did have a pocket full of bugs and cameras. His small tool kit contained the minimum of tools and several small pieces of double sided tape, along with a tube of Super Glue.

The second guy didn't have any bugs and cameras, but did have a toolkit and two guns, one on his ankle and one at his waist. I wonder why he didn't have one out when they were trying to get away. He also only had a driver's license and a credit card.

I asked Sam, "How about we take them out the back door and just dump them in the dumpster. If we don't do the whole thing right now, we won't get much sleep."

Sam nodded, "I'm with you, Boss, should we question them a little first?"

"Why bother, Sam, they're not gonna tell us anything. No one will really miss them and if we do it now, maybe their boss will come looking for them. If we have to miss some sleep, we should get something out of it."

The guy that didn't have a gun was acting nervous. I said to him, "If you have something you want to contribute to this conversation, speak up."

The other guy said, "Keep your mouth shut, don't say anything. It'll be a lot worse if you say something. You'll be next if you say anything."

"Next what?" I asked. "Next to go into the dumpster?

"Sam, get some of those rubber gloves from my suitcase. The same pocket the chains were in." When he was digging in the pocket, I said, "Bring that big Kbar with you. We'll need to cut them up a little for the rats to get at them."

Sam came back with the rubber gloves and the Kbar. This had both of the men staring with big eyes. The guy who had the guns tried to kick at Sam, but had forgotten he was shackled and fell on his face. This totally unhinged the other guy. He started sobbing, "I'm not a killer like he is, I'm not like that. They only hired me to bug the rooms, that's all."

I asked, "How do you know he's a killer?"

"I saw him do a guy that was one of the whistleblowers. The others think he was guilty of something and ran. I know where he's buried."

"Shut the fuck up, you dumb wimp. If I don't kill you, someone else will, now shut up."

Sam put his foot on the guy's back and asked him, "And how are you planning on killing this guy." Sam looked down at the guy and said, "You are dead meat, Buddy. I'd say your own will do you in anyway, so we could be doing you and them a favor."

Using my cell, I called the local Bureau office. I told them that I had one prisoner and one dead guy. They needed to send a cleanup crew to my room.

The guy on the floor squirmed under the weight Sam was applying to his back, "You can't just kill me. Henry will tell them you did me."

Sam asked, "Who's Henry. This other guy could expire waiting for the cleanup crew."

The other chained man said, "Please, don't kill me, I'll tell you what you need to know. I know all of the people that are involved in this. Please don't kill me."

Every time the guy on the floor began to say something, Sam pushed hard on his back to keep him quiet.

When there was a knock on the door, Sam and I both stiffened. I motioned for him to stand behind the wall of the bathroom and watch the door through the mirror. I moved to the side of the door and yelled, "Who is it?"

Thump, thump, thump, thump. Four silenced rounds came through the door with one of them catching the still standing electronics tech in the arm. He yelled and fell to the floor. The door then burst open, and two men holding short combat rifles with noise suppressors on them, began coming in. I didn't hesitate and began firing at the two men's heads.

Sam came around the wall, but the two men were already falling by then. I motioned Sam back and peeked around the doorway from a low angle looking in both directions. No one else was there.

At that moment, the door to the stairwell burst open and two deputies came through with their guns drawn. When they saw me holding my Glock on them, they stopped and put their hands up yelling, "We're Deputy Marshals, don't shoot."

Four more men came through the stairwell door with guns drawn and stopped when they saw the first two with their hands up. The first through the door this time yelled, "FBI, put your weapon down."

I ducked back into the door and yelled back, "Prove it, all of you haul your badges and ID out and stand where I can see you."

The man said, "Who the fuck are you? I told you we're the FBI and you better throw your weapon out and or you'll find out who we are."

Bud Anderson came running from down the hall where another stairway was. He yelled, "Stop, don't start shooting. That's Chuck Johnson's room. He'll take you all on if try something."

I could hear the noise of Bud's running stop and he said as if he were breathing hard, "Chuck, hold your fire, I think I know all these guys. Okay, all of you pull your IDs for me to check. You two deputies, help me out. Check these guys for me."

That's when things went sour. There was the sound of a handgun going off, then several more shots. I looked around and saw Bud on the floor firing from on his back. Both of the other two deputies were down, but all but one of the supposed FBI men were down. Just as the man was bringing his pistol to bear on Bud, I shot him twice in the body, then remembering, put one in the head as he was slammed into the wall from the first two rounds.

Bud rolled off the floor, clutching his chest, and crawled to one of the deputies. I ran out into the hall and kicked the guns away from the downed supposed FBI men, seeing that all had head wounds, then knelt beside the other deputy. He was groaning, but alive. He had taken a round in his thigh that was bleeding pretty well. I ripped open his pants to see a long rip across the outer skin. I finished ripping his pants up and used it to wrap the wound until he could get medical treatment.

I asked Bud, "You okay? Where's Jim?"

Bud looked at me and said, "I'm okay. Being hit in the chest at that range hurts like hell. This guy is just knocked out. He'll be okay. It doesn't look like he has any more wounds."

I asked again, "Where's Jim?"

"Oh yeah, he's downstairs holding a couple of guys that said they were FBI, but no one knew them, so we got the drop on them and he's holding them, along with a couple of real agents. This place is crawling with all kinds of law, along with some that are trying to act like they are too."

Bud produced a tactical radio and called, "Jim, when the cleanup crew gets here, have them come to the third floor. You might want to turn those guys over to whoever you have there and come up. Chuck has a mess up here."

I heard the radio crackle, "I'll be right up. We have a dozen agents and deputies here right now."

Nightfox stuck his head out of the door and said, "I got a guy with an arm wound in here. Make sure someone calls for a medic."

Bud used his radio and contacted someone downstairs and asked them to call for paramedics and to have them come to the third floor. While he was doing that, the deputy that had been knocked unconscious was waking up. He looked around and said, "Who do I have to thank for keeping me alive?"

Bud and I pointed at each other, making the guy smile. "Who cares, thank you both? I thought those guys were the real deal when they followed us up from the lobby. What the fuck is going on here anyway? What's the big deal about a couple of companies fighting over a government bid?"

Bud said, "The bids in question are probably worth several billion dollars. There are people who will kill for a lot less than that."

When the bell from the elevator dinged, I was kneeling, pointing my Glock at the opening door. Two paramedics, four guys in white coveralls with FBI CSI logos, and two guys in suits, came out of the doors but stopped as they saw me holding my weapon on them. One guy in a suit said while pulling his badge case, "FBI, CSI guys, and a couple of paramedics you ordered."

I waved them to come and said, "Two wounded, one here and the other in my room. You CSI guys need to call for help. I need an electronics guy to checkout every room we're occupying right now. That needs to be done right now. You agents, get help and close this hotel down. No one leaves, no one else comes in unless they are already registered. You can make a decision on every person that comes in that says they have reservations. Any you let in need to be told that once inside, no one leaves until we're done clearing this place."

Jim Blake came through the stairwell door. He looked around and pointed to the front of Bud's sport coat, "Hey Dude, you have moths working on your jacket."

"Forty-five caliber moths," Bud answered. "Had to use some heavy duty bug spray to get rid of them too."

"You alright, Bro?" Jim asked looking concerned.

"I'll have to see if I have any cracked ribs, but I'm okay."

I looked into the room to see that Sam had the electronics guy sitting on the bed and the guy who had the guns was sitting in a chair. I said to the electronics guy, "Henry, a paramedic will look at your arm in a couple of minutes. There will be an FBI agent here soon to take you to a lock up. I suggest you make a statement about everything you know as soon as you're downtown. That means everything, Henry. The agents will mark your statements that you were trying to help the investigation. It should go easier on you."

The other guy was slumped in the seat. I said, "You were right. Someone was going to take care of you. They almost made it too. Want to tell me how many guys there are for us to catch or kill? You might live a few minutes longer that way."

The man looked up at me and just shook his head. I could see he was ready to crack. If we were to get him in an interrogation room quick, he would be telling a good story.

I stepped out the door and motioned to Jim. When he came to me, I asked, "Do you know these guys well enough to get this guy into an interrogation room real quick? He's ready to talk and I think a new face asking him will push him over."