Chapter 35

I watched as the SWAT team gathered up the prisoner along with their own wounded. They wasted no time getting them all loaded on the chopper and flying out. I watched as Preacher's Huey landed in the front yard of the smoking house. His team climbed down and came over to us.

"Preacher, I want this whole front area cleared of any booby traps. I am not going to let those women out of there until I know it's clear. I also want your pilot to go back and get loaded with the bottles of water from the bus I have there. Tell him to tell the others to stay away unless they speak fluent Spanish. If they can, then have them hitch a ride with the water and come in."

"You got it, Stinger. Man, this is just like old times isn't it?"

"Will you get your war mongering ass busy? I don't have time for this shit right now."

He laughed and went to his pilot and talked for a few minutes, then went to his men. I watched as they started checking the ground and anywhere else they thought might be a booby trap. I knew this was going to take a while, and I was trying to ignore the crying from the big barn like building. It was really getting on my nerves. I could feel the misery without having to see it. I heard the distinctive sound of the Huey before I saw it coming. I hoped they had plenty of water on it for these poor women. I watched as it landed almost in the same spot it did before. I was surprised to see Mark and Hadley both jump down from it. They immediately started unloading the bottles of water and when I got there, they had most of this load on the ground. I was glad they had all this excess energy because my ass was dragging. I saw another chopper hovering to the side and as soon as ours took off it landed almost in the same spot. Butch jumped down and the three of them were unloading more water. I sat down on one of the stacks and waited till they were done and the chopper had took off again.

"Harry, me and Hadley both speak fluent Spanish, and we are here to help."

"Mark, you should be home with the girls not working this late. I have to get some portable lighting in here because there is no electric. I have Preacher and his men checking the grounds before I am letting any of them come out. This whole thing is FUBAR big time. They are all going to have to be walked out of here and it can't be done tonight."

"Dammit, Harry, where do you think I have been all day? I have a complete portable hospital coming in and a field kitchen with the lighting and everything else you need. The Governor has it all coming from Nellis and it should be arriving at any time. Relax Harry, let someone else do some work. You have been hard at it all day, and not only in this county from what I heard. Why don't you sit there and let us do our jobs for a change?"

This was the first time that Mark had ever given me an order so I did what he said, lit a cigarette and just relaxed. I was watching Preacher and his men spreading out in an ever widening circle, checking the ground before it got dark. I saw Mark and Preacher talking before Mark carefully walked up to the warehouse door. Hadley came over and sat down beside me.

"Harry, you did a hell of a good job here today. Those women owe their lives to you and your actions. Mark told me what happened in Pickens. Man, you just don't let anything get by you, do you? I still find it hard to believe you have accomplished all you have today. I bet you were a hell of a Marshal when you were younger."

"Hadley, I am the first one to admit I have a rigid sense of ethics for myself, but I still have feelings for the innocent and helpless around me. I hate the fact that these girls went through all this horror just to try to find a life for themselves. I also hate it that there are men like us that have to be the ones to send them back to the poverty they were trying to escape from. I am sworn to uphold the law, but I don't have to take any enjoyment out of doing it. If I had my way, they would all be given to a host family, and let them earn the right to be citizens so their family doesn't have to go through what they did."

"Harry, I am married to a beautiful Latino woman and we have three kids. We all have learned English and Spanish together so they would not forget their heritage. My wife used to work sixteen hours a day to make ends meet, but she never gave up. I feel the same way about this whole situation that you do, but I am realistic enough to know I can't change it. I am with you about it, but it's not up to us. I have to have my wife talk to me sometimes, to keep me from ruining my whole career because of the hate I have for the men who do this. No, Harry, you're not the only one who's mad here today."

I watched him walk up to the warehouse and was thinking about what he said. Just goes to show you that you never know all you thought you did, about the people you worked with. I watched as Preacher went over to Mark and they talked a little before he came over to me and sat down. His men all gathered around us in a circle waiting for their ride.

"Stinger, this is one part of your job I don't think I would like to do. You have to send them all back, don't you?"

"The INS will. I don't have a say in it, Preacher. I am just thankful I found them before they all died of dehydration. I feel sorry for them 'cause they will be shuffled around like cattle after they leave here. I just hope they get treated better before they get home to their families. I want the people behind this operation and I will get them sooner or later. They won't be able to hide forever."

I watched the Huey come in with a sling underneath it. They lowered it down to the ground and went to the side and hovered while fifteen soldiers came out both sides of it to the ground. They went running over to the sling and started pulling out crates of stuff. I watched as they sorted them and then they started pulling the contents out. They were portable lights and they were making a huge circle of them with two pointing toward the warehouse. They set the empty cases off to the side, stacking them neatly. Then another Huey came in and more men and equipment came out. There was a large kitchen being set up to feed everyone.

I watched as another one came in and set the field hospital by the house. Several of the soldiers came over to me like they knew who I was. "Sheriff Hanson, we were told to report to you. We are all fluent in Spanish and are here to help with any language problems."