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Amped Up
As I arrived back in my apartment, my phone rang. When I answered, I heard, "We got him Steph!"
"What? Who?" I hadn't bothered to check the number and I wasn't even sure who was calling me.
"Berghofer, of course!" I recognised Lester's voice.
"Really? That's great! What happened?" I asked excitedly.
"Well, we picked up Colbourn's trail pretty quickly, thanks to your research, and we followed him around for a few hours. He seemed to be just running errands. Idiot never really watched for a tail; not aware of his surrounds. But then, he started heading out of town and after about forty minutes, he ended up in this rural area called the Pine Barrels or something."
"Pine Barrens," I corrected automatically, "It's a nature reserve, like a forest."
"Ok, whatever," he went on, "Anyway, we ended up at this track. We waited a few minutes so we wouldn't be spotted following him and then headed up the track quietly. We caught a glimpse of a cabin and pulled off to hide the car behind a stand of trees and headed off on foot. We got to the cabin and saw Berghofer talking to Colbourn! They sat, had a beer, and then Colbourn left. We waited about fifteen until we were sure he wouldn't come back and then we checked out the cabin. There was only one door, so Hec waited around the side while I knocked. He must've thought it was Colbourn come back or something because the moron just opened the door. I had him down and cuffed within twenty seconds. No muss, no fuss! We just dropped him off at the cop shop. He was piiiiisssed! Shouted shit at us for about twenty minutes until Hec pulled a knife and held it on his groin. Told him in Spanish if he didn't shut up, he'd be screaming for real. Dunno if he understood the Spanish but he sure shut the fuck up!" Lester laughed and I chuckled along with him.
"That's great news, Lester. Excellent. And Vinnie will be happy since he doesn't have to worry about the bond anymore. I'm so happy. Have you called Carlos?"
"Nah, called you first. I'll call Ranger now and let him know. He'll probably call you later. Meanwhile, I'm heading back to the hotel for bed. I'll be in tomorrow and we'll meet up to plan the pickup for Morrison and Turnbull. Did you see them today?"
"Yes, they came out about five, but they split up! Bobby thought one was headed to the convenience store again, so he followed on foot. I followed the other in the car, thinking he might be headed to where they had a car stashed or something. Problem was, it ended up being backwards. Turnbull, who I was following, was just walking up to a diner to get dinner. Morrison got into a car that was idling at a gas station and Bobby couldn't follow. He eventually came back to warehouse about seven. Morrison, I mean, so, we don't know where he went. But at least they're both back there. Maybe we should try and pick them up in the middle of the day or something before they head out."
"Maybe," Lester answered cautiously, "I'd probably rather go in when they're asleep. And we want to be sure they're both there. Anyway, we'll talk about it tomorrow morning. I'll get Bobby and Hector into the office at seven thirty. Can you meet us there?"
"Sure," I answered, resigning myself to getting up way too early. "See you then."
He disconnected without saying goodbye, typical sucky phone manners.
The next morning, I dragged myself out of bed at six-thirty, feeling grumpy and grungy. A longish shower helped to make me feel more awake and eased the grunginess, while a cup of coffee eased the grumpiness, at least a little bit. I dressed and pulled my hair back into a ponytail. I added a little makeup, enough to make myself almost presentable, and was on the road by ten past seven. That gave me enough time to stop by a Dunkin Donuts on my way to the office for a box of a dozen donuts. The guys may not appreciate the unhealthy breakfast, but to function this early I needed the sugar.
When I arrived at seven-thirty on the dot, all three guys were already there, and thankfully Lester had already put a pot of coffee onto brew. I set down the donuts and went to pour myself a cup and came back to find the guys didn't seem to mind eating donuts after all, but thankfully they had left me my three. I smiled when saw a chocolate sprinkled and a jelly donut in front of the vacant chair. I sat down to enjoy my donuts and coffee, while Lester filled Bobby in on the pickup last night and handed me the receipt from the police for Berghofer. I tucked it into my purse to take to Connie later and felt a glow at the thought of us having brought in such a high-value FTA.
Conversation then moved onto planning for Morrison and Turnbull. Hector agreed with Lester that a pickup later at night would be easiest, as long as they were both in the warehouse. The men agreed that we would set up a schedule of observation throughout the day; I was scheduled for three o'clock start. When both men left the warehouse, and hopefully they would, Hector would be ready to go in and plant some listening devices and cameras. If everything went to plan, the three men would go in tonight, when the men fell asleep. I was going to be on backup watch outside in the car. I couldn't help hoping the men would fall asleep early. After my early start this morning, I was going to be mainlining coffee to stay up late tonight.
After we finished the planning session, Bobby left in the car Lester had rented to start the first surveillance shift. He was going to be on shift until midday, and then Lester would take over. I would take over at three, and Hector would be with me as the men appeared to be leaving the warehouse late afternoon to do whatever it was they were doing. I really hoped it would all go to plan, and this would all be over tonight. Fingers crossed.
Lester moved into Ranger's office to do some work and Hector went off to get the equipment ready to plant in the warehouse. I fired up my computer and started work as well. I was startled out of a work daze about an hour later to hear the phone ring.
"Rangeman Trenton, Stephanie speaking."
"Steph? It's Tricia. How are you going?"
"Going great, Tricia. Lester and Hector picked up one of the FTAs yesterday and we're hoping to pick up the other two tonight. Bobby's on surveillance now."
"Oh. Well, that's good news about the one you got. I really hope it goes well tonight." I could hear the hint of worry in Tricia's voice, obviously concerned for Bobby.
"Don't worry, Lester has it all planned out to the nth degree," I reassured her. "They won't take any chances and will have all the intel before going in."
Tricia sighed slightly, "Ok, I guess. Anyway, I called because I found out about the Spanish classes. Did you still want to do the course together?"
"Oh, yes! That's great Tricia. What's the scoop?" I teased. Tricia chuckled politely and went on to explain that introductory Spanish classes would start in two weeks at the same college we had attended and gave me the costs. Tricia had picked up two enrolment packages and offered to drop one off on her way home tonight. I explained I would be working, and suggested we meet up for lunch tomorrow. Tricia agreed happily and said I should invite the guys if they wanted to come as well. I told her I would suggest it, as long as everything went to plan today, and we said our goodbyes.
I was excited to do the Spanish class and, as I looked up with a smile on my face, I saw Lester leaning against the door frame of Carlos' office, with a gentle smile on his face. "I'm glad you're going to learn Spanish, Steph," he said kindly, "I think it will really help you moving forward. A few of Ranger's older relatives, like his Abuela, only speak Spanish. So being able to talk to them, even a little bit, will be a big thing for him. Plus, I really think it will help with Rangeman. Particularly in Miami, where we have such a large Latino population. But even here in New Jersey, Hector says the Latino population is growing rapidly." He gave me a final smile and moved back into the office to continue working. I felt good.
At ten, Lester left to go and help Hector until his surveillance shift. I left to go to Plum Bail Bonds, stopping on the way at Tasty Pastry to pick up a couple of coffees and a small box of pastries. When I walked into the Bonds office, Connie's eyes lit up, seeing what I was carrying. She accepted the coffee with effusive thanks, and I took a seat and selected a Boston Crème out of the box. Connie drank deeply, before leaning over and exclaiming delightedly over a bear claw.
We chatted casually while we enjoyed out treats and drank our coffees. After about fifteen minutes, Vinnie's office door opened, and he eyed us sourly. "Connie, I don't pay you to sit around eating pastries. And you!" he glared at me meanly, "When are you going to bring in Berghofer? I'm dying here! If I lose this office, neither of you will have a job!"
I was about to rip into him, when Connie beat me to it, "Shut up, Vinnie!" she shouted, "You don't pay me enough to take your abuse. And if you want to talk about not having a job, try running this office without me!"
"I don't work for you, Vinnie." I added emphatically. "And for your information, Lester brought in Berghofer yesterday afternoon. I came in today to see Connie and get the check for the capture. So go back in your sleazy office and keep talking to your duck!" Connie choked on her Danish at that, and Vinnie's face went white. He glowered at me for a moment, before storming back into his office and slamming the door.
Connie started to laugh, "That was priceless, Steph! Did they really bring in Berghofer?" I nodded and ran through the leads we had followed and the capture that Lester and Hector had made. She grinned, delightedly. "Excellent! Don't worry about Vinnie. Once he calms down and realises he's off the hook for Berghofer, he'll relax." I assured Connie I was not worried in the slightest, then whispered to her that we hoped to bring in Les Sebring's skips tonight and she chuckled. Connie made out the check for me as I handed over the capture receipt and I left to go home. I was going to take a nap for a couple of hours so I could make it through the night.
My alarm went off at two and I stumbled groggily out of bed to go into the bathroom and wash my face. I brushed my hair again and resecured the ponytail, before heading out to dress in black jeans and a dark grey hoodie. I double-checked I had all my paraphernalia in my bag and made a thermos of coffee. I slid a couple of sneaky Tastykakes into my bag for a sugar boost and headed out to start my surveillance shift.
I parked in a parking lot a couple of blocks from the warehouse, and walked casually up the parallel street, ducking through an alley until I got to the nondescript, dark grey car that Lester had rented for the surveillance. It had the added advantage of tinted windows, making it difficult to see in from outside. I slipped into the passenger seat, greeting Les and Hector who were both already in the car. Hector was sitting in the back. After a few minutes, where Lester told us that neither Bobby nor he had seen any movement from the warehouse during their shifts, Les slipped out of the car and walked casually down the street until he blended effortlessly into the shadows.
I slid over the console into the driver's seat and picked up the binoculars that Les had left. I tried to chat a little to Hector, but his English was not really up to it, so I resigned myself to a mostly silent watch. It was nearly five when we heard and saw movement and focused sharply on the roller door.
"Ellos vienen." [They're coming] Hector said, pointing slightly and I nodded. I wasn't really sure what he meant, but I figured he was alerting me. We waited, with me holding my breath in anticipation, until the two figures emerged from the warehouse, and walked down the street. When they turned the corner, Hector pointed at the warehouse and said, "Voy ahora. Avísame si los ves regresar." [I'm going now. Signal me if you see them come back.] Again, I didn't understand the Spanish, but Lester had briefed me on the procedure. If I saw the men return, I was to call Hector's cell phone, which he had on vibrate, let it ring twice and hang up. It was his signal to get out of there and hide.
I said, "Si," which was about the limit of my current Spanish and watched as Hector slid silently out of the back and slipped over to the warehouse. He slid under the roller door like smoke, and I felt my heart racing as I waited and watched anxiously where Morrison and Turnbull had disappeared. My anxiety grew as minutes ticked by, and I had to resist the urge to bite my nails. It was over twelve minutes later that Hector slid back under the door, silently rolling it back down, and came over to the car to slide into the passenger seat. He gave me a bright grin and thumbs up. I let out a sigh of relief and my shoulders relaxed again.
Hector pointed toward the alley near the car and said, "Iré a monitorear ahora." [I'll go and monitor now]. I nodded again, knowing he would be keen to get to his monitoring equipment before the men returned. He was going to monitor remotely with Lester until he came back at nine, when he would bring some portable equipment so we could monitor the bugs and cameras he had planted. Bobby was coming to relieve me at seven, when Les would take me to get some dinner, and we would all be on site from nine o'clock until the men went to sleep. If they both came back. I hoped they both came back. Please let this be over tonight. I wanted these men in custody and off the streets.
After Hector left, I ate one of my Tastykakes and sipped at my coffee from my thermos. At around six-fifteen, I was relieved and thrilled to see Morrison and Turnbull walking up the street. I let out a huge sigh as they did their usual sneak-entry to the warehouse, and then picked up my cell to call Lester.
"Yo," came the greeting.
"Yo, yourself," I said with a smile, "Morrison and Turnbull just got back and entered the warehouse." I heard Les say something in Spanish, presumably to Hector, and there was a muttered reply.
"10-4 Steph," Les came back, "Hec has the equipment up and running and we are listening and watching now. The cameras don't pick up much; they're not using much light in there, but we can hear clearly. I'll be leaving in about twenty to pick up Bobby to come and relieve you. We'll get something to eat, and then be back before nine."
"How can Hector monitor them alone if they're speaking English?" I asked puzzled.
Les chuckled, "He understands more English than he can speak. Honestly, I wonder sometimes if he can speak better English than me, he just doesn't want to!" I chuckled as well at that. "No worries, Steph, he's really only listening and watching to know that they stay there and when they go to sleep. What they're actually saying probably doesn't matter at this point."
I murmured agreement and we said our goodbyes. I went back to watching the warehouse and sipping my coffee.
I sat, my whole body tensed and braced, and my night-vision binoculars pressed too tightly onto my eyes as I strained to see through the walls of the warehouse, in vain of course. I was holding my breath unconsciously, and it was only as I started to feel light-headed that I let it out in a huff and drew in another breath of air.
Every ounce of my concentration and attention was tightly trained onto that warehouse, where three of my guys were about to apprehend two dangerous and violent criminals. I hoped everything would go ok. Please God, let them be safe, I prayed silently. I could only imagine how much more my tension would be if Carlos had been in that warehouse, although right now I couldn't imagine being any more worried than I was. They had to be safe.
I let out a startled gasp of shock as the sound of shots rang out through the night.
He, he, he! [evil laugh] I left you on a cliffie! All Spanish translations from Google, and I have no idea how good it might be for idioms and cultural translation. Please forgive me if I made mistakes.
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