GOTU - A Robin Marlette Novel Read Free Page A

him. Clear of threats, Robin moved to ten feet from the suspect's head. He put his rifle on safe and slung it over his shoulder. Drawing his Colt .45, Robin started for the suspect. When he reached three feet from the suspect's head, he saw the man's eyes were open and he had been hit in the neck and upper chest. In the glow of the Blackhawk's searchlight, Robin looked over a Hispanic man, about twenty years old, with a round, chubby face. He wore a loose-fitting silk shirt and what appeared to be tailored pants. Rattlesnake-hide boots were on his feet.
    The suspect's empty hands lay at his side. Holding his .45 six inches from the suspect's head, Robin reached and felt for the carotid artery. Finding no pulse, Robin holstered his pistol and rolled the suspect over to handcuff him. When he saw pieces of lung hanging out of the back, he decided handcuffing was unnecessary. He searched for weapons on the body and found a Czech 9mm pistol. He cleared the pistol and put it and the magazine in the leg pocket of his flight suit.
    Robin used his flashlight to look for the suspect's primary weapon. Just underneath the Blazer, he saw an AK-47. He reached under the truck and drew an outline in the sand around the gun with his finger. Robin picked up the rifle, removed the magazine, and cleared the action. He retrieved the live round he ejected, placed it back into the magazine, and put the magazine into his other leg pocket. Robin laid the weapon back into the outline.
    “Two Nora Six, Lima Two-One.”
    “Go ahead, Nora Six.”
    “Lima Two-One, we've secured the two vehicles here. I need you to go on state frequency and notify DPS that Two Nora Six squad has been involved in a shooting with one suspect down and no officers injured. We need Two Nora and a shooting team at this location.”
    “Roger, Two Nora Six.”
    Suddenly Robin remembered the target aircraft. He turned to look at it and saw the pickup now parked next to the plane.
    “Emmett, is the plane secure?”
    “Ten-Four, Sarge.”
    “Thanks for taking care of that.”
    “Well, Mike took charge. We knew you were busy.”
    “How much dope we get?”
    “I figure about two hundred or so kilos in the truck and about fifty more still in the plane.”
    “Coke?”
    “Looks like it.”
    The Blackhawk now flew higher and in ever increasing circles around Robin's team, searching the area with its light. Rick Santos and Burke Jameson covered Robin and Mark Warren as they began to search the body for identification and documentary evidence.
    “Lima Two-One, Two Nora Six.”
    “Go ahead, Two-One.”
    “Be advised your immediate perimeter appears clear. DPS has been notified and is responding per your request.”
    “Roger.”
    “Also, Nora Six, be advised the FBI is responding for our side of the shooting.”
    “Roger, Two-One.”
    Robin turned to Burke and his team. “You three guys start cutting for sign.”
    “You got it, Boss,” Burke said.
    Robin then called Emmett on the radio. “Nora Six, Nora Six-Two.”
    “Six-Two.”
    “Emmett, you and Doug start cutting for sign from there. Mark and I will stay with the body and the load.”
    “Ten-Four.”
    The eight men assigned to cut sign searched for the tracks of the suspects who ran from the scene. Robin looked at his watch. The team had been on the ground for approximately twelve minutes. It felt like an eternity.
    “Rob, you better look at this,” said Mark Warren in an ominous tone. He handed Robin a Mexican driver's license. It bore a picture of the dead man. When Robin read the name, he whispered an involuntary, “Son of a bitch!”
    “Nora Six, Nora Six-Two,” Emmett's voice crackled over Robin's headset.
    “Nora Six.”
    “We've got one in custody.”
    As Robin made his way to Emmett Franks and John Lucheck, the name Ramon Jesus Rodriquez-Lara caused his brain to run in high gear. His team had killed the brother of the number one drug lord in Mexico! Robin knew some people were going be happy and some