The Law and Dan Mesa Read Free

returned fire, stopping one of the assassins. I hit the other one in the arm. When I looked at Ranson, he appeared to be dead. How did anyone know we were taking him back to Arizona?”
    “Sergeant, let the medical team take care of Hennessey. We’ll follow them to the hospital. I thank you for saving my sergeant’s life. We’ll talk to the assassin now, because it doesn’t look as if he is going to make it.”
    Death is a sad sight, something that shouldn’t happen but does much too often. Dan Mesa has seen too much of it and has been involved in too much of it.
    Captain Emmett kneels down to talk to the assassin.
    “Look, fella, you don’t have long in this world, so tell us who sent you and for what reason.”
    With tears in his eyes, he says, “I don’t want to die. Please help me.”
    We will, just tell me who sent you and why.”
    “We were sent by Vermenti Pellegrinni to kill Ranson and the ranger. He received his orders from someone in Arizona. Now help me . . .”
    Mitchell’s breathing slows done. His body starts to shudder and suddenly he dies.
    Captain Emmett checks Mitchell’s pulse and turns to Mesa shaking his head and says, “Someone wanted both of you bad. Pellegrinni is well known on the East Coast as a member of the mob. He has a stable of trained assassins. Someone is paying big money to have you killed.”
    “But, captain, how did anyone know I was here? I have spent the last two weeks with my ex-wife and son in Baltimore. There must be a traitor in the rangers somewhere. I had better call my captain.”
    When the phone rings in Captain Johnson’s office in Nogales, Sergeant Savalas answers the phone and calls for the captain.
    “Captain Johnson, Sergeant Mesa is on the phone.”
    Captain Johnson picks up the phone.
    “Hello, Dan, what’s up?”
    “Sir, Ranson was shot a few minutes ago as we were leaving the station. According to one of the assassins, the targets were Ranson and me. They were hired by some guy named Vermenti Pellegrinni out of DC, and his orders came from Arizona. Sir, how did anyone know I was here to pick up Ranson? We have a leak somewhere.”
    “Dan, are you okay? Is Ranson dead?”
    “Yes, sir. Ranson is dead. And they shot a police sergeant I knew from my military days. I shot and killed one of the assassins, but before he died, he gave up the information I’m passing on to you.”
    “Okay, Dan. I will contact Colonel Grant and let him know. Get back here as soon as possible.”
     
    In Tucson, Carlos Meana has received news of the botched assassination and is raging.
    “What have you people done, Antonio? Can’t you carry out a simple mission? Those idiots in DC hired two amateurs to kill Ranson and Mesa. They got Ranson and shot a cop in Richmond. Mesa killed one of them, and the other was wounded. I don’t know if talked before he died, but you can be sure of one thing: if he did talk, Sergeant Dan Mesa will be after us. I am going to take a long vacation in Switzerland, and I suggest, Antonio, that you visit your family on the reservation for a while. Contact DC and tell them to disappear for a while.”
     
    Lieutenant Colonel Garnett Williamson-Mesa, a doctor of pediatric surgery, is making rounds in the hospital at Johns Hopkins University when she hears the news of the shoot-out in Richmond.
    “Dr. Mesa,” a nurse says to her, “do you know a Sergeant Dan Mesa of the Arizona rangers?”
    “Yes, I know Daniel Mesa. He is an Arizona ranger and a retired air force captain. Why are you asking?”
    “Doctor, there was an attempted assassination of a prisoner and an Arizona ranger in Richmond, Virginia. The prisoner was killed and a police sergeant wounded. Apparently, the ranger shot and killed one assassin and wounded the other. The second assassin got away. According to the news, this same ranger was involved in a shooting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he shot and killed a fugitive who had robbed a Wells Fargo armored car and killed four