Preface

Fritz paced up and down cracking his knuckles and chewing gum like a mad man. Tonight was the big night. It could make or break his future and be the deciding factor in where he would live the rest of his life. He would know if he would be a free man or be hunted down like a dog.

The shipment would be arriving at the cabin at 9:30 and everything was in place. Gary was being extra careful in the placement of the men he even had several men in trees watching from afar. There would be two teams tonight; one team would be on the very outskirts of the property. The law enforcement team knew that the mob would be watching to see if Fritz kept his word and got the shipment that had been altered. The money from the profit of selling the product was in the delivery too.

Toni and Butch would go to the surveillance cabin to help Gary in any way they could after all they were part of this scheme. Toni would be a spectator really, but Butch was part of the whole plan.

The first team was hiding very close to Roman’s cabin ready to capture Fritz and his men and take the gold and the money in full sight of the mob. Gary was nervous about this whole operation, he instructed Fritz and his men to speak only in Romansch. In case the mob had listening devises and they made an unexpected slip, and said something that would give away what they were doing. Butch was there to translate everything they said to Gary or to give them instructions from Gary. They were all wearing wires and Kevlar vests. Fritz and his four men we also armed for self-protection with two handguns, one hidden, and one in holsters on their hips. Fritz carried a shotgun if there were any long range trouble.

At 9:30, the big box truck came up the road driving slowly and stopped in front of the cabin. Only Fritz got out and went up to the cabin door, opened it and punched in the code to disarm the alarm. He gave a hand signal for the others to come out of the truck. They went around to the back of the truck and opened the doors. They said nothing and began working. They brought out three packing cases they moved slowly the cases were very heavy. They gently placed them on the porch next to one another. When they were all out of the truck the men would carry them in one at a time. As they picked up the first crate, to enter the cabin Gary gave the signal.

The first team hidden close to the cabin came running out yelling for the men to drop the case, throw their weapons on the ground and put their hands on their heads. They men dropped the crate and pulled out their guns instead. Fritz had a shotgun; he pulled the weapon to his shoulder, and opened fire. The thunderous noise of gunfire all around sounded like an explosion of a thousand fireworks going off at the same time. Smoke and streams of angry red fireballs blasted from the guns inoculating the night air. It sounded as if a volcano reached its peak and erupted, spewing out noise, smoke and screams in a giant monster roar.

One officer went down, two of Fritz’s men shrieked in pain. The rat-ta-tat of an Uzi burst flew in the air as a man went down. Blasts from guns echoed off the trees, another team member fell; it seemed like a scene from Hell. The chaos continued, minutes seemed like an eternity and men dropped like overripe fruit. A few last shots and then silence the gunfight was over. Fritz and all his men lay dead. The team stood over their bodies with guns still held on them. One of the squad kicked at Fritz’s body for good measure, Fritz never moved. The sirens of more squad cars and ambulances now filled the air and a helicopter hovered overhead. The second team reported in advising that they had observed three men with binoculars up on the hill, watched everything go down. EMTs carrying supplies hurried to the site, it was too late Fritz and all his men lay dead.

Now the fun begins Butch said to Toni.

Andrea Anderson