The Protectors by Dan Mahoney

Author:Dan Mahoney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

EIGHTEEN

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, NOON MADRID, SPAIN

It had taken four days of diplomatic and procedural wrangling before the deal was officially sanctioned by both the Spanish and the United States governments. While McKenna would have no official status in Spain, it was understood that the people in charge there would be prepared to listen to whatever he had to say.

The prisoners were shackled and in leg irons, so guarding them was no problem, and Cisco encouraged congenial political debate during the seven-hour flight. Despite the ETA’s platform that the fighting would continue until there was a free and independent Basque homeland, McKenna’s prisoners believed that the government-held prisoners were the only real issue that interested the Spanish Basques, and for most of them that level of interest was not high.

As the plane descended for landing, the only passengers awake were McKenna and Cisco. The prisoners awoke as the wheels touched down, and five minutes later the pilot stopped next to eight green-and-white Guardia Civil vans and a Guardia Civil helicopter parked alongside the ramp truck next to the runway.

McKenna took in the scene through the cockpit window while Cisco watched the prisoners, and he saw that the unloading was a high-security affair. The prisoners were to be transported to a prison near Madrid for processing, and the cops were taking no chances; all of them were out of their vehicles, all were wearing heavy flak jackets and Kevlar helmets, and six carried machine pistols.

The ramp truck backed up to the plane’s front door. As soon as a flight attendant opened it, a team of eight cops headed by a sergeant boarded the plane. Two of the cops carried shackles and leg irons, but McKenna told the sergeant the Guardia Civil’s restraints weren’t necessary; they could keep the NYPD shackles, and he gave the sergeant the keys. After paperwork had been exchanged and signed for, the prisoners were taken off the plane and loaded into the vans without incident. The vans took off, and McKenna had expected the Guardia Civil helicopter to fly over the convoy as an aerial escort, but it remained on the ground.

“What’s next?” Cisco asked.

McKenna had expected to be met by a high-ranking Guardia Civil officer with instructions or suggestions, but that hadn’t happened. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Let’s see if the pilot knows anything.”

The pilot did. He had been contacted by radio by the Guardia Civil pilot, and they were to board the helicopter.

“Says who?” Cisco asked.

“A Colonel Segovia.”

“To go where?”

The pilot just shrugged, and that wasn’t good enough for McKenna. “Could you get Picard on the phone?” he asked the pilot.

“Sure, but you can do it yourself,” the pilot replied. He took a cell phone from his pocket and gave it to McKenna. “That’s yours, now. Monsieur Picard is number one on speed dial. I’m told you can get him anytime, twenty-four hours a day.”

McKenna took the phone, pressed number one, and held it. After two rings, Picard came on the line. “Detective McKenna?”

“Yeah, it’s me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.