The Pallbearers

Chapter 55

We were in the Pinto Suite trying to deal with the idea that Diamond had betrayed us. But I was having trouble seeing it. Besides not telling O'Shea that I was a cop, she also hadn't burned Jack.

If she had scammed Pop into signing all those documents, then she was an accessory in his murder. She had a lot at stake. If she was an accomplice, she'd tell them. But Jack was still hanging with them, and that meant she hadn't.

Wouldn't she also tell O'Shea that we'd learned about the challenge match on this reservation and that we were planning on being here? Knowing that, why would O'Shea take the chance and show up here at all? Yet according to Jack, he had. So, what the hell was going on?

After I repeated these concerns to the others, we all sat around trying to come up with a reason that would fit the known facts. Nobody could do it.

Alexa finally looked at me and said, "The Black-Hole Rule."

"The what?" Sabas scowled.

Alexa said, "In astronomy, when the known astronomical facts don t fit the action of the planets, then there's usually a black hole you can't see creating the magnetic pull. Same is true in law enforcement. Since Diamond's actions don't fit our known facts, we have to assume there's an information hole we don't know about that's causing it."

Sabas said, "We gotta take some action. We can't just sit here and do nothing."

"Regardless of what we just saw, I think we still need to treat Diamond as a hostage," Alexa said. "We can't put her life at risk without having the answers to Shane's questions. T hat means we've got to come up with a way to rescue her before we attempt to arrest O'Shea."

"In Ranger school, they taught us whenever you have a split objective, the most efficient solution is to split your force and stagger the timetable," Seriana said. "Tactically, it weakens us, but on the plus side we have a relatively small AO and we should be able to divide up, put two people on that bungalow while the main group deploys in the event center. We stay in touch by phone. The bungalow team waits 'til all the MMA fighters leave that house for the event tonight. Then, if Diamond stays behind, we secure the house first and take her into custody. Debrief. Then the splinter group moves up in support."

"What the hell is an AO?" Vicki asked.

"Sorry, it's just the battlefield. Stands for Area of Operation."

"Then say it, okay? We can't afford a buncha misunderstandings."

Seriana nodded.

"I think Seriana's got a good idea," Alexa said. Then she looked at me. "What about Faskin and Westfall? Isn't it about time to pull them in?"

"Who are Faskin and Westfall?" Sabas demanded.

I told them about the two FBI agents and how I'd used Jack as bait to lure them out here.

"Jack s risking his life too," Vicki said. "You really gonna turn him over to the FBI?"

"He's guilty of sticking up two banks in Central California," I argued. "I'm still a cop. I'm supposed to turn my back on that?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Well, I'm not going to," I replied. But I certainly didn't feel very good about it.

Then I told them about my visit to see Tom Ironwood at the tribal police and that my boss, Jeb Calloway, said we could trust him.

What I didn't tell them was it concerned me that, despite his nine-foot wall and all that electronic security, Ironwood still didn't know Diamond and O'Shea were on his reservation. That meant he either had a large hole in his security or was careless or maybe even lying. But I didn't see any choice. I had to take a chance on him.

We went over our plan point by point. After we were finished, I wrote out some instructions for the concierge. Then I left the suite and went to the lobby, where I handed my sealed letter to the man behind the desk along with a fifty-dollar bill and some instructions on what I wanted him to do.

I showed him my LAPD credentials.

"Is this a police matter?" he asked.

"Yes, but I've already spoken to Captain Ironwood. We need you to follow the instructions inside exactly."

We ordered burgers for lunch from room service. After we ate, we put the final touches on our rescue-and-arrest plan.

When we were finished Seriana said, "We have eight hours. We should get some rest. Somebody needs to take the first watch."

"I'll do it," Vicki said. "I'm not tired."

We went to bed. Sabas pulled the drapes and stretched out on the couch in the living room.

As I lay on the bed I kept thinking how Chooch said that rarely are you able to pay your debts in full.

Tonight I was going to get a chance to try.