At the same time, plainclothes officers knocked on the doors of all occupied units, then quickly and quietly escorted guests to a safe zone beyond the perimeter.
While preparations got underway, the SWAT team commander Steve Elling and negotiator Andre Kuper joined FBI Agents Phil Grogan and Nicole Quinn in the motel office to talk to the manager, Shelby Nix. After quick introductions, Grogan said, Where are we at with this?
At the same time, plainclothes officers knocked on the doors of all occupied units, then quickly and quietly escorted guests to a safe zone beyond the perimeter.
While preparations got underway, the SWAT team commander Steve Elling and negotiator Andre Kuper joined FBI Agents Phil Grogan and Nicole Quinn in the motel office to talk to the manager, Shelby Nix. After quick introductions, Grogan said, Where are we at with this?
Mr. Nix thinks our targets are guests in his motel, Elling said.
Grogan glanced at the FBI flyer that Elling had already placed on the counter before Nix.
Youre certain, Mr. Nix? Grogan asked.
Im pretty sure, yes. Theyve got a baby and they made a heck of a lot of noise yesterday, arguing. People complained. Its Unit 21, Luke and Ashley Johnson, from Houston. They paid in cash.
We ran the names with Houston PD, Elling said. No hits, nothing.
An alias, likely, Grogan said. Got a vehicle and a plate?
Mr. Nix here says that he thinks the vehicles a Ford pickup, but the plate came up for a 2010 Toyota in Fort Worth. Fort Worth PD confirms the owner reported the plate stolen from a mall parking lot.
We see you have a video security system, Mr. Nix. Would you volunteer the recordings for the FBI to analyze?
Id have to check with the owners. But I gotta say, its not a good system.
We can always get warrants, Grogan said, turning to Elling. Okay, were ready if you are.
Hold it, Quinn said. Whens the last time you actually saw this couple, Mr. Nix?
Yesterday. I saw the guy get into his truck. Then later I saw the mother on the street like she was taking the baby for a walk.
How would you describe the babys condition?
I dont know. I heard it crying pretty good the other day. Aside from that- Nix shrugged -okay, I guess, but I didnt get a good look at it.
Okay, Elling said. But you told the dispatcher you heard activity in the room less than an hour ago. The TV was on?
Yes.
All right, if were good to go, lets call into the room and our negotiator, Andre, will ask them to step out and well do this peacefully. First, I want to make sure our SWAT folks are in position.
Commander Mitch Osweiler directed his SWAT team to establish an inner strike zone by first sending in scouts to determine the line of fire and safety points. Once they were good to go, squad members wearing helmets, armor, headset radios and equipped with rifles and handguns began taking positions. Sharpshooters took key points while the utility man, the breacher and other team members lined up on the unit. The squad pressed against the motels blistering walls as they inched toward the room from either side. Across the courtyard, sharpshooter L. C. Stonewood used a concrete planter as cover.
The window and door of Unit 21 filled his scope.
A tense silence hung in the air.
Good to go, Osweiler said into his headset.
Ten-four, Elling responded into his radio in the motel office. He nodded to Andre Kuper to make the call.
Kuper dialed the room number, but the phone rang unanswered. A minute later he stepped from the office and, using an unmarked police SUV as a shield, spoke through his bullhorn.
To Luke and Ashley Johnson. Kupers voice cracked across the small courtyard. To Unit 21. Luke and Ashley Johnson in Unit 21. This is the Dallas Police Department. We want to talk to you. For your own safety, would you exit now with your hands raised and your palms forward, please.
Several long, silent moments passed.
Kuper tried calling in again, then repeated the police order through the bullhorn.
No response.
After several more minutes had passed, Elling made a decision.
Youre good to go, Mitch.
Osweiler spoke into his headset to his team. Go! Go! Go!
The entry team popped the door and rushed into the small room, sweeping it with their weapons, checking the closet, tossing the mattresses, the sofa bed.
Nothing.
The room was empty.
The TV was on. The bathroom door was closed.
A soft noise could be heard coming from the bathroom.
Dallas Police! Exit the room with your hands raised now! the squad leader shouted.
Movement was heard from the inside but nothing happened.
The order was repeated.
Nothing happened.
The team popped the door and a member with another behind him entered, guns at the ready, finding a woman crouched on the floor of the shower stall crying. Team members searched her for weapons then secured her wrists with handcuffs.
Room clear. One female in custody, the squad leader reported.
Got an ID on her? Elling asked over the radio.
A few seconds later Osweiler responded: She says she is Daisy Culpepper. Shes intoxicated.
Elling repeated the name to those in the motel office.
Daisy? Nix, the manager, was surprised. Thats Daisy, from housekeeping. I fired her for missing too many shifts.
In the park, Dansons camera whirred with rapid-fire speed, clicking as he shot frame after frame of the action. Hed captured dramatic images of a distraught woman with bound wrists being escorted across the complex by the imposing, heavily-armed members of the SWAT team.
Lets go, Kate. Danson yanked his earpiece from his ear, adjusted his cameras strap and trotted toward the motel.
Hey! You people, hold it right there! a uniformed Dallas police officer ordered from his car, some thirty yards away.
Kate froze.
They just gave the all clear! Danson shouted to the cop. He held up his press ID and pointed to a TV news crew and a news photographer whod also emerged from concealed positions and were hurrying to the motel. Come on, Kate!
Standing there paralyzed, Kate looked at the cop, then Danson, then the other newspeople who were ignoring the order and running to the motel office where the SWAT team was taking the woman.
Im not going to be the only one left out on this, Kate thought before running with Danson and the others toward the motel.
They were halfway to the office when Kate noticed several people stepping out to receive the woman. Among them, shed recognized FBI Agents Grogan and Quinn.
Suddenly Kate heard the loud cry, slurred the way a drunk makes a self-pitied plea, and she realized that the arrested woman was yelling at one of the people in the group.
Dont fire me, Shelby! I came in to work! I cleaned that room! I cleaned every damn corner, every damn inch! Twice!
As Kate got closer, more newspeople had materialized along with police officers who blocked them from getting near the office. Photographers continued shooting pictures. As the growing pack swarmed the area, Kate noticed several new figures who were not press: Jenna and Blake Cooper, along with Jennas sister and brother-in-law.
Wheres Caleb? Jenna yelled at the woman. What did you do with my son?
Jenna then saw Grogan.
Agent Grogan! Jenna shouted. Wheres my son? Did you find him? You knew this was happening- Why didnt you tell us?
Its the parents, someone in the pack said.
The news photographers, including Danson, shifted their attention to Jenna and Blake.
PLEASE! Jenna shouted. Somebody tell us something. Wheres our baby! We have a right to know! Why did we have to find out from the TV news? HES MY SON!
Grogan spoke quickly into the ear of one of the senior Dallas cops, who dispatched uniformed officers to shield the Coopers from the press and get them into the office. As that happened, Jenna found Kate.
You knew, too, and you never told us! Jenna yelled. But you want me to tell you everything and I did!
It was true.
Kate burned with shame at Jennas reproach. The call had come in so fast, shed had to move so quickly, shed forgotten about her promise to keep the Coopers in the loop. Jennas words tore at her as they echoed from under the motels canopied reception area and over the courtyard.
40
Fort Worth, Texas
Childrens screams escaped when the glass door opened to the enclosed play area of the fast-food restaurant.
A kid named T.J. had, according to the banner, turned seven years old and a dozen of his friends had his party going full bore. Like competitors in a cage match they attacked the nets, the tunnels, the slides and ball pit in the contained section known as Playworld.
A grandfather of one of the little partygoers watched the action from his booth, occasionally lifting his eyes from the Dallas Morning News to sip his coffee and ensure the action didnt get out of hand. Thick, silver-white hair accentuated his chiseled face. He wore a navy polo shirt.
Eli Maddick.
Thats him, Pavel Gromov thought after entering the restaurant and scanning the dining room for the man whod described himself to Gromov over the phone last night.
White hair, sixties, said hed wear a navy polo shirt. Yes, hes the man Im looking for.
Since Gromov and Yanna had arrived in Texas the previous day, Gromov had worked late into the night, talking with Yuri Korzun in New York. Korzun had reached out to his associates, calling in favors to help Gromov find ex-con Mason Varno, his girlfriend, Remy Toxton, and ultimately, his grandchild.
Theyd exhausted the list of names of Mason Varnos coworkers that Gromov and Yanna had gleaned from Triple E Carpenters. Korzun obtained telephone numbers and at Gromovs demand, Yanna called, claiming to be a distant relative of Remys who needed to see her.
Yanna had surprised Gromov with her talent for acting. He listened to her emotional ruses, the way she smoothly played off names of the spouses of coworkers, woman to woman.
Suzie, Billys wife thought you might be able to help me. I need to reach Remy, you know, Masons girlfriend? Yes, she was due to deliver a few weeks ago. Remy and I were friends, way back when I lived in America and we lost touch
But Yannas calls were to no avail.
Gromov had grown to believe that Masons coworkers did not know of Masons or Remys whereabouts. And Gromov had failed on another front. He couldnt reach the person with the ex-con support group, the Fellowship of the Good Thief. After hed considered a new approach he went back to Yuri, this time for help finding other ex-cons whod served time with Varno.