by AJ Newman
“Jane, please check with the kids and see if they want to go out to eat.”
Jane caught my drift and came back a few minutes later. “Jenny and Jere voted to stay at the pool and order pizza from the restaurant.”
“We serve pizza?”
Jenny was behind her. “Yes, and it’s the best in Lower Alabama. Mom makes ‘em just like she did up in Chicago.”
“I’m okay if Jere’s mom is good.”
“Enjoy,” was all Jane said.
I returned to my study while the ladies freshened up and began my tedious work again. I didn’t realize I spoke aloud. “I wonder if we can break into … oh crap, never mind.”
Crap I almost spoke where they could hear that I wanted to break into the lab. That would give me the ability to find the evidence I needed. The chance of a Russian attacking us and not being part of the same group of Russians at Brunner’s lab was negligible. I also hate coincidences and don’t believe in them for the most part.
We hashed over my news from the recordings in the SUV. “Damn, someone sent some of the tiny drones to attack poor Ken. He knocked one down and crushed it before shoving it under the workstation’s shelf. I’ll bet it’s still there.”
“I could inspect it and attempt to see what it was designed to do, but no guarantees,” said Jane.
I didn’t like the precision it would take to break into New Wave and search for the drone. “If we wanted to break in, we’d have to cut the power to the entire facility for at least ten to fifteen minutes. Maybe we can find a way to get the drone while I’m there next week. Breaking in is too risky.”
Jane nodded. “John, it’s too risky for me, but surely Mike and you have contacts that can light a fire under some ABC law enforcement group.”
“Mike is working on that.”
Joe’s again, and why not? He’s a great friend and has excellent food. Before entering, I asked the ladies to have a work-free dinner and only talk about family and such. Jane and Cindy spent most of the time talking about the fall school semester coming up. I couldn’t believe my daughter would have her Ph.D. in five or six years. I also thought about how much I’d miss Jane when she went back to full-time school.
Then I thought about Jane and her career. “Jane, you said you’re pursuing a master’s degree. Do you plan to go on for a doctorate?”
“Probably not. I’m missing some of the best years of my son’s life. I only went to college to be able to earn enough money for Jere and me to have a comfortable life. I could have become a Mobile cop, but I didn’t want to take the chance of making Jere an orphan. I don’t really want a master’s degree. I just need enough money to take care of Jere and me.”
“Obviously, I know you better than Mike does, but I’m sure you are a good fit for J&M. You could be a project manager now. With a master’s degree in material science, you could quickly work your way up to the manager of multiple projects. Our five-year plan is to double in size.”
“I know you can’t promise anything now, but that sounds great. My number one goal is to make a great life for Jere. I liked chemistry in high school and found I had the knack for it my freshman year.”
“I know Professor Jorgensen bragged on you every time I was around him and then saw for myself how great you are for the last three years.”
“Doc, you made it easy and are a great teacher.”
“Call me, John.”
Cindy broke into singing and then said, “That was almost too sweet. I now know you two appreciate each other. Now let’s talk about me. I’ve got six years of studying … blah … blah … blah.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off Jane as Cindy droned on about nano crap, bucky’s balls, and other nanotechnology crap. Jane noticed me gazing at her and looked me in the eyes for a minute before we both broke away and turned toward Cindy, who had said something.
“Earth to Jane and Dad. Hello!”
I tried to change the topic. “Sorry, I was deep in thought about how to solve our problem.”
“Yeah, that’s what it was.” Cindy chuckled and said, “Pay the bill and let’s get back to work.”
I shook my head and raised my hands. “No, let’s take the rest of the night off and give Mike and me some time to figure out what your next assignment is to be. Ladies, a job well done.”
I shifted into drive in Joe’s parking lot and crept forward when the phone rang. It was Tally. “John, get home now! The kids …”
The backseat window behind me shattered, blasting glass over all three of us. The phone fell as I floored the big Chevy. Tires squalled and rubber burned as the Suburban rocketed across the parking lot, knocking a Prius out of the way. I focused on getting home as fast as possible.
“Girls, grab your pistols and shoot the bastards.”
I saw Jane lean out the window and saw her take a bead on something behind us. The pistol barked. “I got the bastard.”
I couldn’t see behind me, but later on, she told me she’d hit the bastard who’d shot at us. I yelled, “Are we being followed?”
Cindy scouted the cars behind us. “Nothing so far. Hey, how fast are you going?”
“A hundred and five. Tally said to get home now. One of you call her and see what happened.”
Cindy made the call. “The line to Long John’s is dead. You don’t have a landline and Jenny’s phone isn’t on. Something’s wrong at the house.”
Jane yelled, “Lower the back window! I can’t see with my head getting buffeted by the wind!”
A minute later, Jane tapped me on the shoulder. “An SUV is catching up to us.” I couldn’t speed up on Highway 193 since I was already dodging cars and risking our lives.
I yelled, “Hang on! We have to make the sharp turn on 24 and then again back on 193.”
I slammed on the brakes and slid around the corner, forcing an old truck into a gas station parking lot. The SUV roared back to life with the pedal to the floor until I had to brake hard again. I began honking the horn well before the turn and was thankful to see the traffic stopped. Several drivers yelled and flipped the bird at me as I slid around the curve and floored the Suburban. It actually handled very well for such a massive beast.
The SUV chasing us dealt a glancing blow to a delivery truck and then began closing in on us. A minute later, Jane said, “There are several cop cars behind the one chasing us. Oh, shit, one just blew up, and the others slammed into it. I can’t see them now because of the smoke.”
I pushed the call button and asked for Mobile County Police. A lady answered, and I told her it was an emergency and asked for my friend Jack. I was put on hold for a minute. Yes! I was put on freaking hold. I was mad as hell when Jane yelled, “Change lanes, now! RPG!”
I saw something as it flew by, and then a tree on the side of the road disappeared in a fireball, and we were peppered with shrapnel. We were now on the Dauphine Island Bridge when Jack came on the line.
“Jack, I’m being chased by an SUV that has launched an RPG at us! We’re trying to outrun the bastard! Can you get some cops after the bastard?”
At a hundred and twenty miles per hour, we were across the bridge and on the island before Jack could set anything up. Thankfully, the island police were setting up a roadblock when we roared through at seventy. The two patrol cars pulled out and blocked the road. The man driving the SUV tried to go around the blockade but clipped a patrol car and began to roll.
Jane watched as we sped away. “John, slow down. The bastard just hit a cop car and rolled into the ocean.”
My palms were soaked, my heart pounded, and I was lucky I didn’t piss my pants. I was scared shitless most of the way and couldn’t do anything but drive.
Chapter 24
My Home – Dauphin Island
Jere walked back to the house with the pizza when he noticed a large van with Spire on the side. He knew that was the gas company and wondered why these people were parked in front of my house. He walked around to the deck and saw a man in a blue uniform standing beside
Jenny and George, keeping them away from the house. The gas company had just worked on a gas line in front of their old home, and Jere knew these men had the wrong uniforms.
Jere laid the pizza on the Karmann Ghia’s trunk and ran back to Long John’s. “Tally, there are strange men at Uncle John’s house, and they have Jenny and George outside in the back yard.”
Tally called Doc over and asked him to see what was going on. Doc reached under the counter, shoved his Sig 9 mm into his waistband, and pulled his shirt over it. Doc had been in the Marines back during the second war in the Middle East and kept in shape running and boxing at the local gym. He didn’t cause trouble for anyone but didn’t walk away from trouble when it might hurt him or his loved ones.
Doc kissed Talley before leaving the restaurant. “Don’t worry. I’ll bring the kids back.”
“If they hurt my kids, waste them.”
Doc slipped around the parking lot from car to car, keeping a low profile. He used a big four-wheel drive to hide his movement as he made it to the front of my house. He’d immediately seen the big van upon crossing the back parking lot and knew something was wrong. The truck was parked without the orange cones at the front and rear. He thought it could be a mistake but drew his pistol and kept it at his side. Doc snuck down the line of cars parked on the street until he was behind the van. He crept up on the truck, which had the engine running — another red flag.
Doc saw movement in the back of the truck and cautiously slid up the side just in time for a man with a gun in hand to exit the driver’s door. The man hummed a tune and was oblivious to Doc behind him. Sweat popped out on his forehead, and his heart pounded in his ears. He was afraid the man could hear him breathing. He inched closer to the man who was focused on my house.
The man turned toward Doc, who clocked the man on his head with the butt of the gun. The man slumped to the ground, and Doc dragged him into the van and tied him up with his own bootstrings. The man had three black bags, duct tape, and rope in another bag. He started to head to John’s house when he saw the Suburban pull up in front of Long John’s. Jane ran to her son, and he saw John push Cindy into the restaurant and head his way.
I ran up to Doc, and he quickly filled me in on the fake gas truck. “Boss, there’s one in the back with the kids and maybe one or two more in the house. I think they’re searching your home. Boss, they plan to kidnap someone.”
Doc showed me the contents of the bag. “The SOBs were going to kidnap the kids and use them to leverage Mike and me. They want to shut us up.”
We split up and peeked into my house to see how many of the bastards were in my home. I took the left side, and Doc took the right. I looked in the kitchen, my bedroom, and the office. I peered into my office window and saw a masked man cramming my files and loose paperwork into a large bag. Our laptops were missing. These thugs had to be from New Wave.
Doc checked the other bedrooms, study, and living room. We met back together in the bushes beside my deck.
“John, there’s one in the study searching the room and stealing books and files. The others are clear.”
“I found one man searching my office, and the other rooms were clear. We need to draw the other man into the house so the kids can run.”
I knew one or both of us, and perhaps the kids could be killed. That was not a chance I wanted to take. “Doc, I’ll slip in the kitchen and make a noise, so the man in the back comes running. I’ll try to kill him as quietly as possible.”
Doc reached down to his side, pulled a short-bladed dagger, and handed it to me. “It’s sharp.”
“I’ll be careful not to cut myself.”
“Good idea!”
“I’ll kill the first one and then shoot the one in my office. You try to shoot the other at the same time, if possible. We’ll probably meet in the hallway. Let’s go!”
I crawled through a kitchen window while Doc walked in the front door. The hallway was clear, so I signaled before yelling out the backyard window.
I yelled in Russian in a muffled voice. “Get your ass up here and help carry this crap!”
Then I moved back to the hall doorway, but before I could enter the hallway, a man walked out the door with his hands full of files. He dropped the files and reached for his pistol. I knew I was dead, and then I heard a fierce growl, and a blur flew across my vision. Punk knocked the man down by clamping her jaws on the man’s arm and whipping him around.
The masked Russian’s free hand reached behind him and brought another gun toward me. I double tapped his chest and put two bullets in his head. Well, one to the head and one in the neck. I checked, and the damn SOB had body armor.
The man in the backyard hit the back door just as I wheeled around. He said, “Ivan, I’m coming. Don’t blow a gasket.”
Punk leaped at the bastard and forced him to charge in my direction with Punk hanging on with teeth sunk into the man’s thigh. His momentum caused him to crash into me, and my head bounced off the wall knocking me off my feet. He’d also crashed into the dagger, which was now buried deep in his gut. He staggered to regain his balance while looking down at me in surprise. This gave me a few precious seconds to draw my pistol. I shot him twice in the legs and once in the neck. The bastard didn’t fall.
Even mortally wounded, he still tried to kill me. I was prone, looking up at the goon who was dead set on killing me. Hitting a moving armed man in the head ain’t easy, and I’m a damn good shot. I started shooting him in his groin, causing him to stumble and fall backward. I was relieved to see the gun go flying because I didn’t want to get up.
I’d had my bell rung in football and had been too close to a couple of IEDs when they exploded, but I was swooning. I didn’t see the little birdies flying around but did see stars, and my ears were ringing. I remembered Doc and forced myself up enough to crawl toward the room where Doc had been.
I said, “Good dog,” and wanted to reward Punk, but there was still a Russian to deal with. It was torture, but I soon made it to the doorway and used the door frame to help me get to my feet. Doc was beating the crap out of a man trying to reach his pistol. The funny thing was I saw his fists taking a toll on the man but couldn’t hear them strike his face.
Doc had the man’s right arm pinned under him, and he pummeled the guy’s face with his bare fists. Doc hit him so hard the man rocked over, freeing his hand. The man’s fingers closed around the pistol butt about the same time my bullet went through his arm and into his thigh. The Russian released his grip on the pistol and couldn’t move his arm. I thought we had a prisoner to interrogate, but my bullet nicked his femoral artery. He bled out before the cops or EMTs arrived.
Doc slumped down on the floor beside me. “Boss, I’m too old for this shit. Could you hire a bodyguard?”
Punk lay between us, licking my hand and being a good dog. It was eerie that this calm animal could be such a vicious killer.
“Doc, we’re both too old for this shit. Let’s check on the children and grab a beer. Come on, Punk. I’ll find a steak for you.”
I limped into the kitchen with Doc close behind. Punk stopped and pissed on the masked man on the kitchen floor. I wondered for a few seconds as I strained to bend over and pull the mask off. The Russian from the restaurant who’d been looking for Punk lay dead at our feet.
Huh, then who were the other dead Russians?
The kids looked okay, so I fetched the beer from the fridge and walked out on the deck in time to see Tally and her sister run back to Jenny and George. Doc took his beer and sat down beside Punk and me. Punk gnawed on her steak while I tried to stay calm and unemotional, but frankly, I’d been scared to death. Clearing ISIS homes in the sandbox wasn’t that scary. I heard Cindy and Jane saying something but started seeing stars. I felt woozy and sat on a deck chair arm before I fell.
The police took the man who was tied up in the van and processed the crime scene but didn’t give us any useable information. They’d already written it off as a home invasion gone wrong
.
Chapter 25
Bay Pointe Hospital – Mobile, Alabama
I’d come to in the ambulance and found Cindy and an EMT by my side. The EMT used that damned little flashlight to check my pupils. The bright light made my headache much worse, but I resisted yelling at the poor lady.
“Sir, can you hear me?”
Of course, I could hear her. “Yes, but my ears are ringing.”
“I think you’ve suffered a concussion.”
I began remembering what had happened. I started to sit up and got dizzy. “I have to check on my friends. Are Jane and Jere okay? How about Doc?”
My daughter held my hand. “Doc’s hands are cut up, but otherwise, he’s fine.”
“What about Jane and Jere? Are they okay?”
“Yes, and we had to keep Jane from jumping in the ambulance with you. She’ll be at the hospital. Dad, you took a blow to the head in the fight. Aren’t you a bit old to be in fights?”
“Damned straight, Skippy. I am too old to be fighting, but who would have saved Jenny and George from being kidnapped?”
Silence.
“Dad, perhaps you need to learn when to back out of a situation before the poop hits the fan?”
“Yunh huh.”
About two hours later, they’d decided my head wouldn’t fall off and placed me in a room by myself. Apparently, it wasn’t really a private room because Cindy, Jane, and Jere were waiting for me as they wheeled me into the room. The nurse ushered them out of the room, transferred me to the bed, and hooked me up to a bunch of monitors before letting them back in the room.
