The Peacekeepers. Books 1 - 3.

by Ricky Sides

  He responded by holding her in a gentle embrace. He spoke softly to her, and did his best to comfort her.

  Slowly Margaret looked up at Jim and he saw tears in her eyes once again. “I’m leaving town tomorrow. I'm going to my sister's house in Huntsville.”

  Jim asked, “Why would you and your husband want to do that?” The pained expression on the woman's face informed him that he had made a mistake and asked the wrong question.

  This time the woman's face held a quiet dignity when she replied, “Bob left me last week. He said that he could make it alone but if he took me with him he doubted that he could. He was at least kind enough to leave what food there was in the house. He said he would find more food easily enough without having to think about me.”

  Jim was familiar with situations just like the one she was describing; many men had begun deserting their families lately. That way they would only have themselves to worry about in the post-disaster America. Jim could feel his blood starting to boil as he listened to her. “Well, Bob's a fool,” he said in anger as he pulled the trembling woman closer.

  Margaret looked up at Jim with earnest eyes and said, “Jim, I have always found you attractive. With so many things going on in the world today...”

  Jim didn’t let her finish the sentence. He pressed a gentle finger to her lips to silence her and then dipped his face down to hers. With a passion, he hadn’t felt in a long time, he kissed the little redhead. He could feel his body respond to the passion of the kiss as he stroked her hair.

  Margaret responded to his kisses and soon they were both caught up in the passionate needs of each other.

  Jim broke the embrace and picked the Margaret up. He carried her to the door, hooked it with his right foot and slammed it shut, and then he carried her to his bedroom.

  Jim laid Margaret on the bed and stood in front of her as he began to undress. Looking at the woman in his bed for a moment, he felt a pang of uncertainty. He didn’t want to take advantage of her while she was weak and vulnerable, due to all the things that were happening. He looked deeply into her eyes and asked, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  She replied with outstretched arms. Jim went to her and for a while, they both were able to forget the unhappiness that surrounded them.

  Hours later as they lay in his bed wrapped in a lover’s embrace she said, “Thank you.”

  Jim laughed, and then he said, “It seems to me that I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

  “Not for the sex, although don’t get me wrong, that was great too but that's not what I was thanking you for.”

  “I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about then, beautiful.”

  “Thanks for not making me ask you.” she replied almost shyly.

  Then Jim understood what she meant. He said, “It's ok, I knew that you just needed someone to want you. I also knew you didn’t want to ask; you needed to be wanted for your own sake.”

  “You mean you have always wanted me?” she asked.

  “In all honesty, I couldn't tell you that. You were a married woman, and I don't allow myself to think of married women like that.”

  “I see,” she said as she rose up and leaned on her arm. She looked at Jim with a hint of mischief in her eyes, and then she said, “Then you don't find me attractive?”

  He smiled at her and gave her a kiss. “I didn't say that, little one.”

  She smiled at him and said, “I've often wondered about you. I’m curious about some things. Would it bother you if I asked a question?”

  “Go ahead. I'll answer them if I can,” replied Jim.

  “I already know some things about you. I know that you are thirty-five. I know you were married once, but divorced after a couple of years. I also know that for years, you were a dedicated student of the martial arts.” Stopping for a moment, she seemed almost hesitant to proceed.

  “Go ahead and ask your question. I promise I won't bite you, unless you want me to,” he said playfully.

  Smiling at him, she marveled at the way he could put her at ease and felt a moment of regret that she couldn’t keep this man. However, she somehow knew that their paths would soon part. “I don't really know how to ask this politely, so I'm just going to ask. Why haven't you ever remarried?”

  Jim considered the question quite seriously before answering. Finally, he answered her saying, “For the past ten years I’ve spent almost every spare moment of my life training in martial arts, survival training, or studying books on those subjects. I was in debt, I’m not that good looking, and I have a bad attitude. You tell me; just what do I have to offer a woman?”

  She looked him square in the face and said, “You’ve got to be kidding.” For a moment, she studied his face. His eyes were a light shade of blue that seemed to pierce her very soul. His dark blond hair was thick and straight. His face was clean-shaved and his skin was lightly tanned.

  She looked at Jim's muscular shoulders and said, “I really don't know what you consider good looking, but I think you’re adorable. I certainly haven't found any attitude problems.”

  “Thanks for the compliment. I guess I just don't see myself the way you do.”

  Jim got out of bed and stood beside Margaret. She stared at his muscular body and enjoyed the sight. He said, “I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Let's get something to eat.”

  He helped her to her feet and together they dressed in the gathering twilight. As they dressed, he noticed that the lights were still off. He finished dressing and then he picked up the Smith and Wesson nine-millimeter pistol on the night stand. He expertly checked the weapon out of habit. It was fully loaded. Next, he threaded a belt through the holster and adjusted the rig to its customary position.

  Margaret had finished dressing by this time. She pointed to the pistol on his side and said, “I've noticed that you seem to carry that pistol around with you quite a bit. Are you expecting trouble?”

  Jim glanced down at the pistol strapped to his right side and said, “I carry it for insurance.” That was all the answer he gave, so Margaret didn’t press the matter. She was an intelligent woman, and she thought she knew why he now carried a gun full time.

  Jim asked, “Would you like a sandwich? With no electricity, I'm afraid that's the best I can offer you at the moment.”

  Margaret pressed her body against Jim and gave him a light kiss. “Yes please,” she replied.

  Jim was about to step from the room when he heard a sound coming from his kitchen. Margaret heard the sound too and was about to ask him what it was. Before she could speak he placed a finger against his lips in a gesture for silence. His right hand snaked down to his pistol and unfastened the snap that held it in the holster.

  Chapter 4

  They could hear the sound of breaking glass coming from the kitchen. Jim placed his mouth next to Margaret's ear and whispered, “Stay in this room until I come back and tell you that it’s safe to come out.”

  She nodded her understanding and then whispered back a warning for him to be careful.

  He cursed himself as a fool for not locking his door earlier.

  As he stepped over to the bedroom door, he heard still more crashing sounds coming from the kitchen. He also heard the sound of voices. He could tell from the sound of the voices that the intruders were most likely teenagers. He decided he would attempt to scare the thieves away.

  Jim knew that what he had in mind was dangerous, but he was willing to take the risk. He’d never killed a man, and he didn’t want to start now. He certainly didn’t want to kill teenagers, who were probably out trying to find food for their families.

  Yet something inside Jim's soul seemed to argue with him. These teenagers were trying to take his food. How did they know that he wouldn’t starve to death because of their robbery? Did they even care?

  Then he thought of all the evidence available to the thieves that this was an occupied home. He would have understood their actions if they had felt they were scrounging supplies i
n an abandoned home.

  Yet these teens were stealing from a home that was clearly occupied by someone. They were also in the process of destroying his kitchen. From the sounds that were coming from the kitchen intruders was intent on trashing his place.

  He silently moved down the darkening hallway toward the kitchen. He held his pistol ready with a steady hand. He was confident in his ability to use the pistol to frighten away the teenagers, if they were smart. He was equally confident in his ability to deal with them in other ways, if they were stupid.

  Jim planned to place one or two shots very close to the first teenager he saw. This, he hoped, would be enough to send the group running.

  He stopped a foot from the doorway to the kitchen. Inside the kitchen, a male voice said, “See, Jimmy. I told you we would find food here.”

  Another voice answered, saying, “My dad wouldn't approve of this, Bill. You know he’s been sick and I want to get out of here before we are caught. It would really disappoint him, if he knew I was stealing food.”

  “What about your little sister? Have you forgotten what you told me? That she cried herself to sleep last night because she was so hungry?”

  An angry voice answered, saying, “I haven't forgotten my sister. But, what about the people who live here? And stop breaking their dishes. I don’t understand why you want to trash their place. Isn’t it bad enough we’re stealing their food? Why do you want to tear up their place?”

  “It's simple. If you tear the place up enough, the owners will think, a gang did it. The police will be looking for a gang. I don't look like a gang member so the police won't pay any attention to me.”

  Jim had heard enough. He knew that there were two teenaged boys in his kitchen. One was beside the refrigerator and the other was beside the sink throwing the dishes onto the floor and breaking them. He decided to fire his pistol at the boy by the sink. He was the one in most need of an education.

  Jim stepped around the doorway and dropped into a crouch. His first bullet struck the cabinet three inches from the young man's hand. Splinters of wood gouged into the teen’s hand and he squealed in pain and fright.

  The other boy stood terrified beside the refrigerator with a chicken in his hand.

  “Don't either of you move, or I won't miss again,” he warned. He didn’t have to worry about the boy beside the refrigerator, but Jim could tell that the other boy was getting ready to make a break for the door.

  Jim smiled at the boy with the wounded hand and said, “You can go, boy. You need medical attention.”

  The boy started for the door as he said, “Let's go, Jimmy.”

  Jim turned his pistol on the boy with the chicken and said, “I wouldn't move if I were you, son.”

  The boy with the wounded hand bolted for the door at that point. When he reached the comparative safety of the porch, he said, “Tough luck, Jimmy, but those are the breaks.” Then Jim heard the sounds of the boy's footsteps as he walked off the porch and out into the growing darkness, abandoning his friend to whatever fate he would meet.

  Jim had carefully watched the face of the boy named Jimmy as it dawned on him that his friend had deserted him. Jim was glad to see a look of shame come over the boy's face. He knew then that there was still hope for this young man. He said, “I guess your friend isn't much interested in what might happen to you.”

  Jimmy looked Jim squarely in the eyes and said, “I'm sorry, Mister. I wouldn't have tried to steal from you if I wasn't so desperate.”

  “I believe you.”

  The youth stared at him in surprise for a moment, and then said, “You were listening to the two of us talk, weren't you?”

  Jim nodded his head and walked over to the open door. He kicked it shut and then locked it.

  Jimmy looked scared again at that point. He asked, “What are you going to do with me, Mister?”

  Jim took his time answering. He holstered his pistol, took a lantern out of a cabinet and lit it. When he had the flame adjusted to his satisfaction, he placed the lantern on the kitchen table. “Clean up the mess your friend made,” he ordered in tones that brooked no argument.

  The young man looked at him with a fearful expression, but he knelt to clean up the mess as directed.

  Jim sat down at the kitchen table and yelled for Margaret to come on out. In seconds, she came into the kitchen and saw what was going on. She said, “I heard a gunshot. Are you okay?”

  ”Yes, I’m fine. I just fired the pistol to scare away two young thieves.”

  Margaret looked down at the boy cleaning the broken glass from the floor. Then she looked at him harder. ”That is Jimmy Parker! Was he one of the thieves? I've known him for years, and I never would have thought that he would do something like this.”

  Instantly, Jim decided to protect the boy from his night of mistakes. He lied, “I met Jimmy the other day. He was in the neighborhood and saw someone sneaking into my house. He was outside when I chased the thieves away so he has volunteered to help clean up the mess.”

  Margaret looked at Jim suspiciously and he winked at her. ”I see. Well, Jimmy, I know your father will be proud of you when he hears about this.”

  Jim knew that Margaret had guessed the truth and was using psychology to make the boy see the error of what he’d done. He helped her out by saying, “It was something to see. I mean, I had a gun so the thieves ran, but Jimmy here was unarmed and I believe that he would have tried to stop them if I hadn't told him to let them go.”

  Jimmy looked up from the floor. His face displayed a hodgepodge of emotions ranging from one of profound gratitude, to bitter shame. He said to Margaret, “Jim may be exaggerating my part in all of this, just a bit.”

  Chapter 5

  Thirty minutes later, Jimmy had the floor cleaned and Jim had prepared a large platter of sandwiches. As soon as the boy had finished the floor, Jim said, “Sit down, Jimmy, and have some dinner.”

  Reluctantly, Jimmy sat down to eat. Jim knew the boy was ashamed to accept the hospitality of a man he had just tried to rob. That was why he had decided to feed him. If possible, Jim was determined to give Jimmy a lot to think about before he attempted something like this again.

  At first, the boy ate shyly, but soon his hunger took over and he ate as though he were starving. Jim's heart went out to the boy as he watched him eat. He wondered how long it had been since the young man had enjoyed a proper meal.

  Jim got up from the table and went to the sink. Then Jim went to another cabinet and took out several cans of food, which he placed in the bag.

  Margaret looked at Jim with understanding. She knew what he was doing, and why he was doing it.

  Jimmy hadn’t even noticed. He was still eating.

  Jim went from cabinet to cabinet gathering a large smoked ham, two bags of flour and three large jars of peanut butter. He added them to the bag with the cans of food.

  Suddenly, the lights all over the house came on and Jimmy looked up from the sandwich he’d been eating and saw what Jim was doing. “Are you moving or something?”

  “No, at least not tonight,” he replied, and then he continued, “I'm just getting your pay ready for you. You didn't think I would forget, did you?”

  “What are you paying me for?” asked the bewildered boy.

  ”For cleaning up the mess that the thieves made,” replied Jim. He smiled at the confused expression on the boy's face, and then Jim's own expression grew serious. “How old are you?”

  “Fourteen”

  “Tell me, do fourteen year old boys like peanut butter and jelly?”

  A wide grin split the boy's face, and he said, “This one does.”

  “Good. I do as well. Now come on over here and help me with this sack. It's starting to get a bit heavy.”

  Jimmy obediently got up and walked over to hold the sack. Jim pulled two jars of jelly and two boxes of crackers from the cabinet and added those to the sack. Lifting the bag as if to test the weight he said, “I think this should be about right.”
/>
  Jim sat the bag in the corner of the kitchen and then asked, “What's wrong with your Dad, Jimmy?”

  “I think he has the flu or at least that's what he says it is.”

  “Has he seen a doctor?”

  Jimmy looked down at the floor embarrassed. “The factory where dad worked was demolished by the storm. He hasn't had the money to see a doctor because he isn't working and they didn't get paid for their last two weeks work.”

  “I see,” said Jim. He got up and walked to a locked cabinet that was attached to the wall in the kitchen. Unlocking the cabinet, he took out a syringe. Next, he walked to his refrigerator and opened the door. On a lower shelf, he took out a small bottle of liquid penicillin. He also took a small bottle of penicillin pills from the refrigerator. He placed all these items into a small leather bag.

  When he had finished he said, “Let's take Jimmy home. I’ll give his dad a penicillin shot and leave the pills with him. He should be on his feet in a couple of days.”

  This proved to be too much for Jimmy. With tears in his eyes, he blurted out, “Why are you doing this? I tried to rob you, but, you lied to protect me. You fed me and you are giving us food. You are even going to help get my dad well. I don't understand.”

  “You aren't a bad person. You were just desperate and I can understand that. Besides, I heard you tell the other kid not to trash my house, and for that, I’m grateful. That proved to me that you are not a bad kid. As I said, you were just desperate. Now let's go. I am sure your mother will be worried about you.”

  On the drive to Jimmy's home, Margaret slid over on the seat close to Jim and she whispered in his ear, “You know, I think you're a good man. It wouldn't be hard at all for a girl to fall in love with you.”

  Jim smiled at her and said, “Don't put me up on any pedestals, Hon. I’ve done my share of bad things in the past. Things I'm not the least bit proud of for that matter.”

  Margaret slid a little closer and said, “I have to go see my sister tomorrow. I'll be moving in with her and her husband.”