Both vehicles pulled out and headed up interstate 5 to hitch over to Blayne. The closer they got, Frank would come across the speaker in the vehicle giving them a countdown to drop off, adding that all communication after drop off would happen by cell phones carried by the team leaders. Raven began to feel the adrenalin rush through her veins as Gabriel went over the grenade triggers as well as his side arm. The operatives were securing their vests like they were SWAT officers. Within minutes they went from looking like bad asses to looking down right horrifying with special balaclavas. Each one depicted some kind of hideous face that was designed to scare the shit out of anyone that had the misfortune of coming into close proximity to them. They each carried a modified M4 with short barrels and all the bells and whistles you could fit on the picatiny rails. These guys were “Special” and she couldn’t deny the fact. “All right everyone. Five minutes to Drop off for team red.” Frank said over the intercom, “Let us pray together lady and gentlemen.”
She wasn’t quite sure what to do, so she folded her hands like a little girl getting ready to say her prayers before bed. The rest of the men in the vehicle bowed their heads. “Lord, don’t let us screw this up, Amen!” She let out a smirk at the shortness and clarity of the prayer. At the one minute to go mark the vehicle that carried Frank and Michael broke off to take side streets. Gabriel took her hand for a moment, “Are you ready?” he asked. She nodded that she was. “Let’s go play then.” He said to the group.
The rig came to a stop and they all rolled out running across a flat meadow into a field of trees. She felt the world shut down outside of the mission plan, she fought off the body’s natural response to begin seeing in tunnel vision. She stayed close to Gabriel as he ran down the path he had memorized. Within three minutes they saw the lights of the club house. They all dropped and crawled across the muddy field that separated them from the back of the club house.
When they reached the back staircase to the roof the group broke off. Gabriel and Raven ascended the stairs without making a noise as the three operators broke to the left to gain entry through the back of the bar, their targets faces etched into their minds.
Michael and Frank parked down the road. In all the team leaders ear pieces Frank said “Force Recon!!” and he began to play “Side of a Bullet” by Nickleback, all leaders started to get pumped. In unison Frank and Michael could hear a resounding “OhhRah!!” Both knew none of the teams had broken radio silence. The phones were programmed, when chirped correctly, to reply with a pre-recorded audio response. From inside the vehicle it put everyone on ready. The countdown hit T-minus one minute to assault.
The driver prepared the vehicle to drive into the house. Literally!! He had the music queued up on the state of the art Bose sound system. With a single click of the button Frank called out the hounds of hell upon the small neighborhood nestled in slums of Blayne, WA. The driver stepped on the gas, the music now blaring out of the external speakers. Gabriel and Raven opened the roof hatch scanning the inside of the bar seeing that the party was completely out of control, they removed their grenades from the satchel and pulled the pins on a couple of them. Holding them tightly so, the spoon activator wouldn’t deploy.
Chapter 20
Maree woke from her sleep by the softest of touch. She felt a warm hug surround her and she knew instantly who was hugging her. Every time she got one it made her day. She focused her still opening eyes to see Theresa standing by her side smiling down at her. “Do you need anything sweetie?” She adjusted herself in the chair, feeling her numb legs. Theresa took one of Maree’s arms while helping her up. “I just need to stretch a bit, to get the blood going again.” Theresa waited for her to regain the circulation in her legs and stand. Once she was standing up they hugged again, both smiling like only old friends that have been through life together do.
They went out into the hall to talk while Aubry continued to sleep. “How is she?” Theresa asked. “She is actually quite well considering what she has been through.” “Do you know who she is yet?” Maree asked. Theresa looked into the room at Aubry lying in the bed, “Michael called from the plane and let me know what was going on. I remember him speaking about this time in his life. It was before he met me though. He asked that I come down and be with you while you talk with Aubry, just so I can help her understand the “fabric of the quilt,” that she is part of. I have to tell you he was quite out of sorts when we spoke. He is really having a hard time believing that he is getting another chance to make up for where he felt he failed the worst in his life.” Maree looked at her for a few moments, taking in what she just heard. To her, it seemed very out of the norm for him to have regrets or feel he failed at anything. When he walked around here he was always so self-confident. His humor and personality were infectious to all. “Only you, and maybe Fred, truly know all that makes that man up.” She finally said. Theresa knew she was correct. After all, for the past seventeen years she had seen him morph in front of her eyes. He had changed into the man he is today. She wouldn't have had it any other way. The two of them loved like she imagined it as a young girl. She knew it was a long road to get here, but she also knew the power of the gift they both had in being 'two hearts that come together as one.” Theresa was snatched back to the present when the quiet was shattered by a primal scream from Aubry!!
Both women raced to her bedside. She was waking from a nightmare. She screamed, holding herself tightly as she did so. Theresa saw that the squeezing was making Aubry push her broken ribs towards her lungs. She gently broke the embrace, Aubry had on herself, quietly asking her to wake up. Maree adjusted the IV bag to increase the drip of pain medicine. As Aubry woke from the nightmare she looked at the two women, staring intently at Theresa. As the pain subsided she reached out and touched Theresa’s face.
“I know you. You're the woman that my mom talks about. She always tells the story of the man that showed her a glimpse of what life could be like. She showed me your picture from a year book and told me, 'This woman is the only person I have ever known that could handle that man!!” Theresa and Maree both laughed. “Aubry did we give you too much morphine?” Maree asked. Aubry smiled, realizing how corny the story actually sounds to outsiders. “I apologize if that came out wrong.” She said. Both woman began rubbing her shoulders and assured her that it was okay. Looking back at Theresa Aubry asked “Why are you here?” Theresa shrugged her shoulders, glancing at Maree to see just what may have been said to her about her rescue and her rescuer. Maree look told her that she left that part of the story out.
Theresa took a moment before speaking, praying the prayer of the group “Lord, please don’t let me screw this up!!” she said silently. “Aubry, how much do you know about your mother or the guy that rescued you?” Aubry looked up at the decorated ceiling tiles in thought. After a few minutes she turned her head to speak with Theresa. “I know my mother has made mistake after mistake with her life. I know she has been selling her body to men since she left high school. I know that she understands that there is a God, but she is too afraid to leave her life style for fear of my father and the people he associates with.” Taking a shaky breath she kept speaking. “As a child she kept me from the life. Then she married my father when he finally came back to accept responsibility for knocking her up. That's when our lives changed. My father is a mean man that uses her to make sure he has riches he thinks he is entitled too.” As she spoke they both saw a faraway look in her eyes. “The more money he would make the more he would whore her out. By the time I hit sixteen I couldn’t stand to be around him. He was killing us slowly. When he struck a business partnership with the Pistolaro’s it was the nail in the coffin for our family. The group took over our lives.” She shifted on the bed trying to become more comfortable. When she felt most of the pain dissipate she continued her thought.
“My father had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to gambling and drugs. The gang took over all the debt, which, the way they saw it, made us their property. My mom w
anted to get out of films and the whole scene. My father had ruined all of those ideas. He made a promise to the gang on film schedules and even said he would get me into them in order to pay off the debt. They knew he could never pay back all the money. When he couldn’t get me to go on film the gang took me away. That's how they made her work and film whatever perverted sick ideas they could think of for the movies. She did it believing they would eventually let me go.” The last words came out with a sob. Theresa handed her a tissue and reached for her hand. The touch seemed to give her strength. “That was over a year ago. The only thing I remember about my rescue was a man carrying me out of the house with the softest voice I have ever heard.
I remember thinking it was strange coming from someone that seemed to have such rage and a taste for blood. I saw what he did to the head of the gang. It was as if he was fighting for his own freedom as he killed the man. The whole time I watched I was thanking God for the punishment that was being delivered.”
Theresa looked down at her. Feeling that the time was right, she asked Aubry if her mom has allowed her to pursue knowledge of the Bible. Aubry’s face lit up as she replied. “My mom may act like a whore and sell herself in front of a camera but I always knew that somewhere, deep down, she believed in true love. She just feels like she has to serve some kind of punishment for all she has done with her body. She actually bought me my first bible when I was nine. While my father was gone she would make sure that I spent time reading it. She would even tell me stories she had learned from my grandfather. He was a preacher you know?
“She was always saying “No greater love has a man, than when he lays down his life for a friend.” I've learned, personally over the past year the true meaning of laying your life down. It is not death as so many think; it is realizing that your life still belongs to the Heavenly Father. When you lay your life down, you actually take yourself out of the picture to let God work through you.”
Both women sat looking at her in disbelief. Aubry didn’t know this based on what she was told; she had lived it as a life experience. This fact made both women shiver at the truth she learned so young.
Theresa took a deep breath and said “I wish I had that personal knowledge when I was your age. All I had was religious minutia that I had learned from my mother. You are a remarkable young lady. I am quite honored to have met you.” Maree added her agreement to the sentiment.
All eyes turned to the door as Doc Morgan came in. Reaching her bedside he laid a reassuring hand on her arm. “I need to do another pelvic exam Aubry. I wish I didn’t have to. But we need to assess how much damage has been done.” As Aubry began to protest, Theresa and Maree chiming in that the exam could surely wait until she was stronger, he raised his hand to silence them all. Looking back to Aubry he said “We need to see if you will be able to have children Aubry. And the sooner we can determine the extent of the damage the clearer the picture will be.”
She began to cry. She hadn't even considered that she may not be able to have children. She had always wanted to be a mother. Maree and Theresa moved to each side of her bed, each taking a hand to provide what comfort they could as he and his nurse conducted the exam.
When they finished the exam Theresa looked at him. He gave a wink to her as he turned to speak too Aubry. “You will be fine. It looks like after a few months of healing you will be able to have kids.” She closed her eyes for a moment, “Thank you Lord,” was all she could say.
When they had left the room Maree looked at Theresa and told her quietly that she needed to go check in with the other guests of the house, asking if she would mind staying with Aubry. Theresa smiled as she sat next to Aubry and simply said “K.” With that Maree gave Aubry a kiss on the forehead giving her a gentle hug, then walked from the room
After a few minutes of silence, Aubry looked over at Theresa and asked “May I ask you a question about something you said earlier?” “Sure, ask away.” she replied. “What did you mean when you said you wished you had the knowledge I have? I was always under the impression that you and your husband had no problems in your marriage. You know, that you were always “One Heart” as they would say in the bible? I mean, I don't mean to pry, but....”
For a few minutes the room was silent as Theresa contemplated how to answer her question. Should she tell her the whole story or just give her a reader’s digest version of the seventeen years she had shared with her best friend and lover. Aubry coughed softly to bring her attention back to her.
Theresa smiled hesitantly as she began to speak. “Aubry, we have not always been “one heart” as you say. We struggled for a long time. The first years of our marriage were filled with self-indulgence and selfishness by both of us. I remember the only time we seemed to connect as one was when we were around my father. He just had a way of making us be real and humble. We would talk of God in our house but Michael was more into racing or football than attending church. One day, just after my dad retired from the LAPD we went out to his house to be delivered a blow that would take us into the darkest place anyone could ever go…. ”
Chapter 21
Inside the rig Frank looked over at Michael as they pulled their own balaclava’s down. Franks was just as sinister as the members of the security team. The face itself was that of a man whose skin was blistering and bubbling from chemical burns. It even had the skin peeled back at the neck showing tendons and ligaments. Michaels, on the other hand, was simply the face of the Joker as portrayed in the last Batman movie. That mask scarred Frank more than his own. Looking at Michaels empty hands he asks “You plan on using a weapon Bro?” He took out his favorite knife, the jawbone of the ass, and replied “This is all I need.” Frank smiled.
“We’re 10 seconds from impact guys.” the driver said. Everyone braced themselves as the Armored Excursion smashed through the front of the house. All the men deployed with Frank and Michael as the initial shooters, sans one weapon. Frank picked his targets as he fired three round bursts, the rest of his men doing the same. Michael walked through the barrage of gun fire at his own leisurely pace, knife in hand. As he got further down the hallway a man burst out of the bedroom. Michael buried his blade just inches from his 1% patch. As the victims belly opened his entrails fell to the ground. He screamed in agony as he tried to put his entrails back in the gaping hole that had been carved.
Across the street Raven and Gabriel had thrown most of the grenades when she heard a noise from behind. She turned quickly seeing a biker taking aim. She pushed Gabriel from his crouching position, her Sig firing at the gunman. With a triple tap landing two to the heart one to his skull he was dead before he hit the ground. Gabriel gave her a silent nod of thanks.
With the grenades expended they could see the other bikers as they came running from the clubhouse. Gabriel would see a target of opportunity and dispatch him. She was handling anyone coming out the back. Then suddenly the rest of the team was out in the street. They had cleared the clubhouse in less than thirty seconds. As they all looked across the street they could see the muzzle flashes die down in the house as well. What they couldn’t see was the way Michael had entered the filming room.
He walked into the room to find “Candy” strapped to some kind of bondage platform, completely naked. The sight of her in this way sickened him. From the corner of his eye he saw movement. Turning quickly he saw José’s oldest brother coming at him with a baseball bat; when he swung the bat he ducked bringing his knife up, slicing into the douche bags inner thigh, the blade moving effortlessly through the femoral artery. The Douche Bag never felt a thing as the blade was so sharp. He just saw his blood begin to spurt in time with each beat of his heart. As his blood shot across the room he dropped the bat in disbelief. Reaching for Michael he grasped his throat trying to choke him. Michael just looked his enemy in the eyes as his life ran out him. As he pushed him to the ground he felt a bullet hit the wall, barely missing his head. Turning, he knew the gunman instantly. Reaching up he pulled the balaclava from his face. He
stared straight into the eyes of Mr. Kevin Adams, Porn King, Drug King, and all around piece of shit. When Kevin recognized him he lowered the weapon to his side. Instantly Michael closed the gap between them and slammed the handle of his knife into his jaw. Stumbling from the impact Kevin shouted “Wait! I thought you were here to save us!” Michael hit him again squarely between his eyes. He felt the cartilage in his nose give way as blood sprayed over his hand. Before Kevin had time to react Michael punched him in the chest with such force that he lifted him off his feet and slammed him into the contraption that held his wife. Holding his hands up in a sign of surrender he begged “What the hell man!?! Why are you doing this?” Michael looked at him with cold steel in his eyes. “That’s easy, because you are a useless piece of shit!!” He answered with a kick to his groin for punctuation. Screaming in agony he wretched and puked uncontrollably sliding to the floor.
Michael could see Mary clearly now. He saw the bruises that covered her body. This sealed Kevin’s fate. Reaching out he took hold of Kevin’s throat, in the blink of an eye his throat was ripped out, his death breath gurgling through the blood that was trickling from the open whole in his trachea.
Michael could no longer hear the operators in the house. He heard Frank as he sent an all clear through the comm. standing slowly after wiping the blood from his hands on the dead man’s body, he turned his attention to Mary. He tried to undo the bindings that held her to the contraption but he had no clue where to start. “Hey, can you help me, and tell me how to get you out of this damn thing?” he asked her with a huge hint of sarcasm ringing through his voice. She instructed him to lift it upright and she would help him from there. He followed her orders raising the device upright. He stopped and looked into the golden eyes he had known so many years ago. “Hi Mary, long time no see.” She just stared in disbelief. “Michael MacAllister is it really you?” She said in disbelief “It is. Now how the hell do I get you out of here?” She had him unlock the shackles on her wrists and ankles.
The Road to Lazarus (The First book in the diaries of Lazarus House) Page 12
