Rampage

by Roy A. Teel, Jr.

  Jim took a drink of his beer and said, “And you want to tell me about it?” “Yeah…you, Chris, and I need to talk. There’s not much time. This thing is going to blow sky high, and I do mean that literally and figuratively.” “Well, I’m just sitting here with Jade. We stopped off here after the Pinskey scene and the fun news conference and interviews I had to give. So come on down. Do you want me to send Jade away?” “No…she knows about the case, just not the gravity of it…she can stay. I will be there in five minutes. Chris might beat me. I don’t know. He got hit in the solar plexus with a brick, so I’m sure he will be sore.” Jim started laughing, “John, I know you think that Chris is cut out for police work, but I don’t see it. The guy is most likely going to end up dead the way he’s been going.” “Don’t say anything to him about it, okay? The kid has had a hell of a past few days.”

  Jim saw Chris walking in the front door of Santiago’s as John spoke. “Yeah…what the fuck, just get your ass here. Jade and I have jobs to do, and Chris just walked in.” Jim hung up, and he and Jade sat drinking their beers when Chris walked over to the table. He was walking a little slow and was favoring his midsection. Jim called out to Javier to get Chris a coke, but Chris waved him off and said, “I need a shot of tequila and a Corona.” Jim let out a deep belly laugh as he put in the order for Chris. Jim said, “Javier, one shot of Patrón for my amigo and a Corona…” Jim took the last hit off his cigarette as the drinks came. Chris took the shot and chased it with a swallow of beer. He sat back in his chair, and a sense of calm came over him.

  Jim looked at him and said, “Maybe there’s hope for you yet. You’re starting to drink like a cop…now if you could just keep from getting your ass kicked by the fuckin’ bad guys we might get somewhere with you.” John was within earshot when Jim said it and saw the empty shot glass and the beer. “That bad, huh?” Chris looked at John and said, “Oh mother fucker…yeah, it’s that fuckin’ bad.” Jade laughed and said, “You will be fine, Chris, just keep taking deep breaths. I have to get going. You want to have dinner tonight?” Chris shook his head and said, “No thank you, Jade. I have other plans.”

  Jade looked at him crossly and said, “Don’t tell me that you’re seeing someone else?” John and Jim just looked away as Jade stood over Chris with her hands on her hips. “Yes, Jade. I’m sorry. I’m seeing someone else.” She picked up her purse and put on her sunglasses. “Well, I know she’s not a better fuck than me.” John laughed under his breath as Jim said nothing. Jade looked at John and asked, “What’s so funny, Mr. Swenson?” “Nothing…it’s just that Chris has started seeing Karen.” Jade’s face dropped, and she looked at Chris and said, “You’re dating a damn eighteen-year-old kid? You’re ten years older than her. What the hell could you two possibly have in common?” Chris took another hit off the beer and said, “Surprisingly enough, more than you might think.” Jade huffed and walked out of the bar.

  John looked at the two men and said, “We have major trouble brewing. There’s one more target of this small crew of killers, and then all hell is going to break loose on a school full of kids, and there’s no way that I’m going to let it happen.”

  The black Mustang came screeching around the corner and into the driveway. Jerry parked in the garage and walked into the house where Tim, Alan, and Debbie were sitting. “Where the fuck is Mark?” Jerry cried. “Dead…Jerry. Mark and Dell are dead,” Alan said in a monotone voice. “And how the fuck do you know that?” Alan stood up and paced the room. “I know that because I had my life saved this afternoon by the Iron Eagle.” Jerry’s face went sheet white, and he fell down into one of the kitchen chairs, taking deep breaths. He took a moment and then looked at Alan and said, “Explain it to me very slowly.” Alan commenced to tell the whole story with Jerry hanging on his every word. When he finished, Tim looked at Jerry and said, “We are in way over our heads now. The Iron fuckin’ Eagle knows our plot. He fuckin’ killed Johnny Belk to save Alan, and the Eagle knows not only about Mark and Brad Dell, but he claims they are both dead. Am I the only one who can see that this ship is sinking?”

  Jerry sat back in his chair and said, “Alan is still the cleanest of us all. He hasn’t actually committed any crime.” Debbie looked at Jerry and said, “He might not have pulled the trigger that killed Rocky, Greta, or Beth, or dropped the deadly modified plumb that killed Brian, but he knows all about it, and he is an accessory to all of the murders. He also knows about the plot for the school killings. He’s not clean by a long shot.” Jerry started pacing and said, “Well…the Eagle is sensitive to our situations. He understands. Hell, he even helped Alan kill Johnny. I’m sure he will understand how the rest of the plot must be carried out.” Alan shook his head and said, “No, he won’t understand. He made it very clear after he threw Johnny into the wood chipper.”

  Tim looked on as Jerry paced and said, “I need to take out Billy Stone, and we need to get the fuck out of Dodge.” Jerry stopped pacing and looked at the rest of them and said, “No fuckin’ way…we have plotted and planned this for nearly two years. We are not stopping now. Threats from this Iron Eagle guy or not. If he gets in our way, I will kill him myself.” There was a round of laughter at the table, and Jerry sat back down with an angry look on his face. Tim said, “You think that you are any match for the Eagle? Come on, man…we have been getting revenge on bullies who did horrible things to us, and, hell, we have fucked up most of those. Mark got himself killed and most likely by the Eagle. You’re going to kill the Iron Eagle, Jerry? The guy who stopped a terrorist plot to kill the president. The man who is known for hunting and killing other killers. No…Jerry…you’re not…we are not. We go up against the Eagle … especially now that he has told Alan he knows our plot…and the only thing that’s going to happen is the four of us will end up tortured and dead. I say we take out Stone and then get as far away from the valley as possible and start new lives somewhere else.”

  Debbie nodded as did Alan, but Jerry remained defiant. “I will not give up this cause because of some psycho killer. The plan is moving forward if I have to kill all of you and do it myself.” Tim stood up and pulled a Glock from the back of his pants. He held it in Jerry’s direction and said, “You have gone over the edge. You killed Brian, your own fuckin’ father, and your neighbor, and now you dare to sit there and threaten us? Who the FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I hate to break it to you, pal, but we are all you have. I think the Eagle’s a badge. He knows what these guys did to us. I think he also knew about Dell, and I think he knows about Hameln, and if he knows about Hameln and the shit he’s been doing to kids at the school for decades, it’s only a matter of time before he ends up in the hands of the Eagle. I don’t know what he knows or how much he knows, but he knows something, and in a case like ours anyone outside of our small group having a little knowledge will be a deadly thing for us. So…I’m taking Alan and Debbie with me, and we are going to get rid of Stone, and then we are going to keep on driving, never looking back and getting the hell out of California.”

  Jerry sat staring down the barrel of the gun pointed at him. “You know, Tim, there’s a very, very strict rule when it comes to guns.” Jerry was speaking as he stood up. “And what rule is that, Jerry?” Tim took his eyes off him for a fraction of a second…a fraction too long. Tim never heard the shot; he never felt the bullet that struck him under the right jaw and exited out the back of his head. Tim slumped over the table, and Debbie screamed at the gaping hole in Tim’s head. His body slid down the table and onto the floor. Debbie was watching Tim dying and didn’t see Alan running out of the room for the back door. She looked up, and the world was moving in slow motion. She saw Jerry turning and calling in a slow long drawl, “Baanng…baanng…you’re…dead!” Deb saw a puff of blood come off of Alan’s shoulder as he turned the corner into the kitchen and out of her sight. The chair that Jerry had been sitting in was hurling through the air behind him as he started to move in Alan’s direction. He was calling out in wo
rds that Debbie didn’t understand. Then in a flash, slow motion turned to high speed. She could hear several more gun shots as Jerry rounded the doorway into the kitchen.

  Deb leaned down over Tim’s lifeless body but could see nothing but death in his dilated eyes. She didn’t realize it, but she was holding his blown open skull in her hands. She dropped him to the floor and ran out the front door of the house. She heard the sound of a car engine revving and the sound and smell of burnt rubber as Alan’s silver car came careening across the front yard in her direction. She could see the passenger window was down, and she saw Jerry walking around the corner of the house across the driveway, firing as he walked. Debbie leaped in the direction of Alan’s passenger window and landed face first in the passenger seat with her legs hanging out the window. She felt a sharp pain in her left calf but reached out for anything to hold onto as the car fishtailed down the street. And then, as fast as it had started, there was silence except for the hum of the engine. She felt the car moving down the street at great speed and off in the distance she could hear sirens.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “We can’t save the foot.

  We have to amputate.”

  Karen and Sara were in the doctor’s lounge when they were paged to the ER. Karen looked at Sara and said, “Just once I would like to finish a meal here without getting run out for an emergency call.” Sara smiled and said, “That’s why it’s called emergency medicine. We are here to handle emergencies…and an emergency isn’t planned, kid.” There were two quick pops, and Karen and Sara looked at each other and ran for the ER entrance hall. They came around the corner to see two hospital security guards lying face down on the floor with blood pooled around them and a tall thin man with a girl over his shoulder and a weapon in his hand.

  “I need a goddamn doctor, and I need one now,” Alan screamed with Debbie’s limp body hanging over his shoulder. Karen and Sara walked slowly in his direction, and Karen called out and said, “We are doctors...” Alan looked around and pointed the gun at the two women and said, “I need you two to help my friend. She’s bleeding really badly and needs help.” Sara walked slowly in Alan’s direction, and Karen followed and said, “Follow me.” Alan pointed the gun at her as the staff in the halls took whatever cover they could find. “No tricks, bitch, or I will waste you and your kid.” Sara pointed to a set of closed double doors and said, “No tricks. We are here to help you. Bring your friend this way.” Sara and Karen were walking in front of Alan who was staggering a bit while following them into the ER and to a room with a gurney.

  Karen said, “Lay her down here.” Alan looked around and saw a few others hiding and said, “If anyone tries anything, these two are dead!” Alan was pointing the gun at Sara and Karen, and Karen said, “Sir…you’re bleeding, and so is your friend. If you put her down, we can see what’s wrong and try to help her and you.” Alan laid Debbie on the gurney then moved over to the smoked glass door and closed it. He pointed the gun at them and said, “Help her! I’m fine.” Debbie was breathing, but it was labored. Sara looked down to see that her right foot had been nearly blown off, and she was losing blood fast. “I need a tourniquet, stat.” Karen opened a drawer and handed Sara a plastic kit. She ripped it open and wrapped the plastic kit around the wound and cinched it tight, and the bleeding stopped. “We need to type and cross her. We also need a surgical team in here and at least four units of O negative, stat.”

  Karen moved over to a phone on the wall, and Alan fired a shot near her head. “You’re not calling the goddamn police. Get away from the phone.” Karen turned around and said in a calm voice, “You nearly killed me…and it is only me and Doctor Swenson over there who are going to save your friend’s life. She needs blood, or she will die, and she needs it now. Now, if you’re her friend, put the gun down and help us save her. I have to call for other emergency doctors to help.” Alan waved the gun and said, “Call, get the blood, get the staff you need, but make no mistakes. I see so much as a badge, and I’m going to kill the both of you. If my friend dies, I’m going to kill everyone in this damn hospital.”

  Karen picked up the phone while looking Alan in the eye and said, “This is Doctor Faber. We need four units of O negative blood, stat, in ER room two. We also need a crash cart and a surgical team.” Karen hung up the line, and Alan slumped over the back of a chair, and she could see that he was shot in the shoulder. “We need to get your friend to an operating room.” “No fuckin’ way. You treat her here and now, or I swear the last thing you will hear will be silence.” “We are going to need to have other people in the room, and we need them now.”

  “No…you two are the only ones who can work on my friend. Just get her to where I can take her and get out of here.” Karen was still calm as Sara worked to stop the bleeding in Debbie’s lower leg and foot. “What’s your name?” Alan looked over at Karen and asked, “What the fuck does my name have to do with saving my friend? Ted…call me Ted.” There was a knock on the ER door, and Alan swung wildly in the direction of the sound with his weapon. Sara cried out, “THAT IS THE EQUIPMENT AND MEDICINE WE NEED TO STABILIZE YOUR FRIEND. SHE IS IN SHOCK, AND IF WE DON’T GET HER BLOOD AND MEDICATIONS, SHE WILL DIE, AND IT WILL BE YOUR FAULT!”

  Alan lowered the gun, and Karen ran to the door and opened it. Three other doctors rushed in. Alan was far enough away from Debbie and the door that no one could rush him, and he watched with the gun trained on Sara and Karen as they worked to save Debbie.

  The emergency call went out to all law enforcement as John and Chris were driving back to the office on Wilshire. Chris was following John when the call came over the radio of a hostage situation at Northridge Hospital in the ER. Chris had looked away for a fraction of a second, and when he looked back, all he could see and hear were John’s tail lights and the sound of his siren heading off into the distance on the 405 Freeway. Chris hit his siren and followed as they headed for the Roscoe exit.

  Jim was racing down Roscoe with his radio in his hand barking out orders for a SWAT team and a hostage negotiator. He heard John’s voice come over the radio calling for the very same thing. Jim threw the cigarette he was smoking out the driver’s side window as he turned into the parking lot at Northridge. He jumped out of the cruiser like he was twenty and started barking orders to LAPD and sheriffs who were on scene.

  “What’s the fuckin’ status in there?” Jim yelled. One of his deputies who was behind his car with his weapon drawn and trained on the front entrance to the ER said, “I don’t know, sir; we have several reports of multiple hostages and several hospital security officers down.” Jim worked his way over near the entrance where three other officers were on each side of the entrance to the ER.

  “Has anyone made entrance?” The four officers shook their heads. Jim heard the screech of tires and looked over to see John and Chris parking behind his car and several other FBI vehicles and a truck with an armored assault vehicle on a trailer parking on Roscoe. They were blocking off the street as the men approached. Chris asked, “What do we know?” Jim looked on and said, “We don’t know a goddamn thing. Supposedly multiple hostages, possibly several injured security officers and not much else.” John looked around the area and asked, “Has anyone made entrance to the building?” Jim shook his head. John looked on and asked, “And no one has made contact with the hostage takers?” Jim shook his head.

  Jim said, “I have ordered a hostage negotiator and my SWAT team. I know you did the same, John. That’s all I know right this second. Is Sara on duty?” John nodded and Chris said, “So is Karen. She told me this morning she was working today.” John looked down at his phone. It was half past four p.m. He said, “Time is not on our side here. I’m pretty sure that Sara and Karen are in the thick of this. Chris, follow me. I know a way in that won’t draw attention.” Jim said, “John…don’t do it. You could end up getting everyone in there killed.” John said nothing as he and Chris ran across the back part of the parking lot and
over to the medical building adjacent to the emergency room. Jim cursed under his breath, “Fuck, John. You’re going to get everyone in there killed.”

  Several cars pulled up on scene from Jim’s office as well as FBI personnel. He saw Barry Ross stepping from one of the FBI vans. Barry had been a hostage negotiator for the Bureau for decades. Jim walked over to him, and Barry said, “Hello Jim. Where’s John?” “I don’t know, Barry, but you better make contact with whoever is in there because all hell’s breaking loose, and it’s going to get even worse.” Barry patted him on the shoulder and said, “I will establish contact, and we will talk to whoever is in there. I will talk them down, I promise.” Jim walked off in the direction of his own men and looked for John and Chris, but there was no sign of either of them.

  Jerry was alone in the house. Tim’s body was slumped against the wall where he had dragged it when he came in after shooting Alan and Debbie. He looked around and said to himself, “There’s no way those two survived their gunshots. I got them both good. Now I need to finish this once and for all.” He grabbed Tim’s laptop and pulled up TOR and got the information he needed for the containers at Northridge Mall. The sirens were getting louder, and he took the laptop and two duffle bags that Tim had and ran out and threw them in his car. He fired up the Mustang and headed for the mall with a smaller arsenal of weaponry than he would have liked and was lighter on manpower, too.

  He was cutting across Sherman Way headed for Tampa, which would take him to the mall and Anchor Store five. He looked at the clock on the dashboard; it was four thirty. “I can do this. I can set up the explosives. I have the time. With all of those pussies out of the way, I can finish this once and for all then jump a flight to Aruba and relax on a beach.” Jerry’s eyes were wild and crazy. “I can do this. I can make the kills and go to Aruba and live it up. There are no more cock suckers holding me down. I can do this.” He sped off down Tampa to the mall, humming one of his favorite songs and smiling.