Willie Mays has been constantly turning the steering wheel left then right, hoping to jerk the little car free, intermittently slamming on the brakes, then hitting the accelerator.
This random act of driving is working. As the Toyota rocks like rowboat in a tsunami, it starts to unhinge itself from the Hummer.
Finally, at a tiny clearing. Willie Mays makes a sharp 180-degree turn and breaks free.
As the Hummer comes flying by, JJ throws three metal stars, this time at the driver’s side window.
The first star bounces harmlessly off the Hummer’s reinforced glass window. So does the second.
The third star is aimed at the Hummer’s driver’s side front tire.
Success! As rugged as the H3 tires are, it can’t protect itself from the razor-sharp star launched with the velocity from a major-league baseball pitcher.
The metal pentangle slices into the rubber like a hot knife into butter.
A fourth star is launched into the passenger side tire. The disabled Hummer flies out of control, spinning, capsizing and bursting into flames.
Shaolin versus Hummer. Knock one up for kung fu.
The Toyota keeps on truckin’.
***
“Who was that, and how did they know how to find us?” asks Olivia, cringing as she looks out the back window and sees the burning military-quality all-terrain vehicle.
“Obviously not random, so someone is tracking us - probably through one of our cell phones. If that’s the case, there is someone with serious coin who either has his own advanced GPS tracking system or bought off some rat at Homeland, FBI or NYPD,” says Willie Mays.
Willie Mays pulls over at a rest stop. “We got to get rid of the phones now. Where we’re going, 911 ain’t much use. And at this point, I don’t want anyone to be able to find us.”
“Just a sec. One more text, and I’m done.” Olivia looks at her surroundings, then starts typing.
“Why don’t you just call,” asks Willie Mays.
“Just in case... ” Olivia lets the sentence linger. Just in case he never woke up.
“Understood.”
If Olivia, JJ and Willie Mays knew the truth, they’d have saved their money and kept the phones. They were found not because of some bribe paid to a worker at one of the public safety units but because of Igor. After he stabbed JJ at the 7th, the martial artist was in such pain that he didn’t notice a micro-tracking device by his pants cuff.
When the Hummer rear-ended the Toyota, another tracking device was hooked onto the Japanese vehicle’s rear bumper. Same with the panel truck.
Alexei may be a boor but he’s not a dumb boor.
And he definitely wasn’t dumb enough to ride in the Hummer.
“Hey!” JJ suddenly jumps out of the Toyota and starts running down the side of the highway.
Olivia and Willie Mays look down the road to see what JJ is running at.
It’s Abby.
***
DING! There’s a message on Noah’s phone.
I hope you’re okay. We are at the rest stop 496 on Garden State Parkway. Going dark now. Not sure where next. And one more thing... I love you. Olivia.
No, no. This is not good. She’d only say that if she thought she wasn’t going to make it through to wherever she’s going.
“We gotta get there fast,” says Noah as he gets up and starts pulling the needles out of his body. “If it’s off road, what kind of cab can I get to go in?”
“No need for that,” says Zach. “We’ll go back to the hospital. Ours is an emergency facility, and you can hire a chopper to take you there.”
***
The twenty kids have all been deposited at The Barn. Some are passed out, some are high, some are sick. All of them are glad to be alive.
There’s not a chance that any of them will try to escape even though the door of their chain-link fence is unlocked. In fact, they’d prefer that the door was locked. That way, any of the what seems like thousands of leopards on the other side of the fence wouldn’t be able to get at them.
They are not all entirely freaked. The two boys, Sam and Walrus, have already had their experience with out-of-control animals. Sam had a nasty time in China with snakes. When he got together with Walrus in New York, cranes were the flavor of the day. Some of the animals were natural, some were genetically modified, all of them were dangerous. Both are happy that Noah and JJ were there to help.
But most of the girls are simply too terrified to move. They’ve never seen leopards in the zoo let alone a dozen feet away. The only exception is Tanya, and if she weren’t stoned out of her gourd, she would likely be afraid as well.
Walrus and Sam watch the animals roam freely and marvel at their agility, gracefulness, speed and lean muscular physiques. It’s also depressing because it seems like that cats have no weaknesses.
“Man, this sucks,” says Walrus.
“They gotta have an Achilles heel. Everyone does.” says Sam as he picks up a stone off the dirt floor.
“What you doing with that?” snaps Walrus.
“Challenge,” dares Sam.
“Challenge what?” asks the spindly black teen.
“See if you can hit that cat in the head,” says Sam as he points to a leopard thirty yards away.
“What you want to do that for?”
“A hunch. I’ll go first.”
Sam throws the stone. It passes through the chain-link fence and is en route to hit his target.
Walrus throws too, but his rocket is knocked off target because part of it nicks the wires of the fence.
Sam’s rock hits the leopard straight in the head. Walrus’ stone goes about sixty feet off target and bounces a couple of times in front of a sleeping leopard. With a final bounce, the stone lightly hits the animal in the face.
Both leopards leap to the ready and begin to pace - someone has violated their territory. They spot each other, then snarl as the smaller cat approaches the bigger one.
The small cat then paws at the bigger one.
Angered, the big cat leaps on the small one and tries to bite it.
The small cat pulls back, and the big cat moves in aggressively. It bites the small cat on the neck.
The small cat digs its nails into the big cat’s back.
A ferocious battle of biting and clawing at each other’s bodies, heads and necks ensues. Neither giving up an inch, they roll on the ground with the small cat biting on the bigger cat’s head.
Exhausted, both animals take a breather, lying side by side, then renew their attacks on each other.
This time, the bigger cat’s superior strength prevails. Successive bites on the smaller leopard’s body draws blood.
The smaller animal bites back in return, but it cannot match the strength of the larger one. However, its nails claws at the top of the eyelid of the larger cat and pulls, dragging the eye out of its socket.
Enraged, the big cat opens its jaws wide and chomps down hard on the head of the smaller cat. Energy spent, the small cat cannot move as the canines of the large cat sink deeper and deeper into its head.
The small cat stills, and the larger cat releases its victim. It circles the unconscious smaller cat, marking his territory with his urine. The big cat then disappears into the artificial forest.
Inside the protected area, all the kids have watched with rapt attention.
“Whoa, that was totally scary,” says Walrus.
“Yeah, it was but we learned something too,” says Sam softly.
“What?”
“I noticed that none of the leopards hung out with each other. They’re pretty solitary and sensitive animals with really hot tempers. Our throwing stuff at them didn’t hurt them hardly at all, but it was enough to provoke each of them to want to murder the other.”
“And how is that useful?”
“Not sure yet,” muses Sam. “But I’m sure we’ll figure that out.”
***
Abby is totally traumatized by her experience on th
e bus. When JJ caught up to her, she barely acknowledged him. She didn’t respond to his touch and was zombie like when Olivia and Willie Mays caught up to the pair in the car.
“Where are the girls?” asks Olivia gently.
Abby waves her hand in the air toward an almost hidden one-lane dirt path about a hundred yards down.
“Shall we go there?” asks Olivia.
Abby initially shakes her head - vehemently no.
She then bursts into tears. “Please save them. There’s no one else.”
All nod in agreement, and the battered Toyota snakes down the winding dirt road.
Nobody’s much in the mood for talking, but Abby does move closer to JJ and grips his hand.
After half an hour, it seemed like heaven was opening up because not fifty yards away was a large clearing with a number of buildings on it - they had reached The Ranch. They also see the burnt-out frame of the octagonal arena.
“That’s what you get for building something far away from a fire department,” whispers Willie Mays.
Then from The Barn, two young men exit, running out with unmuzzled and unleashed leopards. The dash across the compound before disappearing into the woods.
JJ speaks softly. “Their tattoos are the same ones that Noah and I saw when we rescued the girls. This must be where they are based. This must be the home of the Leopard gang.”
“Odd place for that in the middle of nowhere, don’t you think?” asks Willie Mays.
“Depends on how many leopards they have. The three of you stay here while I go first and check it out.”
“And leave us here like sitting ducks?” asks Olivia.
“Fifteen minutes. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes,” says JJ.
***
“Hey, Prince, we got company,” says one henchman as he comes into Prince’s gym where he is sparring with another of his men.
“Took them long enough,” says Prince, as he lands one final kick on the jar of his opponent.
The henchman points to another screen where Olivia, Abby and Willie Mays are seen sitting in the Toyota. “They’re just sitting there. Dunno what they’re waiting for.”
“There must be another,” says Prince. “Look at all the cameras.”
“You can see for yourself, Prince. There is nothing else.”
Prince looks carefully at all the monitors in the bank of screens on the wall. There is no other person or movement anywhere.
“We cannot see him, but I sense it in the air. We will make him show himself.”
“Clear The Ranch, then give the order to release Frisco.”
“You got it, boss.”
In thirty seconds, the entire compound is devoid of humans. Then Frisco, looking more menacing than ever with his six feet in body length and more than two hundred pounds in weight wanders into sight.
A gun shot sounds and snaps the feline into attention to danger. Its gaze shifts around the perimeter, then it starts bounding toward the trees.
***
JJ, hidden in the brush, sees the ferocious Frisco sprinting right at him. He quickly leaps up, grabs a branch and swings himself up onto a tree.
Frisco runs to the base of the tree and jumps and jumps, trying to claw at JJ.
***
Prince, staring at the monitors, focuses on JJ. He speaks softly with excitement. “He is Shaolin, and he is a master. Look at his eyes. Look at the way he moves.”
Every one in the room watches with rapt attention as Frisco gnashes, snarls and claws at JJ high in the tree. The cat continues leaping to no avail.
Then the cat switches tactics.
Frisco begins to climb the tree. His claws dig into the bark of the tree’s trunk, and he slowly ascends the fifteen feet to the limb that JJ sits on.
“That crazy mother’s not moving,” says one of the henchmen.
“He’s showing Frisco he’s not scared of him,” says Prince.
“Just fire another bullet, and Frisco will be all over him,” says the henchman.
“No! I want to see what he is going to do,” snaps Prince.
Now Frisco is on the same tree limb as JJ.
Instead of jumping off the tree or backing away, JJ slowly approaches the leopard. When he is three feet away, JJ suddenly springs at the cat and locks its head in a headlock with one arm and with the other quickly delivers at blow to the animal’s temple.
The stunned Frisco snaps at JJ, but JJ repels each of the animal’s attempts with blows to its eyes, nose and temples.
The tree branch rocks more and more as the battle grows fiercer.
Finally, the limb snaps. JJ grabs the cat and uses it as a landing cushion.
Frisco is knocked unconscious.
JJ lifts the animal over his head, then squats. He springs into the air, throwing Frisco a dozen feet into the air.
He catches her on the way down and lays the leopard gently on the ground.
***
Alexei sits in the back of his black Mercedes. “Can you move any faster?”
“You want me to wreck the transmission on your car?”
“I just don’t like it. Why did Chinaman go to see Prince? Maybe he’s the reason Prince is trying to cancel the deal. No one reneges on Alexei. No one.”
As the Russian continues ranting, he’s getting more and more worked up. His face is crimson, sweat drips from his face and he looks like he’s going to burst every blood vessel in his body.
Years ago, Zubov had suggested Alexei keep leather cushions around to punch when he got angry. Alexei has not stopped pounding the one in the Mercedes ever since he saw the Hummer go up in flames.
Alexei yells, “The only thing worse than a Russian is a Chinaman. And the only thing worser than one Chinaman is two Chinamen. I’m going to kill them both. And I’m going to get my girls!”
CHAPTER 23
Abby, Olivia and Willie Mays have watched spellbound as JJ battled the leopard. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Not so fast. Look there,” says Willie Mays as he points to JJ, who is walking towards the open compound.
JJ points directly to the camera - You!
JJ then points directly to himself - Me!
“He’s crazy. He just issued a challenge,” says Willie Mays.
“No, he’s who he is. Shaolin,” says Abby.
It doesn’t take long for there to be an answer. Prince exits the building and walks to face JJ.
There is a tap on the window. It is Li Peng. He motions with his AR-15 for them to come out.
***
Inside The Barn, Walrus, Sam and the kids crowd around the window.
“Whoa, this is going to be some battle, don’t you think?” asks Walrus.
“Look. He’s got his goons surrounding the perimeter. Even JJ can’t handle that,” says Lydia.
“You don’t know that ninja,” says Sam.
The door to The Barn opens. One of Prince’s men walks in.
***
“You have my friends. You will release them to me,” says JJ coldly.
“You abandoned them,” sneers Prince. “They belong to me.”
“They belong to no one.”
“No, I paid for Lydia, Mei and Ling Ling. Alexei paid for the Russians,” says Prince. “Slavery is real. Ownership is real. I will do anything to protect my property.”
He whistles loudly.
From The Barn, a henchman brings out Lydia and Walrus. They walk toward Prince.
From the sleeping quarters, a henchman brings out Ling Ling. She is battered, with two black eyes and barely limps out.
She falls at Prince’s feet and clings to him. “She spent last night with me and came to realize certain things.”
Ling Ling mumbles in a stoned kind of way. “Prince is the one I want. Prince is the one I love. I belong to him.”
Prince rips off her top. The rest of her body is as bruised as her face. “If you don’t want this to happen to the rest of the girls, you will wire me five hundred million dollars.”
/> The sight of Ling Ling’s battered body is too much for JJ. He charges at Prince and begins wailing on him.
Prince is up to the task and trades punch for punch with him.
***
Alexei’s car emerges from a dirt road. Alexei sees JJ and Prince fighting. The big Russian roars in approval.
“Kill them both.”
The driver puts pedal to the metal and drives right at JJ and Prince. The two combatants have to switch focus and leap to the side out of the way.
The Mercedes brakes and turns around. AK-47s poke out of the windows.
The gunmen start shooting at JJ and Prince.
“Hit them,” roars Alexei.
The two jump, duck, zig, zag, handspring... an incredible acrobatic display is put on as Prince and JJ avoid being hit.
Everyone else stands immobile, frozen with fear, or maybe it’s the knowledge that they are not the targets.
Alexei sticks out of the car and takes aim at Prince’s man holding Larissa and Walrus. The thug tries to scramble out of the way, but he is nowhere near as nimble as Prince or JJ.
Three shots take him out easily.
With gunfire ringing all around, Alexei gets out of the car and kneels to the crying Larissa. He speaks in soothing tones, “Where is everyone else, Lara?”
The young girl nods in the direction of The Barn. “Inside there.”
Alexei, holding the Kalashnikov with one hand and Larissa with the other, walks to The Barn. He opens the door and quickly closes it. “There are leopards running and jumping all over the place.”
“Where did you expect my pets to live?” snaps Prince as he rolls out of the way of yet another blistering barrage of fire.
SLAVERY UNBOUND: Cruelty & Lust with the Emerging Eastern Mafia (Noah Reid Action Thriller series Book 4) Page 15
