Jean glanced at Sonny, trying not to let the startled feeling at Dickerson’s words reach her features. Sonny shrugged. She turned again to Neil. “Dad briefed you about that, Uncle Neil?”
“Nick knows I’d cut my own tongue out rather than betray him. He informed me because Santa Cruz County is in the neighborhood and no one is certain when they will strike. Your Dad told me… hey… do you have Nick in your ear?”
Jean shook her head. “Mom and Dad know Gus, John, and Cala are with us. They packed it in. We’re meeting at Otter’s Point when we finish. You’re invited.”
“I can’t. I’m staying on this gangbanger bust to the end. Anyway, Nick told me there are as many as a hundred Middle East refugees operating in a hidden compound behind a ranch front along Glen Haven Road, building a small town with new arrivals every day. It’s meant to be one of those No-Go Zones where they plan to install their own guards and Sharia Law, complete with training facility. He put me on alert in case I get word of anything happening suspiciously down here. I put out a vague alert to the Carmel and Monterey departments so we could exchange any hint of attacks or suicide bombings. It’s tough though. We’re hanging on by a thread as tourist retreats. I hope to hell you all end them. I’m sick of this shit.”
“I hear you,” Jean replied. “We’re discussing finalization on our joint action. John Harding, along with Clint and Lynn Dostiene are meeting us to discuss a way to proceed. As usual we have to map out the collateral damage in some politically correct format. It’s either that or a kill mission. You’re not the only one sick of this Sharia Law No-Go Zones like Dearbornistan. Dad and Harding tackled a No-Go Zone near Santa Clara when I was a kid. The Muslims of the Americas tried to begin an enclave there with Sharia Law posters and copied Dearborn, Michigan’s creeping jihad idea of incrementally seizing control of an area.”
“Nick said this bunch have kept their recruitment completely under the radar,” Neil replied. “He told me they built the gated community with armed guards.”
“During their undercover building project, some of the Santa Cruz County’s stranger inhabitants began disappearing,” Sonny said. “Since it has happened in that area before, it took multiple disappearances before anyone in authority paid any attention. Inquiries to the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Department drew Clint and Lynn’s attention. They’re the early warning system for Harding’s crew involving Muslim jihadist activity.”
“Dad found out from Clint that they plan to keep expanding separating walls, along with making the inner compounds impervious to most conventional weapons. Once Clint alerted Harding’s tech guy, Jafar, they coordinated an attack on the so called community of Ramoi until Jafar infiltrated every communication sent, received, and shared there. Those creepy munchkins, as Cala calls them, think they have the makings of a new Caliphate out of the public eye.”
“The Michigan militias are still fighting to control Dearbornistan and the surrounding enclaves there,” Quinn said. “At some point we’re going to need a more substantive action in the big Muslim population zones. Half of their population are still playing the wait and see card. They aren’t assimilated Americans. They’re waiting for the opportunity to jump on the dying corpse of America the moment their brethren lie and murder their way to our destruction. The government won’t intercede on a large scale, nor will the authorities in charge locally.”
“Jean, is it okay if I walk Sammy down to Otter’s Point from here,” Benny asked. “He needs a longer outing and walk.”
Jean hugged her adopted brother. “You did great today, Benny. Sure… go ahead. I’ll keep my com unit in. You do the same. Dad would bite my head off if I didn’t take precautions like he used to.”
“Absolutely,” Benny said with a grin. “Nice seeing you, Uncle Neil.”
“Take care, Benny.” Neil watched Benny and one of the most savage dogs he’d ever seen in action walk away. “Great kid. What the hell ever got into Nick to suddenly adopt a child of the abyss? That place you all hit to get Benny and those thugs was a hell-hole.”
Jean shrugged. “Same as Dad adopting Sammy the Werewolf. His hunches are scary good.”
Neil chuckled. “Sammy the Werewolf, huh? It fits him. I knew Nick would miss Deke’s passing too much not to adopt a replacement. Benny and Sammy are like they’re joined at the hip.”
“More true than you think,” Quinn agreed. “If we ever wanted to discipline Benny, we’d have to shoot Sammy with a tranquilizer dart.”
“You’re right about Deke’s passing. It hit Dad harder than Mom and me. Deke was his beer buddy for over a decade. You saw the contraption Dad made for Deke when his hind legs gave out to arthritis. Dad would still carry Deke upstairs to our ocean viewing room he writes in.”
“Yep. The damn dogs thread into our lives so tightly we can’t think of them as anything else but a family member. Call me if you need anything on this new venture. I will call Nick if I hear anything related to the latest menace created by idiot politicians.”
“Will do, Uncle Neil.” Jean hugged Neil. He shook hands with Sonny and Quinn. “Tell Bently no hard feelings, okay?”
“Sure thing. I think she wants to have Quinn’s baby, so it may all work out anyway.” Neil walked away chortling over his Quinn zinger.
“What were you doing over there with Officer Bently, young man?” Jean posed in her Rachel imitation with hands on hips.
Quinn watched Chief Dickerson walk away with a contemplative look on his face. After Jean bopped him in the back of the head, he returned his attention to his sister. He held a torn paper in his hand. “She gave me her phone number. Neil must have noticed, although I thought we were alone when she did it. Uncle Neil hangs out with Dad too much.”
“Maybe Harding’s daughter Al is coming with them to visit,” Jean said. “She’s still single. You’ve always had a crush on her.”
“Yeah… when I was five,” Quinn replied. “Al’s engaged. You’ve seen the pictures. If she comes it will be to hang out with you and Sonny. After all the adventures you three had, she has a great time showing you her knife skills, or spotting and sniping, that improve from each succeeding visit. After she got her law degree and became an FBI agent, Al likes to rag us with the fact we were issued our credentials.”
“Let’s go hit the beach,” Sonny said. “I doubt Al will want to be around any talk of a black op, kill mission. Enough about Al. Who shadows Benny from here? He’s out of sight.”
“I’ll do it,” Quinn volunteered. “I haven’t jogged yet today. I’ll pace him down to the beach. With Sammy, I’m not sure tailing him is even necessary, but if something happened to him after an op like this, Dad and Mom would beat us like monk penitents.”
“Okay, but you keep your earwig in too, Kong,” Jean ordered.
Quinn smiled. “I will. Do you think I should call Suz, Sis?”
“We could use a police contact. One that’s banging my brother would do.”
“Nicely put, Hon,” Sonny said as Quinn laughed and jogged off. “I bet you’re anxious to see Lynn again. She’s going to be a Grandma soon when Clint Jr. and Mia have their son this month. I bet you’re wondering if it will mellow her out or not.”
Jean snorted in derision. “Grandma Cruella mellowing out? That’ll be the day. She’ll have the kid doing knife tricks before he’s two. Lynn and Mom have been friends ever since the ‘Starlight’ op. Clint Jr.’s Godfather Lucas nearly came unglued when Clint Jr. joined the Corps. He’s in the reserves now same as Quinn. That was a shock when Clint Jr. and Mia fell in love. They married right after high school when Jr joined the Corps. When he asked Jafar and Samira’s daughter Mia to marry him, it turned out to be the ‘Monster’ event of the year when they got hitched. What a party. Mia’s like John Harding’s wife Lora, she wants no part of the ‘Monster’ squad work.”
Jean and Sonny walked over to their vehicle, hand in hand. “Have you been taking much heat from Rachel about grandkids?”
Jean shrugged. Nearing thirt
y, Jean’s biological clock only recently kicked in a little. “Is the sky blue? Is water wet? I give Mom purpose in life. I’m not ready. I know Lynn did it in her mid-thirties, and killed people the night Clint Jr. was born. She’s a legend. I don’t know if I’m ready for legendary status. Are you getting antsy?”
Sonny made Jean stop, launching into a kiss beyond passion, love, and petty problems about other people’s perspective on their lives. When he pulled away gently, Sonny saw everything in Jean’s eyes making all life matters a small thing. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about. I don’t get anything, including antsy, when I’m around you, you scarred up little turd.”
Jean giggled at her Mom’s familiar taunt. “I’ll keep it in mind. I wonder how many Irish Dad will have before we get to the beach.”
“None,” Sonny answered, slipping into the driver’s seat. “He won’t have a taste before we’re all together on the beach.”
“Yep. His favorites, Benny and Sammy, are out in harm’s way.”
* * *
A half dozen young teens Benny recognized blocked his progress down the sidewalk with Sammy out of nowhere. Benny immediately signaled Sammy down with the flat of his hand. He tried a smile.
“Hi guys. Nice day to tool around after school, huh?”
“We heard you Narced some friends of ours, Benny boy,” the lead guy said, pulling a knife out. “We was watchin’, home boy. That can’t go down. We need product at the school and you just shut our asses down.”
Benny measured the teens in front of him with the same perceptive eye he gauged any confrontation in life since being trained by his Dad. Except for the leader, the others were run-of-the-mill high school thugs. The leader, Bart Crowelly, did his best each day to provoke Benny, but failed to get more than a smile.
“Don’t even think about putting your mutt on us,” Bart warned. “We’ll kill him.”
“No, you won’t,” Quinn said, jogging into the middle of Bart’s crew. “If Benny gives Sammy the attack order, there won’t be anything left of you punks but pieces.”
The crew backed away from the huge Marine. One at the rear tried to stab Quinn after stepping to the side. Quinn caught the hand and broke it at the wrist with a side-hand strike, leaving the hand to hang by skin and the knife clattering to the pavement. Quinn smashed the knife wielder across the face with the back of his hand, sending him catapulting to his back. Quinn pointed at Bart. “Benny wants you, prick. I’m going to frisk you. Move, and I have Sammy frisk you. You don’t want that, partner. The rest of you lock your hands behind your heads. Anyone that doesn’t gets what Mack the Knife got.”
Bart’s crew did as instructed. Bart stood stock still, looking down at Quinn’s gasping for breath Mack the Knife, trying to get enough breath from his meeting with the pavement to breathe and grip his useless hand. Quinn relieved Bart of everything, throwing the cache into a pile. Bart carried a 9mm Taurus automatic at his back. All the new colored pills being hawked to the young and clueless were in a plastic bag in Bart’s hoodie, along with a switchblade knife. Disarmed, Bart tried the outraged attitude.
“You can’t do this! A lawyer would eat you alive over this.”
Quinn smiled, while Benny made a hand gesture to Sammy. The dog leaped to guard the crew with teeth bared and drooling growl. “I’m not a lawyer. Benny’s talked to me about you, shit-head. He worked the sting to get your suppliers. We have them in custody. Benny had it in mind to fix you after finishing with the bust. He’s all yours, Benny.”
Grinning, Benny moved around Bart with the sudden look of a predator. “I’ve listened to you porking me at school all this time, Crowelly. Here I am. My brother Quinn won’t interfere. He knew I dreamed about a meeting between us once we busted your suppliers. When I get done with you I promise you won’t want anymore.”
Crowelly began crouching into a fighting stance, but Benny moved with lightning speed to drop and leg whip Bart to the pavement. He rolled atop the prone Crowelly with devastating elbow strikes turning Bart’s face into bloody mush. Benny didn’t quit until Bart began sobbing and crying. Benny straightened away from his foe.
Quinn watched with an older brother’s pride. “Nice. Feel better, Ben?”
Benny nodded, never taking his eyes off of Bart. All the school hallway baiting and bullying had left a mark. They called Crowelly ‘Black Bart’ at the school because of his color and tactics. Benny was black too, but he cared not at all for the race rage at the school. He knew Crowelly to be one of its prominent instigators. Benny kicked Bart in the side, cracking a rib, and eliciting a scream from Crowelly. Benny remembered the first lesson Nick taught him – never let your adversary up. Make sure if you get him down, he stays down, and if he lives, he remembers the moment for the rest of his life.
Quinn turned to the rest. “Strip down to your underwear and do it quickly. Anyone still clothed when I count to ten gets their faces rearranged.”
Quinn began counting. In seconds the crew were again standing with fingers interlocked behind their heads in their underwear. Quinn gathered weapons and drugs from each stack of clothing. He moved over to Mack the Knife and finished the gang frisk. Benny and Sammy watched his back every moment. Quinn stood in front of the crew after stashing the weapons and drugs in Benny’s backpack.
“Our business is done, kiddies. Here’s the deal. Take your drug dealing crap the hell away from the school and never look cross-eyed at my brother Benny. Break the deal and we come for you one final time. We will blow your houses up and kill everything you’ve ever known. This isn’t a police action. We’ll turn your lives into a kill zone. This is your only warning. Help your asshole friends to their feet and get the hell out of my sight. I don’t care if you have to drag them. Do it or die!”
The crew hurriedly dragged their leader and knife wielding cohort to their feet. They never paused as they half dragged and carried Bart and Mack the Knife along the sidewalk.
“Thanks, Quinn,” Benny said. “I thought I’d have to let Sammy kill someone.”
“Sis sent me as you and Sammy are Dad’s favorites,” Quinn joked, shoulder hugging Benny.
“She said exactly that… didn’t she?”
“Yep.”
“Why do you think Dad does kind of go easy on me and Sammy?”
“He loves projects. Once he takes them on, he rides the wave into the rocks. Make sure he never reaches the rocks, kid.”
“I hear you, brother.” Sammy fell into line next to Benny with nose near his hand. “School will be interesting after this.”
“We’ll be there for patrol, Ben. Sis knows follow-up has to be done for a few days until we scope out the situation. If we left anything to chance we’d have to deal with Trailer Trash Momma.”
Benny laughed, clapping his hands. “Oh my God… Mom had Dad this morning. Every time she pins her hair back, opens her blouse, and does the Trailer Trash opening… oh my… I start laughing so hard I miss what the heck she’s going off on.”
“Clarice Salvatore is running for city council. She asked Dad for a donation to her campaign fund. Sometimes I think Dad makes this stuff up so he can get Momma going,” Quinn replied. “Unfortunately, I checked at Sis’s insistence. Clarice is running.”
“Oh God,” Benny came to a stop, shaking his head. “Mom will have a stroke if Clarice gets on the city council. Dad’s one of the most dangerous men alive, and even he wouldn’t have the balls to donate to Clarice’s campaign fund.”
“If you hadn’t run out of the kitchen you big girl you would have heard Dad calming Mom down with the promise to donate to anyone with the most chance of beating her. We can’t get involved in this. We’ll have to rally around Brother Sonny.”
Benny started walking again. “Sonny would never back his Mom or Dad in anything. I believe like Mom. I think they stole Sonny out of a baby cart at the hospital. We know Phil and Clarice. Those two are the most toxic human beings I’ve ever seen and I was raised in a crack-house.”
This time it wa
s Quinn who had to stop as he was enjoying Benny’s statement with Benny grinning at him. “Don’t… don’t repeat that ace, Ben.”
“I won’t. Sonny’s the best. I feel uncomfortable when Mom goes off on Sonny’s parents. I know he shares her feelings about them as people. I think they do love him though.”
“I don’t know about that.” Quinn walked along shaking his head. “They tried to use him in everything under the sun as a prop. You’re right in that Phil and Clarice probably love him as much as two sociopaths can love anyone.”
“Dad claims he’s a psychopath. He’s tough to figure.”
“Like Sis always told me, ‘don’t figure Dad, and don’t ever ignore his advice’. I never have and never will.”
“That’s because of her scars, huh?”
“Yeah. She ignored him and paid for it.”
“Dad, Uncle Johnny, and Uncle Gus got him though,” Benny said, hoping to hear more about the incident than Jean’s simple ‘he’s dead’ answer.
Quinn was silent for a few more steps, looking around at how close they were to Otter’s Point. “That guy didn’t go gently into the night, Ben. They kept him alive until he paid for his sins. Cleaner chopped him up for disposal from our helicopter for the fishes.”
“I guess it’s best to remember Dad can blow the heads off three guys and walk into the Monte to short order cook for Mom without missing a beat.”
Quinn nodded. “Good one. That’s exactly the picture of Dad to remember.”
They reached Otter’s Point at the bottom of the steep street in another ten minutes. Benny pointed. “That Mr. Harding is scary.”
“John’s a great guy. That’s Lynn Montoya Dostiene between Harding and Clint. She’s the scariest woman on earth, Ben. Harding’s Monster Squad call her Cruella Deville. They just show videos of her past interrogations to prisoners and they puke and spill their guts. Uncle Johnny and Aunt Cala have been helping her direct and make films for a long time. She’s a famous director now.”
Red Horizon Page 37
