I thought about this for a minute and didn’t reply right away. It would create a number of problems. I didn’t want Rico on Tocabaga even if he was my friend.
“I don’t think we’ll need any help, but thanks anyway.”
“Ok it’s up to you. Let’s get some lunch and then relax until the fights at seven pm. We’ll warm up around six.”
“I’m gonna miss Johnny. He’s a great kid,” Lisa mentioned.
“I agree,” Rico stated.
Joe walked ahead of us to the lunch room. He always stayed close to Rico when I was around. I could tell he wanted to know what we were talking about. I touched Rico’s arm to slow him down.
I whispered, “Watch out for Joe. I think he wants to be King.”
“No, not Joe, he’s my body guard.”
“I’m telling you he’s got eyes for Lisa and the way he looks at you means trouble. I’ve seen that look of envy before.”
“I’m not worried about it. Who doesn’t look at Lisa? I saw you gawking at her during the work out. If you stay tonight you can sleep with her. I don’t mind. She’s a hot little thing and besides she likes you a lot.”
“Thanks, Rico, but I don’t operate that way. You know that.”
“You’re always so noble and honest. That’s the one thing I like about you, but it’s a weakness if you ask me.”
I wanted to get Rico back on track and make him realize that Joe could pose a real danger to him.
Joe turned around and inquired, “Hey, you guys talking about me?”
Rico responded, “Yeah, we’re talking about you. So what?”
“Be careful what you say about me, Jack. I’d hate to hurt Rico’s only friend.”
“Is that a threat, Joe?” I asked.
“Take it anyway you like, old man.”
I nudged Rico’s arm and he advised Joe, “If you have a fight with Jack then you have a fight with me. You got that, Joe?” Joe didn’t answer back and walked away at a fast pace.
Lisa asked, “What the hell is going on?”
“Too much testosterone and roid rage. I don’t think Joe and I are good buddies,” I told her.
I sat down for lunch with Rico and Lisa. Joe didn’t sit with us. The whole time he glared at me, from across the room, so I knew trouble was brewing. Joe sat there talking to some of the security guards and kept pointing in my direction. Joe was planning something with his henchmen. Rico seemed not to notice and I didn’t point it out.
After lunch we went to our rooms to rest before the fight. Lisa went with Rico and I was staying in Lisa’s room. I had just laid down on the bed and there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I yelled with my gun in hand.
The door slowly opened and Lisa walked in. “Hi, I need to take a shower and clean up.”
“Do you want me to leave?”
“No, it’s ok, I’m sure you’ve seen a naked woman before.” She dropped her halter top, pushed off her shorts, and wiggled out of her panties. Wow she was gorgeous.
As I turned my head the other way she commented, “Don’t be shy. What do you think?”
I eyeballed her as she turned around showing me every profile of her naked body. She was posing in front of me displaying everything. Lisa was proud of her body and not ashamed to reveal it.
Scanning her up and down I whispered, “You’re a ten for sure. Your body is perfect. Now go take a cold shower.”
“Come and join me. I can tell you need a cold shower.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why? Rico don’t mind at all. He sent me here, but I wanted to come anyway. I like you a lot, Jack.” She stood there kind of dancing around in the nude.
“Lisa, I’m a married man.”
“I don’t mind and I won’t tell her. You know I’m an exhibitionist. I like showing off, dancing in the nude turns me on. The more you watch me, the more turned on I get.
“That’s how I met Rico. I was forced into dancing at seventeen to make money after my parents and brother were killed by the Federal Police. I grew to like it because it made me money. One day Rico came in and just whisked me away and I’ve been with him ever since.”
“Come on Lisa go take a shower before I spank you.”
“Ok, now you’re talking!” She bent over right in front of me, sticking her bare ass out for a spanking.
Shit, I said the wrong thing. I couldn’t help it; I had to touch that sweet looking butt. I gave her a little smack on the ass and said, “There you go, now take that shower.”
She sat down on the bed next to me, started to rub up her hands over my chest, and asked, “Take me with you to Tocabaga when you leave. I’m tired of the fighting. I don’t want to die fighting for Rico. I only do it to please him. That’s how he gets his rocks off.”
I didn’t know how to reply or what to say. I was shocked by her comment.
“Please take me with you. I’ll do whatever you want. I don’t want to fight anymore. I don’t want to fight tonight. Let’s leave now while Rico is asleep.”
“Has Rico ever hit you?”
“If I don’t do what he says then I get hurt.” She was afraid to tell me how abusive Rico has been. I didn’t think this would happen.
“Lisa, let me think about it while you take a shower.” She went into the shower room and I thought this situation has turned into a big FUBAR. If Rico’s girl friend comes with me, he’ll surely try to kill me and if he doesn’t then Joe would try.
I heard the shower turn on so I phoned Tommy, “Did you check the list of people and throw the new single men off the island?”
“Yeah, everything went fine, but I found something interesting. There’s a woman here named Maria Martin with her twenty year old son named Rico.”
“That has to be Rico’s wife and kid.”
“That’s what I thought, so I asked her if her husband was a Navy Seal. She said yes, a long time ago. She told me a story how the Feds kidnapped them.”
“Ok, I’ll tell Rico she’s there. Don’t tell her where Rico is. Here’s what I want you to do … get four trucks and come to the 54th Avenue Bridge at nine tonight. I’ll meet you there. Call me when you arrive. Be sure to bring plenty of fire power.”
I hung up the phone and Lisa came out of the shower room with a towel wrapped around her. The thin white towel just barely covered her little butt cheeks.
Just then … KRASH … the door was bashed in. Standing in the doorway was Joe holding his big sledge hammer. He yelled, “What the hell’s going on here?” Standing behind him were two other men.
“Get out of here you big jerk,” Lisa shouted.
With that he ripped off her towel and ordered, “Put some clothes on you little slut,” as he rudely pushed her aside to the ground.
Joe glared at me and then leaped towards me raising his hammer high in the air. I ducked as he swung the hammer at my head and reached for my Glock. He grunted as the swing missed my head. He raised his arm up again to strike me and I pulled the trigger … BAM … BAM … BAM. Three rounds hit him in the chest.
The hammer still came down and I raised my arm to block the blow while trying to move out of the way. The hammer dropped from his hand and we collided forcing me to the floor with him on top.
I saw the other two men enter the room with guns at the ready. Lisa screamed, “You bastards!” She seized her knife and jumped naked at one of the men stabbing him in the chest and face. She moved so fast it surprised me.
I saw the other one point his gun at her and I quickly aimed at his head, while laying on the floor, and squeezed off a round. BAM … the bullet hit him in head and blood splattered on the wall. I pushed Joe off me, stood up, and shot the Hammer in the head just to make sure he was dead.
Lisa had sliced the one dork to pieces. He looked like he ran into a buzz saw. She had pierced his heart with the sharp blade. Lisa stood there nude in a puddle of blood. Blood was splashed on her face and body. She started to shake and fell into my arms weeping. The fight
was over.
Rico and four guards came running into the room. “What the fuck is going on?” Rico surveyed the room and saw his body guard was dead.
Lisa wrapped the towel around herself as Rico put his arm around her and inquired, “You ok, baby?” She nodded her head.
Rico looked at me, “You ok, Jack?”
“Yeah, I’m ok.”
“What the hell happened?”
“Joe and these two dopes tried to kill me and Lisa. She took care of one and I shot Joe and the other guy. We had no choice. I think Joe had planned to kill me. He broke into the room and was surprised to see Lisa here. She came over to take a shower. He didn’t count on her being here.”
Rico stood there speechless, examining the bodies for a few minutes, and then said, “Joe was pretty stupid to try and kill you with his hammer.” Then he started to laugh and told his guards to remove the bodies and clean up the blood.
Lisa went to take another shower as Rico and I walked outside the room. He handed me a smoke and said, “Let’s get a beer buddy.”
Sitting in the gym Rico popped open two beers and we chugged them down. “Jack, you tried to warn me. You were right about Joe. I think his plan was to kill you and then kill me. He wanted to run this clan and have Lisa to himself.”
“You’re right. That was his plan. We can discuss this later. I have something important to tell you, Rico.”
“What’s that?”
“Right before Joe broke into the room I was on the phone with Tommy. This is going to be a shock, but he told me that … your wife and son are safe on Tocabaga.”
“How’s that possible?” Rico looked at me in shock.
“A group of twenty people came to Tocabaga for sanctuary the other day. I didn’t see your wife because the Marshals’ kidnapped me. Tommy reviewed the list of people and found Maria Martin and Rico, Junior had signed the list. She confirmed that her husband was a Navy Seal.”
“Does she know I’m alive and here? How do they look? How did they get free?”
“Ok, take it easy big guy. They don’t know you’re alive or here. Tommy didn’t tell them yet. They’re doing fine and are safe with us on the island. It’s a long story, but they were being held at the Dome. The Rangers raided the Dome and set all the prisoners free a few days ago. Anyhow, they ended up coming to Tocagaba.”
“There really must be a God. Thank you, God!” Rico yelled. He jumped up and hugged me a little too hard because I felt my back crack.
“Thank you, Jack. I owe you big time.”
“You don’t owe me anything. I’m as happy as you are.”
“What do I do now? I can’t let them see me like this. I haven’t seen them for three years. I had given up all hope of ever seeing them again.
“Does Lisa know about this?”
“No, I didn’t tell her anything.”
“That’s good. Don’t tell her. I’ll tell her when the time is right.”
We sat there in silence. Neither of us spoke as he was thinking what to do. I was thinking what I could do. What if I was in his shoes? Granted it was hard to imagine being in his shoes. Just then Lisa came walking into the gym. She sat down next to us and noticed Rico had a concerned look on his face.
“Hey, what’s up? Why the gloom and doom look?” Lisa questioned.
Rico snapped, “Not now, Lisa. I’m thinking about something.”
“Maybe I can help.” She rubbed his arm and gave him a little hug.
Rico pushed her aside and stated, “Don’t bug me.”
I said, “Lisa let’s go for a walk.”
We walked outside to the garden. All I could think about was that Lisa wants to leave the clan and come to Tocabaga. Rico’s head is mixed up enough. I wondered what he was going to do if I told him.
Lisa picked a flower and handed it to me, asking, “What’s a matter with Rico?”
“He’ll tell us when he’s done thinking about it. I know he’s concerned about replacing Joe.”
“I never liked or trusted Joe. He was a dirty scumbag. I’m glad he’s dead. I think Rico should pick Billy to replace Joe. He’s polite and loyal to Rico. He does whatever Rico wants. Billy is strong and has a lot of energy. With some training he’d be a good fighter. He’s a great shot and can handle any weapon.”
“Well, recommend him to Rico.”
“Yeah I will, but there is something else bothering Rico. Did you tell him I wanted to leave with you?”
“I swear, I didn’t say a word about that. You need to tell him, not me.”
“I’m afraid to tell him. I thought we’d just sneak away.”
“No, Lisa, I’m not going to sneak away. You need to tell Rico the truth. I’ll be there with you.”
“The truth is I don’t wanna die or get cut up. I’m also tired of his abuse.”
“So that’s what you tell him when the time is right.”
I couldn’t help but wonder when the time would be right. Right now he’s thinking what to do about his wife and son. In a few hours the fights would start and he’ll be all hyped up. The best time to tell him anything is when he’s relaxed and mellowed out.
My thoughts traveled back in time. I thought back to the times Rico and I, along with a few other bad ass characters, would hang around together. They were all dead now except for Rico and me.
TWENTY YEARS AGO
As I explained earlier Rico and I met at the gun range. We became friends by shooting together every Thursday. He had just been promoted to SWAT Team Captain of the Tampa Police Department.
I introduced Robbie, Serious Chris, and, Crazy John to Rico. Rico began to bring his friend Stavros to the range. Soon we were all good buddies and would go out on Friday nights together.
Robbie, my best friend, was killed a short time ago on Tocabaga fighting the Feds. He was shot with a 50 caliber round blowing out his chest. He died on the spot with no pain. Maggie, his widow, is a Captain for my Amazon Warriors.
Serious Chris got his nick name from Robbie. Chris is serious about everything. He worries about everything, but is afraid of nothing. He spent twenty plus years training in the martial arts. He was fast and strong standing six foot and a 180 pounds. Chris got killed in a car accident, but we never thought it was an accident.
Crazy John was just an overweight wild guy who would do anything to make a buck. He hated to be called a chicken. If you called him a chicken those were fighting words. John didn’t care who he got in a fight with. He never backed down and was pretty much fearless. That’s why we called him crazy. In the beginning John wasn’t a good fighter. He lost most of his fights but he never backed down from one. After three years of hand-to-hand combat training John became a lean, mean, fighting machine.
John never carried a gun which I thought was stupid. He always claimed he didn’t need one. It caught up to him one day as he was coming out of a strip bar. He got into a fist fight over a stripper and the other man pulled a gun. Crazy John died on the spot. The Police ruled it was a justified self-defense shooting.
Stavros was really weird. He was a friend of Rico’s and an ex-DEA undercover agent. He helped bust the Mob in Miami who were the main drug dealers. Stavros got caught taking a car as a gift from the Mob. He had to take it or they would have been suspicious of him. If they give you a gift you take it or else it’s an insult. He was fired as a DEA agent and then got a job repairing guns in Tampa.
Stavros was an expert in hand-to-hand combat and in gun fighting. He always carried two Ivory-gripped stainless steel Colt 45s. On the grips’ there was a Scorpion, which was his birth sign. He claimed the Mob had a hit out on him. Stavros was no one to mess with; he was six-foot-three and pushed 230 pounds. He had a fifty-four-inch chest with large gorilla-like arms.
Stavros did a lot of meditation and was into Oriental beliefs. The first time we had fight club we all went to his apartment. It was a small run down place located in a bad section of town. I remember the first time walking into his small one bedroom apartment. There w
asn’t any furniture, chairs, tables, TV, or bed. For lights he used candles.
He had three mannequins dressed in combat gear. He had stacks of meals ready to eat or MREs’. Stavros had all kinds of military supplies stored in every corner. There was a safe bolted to the floor which contained his weapons and ammo. That was how he lived.
Stavros ended up getting sick. He claimed it was lead poisoning from doing reloading and shooting. Anyhow he became sicker and never got better. The last time I saw him he could barely walk and I assume he died somewhere on the streets or in a jail. Maybe the Mob found him and bumped him off. I never found out what happened to him.
The six of us would go to local strip clubs, which we frequented quite often, and all the girls would come over to our tables. We were big tippers and the ladies liked that since they only work for tips.
We always carried guns, knives, brass knuckles, and other weapons everywhere we went. The six of us looked like gangsters since we each wore a dark blue sports coat to conceal our weapons. No one dared to mess with us, not even the real gangsters, because we knew most of them. Yeah, we had a few problems with the strip club Good Fellows, but when Rico showed his badge they’d all back down. If they didn’t we’d kill em’ in self-defense. We never killed anyone who didn’t deserve it. You had to be a real bad guy for us to bump you off.
I recall one time Robbie went to a strip bar by himself which he did quite often. It was a bar that we never patronized. The Good Fellows working there put a Mickey in his drink and they followed Robbie as he staggered outside. They mugged him and took all his money. They beat him up pretty good so we decided to pay them a visit. Our plan was to bash some heads and break some bones.
They didn’t know who we were but they knew Robbie. Robbie went in by himself and ordered a shot with a beer. They would bring the beer in a bottle and open it at the table. Robbie would drink the beer and then spit the shot into the empty beer bottle. The plan was after three drinks he would stumble outside, pretending to be drunk, where we would be waiting under cover.
We put on our brass knuckles when Robbie came out with three jerks right behind him. One dork grabbed Robbie and another punched him. Robbie had his knuckles on and punched the dork hard in the face as we came out from hiding. It was six against three and we had on the brass knuckles. Rico took great pleasure in breaking their arms. After we beat the shit out of them Robbie took all their money and then pissed on their faces.
THE TOCABAGA CHRONICELS: (BOX SET PART II - BOOKS #6-8) Page 5
