by Natalie Grey
Chapter 5
Cheryl Lynn left the comfort of her cousin’s hug and reached for the little tissue package. It was past time to crack this open.
“Is your boss going to be ok with my kids?”
“As in, will she be safe, or will she want to jump from the window?”
Cheryl Lynn laughed. “We are on the first floor. I don’t think she could even sprain an ankle leaping from the window.”
“You know, I’ve no idea. I don’t hear any screaming coming from the other room, so I presume she is doing ok.” John studied the bedroom.
Cheryl Lynn looked around. “It isn’t much. I’m trying to watch my funds to make them last as long as possible. Mark has found me, so I’m going to have to move again.”
Her cousin’s visage changed, and she got a glimpse of the face that had caused more than a few guys in high school and college to run screaming. Well, maybe that was more figurative than literal.
Now she could see a darker glint in his eyes. “John, I don’t want you doing something and getting in trouble. Mark has a lot of powerful friends. He’s rich, and he knows a few less savory characters.”
John looked at her eye. “Apparently he sicced them on you tonight.”
Cheryl Lynn reached up and touched the eye that had turned black and blue. It wasn’t as tender as it had been before. That was nice.
John continued, “I asked you before. What do you want to do?”
She exhaled. “I want to leave and go somewhere that prick can’t find the kids or me, but I’m not sure what the law will say. Here in Texas, he owes me half, but I doubt I’ll see a penny. I don’t want it for me, but the kids deserve better than I can give them right now.”
John nodded. “I’ll want the three of you to pack. We are going to move you to another location. A safe location.”
“Are you going to be with us?” She didn’t want to beg, but she hadn’t felt safe in so long. When she had opened her door to see John, it had felt like hope had entered her life again after a lengthy absence.
“No. I’m planning on seeing if anything happens here, then visiting Mark in the morning.”
Cheryl Lynn’s voice came out softer and a little strained. “Can’t you come with us?”
“That would mess up my plan.”
“What plan is that?”
“Find Mark’s accomplices and take their signed affidavit to him. He can back off or fight us in court.”
“He’s got serious legal connections in this town.”
John laughed. “Trust me, he doesn’t have anything like the ability to pull in resources that we have.”
“You know,” she said, “you never said who your boss is and why she needs you.”
John agreed, “No, I never did. Is it important?”
“Well, maybe I’ll want to use my special ‘truth’ opportunity to see if there is anything going on between you two.”
John shook his head. “I’ll give you that one for free. I’m part of her team. We have a direction and a goal. I’ll take a bullet for her, but it’s not my future for anything else.” He added, “Besides, she’s in a relationship with another guy.”
John could hear Bethany Anne’s voice. “Am not!”
Damn, that lady was still trying to deny the obvious.
He decided to play with her. He put up one finger to his cousin. “One sec.”
John turned to the door and opened it just a smidgen. “You’re denying the truth, BA. You’ve got to start accepting reality or you won’t ever be able to understand yourself.”
John closed the door and didn’t hear a response. He figured she was holding her tongue due to the kids being in there with her.
“What did you just do?” Cheryl Lynn was curious. “Did she say something?”
“Yes. She said she wasn’t dating this guy.”
“You could hear that?”
He tapped his right ear. “Good hearing. I’ve had a little surgery since joining the team.”
Cheryl Lynn considered trying another tack. “What if the kids and I slept here?”
“You really that freaked out, Cherry Lint?”
She smiled, remembering when John was so young he had gotten her name all wrong. She didn’t say anything, just nodded.
He looked around. “I can bring the futon in here. The three of you need to sleep on the floor.”
“Why the floor?” she asked.
“Lots of people don’t shoot lower than waist-high. If they come in with guns blazing, I want to have a chance that you will be safe from a stray shot. Often people will shoot for center mass, which will be pretty high for me.” He noticed her eyes widen in alarm. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. They won’t have anything I can’t survive, plus, we brought along protection.”
He noticed her smirk and rolled his eyes. “Chest protection, you deviant!”
At least he made her laugh.
Bethany Anne slipped her ceramic armor on. She had switched bras and undershirt before putting on the armor. John asked, “You clear?”
She grumped, “You need to get laid.”
John turned around. “Hey, my cousin laughed at me when I said we brought along protection. Don’t you start with me!”
She rolled her eyes.
He smirked. “I could start asking questions about Michael…”
She put a hand out. “Let’s keep this operational, Mr. Grimes.” She smiled. If John wouldn’t allow her to use direct methods to get him out and about, she would launch a sneak attack, with Cheryl Lynn helping her. She had to be an outstanding source of intel on her friend.
He snorted. “Man, are you easy now.”
She let that comment pass and asked, “You want first or second shift?”
He looked at his watch. “It’s half past midnight. I’ll take the next couple of hours, and you can take the last few.”
“Where are you going to be?”
He zipped up their bag. He had already dressed in black and slipped on his holsters and guns again. He was going to try to keep this quiet if he could, but he wasn’t going into a gunfight with only his fists.
“I figure I’ll park the Jeep a half a block away, then stay in there and watch. I’ll drive away and look around real quick. Hopefully, we aren’t already being watched. There isn’t anywhere to hide out front. It’s the best I can think of at the moment.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone past me.”
John opened the door and smiled at Bethany Anne. “I’m not worried about you. I’m worried that if they get by me, I won’t get my chance for a pound of flesh!”
She shrugged. “Why don’t I just keep kicking them out to the street until your lazy ass shows up?”
He paused after stepping out of the door. “Ok, that will work.” He winked and shut the door.
Bethany Anne bent back until she could hear her vertebrae pop, then put a jacket on so the kids wouldn’t see the pistols if they got up and came in here. She left the sword in the corner. Rolling her neck, she took a position in the middle of the floor and slowly closed her eyes.
ADAM, have you tracked down the asshole I asked about?
>>Yes.<<
Well, don’t make me play Twenty Questions. What do you have on him?”
>>His original name was Timothy Spickels.<<
What the hell? Really?
>>Yes. Why would I create a false answer?<<
Give it time, she thought to herself. I’ll bring you to the dark side.
It’s called humor, but let’s drop that for now. Are you saying that this creep is not the guy Cheryl Lynn thought she married?
>>That is correct. He changed his name and his age upon entering the university. I have located the bank accounts for his present and previous identities. He runs multiple businesses through both, and only uses his original a couple of times a month. He goes over to Fort Worth when he does any banking in his original identity.<<
How do you know that?
>>Cross-checking cr
edit card receipts for purchases and accessing bank accounts.<<
How much money does he have access to at this time?
>>He has less than thirty-seven thousand under his original identity. He has in excess of half a million in cash and over three million in securities under his Mark identity.<<
What a fucking creep, Bethany Anne mused to herself. That wealthy, and his children live like this.
ADAM, would you please retain a legal representative to fight for sole custody? Confirm any and all illegal or unethical actions you locate through the records and prepare them for delivery to them. Further, I want to know if Mark has ever communicated with criminals or suspected criminals—anything that would show his character in a bad light that we can use against him should he fight Cheryl Lynn in court.
>>What about a psychological report describing narcissistic issues that result in a lack of psychological awareness, difficulty feeling empathy for others, and hypersensitivity to insults real or imagined?<<
I’m not sure I want to know how you got that information, but that is a hell of a start!
Chapter 6
The old white van pulled up two blocks from Cheryl Lynn’s apartment complex.
“Ok, this is a B and E. Make sure we break the door’s lock in an obvious manner. If you find anything of value, take it. Make sure we tear apart the place, so it’s obvious we were trying to find stuff. Everyone got your gloves?”
“What about the kids?” Eric asked. Family was important to him, and while he had taken money to hurt the woman and she had beaten him over the head with those damn cans, he couldn’t look his madre in the eye if he hurt a child.
“I know you aren’t capable of that, so just stay out of it. If they cower, I’ll just slap them so I can tell Mark we roughed them up a little. It will be good for them to learn about the street. They can’t buy that kind of education without getting a lot worse done to them than we will.”
Eric nodded. A street education would be good for them, perhaps. It mollified his guilt.
The three men exited the white van and pulled the doors shut. Ben, his weight belying that he was a pretty fast runner, got out of the driver’s side. Eric and Wayne exited the side door. The front passenger door had been stuck shut for over a year. Now it was the depository for trash, often enough.
Wayne grumped, “All I’m saying is to watch out for the teeth. She’s like one of those damned honey badgers. First chance I get, I’m giving her a love tap with this bat. I’m probably going to have to get a rabies shot or some shit like that.”
Ben came around the front of the van. “Just don’t hit her too hard. Mark isn’t paying enough for us to off her.”
Wayne handed the bat to Eric. “You better take this. I’ll just slug her. I might get too rambunctious with that thing.”
Eric accepted the bat without saying anything.
The three men crossed the street, the early morning quiet blanketing the area. You could hear a train in the distance, the air horn blaring as it went through intersections.
Wayne looked in that direction. “I thought trains didn’t run at night?”
Eric answered, “Freights do. They run by my tia’s house all the time. Rents are cheap there for a reason.”
They turned to go up the sidewalk that would take them to the two doors. The one to the right was their mark’s, the one to the left someone else’s. There was also a set of stairs that went up a level. The three guys put on their gloves and Ben spoke in low tones. “Remember, make this fast. We want to get in, do our jobs, and get out. The bitch should only be able to crawl if we want the rest of our money.”
Ben started to walk toward the door when a deep voice spoke behind them. “Fellas, your lives just became worth shit.”
Ben turned to see an ox standing behind Eric. Wayne moved to the side and slipped his hand into his pocket. Ben said, “Listen, stranger, we ain’t here for you. The bastard in that apartment roughed up my little girl. We are just here to make sure the cocksucker isn’t going to do that to anyone else, comprende?”
Wayne thought that was a hell of a lie to come up with so quick.
The ox spoke. “Guys, you have two choices. You can mess with me right here, or you can try to go through that door and your lives will be forfeit. The person who’s in there waiting for you won’t think twice about killing you.”
Ox flexed his shoulders. “What you aren’t going to do, any of you, is get out of here without the ass-whipping your fathers or mothers should have given you years ago.” He paused. “So, what’s it going to be? Ass-whipping from me, or are you going to chance door number two?”
Wayne whipped out his pistol. It was a tiny .22, but it would put enough hurt on Ox’s ass that they could possibly get their job done and get out of there. He fired three rounds quickly, and it clicked empty.
Wayne didn’t spend much money on bullets. He’d never had much use for the gun.
Ox looked down at the three gray splotches that gleamed faintly in the dim light on the street.
“Seriously?” Ox looked at Wayne. “Brother, you need to do something serious. That is only going to piss me off.”
There was a tiny “snick” behind Ben. He turned to look into the darkness where the doors were but couldn’t see anything. He turned back when Ox said, “Well, that’s done it. You guys are fucked now.”
Eric swung the bat in an overhead arc, trying to slam it on the ox’s head. Eric was left staring when the bat was stopped by Ox’s beefy hand, the bat making an audible slap.
Eric’s hand’s hurt like hell. It was like when you hit a pole or the ground with a bat, the reverberations reaching through it.
Ox took the bat, and quick as a thought, Eric slumped to the ground. He tossed the bat over by Eric, who now had blood running from his scalp.
Ox looked at the Wayne and Ben. “One down.”
“Fuck this!” Wayne pulled a knife and started weaving it in front of him, angling for a way to cut this fucker. Make ‘im bleed, and he’d see a need to let them go, he thought.
Ben started to step backward, keeping Ox in front of him. The ox glanced in his direction and told him, “I wouldn’t do that.” He returned his attention to Wayne.
Wayne flicked out quick as a viper to slice the guy but grunted in pain when his wrist was caught, then gave a short scream when his wrist was turned ninety degrees and broken. The man popped Wayne in his temple with a closed fist.
Wayne went down.
Ben turned to run into the apartment. If he had a hostage, this freak would have to let him go.
He made it to within ten feet of the apartments when two red eyes started glowing in the inky blackness near the doors. Ben could make out the faint glimmer of fangs.
The darkness was pierced by the blood-curdling scream of a man who had seen his demons and could do nothing as he fell headlong into their embrace.
Bethany Anne grumped, “All I’m saying is that the Etheric is a pretty clean solution for that trash.” She got in the front passenger seat of the Jeep and slammed the door.
John stuffed the bag into the back and got in the front. Ten minutes before, he had made sure Cheryl Lynn, Tina, and Todd had been picked up by a limousine that would drive them to a hotel, where they would clean up and eat. Then the limo would pick them up at nine to take them to the airport.
Cheryl Lynn had come out with her little knife after she heard the scream. She had stood on the porch watching Bethany Anne and her cousin in a whispered but spitting argument about what to do with the three men who had attacked her earlier that night.
Unable to believe her ears, she took a few steps forward to get close enough to hear little John’s boss say, “Those fuckers deserve it. No lawyers, no muss, no fuss!”
John replied, “I think you need a little exposure to normality, BA. Everything answer you offer is a Michael one.”
Cheryl Lynn almost snickered when the woman stomped her foot in frustration.
The woman put out a fin
ger and pointed it right at her cousin’s face. “Fine, but if those fuckers hurt anyone else, I will hunt them down and toss their asses straight in, you got me, John? ADAM will be watching, and he doesn’t forget either!”
John nodded. “I’ll get the ID, but you will need to verify they aren’t fake.”
Bethany Anne had nodded agreement and turned to take in Cheryl Lynn. She didn’t laugh at her little knife or coddle her. Her voice turned matter of fact and she pointed to the group of men. “These them?”
Cheryl Lynn walked over, “Yes.” She gestured to the fattest one there. “He’s the one I kicked in the ‘nads.” She pointed to the one who obviously had a broken wrist. “He’s the one who gave me this wonderful eye.”
Bethany Anne looked like she was considering kicking the guy in the ‘nads herself. “Ok. John says we have come up with some option other than ‘kill them all and let God sort them out.’” Cheryl Lynn started to smile but realized this woman wasn’t joking.
Bethany Anne had been eyeing the three men with ill-concealed disgust. “How about we find out who they are and if they have records? Then we will notify the authorities, and if not, what?” She looked sweetly at John, who rolled his eyes.
At his emphatic, “No!” Her look became disgusted again. Cheryl Lynn figured out the two were playing.
“Would you really kill them?” Cheryl Lynn realized with a start that she had asked that question out loud.
Bethany Anne looked at her. “If you want to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes, Alice, I’ll answer you. But you need to think about it first.”
Cheryl Lynn started believing John’s comment that she might have saved him more often than he saved her.
Just who the hell was this woman?
What the hell was this woman?
John rolled onto the 35 freeway. “Thank you, boss.”
“For what?”
“Letting Cheryl Lynn work at the base.”
Bethany Anne shrugged. “Her little girl might be a budding genius, and who knows about her son. He’s in the video-game-playing stage. If she isn’t careful, that can ruin a guy’s desire to move ahead in life.”
