Cold Blooded III: Sins and Sanctions (Nick McCarty Assassin Series Book 3) (15 page)

John ended the scene. He then took still pictures of Nick and Gus posing over the bodies in various stances of distain for the victims. They finished the photo and video shoot, collected what they wanted in money, and left the scene together. Nick passed fifty thousand dollars over to John in a bag retrieved from the Isis house, along with a set of keys, and a folder.

“Take the money, rent another vehicle, and drive to my other property in the Carmel Valley. Keep a low profile for the time being, John. I don’t want you picked up for anything by police or anyone else. Relax, and enjoy. You’ve earned it after this bust. Call me with the burner phone if you have any problems. Our book tour ends in Charleston. We may be involved for a time there depending on some personal issues.”

“I could help in Charleston,” John said. “I could keep a low profile until you’re sure I will not be needed.”

“I appreciate that, but it would be better at this time to drive across country. Take your time, don’t speed, and stay wherever you like on the trip. Do not attract any attention whatsoever. Gus and I will make contact with you when we get home to Pacific Grove.”

“If you need my help, please call, and I will be there,” John replied, trying to contain the shock at Nick’s orders, and generosity.

“I’ll call if I need you, but I think Gus and I can handle Charleston. It’s a couple of book tour stops, and a bit of family business.”

Chapter Six

Expect the Unexpected

“Don’t go out there, Jean!”

“There’s something going on, Mom!” Jean posed ready to bolt through the screen door. “Grandma’s house is in the middle of a drug/gang war!”

Rachel hugged her violent leaning daughter. She watched her former husband’s Mom at the end of her driveway, arguing with three young gangsters. They passed packets to drivers stopping in front of the house for money. Although Echo Avenue was listed as one of the more dangerous areas in Charleston, it also had a variety of denizens. The houses, spaced apart unevenly like a rural area in various stages of upkeep also each had a bit of land. They were not housing tract, cracker box dwellings. Her former Mother-in-law’s house, a light blue painted split level place with a broad porch, presented a picturesque neighborhood family living space. On the right side of her house stood a ramshackle place appearing more like a warehouse shed than a house.

Mona, returning from the grocery store, spotted the drug transaction going on in front of her house, and stopped to argue with the pushers. Rachel could see they were more amused than angry. They made apologetic motions while retreating to the front of their structure. Mona, apparently annoyed by the number of confrontations Rachel and Jean did not know of, followed them shouting warnings to stay away. They only laughed. Mona gave up her pointless pursuit, returning to her groceries.

“Your Dad will be here in days. He already agreed to look over the situation with Gus. C’mon, let’s help Grandma Mona with the bags. Do not say anything while we’re out there. Do you understand me, Dagger?”

“Yes, Mom.” Jean led the way, skipping off the porch to Mona’s ten year old Buick. After giving her Grandma a hug, she grabbed two of the bags from the trunk.

“Do they sell in broad daylight like this often, Mona?” Rachel picked up the last bag, noting Mona was still staring at the pushers. “It seems this would be an easy bust for the police. They could do a sting operation, and catch these guys the first day.”

Mona nodded, closing the trunk. At sixty-five, her lean figure, and long tied back gray hair, enhanced the no nonsense look on her features she displayed at most times. She lived in the roughest area of North Charleston. Mona did not back away from a task or confrontation, but having been warned by her upon arriving, Rachel knew she was no dummy. After outlining the neighborhood problems, Mona made sure Rachel and Jean knew there were times unsafe to leave the house.

“The police do what they can, but body bags are about all they can offer when a neighbor tries to testify against these hoodlums. The head asshole in the house next door bullies everyone. The bearded fuck is about six and a half feet tall, nearly three hundred pounds I’d wager, and has spent nearly half his adult life in and out of prison. His hoodlum friends call him Blackbeard. His real name is Gustoff Banning. He’s killed at least three neighbors who tried to rally the law against him.”

Mona bit her lip, eyes filling with tears. “Two were a mom and daughter living on the other side of Blackbeard. He raped the teenage daughter. Carrie had him arrested, swearing to the police she would have her daughter Lacy at the inquest to testify. They didn’t have any DNA because the prick used a condom. I came to the inquest ready to testify about the goings on Blackbeard was responsible for, but Carrie and Lacy never arrived. They were hit and killed by a stolen sixteen wheeler. The driver was never found. After that episode, no one considers speaking out or calling the police, including me… damn it! The only thing stopping the bastard from terrorizing us even more is the fact most of us are armed. It didn’t do Carrie any good on the way to testify.”

“C’mon inside, Mona,” Rachel urged. “There’s no need to stand here hashing out stuff you can’t change. Jean and I are happy as hell to be with you on this visit. Jean has been anticipating seeing you ever since my husband agreed to the Charleston stop on his book tour.”

Mona grabbed Rachel’s arm as she turned toward the house. “Did anyone ever make those bastards pay for killing my boy?”

A fast moving slide show of Nick’s adopting her and Jean into his lifestyle flashed for a moment in her mind. A slow smile spread across her features. She remembered vividly Nick putting her into a position to kill the one who had actually killed Mona’s son, Rachel’s husband Rick. “Yep. The ones responsible are all dead, including the one who ordered it.”

“How…how do you know that?”

“I can’t say, Mona. I can only state without a doubt they’re dead.” Rachel hugged her, putting the bag down. “Believe me. I know it to be true.”

“That’s so sweet,” a gruff voice stated from only a few feet away. “You’ve been messing with my crew again, Mona. I warned you about that, bitch.”

Rachel swiveled to face the voice that approached from her rear, as Mona’s eyes widened in recognition and fear. Rachel smiled at the huge bearded man with wild beady blue eyes. Head shaved, wearing a Carolina Panther jersey, the man clenched and unclenched his fists in overdone anger. Rachel handed the grocery bag over to Mona.

“Blackbeard? I’ve heard a lot about you.” Rachel fronted him, not allowing the man to approach Mona any closer, while reaching under her blouse at the back. “What the heck’s your real name? I heard it was Gustoff or something.”

Seeing Rachel calmly facing off with him nearly made Blackbeard’s head explode. He looked ready to sucker punch Rachel in the face. Poking his right index finger at her, his mouth tightened into instant torque causing his words to sound like they were being strained through a filter.

“I am someone you do not want to fuck with!”

“I don’t even want to breathe the same air as you do, Gustoff, so why don’t you waddle on back to your crew, and tell them how great you are at threatening a pregnant woman, and an old lady.”

Blackbeard made a choking sound before reaching for Rachel’s throat. Instead of reaching his target, Gustoff ran into Rachel’s nineteen million volt Vipertek stun gun electrodes. He dropped to his back with a squeal. Rachel followed him down, zapping the big man until he stopped moving as Nick had taught her, all the while watching for his crew. A second later, Jean was at her side with a butcher knife clutched in hand. Rachel released the trigger, searching Blackbeard for weapons. She found a .45 caliber Colt tucked into the back of his waistband. She drew it out, aiming it at Blackbeard’s house.

“Wow, Mom… you aced him,” Jean said delightedly, as Mona knelt next to her.

“Quick, girl,” Rachel said. “Check his pockets for extra clips.”

“On it.” Jean handed the butcher knife to Mona, and did a first class search for an extra clip. She plucked one from his right rear pants pocket. “Got one, Mom.”

“Let’s get in the house.”

When they were safely inside with the doors locked. Mona rushed into her bedroom, and returned with a Remington twelve gauge semi-automatic shotgun with a box of shells. As Rachel kept watch at the window, two of the men she’d seen arguing with Mona earlier approached Blackbeard’s unmoving body carefully. They tried to revive him without success. They hesitantly dragged him around to Blackbeard’s house, which was no easy task, glancing with confusion at Mona’s house.

“We’re in the wood chipper now,” Mona stated, loading the five shell maximum into the Remington. “You shocked the hell out of me, Rachel. Damn… that was so good. We may all end up dead, but watching you electrocute that black-hearted son-of-a-bitch was worth it.”

Jean put her arm around Mona’s shoulders where she sat with the shotgun in her lap. “Don’t worry, Grandma. Dad’s coming with Gus. These guys don’t know what bad is, but…”

“That’s enough, Jean,” Rachel cautioned. “What she means is Nick has been around. He’ll know what to do.”

“I…I thought he was a novelist.”

“He was in Delta Force during the war, and has worked with the CIA before. One thing Nick would insist on is no mention of him at all when he gets here. He has book signings in Charleston, because we want you to stay with us until we get this solved. I’ll keep watch while you pack some things. Leave me your shotgun. Make sure all the doors are bolted. Can you pack our suitcases, Jean?”

“Sure, Mom. You’ll need to call Dad though.”

“I will right now, but we have to pack and get the hell out of here.”

“On it. Let’s go, Grandma.” Jean picked up the shotgun carefully, and leaned it next to Rachel. “We’ll check all the doors first.”

Mona embraced Jean tightly. “Thank you.”

* * *

Nick smiled at Gus, listening to Rachel’s recital, describing her confrontation with Blackbeard. Gus and Tina joined him in his suite for coffee while he finished walking Deke. Already packed to leave, Nick had been watching the El Muerto/Payaso show in the news with his friends when Rachel called.

“You are one terrific badass woman, and I like your plan to get Mona and Jean into a beautiful suite at a very high profile hotel in Charleston. I’ll text you the address of the place we already have suites being held for us in. Get Mona one too. We’re leaving for the plane in a few minutes, so we’ll be joining you shortly. Take nothing for granted. You can shoot as well as anyone I’ve ever taught. Don’t drop your guard for a second on the way to the car. Have Mona drive. You keep everyone covered until you’re on the way to the hotel. I don’t have to remind you not to hesitate do I?”

“Not likely,” Rachel replied. “I miss you. I didn’t know how bad it was, or I would never have come here to stay in the house. I would have packed Mona, and moved her into the hotel with us. I’d call the cops, but I have a feeling it wouldn’t help. They’d probably arrest me for assault.”

Nick’s smile disappeared. “That would not go well for them. I know this caught you by surprise. We’ll work it out.”

“I know. See you when you get here, my love.”

“You’d better,” Nick replied. “Otherwise, the murder rate in Charleston will jump at a rate undreamed of. I love you.”

“Yeah, I bet. You’ve probably been guzzling booze and entertaining floozies ever since we left.” Rachel hung up before Nick could answer.

Gus and Tina watched Nick grinning at the phone in his hand. Nick waved the phone at Gus. “We have to go now. There’s trouble in River City.”

Nick explained the circumstances in detail, and Rachel’s interaction with Blackbeard. By the time he finished, Tina was yanking on Gus’s arm. “Anything happens to my BFF, and I’m putting on a mask too. Quit grab-assing around boys, and let’s hit the road.”

“Do you think she’ll be okay?”

“Let’s put it this way, Gus, any dumbasses sticking their heads out to interfere with their getaway will likely need last rites.”

* * *

Jean rolled their suitcases near the door. Mona followed with one old large one with a busted wheel. Rachel glanced from her window watching to Jean. “I called Dad. He, Gus, Deke and Tina are on their way. We only have one small problem here – our escape. You two will load the car. I will make sure no one interferes. We’ll keep the car between us and them. I wish we’d rented a vehicle, but no use in raking over that. Mona drives. You need to stay down once we get in the car, Jean. Let me know if you two are ready. I don’t want anyone hesitating… even for a moment. Are we clear?”

“We’re with you, Mom. I can haul these suitcases to the car.”

“Okay, Dagger, let’s do it?” Rachel tucked Blackbeard’s Colt into her rear waist band with the extra clip in the pocket of her smock. She then opened the front door, propped the screen all the way against the stops. “Outside quickly, and I’ll lock up before we make our run for the car.”

With Mona and Jean waiting clear of the door, Rachel locked the door. When she positioned the Remington twelve gauge where she wanted, tightly against her shoulder, and in a sideways partial crouch, Rachel moved halfway to Mona’s car. She kept it targeted on Blackbeard’s house, sweeping the barrel right and left.

“Get loaded now!”

Mona and Jean wrestled the suitcases out to the car. Rachel moved with them, staying between the Buick and Blackbeard’s house. With Jean going into hyper-drive, the suitcases were loaded in a matter of minutes.