Enforcing Home (4 page)

“You two get out of sight; let’s see what these shit birds want,” Sarge said. Then he looked at the guy we had, “on your knees.”

Instead of doing as he was told, he looked at Sarge, “What?”

“I ain’t got time to explain,” Sarge said as he smashed the butt of his carbine into the guy’s gut. The prisoner immediately doubled over and fell to his knees, supporting himself with his hands. Sarge kicked one of his hands out from under him, and he crashed onto the rough pavement. Quickly producing a pair of handcuffs, Sarge secured his hands behind his back.

“Here they come.” Thad said, as he walked back behind one of the gabions filled with sand.

I knelt down beside the guy on the ground, and pulled one of the bandannas from my pocket. Grabbing a fist full of hair, I lifted his head; and when he opened his mouth to complain, I stuffed it in to his muffled complaints. Sarge grinned that evil grin of his, “Nice touch.”

As I rose to my feet, the three machines rolled to a stop in the road. Each had two men on board, all armed with ARs or AKs. The men quickly dismounted and spread out in the road. They looked much like us, all wearing one form or another of military fatigues, and some kind of load-bearing gear, sporting pistols, knives and magazines. A tall man with a very neatly trimmed beard and jet-black hair stepped in front of the others. Sarge, always the socialite, broke the ice, “What can we do for you fellers?”

“We’re looking for a couple of our guys; was wondering if you’ve seen anyone.” He spoke confidently, standing in the road with his weapon gripped across his chest. I took a moment to look at each of the men. They all had their weapons at the ready, fingers outside the trigger guards, and no doubt thumbs on the safety.

“I don’t think we’ve seen anyone you’d be associated with,” Sarge replied.

The man looked at the trussed up form on the ground, “Who’s that?”

Sarge looked back, “Oh that; that’s just some scumbag we caught trying to snatch a couple of young girls here.”

“Can I see him?”

I knelt down and once again grabbed a handful of hair. Raising his head, I asked, “This one of yours?”

He didn’t answer; just stared at the guy. After a moment, I turned his head towards me and then pulled the bandanna from his mouth. Then, nodding my head towards the road, I asked, “You know him?”

He rolled his eyes towards the road, “I’m sorry Billy!” Before he could say more, I stuffed the cloth back into his mouth.

As I rose to my feet, Sarge Said, “I suppose that other one on the side of the road down there is yours too.”

You could clearly see Billy’s jaw muscles tighten, “He is; where’s the other one?”

“You mean was; and the other one is in the same condition,” Sarge replied.

“So you’ve killed two of my men,” Billy replied, the agitation clear in his voice.

“We didn’t; but I don’t guess it much matters who did it. They needed killin’. Tried to snatch the wrong girls; our girls know how to shoot,” Sarge replied.

“So you say,” Billy replied.

Sarge laughed, “I don’t say; the evidence is pretty damn clear. Two of ‘em are dead.”

“Not what I mean; you say they were trying to grab some girls,” Billy replied. Before Sarge could say anything, one of Billy’s men spoke, “Billy this is bullshit!” Billy raised a hand in reply, and nothing more was said by his minion.

“No, he doesn’t say; my daughters do. They’re the ones that shot the sacks of shit,” I replied.

Billy looked at me for the first time, “Nice broach.”

I looked down at the star pinned to the center of my vest and grabbed it. Turning it up, I replied, “It is; isn’t it.”

“What about him; what are you going to do with him?” Billy asked.

Sarge looked at me, “I don’t know, Sheriff; what do you want to do with him?”

I hadn’t even thought about it. I looked down at the form lying in the leaves and dirt on the road,
what to do?
Looking back up at Billy, I said, “He’s guilty of attempted kidnapping, of minors no less.” I looked back at him, “Looks like he’ll be executed.”

That last word stirred Billy’s men. “Like hell!” One of them shouted, as they all seemed to start moving.

“If you don’t want to lose more of your men today, I suggest you put a leash on your dogs!” Sarge shouted.

“We’ve got ‘em outnumbered!” Another of them shouted.

Billy raised a hand again, “That we can see,” his eyes darted around. “Why don’t you just punish him some way; whip him or something.”

Sarge smiled, “Shit. That’s like eating pussy through panties; just ain’t good for anyone involved.”

Billy nodded at his trussed toady, “It’d be good for him.”

Sarge glanced back, “Somehow I don’t think the lesson would stick the same.”

Billy looked up and sniffed loudly, “You want me to just let you kill another one of my men?”

“I don’t remember asking your permission,” I shot back.

“You willing to start a fight over some trash that’s guilty of trying to grab kids?” Sarge asked.

Billy rolled his head, his neck giving an audible pop. “They’re young; you know how it is. It’s not exactly easy to get a date these days.”

Hearing the words, I felt my blood rise. My ears got hot; and I could feel the rage building in me. “So they try and snatch an eight-year-old girl! You think that’s right? You sick fucks rape kids?” I shouted.

Without skipping a beat, Billy asked, “How old was the other girl?”

The statement slapped me in the side of the head; I was speechless. Sarge, however, was not.

“What’s the age limit for your rape victims. I mean; what’s too young?”

I didn’t wait to hear the answer. “It doesn’t matter; you fuckers need to kick rocks.” I pointed to the prisoner, “this one stays here. And if I catch any more of your sick fucks trying to grab anyone, anywhere, I’ll put a bullet in their head too!”

Billy rolled his shoulders and stiffened, “If you’re going to do it, then do it.” He looked at the man on the road, “Execute him.”

Again, I wasn’t ready for the response. It wasn’t until Sarge looked at me that I realized it really was going to happen, right now, right here. I pulled the guy to his feet and snatched the bandanna from his mouth. He immediately began begging Billy to help him, to take him home, as if this were all up to him to decide.

I looked back at Billy, “You want to watch? Fine by me.” I quickly drew my pistol and raised it; as the muzzle swept past the man’s head, I squeezed the trigger. The blast cut his pleas in midsentence as the body fell to the ground, issuing a geyser of blood in an arc. The world slowed; time seemed to blur, like putty being pulled. The sound of the casing hitting the road and bouncing echoed in my head.

Billy’s men all jumped, Billy didn’t even blink. Instead, the corners of his mouth pulled down slightly as his head slowly nodded, the movement barely perceptible. Without saying a word, he turned and climbed onto one of the ATVs; and his band of miscreants followed his lead. In a flurry of sound and dust they were gone. It was surprising really; they simply mounted up and left, without a word said.

Ted came out of the woods; he was shaking his head. “We should have ended this here while we could.”

“And some of us would have died,” Sarge said.

Mike came jogging up, “Why didn’t we kill those fuckers?”

“They’re just going to come back,” Ted added.

“I was waiting for the shooting to start,” Thad said.

“I’m with Sarge. There were too many of them; someone would have been killed,” I said.

Ted spit into the dirt, “You know they’re coming back,”

Sarge was looking out towards the road, “I figure as much; we need to get them a really nice reception ready.”

“How are we going to know when, or where for that matter, they’re going to come?” Tyler asked, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead. It was still mild out; so it wasn’t the heat causing his head to leak.

Sarge looked at Mike, “You said you think you know where they’re laying their head at night?”

Mike nodded, “I do.” Then pointing to the body on the ground, “if Chief Loan here hadn’t popped that guy’s grape, we could have asked him.” The reference to the street execution by the Police Chief of Saigon in 1968 wasn’t lost on me.

“No sense cryin’ over spilled brains at this point. Teddy, you two go see if you can find them. Get an eyeball on them and see what we’re up against,” Sarge said as he rolled the dead man’s head over with the toe of his boot. “Damn, that forty-five makes a hell of a hole.”

“We’ll go after dark. Let’s get some comms set up,” Ted said. Then he slapped Mike on the shoulder, “come on; let’s get our shit together.”

“You want some help?” Jeff asked.

“You can help provide security if you want. We’re going to ride in close, and then proceed from there on foot. You can hang back and cover the ATVs,” Ted replied.

Jeff nodded, “Sounds good; I’m in.”

“Get your marbles together and let Teddy shake you down before you head out,” Sarge said.

“I’ll help you guys get ready; but I’ll stay here to assist with security,” Doc said, following behind the guys.

“What’s your plan; you going to try and hit them where they live,” I asked.

“No; I figure they’ll be coming soon enough,” Sarge answered.

“I think we need to increase our firepower up here. We need to bring one of the buggies up here with one of the machineguns on it; maybe keep it out of sight, but have it here just in case. We can park it in the woods there,” I said, pointing into the trees at the north side of the road.

“That sure would make me feel better,” Thad added.

“We can do that. Thad, why don’t you come back with me and we’ll set it up. You can bring it back up here,” Sarge said.

I stayed at the barricade with Tyler while everyone else went to prepare for the night’s activities. I was thinking of what could have been done differently, if we should have just punched the clock and gone all OK Corral right there. I know someone would have been shot; those guys were far too well armed. Even if it weren’t an immediately fatal shot, it may as well be. Infection, or the need for advanced care, would only result in a lingering and miserable death.

Tyler couldn’t stop looking at the body; the pool of blood the head was lying in had turned really dark and started to gel. I could see him look at the body, then at me; but it didn’t matter… it was done. Maybe I shouldn’t have shot the bastard; but what do you do with miscreants like that? They were trying to take my girls,
my girls.
On second thought, it’s exactly what they needed. Back in the day, they would have been arrested, maybe put in jail, maybe. Some shit-bag lawyer would claim they were sick, and that therapy was the proper remedy for them, not prison. They would do it again, though. I looked down at the body,
but not this one.

I could tell it was eating Tyler; so I finally asked the obvious question, “Is that first one you’ve seen?”

Tyler looked down at the body again, “It’s the first time I’ve seen someone shot like that, right in front of me.”

I leaned over the barricade and rested my head on my forearms, letting out a long breath I said, “It gets easier.”

I could feel him looking at me. His confusion, fear and uncertainty were palpable. Finally, I asked, “What is it?” He hesitated for a moment; so I straightened up and looked him. “Go on, spit it out.”

“I don’t know if I could do that. I mean, one minute the guy’s on the ground, and you’re talking about him like he isn’t here; and in the blink of an eye you’re blasting his brains out. It was that fast, I blinked and didn’t even see it.”

“You saw it, but your brain is still conditioned to the way things used to be. That’s a horrible thing to see; so your brain is doing you a favor and blocking it out.”

He stared at the body for a long time; then asked, “How many?”

I shook my head, “I try not to think about it.”

Thankfully, Thad and Sarge pulled up on the smaller of the two buggies. A SAW was mounted to the top of it. Their arrival ended Tyler’s questions. Thad backed the buggy into the woods, making it nearly impossible for it to be seen from the road. Sarge wandered over as Thad was laying some brush over the front end.

“You alright there, Morg?” He asked.

I nodded, “Yeah. What else could be done about it; damn sure couldn’t let him go.”

Sarge snorted, “Don’t make it none easier.”

I grunted, “No shit.”

“You go on home; check on them girls. I’ll stay down here for a while; just get a relief set up for us later.”

I nodded, “Thanks, I’ll probably come back with Danny; just don’t feel comfortable having any of the girls down here after dark considering what’s going on.”

“Good call; don’t forget Doc is around to help out.”

“You got any spare night vision; yours is way better than what I’ve got.” I asked.

“Yeah, we brought a set down here.” Sarge pointed to the buggy, “there’s a radio in there too; if the guys call in, you’ll hear it up here as well.”

“Don’t worry Morg; we got it,” Thad added.

“I appreciate it; I’m headed home,” I said as I started to walk off.

I didn’t feel well, an exhausted nauseous feeling settled over me. Looking at the ground as I made my way home, I could smell rain, that earthy odor that often announced an advancing storm on a warm day. It wasn’t long before the first drop hit me on the back of my neck. Soon, the tan oak leaves that littered the road were glistening with moisture as my clothes started to soak up the water. It was fitting really; the rain was the perfect addition to my mood.

Hearing tires grinding on the road and the rumble of a diesel, I looked back. Ian was waving from the turret of the Hummer, soaked from the rain. Perez pulled up and stopped beside me, “Hey sailor; want a ride?” He asked.

“Thanks; but I’m good,” I replied. As I looked up, I added, “I’ll walk; the rain’s helping to clear my head.”

“I can dig it; been a rough day huh?” Ian asked.

Squinting against the rain, I looked up at him. “Yeah; you guys get everything from the armory?”

“We did; Sheffield wants to see you, tomorrow,” he replied.

“For what?”

He shrugged, “Hell if I know; I’m just the messenger.”

“Alright; dinner should be ready soon.”