Hard Case VII - Red Waves (John Harding Series Book 7) (16 page)

The ogre didn’t understand what was happening. After five minutes, he cringed with every blow, giving up any pretense of offense. I switched to his well-muscled midsection where I pounded in hurtful combinations that had him gasping and grunting every time one landed. Tommy called time. I admit to anxiously awaiting an ending. I hit Juthamah so hard flush on the temple with a left hook from my toes that he pitched sideways to the canvas, arms and legs limp. I waited over him. Jack sent me to my crew. Tommy began stripping off my light gloves. He knew the ‘Nightmare’ was over.

Jess pointed me around at my fallen ogre. Jack called in the ring doctor. I saw why. Juthamah’s beady eyes stared at me without blinking. I noticed his chest wasn’t moving as it should if he was breathing. “I think Juthamah just went virgin hunting, Dark Lord.”

I shrugged. “Via con Dios, you worthless prick. Maybe with the bunch we’re taking with us to Pain Central, we can stop worrying about the Albanian Mafia.”

“What the hell was that choke match all about, John?”

“It’s a long story, Dev. I was playing Conan the Barbarian meets Baal-pteor, an old tale I read when I was a kid. How did it look?”

“Stupid,” Tommy answered.

“Impressive,” Jafar said. “Lucas screamed ‘Recon’ from his sniper’s nest. Here come Juthamah’s handlers. They do not look happy.”

Jess, Tommy, and Dev met them. They had backup. If any of the handlers’ hands reached for anything, they would be shot in the head. Jafar was right. They didn’t look like a mob ready to concede a loss and get absorbed. Tommy, who makes a great looking ‘Godfather’ in his black pinstriped suit, handled our side of the negotiations. I noted the politicos and VIP’s left already. ‘Rique and Earl, our Oakland PD contacts, worked security during and after the fight. They stayed close to the cage where my crew would take care of any gangster business while ‘Rique and Earl handled crowd control and movement.

“That’s far enough. You will be absorbed into the Oaktown Cartel,” Tommy stated with his hand in a stopping gesture, while I put in my com unit Jafar handed me. “If you have any complaints, we can take this meeting somewhere else where you will never be heard from again.”

“Fuck you, Sands! Your pug killed Demetri,” the manager named Tito Rontos shouted. “We will have restitution.”

“This isn’t ‘South Park’ chump,” Tommy answered. “People die in the octagon, dummy. This isn’t an ‘oh my God, they killed Demetri’ moment. We own you and your mob or we remove you from existence – your choice. You knew the rules when contacting us about a match.”

Alexi arrived with his personal security staff. Jack Korlos, who had presided over the removal of Juthamah’s body once the ring doctor shook his head, joined Alexi. “Gentlemen, we have a winner. The winner is John Harding. He won without any cheats or cons. All bets made will have to be paid according to the amount and conditions wagered.”

“Jack is my referee,” Alexi added. “Please make arrangements with Mr. Harding’s crew to be given your duties as part of the Oaktown group. We have some of your men in custody, Mr. Rontos. You know they arrived here to assassinate John Harding. As to your fighter. He met with a much better fighter and lost. It cost him his life. I heard of the threats made by your organization. I will never host an event or have discourse with you or your organization again. My advice to you is disband, leave the area, or accept terms. Anything else will end badly for you.”

Rontos wanted to explode, but although he didn’t know us very well, he did know Alexi Fiialkov. If he knew us as well, he’d be kneeling with his palms in the air. “What about our men?”

“We’ll be keeping them for the time being until we figure out why you wanted to kill me before the match,” I explained.

“That…that’s unacceptable!”

“I just popped three bandits heading for the entrance with what look like AK47’s, Recon,” Lucas stated calmly in my ear. “Sorry, but the crowd exiting is running for the hills. Acknowledge!”

“We heard, Pappy,” Lynn replied. “We have their crew at gunpoint now.”

“They made a decision, Lucas. We’ll be taking these guys in,” I told him. “We’ll be leaving in a few moments after we sort out the mess here.”

“Acknowledged,” Lucas said.

“You will not…” Rontos began just before I shot forward and dropped him with a short right to his jaw that lifted him inches off the canvas and onto his back.

His men in the cage began reaching, but they found themselves covered by Jess, Dev, Jafar, and Tommy, all armed with weapons pointed at their heads. I turned to Alexi. “Lucas had to shoot three men on their way in with AK47’s. They’re playing for keeps, Alexi. It appears they won’t be abiding by our agreement.”

“Understood. We will leave this in your capable hands, John. Perhaps I will see you over at The Warehouse later, my friend. I will leave a man to lock up after you leave.”

“Thanks, Alexi. I’m sorry about this added drama.”

“I thought they challenged in good faith. I see the Al Jazeera film crew fled the moment you cashed Juthamah out. I doubt it is a coincidence. I’m glad I collected their money prior to the fight. This looks as if it will get complicated unless Denny can hold off the locals while you collect bodies.”

“I’m certain he’s working on that right now, Alexi. Good night for now. I would indeed love to stop by the Warehouse later, but the minions are on a mission. I’ll be covering their duties. Say hello to Marla for me. Did she get a bet down?” I knew the old Russian was dating my favorite barkeep and fight fan.

“Marla no longer needs to bet on fights,” Alexi said with a smile while waving his men to follow him. “I will say hi for you.”

“Okay, guys, we’ll have to take care of business,” I said to my crew after Alexi left the cage. “Did you remember the restraints, little brother?”

“Yes.”

I got in the faces of the Albanian thugs. “Get on your knees, hands clasped behind your heads or die. You have three seconds. “One…two…” They dropped as ordered. Jafar quickly restrained them with hands behind backs. “You boys have chosen wisely. Right now, the way I see it, we’ll probably ship your asses back where you came from.”

“Go talk to Earl and ‘Rique, John,” Dev said. “We’ll begin the loading process. We have this, Achmed. Go bring the action van around.”

“On it.” Jafar left the cage and jogged to the entrance.

I did as Dev suggested, getting out of the cage with equipment bag in hand for a conference with my Oakland Police Department contacts and very good friends. They were on our payroll, but only in a constructive and above board manner with Homeland Security. Earl and ‘Rique were waiting for me. They didn’t interfere at all with my crew handling business.

“What’s happening, John,” ‘Rique asked.

“Three shooters were heading inside with AK47’s. They’re part of the Albanian Mafia we fronted tonight. Lucas zapped them. We’ll collect the bodies along with the men we took prisoner earlier.” I looked over at Denny, who was trying to get my attention. He nodded in the affirmative. “We’re golden. Denny has the local issues covered. You guys head for home. There will be a bonus on the way, brothers. We take care of our own. When you go outside, hide your eyes. I don’t want you guys to be traumatized by the bodies.”

Yep. I received all the benediction I figured I had coming from that ace as Earl and ‘Rique left. I joined Denny where Lynn entertained the three very depressed Albanian Mafia members that had been in the audience. To say she tried desperately to get a violent interaction going would be an understatement. I sat down after pulling on my pants, boots, clean t-shirt, and windbreaker. My clip on .45 caliber Colt I put at my back under the windbreaker.

“That was a very unique fight, Cheese.”

“Part of my job is entertainment, Den.”

“Tommy didn’t sound very entertained when you decided to go rogue on him. A choke-a-thon? Really?”

“It’s a process. Sometimes my gut doesn’t allow me to play nice with assholes who threaten my family and would kill me in a heartbeat if given the chance. Juthamah went bye-bye. Good riddance. On the upside, I chased those terrorist enabling bastards from Al Jazeera into the hills. You can bet they were praying to Allah for my death tonight. Instead… I gave them a nice shit sandwich. Bona petite you dogs.”

Denny chuckled. “That’s really harsh, Cheese.”

“I’m so ashamed. Do you have plans for all these Albanian pricks?”

“I’ve checked all the ID’s. Guess what?”

“They’re all illegal with exquisite ID’s made by a master. Where do we find him or her? It seems the government doesn’t care, but I do.”

“Lynn will find out the name, and where they crossed into the states. We already know they came from New York. After we gather enough facts, I’m shipping them back to where they came from. I will also put them on the no fly list personally. We’ll put the Mafia in holding until I can determine if any of them committed crimes or atrocities, either here or overseas. Although there won’t be much of a gang to absorb, this turned into a great night. I thought we’d have to explain a lot of bodies disappearing.”

“Let’s call Sam and Janie after we finish with the checks. They can cash in with the FBI and Homeland Security busting an illegal Albanian Mafia Syndicate. We’ll close down their ID factory and sew the border tear they came through for all the good that will do us.” I admit to thinking poorly of our government’s commitment to safe borders.

“I’ll make sure they don’t do a ‘catch and release’ with this bunch,” Denny said.

Lynn joined us. “I’m ready. I’ve picked out my bitches who will tell us everything we need to know, or at least everything they know. Who knew we’d need most of the restraints we brought along? If we didn’t have Pappy on sniper duty, those clowns outside with the AK47’s would have started a war inside.”

“It does make the questioning a bit more necessary,” Denny agreed. “They knew who would be at tonight’s fight. This is a perfect place for a massacre. Let’s make sure we have everyone out of the building except for the guy locking the place down for Alexi. We’ll take stock of things then. We can fit them all in the action van with a couple of us guarding them.”

“I’ll send Tommy home. This isn’t his thing anyway. How many do we have to transport? Don’t forget the six in holding.”

Lynn gestured at the three she had been entertaining. “These three, the six in holding, and Betty’s handlers, so thirteen altogether. We weren’t prepared for an army. We should have been. Having the Asian Crips here for cover would have been smart. They’ve done it before. Anyway… it is what it is. Pile them in the van, Cheese. Shoot them in the damn head if they act up. If the government stays at the pace they’re on now, either openly allowing terrorists in or closing their eyes while terrorists do it illegally, we’ll have plenty of targets to replace any casualties we incur on the way to Pain Central.”

We digested her input with both amusement and acknowledgement, knowing exactly what she warned of was happening. “I’ll take the heat, Lynn. Go home with Clint. We’ll take this to the next step tomorrow.”

“No way, Cheese.” Lynn jogged over to where Clint talked to Casey. He listened with a smile before giving her a hug and kiss.

Knowing what Clint and Lynn discussed at the moment, I thought of their intimate discussion as the ultimate disturbing family moment. He probably said, ‘What’s up, babe’. She said, ‘I need to torture a bunch of guys, hon. Go home and feed the baby. I’ll be home later’. He replies, ‘no problem. Have fun. I’ll see you later’.

I took a deep breath as Lynn returned to Denny and me. Such is life in Monster land. “I’m good to go. Can you give me a shop vehicle to go home in, Cheese?”

“Are you kidding? We have an assortment of loaners. Take any vehicle you wish. Are you sure you want to do this? We can put it off until a later date.”

Lynn put hands on hips, jutting her face forward as if doing Lucas’s drill sergeant act. “Listen meatball, Clint and I are fine. Get your damn ‘Mayberry’ brain in gear. I’m going with you. Now who drives the cattle truck? It better be you, Dennis the Menace.”

“I’m driving,” Denny said immediately. “I won’t sugarcoat this. We’ll do whatever the hell we need to do. Our offshore island nation is bought, supplied, paid for, and fortified. Anyone wanting to get us better come with their work boots on. I already called the ‘cleaners’ we use for official purposes to collect the guys Lucas wasted, Clint’s nose job, and the big dummy DL punched into hell.”

“I’ll get the prisoners all loaded, Denny. Princess Pole can go sit on her ass in the corner until we minions finish our work. I’ll get Tommy and my crew moving.”

Lynn of course didn’t like her new nickname. “I hope you’re in the mood when we get back out to sea. I’m thinking we won’t need you for a while aboard the Starlight. Lucas can put you in the water next to the Sea Wolf while tailing the cruise ship, four hours in four hours out. Friends don’t let friends get out of shape. I’m always feeling like a lecher on the first day of band camp when poking the immaculate banana, Cheese. Let’s get to work and save the small minded banter for later.”

I grabbed the three off the front chairs. They moved where I wanted them without resistance. I could tell my punching Juthamah’s ticket made an impression on my soon to be Pain Central guests. A cell seemed preferable to a Dark Lord beat down. My cage crew brought the others to join us at my gesture. Denny, Casey, and Clint went to retrieve the men in the holding cell. Jafar parked in front of the entrance carefully avoiding the bodies.