Going Goth Ch. 07

"Black bag job, huh?"

"You might say that. Do you know of men in the department that could be trusted to accompany you on this mission?"

"I think I can find some."

"Excellent," Smollett replied handing Lawson a file folder, "Here is the information you will need to find these thieves and retrieve Director Priestley's property."

Lawson thumbed through the sheaf of papers and photographs and growled "You want me to rough up a bunch of women to get this stuff?"

"Of course not; use your powers of negotiation. Between you and your men they should see the error of their ways and return the stolen property."

"Negotiation, yeah," Lawson chuckled, "Gotcha."

"We never had this conversation, Lieutenant, clear?"

"As crystal."

***

Sylvia Mansfield was going off shift and changing from her uniform to civilian clothes when April Stevens of the Records Unit approached her and said "Hey Sylvie, didja hear about the hush-hush mission some of the guys are goin' on this weekend?"

"Nope, what's goin' on?"

"Evidently, it's to retrieve some stolen property from some women staying up at Sunfish Lake."

'Shit, I bet it's Ronnie and her friends they're after' Sylvia thought, then said "That's outta our jurisdiction, April, that's against regs."

"I thought so too, but they're goin'. That moose Lawson was goin' 'round askin' guys if they wanted to make some quick cash and back him up on a special assignment. I think he's signed up ten, maybe twelve of 'em."

"Dumbasses," Sylvia snorted, "What are they gonna do, attack the Alamo? They could wind up bein' thrown off the force for pulling that crap."

"Juanita in Fraud said the word is that the Chief green lighted it himself; sumthin' else, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah," Sylvia said, mind racing. She had to warn them, but where were they? Then she remembered that Ronnie worked at Lover's Island for Cindi Buchanan; I bet she'd know. Dressing hurriedly, she said "Gotta run, April, see ya later," leaving the bemused girl standing there.

***

"Now, this 9mm doesn't have much of a kick," Connie said to a nervous Teri who was gingerly holding the pistol as if it was a snake, "See those bottles and cans over there? Pick one. Now extend your arms a little, that's it, hold your gun steady in both hands; look down the sights here and here, when the dots match up on your target squeeze the trigger. Got it?"

"Uhhh, yeah, I think so. It's gonna be a loud noise isn't it?"

"Not too loud, now get ready, that's right, get your target in your sights and squeeze ..."

KRAK!

Teri whooped in surprise as the bottle she was aiming at shattered "I got it! I got it! That's so cool."

"Hmmm, nice shot for a beginner," Connie said, "Now try for some of those other targets. Don't worry if you miss. Everyone does."

Susan came ambling toward them from the house carrying a 12 gauge pump action Remington shotgun, barrel down, and a box of shells. "She seems a natural with that gun, Connie. You must be a good teacher."

"Nah, it's all her. I just showed her how to use it. You need help with that?"

"Nope, my dad and I used to hunt ducks when I was a kid. I'm just familiarizing myself with this model."

"Leslie still the holdout on usin' a gun?"

"Woman's as stubborn as a mule. Says guns scare her. Maybe when she sees her kid usin' one she'll change her mind."

"Hope so, we're gonna need a gun in every hand. I don't trust those fuckers as far as I could throw 'em. It'd be just like 'em to find this place and pull a raid and someone'll get hurt for sure."

Teri had emptied her pistols magazine and had returned to where the women were standing, saying "I hit six more bottles, Connie."

"Good job, Teri. Now put the safety on like this and go on back in the house. I'll show you guys how to clean your weapons later."

Susan had been loading her shotgun while they were talking, pumped a shell in the chamber, put the guns stock to her shoulder, aimed and fired, shattering two bottles and sending a can spinning.

"Maybe we won't be the ones getting' hurt, Connie."

***

Cindi Buchanan was rearranging a spin rack of lubricants when Sylvia walked in, a determined look on her face. "Hey Syl, what's up?"

"We gotta talk, Cin, right now."

"C'mon back in my office."

Sylvia filled Cindi in on what she had learned about the raid, and then Cindi said, "Those motherfuckers better not hurt those women. You got your gun with you Syl?"

"Yep, always."

"We better haul ass up there and warn 'em. There's a spot in the house where we can all hide out if they do break in. You're off duty, right?"

"Uh, huh, let's get goin'."

Cindi's ride was a BMW Z4 convertible coupe. In no time they were on the highway doing well over a 100 MPH heading for the lake. Sylvia was glad she kept an extra loaded magazine in her purse in case of trouble; still if the attackers were armed, what could one pistol do, but it was better than nothing.

***

"Susan, Connie, wake up, there's someone outside."

"Jesus, babe, it's four in the morning, maybe it was the wind. Go back to sleep."

"Mmmph, yeah, the wind," Connie added.

"It wasn't the wind, guys, there's someone out there. I heard them."

"Okay, I believe you, let's go look."

Susan took her shotgun from atop the bureau, chambered a round, tied the sash of her housecoat as Leslie and Connie put on theirs and, barefoot, they crept from the bedroom into the main part of the house toward the front door. Susan saw a figure outside pass by the window, silhouetted momentarily in the waning moonlight.

"There's somebody out there all right," Susan whispered. "Go wake up the girls, Connie, we have some uninvited guests to entertain."

As Connie ran upstairs, there was a pounding on the door and a voice shouted "Police, open this door, now!"

"There's no cops way out here," Susan muttered, "Just the Sherriff over in Henley Corners and he's probably babysitting a drunk. These are some goons the League set on us. They want that evidence."

More pounding and then "Open this door or we'll break it down!"

"Whatta we gonna do, Suze?" Leslie said, her voice shaking.

"Throw the deadbolt, keep the burglar chain on and ask who it is. Buy some time. I'll be waiting for 'em."

Leslie did as she was told and said, "I think you have the wrong house, now who are you and what do you want?"

"I want you to open this door, bitch!"

"Such language, you're no policeman; you're a burglar, go away."

"Raahhhgh!" Shock roared throwing his body shoulder first against the door. The burglar chain snapped and the door smashed open sending Leslie sprawling. He stopped abruptly when he saw Susan leveling a shotgun at him.

"Now, put that gun down, lady," he said cautiously. "Nobody has to get hurt. We just need to search the premises for stolen goods and we'll be on our way."

"Nothing doing," Susan replied, "Now back on out of here and leave us alone."

"Let's be reasonable here," Shock said calmly, his hand moving toward the Glock 9mm automatic in his waistband.

"I said get out!"

Shock went for his gun, but Susan fired first. At such close range, the double ought buckshot tore his chest open and sent him tumbling back onto the porch, blood spraying from a severed artery. He twitched once and lay still.

"Fuck!" someone shouted in the darkness, "Shock's down!"

Leslie sprang up and slammed the door shut, throwing the deadbolt. She had never seen someone shot before and she was horrified.

"Go tell the girls to get their guns," Susan barked to the shaking Leslie, "These guys'll try to get in here again any minute. Now move!"

Leslie shuddered, and then ran to the stairs meeting Connie and the girls coming down with guns in hand wearing bras and panties, hair tangled and wide awake.

"Who'd ya shoot, Mom?" Brittany asked, chambering a round into her Winchester 30-30 rifle.

"Did ya kill 'em?" Keri added, taking the safety off and cocking her Smith and Wesson 9mm pistol.

"Some goon who broke in and I dunno. Let's drag that armoire over against the door in case they try that again. The rest of you keep low and drag the furniture together for cover."

"Fucking windows; we're sitting ducks in here," Connie muttered as she, Teri, Veronica and Leslie crawled around pulling the couches, chairs and tables together. With that, shots rang out and two of the large front windows shattered, showering the room with fragments as bullets thudded against the heavy oak door. Susan and Leslie ran for cover with the others, but the shooting stopped.

"You in the house, come out with your hands up!" a voice from outside shouted.

"Go fuck yourself," Connie shouted back and then ducked as another volley shattered the remaining front window, further shredding the draperies and ricocheting off the stone fireplace. "Teri, Ronnie, go check the back door, keep low and be careful."

The girls ran in a crouch to the back door and saw a figure at the window raise a gun butt, shatter the glass and reach for the doorknob. Veronica chambered a round into her shotgun, but Teri was quicker, snapping off three shots into the black clothed man wearing a ski mask. He screamed and fell back, thudding onto the deck and lay still. The sound of running feet indicated his partner wanted no part of what had happened.

"Nice shootin', babe," Veronica said and Teri grinned in triumph.

A sound of shattering glass from upstairs sent Susan and Brittany running up the stairs to meet the new threat. They reached the second floor and saw a black clad man in a ski mask in the hallway carrying a pistol. Before they could react, he fired at them and Brittany screamed in pain. Susan let fly with the shotgun and, when the man tottered and didn't fall; put another shell into him which stretched him out on the rug.

Leslie came running up the stairs crying "Who's been hurt?"

"Brittany," Susan said between clenched teeth, "Hold on sweetie," to Brittany, "We'll get you fixed up."

"My shoulder, Mom, it really hurts bad," the girl replied, tears in her eyes, the spreading dark red flow from the bullet wound dripping onto the rug.

"See to her, babe," Susan snarled, "I'm gonna kill that sonofabitch."

She approached the fallen man warily, shotgun at the ready. One shot had shredded his ski mask and face beneath it; the second had caught him in the upper torso opening a jugular vein in his neck. He was bleeding out and quite dead.

Susan toed the corpse, took the 9mm Glock from his dead hand, spit on the body, and then went to check on where he had broken in. When she saw an open bedroom door, she approached cautiously, holding her shotgun in firing position at her hip. The room was empty and the curtains were flapping in the breeze through the shattered window. She crawled along the floor and peeped over the windowsill.

"Hey, hey, dude, you okay?" a voice inquired from a tree outside the window.

"Yeah," Susan said in a gruff voice, "Gimme a hand here."

When the man crawled out on the limb closest to the window, Susan fired. He squalled, fell to the ground and lay still.

"Shoot my kid, willya," Susan muttered. She pulled a bureau in front of the window and pulled the bed against it. Satisfied the window was blocked, she went back out into the hall where the first man was making a gory mess on the carpet, spat on him again and went downstairs.

Leslie had Brittany lying on some sofa cushions in the kitchen bandaging her wound when Susan came in. Brittany's face was ashen; she smiled wanly at her mother and then closed her eyes.

"She's gonna be okay," Leslie said, continuing with her bandaging. "The bullet went through her bicep, but didn't hit a vein. I stopped the bleeding, put on some antiseptic, packed the wound with sterile gauze and wrapped her up. I had her swallow some pain killers and she won't hurt for a while, but we need a doctor."

"There has to be a way out of here," Susan said as more shots were fired, smashing the remaining hanging lamps in the great room and plunging the room into near darkness. The rosy glow of dawn on the horizon, promised light very soon.

"If these guys want to stay anonymous, it's gonna be a lot tougher for 'em now that the sun's comin' up," Connie said as the women held a council of war in the kitchen where they couldn't be seen from the outside. Teri and Keri who had been hovering over Brittany, who was now sleeping peacefully, left her to join the group.

"Why don't I make a run for my 'Vette and go get some help," Veronica offered. "I'll take a shotgun and you can cover me until I get rolling."

"I dunno, babe," Susan said. "We don't know how many of them are out there. They're probably hopin' we do make a run for it so they can pick us off."

"So what are we going to do?" Leslie said.

"All we can do is wait 'em out," Connie said. "Once it's daylight we can see them if they try to rush us. We've got food, water and plenty of ammo, so no problem there."

"I need to get my kid to a hospital," Susan interjected, "That wound could go septic and she could lose that arm."

"Then there's that," Connie replied. "They've stopped shooting, so maybe they are gonna try and wait us out. It could be days before anyone comes by and they'd shoot them too. These guys are desperate."

No one said anything and Brittany moaned in her sleep. They were trapped.

***

"Just my damn luck getting busted by a Smokey who thinks he's Dudley DoRight," Cindi groused as they sped along at just over the posted speed limit.

"Well, you were going over a hundred," Sylvia said, chuckling. "At least when he saw my badge he let us go with a ticket instead of hauling us off to jail."

"I could have done without the interrogation and the lecture on speeding," Cindi replied. "We should have been there by now, dammit."

When they reached the trail leading to the house and started down they saw several vehicles hidden in the trees. "I don't recognize any of those trucks," Sylvia said.

"Crap, we're too late," Cindi said angrily, "They prolly have the place surrounded. If they harm any of those girls I'll feed them their balls for breakfast."

"Stop here for a minute," Sylvia replied. "I need to fix their tires." She produced a folding knife from her jean pocket and hurried off into the woods. While she was gone, Cindi opened the car's console, took out a Colt .45 automatic, loaded it and waited for Sylvia to return.

Having slashed the last of the truck tires, Sylvia ran back to the car and got in. "They won't be going anywhere in those babies," she said. "Drive on up a ways and be careful, they could be layin' for us."

Cindi turned off the car lights and they drove slowly along until they saw the house with its shattered windows and several men hiding behind trees. Everything was quiet and the house looked deserted. Then they saw two of the men busily doing something with a red object. "Stop the car!" Sylvia barked. "If that's what I think it is, they're gonna try burning the place down."

"I'll be Goddamned," Cindi said, turning off the engine and brandishing the .45, "I'll kill those motherfuckers."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Sylvia said, "We gotta creep up on 'em, not rush 'em, we're outnumbered. Where did you get that cannon anyhow?"

"It was my uncle's. He was a Captain in the Infantry and went ashore at Anzio. He was one of the lucky ones and lived to be 92."

"Can you use it?"

"Damn straight."

"Let's go."

***

"I see two guys out there by those trees," Veronica said, "Gimme the rifle."

"What're they doin'?" Keri said, "What's that one guy got in his hand? Is that a gas can?"

"Fuck, they're gonna try to burn us out," Veronica swore, cocking the rifle and taking aim. They saw a flash of flame and then the man holding the gas can with a flaming rag stuffed in the spout came running at the house and drew back to throw it onto the porch roof. Veronica shot him in the stomach and he fell, the can bouncing away from him spilling gasoline which ignited and set him aflame. He shrieked and tried to roll, but it was no use. He howled in agony again and laid still, his body smoldering in the dirt.

Howls of rage arose from the remaining attackers and they peppered the house with a barrage of bullets, sending Veronica and Keri diving to the floor as the slugs whistled over them.

***

Sylvia and Cindi crept up until they had the men in their sights, then Sylvia shouted "Police! Hands up and drop your weapons now!"

One of the men cursed, turned and fired his rifle wildly. Cindi's .45 boomed and he spun around and fell; the rest took off running. They had had enough and only wanted to escape, but found their truck tires flattened and disappeared into the woods.

Satisfied they were gone, Sylvia called out "Hey you in the house. It's Sylvia and Cindi. We're coming up, don't shoot."

With that, the front door opened slowly and a rifle barrel appeared, followed by first Veronica's smudged face, then Keri's.

"If it is you guys c'mon up," Keri shouted, "No funny stuff, okay?"

Sylvia and Cindi shoved their pistols into the waistbands of their jeans and walked forward, hands outstretched. When the girls saw them, they ran out to them and began hugging and kissing and talking all at once.

In minutes, they were joined by Susan, Connie, Teri and Leslie and another round of hugging and kissing ensued. Soon they were gathered together in the ruined great room seated on bullet damaged furniture. Teri and Keri helped Brittany hobble out to join them. She was grimacing in pain from her wound and weak from blood loss, but still full of fight now that she had rested.

"Jesus in a canoe, look at this place," Cindi said looking at the damage, "Those fuckers meant business."

"If we hadn't found your armory downstairs we'd prolly all be dead," Susan replied, "That saved our asses, big time."

"Funny thing about that," Cindi said. "The people I bought this place from said their father was one of those survivalist types and he had that room special built. I guess he was figgerin' on World War Three or somethin'. I just left it there and forgot about it. I'm glad those guns still worked."

"Where's the nearest hospital, Cyn?" Susan asked, "I gotta get Brit here patched up."

"Centerville, 'bout 20 minutes from here, you can follow me and I'll lead you right to it; although you may wanna get dressed first."

Susan looked down at her tattered housecoat and dirt smudged body, then at the others wearing only scraps of housecoats and underwear and began to laugh. Everyone joined in and they all laughed, whooped and hollered, releasing the tension that had built up during the assault on the house.

Finally, Cindi coughed, wiped her eyes and said "I bet the last thing those goons expected to meet was a bunch of half-naked, gun toting broads."

***

Matthew Priestly was seated in his desk chair staring absently out the window when Tompkins said "Some people to see you, sir ... Oooff," as he was pushed out of the way by a tall woman and two men wearing matching gray suits barging into the room. Priestly swiveled around to see the three flash badges, and then the woman said "Matthew Priestly? I'm Agent in Charge Cynthia Roberts, FBI and these are my associates Agents Phillips and Cameron. You're under arrest, sir, on a variety of charges which will be explained to you at our office. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say or do may be used against you ..."

"Yes, yes," Priestly replied, "I know my rights. Actually, I've been expecting you. My friend Monty, he's the Chief of Police you know, called to warn me you were in the Headquarters building just before you arrested him. Rest assured, I'll go quietly, now if you don't mind I just need to get one thing from my desk drawer."

AIC Roberts nodded curtly, then her eyes widened in surprise as Priestly drew a snub nosed Colt .38 Police Special revolver from the desk drawer and she shouted "GUN!" As the agents dove for the carpet, drawing their own weapons, Priestly calmly cocked the pistol, placed the stubby barrel against the roof of his mouth and pulled the trigger.