Grab Life by the Balls

"Liz? I need you to track that radio signal. Is it moving or is it still stuck at the house?"

"One moment, sheriff," she said. I could hear the click of computer keys in the background as she furiously tried to triangulate the radio signal from Dean's pager. "It looks like the signal is still stationary, Pat." Dammit, I thought to myself. "Oh - wait a second. The signal is definitely moving, sheriff. Northbound towards downtown."

Yes! Dean had done it! "Thanks, Liz. I'll be in my vehicle and I'll need you to work this operation for me, okay?"

"Ten-four, Sheriff."

I ran out to the conference room and saw everyone, including Chris Hayes and Ben Villanueva, putting on their riot gear. There were eight of us available and I could only hope that it would be enough as we didn't have time to activate the Special Operations Group or SOG team.

"Alright, everybody, listen up. I have every reason to believe that a man has been taken by force and is going to have an illegal medical procedure performed on him against his will. I'm trying to ascertain his exact whereabouts at this time. Dispatch is tracking an emergency signal from a pager the subject was given. We won't have an exact location but it should get us close enough. Everybody head to your vehicles and I'll relay more info as we get going, okay?"

The room cleared out as everyone headed to their respective cruisers. I checked my gear quickly. Even though I was sheriff, I still wore a full duty uniform daily that included all of the same equipment as every one of my deputies. Ben Villanueva dressed the same, even though he was a Captain. No suits and ties allowed in my department.

I had my service pistol, which was a Glock 22 forty-caliber pistol. One of my first acts as Sheriff was to standardize the weaponry of the department. Under Bud Roberts and his predecessors, deputies were given an allotment of cash to purchase their own service revolvers or pistols. I had previously used everything from Berettas to Smith and Wesson. Standardizing the firearms eliminated the need to purchase various sizes and types of ammunition and made it much easier for our armorer to service the weapons. It also ensured that we maintained uniform proficiency on our weapons as a department.

I double checked the rest of my gear and then made sure all of my riot gear was in my Ford Expedition, which was my assigned vehicle as Sheriff. I turned the ignition and brought the big 5.4 liter V-8 to life and headed towards downtown Red River Falls. I looked in my rear view mirrors and saw the rest of the deputies were following in a convoy.

"Dispatch, seventeen-zero-one," I said as I keyed my hand mic.

"Seventeen-zero-one, dispatch. Go ahead," Liz came back.

"Dispatch, I need an update on that signal," I said.

"Wait one," came the reply. "Signal at this time is in the vicinity of the 1400 block of La Crescent, still appears to be moving north."

"Good copy." La Crescent Drive was the same boulevard that led to Holy Family Medical Center. Surely they wouldn't attempt to perform an illegal surgery there, would they? There had to be some other place that would be more discreet. I decided to call someone who might know. I hit the SYNC button on my dash and tapped the phone icon. "Call Shannon cell," I commanded to the computer. Within seconds I could hear the phone ringing on the speaker.

"Hey, babe," Shannon said. I could hear the smile and the love in her voice. For a split second I almost forgot what I called her for.

"I wish I had time to pillow talk, sweetheart, but I need some information. They've got Dean and they're taking him somewhere. It looks like they're headed for Holy Family but they wouldn't possibly do an illegal surgery there, would they?"

"Oh, my god, oh, my god! Are you serious?"

"Serious as a heart attack, sweetheart. Do you have any idea where something like that might be done?"

"Do you know if any medical personnel are involved?" she asked.

"I only have one name. A doctor...uh...Molly, or something like that." Shit! I couldn't remember the name all of a sudden. I needed to calm the fuck down.

"Do you mean Doctor Mullin?" Shannon corrected me.

"Yes! Yes! That's the guy!"

"Doctor Mullin is a general surgeon who works mostly out of the outpatient surgical center. But that place is only open during the day and they don't do surgeries on Thursday afternoons."

Only open during the day? And no surgeries on Thursday afternoon? That had to be the place!

"That's it, honey! That's gotta be it! It's supposed to be closed, which means there won't be anyone official to come snooping around! You did it, sweetheart!"

"Oh, Patrick! I'm so scared for Dean! Will you promise to let me know how it goes?"

"I'll call you as soon as I can, sweetheart! I gotta go. We're almost there."

"Okay. Good luck! I love you!"

"I love you too, Shannon." I punched the icon to end the call.

"All units, all units, proceed to Brimmeyer Electric's building and prepare to stage in the parking lot." Brimmeyer Electric was a store that sold all manner of tools and equipment to local contractors and independent electricians. They had a large parking lot and their building would help keep us hidden from the view of the hospital. The outpatient surgical center was located a half-block northeast of the main hospital campus but was still located within the overall campus area, which consumed nearly six blocks total.

Once I had everyone gathered up, I gave them my plan. "Okay, everybody. The outpatient surgical center is supposed to be closed and empty this time of day. It presents the perfect opportunity for this illegal operation to be done in a fairly safe manner. I believe a local physician, Doctor Mullin, it cooperating with the individuals who are perpetrating this crime. The victim is a fellow county employee, Dean Strobe."

"Holy shit," Deputy Brandon Rousch exclaimed. "Doctor Mullin is the guy who fixed my hernia last year!"

"Really? Well, he's a fucking criminal," I said, eliciting a chuckle from everyone. "Ben, I need you to head over to Holy Family and see if you can meet up with Steve Nelson. He's the head of security for the hospital. See if you can gain access to video surveillance for us."

"I'm on it," Ben said as he headed for his cruiser.

"As for the rest of us, we're going to divide up into two teams. Half of you will be with Lieutenant Hayes and the others will be with Lieutenant Ryerson."

We waited in the parking lot for a few minutes when I got word from Ben Villanueva that two cars had pulled into the parking lot of the outpatient surgical center, a blue Toyota Corolla that belonged to Dean's wife and a red Nissan Pathfinder that was being driven by Brad Weston. All five subjects exited the vehicles and proceeded to the side entrance of the building. Todd and Kyle both had Dean in their grip and forced him into the building.

My cell phone buzzed. "This is Quinn."

"Pat, this is Ben. I'm here with Steve Nelson. I've got eyes on the outside of the surgical center but there is a separate security office in the building itself that monitors the internal cameras."

"Can Steve send someone over there to get eyes on for us? Preferably without being seen by Mercedes and Brad?"

"That's the problem, Pat. Steve told me that he thinks one of his security guys might already be inside the building. At least his car is in the north lot. His name is Colby Smothers and, by Steve's schedule, he's not supposed to be working today. I think we have to assume that he is an accomplice."

Shit. And if we try and approach the building they'll see us, sure as hell.

"Ben, ask Steve if there is any way possible that we can get into the building without being seen by external security cameras."

"Okay, hold on a sec." I waited about a minute while I could faintly overhear them talking. "Okay, Pat. Here's an idea. Steve says there is a narrow steam and utility tunnel that leads from the main hospital to the clinics and the surgical center.

"He says the tunnel entrance in the surgical center leads directly to the maintenance room that is actually located adjacent to the security office. If we do it quickly enough, we can get in there and occupy the security office before Colby can alert the others."

"Okay, good job, Ben. I'm gonna head over there and I'll meet Steve in the office. You and I will go with him and make entry to the surgical center. I'll have both teams standing by and ready to make entry once we have positive control."

"Okay, see you in a minute, Pat," he said as he hung up.

"Okay folks," I said, addressing the deputies. "I'm going to have you all proceed on foot over to the main hospital's security office. Angel and Chris, divide up your teams how you want them. Once I'm inside the surgical center, I'll designate your avenues of approach. In the meantime, contact dispatch and have all available Red River Falls police units establish a perimeter around the area. Just tell them we have a situation in progress and we'll advise them when we can. And have dispatch send an ambulance from the fire department as well, in case we need them."

I proceeded across the street and jogged to the hospital's main entrance and rushed towards the security office, which was located near the Emergency Department. I met Ben and Steve Nelson and we proceeded to the physical plant and entered the steam tunnel.

The tunnel was barely wide enough for one person. Running along the left side of the tunnel were high pressure steam pipes and all manner of electrical conduit containing electrical wires and computer and communication lines. It would be a bad place to get caught in a fire or flood, that's for sure.

It took us about four minutes to move from the physical plant and enter underneath the surgical center. There was a ladder that led from the steam tunnel to the utility room above. It was only about one story in height.

"Okay, Pat and Ben," Steve said. "As you go up the ladder, you'll enter into the utility room, which is where the HVAC system and main utility panels are located. You'll see the main door. Exit and go left and proceed about 10 feet. The security office will literally be the first door on the left hand side. Hopefully, Colby hasn't barricaded himself in there."

"Thanks so much for the help, Steve," I said as I began my climb. "We'll call you up as soon as everything is clear."

I got to the top of the ladder, followed shortly by Ben. We approached the door to the utility room and both drew our sidearms. I proceeded to slowly open the door and peek out into the hallway. I saw nothing but I could hear a single voice coming from the direction of the security office to my left. I entered the hallway, turned left and hugged the wall as Ben slowly and carefully closed the door to the utility room without making a sound.

I gave a signal and we proceeded with guns drawn to the security office. Sure enough, there was Colby Smothers sitting in a chair with his back turned to us and talking loudly on his cell phone. I quickly whisked him around in his chair to face me and immediately grabbed the phone out of his hand and ended his call with my thumb while keeping the barrel of my .40 cal Glock pointed directly at his nose.

"Don't even think about making a sound, understand?"

Colby just nodded his head with a shocked and pale expression on his face, probably wondering how in the hell we had gotten into the building without him knowing.

"Ben, go and get Steven Nelson and bring him up. Colby, I know you're not supposed to be working today which means only one thing - you're helping out with an extremely illegal activity. I need you to tell me how many people are here and what room they are all in, okay?"

Colby just nodded his head. "There's five people that just came in about fifteen minutes ago."

"How many surgical people are here?"

"Um, six, I think."

"I need you to be sure, Colby."

"There's six. Definitely six. The doc, the anesthetist, a nurse and three surgical techs."

"Where?"

"Surgical suite five," he said, trembling.

Steve and Ben entered the office.

"Jesus, Colby," Steve said, pissed. "Do you have any idea what in the hell you got yourself involved with?"

"Doctor Mullin asked me to be here today. He said he'd pay me triple overtime to help out with an emergency case. He said all I had to do was just keep the building secure while they were doing the operation." He was nearly hyperventilating.

"And nothing tripped any warning bells that his might not be legit? It didn't strike you odd that a doctor was going to pay you directly instead of the hospital?"

Colby just looked away in panic and shame.

"Let's worry about that later, Steve. Colby, show me where everyone is at and what they're doing."

Colby showed me the various camera screens. In the largest screen, there were five people in the surgical room making all necessary preparations. In another room, I could see Brad, Mercedes, Todd and Kyle all forcing Dean out of his clothes and into a surgical gown. His clothes were in a pile on the floor and it didn't appear anyone had found his pager yet.

"Hayes from Quinn," I said into my radio mic.

"Quinn, Hayes. Go ahead," he replied.

"Chris, go ahead and proceed with both teams to the main entrance of the building. Someone will be there to let you in."

"Good copy. Moving."

I returned my attention to the video screens. It appeared that Doctor Mullin had entered the room where Dean and the others were.

"There," I said, pointing at the screen. "Focus in on that camera and bring up the audio so I can hear."

Steve Nelson sat down at the chair while Ben Villanueva proceeded to cuff Colby. The individual camera feeds were all assembled on one large flat screen TV on the left side of the console. The security officer could bring up any camera he wanted to onto a large flat screen on the right side of the console to get a better view. Steve Nelson also brought up the audio as Doctor Mullin spoke to Mercedes and Brad.

"Just to head off any last minute jitters, you two, I'm going to ask you both one last time. Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Doctor Mullin asked.

"Absolutely," Mercedes sad as Brad nodded. "This has been a fantasy of ours for a long time. I can't thank you enough, Doctor Mullin, for helping our dream come true. This is so exciting!"

"I can tell you both are stoked about this. I want to reiterate that I have written extensive documentation that makes this whole situation look like a necessary operation for testicular cancer. If anyone from the hospital looks, they will see what looks like months' worth of painstaking documentation and medical dictation that necessitates the procedure."

"We appreciate everything," Mercedes assured him. "We all know exactly what to say and what to do from here on out. And Dean loves me so much and thinks I love him so much in return that I can promise you'll have his full cooperation, too. Besides, he won't want to risk the humiliation of people outright knowing that he has been castrated."

"A real man wouldn't, either," the doctor agreed. "Maybe there is some tiny shred of manhood left in Dean after all."

"There better not be," Mercedes warned. "This operation better make him the dominated, subservient cuck that we want him to be. He damned well better know his place in the world after this is all over with."

"I think I may have an idea of how you can completely and totally accomplish the absolute domination over Dean that you truly desire," Doctor Mullin suggested.

"How's that?" Brad asked.

"What if I were to tell you I could make it so that Dean would feel every last sensation of the procedure as he was going through it? What would you think if I told you that he would literally feel the excruciating sensation of every slice of the scalpel and the unimaginable pain of having his testicles removed but that he would be powerless to do anything about it?"

"Jesus," Brad said, sounding genuinely spooked. "I don't know about that. I mean, there was a reason why we wanted this done professional-like, ya know?"

Mercedes wasn't fazed in the least bit. "Tell me more," she ordered.

"Well, anesthesia is a combination of several things, really," Doctor Mullin explained. "One drug causes the patient to fall asleep. Another drug paralyses the body and additional drugs relieve pain and cause amnesia. I could order my anesthetist to give only the drugs that would cause him to fall asleep and paralyze him. He would essentially be asleep by he would also have full sense of touch throughout his body and feel the procedure.

He wouldn't really remember for sure what happened to him while he was under, but I guarantee you he will be completely traumatized from the experience. He'll be so scared and in pain that he will literally come crying to you for support. You'll have Dean eating out of your hand the rest of your life. He will do whatever he needs to in order to feel safe, which means he will do whatever you want him to for the rest of your life!"

"Jesus Christ," I whispered as I listened to their psychotic plot to torture Dean.

"Do I understand this correctly, Sheriff?" Steve asked. "These people are planning an illegal surgical procedure to castrate her husband?"

"That's exactly what's happening, Steve."

"Oh, sweet Mary, Mother of God..." He looked behind him where Colby Smothers was cuffed and cowering in the corner. "Colby, you are sooooo fired for this!"

My radio crackled. "Sheriff, this is Hayes. We're at the front entrance."

"Copy," I replied. "Ben? Can you let those guys in?"

"Got it," he said. He returned shortly with all of the Deputies and two firefighter/paramedics from the Red River Falls Fire Department that I had requested in case they were needed.

Steve and I listened to the audio from the video screen as Mercedes confirmed for Doctor Mullin that she was only too happy to allow him to "enhance" the procedure for Dean and make it that much more memorable for everyone. I've seen a lot in over 15 years of law enforcement. But until today I had never really seen evil face-to-face. Mercedes Strobe, as gorgeous and striking as she was physically, was also the embodiment of the Devil himself. Who knew something so beautiful could be so cruel?

Chris Hayes, Angel Ryerson and the rest of the deputies had congregated in the small security space. It was obvious from watching everyone on the screen that they believed Colby had the building secure. We waited for about 15 more minutes as the surgical team continued preparing the room. Soon, Dean arrived in the surgical room wearing only a pair of white underwear briefs and being escorted by Brad, Mercedes, Todd and Kyle who were all wearing complete surgical scrubs.

They forced Dean to lie down on the surgical table and his arms were strapped down by heavy Velcro straps, which Doctor Mullin said were to prevent Dean from thrashing about if the anesthesia were to suddenly wear off for some reason. In short, he explained, strapping him down to the table to actually to protect Dean during the procedure. He said this while giving a knowing smirk to Mercedes and Brad.

The anesthetist placed a mask over Dean's face and she started counting backwards from ten. By the time she got to 5, it was apparent that Dean was already asleep.

"Okay, everyone! Medics, you two stay here for now. Chris, you take your team down the left side of the hallway and Angel, you take your team down the right side. Ben, you have command of the assault. Get back there and form two stacks on either side of the door to surgical room 5. Stand by for my order to breach and then execute once I give it!"