Cold Blooded Assassin Book 6: Red Horizon (Nick McCarty Assassin) (47 page)

Khalil hugged Nick. “God bless you!”

“You have my number if there’s any problems. I look forward to visiting one day, my friend.”

“You will be most welcome!”

* * *

Denny met Nick as he exited his plane ride aboard the USS Truman aircraft carrier with a restrained Al-Saud. The two men shook hands while walking toward the island structure.

“Damn, Nick… this is incredible. Al-Saud will be invaluable within my cloistered group of terrorist advisors.”

Nick gestured at the now arrogant looking Al-Saud. “He thinks this is picnic time where he can remain quiet while waiting for special treatment, halal meals, prayer rugs, and servants to wipe his ass. This is what happens when there’s no instant training. He was on his way to meet someone when I nabbed him. Rabi didn’t want to tell me who and we didn’t have time to play together in the sand. I have no dog in the hunt because I don’t think he knows much about whatever I’d be interested in. I figured everyone can share in the fortunes he’s stashed away. He’s all yours.”

Denny grinned. “I brought along the cure for his reluctance, just in case there’s something near on the horizon.”

Lynn Montoya Dostiene walked out of the hatch at the side of the island with a big smile and her three minions alongside. “Nick! You look good after your sandbox excursion.”

Surprised, Nick hugged her and shook hands with the minions: Sylvio Ruelas, Gus Denova, and Quays Tannous. “It’s great seeing you all. I’ll leave my buddy, Rabiah in your capable hands. I’m a little tired of his company.”

Lynn pinched the red-faced Al-Saud’s cheek. “We’re going to have such fun!”

Nick patted Al-Saud on the back as the minions took charge of him. “Sucks to be you.”

The End

Future Nick and Jean Bonus Story IV

Connecting Threads

Benny watched the approaching gangbangers near his high school’s front gate with regret. He understood everything within his new world of family, friends, education, love, caring, and best of all: hope. Benny also remembered what put him in a crack-house as a young teenaged victim. He knew the young men approaching him shared his similar origins and race, but they shared nothing else within his soul. Benny felt empathy for doomed souls as he had experience with hopelessness. He had been practically raised in a crack-house before his new family plucked him out of it. The reason he fit so well with his new family drew from many deep wells, but lack of fear topped the list. Beaten, starved, used as a sex slave, Benny had done everything requested for his own survival. When rescued from his putrid former life with matter-of-fact extreme violence, kindness, and people he could count on, the life changing event allowed the real soul of Benny to surface. Like his new Dad told him when he adopted Benny – ‘I offer you only a chance at a life with honor but you’ll have to work for it, Benny’. Benny remembered smiling at Nick McCarty, the most dangerous living entity he had ever met, with hope and saying, ‘I will do anything for such a chance, Sir’. Nick had shook his hand with firm promise, ‘welcome to the family, kid’.

Benny waited for the ‘bangers because he knew this would have to be taken care of. Otherwise, kids at his high school, and innocent future victims of these vicious young thugs would be part of an unending list stretching into the future. Benny waited for them with relaxed patience as his new Dad had taught him. He knew the punks approaching couldn’t hurt him worse than he had been hurt in the past without killing him. He smiled and waved as they stopped in front of him.

“Hi, guys.”

Benny’s greeting, met with the clichéd derision of young male predators without guidance, honor, respect, or more importantly human compassion or empathy. It went on for a few moments of snickering laughs and hand gestures of dismissal. Benny waited with patience and awareness as taught by his Dad. He watched for disappearing hands or sudden motions with relaxed watchfulness.

The leader of the underwear showing crew pranced from side to side towards Benny with shoulder popping smoothness, making condescending hand gestures at Benny. “I get it… I get it. You too stupid to know not to face up with us, Benny. We don’t make exceptions for retards. Your sissy ass ours now! I warned you!”

Benny decided instantly there would be no avoiding of this interaction. “I have a tag name like you do now, Squiggy.”

Hearing the laughs at his expense from his own crew, Squiggy denied and deflected as imagined. “Man… I ain’t no Squiggy, you cheap ass ‘ho! Shut the fuck up! I plan to make you scream, pussy!”

Benny smiled without moving as the aforementioned Squiggy jived in front of him with arm, hand, and finger gestures gone wild. Benny held up his hands in a placating fashion. “Calm down. What is it you guys want anyway? I know you hate my guts for some reason. Let’s negotiate. I want to go to school and do well. If you let me, we can all just get along.”

“See!” Squiggy stabbed Benny with a forefinger. “We told you to find another school, B! We don’t want your ‘stick up the ass’ shit in our school! You feel me, rocket?!”

“My Dad wants me to go to school at Pacific Grove High School. My sister graduated from here.”

“Too fuckin’ bad. We heard about your ol’ fuckin’ man. He supposed to be a bad dude. We got that covered, homey. We pop him like a bad pimple. You reported us. That means a death sentence!”

Knowing you’re wasting your time reasoning with someone did not enter into Benny’s consciousness. He had no fear, and he had no hesitation to speak his mind. “My Dad would like you to also stop dealing drugs in and around the school. I asked him to let me convey the message to you so as to avoid violence.”

It took many minutes for Squiggy and his gang to stop enjoying Benny’s declaration.

“So…so… you come here to face off?” Squiggy launches into another snorting, jiving appreciation of Benny. “You stone cold dumb, B! You think you a loner bad ass, huh?”

Benny shrugged. He gestured at the approaching people at his back. “I’m not alone. This is my sister Jean, and brothers Sonny and Quinn. That’s our dog Sammy next to her.”

It was then Squiggy and his crew noticed the scarred blonde woman approaching with two huge guys bracketing her. A lean, white, longhaired dog strode panther like at the blonde’s side. Squiggy glanced back and nodded at one of the guys in the rear. He reached into his hoodie. The dog streaked into him, jaws clamping and tearing at the reaching arm, while crushing him to the pavement. Sammy glanced at Benny who held a hand in a leveling gesture. Sammy held in place.

“Anyone else reaches, I pin their hand to their chest,” Jean said.

“With what, bitch?” Squiggy reached.

No one saw the knife emerge or take flight with power. Squiggy felt something thud into his hand. He staggered backward, glancing down to see a knife handle protruding from the back of his right reaching hand, pinned into his chest. He screamed. Jean strolled forward and yanked the knife free with a vicious arm and hand movement, leaving Squiggy to fall on his rear end in shock. Squiggy clutched the wounded hand in place at his bleeding chest. Jean, Sonny, and Quinn moved amongst Squiggy’s crew.

“On your knees, kiddies,” Jean ordered. “We’re not the cops. Do as you’re told or we shoot you all in the head.”

Quinn flipped Sammy’s takedown victim over as if he were a ragdoll and frisked him with professional thoroughness. Sonny threw other reluctant members of Squiggy’s crew onto their faces if they didn’t get on their knees. Jean focused on Squiggy holding his damaged hand tight against his chest wound.

“We were asked by a police friend of ours to look in on your drug operation here at the high school, shit-for-brains. Our brother Benny attends here. My Dad wants this stopped. We’re going to call the cops to pick you idiots up. We’ll be filing charges according to what they find on you thugs at the entrance to a school.”

Squiggy sat straighter, sweating and feeling the pain. “Bitch… you better-”

“Shut-up, stupid!” Jean grabbed Squiggy’s hair, shaking his head violently. “Don’t make threats, shit-head! We take them personally. I’ll carve the nose off your face if you’re still stupid enough to make dumbass statements!”

Squiggy saw death appear as Jean flipped open the knife that had taken him down. He began rubbing his inner right leg. “I…I’m done.”

The fifty caliber hollow point slug splattered Squiggy’s compatriots behind him with blood, brain, and skull material. Jean straightened, her arms gesturing at the sky above. “What the hell, Dad?”

“Check the inside of his right leg he was rubbing, Daughter of Darkness.”

Jean’s mouth tightened as she stayed silent while checking Squiggy’s right leg while enduring her siblings’ suppressed amusement. “Damn it… I… oh crap.”

Dead Squiggy strapped a hideaway .32 caliber automatic at his ankle. The .50 caliber shot had scattered the crowd forming to check out the confrontation. Squiggy’s crew knelt unmoving with hands locked behind their heads as ordered. The kill shot removed any rebellious behavior they had been contemplating. Jean frowned as her Mom’s chuckling enjoyment of the missed firearm sounded loud and clear over their networked coms.

“You didn’t need a spotter for this, Dad,” Jean mumbled as they stripped weapons and drugs off the kneeling gangbangers.

“Apparently, I did. I’m sure you would have beat him down before he shot you in the head, but I couldn’t take the chance,” Nick replied.

“You were toast, you scarred up little turd,” Rachel zapped Jean. “What did you think the guy was doing, counting his toes?”

“If things were like when I was a kid, Dad would be in prison, Trailer-trash.”

“We wouldn’t take a gig like this under those rules of engagement, Viper,” Nick said as sirens sounded in the distance. “Neil will be there himself. The school’s been terrorized by those punks for a long time. We can’t have Benny caught in a crossfire at the school. Don’t forget to show your ID’s if Neil isn’t first on scene.”

“We will,” Jean said. “Thanks.”

“That’s why I’m here, kid. Good job.”

Benny finished taking pictures and digital fingerprints with Sammy at his side. When the first police cruiser drove onto the scene with sirens blaring, Jean, Sonny, and Quinn had their FBI and US Marshall credentials out. The police were briefed about the operation by their Chief, but as Nick surmised, it would be a mistake not to make sure the first on scene police officers did not see any weapons in evidence. The two officers kept lights flashing but turned off the siren. The young woman police officer left the passenger seat, saw Squiggy’s corpse and went for her weapon. Jean sighed but kept hands in the air as did her companions. Benny kept Sammy behind him. The woman’s older partner, a man in his mid-forties, called out to her.

“Suz! These are the FBI agents the Chief explained would be handling this sting. Don’t draw on them!”

“This is nuts, Jim! They blew that kid’s head off! What kind of crap is that?” Suz moved around her door with weapon now pointing at Jean. “You four get on your knees. I don’t give a shit what kind of ID’s you have!”

Jim looked closer at the dead Squiggy before moving over to Jen with a cautioning hand. “They didn’t kill him, Suz! They have backup.”

Suz glanced at her partner. “What are you talking about? They’re-”

“We have a sniper in place, Officer Bently,” Jean interrupted. “The perp on the ground went for an ankle gun. Our sniper killed him. You know how dangerous this area is nowadays. We don’t take chances when asked in on an operation.”

“Get on the ground.” Bently walked in on Jean.

With a twisting hand grip move too fast for Bently to see, Jean was holding her weapon. Sonny made a calming gesture at her partner who nodded. Jean popped the clip and cleared the chamber. She then jammed it into Bently’s holster with attitude before handing the stunned officer the clip.

“Put this in your breast pocket and don’t touch your weapon again.” Jean patted Bently’s shoulder. “I made a mistake today too. I didn’t frisk the dead guy like I should have. That’s why he’s dead. My companions and I are with a special branch of the Justice Department. We have credentials with the FBI and the US Marshal’s office. Your Chief knows us very well. Let’s wait for him, huh? I’m US Marshal Jean Salvatore. This is my husband, US Marshal Sonny Salvatore, and my brother, US Marshal Quinn McCarty. I’ve worked with you before, haven’t I, Officer Furlough?”

“I think so,” Jim Furlough held out his hand to Jean who shook it. “The ‘Posse’ gang bust, right?”

“That’s the one,” Jean acknowledged.

“Your Dad… ah… Nick McCarty. He’s a good friend of the Chief’s and he’s your backup sniper, isn’t he?” Furlough turned to Bently. “Jean saved your life, Suz. Her old man holds badges with every agency in existence. He’s like his kid here, he prefers US Marshal McCarty. The ‘Posse’ drew down on us with automatic weapons. McCarty killed every ‘banger that reached. His two partners, Nason and Groves arrived with a woman they called ‘Cleaner’ to take the gang into custody. I think they were illegal aliens because I never heard anything about the gang after that. Did they get extradited?”

“Ah… yeah, they did,” Jean lied.
To hell maybe and Cleaner Cala’s freezer
. “Listen, we don’t have to tell the Chief about Bently’s misunderstanding, right Jim?”

A look of relief flashed over Furlough and Bently’s faces. “Nope. Thanks for your understanding, Jean. I see you’ve corralled this lot with weapons and drugs.”