Rock Her (20 page)

“Oh, Fuck!” Kip said.

“Ah, now he gets it, Reynolds!” The man laughed, and Reynolds
joined in. Then the doctor cackled, and Kip just about squeezed off a round
into his head. But he stayed his finger.

“So, this whole fucking excursion was a set up to get me away
from Annie?” Kip asked.

“’
Fraid
so, buddy.”

“And you think you’ll be able to pull off an assassination on
base, and get away with it?” Kip asked again.

“Well, we have an inside man,” The man said.

“Sparks! Fuck me!” Kip ground his teeth.

Kip saw Reynolds and the tall man look at one another. Reynolds
shrugged, and then looked back at Kip.

“What makes you think I won’t just squeeze the trigger and drop
all three of you?” Kip asked, still grinding his teeth.

“What makes you think there are only three if us, Mr. Parker?”
The man said. And Reynolds laughed again. Then, for the first time, perhaps
because he knew to look for it now, he saw movement in the shadows behind the
three assholes.

“Now, drop your weapon, and maybe we can work out a deal where
we all walk out of this building alive,” The man said.

Kip, could not see how many were behind the three he could see.
But Kip was working out a gamble in his head. He knew that when he walked into
the place, Jack and everything behind him was well lit. The odds of anyone
hiding back there were slim to none. He was willing to risk it all on the
gamble that all of the tall man’s muscle was in the shadows behind him.

Kip lowered his weapon across his chest and down, until it was
pointing to the floor. As he did so, he pulled one of the grenades from his
belt, yanking it from its pin.

Just then three more men, Taliban, from the looks of them,
stepped forward to just behind and on either side of the tall man.

“Drop it all the way!” Reynolds yelled. So Kip let go of it and
it clanged to the floor. The timing was perfect, as Kip had planned. The
grenade’s clip flew away and the grenade hit the floor at the same time as the
rifle, so the sound of it impacting the concrete was unheard. Unheard, that is,
until it rolled to their feet.

Kip heard an ‘
Oh, Shit!
’
And he threw himself across Jack’s body to protect him from any shrapnel. He
placed his hands over Jack’s ears just before the grenade detonated.

Kip felt impacts of shrapnel hit him in the back, his vest
taking the bulk of it. He also felt small pieces rip through his arms and legs,
but he held tight to Jack.

When the concussion was over, he turned around to find all of
the men in pieces, spread out across the room. All of their bodies were torn to
shreds. No one could have survived such a close detonation of a grenade.

“Jacky, you alright?” Kip asked Jack.

Jacky nodded and grunted that he was okay, at least not wounded
from the grenade.

Kip stepped away from him and toward the six bodies that
littered the floor. He looked at all of them and then stepped to the body of
the dead doctor. He stood over him and spit on what was left of his face. “Good
riddens
to you, asshole! I hope you enjoy fucking old
whores in hell for eternity.”

Then he walked back to Jack and helped him down from the steel
rack.

“I wish I had a cell phone now!” Kip said. “I’ve got one, or I
had one, but they took it. Not sure where they put it. Kip looked around the
room. He saw a table behind where Jack was hung on the rack. On it was Jack’s
flask and his cell phone. He ran to it and check for a signal. Nothing. But he
had different plans anyway. He went back to the ruined bodies and opened Jack’s
phone. He took pictures of all of their faces, taking extra care to make sure
that Reynolds and the tall man were clear and well lit by the flash. When he
was sure he had what he needed, he flipped it closed and picked up his rifle.
He made sure he had a chambered round and that there was no damage to it from
the grenade, then he threw his arm around jack and helped him up the stairs.

Kip and Jack made it out to the road without incident, but a
crowd was beginning to gather. Another explosion in the Serena hotel was
nothing to get excited about, but there were still rubberneckers in
Afghanistan. He and Jack hurried across the street and took cover in and alley
between buildings. Kip reminded himself that there was still danger. Lone
Americans should not be walking the streets in Afghanistan.

“Kip, buddy,” Jack said, Panting. “Leave me here. You’ve got to
get back to base and save Annie. I am just slowing you down.”

“Hell no, Jack. I don’t leave men behind.”

“I’m not one of your men, Kip,” Jack stuttered. “We’re
civilians. You’re not in the Marine Corps anymore.”

“You’re as much one of my men as I have ever had, Jack,” Kip
said to him. “I won’t leave you on the street. These people are animals. They
find out you’re American, they rip you to shreds.”

“Then get me to the whorehouse, Kip. I’ll be safe there. I’ve
made friends.”

Kip looked at Jack to see if he was serious. He looked it.

“Are you sure?” Kip said.

“Well, if not, at least I’ll die happy.” Jack laughed. Kip
smiled at him, and lifted him to his feet. Jack did not look badly damaged. But
he limped and was in extreme pain at being beaten.

Kip and jack made it to the whorehouse and Kip burst through.
The same old bearded man jumped to his feet when Kip dragged Jack through. Kip
propped him up against the wall just below the man’s desk. Then Kip took the man
in his grip, pulling him close by his collar.

“I am leaving my friend here for a good time. He better be here
and alive when I get back, understand?

The old man nodded.

“And bandage him up! Understand that, too?”

The old man nodded again.

Kip kneeled down to say goodbye to Jack. “I’ll be back for you,
you got it?”

“Yes. Go, Kip, go. Annie needs you,” Jack hissed.

Kip rose and headed for the door. He heard jack call out for
one of the whores. “Where’s Nadia?” Kip smiled as he left the building. He knew
jack was in his element here and would be fine for a couple hours at least.

Kip approached the gate with his rifle slung across his back
and his hands raised. “I’m American!” He said.

Annie sat in the first row of the makeshift concert arena and
watch Stabbs and Lock and several Marines set up the stage. Sparks sat next to
her and Lydell sat on the other side. The sun was dropping and the outdoor
halogen spotlights had just kicked on.

Sparks watched as Corporal Dale approached. His perfectly
pressed uniform and high polished boots stood out among the rest of the Marines
that were present.

Dale stepped behind and walked sideways between the rows of
chairs until he sat down directly behind Annie. Sparks watched him all the way,
noting that it was odd that he chose a seat in the second row when there were
so many in the first.

Sparks had spent enough time with the NYPD to know that
something was wrong here. He turned in his seat and gave Dale a nod, and
noticed Dale’s gaze was fixated on the back of Annie’s head. He ignored Sparks
nod.

Dickhead
, Sparks
thought.

Then a commotion broke out to the right of the stage. Uniformed
Marines were surrounding someone and holding him back from the stage. Sparks
leapt to his feet and limped in that direction. Annie started to follow. But
then he remembered his sole purpose of being there was to protect Annie, so he
turned back around.

Just as he did, he saw Corporal Dale pull his holstered weapon
free and aim it at the back of her head. Sparks dove for the Corporal as the
shot rang out, distracting everyone in the area, including the excited marines
at stage right.

Sparks fell over the chairs that made up the front row and Dale
staggered back in horror at what he had just done. Then, regaining his
composure, he raised his weapon again and aimed it at Annie, who screamed.

Stabbs and Lock leapt from the stage toward her, but she was
too far away for them to reach her in time. Then Lydell swung his arm upward
and knocked Dale’s nine millimeter toward the sky, where another round cracked
from the barrel. Dale knocked Lydell in the mouth with the butt of his pistol
and took aim again at Annie, who stood frozen just as Stabbs and Lock reached
her. But it was too late. Dale had the weapon leveled at her face.

Then another crack filled the twilight sky and Dale’s head
exploded into a fountain of blood and brain matter. His body collapsed onto the
chairs in the second row.

Stabbs and Lock reached Annie at the same time and tackled her
to the ground, falling on top of her. When they all looked up they saw Kip
walking combat style toward them with his rifle pointed at Corporal Dale’s dead
body.

Soon the entire stage area was crawling with Marines. Kip was
disarmed and frisked. Corpsmen were called and checked everyone out. Sparks,
amazingly, was found to be breathing and more than a little pissed off.

When he was loaded on the stretcher all he could say was, “Shot
twice in one week! Fuck me!”

Kip was finally released when he explained satisfactorily what
had happened. A platoon was sent to pick up Jack and return him to the base and
check out the basement of the Serena Hotel.

The Camp commander was on site. He recognized Kip from his in
country days. Kip tried to explain again everything that happened. The camp
commander filled Kip in on a few missing pieces, too.

“I never heard from Corporal Dale about your missing band
member.” He told Kip.

“And, there is no base rule about not having females in your
rooms here. I suspect the Corporal made that up to try to keep Annie away from
you. I don’t think he relished the idea of making the assassination attempt a
public one. You threw a wrench in the works. What happened in front of the
stage was a last resort.”

Kip laid in bed with Annie that night, explaining all that he
had learned about who was trying to kill her. She could not believe it any more
than the camp commander could at first. But Kip had pictures of the dead
bodies, and Jack to back up the story. Sparks verified that one of the men was
indeed Deputy Reynolds from the NYPD. The other man could not be identified.
The doctor was notorious and a wanted terrorist. Kip would get credit for
taking him out.

“But, Kip, I don’t even have that notebook anymore,” Annie told
him. “I pitched that thing after I finished the book.”

“They didn’t know that, Annie,” Kip said. “They said they had
to be sure the information did not get out. Not being able to find the
notebook, they turned their sights on you.”

Annie shivered at the thought of it. A government conspiracy to
have her killed.

“But Kip, there is no proof. Not without identifying the body
in the basement of the hotel.”

“The man told me that the other loose ends had already been
taken care of, though,” Kip told her. “I suspect there are a string of dead
bodies that are connected in some way to the Senators’ travel. Now that we know
the whole story, maybe it can all be put together.”

Annie thought about it for a moment. “I hope so Kip. Otherwise
all of this may not be over.”

Kip considered that. “I don’t know Annie, maybe. I guess I’ll
just have to keep you safe until we are sure.”

“Just until then?” Annie asked.

“Well, for my purposes you’ll just never be safe.” Kip smiled.

“I am glad to hear that!” Annie said.

Amazingly, Jack was well enough to pull off the USO concert the
next day. He did not have to walk to play the drums, and with enough Jack
Daniels in him, he felt no pain.

Sparks and Lydell, who attended with their heads bandaged, was
able to watch the show from the front row. And the whole affair was one of the
most heavily guarded concerts in history.

One week later, the band landed back at John F. Kennedy
Airport. As they walked through the terminal toward a waiting taxi, Kip spotted
a newspaper stand and walked over to pick up a copy of the Wall Street Journal.
The front page story was an article about Police Lieutenant Porter stepping
down amid scandal. He showed it to Annie.

“You’re The One” By Rev
Theory

As they climbed onto the motorcycle Lydell ran up to them.
“Kip, I’ve got Cocoa Cola on the phone. They want to sponsor a world tour.”

“No shit?” Kip said, smiling.

Lydell scratched his still bandaged head. “I never kid about
business, Kip.”

Kip looked at Annie. “What do you think, Annie? Want to go on a
world tour with me?”

Annie pretended to think for a moment. “Well, Kip, I still
don’t have enough of a story to write about you. All of this fighting off bad
guys and bringing to light government conspiracies just doesn’t read well in
today’s media. I am pretty sure I am going to need a lot more material.”

“So, it’s a yes, then?” Kip asked.

“I’ll think about it,” Annie said.

“There you have it Lydell. Tell them we’ll think about it.” Kip
hit the accelerator and the bike sped off.

“You’ll fucking think about it!” Lydell screamed, holding the
phone to his chest. “Are you kidding me? You don’t tell Coke that you’ll
fucking think about it!”

“Wanted Dead or Alive” By
Bon Jovi

But it was too late. Kip and Annie had disappeared into the
distance. The motorcycle slowly went out of view.

“Fucking rockers will be the death of me!” Lydell said.

Other Books by Liz Thomas

Saving
Cassilia
(Available Now)

Vampire’s Graveyard (Available Now)