The Shadow Patriots Box Set 2

by Warren Ray

  She heard the rattle of handcuffs as he went for her left hand. Just as he grabbed her left wrist, Stormy uncoiled. She transferred her weight to her left foot as her hips rotated. Her clenched right fist landed on his temple with her knuckles digging in. The surprise blow snapped his head a quarter turn to the left.

  The strike only needed to stun him for a split-second to set up her next move. His eyes went blank, and it hadn’t registered yet in his mind as Stormy leaned back and used her forehead to strike his nose.

  It was enough to break it and splatter blood in different directions. The lightning-fast strike didn’t give the cop a chance to react as he swayed back and forth before she finished him off with a knee to the groin. He let out a yelp as he collapsed to the ground.

  By far, her favorite move on guys, especially with ones who had just groped her.

  “Sorry, sweetie but I can’t let you take me in,” she said as she looked around to see if anyone had taken notice of them.

  She picked the cuffs off the ground and pushed him over on his stomach to cuff him.

  “You were sweet to remember me, but it was also a little creepy, but not as creepy as you feeling me up. Is it proper procedure to grab a girl's tits?”

  He didn’t answer but only moaned in pain.

  Wanting to give herself more time, she yanked the radio off his uniform and smashed it on the ground. “Don’t want you to call this in too quickly.”

  She walked to his still running cruiser, opened the door, pushed the lock button and slammed it shut.

  After getting back in her car, she looked at him through the open window. “Don’t be too embarrassed, though I’m sure you’ll come up with a good story.”

  She hit the gas and took off speeding down the street. She didn’t get her rapid heart rate under control until she reached her house. She wouldn’t take any chances of being caught and grabbed a suitcase. She was pulled over too close to home for them not to start looking in the area for her. She had to leave and take the BMW, which stuck out like a sore thumb, and ditch it somewhere. She wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone or if she’d ever come back here.

  She gathered some clothes and toiletries and threw them into a suitcase. She was good at this, as she had lived out of a suitcase for many years while traveling to modeling gigs. She took one last look and headed out to her car. She figured the cop probably hadn’t escaped yet, which gave her some breathing room.

  “What to do? Where to go?” she said aloud as she pulled out of her driveway. She scratched her head and decided she needed help.

  After ten minutes, she spotted a payphone and pulled over. She grabbed the change out of her purse and dialed Kyle’s number. “C’mon, pick up, pick up.”

  Fifteen rings later, she hung up.

  The quarters came jingling back down. She tapped her fingers on the phone. “Oh, I do have it.”

  She began digging in her purse and grabbed a business card. “Major John Green.”

  * * * * *

  Green looked to see the light blinking on the phone. His secretary had transferred a call back to him. He wondered if it might be Reed checking up on him. If so, he had prepared a script in his mind on what to say to him.

  He hit the button and said, “This is Major Green.”

  “Hi John, it’s me, Cheryl. I was wondering if you’d like to get some lunch today?”

  Green’s mind began to race around because he recognized Stormy’s voice but she used a different name. She was in trouble and knew enough not to raise any suspicion on the phone. He had told her he thought the lines were tapped and never to contact him there. She had to be desperate if she was calling.

  “I would love to get some lunch. What did you have in mind?”

  “Well, I’m over at Ballston Mall in Arlington. You think we can get something around here?”

  Green had to think for a second where that was. It was about seven miles away. “That’d be great. What time?”

  “You know I haven’t even had breakfast yet, so right now, if you could. We can beat the lunch rush.”

  “Give me thirty.”

  “Meet me up front.”

  “You got it.”

  Green put the phone back in its cradle and took a deep breath. He kept his cool as he walked out of the office. “Grace, I’m gonna take an early lunch.”

  “She sounded pretty,” she smiled.

  “She is.”

  “Glad to hear it. You have fun. You’ve got nothing on your schedule so take your time.”

  “I will, thanks.”

  Grace had been trying to set him up with some of her friends, but none of them was his type, so he just avoided the subject whenever she brought it up to him. This date was going to be a most interesting one. No telling what had happened. He gave his M9 a reassuring pat as he got on the elevator.

  Chapter 31

  Jackson Michigan

  Scar held the water hose as Reese finished washing the mud off the last wheel. Overall, it didn’t look too bad, despite it being a beat up truck. He understood the attraction to older vehicles. They had character and often held special memories. He had owned one similar to this one and had used it in his construction business. He put a lot of miles on it before trading it in for a new one. While the new one was nicer, he couldn’t help but pine for the old one. It was comfortable and fit like a glove.

  “Whaddya think?” asked Reese getting up.

  Scar sprayed the wheel. “She looks pretty good. You did a bang-up job.”

  “Thanks,” said Reese as she grabbed the hose to give it another rinse. “You know, I’ve never owned a car before.”

  “You haven’t?”

  “We could never afford a second one. Weren’t any jobs around, so, I’d always drive my mom to work if I needed to go somewhere.”

  “Yeah, the years before the crash were hard. I had to lay off a bunch of guys. I didn’t want to, but I had no choice.”

  “I couldn’t have found a job if my life had depended on it.”

  “You know, Reese, you could literally choose any car around here to drive.”

  “I know, but I had my first kiss with Cole in this one,” she said as she dropped the nozzle in the bucket.

  Scar gave her a knowing nod.

  “And besides, it burns rubber really easy,” smiled Reese. She began rinsing the soap out of the sponge and bucket.

  Scar returned the smile while looking at the lack of tread on the tires. “You’re going to need new tires.”

  “I know. Badger has a new set for me,” said Reese as she turned the water off and began looping the hose around the holder.

  “Oh?”

  “Yep. Said he’d put them on this afternoon.”

  “Perfect. Why don’t we check out the borders, and then we’ll head over there.”

  “You done out here?” asked Nordell as he came back outside.

  “Yepper,” said Reese. She handed him the bucket. “Thanks so much.”

  “No problem. You know, it looks better than I thought it would.”

  “Doesn’t it though?”

  “You guys out of here?” asked Nordell.

  “We are, Gunny. Gonna check the borders and then go get her some tires.”

  Nordell leaned his head over to look at the tires. “Good idea.”

  “You wanna come with us?” asked Reese.

  Nordell grimaced. “I’ve risked my life enough this past week.”

  Reese’s mouth dropped open as she put her hands on her hips. “I won’t kill ya.”

  “I’m good, really, but thank you.”

  “Okay,” said Reese as she hugged Nordell.

  “I’ll see you later this afternoon then,” said Scar.

  “You got it. Remember, to buckle up,” joked Nordell.

  Reese feigned insult before getting into the truck. She started it up and revved the engine a few times. She looked over at Scar who pretended to buckle up before cracking a smile. Reese cocked her head at him as she backed it
up and throwing it in drive while stomping on the gas. The tires squealed before they caught and rocketed them down the street. “I didn’t want to disappoint, Gunny.”

  “No, of course not,” said Scar. “One must always uphold their reputation.”

  “Riiight.”

  Scar was glad he had come along and was enjoying the day. He could see why Winters was attracted to her. Besides her beauty, she was resilient and tough while keeping a sweet side to her. She had a way of putting you at ease and always included you in whatever she was doing. This wasn’t something everyone could do, but her outgoing personality naturally allowed her to do it effortlessly.

  If you didn’t know her, you’d think she was this delicate, innocent girl, which was her true self, but circumstances made her into something else. He had heard the stories of her taking pleasure in gutting a cop. He had witnessed her satisfaction when Nordell executed the cops the other day. She was dealing with inner demons he could only imagine.

  How could she not?

  Ten days of torture would do damage to anyone, especially the kind she had endured. However, when allowed to do something ordinary like washing the truck, her true self came out shining, and it was good and sweet.

  They made it up to Lansing Road in quick fashion and found Eddie Perlee standing in front of the house they’d been using as sleeping quarters. The tall grass on the lawn was matted down with vehicles coming and going.

  Reese threw the truck in park, and they climbed out. Eddie gave a casual salute and noticed the pickup had just been washed.

  “Did you wash this ole heap?”

  Scar motioned to Reese.

  “It doesn’t look half bad,” said Eddie.

  “She was in dire need of a bath,” beamed Reese.

  “So what’s up?” asked Eddie.

  “Just wanting to inspect the borders,” said Scar. “Anything change?”

  Eddie shook his head. “No, not really.”

  Scar detected a hesitation. “No, or not really?”

  “Well, my guys did report on a meeting the Jiji commander had this morning, which isn’t all that unusual, but it took longer than usual and they seemed happy about it.”

  This got Scar’s attention. “Oh?”

  “I didn’t think anything of it and figured it had something to do with the firefight yesterday.”

  Scar gave it some thought. “Maybe they’re moving their guys around after yesterday.”

  “Which is what I was thinking.”

  “Or they’re getting ready to attack,” interjected Reese. “These bastards aren’t gonna wait forever.”

  She was right of course, and it had been worrying Scar, which is why he wanted to check out the borders. It had been too many days since they attacked Mordulfah’s compound for him not to have struck back. Yesterday’s firefight certainly had to affect that timetable. He wished Thomas would get back with them to report on Mordulfah’s activities. Perhaps his absence said more about what was about to happen. Thomas had promised he would come back and tell them about Mordulfah’s plans. It was inevitable at some point they would attack Jackson again.

  The only question was when?

  The best thing he could do was get his men ready, so for the next couple of hours, Reese drove him to all of their guard posts to keep the men motivated.

  Chapter 32

  Washington D.C.

  The traffic was light as it was mid-morning and the lunch crowd hadn’t hit the streets yet. Stormy hadn’t given him specific instructions but he figured she’d be on the lookout for his vehicle. He had thought about switching the cars, but it would have taken too long, and she sounded desperate.

  He was coming down Glebe Road and saw the mall up on the left. It was a big mall with a multi-level parking garage. An Iceplex was connected to it where they used to play professional hockey, when there was still a league.

  He wasn’t sure where to go but figured, out front, meant the parking garage. He slowed down and took a left just as the light was turning red. The entrance to the mall veered to the right, and as he came around the bend, he saw a girl with baggy gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He did a double take as the girl approached the car and opened the door.

  “Thank God, you’re here,” she said leaning over to kiss his cheek.

  “What’s going on? What happened?”

  Green parked the car as she filled him in.

  “So, I didn’t know what else to do,” she finished.

  “You did good, Lady Storm,”

  Stormy smiled hearing the nickname he had given her.

  “You played it smart by coming here. A lot of nice cars in this garage.”

  “Kinda what I was thinking.”

  “We’re going to have to get rid of your car. We can take it to one of my storage units.”

  Stormy let out a sigh of relief. “I feel so much better now that you’re here.”

  “This is my fault for not thinking about this. I should have known better.”

  “No. The fault is mine for mouthing off to Reed in the first place.”

  “Well, regardless, we need to stash you somewhere.”

  “I grabbed a suitcase before I left.”

  “Okay. Good. Where’s your car?”

  “One level up.”

  Green backed the car out of the parking space and drove up another level.

  “Towards the back…and there it is.”

  Green parked next to it, and she hopped out to retrieve her suitcase. She threw it in the backseat and jumped back in.

  “Did you get a chance to call your artist friend?”

  “I did, and he’s totally up for it. Said he can meet us tonight.”

  “Okay.”

  Stormy put her hand on his arm. “Thanks for this.”

  Green’s pulse quickened making him wonder again if she liked him. Their eyes met, and he didn’t have to wait long as she leaned in to kiss him. Her lips were warm and soft making Green melt in his seat. He hadn’t kissed a girl in quite awhile and hoped he wasn’t disappointing her.

  She pulled back with a grin. “Sorry, for being so forward.”

  “That’s a bad thing?” asked Green with a lopsided smile.

  “It’s not?” she asked.

  “Does remove all the guesswork.”

  “You’ve been guessing?”

  Green’s cheeks blushed. “I have.”

  “I thought so. I was wondering if you were going to make a move.”

  “It’s not that I didn’t want to, but with all the craziness I wasn’t sure.”

  Stormy leaned back in her seat. “Well, now you know.”

  “Yes,” said Green as he put the car in reverse. “And now my mother is going to go absolutely crazy.”

  “I love your mom. She’s so sweet.”

  “That’s good because that’s where we’re headed,” said Green as he pulled out of the garage. He could still taste her lips and couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. The casualness of their encounter was pleasing because he didn’t like a lot of awkwardness. Their experience the other day was probably the main reason for the easy way they were beginning to form a relationship. He was still smiling as he glanced at her to see the same expression on her face. He was glad to see that he wasn’t the only one who was giddy about this.

  She met his gaze and reached over to grab his hand. “This isn’t so awkward, is it?”

  “I was just thinking the same thing.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s nice.”

  Green had to force himself to concentrate on the road. She was an enjoyable distraction, but he feared that because of her he might lose focus over the coming days. Business and pleasure were often a bad mix. He had a lot to think about, and a relationship could get in the way. Then again, he deserved to be happy, and it had been a long time since he’d had a relationship.

  He pulled into the driveway and saw his mom tending her flowers. She turned and then stood up.
>
  “Oh, this is going to be so much fun,” giggled Stormy.

  Green bowed his head and shook it.

  “C’mon, your mom is going be so excited.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “Oh, I think I do,” said Stormy as she opened the door.

  Green got out as his mom approached the car.

  “Stormy, what a pleasant surprise,” said Sarah. “What are y’all doing here?”

  “Oh, your son is my knight in shining armor,” said Stormy as she grabbed a hold of his arm and leaned on him.

  Sarah’s eyes grew. “Is this what I think it is?”

  “It is,” exclaimed Stormy.”

  “John?”

  “Mom! Try to control yourself,” said Green.

  “Oh, John, don’t worry. I’m not going to embarrass you…too much,” she said with a wink.

  Green looked at Stormy and said. “I told ya.”

  “Oh, she’s adorable.”

  “C’mon inside. I’ll make us some lunch,” said Sarah as she grabbed Stormy’s hand.

  While she made lunch, Stormy told her about what happened with the cop. With everything Sarah and her son had been through, she took the news in stride. They had all faced some dangerous situations and knew they’d face even more in the coming weeks. Sarah served them lunch and suggested that Stormy change her appearance. They could go to Manassas and let Alison O’Connor, who had once worked in the business, change her hairstyle.

  Chapter 33

  Winnipeg Manitoba

  Winters rounded the corner to find Murphy finishing his physical therapy session. It had been a few months since they’d rescued the girls from the party house and he’d been shot in the sandpit. He was with his friend Burns when they had taken up a position behind their truck to help Nate protect the rescued girls. Four cops flanked them by climbing a sand dune and then firing down at them. The cops killed nineteen girls and injured many more including Murphy. His injury had been more severe than Nate’s because his bullet had migrated, destroying muscle tissue in his back and rotator cuff.

  “Captain,” said Murphy extending his hand.

  “Murphy,” said Winters as he met his hand and leaned in for a slight hug.