Defending Sophie

by P. J. Fiala

  "Yes, you can access it by clicking on this icon." He pointed to the icon on her computer and she clicked on it. A screen opened up asking her for a name. Biting her bottom lip, Gaige scooted his chair around the table.

  "There's a work around. Click on "More Info" just below that field. Now type in Maintenance or Grounds and see if his picture comes up."

  She did as he instructed and she waited as picture after picture of the civilian employees populated the screen. She'd be here for days scrolling through all of these pictures. She remembered he had his head shaved, but that didn't mean at the time his picture was taken it was shaved. The top of the screen said "838 profiles found."

  She groaned, yep, days she'd be sifting through these pictures. Gaige chuckled. "Now click here and sort by sex. You can rule out all females. That will cut your search down."

  Following instructions, she was pleased to see that removed more than 398 civilians from the search. She began scrolling through the photos of the civilians employed by the Army and Gaige whispered, "You've got this."

  He scooted his chair away and she scanned her screen to locate Spiderman. She chuckled at her nickname and sent up a silent prayer that he didn't have Spiderman's skills, or he'd be a bugger to find and capture.

  After two hours, she found a picture of someone who looked very similar to one of the men, the man who tried grabbing her. Reading through his profile, she found his high school was in South Carolina. She'd bet her first born he had been in high school with Rand Gillman.

  "Hawk, that information you got on Rand Gillman? Did it say where he graduated?"

  Hawk began typing. "Yep. Clemson."

  "Spiderman went to high school with Gillman."

  "What's Spiderman's real name?" Gaige asked.

  "Tony Guilianetti."

  "Okay, you have an address on Spiderman? I think I'll go pay him a visit." Gaige declared.

  "I'll go, too."

  "Soph, people are looking for you all over, I don't think it's a great idea to have you running around out there."

  "We were out yesterday."

  "We went to a junkyard and your former boyfriend's jewelry store. Not out looking for a person, who, by the way, has tried to kill you."

  Turning to Hawk, "Hawk, tell him I can take care of myself."

  "Oh, fuck no, you're not getting me in the middle of this shit show.”

  She stared him down, but he wasn't squirming in his seat, he simply chuckled. "That won't work either. Sorry, Soph."

  Turning back to Gaige she saw his grin and that irritated her further. "I'll stay in the car."

  "Why go at all then?"

  "’Cause I get stir crazy sitting here. I've never been so sedentary in my life. I'm used to moving around, working, PT."

  Gaige scraped his hand through his hair and heaved out a deep breath. "Alright, you stay in the car."

  "Scouts honor." She held up her hand as if taking a pledge.

  "You're not a scout and neither am I."

  Closing the lid on his laptop, Gaige stood and carried his computer to the bedroom. She followed suit. Hawk tucked his in a computer bag and pulled the strap over his right shoulder. Apparently they were going on a road trip. Finally.

  When taking her new laptop to the bedroom, Gaige was sitting on the foot of the bed tying his boots. He looked up at her when she entered. "What caliber weapon are you most comfortable with?"

  "9 millimeter."

  "Okay." He stood, walked to the closet, knelt down, and began pulling weapons from his duffle. Laying a 9 mm handgun on the bed, he dropped a box of bullets next to it and a holster. Tossing a badge on the bed next, he said, "Load your weapon and carry it on you at all times. That's an ankle holster which will fit under your jeans. The badge is for you to only show if a cop stops and wants to see credentials. You're not officially GHOST until you’re voted in, we do the paperwork and get you permission to carry on our behalf, but hopefully you won't need to use that this time."

  "Okay."

  Setting her laptop on the table next to the bed, she shimmied down her shorts and grabbed her jeans from a hangar in the closet. Gaige was busy loading his weapons and holstering them.

  She strapped her ankle holster on, and adjusted it to fit her. As she reached for the 9 mm, he lay on the bed and put his arms around her from behind. "I love you, Sophie. Do not do anything to get yourself killed or hurt. I don't have body armor for you here and I don't like that you're coming along, but I do understand. If we were at home, we'd be in the Beast, which is a vehicle outfitted for us and our needs, including bulletproof windows. Here we have a rental, so this is not the way we like to go in, but we have to."

  Laying her head back on his shoulder, her heartbeat increased. Part excitement and part Gaige. "I love you, too, and I won't do anything to get myself in trouble. Promise."

  He kissed her neck, squeezed her waist, then pulled away. "And, tell me you’re current with weapons training and self-defense.”

  “Yes, current on both.”

  “Let's roll."

  Chapter 46

  The ride to Spiderman's home was quiet. Usually before a mission they got quiet, contemplative, and putting their heads right. A few prayers usually went up. Not that this was a usual mission, but clearly, they were now beginning to dig into where all of this bullshit started and it wasn't unreasonable to think that Spiderman or anyone else they might encounter would defend themselves from possible prison time. And, since they weren't cops, people usually didn't fear them as they did cops, so usually a fight developed. Frequently involving weapons. Certainly fists.

  "Turn right up here and it's the second driveway on your right." Hawk instructed from the passenger seat.

  After turning right, they found themselves in a trailer park. And, a less than nice one at that. They found Spiderman’s number quickly. The first place on the right was a white trailer with faded aqua detailing. The three wooden steps that led to the door had been painted white at one time, but mostly the bare gray wood showed now. The curtains were faded and tattered from what they could see from their viewpoint in front of the trailer. An older pickup truck sat next to the steps, probably twenty years old or more and used to be black. Rust showed through in many spots along the bottom of the truck, and the paint had long ago faded and spider-cracked.

  Putting the SUV in park, he turned to look at Sophie. "Keep your head down and only use your weapon if you're seen and fired upon."

  "Okay." She smiled but it was weak. Likely her stomach was rolling as it had been some time since she'd seen any action like this. Her last deployment had been more than six years ago.

  "Soph, do you have PTSD?"

  She swallowed. "Not really. But I do stay inside under the covers during the 4th of July celebrations."

  "Most of us do." He winked, "You good?"

  "Yeah. Go get'em."

  Glancing at Hawk he nodded and received a nod in return. Opening their respective doors they got out, he hit the lock button on the doors and proceeded toward the steps.

  They walked up the decrepit steps to the trailer door and knocked. Footsteps could be heard walking from the back of the trailer to the front. The door opened and a young man around twenty-five-years old stood before them. Dark eyes, dark shaved head and reedy in build. He had two black eyes and his nose was swollen and misshaped. "Yeah?"

  "I'm Gaige Vickers and this is my colleague Hawk. Reed Killian asked us to come and ask you some questions."

  "That so? Why would Reed want you to ask me questions? Why don't he ask his kid if he wants answers?"

  "That's what he asked us to find out. He'd like to have a conversation with Rand but can't get Rand to return a phone call." It was a guess and he hoped it'd pay off.

  Instead of moving aside to let them in, he crossed his arms over his chest. "If Rand don't want to talk to him, then Reed should just go and fuck himself."

  "I'd say I agree with you, but this is important. It's regarding his will."

  "Ye
ah? He leaving Rand some jack?"

  "Yes, actually, a substantial amount."

  Rubbing his chin with his hand, Gaige was able to see the spider tattoo. "What's he want to know?"

  "Can we come in and have this conversation?"

  Spiderman looked over his right shoulder toward the back of the trailer, then stepped back and pointed them in the opposite direction to the kitchen. "Make it quick, I gotta be at work."

  Hawk stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room and Gaige sat at the old scared wooden table. The trailer was surprisingly not filthy, but it could use a good tidying up. Dirty dishes were stacked in the sink and no dishwasher was visible.

  "Where can we find Rand?"

  "First of all, why do you need to find him? If Killian wants to put him in his will, why does he have to have an address or know where he is?"

  "For the legal documents the address and phone number need to be added. That way, if something happens, he can be reached to make arrangements to receive his inheritance." He sure hoped he was sounding convincing.

  Spiderman looked between him and Hawk indecision on his face. The sound of a backdoor closing caused Hawk to turn his head just in time to see a white head pass by one of the windows. Following the direction the head was taking, Hawk glanced out the front window and saw Rand Gillman try to get into the rented SUV. Gaige saw it at the same time and both men turned to the front door. Gaige heard the click of a pistol and turned in time to see Spiderman pointing a gun at him.

  Pulling his gun from its holster, the first shot rang out from Spiderman's gun and then a second shot sounded from behind him. Hawk had shot Spiderman in the chest causing him to fall back against the counter, but he was still holding his gun, raising it to shoot Hawk. Gaige had time to raise his pistol and shoot three more rounds into Spiderman to stop him from shooting any more.

  Hawk ran out of the trailer just as Rand Gillman shot out the windows of the SUV. Sophie shot back and hit Rand in the upper right torso. His attention was diverted enough that Hawk managed to run behind him and knock him to the ground before he shot again.

  Sophie jumped from the driver's side backseat, small spots of blood spattered here and there on her face, from the broken glass. Running around the vehicle, she stopped when she saw Hawk on the ground pulling Rand Gillman's gun from his hand.

  Gaige ran to Hawk's aid, taking Rand's gun and laying it a few yards away on the ground. Sophie grabbed her phone from her back pocket and tapped a couple of times before putting her phone to her ear.

  He half listened as she directed a 911 operator where to send the ambulances. This would be local PD involved, which might get things rolling faster on their investigation. Looking around to see if there were other threats coming their way, the odd thought struck him that not one other person in this trailer park bothered to come out and see what was going on. Sirens could be heard in the distance as he glanced at Sophie's face. She stood calmly alongside him and they both watched Gillman lay on the ground on his stomach, Hawk's knee on his back. That white hair and his icy blue eyes sizing them both up, clear hatred in them. So much like his father it was scary.

  Chapter 47

  She was bone ass tired. They’d spent the past five or so hours at the police station, getting their situation sorted. It took a while but Gaige got Casper to talk to the Chief of Police with respect to Sophie shooting Gillman in self-defense, she was released on personal recognizance. They'd offered her a private cell in the jail to keep her safe, but she'd blanched profusely at that notion, and Gaige nearly lost his shit at the thought. He worked tirelessly to explain the situation and not divulge GHOST. She watched him argue his point, explain who he was, that he was here to help, and in the end it was Casper who had gotten the local police to let Gaige and Hawk go. Then Casper convinced the Chief of Police that her military charges are the sole jurisdiction of the Army. He sent in some of his own people to get her out. It was tenuous, but she was grateful just the same. It was past ten o'clock when they'd entered Gigi's house, and quietly slipped off to their bedrooms.

  "Do you have to deal with local PD's often when you go on missions, Gaige?"

  "Once in a while, but never to the level of today. We usually have what we call “friendlies” in local PD who are willing to help us. Today was brutal. And, our top contact who even Casper reports to is in the State Department if we would have needed more assistance tonight or anytime."

  "What will happen to Rand now? Will they let him go or will he get put in jail under suspicion?"

  "Casper is sending someone in to question him as soon as he's stable from surgery. Probably not until early tomorrow morning."

  "Okay." She unstrapped her ankle holster, pulled her weapon from the holster, released the magazine and checked the chamber for a bullet. It was empty; the police department had emptied the chamber as they examined the gun. They'd run ballistics tests on it, which of course would come back positive, because she'd shot Rand. But they also checked to make sure it wasn't stolen. GHOST had sent them the paperwork on the gun showing Gaige owned it and it was legal.

  Laying them on the bed she then grabbed a t-shirt and entered the bathroom, sliding both doors closed and locked them. Should she feel bad that she didn't feel bad? She didn't. At all. As she stood there looking at him on the ground, his hateful creepy ice blue eyes staring at her all she felt was disgust. She didn't question him about Kate or his involvement because she didn't want to put him on guard that they suspected him of anything, even though it was clear that he thought they were on to him about something.

  Dressing in her t-shirt she splashed water on her face. One of the ambulance crews had looked her over and pulled a few small pieces of glass from her face and arms. She was fine, just a few little cuts, she'd had worse.

  Brushing her hair, and then her teeth, she unlocked the door to Hawk's room and then opened the door to her room with Gaige. He lay across the bed, which was now void of weapons, and patted the top for her to come and lay down with him. Laying alongside him, he kissed her forehead then lay his head next to hers, his right arm solidly around her waist, pulling her into his body. "You did good today."

  "Hmm. Really?"

  "Really." He kissed her temple. "How do you feel?"

  "I'm good. The only thing I feel bad about is not feeling bad."

  He chuckled. "They’re worse things to feel bad about. Rand isn't alright. He's got evil in his soul; I could see it in his eyes. His face. His father isn't much better, but he's even worse. He’s a sociopath. He has no remorse for anything and this is all a game to him."

  "What do you think his involvement is?"

  "I don't want to speculate. We'll know tomorrow. Casper is sending his best investigator and has invited me to watch the interrogation." Half sitting up she turned to face him, resting on her elbow. "Seriously? Why?"

  "Because GHOST has a lot of information about what's been going on and some of the key players. So, I can be there, I can't say anything, but I can write things down for the investigator to ask. There will be a court reporter there to take down the interrogation and so will the CID and the local police. Since Killian is Army, but Rand isn't, it can only work with cooperation on both sides. But it seems they are willing to work with each other, so that's a bonus. That doesn't mean there isn't a power struggle. But, let's not worry about that just yet, our priorities are to find the killer of Kate, who may or may not be the rapist. Then, clear you and Tommy. Then go home."

  "And your Uncle Jeff?"

  He took a deep breath. "Uncle Jeff will be forced to retire. That's at a minimum. For trying to cover up a crime. For using military personnel to do it. There could be a court martial involved, too. But, to be honest, I can't worry about that, he made his own bed. It makes me so damned sad that he behaved the way he did. But he'll have to pay the piper, however that is to be done."

  Laying her left hand against his cheek she looked into those beautiful green eyes, the lines at the corners added character
and were likely well deserved. "I'm sorry, Gaige. I know how much you respected him."

  "Yeah. But, the most important person right now is Tommy. He's going to need help once he's cleared of Kate's rape. Therapy for sure. Then he's going to have to deal with his father and whatever happens to him. Aunt Bev is going to be distraught. I'll help them however I can, but Uncle Jeff has to come to terms with his actions in all of this, no matter that he thought he was helping Tommy."

  She kissed his lips, softly. Then she turned with her back to him and closed her eyes as he spooned her tightly to his body. His breathing was deep and even before she fell asleep and her mind was able to turn off the events of the day. But, one thing she did know, they were several steps closer to clearing this all up now than they were this morning and that was something.

  Chapter 48

  Casper had clout, that was for sure. Gaige walked down the hallway of the hospital, just outside the wing where Rand Gillman was recovering from his gunshot wound. Military personnel guarded the entrance to the wing, no one entered without special permission.

  "Sir, I need to see ID." One of the guards said.

  Pulling his driver's license and his GHOST badge out for him to inspect, he nodded. "Room 413."

  Walking to 413 he noticed each hospital room door was opened along the hall and all rooms were empty. Throughout the night staff must have been moving patients to another wing while Rand was here and under protection or guard, whichever it was.

  At the entrance to 413 he was halted. A guard turned and opened the door. "Sir, Mr. Vickers is here."

  Apparently the first guard had radioed ahead. Casper’s chosen investigator walked out and shook his hand.

  "Mr. Vickers, my name is Colonel William Ashton."

  "Thank you for including me, Colonel Ashton."

  "Come this way." He turned and Gaige followed. Entering a room which at one time was the waiting area for families, the large room had been divided into two sections. One section hidden from the other by a panel, which had been brought in and held a one-way mirror.