Ron walked back to his truck, looking back at Debbie two or three times. When he was back across the street, Debbie moved to the edge of the street and lifted up her t-shirt to give him a shot of her braless triple D breasts, which brought a round of applause from the workers. Ron yelled at the men, and Debbie then walked back over to the car and laid spread eagle on the hood in the sunlight.
Alan had seen where Johnny had been working and had slipped in behind some stacked lumber and fallen trees and waited for him to come back. Johnny was sitting on the tailgate of his truck finishing his lunch and watching Debbie who was taunting him. She had taken off all of her clothes and was lying on the roof of Alan’s car. She called out to Johnny and said, “I know none of you is going to call the cops on me for indecent exposure.” There were more cat calls and whooping, but Johnny kept his head down since his old man was staring at him from two trucks over. He finished his food and saw his father walk back into the reservoir.
Once he was out of sight, Johnny ran across the street and grabbed Debbie by the hair and said, “Where the fuck is Alan? This is his car.” Debbie cried out a little, and Johnny said, “Don’t make a sound, bitch. I might not be able to rape you right now, but I can sure as hell cut you and fuck you up…now, where is Alan?” Debbie spoke calmly, “At home. He let me borrow his car because mine is in the shop. I was driving out to the beach and saw your father’s trucks and thought I would tease the guys. I had no idea you were here.” Johnny smashed Debbie’s head down onto the hood of the car, and a small trickle of blood started to flow from her nose. Johnny pressed the side of her face and said, “Why don’t I believe you? Why do I think that Alan is out there on my job site waiting to jump me?” There was a moment of silence, and Johnny released her and said, “I have a hundred pounds on the fucker. I hope you’re lying. I hope that fucker is out there. I fucked him up the ass with Brian and the guys at camp. If I find him, I will do it again right here on this job. If he thinks I’m going to end up like Brian and Rocky, he has another thing coming.”
He drug Debbie off the hood of the car and threw her nude body down on the ground. He looked around to see if there was anyone who could see him, but there was no one. He smiled and said, “Bend over the hood, bitch. I’m going to get some more of your shit on my dick!” Debbie was pulling herself up by the front grill on the car and said, “No!” Johnny hauled back and slapped her across the face. “Bend over!” He pulled a razor knife from his work pants and pushed up the razor blade. “You can take it up the ass, or you can have my initials carved into your fuckin’ face. Choose.”
The Eagle had heard all he needed and was about to pounce on Johnny when Ron Belk’s voice began echoing through the air, calling Johnny’s name. He had Debbie pressed face forward with her ass in the air against the car when he heard his old man. “Oh, mother fucker, if he sees me with you, I will catch a wrath of shit.” Johnny had pulled his pants and underwear down while he had been beating on Debbie, and he struggled to get them up and on to run back across the street. While she was distracted with everything that was happening, the Eagle moved silently behind her and slid a transponder under Alan’s car. He heard the click of the magnet against the frame and then moved back behind the rock. He pulled out a small tablet from his body armor and pressed a button and the blip of the GPS tracker now on Alan’s car lit up as a green light. He put the tablet back and slid back into the cover and then across the street to where Belk’s company was clearing trees.
Alan was sitting under a large California Live Oak watching and waiting for Johnny. He had grabbed a sizable piece of wood that had been laying next to a wood chipper and held it in his hand like a bat. He heard some brush moving behind him and turned to see a coyote run out of the thick brush and off into the dry reservoir. Alan looked back over to where Johnny had been when he felt a sharp blow to the side of his head. Johnny Belk stood over Alan, now bleeding and said, “You came out here to kill me, you little fuck. Debbie was just a distraction, so you could get to me. Son of a bitch. It was you who killed Brian and Rocky?” Alan shook his dizzy head and said, “I had nothing to do with their deaths. Those were carried out by their other enemies.” “So what the fuck are you doing out here in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, huh?” Alan started to get to his feet, and Johnny pushed him back down, “Answer the goddamn question, Alan…what…the fuck…are you doing here?” Alan’s eyes started to tear up, and he said, “I came to kill you, you son of a bitch. I came out here to kill your lying raping ass.” Johnny started laughing and picked Alan up and threw him across the yard and into the back of the wood chipper.
“You came to kill me?” Alan nodded. Johnny let out a giant laugh and said, “Well, the joke’s on you, asshole. I’m going to literally fuck you up. Take off your pants and underwear and bend over that rock.” Johnny was pointing to a small shelf shaped rock outcropping next to the area of land he had been clearing. Alan stood up and said, “Not this time. You’re going to die today, Johnny. Right here, right now. It’s time for some justice.” Johnny lunged for Alan, but he moved and Johnny ended up hitting his head on the side of the chipper. He pulled his arm back and was about to hit Alan when the two heard the chipper fire up. Johnny looked over at the control center, but there was no one there.
Johnny looked at Alan and said, “So, you got that little cunt out here with you, huh. What? You thought you would knock me out and throw me into the chipper?” Alan shook his head slowly. His eyes were as big as saucers, and he was staring behind Johnny, not at him. Johnny yelled over the roar of the chipper motor, “GET YOUR GODDAMN PANTS OFF. I WANT SOME OF YOUR SHIT ON MY COCK!” Alan just shook his head. Johnny moved to grab him but was stopped in his tracks. He had the look of a man stuck, and he twirled around to see a huge figure dressed all in black holding onto his jacket.
“Who the fuck are you supposed to be?” Johnny said in a defiant voice. The Eagle picked Johnny up by the throat and pulled him close to his masked face and said, “I’m justice, you piece of shit. You might also have heard of me. I’m the Iron Eagle.” Alan looked at Johnny dangling in the air. There was yellow liquid running out of the bottom of Johnny’s pants, and the Eagle threw him into the chipper, pressed the blade release lever, and the blades began spinning at high RPMs. Johnny was lying near the edge of the hopper that fed into the machine, and he screamed as two colored bandanas that he had on his pants got grabbed. In a matter of seconds, there was nothing but a cloud of blood and bone fragments being thrown out the exit shoot and onto the ground.
The Eagle turned and grabbed Alan and carried him by the back of his neck out of the area and to a clump of trees about a hundred yards from the chipper and threw him on the ground. Alan looked up at the giant man and asked, “Who are you, and why did you do that?” “I’m the Iron Eagle, and Johnny Belk needed to be killed. He could not be reformed. He would just keep getting more and more violent until I would end up taking him out.” Alan started to cry and said, “Please don’t kill me.” The Eagle knelt down next to Alan and said, “Now that’s all going to depend on you, Mr. Marks.”
“How do you know my name?” “I know everything there is to know. You and your friends are planning to kill a lot of people.” Alan said nothing, but the Eagle said, “I know your plot, and it will not succeed. If you and your friends continue down your current path, I will kill you all. You’ve gotten your revenge on John Belk. The score is settled. He got what he deserved. Now go back to your friends. They have settled their scores with all but one person. I know what happened to you all, and I’m not going to punish you for the punishing crimes against your aggressors, but if you continue down this road to kill innocents, then I will have no choice but to kill you all. Your friend, Mark Rubio, is dead, as is Brad Dell. If you don’t want to end up like Johnny over there, or worse, turn back now.” The Eagle started to walk away, and Alan said, “What if I can’t stop it? What if it is too late and already in motion?” The Eagle turned back to him and sa
id, “It’s never too late to turn from murder. It’s never too late to do the right thing. You have your whole life ahead of you. I would hate for you to end up one more victim of the Iron Eagle because you were too foolish to turn back.”
Alan asked, “If I can stop this, I will try, but I don’t think I can. I will step out of the situation, but the planning and the movements have started. How will you know when we move?” The Eagle leaned in close and said, “That’s for me to know, and you not to find out.” With that, the Eagle disappeared into the thick brush around the reservoir, and Alan got up and ran back to his car where Debbie was sitting with the window down and her feet out the passenger window. He sat down next to her, and he saw her bruised face and bloodied nose and asked, “What the fuck happened to you?” “Johnny Belk happened to me. What the hell happened to you?” “The same.” “So…” Debbie asked in a serious manner, “Is he dead?” Alan nodded and said, “Oh yeah…he’s dead all right.” “What did you do with his body?” Debbie asked, her silken soft legs still sticking out the passenger window. “Well…let’s just say that he won’t be identifiable.” She pulled her feet out of the window and put them on the floor. Alan started the car and pulled out onto Valley Circle headed back to Plummer Avenue and Topanga Canyon Boulevard to head to the 118 Freeway and Northridge. They were both quiet for several minutes. As they turned onto the 118 Eastbound Debbie asked, “What the fuck happened back there?” “The Iron Eagle happened back there.” Debbie’s face lost all color, and she asked hesitatingly, “What do you mean?” “I mean Johnny got the drop on me and was kicking the shit out of me. He ordered me to strip, so he could rape me.”
“How does the Iron Eagle fit in that picture?” “One minute I was about to pull my pants down and take it again, and the next this huge man in black stepped up, grabbed Johnny, told him he knew all of the things he had done wrong, and threw him into one of the industrial wood chippers.” “Did he say anything else?” Debbie asked, staring at him. “Yeah…he said he knows our plot, and if we don’t turn from it, he will kill all of us.” He said, “We get a pass on those we killed who’d done us wrong, but our plan to kill innocent people will not succeed, and if we keep on down this road he will kill us.” Debbie sat silent as they exited the freeway at Osborn Street. She looked at Alan and said, “There is no way the Eagle could know our plan.” “Well…you might not think so, but I came face to face with him, and he claims to know the whole thing.”
They pulled up in front of the house where Jerry and Tim were. It was half past two p.m. when she asked, “Are you going to tell Jerry and Tim?” Alan sat for a few seconds and said, “I don’t know. What do you think?” Debbie smiled and said, “Even if you told them, they wouldn’t believe you. Jerry is too far gone. He’s not going to stop unless he kills everyone or gets killed. Tim will think that it’s a joke and not take you seriously, and Mark…well Mark…when he finally comes back, he will be more interested in the Eagle’s looks than anything else.” Alan said, “Mark is dead!” “What…how the hell do you know that?” “The Eagle told me. He didn’t give any details. He just told me that Mark and Dell are dead.” Debbie sat back in the car with tears running down her face looking at the house and then Alan with a look of desperation.
Chapter Fourteen
“…that’s the kind of shit that once
you tell it, you can’t untell it.”
Chris pulled up in front of the Dell home at a little before one p.m. He pulled out his ID and rang the bell a few times, but no one answered. He looked inside the side windows of the house, but there didn’t seem to be anyone home. He called out, “FBI,” and heard a crashing sound like glass breaking coming from the back of the house. Chris took off for the side of the house. There was a tall wooden gate that blocked the entrance to the yard, and Chris grabbed the top of it and pulled himself up and over with little effort. He turned the corner when he saw a tall lanky young man with a brick in his hand, and Chris went for his weapon but not before the guy threw the brick at him, striking him in the solar plexus. He went down like a rock and watched as his assailant ran for the back alley fence and leaped up and over.
He got to his feet, trying to both catch his breath and stop the pain from the blow. He made it to the alley in time to see a black Mustang racing off and quickly wrote down the plate number and ran back into the Dell yard to the source of the sound. The patio door had been broken out, and based on the blood and garment fragments, his assailant had jumped through the door from the inside. Chris pulled his service weapon and entered the house, identifying himself while looking for the Dells. After he had cleared the residence, he called John’s cell phone.
“Swenson.” “I’m at the Dell residence, and no one’s here, but someone was. I think it was the Pinskey kid.” “Did you grab him?” John asked. “No. He got the drop on me and threw a brick into my solar plexus. After that, he jumped through a rear sliding glass door and took off.” “Did you get a good look at the assailant?” “Yeah, and I got a plate number.” “Then your trip out to the house was helpful. Is Mrs. Dell there?” “No…there’s no one here but me and my bruised chest and ego.” John laughed and said, “Run the plate and tell me who it belongs to.” Chris walked out to his car and typed the plate number into the computer. In a matter of seconds, the ID came back, and he said, “Mother fucker!” “What’s wrong?” John asked. “I was right. The fuckin’ car belongs to none other than Jerry Pinskey.” John laughed again and said, “That guy is the bane of your existence.” “Yeah…well I’ve got his address. I’m going after him.”
John said, “Don’t bother, Chris. He’s not going to be at any address associated with that car. What make is it?” “Black Mustang. And how do you know that this guy won’t be at any of the addresses on file?” “A hunch…meet me at Santiago’s. I will call Jim. We need to talk. I have new information.” Chris said okay and put the phone down and sat down in the driver’s seat. Still in agony, he slammed his fist down on the steering wheel then started the car and said, “That’s the last time, you mother fucker…I’m going to get your ass, Jerry Pinskey, and when I do, I’m going to kick the hell out of you. You’re gonna…‘trip’ down a bunch of mother fuckin’ stairs upon arrest.” He drove off headed for the freeway and Santiago’s.
Santiago’s was quiet. Jim and Jade were sitting on the deck overlooking the sea having a few beers and a little lunch. Jade asked, “How long have you known that John is the Eagle?” Jim let out a little belly laugh and a burp and said, “From his first kill at Pendleton.” Jade took a sip of her beer and looked out over the sea and asked, “Why didn’t you turn him in? You’re a goddamn police officer. He’s a killer.” “Why haven’t you?” That caught Jade off guard, and she finished off the beer, and Jim cracked open another one and handed it to her as he took out a cigarette from his top left pocket and lit it with his Zippo. Jade took a deep swig off the beer and asked, “You want the truth?” Jim let out a laugh, “Oh, the fuckin’ truth, Jade. I can see right through lies.” “I’m madly in love with John.” Jim was taking a drink of his beer when Jade said it, and he choked on it, and she jumped up and patted him on the back. Jim had his hands spread on the table, both choking and laughing with the cigarette between the fingers of his left hand. Jim responded while still choking, “You’re in love with Swenson?” She nodded, and he asked, “Does HE KNOW THIS?” “Not directly…I mean, there’s a certain sexual tension between us. I know he likes me. It’s all stupid, Jim. Just forget that I said it.”
Jim laughed and said, “I wish I fuckin’ could, but that’s the kind of shit that once you tell it, you can’t untell it. Jesus! Does Sara know?” Jade took a swig of her beer and looked up at the sky as she answered, “Well…yeah.” Jim laughed again and took a hit off his cigarette and asked, “And what does she have to say about it?” “It’s just a joke between us. It’s not something that we really talk about. Besides I have really poured my soul into Jessica Holmes. She is finishing up
her first year of medical school, and she will spend the breaks working with me at my office.” Jim took a drink of his beer and said, “That’s one really, really smart girl. I have to tell you, to come off the streets with the things she has seen and been through and to be getting ready to be a second year medical student…that’s a hell of a story.” Jade smiled and said, “And she has you to thank for it.” Jim threw a weak hand at her and said, “No, she has herself to thank for it. When I released her from my protection after we solved the Hollywood murders, she could have gone back to the street, but she didn’t. She got with you, and if anyone is to be credited with saving the kid, it’s you.” Jade took a drink of her beer as Jim reached for his ringing cell phone.
“WHAT?” Jade jumped in her seat. “We need to meet and talk.” John’s voice was somber on the other end. “Yeah so…I’m at Santiago’s with Jade. You want to meet me here with your protégé?” “Yeah, I’m en route as is Chris.” “What…you two fuckin’ butt buddies aren’t together?” “No…he’s on his way back from the Dell house. He got attacked by Jerry Pinskey when he went to talk to Margo.” Jim laughed. “What the fuck, man? Margo is at my place with Barbara and has been since early this morning.” “Yes, Jim, I know that. I sent him over there while I ran some…errands.” “I see…and how did those fuckin’ errands work out? Are the errands still breathing?” “One is. I have a good handle on the plot now. I know who the ring leader is and what’s going to be a mass rampage on Rosedo High School.”
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